Finally the much awaited day has arrived, when I leave for the trek. The preparations have been going on for the last 3 months to build up my physical capacity to complete this trek successfully. Now how much all of it goes well I really do not know, but I have given my best in my preparations.
Yesterday I had some challenges with the flight, which is now sorted. I packed my bags this time keeping in mind to be a minimalist. I can only carry 10 kgs to the trek, so I have to be very mindful about every single thing that I carry. I have packed my things in my own suitcase and once I reach there, the guide is going to give me a duffle bag in which I can transfer my things. At home I filled up my handbag with everything that I need to carry and checked the weight which comes out to be 8 kgs. I have kept 2 kgs buffer for the sleeping bag and the weight of their duffle bag which I am not sure what it's going to be like. Anyways underweight is better then over weight.
It's a total of 8 days of trek journey, the items that I am carrying are
- 2 all weather pants (incase there is rains)
- 2 night trek pants
- 4 base layer full sleeve t-shirts
- 2 2nd layer cardigans
- 2 Marino wool t-shirts
- 1 Down jacket
- Smaller clothing's like gloves, cap, undergarments, socks
- Small pouch of utilities (Soap, shampoo, cream, sunscreen, mouthwash, sanitizer). All of this together is not more then 500 gms. Taken miniatures of everything.
- Wet wipes
- Protein bars. This one has taken up some weight, as each one is around .60 grams and 2 for a day, i.e. is 16, which makes it 1 kg.
- Power bank - Another item which is bulky around 700 grams. I took the bigger power one which can charge my phone minimum 4 times.
- First aid kit (the basic meds for altitude sickness, cold and flu, loose motions, stomache, bandaid)
- 2 Trekking sticks
- 1 Insulated water bottle
- Pen and Diary to write down my experiences
- Phone charger
- Electrolyte tablets
- Trekking shoes
- Home slipper
- Waterproof phone case
- Cap
- 2 cloth bags (this is to keep the used clothes)
The list looks big but I have ensured that most of the things are light weight and small size, just to suffice me for 8 days. There were some more things that I wanted to take but then thinking about the weight I had to put it off. This was really a tedious task to shortlist on the bare necessity and maintain the weight. Though if I see, I have covered everything that I would need for the trek. Only the clothing, I will have to manage by using it in rotation. I also got to know that at lower levels there is laundry service available, so I can avail that.
Besides the baggage part, the other things to do were, get a travel insurance which covers altitude of 5500 meters and got my international phone roaming activated with a good size data pack. I am not sure how well it will work.
Post the trek I plan to stay in Kathmandu for 2 more days and go around the place, so I have separate clothes and utilities for that, where I have no restrictions. In all I have to keep my total baggage to 20 kgs and right now everything packed is 18 kgs, I am well within the weight limits.
A few more hours and the adventure begins, I am excited and feeling a little nervous as well. For the next few days I may not be able to reply back so excuse me for that. I will try to post some updates on the go, but if not then I will do it soon after the trek. Though I do have some posts ready from my previous travels which I may put up if time and network permits.
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