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Hello all,

I'm heading to Nepal in April to do the Gokyo trek and maybe Shivalaya to Lukla as a build up, and I had a couple of gear-related questions. Both treks are tea house treks but I was wondering if people recommend bringing a therm-a-rest with you. I did the Annapurna Circuit in 1996 (so long ago!) and at that time most of the tea houses just had wooden bunk beds and no mattresses, so sleeping pads really helped out. My second question is if people know how easy it is to rent trekking poles in Kathmandu or am I better off just bringing mine and shipping them back home (will be traveling around India for a few months after Nepal). On a side note, do people have experience shipping big packets of gear home from Nepal? Is it difficult to do so, how long did things take to get back (I'd be shipping to the U.S.) etc.?

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.

I'm super-psyched to get back to that wonderful country!

I was just there a few weeks ago. I brought my short Thermarest and was glad I had it. I don't know if you can rent trekking poles, but one option would be to bring some fairly inexpensive ones and just give them away at the end of the trek. It's also not hard to find walking sticks near the beginning of treks.

I've never mailed stuff out of Nepal, but I've heard that your stuff may or may not make it.

I trekked up to Gokyo not too long ago, and all tea houses had mattresses on their "beds". Even in the less ritzy one I stayed in, in between Dole and Macchermo...so I'd say its not necessary, but if it helps your peace of mind and you have a porter then bring it along.

Also, 2nd the whole buying a cheap pair of trekking poles in KTM and give em to a porter or guide in Lukla when you're done with them. Enjoy!