When packing for your trip, it's nice to see what others have taken for similar trips. I spent a month trekking around Annapurna, without a guide or porter. I travelled in October and November, which is ideal, because the weather is good. Here's everything I took:
Clothes
- light hiking boots
- sneakers
- wind parka
- pile jacket
- baseball cap
- ski gloves
- long-sleeve shirt
- polo shirt
- 3 TShirts
- blue jeans
- long pants
- 2 shorts
- 5 underpants
- 5 cotton socks
- 1 wool socks
- 1 thin silk sock liners
- belt
- long underwear
Buy There
- wool sweater
- wool hat
- sandals
- TShirt
- light, baggy cotton pants
Rent There
- Sleeping bag
- Down parka
- These cost about 15 cents each per day and are good quality. You'll be wearing shorts at lower elevations, and wearing everything you have at higher elevations.
Packs
- med. size backpack
- small day pack - for Kathmandu or a day hike
- small camera belt pouch
- 4 straps
Hiking supplies
- Therma-rest air mattress
- swiss army knife
- flashlight
- headlamp
- whistle
- compass
- lighter
- water bottle
- insect repellant (deet)
- woolite
- extra camera battery
- extra flashlight battery
Toiletries
- razor, razor blades, shaving cream
- toothbrush, toothpaste
- dental floss
- comb
- nail clipper
- deodorant
- sunscreen
- chapstick
- shampoo
- soap
- toilet paper
- small towel
- earplugs - useful surprisingly often
- moist towelettes
Medication
- tylenol, aspirin, ibuprofen
- antacid
- anti-diarrhetic (immodium)
- anti-histamine (dimetapp)
- powerful antibiotic (ciprofloxacin)
- possible to buy in Nepal, imported from India, quite inexpensive
Emergency Kit
- moleskin
- ace bandage
- band aids
- first aid tape
- sterile gauze pads
- antibiotic cream (neosporin)
- duct tape
- sewing kit
- 2 food bars
- water purification tablets
- I was able to buy bottled water everywhere on the trek
- You could use purification tablets instead if you preferred
- Filtering is not enough because of hepatitis
- waterproof matches
- aluminum emergency blanket
- signalling mirror
- copy of eyeglass prescription
- copy of travelers check numbers
Misc
- passport
- international vaccination certificate
- plane tickets
- extra passport photos for visa and hiking permit
- money belt
- cash and travelers checks
- sunglasses
- 3 pens
- postcards from home
- Nepalis love to look at them; they make good gifts
- inflatable neck pillow
- 20 feet of nylon line
- often comes in handy; use as clothesline or shoelaces
- lock and key for your backpack
- small lock, plus a key on a ring,
- for locking your guest house room
- rubber bands
- 2 large trash bags
- 5 kleenex packets
- 2 air filter masks
- the air in Kathmandu, and on the bus ride to the trek, is incredibly dusty. You'll be glad you have these.
- extra nylon stuff sack
- 35mm camera
- I brought a pocket 35mm camera
- You can't see the mountains in my pictures
- You need some sort of filter to take good pictures of mountains
- camera film
- you can buy film in some of the villages during your trek
- paperback novels
- you can buy these in Kathmandu
- diary
- guidebook
- phrase book
- I took the Lonely Planet phrase book. It wasn't very useful, but when I would stop on the trail for tea, the Nepalis loved to look at it to learn English.
- Two really useful phrases (Nepalis always ask you what town you are hiking to that day, and what town you are coming from)
- I am going to (Ghasa) today: Mo ahdzah (Ghasa) jahn-tsoo
- I am coming from (Ghasa) today: Mo ahdzah (Ghasa) bahto eye-ko
back to ... Nepal Allen Cypher