In this post we share with your our thoughts on what things to pack for a trip to Tibet. If you want to see the packing list right away, scroll to the bottom of the post.
The best advice, hands down, is to pack light! We cannot emphasize this enough. The pain of dragging big bags around far outweighs the pain of not having the objects you left behind.
We love Rick Steve’s style: “My self-imposed limit is 20 pounds in a 9” x 21” x 14” carry-on size bag.” This is no joke, even for a 3+ week trip.
Honestly, we haven’t managed to achieve the “one daypack” size rule in our 3 trips to Tibet, but we could have and should have. Yolanda stuffed everything she needed for a 6-week trip in India, which included a short trek in the Himalayas, in a Jansport daypack, like this, and it was perfect.
No matter where you go in Tibet there will be some times when you have to carry your pack – even on a private trip with a guide and driver – some point will likely come that you are going to have to heft that bag around, so think twice about all the optional items on our list.
Two more pieces of advice:
- Dress in layers, from t-shirts to a down jacket. Tibet can go hot to cold and layers will be invaluable.
- Tibetans are quite modest dressers and don’t show a lot of skin. If you wish to be respectful of the Tibetans in general, it’s good to cover up in general, especially around monks, nuns and monasteries, which are pretty much everywhere.