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Travel Himalaya Nepal
Water & Health

Hygiene & Wipes

Showers above Namche are cold and cost money.

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.

Sea to Summit Pocket Towel — Dries you, then dries itself by morning
Best towel

Dries you, then dries itself by morning

Sea to Summit Pocket Towel

Microfibre, medium, ~80 g

Dries overnight in a cold lodge where a cotton travel towel simply does not — it never feels pleasant, and it holds a faint smell after a week however often you rinse it.

Dry by morning in an unheated room

Packs to the size of a fist

Doubles as a pillowcase

Feels like drying yourself with a chamois

Develops a smell over a fortnight

Sizes are confusingly named

Not for you if: Nobody, but manage your expectations about how it feels.

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Biodegradable body wipes — Above 4,000 m, nobody is showeringThe honest necessity

Above 4,000 m, nobody is showering

Biodegradable body wipes

Hot showers above Dingboche cost money, use a lodge’s scarce fuel, and leave you cold for an hour afterwards — a wipe wash is the realistic alternative, and "biodegradable" still means carry them out, not bury them.

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Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Liquid Soap — Body, hair, socks and the dish you ate offOne bottle, five jobs

Body, hair, socks and the dish you ate off

Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Liquid Soap

Concentrated enough that a small bottle does a fortnight of body, hair and laundry — it is still soap, so it does not belong in a stream, however biodegradable the label is.

Check price on Amazon