Mt Everest, (8,848m) the highest mountain on Earth, exerts a magnetic pull on trekkers, mountaineers and armchair adventurers alike. The main trekking routes around Mount Everest – most obviously Everest Basecamp (EBC) – can be busy and over commercialised, but for sheer awe nothing comes close to the trails threading through the Khumbu, the area around Everest.

Most Nepal trekking first timers will be coming for Everest Base Camp and I wouldn't begrudge them a thing. But for my money, the best trek in this region is the Gokyo Lakes trek: with scenery every bit as spectacular as that on the Everest base camp trek but with far fewer crowds, this trek, which leads to a series of high glacial blue lakes, is arguably one of the best in Nepal.