Gearing up for the trek

The fact that we had each come to Nepal with little more than a pair of trekking shoes was of little concern by the time we reached Thamel. The plethora of trekking shops was endless and could satisfy everybodys requirement for the ultimate outfit.

I had done a little prior research and was of the undestanding that Shonas was the most reliable and also the goto place for rental gear. Whilst they were a little more expensive than other shops for some items, these were of a higher quality made in house with the materials / ratios apparently accurate. Everything is a fixed price with the knockoffs at about the standard price you will get around town after a little barering.

My two purchases from Shonas were a 3 season -10c XL Goose Down sleeping bag which was filled with 900gm of genuine Goose Down for $80 (apparently they retail for $500+ back home) and a Duck Down jacket for $50. Other knockoff items of various popular trekking labels included;

- Trekking pants x 2 $8 each
- Trekking shirts x 3 $4 each
- Outrageously cool trekking beanie $3
- Thermals x 4 $4 each
- 1L bpa free water canister $4
- Polar fleece jumper $6
- Polar fleece gloves $2
- Other beanie $2
- Silk sleeping bag liner $9
- Trekking poles $8

I am now confident to conquer the mountain, however less so about being able to fit this all in my bag and will be organising a shipping box after the trek.