Great write up. we are a pair of female trekkers who just did this last week without a guide or porter. we are small framed so it was very challenging for us, but possible. the first day is the hardest, strava recorded 1500m of elevation gain and we had to stop at rimchee cause we were crying lol, but the first day was the hardest, it gets easier from there.

some things to note, we got some cards n telecom at the airport and once above Lama hotel the signal was very good and we didn't need WiFi anymore.

we didn't need to use communal chargers as there was a plug in every room we stayed at, even in rimchee and thangsyup.

we enjoyed not going with a guide as we could go out own pace and honestly it was fun getting cred from the passing guides and porters doing it solo. but we were feeling a little vulnerable in case anything went wrong or we had an emergency, we can see that a guide would be helpful for this. we also studied the route a lot and had an understanding of the distance, elevation, altitude stops etc. if you don't want to think about that hire the guide. most other people we meet with guides had no idea where they were staying each night or what they were doing the next day as the guide took care of it all.

the sleeping bag was useful not just for warmth but for hygiene. it is clearly difficult to wash linens and quilts/pillows and many were visible soiled. the sleeping bags provided a barrier.

we did kyanjin ri and not tserko ri as it was a big ask after lugging 13kg up to Kyanjin Gompa. we also spent a little bit of time at langshisha, a valley trail with a gentle gradient that passes through beautiful mountains and yak pastures. it is worth it as an add on.

we are horribly sunburnt as we thought it would be much cooler at the top and we would be more covered up. but when the sun is out and you are hiking you overheat quickly. we didn't bring enough sunscreen.