What on earth to wear

travel novice

Hi Everyone,

You probably get this one fairly often, but it has been driving me mad with very conflicting opinions from my searches on the internet.

On the 1st of October of this year I will be arriving in New Delhi and travelling up to Kanda in the Himalayan region for 6 weeks. I will mainly be exploring, but will also be doing some volunteer work whilst up there and this could involve various tasks, from forest conservation program, tree re-planting, organic farming etc.

What would you recommend to take for clothing around this time of year? I have been told to go for 100% cotton loose clothing, but then advised on more durable hiking materials polyester/cotton mix or even linen. I am really confused as what would be best, considering I will be quite active over the 6 weeks and will most definitely be residing in and around the himalayan region.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, as I have made something that should be quite straight forward, very complicated. Any other recommendations for must have essentials would be greatly appreciated also!

spicetrekker

Are you going to stay in Kanda near to Bageshwar. If so starting 6 weeks from October will take you to Mid Nov. This would be winter time and most Indian's would find it cold. I guess you are from UK so your resistance to cold may be slightly better - but I would still advise light woolens. Atleast a jacket to take care of cold till about 0C - though it is unlikely to touch that figure atleast not during day time. In the nights when it is cooler I am sure your place of stay will provide you blankets. For day time I guess it should be ok with light clothes - but personally I dont prefer cotton if I am doing some strenous work in the hills (in my case hiking) as it get wet with sweat and sticks to the body. I prefer a synthetic "wicking" action t-shirt, loose cut-away trousers and depending on the cold, I some time wear something over the base layer shirt. Hope this helps.

travel novice

Thanks spicetrekker!

I will be staying in Kanda near Bageshwar. Thanks for putting me on the right path. I thought "wicking" clothing would be better for the strenuous work and hiking.

I am of Scottish origin, but raised in England so not too bad with the cold. This is my 1st time in India so I didn't want to take any chances and get it all wrong seeing as I may not be too close to a suitable clothing merchants for the type of activities I will be doing when in India.

Thanks again!

machadinha

You need to realize back home you'll probably be shielded from the cold much more of the time, e.g. at home, in shops, in cafes and restaurants and public transport and so on.

Not so in India, where you'll find many places just sit out the winter without any heating (or minimal heating if they do), and as a tourist one tends to spend much more time outside anyway.

So while temperatures as such may be something you're well accustomed to, the all-pervasiveness of it may make it much colder than you might expect. It can be really hard to warm up anywhere. Being too hot is one thing and there are some measures one can take; freezing your ass off with no respite is really no fun, believe me. A combination of altitude+fatigue+cold is even less so, up to potentially dangerous.

Temperatures will also markedly vary between the sun and the shade, and between day and night, and then being active... The common advice is to wear clothes in layers, so you can easily and swiftly adjust.

For some general overviews of the weather, try also this whole thread: India climate chart. Clothing material as such I can't advise you on; I ain't no trekker. I suppose any decent sports/mountaineering gear shop could.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

KateW

If you go somewhere like Millets they have the trousers and stuff which are good makes like Craghoppers [I'm not sure what the fabric is a mix I'd guess]. They're cheaper than some of the specialist shops.