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Off too Kathmandu prior to a biking trip in the Himalayas.
Due to weight restrictions I'm probably looking to ditch some items out of my luggage as I'm struggling to get near my 30kg limit. Namely toiletries and energy bars and chews. Toiletries shouldn't be a problem but am I likely to be able to pick up energy bars that we'd recognise over here - ideally Clif bar products. Staying at hotel ambassador so somewhere local would be good. Internet isn't shedding much light.
I've not been for a while but I'd say it's very unlikely. Do you really need energy bars? Are you going with a tour agency? What are they going to supply?
Dal Bhat and chai are surprisingly filling and energy intense. If it's good enough to get Sherpas to the top of Everest, it's probably okay for a bike trip in the foothills.
You can ditch the bars unless you absolutely must have clif (I don't remember seeing any). You might find something that you recognise. There are some decent enough supermarkets in Thamel to stock up on some generic enough bars and (even better) small packets of dried fruit.
Dal Bhat power, 24 hour. No need to bring your own energy bars. Just pick up a load of Snickers from a shop in Thamel and you'll be fine.
Spend the money locally rather than ship in energy bars. Plenty of good local snacks.
As others have alluded to, eat food. You'll find something that'll keep you going. There is nothing special about "sports foods", although clif bars are pretty tasty.
Snickers and haribo were available everywhere when I went.
As has been said you can walk into thamel to get stuff.
One tip I have is to check dawn dusk times and make sure you have a torch and know where you are staying. Unless the street lighting and electric situation has changed recently.
Street lighting is much better now - the 'power shortage' was uncovered as a major scam a while ago, with a lot of powerful people having a stake in the portable generator business!
Might struggle with Clif but there's plenty of chocolate and gummy sweets if you must have some overly processed western style junk food. Dried fruit, peanut cookies and dal bhat should sort you out.
Just come back. Almost no power problems, it only went off once a day perhaps for less than 10 mins each time.
The visa counter does take GBP as well as USD. They have an electronic system but if you can print the form off the net & provide passport photos you’ll skip a queue there.
Not sure what you’re packing, managed 19kg between two of us for 2 weeks! No bikes though...
There is a bit of a gang at the airport who extort people for a “tip” before you can leave the car park. Maybe have a few small dollar notes handy to pay them off.
30kg limit which includes the bike, which happens to be a fairly chunky steel full suss so I'm right on the limit.
Regarding the energy bars I suffer with IBD so it's a case of knowing what I can trust and knowing what works for fuelling any rides, as fuelling rides via normal dietary means doesn't work as well for me personally with some of the issues stemming from having IBD.
Check your airlines baggage conditions very carefully. I've frequently spent hours of my life with scales weighing everything I've got to find out which hat, etc is the lightest, making hard decisions to leave things behind and finally turning up at the airport wearing all of my clothes to find out that they treat the bike as a separate item of baggage and I'll have to pay extra for it anyway. Leaving plenty of baggage allowance for my main bag and all the things I wish I could have taken.
Or just accept that it will cost you a tiny amount of money in the overall price of your holiday and pay for an extra bag full of food.