Nepal Trip - Trip Preparation
Nepal Trip - Trip Preparation
The preparation blogpost represents the planning aspect of the trip anytime prior to day 0, the actual travel day itself.
This blogpost was written to document the development of the Nepal trip. The idea and development of the Nepal trip was not a last minute decision. It was an idea in the making for nearly a year. The planning and the development of this trip was nearly or just as important as the trip itself. In fact the planning and the coordination of the trip is part of the trip. We (at least I) enjoyed the planning process just as much as the trip itself.
The concept of traveling or more precisely - trekking in Nepal roughly came to me in the winter of 2017. Jo's dad was ill. We were home and during this time, I began to get into many books and movies in mountaineering.
I don't remember the exact moment that I got into mountaineering books. I guess it was a recommendation from Audible. I recall that I first did the book "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer on Audible.
I would say this is a book that I can alway go back and re-read or re-listen. Jon Krakauer was a free-lance writer for the Magazine "Outside" when this book was published. He got an assignment from the magazine to write about the Himalayan guiding business ventures in Nepal. He was signed on as a client of Rob Hall, a New Zealand mountaineer who has climbed Everest a number of times, to climb Everest as a member of the Adventure Consultants (Rob Hall's mountain guiding company) Team.
Jon was initially going to only write a 5000 word magazine article about Rob Hall's company Adventure Consultant for the Outside Magazine. This article was initially published after his trip to Everest in 1996 but due to the amount of content and the overwhelming story that happened during the 1996 climbing season, Jon's 5000 word article was turned into a full book. In the book, Jon described the hustle and bustles of Kathmandu, the small villages of Lukla or Namche on the way to Everest. There was no better adventure for me than virtually touring the Everest region (Khumbu Nepal to be exact) while I was in my daily routine drive to work.
We subseqently watched the 2015 film "Everest" together during the winter 2017 holiday. This movie was also about the 1996 Everest climbing season tragedy but not based on Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air. Jon Krakauer was portrayed by actor Michael Kelly. The accounts of the 1996 tragedy were portrayed quite differently between Jon's book and the movie Everest. Despite the controversy, the movie Everest had clips showing the city of Kathmandu, the villages of Lukla and Namche. These images continued to stoke my curiosity about the Khumbu region of Nepal.
The preparation blogpost represents the planning aspect of the trip anytime prior to day 0, the actual travel day itself.
This blogpost was written to document the development of the Nepal trip. The idea and development of the Nepal trip was not a last minute decision. It was an idea in the making for nearly a year. The planning and the development of this trip was nearly or just as important as the trip itself. In fact the planning and the coordination of the trip is part of the trip. We (at least I) enjoyed the planning process just as much as the trip itself.
The concept of traveling or more precisely - trekking in Nepal roughly came to me in the winter of 2017. Jo's dad was ill. We were home and during this time, I began to get into many books and movies in mountaineering.
I don't remember the exact moment that I got into mountaineering books. I guess it was a recommendation from Audible. I recall that I first did the book "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer on Audible.
I would say this is a book that I can alway go back and re-read or re-listen. Jon Krakauer was a free-lance writer for the Magazine "Outside" when this book was published. He got an assignment from the magazine to write about the Himalayan guiding business ventures in Nepal. He was signed on as a client of Rob Hall, a New Zealand mountaineer who has climbed Everest a number of times, to climb Everest as a member of the Adventure Consultants (Rob Hall's mountain guiding company) Team.
Jon was initially going to only write a 5000 word magazine article about Rob Hall's company Adventure Consultant for the Outside Magazine. This article was initially published after his trip to Everest in 1996 but due to the amount of content and the overwhelming story that happened during the 1996 climbing season, Jon's 5000 word article was turned into a full book. In the book, Jon described the hustle and bustles of Kathmandu, the small villages of Lukla or Namche on the way to Everest. There was no better adventure for me than virtually touring the Everest region (Khumbu Nepal to be exact) while I was in my daily routine drive to work.
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| Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer |
We subseqently watched the 2015 film "Everest" together during the winter 2017 holiday. This movie was also about the 1996 Everest climbing season tragedy but not based on Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air. Jon Krakauer was portrayed by actor Michael Kelly. The accounts of the 1996 tragedy were portrayed quite differently between Jon's book and the movie Everest. Despite the controversy, the movie Everest had clips showing the city of Kathmandu, the villages of Lukla and Namche. These images continued to stoke my curiosity about the Khumbu region of Nepal.
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| 2015 film "EVEREST" |
We also watched the 1998 IMAX documentary film also titled Everest. The documentary film produced by MacGillivray and Freeman films based in Laguna Beach, California. To digress a bit, MacGillivray and Freeman films was started by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman back in the 1960's to document dare devil surfers of its days. The film studio subsequently evolved into a niche studio that produced many of the adventure type documentaries. You can say that they were the original Youtubers before there was Youtube and action cameras. The 1998 "EVEREST" was shot on the 70 mm film to be shown on IMAX theaters worldwide to provide audience the feeling of actually being on Mount Everest. The crews had to carry heavy equipments and films actually up to Mount Everest for this 45 minute documentary. After trekking in the Khumbu region, I could not comprehend how the crews were able to carry large film equipments up the mountain. Nevertheless, the film provided us some historical context and geographical background of Mount Everest and Nepal.
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| 1998 IMAX Documentary film "EVEREST" produced by MacGillivray and Freeman films |
There are two key characters worth mentioning in both the 2015 EVEREST and the 1998 EVEREST - Ed Viesturs and Anatoli Boukreev. Ed Viesturs is an American mountaineer who holds the record of being the only American who has successfully summited all fourteen 8000 meters peaks in the world. Ed was featured in the 1998 film as the lead guide and climbed mount Everest without using supplemental oxygen. Ed was also featured in the 2015 film played by Clive Standen. Ed was part of the "IMAX team" that was also trying to ascend mount Everest during the same 1996 climbing season when many of the climbers died. Ed was one of the key rescuers of many of the climbers during the 1996 climbing season. Ed is still listed an active guide at mountaineering company RMI based in Ashford, Washington, at the foothill of Mount Rainier.
Anatoli Boukreev was a Russian Kazakhstan mountaineer who was part of Scott Fischer's "Mountain Madness" team during the 1996 climbing season. He was also climbing without supplemental oxygen. However, as a mountain guide his decision to climb without using supplemental oxygen stirred some controversy. Anatoli's guiding technique and his decision not to use supplemental oxygen was brought up by Jon Krakauer in "Into Thin Air". Anatoli tragically passed away in an expedition to Annapurna I in Nepal during the following 1997 climbing season. Anatoli was also a key rescuer of climbers during the 1996 climbing season.
Ed Viesturs subsequently wrote several books on his mountaineering endeavors. I did a number of these books on Audible as well. These books include "No Shortcuts to the Top", "K2", and "The Will to Climb". "No Shortcuts" and "The Will to Climb" were accounts of all his mountaineering expeditions. "K2" was about his expedition to world's second tallest peak - "K2". "K2" was the most interesting book among the three books that I did on Audible. It went into great details on the climbing history of K2 and Ed's own account of his climbing with parter Scott Fischer.
Anatoli also published his own account of the 1996 tragedy in the book "The Climb: Tragic Ambition on Everest" published in 1999. This book offered a different account than Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air.
I learned about Nepal trekking in these books and movies. I learned that people visit the Everest region without climbing Everest. This concept of going to Everest as a tourist or as a "trekker" truly intrigued me. These books and movies also provided me contexts and details of how to plan an actual mountaineering trip and a trip to Everest. I was not planning a mountaineering trip but I was able to learn quite a bit on key locations on the way to Everest such as Kathmandu, Lukla, Phakding, and Namche. I learned about the Sherpa people and how important the Sherpas in working with the trekkers and climbers in Everest. These books and movies also provided me the motivation to plan such as trip to a location not only with un-rivaled natural beauty but also with so many stories and tragic characters.
During early spring, around March timeframe of 2018, my motivation was strong enough to begin researching on the feasibility of taking my entire family to the Everest region.
Yeti Mountain Home
I began my research by looking at web sites of major adventure tour companies such as RMI (https://www.rmiguides.com). RMI offered guided trek to Everest basecamp. Most treks to Everest are typically offered during spring and fall. During spring and fall, the temperature at higher elevation is not as cold as winter and are most suitable for trekking. Trekking in the Everest region is typically not advised during summer since summer is the monsoon season. Based on researching the climate in the Everest or Khumbu, I realized that I could not make Everest a summer trip. Since the kids are in school, I could not afford to go to a three week Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek during spring and fall.
This left me with winter, specifically winter break for this potential trip. I further researched about the past average temperature in Khumbu, specifically Namche Bazaar. From bar graph below, December presented the lowest average temperature at slightly above 0 C or 32F. I also learned that December presented the lowest precipitation during the year. Comparing to peak trekking month of November, December appears to be only slightly colder. Therefore, based on looking at average temperature and rainfall, I concluded that December is a feasible month to visit Khumbu. Later I realized that I was only partially correct on this assertion on the weather in Khumbu.
Getting back to the topic of trekking itinerary, I concluded that I would like to make it Tengbouche. Tengbouche has one of the oldest monasteries in the Khumbu region, and it offered one of the greatest views of the big peaks - Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam.
My initial itinerary looked something like below:
day 1: fly into Kathmandu from LA
day 2: rest or cultural day at Kathmandu
day 3: fly to Lukla, trek to Phakding
day 4: trek from Phakding to Namche
day 5: rest day at Namche
day 6: rest day at Namche
day 7: trek to Tengbouche
day 8: rest at Tengbouche
day 9: trek back from Tengbouche to Namche
day 10: trek from Namche to Phakding
day 11: trek from Phakding to Lukla
day 12: fly back to Kathmandu
day 13: free day at Kathmandu
day 14: fly back to LA
I began to research for a trekking outfit that can potentially offer this itinerary. I found lots of trekking companies in Nepal but the problem was that I did not know which one to go with. I also attempt to cost this trip out a la carte. Based on my crude cost estimate, my cost was exceeding the cost posted by REI or RMI. I realized that had to work with an outfit to make this trip happen.
Somehow I began to research on lodging along the trek. I know that the lodges along the trek are called tea houses. The trek in the Khumbu region would also be called tea house trekking. I was not entirely certain what a tea house is. From the youtube videos that I looked at they seemed like real basic rooms with two twin size beds and some of them do not have private bathrooms. Knowing the standards of my travel companions, I realize that I these type of "hotel rooms" would likely not work. I further searched on hotels and somehow found Yeti Mountain Home (https://yetimountainhome.com).
Anatoli Boukreev was a Russian Kazakhstan mountaineer who was part of Scott Fischer's "Mountain Madness" team during the 1996 climbing season. He was also climbing without supplemental oxygen. However, as a mountain guide his decision to climb without using supplemental oxygen stirred some controversy. Anatoli's guiding technique and his decision not to use supplemental oxygen was brought up by Jon Krakauer in "Into Thin Air". Anatoli tragically passed away in an expedition to Annapurna I in Nepal during the following 1997 climbing season. Anatoli was also a key rescuer of climbers during the 1996 climbing season.
Ed Viesturs subsequently wrote several books on his mountaineering endeavors. I did a number of these books on Audible as well. These books include "No Shortcuts to the Top", "K2", and "The Will to Climb". "No Shortcuts" and "The Will to Climb" were accounts of all his mountaineering expeditions. "K2" was about his expedition to world's second tallest peak - "K2". "K2" was the most interesting book among the three books that I did on Audible. It went into great details on the climbing history of K2 and Ed's own account of his climbing with parter Scott Fischer.
Anatoli also published his own account of the 1996 tragedy in the book "The Climb: Tragic Ambition on Everest" published in 1999. This book offered a different account than Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air.
I learned about Nepal trekking in these books and movies. I learned that people visit the Everest region without climbing Everest. This concept of going to Everest as a tourist or as a "trekker" truly intrigued me. These books and movies also provided me contexts and details of how to plan an actual mountaineering trip and a trip to Everest. I was not planning a mountaineering trip but I was able to learn quite a bit on key locations on the way to Everest such as Kathmandu, Lukla, Phakding, and Namche. I learned about the Sherpa people and how important the Sherpas in working with the trekkers and climbers in Everest. These books and movies also provided me the motivation to plan such as trip to a location not only with un-rivaled natural beauty but also with so many stories and tragic characters.
During early spring, around March timeframe of 2018, my motivation was strong enough to begin researching on the feasibility of taking my entire family to the Everest region.
Yeti Mountain Home
I began my research by looking at web sites of major adventure tour companies such as RMI (https://www.rmiguides.com). RMI offered guided trek to Everest basecamp. Most treks to Everest are typically offered during spring and fall. During spring and fall, the temperature at higher elevation is not as cold as winter and are most suitable for trekking. Trekking in the Everest region is typically not advised during summer since summer is the monsoon season. Based on researching the climate in the Everest or Khumbu, I realized that I could not make Everest a summer trip. Since the kids are in school, I could not afford to go to a three week Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek during spring and fall.
This left me with winter, specifically winter break for this potential trip. I further researched about the past average temperature in Khumbu, specifically Namche Bazaar. From bar graph below, December presented the lowest average temperature at slightly above 0 C or 32F. I also learned that December presented the lowest precipitation during the year. Comparing to peak trekking month of November, December appears to be only slightly colder. Therefore, based on looking at average temperature and rainfall, I concluded that December is a feasible month to visit Khumbu. Later I realized that I was only partially correct on this assertion on the weather in Khumbu.
I began to further research on Kathmandu, Lukla, and other villages along the way to Everest Base Camp. I looked at RMI's itinerary and began to study the trekking distance and elevation from stop to stop. I realized that I do not have the time needed to make it to Everest Base Camp during the winter break since I only had two weeks. I began to contemplate on the possibility of customizing the EBC trek itinerary. I began to look around on other adventure travel companies such as REI. REI also offered trek to EBC. However, neither RMI or REI offered customized itinerary and the actual EBC itinerary will not work for us from an elevation (exceeding 4000 meters) time frame (greater than two weeks), and budget (greater than $5000 pp) perspective.
Knowing that Nepal has one of the lowest GDPs in Asia, I was surprised by how much both RMI and REI were charging the trekkers. The average per person cost to EBC is generally listed as around $5000 US. This is an incredibly high cost for a family of four. I was completely dissatisfied with the cost posted by both REI or RMI.
Getting back to the topic of trekking itinerary, I concluded that I would like to make it Tengbouche. Tengbouche has one of the oldest monasteries in the Khumbu region, and it offered one of the greatest views of the big peaks - Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam.
My initial itinerary looked something like below:
day 1: fly into Kathmandu from LA
day 2: rest or cultural day at Kathmandu
day 3: fly to Lukla, trek to Phakding
day 4: trek from Phakding to Namche
day 5: rest day at Namche
day 6: rest day at Namche
day 7: trek to Tengbouche
day 8: rest at Tengbouche
day 9: trek back from Tengbouche to Namche
day 10: trek from Namche to Phakding
day 11: trek from Phakding to Lukla
day 12: fly back to Kathmandu
day 13: free day at Kathmandu
day 14: fly back to LA
I began to research for a trekking outfit that can potentially offer this itinerary. I found lots of trekking companies in Nepal but the problem was that I did not know which one to go with. I also attempt to cost this trip out a la carte. Based on my crude cost estimate, my cost was exceeding the cost posted by REI or RMI. I realized that had to work with an outfit to make this trip happen.
Somehow I began to research on lodging along the trek. I know that the lodges along the trek are called tea houses. The trek in the Khumbu region would also be called tea house trekking. I was not entirely certain what a tea house is. From the youtube videos that I looked at they seemed like real basic rooms with two twin size beds and some of them do not have private bathrooms. Knowing the standards of my travel companions, I realize that I these type of "hotel rooms" would likely not work. I further searched on hotels and somehow found Yeti Mountain Home (https://yetimountainhome.com).
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| Yeti Mountain Home Web Site |
I was immediately sold. I told myself that is where I am going to stay on this trek. They also offer customized itinerary! YMH is also a chain in the Khumbu region. It had hotels in Lukla, Phakding, Namche, and few other villages that I had not heard of - Monjo, Khonde, and Thame.
I contacted YHM in March 25, 2018.
I received a response from Ms. Pasang Lamu Sherpa, Sales and Operation Manager of YMH the same day. I was impressed with the promptness and professionalisms of the service right away. I had a good feeling of working with this hotel company.
Pasang provided an itinerary in a professionally typed letter. Typically trekkers in EBC would go directly from Phakding to Namche in one day. I thought that distance and elevation change was more than our family hike experience. In the very early itinerary I had worked with Pasang for a resting night at Monjo between Phakding and Namche. This resting night at Monjo turned out to be one of the better decisions that I made during the planning phase of the trip.
Jo and I were impressed with the professionalism. She was prompt, responsive, and understood our needs. Through a few emails, I pretty much nailed down our final itinerary.Pasang provided an itinerary in a professionally typed letter. Typically trekkers in EBC would go directly from Phakding to Namche in one day. I thought that distance and elevation change was more than our family hike experience. In the very early itinerary I had worked with Pasang for a resting night at Monjo between Phakding and Namche. This resting night at Monjo turned out to be one of the better decisions that I made during the planning phase of the trip.
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| Initial itinerary from YMH |
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| Final Trek Itinerary |
I signed the initial contract in April. The second paragraph in the contract had really caught my attention.
The overall trek price per person is a fraction of what REI or RMI posted. It is not as cheap as some of the other outfits had advertised, but I really liked their hotels. I figured that I could enjoy not only the trek but also the hotels as well. I had the basic plan in motion in April 2018.
Preparation
We had to prepare ourselves in several aspects for this trip - health, conditioning, clothes and gear (including packing gear).
From what I learned on this trip, each trekking group has different needs. One cannot simply generalize what is needed for a Nepal trek. What is needed is based on the trekking group.
We are a family of four with two teen and pre-teen children. Our needs and capability would be very different from another trekking group consist of young adults all in their 20's.
Health
Vaccination
The main aspect we had to prepare from a health perspective is vaccination. We ended up using Passport Health Tustin Travel Clinic. Based on consultation at the clinic, the following vaccination are needed for us: Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, and Tetanus. We discussed about Japanese Encephalitis but due to the high elevation we decided the chances are low. So we opted out on Japanese Encephalitis. It was also extremely costly to get this shot.
Some shots some of us already got before, so below are the shots that we got for this trip.
The kids got:
Typhoid
I got the following shots:
Typhoid, Hepatitis A, B, and Tetanus
Jo got the following shots:
Typhoid, Hepatitis A and B
These shots still costed us an arm and leg. This company does not bill insurance either. I was not happy with the overall cost. Later when we went to Costco to get our flu shots we found out that Costco also does Travel Vaccination. We would advise anyone who intends to travel to Asia to get their vaccinations done at Costco.
We got our vaccinations done during early fall, several months before our trip.
Managing Water and Food
Based on numerous research that we have done, it is not advised to drink the tap water out of the sink or use the tap water to brush our teeth. We stuck to this rule. We did not drink or use any tap water to brush our teeth. Our Kathmandu hotel - Hotel Yak and Yeti provided ample bottle waters for us to drink and to brush our teeth with. During the trek, we ended up using boiled water to drink and brush our teeth. During the entire duration of the trek we only purchased one bottle of bottled water. During the entire duration at Nepal, we never got sick from using water. You can wash your hands with tap water and that is not an issue.
Based on numerous research, eating uncooked food or cut fruit is also not advised. It is advised to eat only cooked food. We stuck to this rule as well and never got sick from the food either. During the trek, YMH served organic salad which looked delicious. Unfortunately we had to let it go to waste without using it. We met this one boy from New York City at Namche and he told us that he got sick from eating some uncooked vegetables at Kathmandu. He had to be carried up to Namche by a horse due to his sickness.
We brought water purification tablets (Aquatabs) for emergency purpose only. We did not use it and returned it after the trip.
Jo had no expectation of the food at Nepal so we brought a lot of extra food including Cup O'Noodle, jerky, and variety of dry carb snacks. We definitely brought way too much extra food. We had to borrow two extra light weight duffle bags from YMH to carry all of our food. In fact, we had great food in both Kathmandu and Khumbu. Our recommendation is to bring some jerky to the trek since there's very little fresh meat along the trek. A gallon worth of dry trail snack per person should be adequate. We ended up leaving all of the food that we did not use with our trekking guide Mingma Sherpa.
It is worth noting that there is generally no fresh meat in the Khumbu region. We visited the Bazaar at Namche and the meat is carried up by porters and exposed to ambient air. However, YMH did serve some meat at a number of meals. We did request to visit the YMH kitchen at least at Phakding and saw that it had a refrigerator. We would say that at YMH lodges, eating meat is ok. However one should avoid meat in general during the trek.
We brought Travelan (natural colostrum dietary supplement). We did not use it and returned it after the trip.
Medicines
The most essential medicines that we brought was Azithromycin. We got two type of dosage configurations. One dosage configuration was for cold/flu and another dosage configuration was for stomach upset. We had a real hard time getting it for MM since she is under 10. However, due to a cough that she had before our trek, we were able to obtain the proper dosage of Azithromycin from Urgent Care/Pharmacy. We brought a number of over the counter medications and we did use some for MM and ourselves. We used over the counter Ibuprofen to combat mild headache or joint pain. We also took Delsym to help MM relief her cough.
Personal Hygiene
Toilet tissue to go - individually packaged toilet paper tissue for going to bathroom on the trail. This item turned out to be only moderately useful since we did not end up going #2 on the trail.
Hothands Hand warmers - we used this item a lot during the trek to keep our bare hands warm. This is a life saver item for us.
Equate baby Everyday Clean Wipes - we have been using baby wipes since our kids were born. We continued to use them. We will probably continue to use them forever.
Clorox Disinfecting Wipes To Go Pack - we did not use this at all. It was deadweight for us.
Kleenex individual pack - we carried it in our day packs. We used it moderately. It slowed us down on our trek to use Kleenex.
Female Hygiene product - bring it if it will be that time. It's not an item you want to shop for in Kathmandu.
Physical Conditioning
Since we had been hiking with our kids within the last few years, I had been conscious of the distance, elevation change, and overall height of the hikes we have been on.
Prior to Nepal, the highest elevation that we have physically hiked was in Mammoth Lakes. We reached about 9,600 feet in elevation. We had done several hikes with 1,000 to 1,500 feet in elevation change such as Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree, Mist Trail in Yosemite, Yosemite Falls to Columbia Rock. In the summer season, we had done a longer alpine hike in Mount Rainier National Park - the Skyline Trail. As a family our maximum trekking distance is about 6 miles in a hot day and can probably stretch to 8 to 10 miles in cooler days.
Jo and I kept our daily walks around our neighborhood which is about a 2.5 mile loop. The kids walked with this every evening during the summer and fall season.
The trek distance and elevation that I had planned was around our distance and elevation from our past hikes. I was fairly certain as a family we had the physical conditioning to complete the trek. I also know if we trek slowly, we would be able to acclimatize to the higher altitude.
Clothes and Gear
Preparation
We had to prepare ourselves in several aspects for this trip - health, conditioning, clothes and gear (including packing gear).
From what I learned on this trip, each trekking group has different needs. One cannot simply generalize what is needed for a Nepal trek. What is needed is based on the trekking group.
We are a family of four with two teen and pre-teen children. Our needs and capability would be very different from another trekking group consist of young adults all in their 20's.
Health
Vaccination
The main aspect we had to prepare from a health perspective is vaccination. We ended up using Passport Health Tustin Travel Clinic. Based on consultation at the clinic, the following vaccination are needed for us: Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, and Tetanus. We discussed about Japanese Encephalitis but due to the high elevation we decided the chances are low. So we opted out on Japanese Encephalitis. It was also extremely costly to get this shot.
Some shots some of us already got before, so below are the shots that we got for this trip.
The kids got:
Typhoid
I got the following shots:
Typhoid, Hepatitis A, B, and Tetanus
Jo got the following shots:
Typhoid, Hepatitis A and B
These shots still costed us an arm and leg. This company does not bill insurance either. I was not happy with the overall cost. Later when we went to Costco to get our flu shots we found out that Costco also does Travel Vaccination. We would advise anyone who intends to travel to Asia to get their vaccinations done at Costco.
We got our vaccinations done during early fall, several months before our trip.
Managing Water and Food
Based on numerous research that we have done, it is not advised to drink the tap water out of the sink or use the tap water to brush our teeth. We stuck to this rule. We did not drink or use any tap water to brush our teeth. Our Kathmandu hotel - Hotel Yak and Yeti provided ample bottle waters for us to drink and to brush our teeth with. During the trek, we ended up using boiled water to drink and brush our teeth. During the entire duration of the trek we only purchased one bottle of bottled water. During the entire duration at Nepal, we never got sick from using water. You can wash your hands with tap water and that is not an issue.
Based on numerous research, eating uncooked food or cut fruit is also not advised. It is advised to eat only cooked food. We stuck to this rule as well and never got sick from the food either. During the trek, YMH served organic salad which looked delicious. Unfortunately we had to let it go to waste without using it. We met this one boy from New York City at Namche and he told us that he got sick from eating some uncooked vegetables at Kathmandu. He had to be carried up to Namche by a horse due to his sickness.
We brought water purification tablets (Aquatabs) for emergency purpose only. We did not use it and returned it after the trip.
Jo had no expectation of the food at Nepal so we brought a lot of extra food including Cup O'Noodle, jerky, and variety of dry carb snacks. We definitely brought way too much extra food. We had to borrow two extra light weight duffle bags from YMH to carry all of our food. In fact, we had great food in both Kathmandu and Khumbu. Our recommendation is to bring some jerky to the trek since there's very little fresh meat along the trek. A gallon worth of dry trail snack per person should be adequate. We ended up leaving all of the food that we did not use with our trekking guide Mingma Sherpa.
It is worth noting that there is generally no fresh meat in the Khumbu region. We visited the Bazaar at Namche and the meat is carried up by porters and exposed to ambient air. However, YMH did serve some meat at a number of meals. We did request to visit the YMH kitchen at least at Phakding and saw that it had a refrigerator. We would say that at YMH lodges, eating meat is ok. However one should avoid meat in general during the trek.
We brought Travelan (natural colostrum dietary supplement). We did not use it and returned it after the trip.
Medicines
The most essential medicines that we brought was Azithromycin. We got two type of dosage configurations. One dosage configuration was for cold/flu and another dosage configuration was for stomach upset. We had a real hard time getting it for MM since she is under 10. However, due to a cough that she had before our trek, we were able to obtain the proper dosage of Azithromycin from Urgent Care/Pharmacy. We brought a number of over the counter medications and we did use some for MM and ourselves. We used over the counter Ibuprofen to combat mild headache or joint pain. We also took Delsym to help MM relief her cough.
Personal Hygiene
Toilet tissue to go - individually packaged toilet paper tissue for going to bathroom on the trail. This item turned out to be only moderately useful since we did not end up going #2 on the trail.
Hothands Hand warmers - we used this item a lot during the trek to keep our bare hands warm. This is a life saver item for us.
Equate baby Everyday Clean Wipes - we have been using baby wipes since our kids were born. We continued to use them. We will probably continue to use them forever.
Clorox Disinfecting Wipes To Go Pack - we did not use this at all. It was deadweight for us.
Kleenex individual pack - we carried it in our day packs. We used it moderately. It slowed us down on our trek to use Kleenex.
Female Hygiene product - bring it if it will be that time. It's not an item you want to shop for in Kathmandu.
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| Toilet tissue to go |
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| HotHands Handwarmer |
Physical Conditioning
Since we had been hiking with our kids within the last few years, I had been conscious of the distance, elevation change, and overall height of the hikes we have been on.
Prior to Nepal, the highest elevation that we have physically hiked was in Mammoth Lakes. We reached about 9,600 feet in elevation. We had done several hikes with 1,000 to 1,500 feet in elevation change such as Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree, Mist Trail in Yosemite, Yosemite Falls to Columbia Rock. In the summer season, we had done a longer alpine hike in Mount Rainier National Park - the Skyline Trail. As a family our maximum trekking distance is about 6 miles in a hot day and can probably stretch to 8 to 10 miles in cooler days.
Jo and I kept our daily walks around our neighborhood which is about a 2.5 mile loop. The kids walked with this every evening during the summer and fall season.
The trek distance and elevation that I had planned was around our distance and elevation from our past hikes. I was fairly certain as a family we had the physical conditioning to complete the trek. I also know if we trek slowly, we would be able to acclimatize to the higher altitude.
Clothes and Gear
Duffle bags
Since we know that our luggages will either be carried by pack animals or porters, we know we had to use duffle bags instead of suitcases.
Based on our prior trip, we know that we could live out of our 4 carry on suitcases for two weeks. So what I had to do is to replace the four suitcases with duffles. What I finally decided to get was two large (95 L) "Base Camp Duffle" from The North Face via REI.
I also took along the GoPro Hero 6 Black that I purchased from Costco on a sale. The Hero 6 was a 2017 release. Since the Hero 7 came out already, the price of the Hero 6 had dropped. The use of the GoPro is quite limited in my opinion. The sensor on the GoPro is just too small to have any real use in low light setting. However, it is very good in bright day light when there is action happening. I guess this is the design intent of the GoPro. The GoPro Hero 6 Black is capable of shooting 1080P at 240 frames per second. This is a super slow motion frame rate that would allow the footage to be slowed down by 8x. I only used the GoPro for certain specific shots in the day with some type of action. The light weight construct of the GoPro can also act as a back up camera when my main camera fails. It is weather proof so if I really want to shoot in a more difficult condition I could use it.
My iPhone 7 was also acting as a main documentary camera and video camera. While the G9X MII provided much better images and video quality than the iPhone 7, the iPhone 7 allowed even faster capture of certain key moments that I did not have time to turn on my camera. I shot with the iPhone 7 a lot for both still and videos. We opted not to upgrade to the iPhone XR or XS before we went on our trip since I already have a pretty good stand-alone camera.
I also carried along a small Joby Gorilla Pod 1K. This is a light weight tripod that weighs almost nothing. The small tripod combined with the time-lapse feature of the G9XMII provided me time-lapses videos that I really enjoyed taking as well as viewing.
The total weight of all my camera gear is less than the lens weight of my DSLR.
Since we know that our luggages will either be carried by pack animals or porters, we know we had to use duffle bags instead of suitcases.
Based on our prior trip, we know that we could live out of our 4 carry on suitcases for two weeks. So what I had to do is to replace the four suitcases with duffles. What I finally decided to get was two large (95 L) "Base Camp Duffle" from The North Face via REI.
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| "Base Camp Duffle" Large (95L) from the North Face |
I chose the 95L size to essentially replace two of the suitcases with one duffle. Each of our carry on suitcase is approximately 45L. So if I use two 95L duffles, it should be equivalent to 4 carry on suitcases. This turned out to be the right assumption. The North Face Base Camp duffle was very sturdy and it certainly had no issues being tossed around. The only difficulty was that the main zipper was somewhat difficult to open and close. It took some effort to close the bag up. But it turned out to be sturdy travel companion for us. It had the shoulder straps which was easy for our porters to carry. I would definitely continue to use this bag for future trips. We know we will have two porters so having two duffles would not incur excessive weight for the trek porters. We also later learned that trek porters are different from full time porters in their load carrying capacity. The trek porters typically do not carry more than 20 kg and the full time porters may carry up to 50 kg. So one has to be conscious of the total load per porter when packing if porters are used.
Backpacks
For Jo and I we used a 40L pack. We believe the 40L pack had ample room to store our layering system. The kids carried only a 25L pack. We were all using the REI Trail series. We had purchased them on prior trips. The feature that I used the most of the pack was the meshed and padded waist zipper pockets. I put items that I need access quickly there such as cameras, lip balm, and lotions.
Clothes
Below is a list that we got from Pasang Sherpa.
Some clothing items are highly recommended for Kathmandu and for the trek. A good quality buff will help keep dust out of your face to prevent the "Khumbu cough". A buff will also help keep you warm since it acts like a scarf and covers the exposed part of your neck to prevent heat loss.
YMH also provided us woolen hats. This item we did not have and it turned out to be incredibly useful to keep us warm.
Gears
We used the following gears
-headlight: we had two and they were mainly used in public bathroom stalls along the trek
-flashlight: we used it at the lodge rooms. The lights can be inadequate but having a flush light next to the bed helped tremendously.
-trekking poles: they were provided by YMH. We did not have to bring them.
-Travel Plug Adapters: I purchased the Ceptic Travel adapter 2 packs of 12 pack that included all the heads (I needed two sets since we had two twin occupancy rooms). I figure I can always use these other heads in the future. I brought the D and the M heads to Nepal and I used both of them. I made a mistake of not taking type C to Nepal. I figured type C is the European plug why would I need it in Nepal? It turned out that even though type C is never the electrical socket on the wall, many hotels already use extension cords with type C outlet. This is designed for European tourists in mind. This set is bulky and not "smart". There are other smarter all in one travel plugs. I just did not have the time to fully research and play with all the adapters. I chose the dumb ones that I know would work for sure.
-external battery charger: I purchased the RAVPOWER 16750 man portable charger. This was a device that performed extremely well along the trek. It did not take long to fully charge this device and it easily charged two iPhones (we have the iPhone 7) to full charge while we were around the lodge. It charged our phone quickly and allowed multiple charging of our phones. It also allowed pass through charging which I hooked this up to the USB charger it the USB charger was charging this external charger as well as devices connected to this external charger. I actually carried this external charger in my backpack just in case I needed to charge my camera and phones on the trek. One should be aware that if a plane connection through China is made, all portable chargers need to be in a carry on luggage and examined by airport security. There was a certain limit on the power of the portable charger and this one below did not have any issues with the Chinese authority.
Backpacks
For Jo and I we used a 40L pack. We believe the 40L pack had ample room to store our layering system. The kids carried only a 25L pack. We were all using the REI Trail series. We had purchased them on prior trips. The feature that I used the most of the pack was the meshed and padded waist zipper pockets. I put items that I need access quickly there such as cameras, lip balm, and lotions.
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| REI Trail 40 |
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| REI Trail 25 |
Clothes
Below is a list that we got from Pasang Sherpa.
We ended up taking the following items per person on the trek:
-sweat wicking T-shirt or Tank Top (one gallon bag full)
-daily under wear
-two sets of wool or synthetic thermal layers (top and bottom)
-two sets of wool liner socks and hiking socks
-two pairs of hiking pants
-one fleece jacket
-one synthetic or down outer jacket
-gloves
-high top hiking boots
-hats
-rain coats with fleece liner
-comfortable one set of "camp outfit" to change to when in lodge
-buff
We have most of the cloths from our prior trips. The most tricky part about this packing list is the down jacket. A true down jacket is a very expensive purchase. It is very difficult to justify purchasing a down jacket for a one time trip. With the exception of Jo, all of us trekked with our synthetic down jackets. It worked fine even when we trekked in mild snow fall on the way to Namche. Our own body heat kept us warm. We saw other folks worn various type of down outer jackets but it really depends on the individual's comfort level and the cold protection needed. If the weather truly calls out the maximum protection of a high quality down jacket, then perhaps one should just shelter in place and not move forward until the weather clears. Being flexible or plan flexibility is one of the key things that I learned from the trek.
YMH provided Crocs for us at the lodge so we can walk around comfortably around the lodge. It's a good idea to check with the trekking outfit and find out if Crocs are provided at the hosting lodge so you do not have to bring them. We saw other trekkers brought more fancy camp footwear as well.
Some clothing items are highly recommended for Kathmandu and for the trek. A good quality buff will help keep dust out of your face to prevent the "Khumbu cough". A buff will also help keep you warm since it acts like a scarf and covers the exposed part of your neck to prevent heat loss.
YMH also provided us woolen hats. This item we did not have and it turned out to be incredibly useful to keep us warm.
Gears
We used the following gears
-headlight: we had two and they were mainly used in public bathroom stalls along the trek
-flashlight: we used it at the lodge rooms. The lights can be inadequate but having a flush light next to the bed helped tremendously.
-trekking poles: they were provided by YMH. We did not have to bring them.
-Travel Plug Adapters: I purchased the Ceptic Travel adapter 2 packs of 12 pack that included all the heads (I needed two sets since we had two twin occupancy rooms). I figure I can always use these other heads in the future. I brought the D and the M heads to Nepal and I used both of them. I made a mistake of not taking type C to Nepal. I figured type C is the European plug why would I need it in Nepal? It turned out that even though type C is never the electrical socket on the wall, many hotels already use extension cords with type C outlet. This is designed for European tourists in mind. This set is bulky and not "smart". There are other smarter all in one travel plugs. I just did not have the time to fully research and play with all the adapters. I chose the dumb ones that I know would work for sure.
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| Ceptics GP-12PK International Travel Plug |
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| RAVPOWER 16750 mAH portable charger |
-USB Charger: I purchased the RAVPOWER 12A 6-port USB charger. I used this 6-port charger to charge all electronic devices at the hotel and lodges. The good thing about this 6-port charger is that it has a 5 ft detachable power cord. This 5 ft power cord is extremely convenient when the wall charging location is often located behind a bed, below a desk, or low on the wall. This 5 ft extension gave me plenty of reach to put the charging station on a table while the plug is extended several feet away. I used this device along with the portable charger with pass through charging so I was able to charge up to 7 devices at the same time. With three phones, two watches, and one camera, I needed the 6 port charging station.
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| RAVPOWER 12A 6-port USB charger |
-camera: I have a large full frame DSLR (Canon 6D) but I did not bring it to the trek. I needed to save as much weight as I can either in my backpack or the duffle bags. I ended up purchasing a smaller camera - the Canon PowerShot G9X Mark II. I used this camera on another prior trip. This camera can be charged via USB which is incredible convenient. The battery life was great despite some of the reviews on line. It does not have a screen that flips up so it is not designed as a vlogging camera per se. However, it had features that I really liked which is the time-lapse feature. It took a 10 second time lapse video with simply a click of a button. It took 1080p video with 24, 30 and 60 fps. It has zoom range from 28 to 84 mm equivalent with f2.0/f4.9. I have to say that I mostly shot this opened wide at f2.0 and 28mm. I did use the zoom but only for limited shots such as Himalayan peaks from the plane. Overall, I chose this camera for portability. It has the lightest weight in its class (the 1" sensor class). It fits in my pant pocket easily. It competed head on against the Sony RX 100 series. With its price point, portability and ease of use, I highly recommend this camera for travelers. I really enjoyed using it. I can write another separate blog just on this camera alone. If you are not on a National Geographic assignment to Nepal, I would say leave the DSLR at home. I got this camera on Black Friday sale at Samy's camera in Costa Mesa California.
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| Canon G9X MII |
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| GoPro Hero6 Black |
My iPhone 7 was also acting as a main documentary camera and video camera. While the G9X MII provided much better images and video quality than the iPhone 7, the iPhone 7 allowed even faster capture of certain key moments that I did not have time to turn on my camera. I shot with the iPhone 7 a lot for both still and videos. We opted not to upgrade to the iPhone XR or XS before we went on our trip since I already have a pretty good stand-alone camera.
I also carried along a small Joby Gorilla Pod 1K. This is a light weight tripod that weighs almost nothing. The small tripod combined with the time-lapse feature of the G9XMII provided me time-lapses videos that I really enjoyed taking as well as viewing.
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| Joby GorillaPod 1K |
The total weight of all my camera gear is less than the lens weight of my DSLR.
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