Packing for a teahouse trek without carrying too much

A porter carries up to 12 kg of your kit. You carry a daypack. Almost everyone arrives with more than 12 kg and repacks in the hotel lobby on day one, which is fine — but it is easier to get it right at home.

Spend money on three things

Boots, a sleeping bag, and a down jacket. Everything else can be cheap, borrowed or bought in Thamel for a fraction of what it costs elsewhere. These three cannot, and each one will ruin a trip if it is wrong.

• Boots: broken in over at least 50 km before you fly. Not new. Never new.
• Sleeping bag: rated 10 °C colder than the coldest night on your itinerary
• Down jacket: a proper one, because lodge dining rooms are not heated until evening

The actual list, for a two-week lodge trek

What people over-pack

Clothes. Two sets of everything is enough for two weeks, because nobody on the trail is judging you and washing happens in Namche. The second most over-packed item is snacks — every lodge sells chocolate, and it is carried up by a person, so buying it there is better in every sense.

What people forget

• A power bank — charging costs money and is unreliable above 4,000 m
• Water treatment tablets or a filter, to avoid buying bottles
• Lip balm with sun protection, which matters more than you expect
• Earplugs — lodge walls are plywood
• Cash in small notes; there are no ATMs past Namche

Buy the boots first and the rest three weeks later. If your feet are wrong nothing else on the list can fix it.

Dawa Tamang, community trails guide

Rent rather than buy

Down jackets and four-season sleeping bags can be hired in Kathmandu for a few dollars a day, and for a one-off trip that is the sensible choice. We inspect hire kit at the day-one briefing so there is time to swap anything that is not up to the route.