North of Namche & Renjo-La Pass Trek

You arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport where a representative of Vertcial Expedition will greet you and take you to your Three Star Hotel by private car. You will enjoy a welcome drink as well as an evening orientation about your trip as well as equipment check.  Spend the night in the hotel.

After breakfast, we will take a domestic flight to Lukla where we begin our trek in the Everest region. It is just a 45 minute flight, and what a flight it is! We literally follow the backbone of the Himalayas eastward. On the flight you will see not only Mt. Everest, but also the peaks of Kanchenjunga III, Mt. Lhotse IV, and Makalu V. Each of these peaks is over 8,000 meters, literally forming the roof of the world. We land in Lukla village where we begin our trek. There are no roads to Lukla, so this village is only accessible by air or a seven day trek from Jiri village. We will be heading toward Phakding village. We actually go downhill from Lukla as we travel through the rugged foothills of the Everest region. Trekking time is around three hours and we will stay in a local lodge at Phakding.

Our walk begins early in the morning. It is a fairly easy trek, even starting out rather level as we follow the Dudh Koshi River. The land will start to move uphill gradually as we make our way toward the main district city of Namche Bazaar. We will cross the Hillary suspension bridge, and until we finally come to the steepest part of today’s trek that leads us to Namche Bazar. There are plenty of views of the high mountains along the way, as well as becoming immersed in the local Buddhist culture of the Sherpa people. We will check into a local guesthouse for the night.

It is important to spend a day acclimatizing to the higher elevation as altitude sickness can be quite serious. The day will not be spent just lying around, but we will trek to Everest Viewpoint for a magnificent view of Mt. Everest. From here, you will see the spectacular peaks of Everest, Amadablam, Nuptse and many more. It is only a two hour trek to Everest Viewpoint and we will spend a few hours there enjoying the view as well as having lunch. We will return to Namche Bazaar where you can spend the afternoon exploring the village. There is a lot to see here. We will spend the night in our local guest house.

We start trekking again with our destination the village of Thame. We will pass many Buddhist chhortens and mani walls. There is a monastery we can visit along the way if we desire. The trek takes 5 – 6 hours and we will spend the night at a mountain lodge.

We have a  lot of climbing to do, and our bodies need to become adjusted to the high elevations.  We will do some light hiking today, visiting a monastery above Thame village and spending time looking at local moraine and glaciers. We will return to our mountain lodge for the night.

Today we are following an ancient pathway used by traders going to and from Tibet as they transported black salt, gold and other items. We climb over the moraine on our way to Lumde. It is a short day of trekking, taking about four hours before arriving at our destination to spend the night at a local mountain lodge. Great views along the way today.

We had a short day yesterday because today will be a long day. From Lumde, it is uphill as we cross Renjo-La Pass. WE are ascending to high elevation where we will be delighted with eye-popping mountain vistas. From here, we can easily see Mt Everest, Lhotse, Cholatse and Tawache. It takes about four hours to reach the top of the pass. Yes, it is bit of a climb, but the views from on top more than make up for the effort to get here. We can see the rooftops of Gokyo and the shores of the mountain lakes from up here. We will descend from here to Gokyo, which takes around three hours. Total trekking time is between 7 – 8 hours and we will spend the night in a local mountain lodge.

Gokyo sits in a beautiful alpine valley and from here, we will ascend upwards to another mountain pass of Gokyo-Ri. It is just eight meters lower than Renjo-La, and again offers some incredible views of the mountains as well as the valley below. It is a steep trail as we move upward, but from on top, we can see Mt. Everest, Nupste, Makalu, Lhotse, Cho-Oyu, Pumori, Ama Dablam and more. It is a festival of snowcapped peaks that will overwhelm your senses as you gave around in a 360° panorama vision. From here, it is a steep descent down the mountain path for about 1 ½ hours until we come to the Dudh Kosi River where the trail starts to level off a bit. Our destination is the village of Dole, where we will spend the night in a mountain lodge. Trekking time is 4 – 5 hours

From Dole, it is a descent for about 90 minutes as we work our way to Phortse Thanga We pass Buddhist stupas and small villages along the way as we work our way to Namche Bazaar. Trekking time is 5 – 6 hours and we will stay in a local lodge.

It is a little longer day as we make our way back to Lukla and the airport. We will trek through rhododendron forests and cross the Dudh Koshi River on a suspension bridge. We cross several more bridges over a variety of mountain streams until we come to Lukla where we will spend the night in a local lodge. Trekking time is 6 – 7 hours.

It is an early morning flight as we return to the capital city. Our private car will be there with driver at the airport  take us to our hotel. Today, relax or do some exploring on your own in the Kathmandu Valley.

This is a buffer day on the tour in case we can’t fly out on the day before. It’s a free day to explore around the Kathmandu Valley, do some shopping in Thamel or simply to relax on the roof garden of your hotel.  There will be a farewell dinner and cultural show in the evening.

All good things must come to an end, and your trip to Nepal is no exception. Before leaving, why not talk to your representative at Vertcial Expedition about returning to Nepal for your next holiday. The vast majority of people make a return trip to Nepal because they are impressed by not only the beauty, but also the local people.  Vertcial Expedition offers trips into neighboring Tibet, Bhutan and India. Be sure to discuss your interests and plans with them today.