Everest Trek + Gokyo Lakes & Cho La

October 2005 Trek Itinerary

Hrs are approx walking hours (excluding food stops & sight seeing)
Alt is the sleeping altitude

Notes on itinerary & acclimatisation warnings

Trekking from Lukla to Namche in a single day was tough and without an overnight stop to break the ascent from Kathmandu, it is a very big vertical gain. A couple of us suffered mild AMS on the first night here and in retrospect, we should have stuck to the original plan to stop at Monjo.
3 nights at Namche is recommended for an acclimatisation strategy when flying in via Lukla, but we only stayed 2 nights before ascending another 300m to Khumjung. This left one of the group suffering from AMS at Khumjung.
Stopping at Pangboche breaks up the ascent between Tengboche & Dingboche and helped with our acclimatisation. Most organised treks spend 1 night at Phakding, 2 nights at Namche, 1 night at Tengboche & then proceed to Dingboche which is a 500m gain that leaves many suffering with AMS.
Stopping at Thuklha breaks up the ascent between Dingboche & Lobuche and is a better acclimatisation strategy than 2 nights at Dingboche which most guided groups tend to follow. There's only 1 lodge at Thuklha so its advisable to book ahead in peak season.
Only 1 person from our group of 9, felt unwell enough not to spend a night at Gorak Shep & descended back to Lobuche.
Crossing the Cho La from the Khumbu side is by far the easiest approach. It is a much less steep ascent and the vertical gain from Dzonglha to the top of the pass is 150m less. There's still a long, steep descent to Thangnak but doing this section downhill is by far more preferable than doing it uphill. The pass is a popular route and with only 2 lodges at Thangnak, its advisable to book one in advance.
I omitted the additional day in Gokyo due to illness & returned 1 day earlier than planned. Those in the group who stayed on to do the 5th lake, spent the night in Machermo instead of Mong La and then made the long trek to Namche from there.