What to pack for Nepal

Miscellaneous: Personally I think that in Nepal it is never a good idea to rely entirely on ATM’s as apart form the load-shedding (16 hours a day in April 2010) they can often be either out of order or out of money, also you can often only access relatively small amounts of rupee and so have to effect several withdrawals which often rack up quite large bank charges, So, Personally I always take a wedge of travellers cheques backed up with a small amount of cash.
As to which currency, Take a small amount of US $’s, these are handy to use buying your Visa (I know that theoretically you can buy this with any exchangeable currency, but $’s are the one that the immigration officials are most used to dealing in and you probably get the best deal using them) Buying snacks en-route to Nepal, using for emergency hard cash in Nepal and then you have the possibility to use up any remainder buying duty-free at the end of your trip.
For a little extra back-up / emergency cash, Living in UK, I always take a few £’s, If you live I the US then take $’sand if you live in the Euro-Zone take a few Euros along, In fact most “Hard” currencies can easily be exchanged in Kathmandu.
As for travellers Cheques, I would usually take your home country’s currency where you can, why pay two lots of exchange commission, Unless you can get a better deal in your home country buying $’s / Euro’s that is !!

Good Luck
Rob

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: There are a Lot of things that you can buy Very Cheaply in Kathmandu for your trek, Down Sleeping Bags and Down Jackets, Adequate fleeces, Windstoppers, Waterproof Jackets (They say “Gortex” on the label and invariably aren’t – But they keep you dry enough but don’t expect them to breath !!), Trekking socks and trekking trousers.

Miscellaneous: But
Personally I would buy the following before you set off from Home
Trekking Boots (Make sure that you have broken them in)
Socks – Over the years I have tried varying combinations and have now settled on Thorlo outers and Bridgedale Liners (Socks are available locally but tend to be wool and apart from being difficult to wash, they can mat up and cause blisters)
Rucksacks, You can buy Rucksacks at a fraction of the price in Nepal to what one with a similar label would cost you at home, The problem is however that All these rucksacks tend to be fakes and often fall apart quickly. Also the carrying systems aren’t nearly as good as the genuine item. If you are doing a trek as a one off, then with careful buying then you can get away with a fake (Make sure that the stitching is good and give a good old Hard Tug on the carrying system) But if you are going to be using your rucksack a lot then Personally I buy mine at home !!
Technical underwear should also be bought at home (2 ways to go and down to personal preference, Natural Fibres such as Angora or Technical, Such as Dry-Flow, Polar Tech etc (Both work well, I usually opt for the latter simply because it dries quicker)
I have listed my own personal favourite trekking gear shop under Shopping Tips and have posted my own Nepal Kit List under Packing list tips – Both might be worth a glance.

Happy Trekking
Rob

Miscellaneous: AC was my 1st trek in Nepal and I had so concerns over the quality of mattresses while on a trek so took along a Thermorest – I only used in once, and that was just because I had it with me – Since that 1st trek, I have done EBC / Gokyo form Jiri, Langtang (twice), ABC / Jomsom Combination and short Helambu Circuit and never carried it !!
So – My Own view – Waste of carrying the extra weight / space as after a good days trekking, Personally, I never notice if the mattress is a bit on the “Firm” side.
Good Luck and Happy Trekking
Rob

Luggage and bags: Pack Light (goes without saying!)
An internal framed pack is suitable for any trek in Nepal

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: ** = available to buy cheaply in Nepal

Footwear - Below 3000m Gortex-style boots are suitable. Above, full leather will prove more waterproof and warmer. Remember - dont bring new boots without breaking them in at home first, espeacialy full leather.
Socks - strongly recommend wool socks worn over thin cotton liner socks to prevent blisters. (Ammendment below...)
Fleeces** - One thick, one thin (layers are easier if treking independantly) Long fleece pants for at night.
Waterproofs - Light jacket, trousers & cover for your pack

Ammendment; Advise from GillianMcLaughlin who suggests the new madmade fibre sock now on the market are supperior to those metioned above, keeping feet dry and a little less pongy ! I appologise to previous travelling companions for not having discovered this earlier !
Thanks Gillian.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Water Purifying Tablets - Iodine are the most popular, except I bought Chlorine Tablets as they are cheaper and I am tight! Bottled water available but the bottles are wrecking the environment.

Photo Equipment: Film** - Lots! 100ASA and 200ASA

Miscellaneous: Headlamp - better than a torch
Map holder - type up your route from your guide book & slip a page in with your map for each day to save carrying a book around.
Whistle - emergencies only (or youll have to explain to the Nepali army!)
Trekking Pole**
Waterbottle
Multi-tool knife

Miscellaneous: Insurance is Very Important in Nepal, You need to have a policy that includes High Altitude Trekking (Obviously if you don’t intend trekking then this does not apply) and make sure that it covers “Casivac” (Casualty Evacuation).
Then Once you arrive in Nepal and before you go trekking you Must register your insurance with whoever will “Manage” your rescue.
You have two main options here and although, So far (Luckily) I haven’t need a rescue I have tried both options
1) Register your Insurance with Your Embassy, I did this on my first trek in Nepal and was Less than satisfied, I am from UK and the welcome I received at The British Embassy was unfriendly, and that was after 3 trips there to eventually find them open !! Then later I realised that if I needed rescuing and the embassy was closed then I would have to wait until the embassy re-opened – Particularly over weekends people there might me difficult to contact so this might not the best of options !!

2) Register your Insurance with a Trusted and Reliable Agent, This is easy if you have a Good Agent and especially if you are hiring Guides from them, You have to make a copy of your insurance certificate, point out the emergency telephone numbers, the policy number etc and leave it with him Some agents will also offer you this service if you are buying Lukla Flights, TIMS / ANCAP in advance so it is always worthwhile asking, even if you have to offer reimbursing any expenses the agent incurs with international phone calls etc – It is better that laying in pain – Or worse for days waiting !!
Agents can usually be contacted out of hours as they nearly all have mobile phones so this is my own preferred choice of where I leave my own insurance details.

Then if you need a rescue you contact whoever you have registered your insurance with and ask them to put one into action, they would then telephone the insurance company, giving the details of both the policy and why the rescue was needed and then as soon as the insurance company authorised the rescue they would telephone one of the Himalayan Rescue Associations and if necessary the helicopter would be dispatched.
A word of caution is that the helicopter won’t be dispatched until the Himalayan Rescue Associations are 100% sure that they will receive payment for the rescue

Personally, I have used “Columbus Direct” (08708940005) for my last 2 trips to Nepal and they cover high altitude trekking on recognised paths as well as the usual lost baggage and cancellation clauses etc
My last annual policy with a 60 day trip limit was £99 so not so expensive either.

Prior to using Columbus I was with Direct Travel Insurance and they badly let me down on my 2006 trip to Nepal when the British Government put a warning to travellers out on Nepal.
I rang Direct Travel Insurance to see how my cover was and they said if I chose to go in spite of the British Government put a warning to travellers then I wasn’t covered, They also said that I wasn’t covered if I cancelled my trip because If I cancelled then I was doing so of my own volition and hence no cover – So basically I wasn’t insured if I went and I wasn’t insured if I didn’t go – talk about the Best of both worlds, For the Insurance company that is

2010 Update
I only found out after retuning from my 2010 trip to Nepal that my insurer, Columbus Direct had altered their Annual Policies and neglected to inform me of the fact !!
Now if you are trekking at Altitude you MUST inform them, They will still cover you for Trekking at altitude on recognised routes but this is now an “Extra” and now attracts a loading.
I would have Hate to think wheat would have happened on this trip if I had needed to use my insurance as in effect I wasn’t covered for most of my trekking as I had just renewed my annual policy and even though I had told the sales-lady that, As usual I was trekking at altitude, and as I wasn’t aware of the change in the policy the extra clause hadn’t been added (Nor the extra charge taken)
I hadn’t checked the small print when the policy was issued – Some might say that this was my own fault but Personally I think that Columbus Direct should have informed me of important changes to their policy that affected the cover !!
Buyer Be Aware !!!!!

Good Luck
Rob

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: Another question that I have been asked a few times now is whether you can hire good quality extra long down sleeping bags in Nepal as some of the ones offered are to short for western trekkers.
So I asked Nirmal to go and physically measure some of the ones available for hire at my preferred trekking gear store, Yak Mountain and he confirmed that they have sleeping bags available for hire that are 2 metres long – So these should be long enough for all but the exceptionally tall trekker

For directions to Yak Mountain Please see my Nepal travelogue entitled “A Very Important Decision” and you will see a location map to Nirmal’s office, Yak Mountain is on the next corner to the office, same side of the road in the direction of Durbar Square

Miscellaneous: You won’t have any problems in finding maps in Kathmandu for a fraction of the price that you would be able to get them from “Home”
All popular trekking routes are now well covered with a variety of differing quality maps, shops are open 7 days a week and even in a strike situation you are unlikely to have difficulties obtaining one.

For a downloadable Bodanath Map please see "Other Contacts"

For planning purposes there is now a good website with downloadable maps of reasonable quality on the web address below

For a downloadable map of Bodhnath then please see the link on "Other Contact"

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: If you are going trekking then a water-bottle is a must !!
My own preferred type is a metal one such as a Laken or Sigg
The Big advantage of using one of these is that you can buy your boiled drinking water from the lodge owner last thing in the evening, pop your water-bottle inside a sock and put it inside your sleeping bag.
Then you have both a hot-water bottle for the night and cold drinking water first thing next morning !!
NB – Do Not put Boiling water in these bottles, make sure that the kettle has cooled Slightly before you fill up, Then you won’t have problems !!