Lobuche Peak Climbing via Gokyo Chola Pass 21 Days

• Our representative welcomes you on your arrival at Kathmandu airport and transfer to the hotel. Your Group Leader will be happy to assist you in any way he can. 
• Trek briefing will be delivered and the arrangements are made for the distribution of trekking equipment like a duffel bag, down jacket, sleeping bag, etc. 
• The evening will be highlighted by a traditional Royal Nepali welcome dinner accompanied with a trek guide as a perfect end of your very arrival day in the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal.

• After Breakfast you will be visiting Boudhanath Stupa (Buddhist Shrine) and Pashupatinath Temple (Hindu Shrine), both are Enlisted in UNESCO's Cultural World heritage sites. 
• You will be accompanied by a professional tour guide. Vehicle, Guide and Entry Fee to the sites are included. 
• You will be thoroughly briefed in prior about all the aspects of the tour by your tour guide or trip leader. 
• The tour will start around 9:00 (Can also be done in the afternoon if requested from all the clients) and it will take around 3 hrs. You will be back in hotel by lunch. Rest of the Afternoon is for Last minute shopping and preparations

• An early wake-up call will be set since we need to get to the airport to catch up with the earliest flight to Lukla. Usually, the airport reporting time is One hour prior to your flight departure time to Lukla. 
• Flight to Lukla is around 35 minutes that cruises over the untouched valleys giving you one of the most thrilling mountain flights with a magnificent views. Lukla airport is considered as one of the most dangerous airport in the world which in reality is very untrue, in fact, it's one of the most terrific airport in the world with an unbelievable experience. Once we land on the inclined airstrip of Lukla we take a break to enjoy the lively flight activities flying in and out.
• Soon we will be introduced to your local trekking crew and hit the trail with excitement. We walk to the end of the village Lukla and shortly enter the buffer zone of Sagarmatha national park. 
• The valley opens before us with the deep Dudh-Koshi gorge showing before us. We see ample "Mani Wall" (prayer wall) which is a compilation of many stone tablets, each with the Buddhist chanting inscriptions, "Om Mani Padme Hum" which means, "Hail to the jewel on the lotus". Please respect the local tradition as the local people walking left to these Mani Walls. 
• We come across many but beautiful sherpa settlements and eventually get to our first destination, Phakding. This 4 hours walk is indeed very delightful. The afternoon is free which you can always use it to explore the area of Phakding. 

• Leaving Phakding and crossing our first suspension bridge we take the trail that leads us to the first village of Tok-Tok. Today, we will cross five suspension bridges among which one being the highest in the region of Everest. We walk through the beautiful woodland trail of pine and terraced fields, we cross and recross the thundering glacial river ' Dudh Koshi '. 
• We will encounter groups of mules and Dzopkyo (a cross between yak and cow) carrying the supplies along the trail. Spectacular mountain peaks like Kusum Khangkaru (6367m) Kongde RI (6093 m), Nupla (5885), and Thamserku (6808m) rises majestically above us.
• We walk further to the village of Monjo to the Sagarmatha National Park check post to register our entry. As we walk further you would realize why Sagarmatha has been tagged as a World Heritage site. We descend down to the last settlement of Jorsalle for Lunch.
•  Enjoying your lunch over the music of the rustling Dudh Koshi river is very soothing. After lunch, we continue further and get to the confluence of the Dudh Koshi and Bhote Koshi and cross a spectacular high bridge before commencing ascent to the village of Namche Bazaar, a gateway to the Everest. As we ascent passing through the pine forest of rhododendron and magnolia, we will sight our first view of the majestic Mt. Everest from a vantage point.
•  Eventually, we get the dreamland of Namche bazaar, the administrative center, and the unofficial capital of the Khumbu region. It's a luxury town with all the luxury that a traveler wouldn't expect in the middle of the remote valley. 

• Today we wake up with the view of mighty Kongde before us dominating the entire valley. After breakfast, we will go for an exciting acclimatization walk to the village of Shyanboche to witness one of the most dramatic mountain views with Everest, Amadablam, and their neighboring mountains. 
• If you wish to go further to the Everest View Lodge owned by the Japanese for a more spectacular view you can, it's optional. Since this is more like a mechanism of "walk high sleep low", we spend some time in higher elevation and descend back to Namche for lunch. 
• Later during the day, You may walk to the hill above the village to the National Park Headquarter to see the stunning view of huge mountains including Mt. Everest. The Sherpa cultural center (museum) in National Park headquarters has an interesting collection of Sherpa mountaineering items and photographs. 
• The afternoon is free, celebrate yourself in one of the coffee bars with fresh coffee. 

• Today we follow the Gokyo valley trail around Khumbila (5761m), a holy mountain for the local people then gradually ascending through beautiful birch forest and yak pastures to a stupa (3992m) on a top of a rocky village called Mon La. 
• The views once again stunning Mt. Everest looms above the Lhotse (8511m) and Nuptse (7896m) on the northeastern skyline. Below us is the confluence of the Dudh Koshi and Imja Khola; across the valley, Thyangboche monastery is framed by Ama Dablam (6856m) and Kantega (6685m).

• We ascend gradually up to the Dudh Koshi valley, high above the river. Though walking is easy, you will feel the effects of altitude in even the smallest hill. We are now above the tree line and the brown, barren hillsides with only small clusters of juniper are a great contrast to the snowy white peaks and deep blue sky. 
• After lunch, there is an option to take an excursion across rocky moraines to the base of Kyojo Ri (6168m) and Machhermo Peak (6073m). However, keep an eye open for the Yeti!!! It is here in 1974 that three yaks were killed and a Sherpa girl was badly injured when trying to fight off a hairy ape-like creature.

• Gradual ascend to Gokyo village put us in alpine country and as we approach the Ngozumpa Glacier (the largest Glacier in Nepal) onto the marine and rock that extends down from it. We enjoy excellent views of Kantega to the south, Cholatse to the east and Cho Oyo to the north. 
• Once we have ascended the snout of the glacier the path levels and parallels the Ngozumpa Glacier, separating us from the glacier is the massive lateral marine. We pass Longpongo (first lake), Taochelake (second lake where Tibetan Ducks are often seen swimming in the freezing water), before we reach to the third lake called Gokyo Chho at incredible Gokyo village.

• Early in the morning we start steady ascent of Gokyo RI that takes around 3 hours, depending on your level of fitness and acclimatization for the Nepal's best panoramic views. 
• From the rocky summit four peaks higher than 8000 meter can be seen: Everest (8848m), Cho-Oyo (98153m), Lhotse (8501m) and Makalu (84) and countless other towering snow peaks fill the horizon including Gyangchung Kang (7922 m), Cholatse (6440 m), Tawache (6542 m), Kantega (6685 m), Thamserku (6808 m), Lobuche (6145 m) and many more other unnamed peaks.
•  While below us the Ngozumpa Glacier stretches through the valley and the striking color of the lakes make the completion of the whole incredible Gokyo valley. We are normally back to Gokyo for slightly late lunch. 

• Today is a relaxed day as we weave our way across the Ngozumpa Glacier for Lunch at Thangna. Great views of Cho-Oyo and Cholatse greet you. Keep an eye open for the Himalayan Thar on the rocky slopes as they are not hunted and are not too shy.

• We start our journey early in the morning to take advantage of the stable early morning weather pattern that prevails in the Himalayas. Depending upon the weather condition it takes 3-4 hours to reach the saddle of the Pass. 
• There will be time on the crown of the Pass to drink and savor the life long experience being on the Pass before the descent into the valley to Dzongla. This is one of the special days, the highlight of the trip. The views of the peaks seem to hover over us. Words failed to describes the beauty of Nature and sense of achievement to be on the Pass.

• Today we leave the main Everest Base Camp route and climb towards Lobuche Peak. The High Camp Of Lobuche Peak is a beautiful campsite situated at 5200m by a small lake. 
• There will be a practice session where your Climbing Sherpa will instruct you regarding the safety guidelines and use of climbing equipment. Early dinner and bed time. Be ready for midnight wakeup call.  

• Today is one of the very challenging yet very rewarding day as it is a summit day. We leave the Base Camp early at around 2 am using head torches. 
• We walk on steep and rocky trail for approximately 2:30 hours before we reach the crampon point which is approximately 5700m. At Crampon point we change into the climbing boots and put on crampons and harness. It's about 2:30 hours steep ice climb on the fixed line.
•  Our Climbing Sherpa will assist you at anchor points if needed. After spending some time to catch our breath and capture some memories of the incredible achievement, we head down to High Camp which takes around 3 hours. 
• After having a beautiful lunch and much needed couple of hours rest, we will head towards Lobuche to join the Iconic Everest Base Camp Trek.

• At times in the high mountains, things may not go according to the plan due to various reasons. Its wiser to have at least a day as contingency. If not used, the day can be used in exploring Beautiful places like Amadablam BC or Chhukkung Valley which are equally beautiful but not in your itinerary.

• Today, we are high among the glaciers of the world's highest peaks to trek alongside the Khumbu Glacier, as the trail menders over the rocky marine towards the high settlement of seasonal spectacular village called Gorak Shep.
• After the rest, we walk to Everest Base Camp. The view surpasses the wildest imagination. We will hear huge glaciers creaking as they move under pressure and be awe-struck at the sheer size and majesty of the surrounding peaks including Pumori, Nuptse, Changtse, Ama Dablam, Tawache, Kantega and Everest – the highest mountain in the world. 
• We return to Gorak Shep for over night stay. This spectacular village is surround by Pumori (7145m), Lingtren (6697m), Nuptse (7745m) and of course Everest (8848m). As the sun sets it becomes very cold though the sun is strong in daytime.

• This morning we head for the historical ascend to Kalapathar for the incredible sunrise view. Its a 360 degree panorama with a really closeup view of Mount Everest
• After making historic steps on Kalapattar, we will descend down medical Himalayan settlement of Pheriche.

• We  slowly head back to treeline to Pangboche; it seems much quicker and easier going down! There can be a tendency to rush as we are walking downhill, but there is still much to see.
•  As we descend to Thyanboche on the way to Namche, the Sherpa capital where we will visit the Thyanboche Monastery. This monastery was recently re-built after it was destroyed by fire in 1989 AD. As this area is a devout Buddhist region, the wild life is unharmed so there is possibility that we may see some wild animals such as musk deer, mountain goat and Pheasants etc.

• We retrace our steps along the same Dudh Koshi. It is a beautiful and easy walk through pine and rhododendron forest with a view of Kusum Kanguru and other splendid mountains behind us before a gradual climb out of the river valley to the trek starting point Lukla to savour our final mountain sunset of the trek as we complete this exhilarating journey.

• There are lots of interesting thing to see in Kathmandu valley: the Royal Palace, Durbar Squares, Swayambhunath (the monkey temple), Patan and an ancient city Bhakatpur etc. Or you may explore down town to shop for souvenirs, getting your photos or slides processed and trying out the various restaurants in Thamel.
• During the Peak season the flights are likely to go to Ramechhap which will add another 5 Hrs Drive to get to the Capital city. 

• Due to Uncertainty of Lukla flights It is important to have an extra day in Kathmandu.

It is time to fly back to home keeping all the exhilarating experiences of Nepal in mind. Please make sure that you have collected all valuable from the security department. Those people traveling by aircraft to further destination will be transferred to the airport.