Namaste!
I arrived into Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal at around 1pm on 2nd January 2011. A number of things confused me at first. To start with, I was rather sleep deprived (I had not got much sleep on new years eve and the following night was spent in Singapore airport having landed at 1am!). Then I found out I was required to put my watch back 2 hours and 15 minutes. 15 minutes?!? – Since when did countries decide to have a time difference of a quarter of an hour? Anyway, I came out of the terminal to find several men trying to sell me things and carry my bag. Yes – here I was back in the developing world! Finally, due to the Himalayas, I expected Kathmandu to be some winter wonderland, especially this time of year. Turns out that it’s pretty warm with no snow to be seen.
I soon found Maski, a Nepalese man holding a GAP Adventures sign. I then learnt that Maski would be my tour guide for the entire trek and in the car ride from the airport he told me more of what to expect and what the plans were for the remainder of the day.
Driving through Kathmandu reminded me a lot of the Philippines. No traffic laws, litter all over the streets and homeless people begging. At a set of traffic lights I had to sit in the back of the car and watch two young children tap on the windows of vehicles asking for money. I experienced this for two months in Tacloban but I don’t think it’s every something I’ll grow used to. We finally arrived at the hotel, to find to my surprise that it was actually very nice. It even had free wifi, which is the last time I’d use the internet until returning to Kathmandu.
Later that evening, we had our introduction meeting with Maski. This is where I got to meet the other trekkers who turned out to all be much better equipped than me! I had not even thought of getting a sleeping bag, altitude sickness medication or water purification tablets but don’t worry, as you read on, you’ll soon see that it all worked out! The group consisted of 10 of us and I was the only solo traveller. Maria and Kanut are a young Norwegian couple who live in the mountains and regularly go hiking, however they’ve never done something of this magnitude. Dallas is a 50 year old Australian who trekked to Everest Base Camp 25 years ago. After seeing his 15-year old son Hayden become really interested in mountain trekking, he decided to take him on a trip to Nepal to revisit Everest. Lee, Dallas’ sister, also decided to come. Then there is Sandy and Mandy (no joke!) who are Australian medical students who regularly hike and trek and have climbed a number of mountains including Kilimanjaro. Finally, there is Kerri and Katie, two British theatre performers, who like me, fancied the idea of this crazy challenge.
It soon dawned on me that I didn’t have half of the stuff that was recommended by GAP. At first, I thought all the items on the recommended list were just for precaution and to me it sounded a little bit over kill but hearing that every single other trekker had stuck to the list meticulously worried me a little. I decided that with a lot of things I would have to improvise simply because I wasn’t prepared to splash out ridiculous sums of money. Meanwhile, the things that I felt were essential, I went out and got from a local store. I hired a four season sleeping bag and I managed to purchase a top quality The North Face down jacket for just over £30. I’m no mountain gear expert but from what I’ve heard, this type of jacket would usually cost 5-10 times more in the UK!
After picking up these essentials and getting a well needed meal in my belly, I headed to bed in preparation for a 5:30am start!
Below is the list of the recommended items provided by Gap Adventures and next to each one I have indicated what I have instead!
Binoculars - Didn’t bother with these
Aspirin, Band Aids, Imodium – Yes to all of these!
Protein bars, chocolate, dried fruits etc - Erm..no. But I can buy snacks along the way!
Travel documents - Of course!
Money: travellers cheques/cash/credit card - Goes without saying
Swiss army knife - No
Sleeping Bag (Four Season) – Rented in Kathmandu
Light weight Towel - It’s light weight enough I suppose
Toiletries - Yes
Day pack – It’s no fancy mountain trekking bag but it does the trick
Alarm clock – I have a watch
Torch/flashlight - Yes
Lighter for burning toilet paper - No
Insect repellent – No, my body odour will repel them enough
Water purification tablets – No, I have a robust stomach.
Sunscreen and lip balm – No.
Refillable water bottle – No but Ill buy a big bottle of water and fill it along the way
Beanie with ear flaps or balaclava - Yes
Sunglasses - Yes – but not the kind you’d usually climb mountains with!
Gloves: Wool or fleeced - Both!
Scarf or Sarong: a multitude of uses - Yes
Bag Liners to waterproof your bags - No
Wind and waterproof Jacket & Pants - Yes
Comfortable and sturdy walking shoes - Oh Yes!
Socks: thick wool blend and thin cotton to be worn in combination - Yes
Running shoes or sandals for evening - Nope
Wool jumper / sweater / fleece - I have three hoodies which should do the trick!
Down jackets in winter - Hell Yes!
T Shirts 2 or 3 - Yes
Shirt – Long Sleeved - Yes
Pants - lightweight long trousered - Yes – Bought these in Tokyo
Extra warm clothing during winter: Thermals. Bought these in Tokyo too!
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