First of all, if you are going to go this Anjan is you man - http://www.nepalhightrek.com
What clothing and sleeping equipment did we take?
In the interest of attempting to travel reasonably light we took with us our basic trekking clothing which included a full change of clothes, and extra pair of underwear and three pairs of socks. We had thermals to walk in and thermals for night-time and/or sleeping as required. We also had a down jacket which was essential as we walked to the higher altitudes. Beanie, gloves and neck warmers
We took a sleeping bag, liner and pillow case. we met people who had decided to travel without a bag. I will talk more about the accommodation but every teahouse we stayed at supplied a basic dacron doona and pillow, if needed we could have asked for more blankets at most teahouses. We also took our exped pillow but this was not necessary.
Information on teahouses
Teahouses are located in all the major villages along the trek and provide a warm dining room heated by a potbelly style stove that generally burns yak dung. After 19 days experiencing the acrid smell gets up your nose in more ways than one, but it does mean that you have a warm room at least until 8pm. The rest of the teahouse is not heated so it is quickly into you sleeping bag to stay warm.
Depending on the location we were charged between 3300nrp (around Au$30) and 7500nrp (Au$70) for accommodation, dinner and breakfast. In terms of the food provided there isn't a great deal of difference from one teahouse to the next. In fact, I think most of the menus were the same. While there seems to be a great deal of choice, after a few days you find it difficult to decide what to eat.
All teahouses request that you stay and eat with them, if you decide to go somewhere else to eat you will be charged extra for the room. The Fitzroy Inn at Gokyo provide the best meals for the trip.
Beds were all okay to sleep on. We took our sleeping mat but it was used twice as the mattresses were quite hard. We didn't really need the mat as we could place the doona underneath for extra padding.
Some of the teahouses offered ensuites (which we took advantage of whenever possible). Some provided a toilet, while others went all the way and offered a shower as well. Not all teahouses had showers available but we were able to shower at Namche, Tengboche, Chhukhung, Gokyo and Phakding . In terms of toilets, western style toilets were offered in more than half of the teahouses we stayed at. Waste paper can't be flushed so it goes into a bin for burning later. Generally, toilets were flushed using a tin filled with water from a large contain next to the toilet.
Most teahouses run on 12 volt solar electricity with minimal battery back up. If you have devices that require charging most of the teahouses we stayed at offered this service for 300 - 400nrp. One of the teahouses or bunk rooms we stayed in had wonderful lighting during the day, but nothing once the sun set for the day.
You could also get bottled water, snacks such as Mars and Snickers bars, biscuits, pringles, soft drinks and beer etc.. A couple of teahouses offered Johnny Walker Black and other top-shelf drinks, But, while at altitude we resisted the urge to drink alcohol. They also sold batteries, toilet paper, tissues and other basic supplies.
Water
An information board along the trek requested that people refrain from purchasing bottled water due to the issue of removing the plastic bottles. The information board suggested that for every bottle of water you purchase there are 30000 more bottles bought by trekkers, all of which has to be disposed of, or as we saw all too frequently, left by trekkers lying on the ground. We used a steripen for most of our water, only purchasing bottled water on rare occasions.
Boots and/or shoes
We walked mostly in our hiking boots, mainly to provide support for our ankles. The surface is very rarely flat and even. More often it is rocky, shale paths, boulders across the glaciers or steps made from the local rock. We also took along some lighter weight hiking shoes that we wore on occasion to give our feet a rest from the hiking boots. We did not experience blisters at all, but did have tied feet on several of the days. We also took a pair of crocs to use in the evenings or around the teahouse.
We saw some people wearing runners and many of the porters wearing thongs and dunlop volleys.
All in all, we were happy with our choice of foot wear and remained comfortable throughout the trek.
Waterproof gear.
In terms of wet weather gear we took over pants that never came out of our pack, i would still have them just incase. We also took along a light weight wind, rain proof coat that we used on several occasions to provide insulation from the wind. We encountered snow two times and the jackets worked well to keep us dry. Friends took along heavy goretex jackets that they said they would leave behind next time.
Other equipment:
You will need a head torch and spare batteries.
Walking sticks. We started off using them all the time but eventually left them on our day pack and only used them on the steeper ascents or descents over each pass.
I took a tripod, in retrospect I think I would leave this at home next time.
Track conditions
Prepare to be walking on uneven rocky ground for most of the trek. You will also need to prepare to walk up and down hills just about all day. Very rarely do you get the chance to walk along flat ground. The track ranged from easy to walk on to extremely challenging. An example of this is walking across the glacial moraines. Small to large loose boulders were the norm, this was matched will unstable ground that provide plenty of slipping and sliding opportunities.
Descents from all three passes was steep and at times very slippery as snow and ice had formed overnight. Poles were very handy in these situations.
All of the passes require confidence in walking around steep exposed areas, sometimes traversing around steep cliffs and climbing large rocks. There is no need for ropes, but at times it can be nerve racking if you are susceptible to issues with height.
Clockwise or counter-clockwise.
This was a big question along the trek, but for us it was a no brainer and some of the data I developed around average metres ascended each day bears this out.
we completed kongma La first followed by Cho La and finally, Renjo Pass.
Here is some data:
Kongma La is an 805 climb to the Pass. This is followed by 625m descent into Lobuche. The problem is the descent is incredibly steep and rocky all the way and you have to finish off with the walk across the Kumbu glacier. It was tiring enough at the end of the walk, I am not sure that I would want to commence the walk across the glacier first.
Cho La is a 590m ascent followed by a 720m descent and Renjo is 570m ascent from Gokyo and 992m descent to Lungdhen.
On average we climbed 413m a day and descended 580m a day.
In terms of acclimatisation I believe the route that we took also assisted in preparing us to be at 4800m+ for several days. (See the trek summary blog for the details of each days walking.)
Here is a graph of the altitude at many of the villages an passes along our route:
Medication
We took a veritable pharmacy with us! We used diamox from Tengboche. We were starting to experience mild headaches and made the decision to use whatever resources we could to assist us and ensure that we enjoyed the trek. We did not experience any symptoms of AMS, this could have been due to our training or the medication. The advice we got was that is is best to commence before the symptoms worsened. We experienced some minor tingling of fingers and toes, generally after crossing our legs.
We took plenty of hydralite which assisted in replacing fluids after I experienced a bout of gastro. We also used Zantac as we experienced several bouts of indigestion. I will provide a list of the medications we took with us on the trek in part-two.
More information will be explored in part-two.
