Teahouse trekking in Nepal means a bed and cooked meals every night. You are not carrying a tent, a stove or three days of food, and most first-timers pack as though they are.
The weight limit nobody mentions
If a porter is carrying your bag, the working limit is around 15 kg between two trekkers. This is not a formality — it is what keeps the job humane, and we hold to it. Anything beyond that gets left at your hotel in Kathmandu, which is free and completely normal.
What genuinely matters
- Boots you have already worn. New boots are the most common cause of a miserable first three days.
- Layers, not bulk. A base layer, a fleece, a down jacket and a waterproof shell will cover you from Lukla to Kala Patthar.
- A sleeping bag rated to -10°C. Lodges provide blankets; above 4,000 m they are not enough.
- A headtorch with spare batteries. Power cuts are routine and cold kills batteries fast.
- Water treatment. Tablets or a filter. Buying bottled water up the trail is expensive and leaves plastic where there is no way to remove it.
Buy it in Kathmandu
Thamel is full of gear shops. Down jackets, sleeping bags, trekking poles and duffel bags are all available at a fraction of what you would pay at home, and you can rent rather than buy the things you will never use again. Quality varies — we are happy to point you at the shops we send our own staff to.
Leave at home
Jeans, a towel bigger than your hand, more than three days of clothing, a drone (permits are required and rarely granted), and anything you would be upset to lose. Lodges are safe, but a duffel on a porter's back for two weeks takes a beating.
