does anyone have any lists? links for lists?

Just some advice: don't bring your Blackglama mink. You will feel out of place.<BR><BR>It might help if you told us what time of year you are going, and where in Nepal you are going to.

Pack as light as you can. Plan to rinse out quick drying clothes each evening....buy COOLMAX...available everywhere now! Take only carryon luggage....again, pack light. 3 outfits and likewise changes of underwear. Mr. Blackwell won't be on your trip taking notes of your daily attire. Just be clean, neat and for me, it's important to be coordinated.

thanks..just for some new information, i will be going around the end of May and will be going to kathmandu and staying at the Shangri La hotel for abt 40 days. any good places to visit? more packing ideas? anything will help me...i can visit other cities so please give me ideas! thanks again.

I went to Neap for a month about 4 years ago. Things don't change that fast there so hopefully my info will still help...<BR>Check out my website journals at <BR>http://www.wired2theworld.com<BR>go to the RTW trip for Nepal.<BR>If you are interested in trekking I can recommend a great guide, email me. Out website also has our packlists.<BR>Regarding clothes, you can buy a lot there, very cheap, but it won't be great quality. One thing we could not find at the time was thermal underwear for some reason.

There are lots of nice places to visit that are day trips from Kathmandu. I especially enjoyed Bhaktapur. I should forewarn you though, that Kathmandu is the most polluted place I've ever visited. The air is terrible, the pollution held in beneath a conversion layer. The tap water is horrible - even bathing in it is kind of gross. Make sure you get all of the appropriate immunizations (check at www.cdc.gov) and drink, brush your teeth, etc. with bottled water.<BR><BR>I'm sure there must be a good reason for you to be staying in the Kathmandu valley for 40 days, but if at all possible, do journey outside this area (to breathe if for nothing else!).<BR><BR>Take along any pharmaceuticals you'll need, and any non-prescription items like cold medicines, cough drops (you'll need lots), tylenol, contact lens solutions, etc. Do not count on finding these things in Nepal. Many of the drugs sold here are long past their expiration dates (even the cough drops).<BR><BR>

so i shouldnt stay there for the whole 40 days? where else should i go? also, are their any good temples, i have heard they are very beautiful...

I'd recommend that you start with a good guide book or two (Fodors, Lonely Planet, Insight Guides). What is it you are looking to experience in Nepal? treking? shopping? enlightenment? <BR><BR>Yes, there are temples, yes, there are many places outside of the Kathmandu Valley to visit. <BR><BR>One of my favorite books &quot;about&quot; Nepal is &quot;Shopping for Buddhas&quot;

my experience..i dont want it to plan a strict itinerary, i want to discover things, but enlightenment really grabs me..wht would that be? does any one have any names of temples that i can go into? i heard one temple is strictly for hindus only..

There are many temples just in the Kathmandu Valley. Some are Hindu, some are Buddhist. <BR><BR>I'd still recommend that you get a couple of books and read about Nepal. Having some knowledge doesn't mean you have to have a strict itinerary.

o, i didnt mean that i wouldnt get books, the books are extremely helpful...i dont kno wht i would do with out them! is there anything that is forbidden? like women not showing skin, etc. etc.?

i was just watching the news and heard that a tokyo flight was grounded 4 fear of SARS...should i postpone? (i kno that people going to china should be more concerned then me, but still..)

is anyone even listening??

Yes.<BR>There is another thread on SARS. Perhaps you should look there, though I don't think you'd have much to worry about that in Nepal.<BR>As far as the other Nepal info, I highly recommend you get a good guidebook or two and start doing a liitle research as to what's available and what might appeal to you.<BR>I also recommend you read other's travelogues (as I listed above) to see what types of trips people have taken. This might give you some good ideas as well. For example, we spent a week in Kathmandu, then traveled to Pokrah from where we did an 11 day trek in the mountains and then back to Kathmandu. Other people have enjoyed Chitwan Park.<BR>After a little more research, maybe you will have some more specific questions to ask and those of us who have been to Nepal would be more than happy to answer.

chitwan park? how far is this from the kathmandu valley? would anyone be kind enough to email me or give me a link of a nepal trip journal? one more thing, i have heard about the Kathmandu guesthouse in thamel. what else is in thamel that would be interesting??

http://www.wired2theworld.com/nepal1.htm<BR>This is a direct link to my journal as I mentioned in my first reply above. We stayed at the Kathmandu Guest House and loved it.

Thamel is the backpacker section of Kathmandu, not a separate city. <BR><BR>Both Chitwan and Pokorah are some distance from the Kathmandu Valley, at least a full day (rough) ride via ground transport.

I was to Chitwan, and while the ride was long, it wasn't a full day from Kathmandu. I am almost sure it was 6 hours, but no more than 7. I would classify that as half a day. The ride was bumpy, but not too bad. The worst thing was the heat. It was May and it was about 90F. There were plenty of rest stops along the way, including a nice hotel/restaurant (with Western-style toilets!) and a cafe (with squat toilets). You could take a helicopter to Chitwan from Kathmandu. I think it is $500. I stayed at Temple Tiger and the electricity went of from midnight to 5 AM (my heart sunk when my fan went off). There is also no hot water. It was kind of interesting to wake up and find lizards and frogs and other &quot;things&quot; in my bed with me. This may have frightened others, but I would have slept with a cobra as long as I had my fan blowing cool air over me in that steambath of a hut. I saw not one tiger at Chitwan, but saw many rhinos. I did not like the way they treated their elephants.

thanks for all your help! another thing, i m going from LA to tokyo to bangkok on northwest and then to nepal on thai...anything i should kno abt the airlines???

(bumping this thread up so more people will see it)