A Comprehensive Packing List for The Annapurna Circuit – with links!

This is a comprehensive list of everything I brought/would recommend bringing for the trek. I have not included items that I brought on the trek that I did not use (mostly extra clothing).

What we brought with us from the United States:

Clothing:

• 1 pair hiking boots, broken in- I wore Anhu Women’s Montara Boot and broke them in slowly over the course of a month. I really liked these shoes
• 3-4 pairs thick hiking socks- I wore Costco’s Merino wool hiking socks with no issues
• 2 pairs hiking pants- I brought one thinner and one thicker Patagonia pant (I brought shorts and didn’t wear them once)
• 1 thermal layer pant- Wear these under your hiking pants over the pass (I also slept in these the night before the pass). I used Patagonia’s Thermal Weight Bottoms
• 1-2 short sleeve moisture wicking shirts- I brought two types of short sleeved Patagonia shirts but LOVED this one 
• 1-2 long sleeve moisture wicking shirts- I used Patagonia’s Daily Long Sleeve T-shirt
• 1 thermal layer top- Again, I LOVED Patagonia’s Thermal Zip Neck Hoodie. I lived in this thing during the trek (see picture above)
• 1 fleece- Also highly recommend Patagonia R2 fleece, I also wore this many evenings in tea houses
• 1 (artificial) Down jacket- I used Patagonia’s Nano Puff jacket, super compact and did the job
• 1 thin/compact rain jacket- I just had some knock-off North Face rain jacket from Vietnam, it only rained once on our trek in November
• One pair of yoga/sleeping pants
• One soft long sleeve shirt for sleeping- I enjoyed 32 degree base layer top, it was thin, soft, affordable. I got in black and white at Costco
• Toms or other easy to slip on shoe- for the tea houses (some packing lists say to bring flip flops but I’m really glad I had close-toed shoes for the cold nights so I could leave my socks on)
• 4 pairs of easy to wash and dry underwear (not cotton)
• 2 sports bras (anything that won’t cause chaffing)
• 1 warm hat/head band
• 1 pair thin gloves, 1 pair thick WARM gloves- Honestly, my cold fingers each morning was one of the worst parts of the hike for me. I wish I would’ve found the warmest gloves possible for going

Other items:

• Backpack- This depends on if you are planning to have a porter. As our guide did carry our sleeping bags and extra jackets, I got a 24L backpack at REI. You could probably get by with a backpack in the 30-40L range is you pack light and don’t plan to use a porter
• Sleeping bag liner- I got mine at REI. I recommend getting one you like as you’ll spend many hours curled up inside your sleeping bag
• Sunglasses
• 1 headlamp
• One travel towel- I spent a lot of time deciding what to purchase.. honestly, this 16in x 32in towel was sufficiently large and dried quickly
• Several small packets of tissues, maybe 4-5 packets- I used a lot of tissues for runny noses and restroom breaks (the toilets are squat toilets usually without any toilet paper)
• 1 packet of baby wipes- You won’t shower everyday and some days you won’t want too because its just too cold to take off your clothes
• 1-2 small hand sanitizers
• All purpose liquid soap- We used Dr. Bronner’s and put it into little 2-3 carry-on size containers, we used it for bathing but also washing our underwear
• Travel size dry shampoo- Again, sometimes its too cold to get your hair wet/shower, so a little dry shampoo goes a long way
• Travel size deodorant
• Travel toothpaste/brush
• Tampons- Thankfully, I wasn’t in this predicament during the trek but brought some just in case
• Sunscreen/lip balm- These are both very important/frequently used
• Ziplock bags- We had our important papers (permits, passport, copies of passport) tucked into ziplock bags in case of a rain storm, water bottle spill, etc
• Kindle/books to read- I brought two books but they took up so much space a Kindle would’ve been nice
• Earplugs- I am a light sleeper so these were nice for the nights when there is a very thin wall between you and someone who is snoring
• 2 water bottles
• Duct tape- Wrap duct tape around the body of your water bottles and you can tear some off as needed. I developed the very beginnings of blisters after a few days and would cover my heels each morning with duct tape, thankfully the blisters never developed because of the duct tape
• Steripen- This was a godsend. There were many envious of our steripen along the trek
• Iodine tablets- We brought some just in case the Steripen broke (it didn’t), never used them
• Camera
• Extra batteries
• Diamox- (acetazolamide in the US) I recommend bringing and using Diamox. You will see MANY helicopters life-flighting people off the trek. Some people started to feel ill as soon as Upper Pisang. I didn’t experience any side effects from the Diamox and don’t really see a downside. Can be easily prescribed in the US or bought in Kathmandu inexpensively. Read more about diamox/altitude sickness precautions on my Beginner’s Guide to Hiking the Annapurna Circuit post. 
• Other medications- Ibuprofen, Benadryl, Hydrocortisone, Imodium, Cipro. The only medication I ended up using was hydrocortisone for some chaffing on my inner thigh. We also both received the typhoid vaccine before the trip
• Cash

Things we bought/rented in Kathmandu/Nepal:

We got our equipment at Shona’s. It was quick and affordable.

• Trekking poles- You must buy, can’t rent. $25 USD for Marmot poles, $15-20 for slightly cheaper version
• Sleeping bag- I rented 4 season sleeping bag for 100 rupees/day, my husband rented a 3 season bag for 80 rupees/day (I appreciated my slightly warmer bag)
• Bag for guide to carry- Porters prefer to carry duffel bags, guides prefer to carry backpacks. We rented our guide a 60L backpack 50 rupees/day
• Dexamethasone and nifedipine- Bought local at pharmacy for less than $1. These are rescue medications for treatment of altitude mountain sicknesses, HACE and HAPE. Please read this page for more information 
• Scarf for pillow cover- I bought a $3 “pashmina scarf” in Kathmandu and put some of my perfume on it before leaving our hotel. It was so nice to cover my pillow with this each night before bed and could use as a scarf also.
• New NATT Trails Annapurna Book- These guys helped create the new trail markers after the road was built. Their book can be purchased in Kathmandu or downloaded to a Kindle, we read this book religiously each night on the trek in preparation for the next day
• Rupees- This was nightmarish. Most of the ATMs in Kathmandu will not let you withdraw more than about $200. Also many of the ATMs were out of money. After our first withdrawal, our credit cards were disabled by our US banks even though we had set travel notifications. I would recommend getting rupees at home prior to the trip or bringing extra USD to exchange in case this happens to you. Once you are in the mountains, anything you need will have to be purchased in rupees.