It’s packing time! My next trip to Asia includes leading a photo tour to Bhutan, for which I am soon to start packing. As a service to my clients, I have sent them a packing list and thought I’d share the same list here. As with all my packing list, this lists most of the items to consider, but not all need to be packed. A special thank you to Beth Whitman of WanderTours for letting me steal her first-aid section. Links from some items are my personal suggestions from the likes of REI and Amazon, two great PNW companies I frequent often.
If you would like this list in PDF format to print out, here it is: Bhutan Packing List.
Clothes
- Synthetic or Wool long under wear (base layer-top and bottom)
- Fleece Pants
- Fleece Coat or warm sweater
- Jeans or quick-dry pants, consider zip off pants
- Long shorts
- Short sleeved shirts
- Long sleeved shirts
- Water Proof Rain Jacket and Pants (pants optional, a poncho can also suffice)
- Trekking socks
- Sock liners
if you tend to need them when hiking
- Underwear
- Sleepwear
- Sunglasses (good quality)
- Wide brimmed hat for sun during the day
- Boots or trail shoes
- Sandals
- Gloves
- Bandana
Personal Items
- Waterbottle
- Sun Block (small bottle)
- Headlamp
/small flashlight
- Day pack
- Water proof cover
for day pack
- Duffel bag for all other items
- Books/reading material
- Writing Journal (optional)
- Small notebook
- Passport
- Copy of Passport
- 2 extra Passport Photos
- Guidebooks/maps (optional)
- Credit/Debit cards
- Cash (cashiers checks can be cashed, but it can be a pain and scarce)
- Cell phone (optional and needs to be capable of accepting a different SIM card)
- Cell Phone Charger
- Travel documents
- Alarm clock
- Watch (optional)
- Photos from home to share with locals (include family, location, attractions, etc…)
- Gifts for locals and guides
- Extra batteries (I suggest rechargeable as Bhutan has no service to recycle spent batteries)
- Snacks you might be partial to
- SPOT device or other satellite communication device – optional and I will have my own, which I use to mark the end of each day and it will send an email to family back home. This is just a one way device and not a satellite phone.
- iDevice and charger if you need music or distraction, especially while traveling to Bhutan
- Water purification – I prefer the Steripen device, but good old iodine works. While not required, I personally prefer to not buy bottled water as much as possible as Bhutan has little in the way of recycling.
- Small Binoculars
Toiletries
- Plastic bags for all liquid toiletries (in case of altitude or rough handling induced rupture)
- Deodorant
- Shampoo/Conditioner
- Hairbrush/Comb
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrush
- Dental Floss
- Hand lotion
- Towel (I suggest a quick dry version)
- Razor
- Face lotion
- Chapstick/lipbalm
- Extra eyeglasses/contacts
- Contact solution
- Facial soap
- Tweezers & nail clippers
- Feminine products
- Emergency toilet paper
First aid kit including:
- Tiger balm or pain reliever
- Accupressure bracelets or ginger candy for motion sickness
- Prescription medicines
- Anti-diarrheal
- Insect Repellent
- Malaria prophylaxes (consult with your doctor as to whether you want to take this)
- Tea tree oil (for cuts)
- Antibiotic cream
- Ace bandage
- Handi-wipes or anti-bacterial gel
- Safety pins
- Eye drops or flush
- Lip balm
- Band-aids
- Pain killer of choice
- Antibiotics
- Cold relief tablets, antihistamine, cough drops
- Earplugs(For some reason, in some places, Bhutanese dogs are fond of barking all night long)
- Dramamine (for motion sickness – to challenge Bhutan’s hairpin turns)
Standard Camera Gear
(Fill in your own list here to ensure all your vital gear makes it to Bhutan)
Camera Gear
(options to consider beyond your normal gear)
- Power plug adapter for battery charger (same plugs as India) – Make sure your chargers are ‘international’
- Portable power strip to charge multiple devices with one outlet
- Polarizing filter
- Neutral density filter
- Graduated Neutral Density filter (2 or 3 stop, soft transition)
- Extra lens cap in appropriate sizes
- External harddrive for backup of photos (or laptop)
- Card reader
- Sensor cleaning material if you are comfortable doing this yourself
- Extra batteries – We will have electricity in most locations, but it’s best to have backup
- Gray card
- GPS – Optional, but handy for tagging photo locations
- Small packable umbrella (optional)
Even if you missed the Bhutan tour this time around, I am offering trips twice a year for your photographic exploration. More information can be found here.
