Tips for hiking in Nepal

[GodZilla]

I'll be going to Nepal from end of January for 3-5 months and I was wondering if people here have some tips and hikes they recommend. I also have some questions.

I'm coming over from New Zealand. Where I did the TA last season and have been hiking all over, when not working.

I have too much gear on me from travel etc. Is it okay to store gear in Kathmandu for a while. Hope that will be cheaper than sending it to Europe from NZ.

My bpw would be like 3-4kg

I know you can sleep in tea houses almost all the time, but are there places where you can/have to pitch your tent on a hike. Or is that just stupid.

Will the cold be a breaker during February? As I don't have a bag, but a quilt. Just got a new cumulus 350 quilt to replace my 2016 EE revelation 20,which was not so warm.. If too cold I cold use both of them. The rev is xsmall and fits in the cumulus. Or should I sleep on my pad? Have a xtherm.

Clothing wise. During the day is a ls merino with a fleece, Patagonia R1 and a wind shirt enough or should I layer up. Can add like a polartec fleece. Have my Arcteryx beta AR with me as hard-shell for winter use. Also have a vertice for summer use And in the evening, just warm merino long johns, pants, thermal and puffy. My cumulus incredilite endurance is warm enough for NZ winter, so I hope for same for Nepal.

Is the Annapurna circuit still one to recommend, even if it is quite popular now?

Was looking at walking from Shivalaya to Lukla. Do Gokyo trek. Afterwards do 3passes, if weather is fine. After that walk from Lukla to Tumlingtar to get Makalu base camp. But probably have to wait for the higher regions to open up?

Also looking at Manaslu area Langtang valley

If I am missing out on some go to places to hike plz let me know!

And about filtering water. Is aquamira the way to go? And would I be able to get them in nepal. Got my sawyer mini, but that would freeze.

If you got more tips or cool things to do. I'm all ear

Cheers

[playat]

I was there for 4 months (Sept-Jan) in 2000. So, keep in mind that some things may have changed in the last 20 years.

When I first got there I stayed in Kathmandu for a few weeks getting adjusted. My first guest house was a sketchy dump but as I met other tourists I got a tip on a great place a little off the beaten path close to Thamel. The family that owned the guest house were awesome and they had a storage room for tourists, so I gave them something like a few bucks a week to keep my stuff there while I traveled around Nepal and India living out of an 18L pack. The storage room was shared by other tourists so I put a lock on my bag just to add a little security. I treated that guest house like a home base and would return there every month or so before heading out on a new adventure.

I originally planned on traveling all around with a really big pack but when I got there and met so many tourists living out of packs the size of jansport school bags, so I bought a pack at the market and stashed everything else in storage. It makes traveling so much easier to have a small pack. You can hop into rickshaws and taxis so easily, and walk around crowded markets without knocking people over. And I never had to worry about leaving stuff in a sketchy guest house along the way since I could take it all with me as I explored a new city or village. And on long bus rides, when the bus would stop for lunch in a remote village I felt secure knowing my stuff was with me.

Originally my friends and I were planning on doing some mountaineering on a route with no tea houses, so we brought tents and mountaineering equipment for that trip. Long story short, our porters tried to rob us after the bus dropped us off at the beginning of the approach, so those plans went out the window. We bailed and went back to Kathmandu to give the porter agency a piece of our mind, was told to fuck off, then we went all around Kathmandu posting fliers about how that agency scammed us. They begged us to stop and offered our money back. We demanded a refund plus extra for our troubles and they eagerly agreed. Then we took off to Pokhara to unwind for a week.

We spent some time in Northern India, saw the Taj, hung out in New Delhi, took the train over to Darjeeling, and did the left half of the Annapurna circuit up to Kagbeni where we stayed for all of December, then trekked back the same way we'd come since we had some friends along the way who we wanted to visit again. We never needed a tent in any of those places. To the best of my memory it was maybe 40-50F during the day up in the Kagbeni area and then when the sun went down it dropped far below freezing. I brought synthetic hiking pants, t-shirt, long underwear, fleece pants, fleece jacket, down parka, sock liners and thick socks, mittens, rain jacket, beanie, 15F mummy bag, etc.. I'd usually hike during the day in long underwear bottoms and hiking pants, with a long underwear top. Then I'd toss on the down jacket if it got too cold. In retrospect I'd bring a windbreaker. It gets so windy. It was pretty warm during the day everywhere else we traveled. I carried a beanie and fleece jacket for the occasional chilly mornings.

Back in 2000, the Kagbeni guest house we stayed at did not have heated guest rooms. There wasn't even a window pane in my room's window, just a big opening to the outside. So I shivered my entire first night in my 15F mummy, wearing every layer I had. The family who owned the guest house saw me the next morning slurring my words and shivering so I got to sleep with them in the kitchen every night after that. It was the only room in the house that was heated since it had a shoe box stove. I've heard that guest houses are a lot nicer now. You may want to research to double check. I've also heard there's a road right up to Kagbeni now which is great for the locals I'm sure but kind of a shame too. It was such a peaceful remote village.

As far as water, I relied on buying water or beer or tea wherever I went. I ate out for most meals and I'd top off my water bottle at the restaurant/tea house or else swing by a bodega.

Sorry for the long response. It's fun to remember those incredible 4 months. I hope I shared something helpful and I hope you have an awesome time!

[tot3ntanZz]

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