Lucas Evans
Spain
Gokyo Ri Over Kala Patthar, who agree with me?
Came for base camp, left obsessed with gokyo instead. the lakes on day 7 stopped me in my tracks, didn’t expect anything to beat the base camp hype but it did for me personally. cho la pass two days later humbled me fast though, iced over near the top and genuinely a little scary in parts. dzongla after felt like the middle of nowhere in the best way, tiny place, huge mountains everywhere you look. ebc itself, fine, glad i saw it, but if i had to pick one moment from this whole trip it’s gokyo ri at sunrise not kala patthar. controversial opinion probably but it’s mine.
Grant Sutherland
South Africa
16 days away from my kids, worth every one
Left my wife with the kids for over two weeks for this one and felt guilty about it the whole flight over, ha. Namche acclimatization day helped settle my head into trek mode a bit. Gokyo lakes were the first moment I stopped thinking about home and just took it in properly, sat by the biggest lake for a while and video called the kids from there actually, they loved seeing the mountains. Cho La Pass was rough, not gonna undersell it, ice and scrambling and my legs were shaking near the top. Base camp itself was almost anticlimactic after that pass honestly, more about ticking the box than the actual view. Kala Patthar the next morning was the real payoff, best sunrise I’ve ever seen, teared up a little not gonna lie. Coming home to my family after felt different this time, gave me a lot to think about.
Adrian Kowalczyk
Poland
Did EBC Once Before this One’s Even Better
I did the standard EBC trek back in 2019 so I went into this one thinking I knew roughly what to expect. I did not. Adding Gokyo and Cho La completely changes the trip. Gokyo Ri and the turquoise lakes below it are honestly more memorable to me now than base camp itself, which sounds strange to say but it’s true. Cho La Pass on day 9 was the hardest single day I’ve had trekking, loose rock and ice near the top, our guide roped up part of the group for safety which I hadn’t experienced on the regular EBC route. Kala Patthar sunrise the next morning made up for all of it though, same spot I stood in 2019 but this time it felt earned differently. If anyone’s debating standard EBC versus this version, spend the extra days, it’s worth it.