Recharging batteries while Trekking in Nepal

Hi Folks

Anyone got any tips? I'm heading to Nepal in Feb and will be 3 weeks on the trails - possibly camping so no access to power a lot of the time.  Has anyone had some experience of:

solar for recharging?  My camera battery is 7.5v and the only good solar charger (power monkey) I've found charges at 5.6v so too low.  However, another bit of kit I have is AA's so it'll work fine for that.

recharging in tea houses?

Carrying a lot of batteries already charged up?

Any ideas?

Thanks

sue

I have seven rechargable batteries for my camera, and when there are lots of photo opportunities, I reckon each one will last for three days. That gives me three weeks of picture-taking if I pack them all fully charged.

If I think I'm going to be within reach of a plug socket every couple of days or so, then I'll just pack three camera batteries and the charger unit. That means I can have one battery in the camera, another ready to take its place, and yet another one in case I've seriously misjudged something!

If you're going with an organised party, I think you should be asking them whether you'll be able to recharge batteries on your particular route. If not, then the safest thing is to pack what you need, fully charged, for the duration of the trip.

The Tekkeon MyPower ALL Plus (MP3450 I think) is very good - can output from 5v up to 19v and is high capacity. You can charge it from AC or 12v DC (the 12v adapter does not come as standard) or even solar. You get get a 12v cigarette plug output adapter if you have devices that can charge from that.

It even has a USB socket built in so you can use USB charger - but it does not charge itself via USB. You can charge it via Solar but would need a relatively large panel - you can get 25w foldable panels but also quite expensive!

How do you charge your camera battery now - standard mains or does it have a 12v charger?

If you don't view your pictures (as tempting as it may be I know) your camera should easily last ten to 15 days - hence only necessitating one set of spare batteries. Plus when you then get back to "civilisation" (Pokhara or wherever you may be) you then get the added bonus of seeing your pictures again for the first time - a real treat!

Have a good one!

Will

The tea houses will charge you for allowing you to charge up your batteries.

However, you can buy a special connector for 20p in Katmandu which will allow you to plug electical equipment into light bulb sockets.

I gave mine to a friend on a trek and she was able to use her lap top in all the rooms which had a lightbulb.

However, not all guesthouses especially higher up have lightbulbs. But lower down they do.

Certainly worth having as a back up.

Actually, I was shocked last year at how many people I met who`s batteries ran out while on the trek. They were gutted.

Though one of the main reasons for the battery suddenly running out is the very cold weather. So just keep them warm when you can.