My family frequently go trekking in Indonesia which has many volcanic islands. Many islands worldwide, and many mountains, were originally volcanoes.
Packing For The Day's Stroll
You probably know how to pack for walking on a level path or going for an hour's stroll, or a day's hike and coming home for the night.
Flag of Singapore
For example, the free walk around the Botanic Gardens in Singapore. You want your hat, sunglasses, some water and a chocolate bar or snack. No need to plan, we thought, our usual restaurant.
Yes, you should check the restaurants. They change hands and rules. In the Botanic Gardens our favourite restaurant where we planned to take visitors had turned halal which nmeant no alcohol was served. That did not suit the host and guest of honour who was staying with us.
What else? You tell the people left behind where you are going and when you will be back.
What else? Wear some suncream, mosquito repellent. Take a phone and charger. Remember your camera.
Casual And Formal Clothes
Pick suitable shoes and evening clothes. Some restaurants in Singapore in hotels and clubs say no sandals, only closed shoes. No collarless shirts. So an open neck shirt would be better than a tee-shirt. Beachside restaurants in Austrlia said no thongs. Meaning no flip-flops. If you are going from your hike in shorts into a restaurant later you might want something smarter. One option is convertible shorts which have zip-off lower legs so you can convert them back to full length trousers.
Even on a trek in Indonesia, depending on flight times, you might spend a night near the airport on arrival or before departure. You might then want to eat in an airport hotel restaurant or take a taxi into town.
Now, back to packing for your day out. Naturally, you check your direction. Look at the map. Calculate how long the route will take and where you stop for a break.
Have a raincoat or umbrella just in case. Make a last minute check on the news to find out the weather is fine. Be sure nothing could go wrong. No fires or floods, and that war has not broken out, no big delay on the motorway to the airport. Nothing major, regular, and feared or unpredictable and unforeseen. Simple. Add a printout of vital words in the local language, including I have lost my phone.
DIY you can rely on a map and a compass and a check on Tripadvisor to see where others went and check the bus home and the last bus.
All those little vital items needed in a hurry can be distributed around your body in a jacket with pockets and trousers with pockets. You check all zips and buttons and Velcro for security. Add snap fasteners to open pcoket flaps to deter thieves and ensure items don't fall out.
Packing For The Mountain
However, packing is different, a whole new ball game as the Americans say, going uphill to the top of a mountain, or camping overnight. You are likely to be camping overnight in order to start at dawn in the cool to climb to the summit.
I watch the items being ordered online in advance, the lightweight sleeping bag, the trips around the camping shops, the detailed maps showing hiking trails. Then all the items laid out on the floor, checked against the check list. Each item weighed. The total weighed.
Two Packs
My friendly family trekker seems to be carrying a heavy backpack - and a second one! Why two packs? Why so much weight?
He tells me, "This big bag, my main bag, containing my sleeping bag, is not heavy at all. We are told, 'Don't give the porters more than 15 kilos'. My checked in allowance (on planes such as Scoot, the Singapore Airlines budget branch, a name which will soon disappear) is 20 kilos.
"So I have another lighter bag which I can carry on the plane. The smaller bag contains just water and food and the daily immediate needs.
What Porters Do
"The porter might carry the food for the next day and the camping gear for overnight. If there are just two of you, you and the porter, you may stay together for companionship and guiding you on the right path and safety.
"In a bigger group, of ten tourist hikers and ten or fewer local guides, (on a hike of several days, food for the first few days is carried by porters. Some of them turn back half way when the food they carried is easten as they are no longer needed.
"So the hikers might walk together under the guidance of a leader, one senior porter who has done the hike before. The other porters, who are more agile than the hikers and know the way, race on ahead, to set up the overnight camp, the tents. They can set up the stoves and cook up food, and sit resting and socialising whilst waiting for the tourists to catch up."
First Aid Kit
Pack your own medicines. And a first aid kit.
Elk attacking a tourist in the Grand Canyon, USA. Picture from Wikipedia, supplied by national park employee, in the public domain,
Money & Tips
Finally consider money, tips at the end, what you will bring back, souvenirs which way more, and what you will leave behind, because it is old and waorn out and needs replacing, but the porters can use it or sell it, and you will never need it again.
Come home fitter and lighter, with photos to edit, addressed of people who want to see the photos, and well organized with your checklist for next time.
Feedback And Planning The Next Trip
Make a note of how your items performed, and where you have stored your kit. If you lend your sleeping bag or poles or anything else to a friend, note when you loaned them, got them back, or decided to replace them.
Plan your next trip using the advice given by porters and hikers and people met on route. (That should be en route which is French for on route, but the English wording has taken over.) You are ready to go again.
So now you know.
Useful Websites
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author ans speaker.
wow very good article
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