Gokyo Lakes

High in the Dudh Kosi valley, west of Everest, a chain of glacial lakes lies in steps between about 4,700 and 5,000 metres. There are nineteen of them in all, spread over close to two square kilometres, and their colour shifts with the light and the season from milky jade to a deep, almost unreal turquoise. To one side runs the enormous grey rubble-covered back of the Ngozumpa Glacier, among the longest in the Himalaya; to the other, the bare slopes of the valley wall. The contrast between the dead-looking moraine and the luminous water is the essence of the place.

The lakes are fed by seepage and streams from the Ngozumpa. The largest and deepest is Thonak Cho, the fourth in the chain, about 65 hectares and more than 60 metres deep; Gokyo Cho, the main lake, is around 43 hectares and 43 metres deep, and the small settlement of Gokyo, a cluster of stone lodges, stands on its eastern shore. In 2007 the lakes and their wetlands were listed under the Ramsar Convention, a recognition of how rare such a high-altitude freshwater system is.

Above the village rises Gokyo Ri, a dark hill of 5,357 metres whose summit is one of the great panoramas of the Himalaya. From the prayer flags at the top, Everest, Makalu and Cho Oyu stand in view at once, with the lakes laid out below and the glacier curving away between them.

The lakes are also sacred. Both Hindus and Buddhists revere them, and during the full-moon festival of Janai Purnima in August, hundreds of Hindu pilgrims come to bathe in the icy water — a striking sight at an altitude where most visitors are simply struggling to breathe.

Getting there

The lakes lie in Sagarmatha National Park, in Solukhumbu District, and are reached only on foot. The usual starting point is Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) at Lukla, about 33 km away as the crow flies, served by small planes from Kathmandu. From Lukla, the trek up through Namche Bazaar to Gokyo and back typically takes around 10 to 14 days, including the acclimatisation days that the altitude demands. The nearest town of any size by straight line is Charikot, about 70 km away, but it is not a practical gateway.