It was my first time Nepal, and
all I was thinking : „I better bring it all with me, maybe I won't be able to get
it over there.“ It's definitely not the way of doing it. Although Nepal isn't economically
the richest country in the world, Katmandu and Pokhara have it all. Especially
the tourist areas. Not only that they have it all, but it is much cheaper. And
no you don't have to worry that your sunscreen ( e.g. ) won't be as good as the
one you can find at home, as long as it is bought in a official pharmacy.
My second worry was that I don't want to spend
too much time searching for all this little things I need to have with me, instead of enjoying my Nepal trip. But even this worry was unjustified, since it
will take no more than a day to cross out every single item from „TO BUY“ list.
Tourist areas are not that big and confusing as it may seem when trying to look
them up online.
No vaccination is mandatory for
Nepal. I personally took HEP A and B, which are always good to have. There is
no Malaria risk in most of the areas, but you can always check directly with
the region you are going to. Taking malaria pills just to feel safe, even if
there is no danger is bad for your body, since malaria medicine is very strong.
Visa is obtained at the border.
Make sure to bring 2 passport photos.
Don't book from home any hotels, day trips,
volunteer or trekking programs, because you'll end up paying 3-4 times more and
it will only make you mad when you find out everybody else is paying so little
for the same thing. There is really no need. It's easy to arrange it yourself
once in Kathmandu.
It's enough to come two days
extra to Kathmandu, at the beginning of the trip. Make all the preparations
which would otherwise be done from home and save yourself quite a bit of money.
PACKING LIST:
-Clothes:
Take clothes which is not revealing ( t-shirts, long pants). You can wear revealing
clothes, but it will no doubt bring too much attention and one my feel really uncomfortable. Plus, it's polite to respect Nepali culture while there.
-Jacket
-Snickers
-Sandals / Flip flops ( or buy them there, 1.20 -1.50 Eur for a
pair of decent flip flops)
-Trekking boots
-Day bag
-Water bottle – it's cheaper to refill than to buy new bottle, and it's ECO (Pokara has refills everywhere)
-Trekking backpack
TOILETRIES:
- Shampoo
- Deodorant
- Lip stuff – buy in Nepal
- Toilet roll – buy in Nepal
- Nail clipper
- Toothbrush / paste
- Sunblock – buy in Nepal (much cheaper)
- Skin cream
- Dental floss
- Mosquito repellent – buy in Nepal (much cheaper)
- Hair brush
- Chlorine drops – for water purification on trek, – buy in
Nepal (much cheaper)
- Ziploc bags
MEDICINE:
-paracetamol
-pain killers
-diarrhea medicine (buy
in Nepal, much cheaper, plus they know what to give you, since it's quite
common among travelers)
OTHER:
- Passport photocopy for day use and some extra for trekking
- 1 Passport
- Plane ticket
- Some Extra photos ( trekking etc. )
- Health insurance details
- Nepal
travel guide ( comes in very handy. You can buy Lonely planet or Rough guide in KTM for 5-6 EUR)
- Deck of cards
- Sleeping bag (if you don't have one
buy it in Pokhara or Kathmandu, it's much cheaper and decent)
- Lighter
- Swiss army knife
- Pens
- Towel
- Flashlight (Head Lamp is a must have since electricity goes off often)
- Lock
ELECTRONICS
- Camera
- Battery Recharger
- Extra battery for camera
- Watch
- USB memory card
- Alarm
clock
