A trend to watch, not a number to trust
Fingertip pulse oximeter
Useful for spotting a trend across several mornings, and actively dangerous if you treat a single reading as a verdict — cold fingers alone can drop a reading by several points, and consumer devices are not calibrated for 5,000 m.
Skip it ifAnyone who would use it to overrule how they feel or what a guide says. Symptoms decide; the number does not.
About the links on this page.Some go to Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend: every card here also says who the item is not for, and a few things we think you should simply rent in Kathmandu or Pokhara instead, which earns us nothing.
The rest of the shelf
- Not ours to sell
The one thing on this page you cannot buy from a link
Acetazolamide (Diamox) — a conversation with your doctor
Acetazolamide is genuinely effective for acclimatisation and it is also a prescription drug with real side effects and real contraindications — sulfa allergy among them. Have that conversation at home, not in a Thamel pharmacy.
Skip it ifAnyone hoping to skip acclimatisation days. No drug replaces walking high and sleeping low.
Prescription medication. Ask your own doctor — we are guides, not clinicians.