Flights, beds and bookings

Seats and sides

• Bangkok → Kathmandu: right-hand side for the eastern Himalaya.
• Kathmandu → Paro: left-hand side (A seats) for Everest, Makalu and Kanchenjunga.
• Paro → Kathmandu: right-hand side.

Baggage, leg by leg

• Thai: 1 piece, 23 kg each — a piece allowance, not a pool, so pack to the piece.
• Drukair: 30 kg each, 5 kg cabin.

The trek

Five days, 7–11 October, starting and ending at Sarangkot rather than Pokhara. We are bringing our own porter — a contact from Sarangkot — so what we need from an agency is the licensed guide and the permits.

Say this up front in the first email, because some agencies won't take an outside porter for insurance reasons and it is better to find out now than at the trailhead.

Route

Kande → Australian Camp → Pitam Deurali → Forest Camp → Rest Camp → Low Camp → Badal Danda → High Camp → Upper View Point → Mardi Himal Base Camp → High Camp → Forest Camp → Kalimati → Lumre → private jeep to Sarangkot

Guide

Ram — met on the evening of 6 Oct in Sarangkot; he adapted the route on the trail

Permits

ACAP for both of us, issued before the 7th; TIMS only if they include it as standard

Porter

Ours. Ask whether they will add him to their insurance for the five days

Luggage

Main bags stay at the Sarangkot hotel; private jeep from Lumre back to Sarangkot on the 11th

Everything else

• Car and driver, Tue 6 Oct: Kathmandu airport → Bandipur (2 h stop) → Sarangkot, with Nepal Vehicle Hiring (vehiclehiringnepal.com). Confirm the pickup at arrivals after KB400, 08:10.
• Bus ticket Pokhara → Chitwan, Wed 14 Oct, tourist bus around 07:00. Dashain week; book soon.
• Bus ticket Chitwan → Kathmandu, Fri 16 Oct, the earliest bus. Reserve seats in advance, through the lodge.
• Sarangkot, 6 and 11 Oct, with bag storage in between.
• Pokhara Lakeside, 12–13 Oct.
• Chitwan lodge, 14–15 Oct, plus the park activities — canoe, jungle walk, jeep safari — through the lodge.
• Kathmandu or Patan hotel, 16 Oct.
• Airport transfer for Sat 17 Oct — leave by 10:15, it's Phulpati and traffic is unpredictable.
• Paragliding at Sarangkot on the morning of the 12th, booked a day ahead — the 13th is the fallback.
• Insurance check: trekking to 4,500 m and helicopter evacuation both covered, for Bhutan as well as Nepal.

On paper, in a plastic wallet

• Both passports — valid well beyond six months, blank pages
• Bhutan e-visa printouts — one each, 8 nights
• Thai e-tickets in the Thai email · Drukair e-tickets in the Drukair email
• Tajaa Pha confirmation number and PIN (in the Booking.com email)
• Breathe Bhutan itinerary and payment confirmation
• Insurance certificate and the 24-hour emergency line
• Four passport photos each; photocopies of both passports, kept separately
• US$100 cash for the two Nepali visas, unfolded

Cash plan

Nepal visas

US$100 for the two of us, cash at the airport

Bhutan tips

US$180–270 for nine days, guide and driver, in an envelope at the end

Bhutan spending

US$400–600 in cash covers tips plus a decent textile purchase

Trek cash

NPR 50,000–65,000 drawn at Kathmandu airport on 6 October — we don't pass through Pokhara before the trek, and there are no cash machines above Kande

Trek tips

NPR 8,000–12,000 guide · NPR 5,000–7,000 porter, from us both

Cash machines cap at NPR 35,000 with a flat NPR 500 fee, so draw the maximum each time.