My Amazing Journey to Gokyo Lakes
My Amazing Journey to Gokyo Lakes
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I still can't stop thinking about my Gokyo Lake trek from last summer! This amazing path in Nepal took me to five bright blue lakes and gave me views of four of the world's six highest mountains. The Nepal Tourism Board says about 15,000 people hike to Gokyo each year, but it feels like you have the whole place to yourself most days.
When my plane landed in Lukla at 9,383 feet (2,860 meters), my heart beat fast. I had never been so high up before! The tiny runway made me hold my breath.
"Don't worry," my guide Dorje smiled. "Thousands of planes land here safely every year."
The first two days, we walked through small villages with stone houses. Kids waved at us from doorways. Yaks with bells around their necks passed us on the trail. At night, I slept in tea houses where the walls were thin, but the hot food made me feel warm inside.
On day four, my legs hurt from climbing so many hills. But then I saw the first lake, Gokyo Cho, and forgot all about being tired! The water was so blue it looked fake.
"The lakes get their color from glacier melt," Dorje told me. According to research from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, the Gokyo Lakes system includes six main lakes at heights between 15,400 to 16,400 feet (4,700-5,000 meters).
The hardest day was our hike up Gokyo Ri, a hill that stands 17,575 feet (5,357 meters) tall. The climb took me three hours, and I had to stop every few minutes to catch my breath.
"The air has half the oxygen of sea level here," Dorje said.
But the top! Oh my goodness! I could see Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu all at once. These four mountains are among the six highest on Earth! A study in the Himalayan Journal notes that this view is one of only two places where you can see four 8,000-meter peaks at once.
I took 300 photos, but none of them show how big it all felt. I just sat there with tears in my eyes, not from the cold wind but from how small I felt with those giant mountains all around.
My trip lasted 12 days total. The Sagarmatha National Park, where Gokyo sits, gets over 35,000 visitors yearly according to park records, but most go to Everest Base Camp instead of Gokyo.
If you want to go, bring warm clothes and good boots. Walk slowly. Drink lots of water. And don't forget to look up from the trail to see the magic all around you!
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