Bhutan Photo Adventure Packing List

EDIT: This list will help you get ready for Far Horizon Photo Tours Bhutan: Cultural Festivals & Countrysides Photo Tour.

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Just back from Asia and already getting ready to depart for Peru, I want to take a minute to cover some items from my Bhutan packing list to let you know what worked and what didn’t. While I have been traveling a while and you’d think I’d have the perfect packing list, each trip is different and needs tweaks. It’s always good to take a look back and see what I can improve. My comments on the list are in bold green below.

For the photo nuts out there, Camera Gear is listed near the bottom.

Clothes

  • Synthetic or Wool long under wear (base layer-top and bottom) – Didn’t need them! It was never cold enough and the hotels were plenty comfortable/warm.
  • Fleece Pants – Didn’t need these either.
  • Fleece Coat or warm sweater – Used my Marmot down jacket often when walking about at night.
  • Jeans or quick-dry pants, consider zip off pants
  • Long shorts – Didn’t wear them as pants were comfortable the whole time.
  • Short sleeved shirts
  • Long sleeved shirts – Required for entry to many places.
  • Water Proof Rain Jacket and Pants (pants optional, a poncho can also suffice) – Didn’t need the pants as we weren’t ever out in the rain for hours on end. The jacket was useful, though.
  • Trekking socksLoved them. Always do.
  • Sock liners if you tend to need them when hiking
  • UnderwearHave I mentioned how much I love the ExOfficio quick dry underwear? It was perfect.
  • Sleepware – See Underwear.
  • Sunglasses (good quality) – I did not have mine and wish I had. Too much squinting.
  • Wide brimmed hat for sun during the day – I had a baseball hat and a wide brim hat would have been smarter for my white skin.
  • Boots or trail shoesYep, needed these.
  • Sandals – Comfy around town or in the hotel.
  • Gloves if you tend to have chilled hands – Didn’t need these either.
  • BandanaAlways.

Personal Items

  • WaterbottleMy trusty Klean Kanteen was perfect.
  • Sun Block (small bottle)
  • Headlamp/small flashlight – Used a lot at night when shooting stars.
  • Day pack – I used the LowePro FastPack 350 AW and it fit just the right amount of gear.
  • Water proof cover for day pack – I used it once in a while.
  • 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 – There are not a lot of cash machines (ATMs) in Bhutan. I had to try a couple in order to get out cash. It’s not hard, but not as super easy as at home.
  • 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. – Mine was stolen in Nepal. 🙁 I’ll be SPOTless for a while.
  • 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. – While water bottles are provided each day, I’d love to see more people not using them.
  • Small Binoculars

Toiletries

  • Plastic bags for all liquid toiletries (in case of altitude or rough handling induced rupture)
  • Deodorant
  • Shampoo/Conditioner – Most hotels had some if it was forgotten, but again….lots of small plastic bottles.
  • Hairbrush/Comb
  • Toothpaste
  • Toothbrush
  • Dental Floss
  • Hand lotion
  • Towel (I suggest a quick dry version) – Didn’t really need this as all hotels had nice towels and plenty of them.
  • 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 if you know how to use them
  • 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)

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’ – I forgot mine! But was able to buy one while there.
  • Portable power strip to charge multiple devices with one outlet – Still comes in handy, especially when only needing to use one adapter.
  • Polarizing filterWas used a number of times, will bring again.
  • Neutral density filterDidn’t use this as much but will in the future.
  • Graduated Neutral Density filter (2 or 3 stop, soft transition) – Yep, loved it at times, as always.
  • Extra lens cap in appropriate sizes – Got lucky when I didn’t pack these. But ended up buying two more of each on the following trip to Peru.
  • External harddrive for backup of photos (or laptop) – Felt a lot better having this along for backups.
  • Card reader
  • Sensor cleaning material if you are comfortable doing this yourself – My camera needed cleaning a number of times just from the dust of travel.
  • Extra batteries – We will have electricity in most locations, but it’s best to have backup – Again, the hotels all had power (although some had time limits on it).
  • Gray card
  • GPS – Optional, but handy for tagging photo locations
  • Small packable umbrella (optional) – These were handy a couple of times to keep the rain off cameras.

And there you go! I need to adjust my clothes selections for the next trip, but all in all, the list served me well. I kept my main pack under the Druk Airlines weight limit (20kg) and it was ease to move from place to place.

If you’re interested in joining me on my next Bhutan Photo Tour, I would love to have you along. More information can be found here or simply drop me an email and I will respond promptly.

2 Replies to “Bhutan Photo Adventure Packing List”

  1. Jessie

    I’m headed to Bhutan and was wondering what lenses you found most useful – any advice would be much appreciated!

    Reply
    • Peter West Carey Post author

      Congratulations on your upcoming trip! Bhutan is a joyful place to visit and photograph.

      I used my typical 28-300mm and 10-22mm on a crop sensor body. Those cover most ranges from the close ups to wide angle. I love being able to get the detail work with the soon and something up to 100mm would be good for that (like a 24-105mm). The longer end of the range, 100-300mm, is good for peaks, animals and even more detail.

      Have a great time!

      Reply

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