Facts for the Traveller

Visas: All foreign nationals (except Indians) require visas. Single-entry tourist visas are issued for up to 30 days and can be extended for a maximum of three months. They permit travel around the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara and Chitwan National Park in the Terai. Trekking permits are required if you intend striking out from the main roads; they can be obtained from immigration offices in Kathmandu and Pokhara.
Health risks: Altitude sickness, hepatitis A, malaria (low-lying areas only), meningococcal Meningitis (Kathmandu Valley region) and typhoid
Time: GMT/UTC plus five hours 45 minutes
Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz (when available)
Weights & measures: Metric
Tourism: 255,000 visitors

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Money & Costs

Currency: Nepalese rupee

• Budget meal: US$2-3
• Moderate restaurant meal: US$3-10
• Top-end restaurant meal: US$10 and upwards

• Budget room: US$3-10
• Moderate hotel room: US$10-50
• Top-end hotel room: US$50 and upwards

If you stay in rock-bottom accommodation and survive on a predominantly Nepalese diet, you could easily live in Nepal on less than US$15 a day. If you prefer to stay in comfortable lodgings, eat in tourist-oriented restaurants and take the occasional taxi, your living costs are likely to be between US$20 and US$40 a day. On an independent trek between village inns, your living costs are likely to be between US$10 and US$15 a day, as long as you don't indulge in too many 'luxury' items, like beer and chocolate.

There are effectively three exchange rates in Nepal: the rate set by the government's Nepal Rastra Bank, the slightly more generous (but still legal) rate set by the private banks, and the even more generous black-market rate set by carpet shops and travel agents. The daily Rising Nepal newspaper lists the Nepal Rastra Bank's rate, which is a useful reference point. Exchange rates and commissions can vary quite significantly, so shop around.

When you change money legally, you are issued with a Foreign Exchange Encashment Receipt showing the amount of hard currency you have exchanged. If you leave Nepal via Kathmandu airport and haven't spent all your rupees, you can exchange up to 15% of the amount shown on these unused receipts back into hard currency.

Major international currencies such as the US dollar and pounds sterling are readily accepted, and the Indian rupee is also considered a 'hard' currency. Outside the Kathmandu Valley, it may be difficult to use large-denomination Nepalese notes, so keep a decent portion of your money in small-denomination notes. If you're trekking, take enough small-denomination cash with you to last the whole trek.

Tipping is becoming fairly common in upmarket restaurants in Kathmandu, so leave around 10% of the bill if service was good. There's no need to tip in cheaper establishments or to tip taxi drivers. Porters on treks, however, should be tipped around Rs 100 per day. Bargaining is commonplace in markets and tourist shops, but treat it as a form of polite social discourse rather than a matter of life and death.

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Culture

At once a time machine and a magic carpet, Nepal sweeps you along crooked, timeworn streets flanked by irregular, multi-roofed pagodas, stupas and stone sculptures, and into rooms cluttered with horror-eyed masks, spinning prayer wheels, trippy thangka scrolls and Tibetan carpets. Muttered chants, esoteric tantric hymns and Nepalese music hang in the air, whether it be the twang of a four-stringed saringhi or the plaintive notes of a flute. Traditional folk musicians or gaines gather for an evening of singing and socialising, classical dancing and trance-like masked dances enliven the Kathmandu Valley and Bhaktapur regions, while no wedding would be complete without the raucous damais - Nepal's modern ensembles.

Religion is the lifeblood of the Nepalese. Officially it is a Hindu country, but in practice the religion is a syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs with a pantheon of Tantric deities tagged on. The remainder of the population that isn't Buddhist or Hindu are either Muslim, Christian or shamans.

Nepal's food is surprisingly dull given that it lies at the intersection of the two great gastronomic giants India and China. Most of the time meals consist of a dish called dhal bhat tarkari which is a combination of lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables - hardly the makings of a dynamic national cuisine. On the other hand, Nepal has adapted famously to Western tastes, markedly evident in Kathmandu's smorgasbord of menus: Mexican tacos; Japanese sukiyaki; Thai chocolate; Chinese marshmallows; onion and minestrone soup; borscht, quiche and soyburgers; and some of the best desserts - apple and lemon pies, almond layer cakes, fruit cakes - found anywhere in the world. To wash any (or all) of these offerings down, try a lassi (a refreshing mixture of curd and water), the locally produced beer or chang, a Himalayan home brew made from barley.

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Events

Nepal's festive calendar is hectic. Dasain, celebrated nationwide in October, is the most important of all Nepalese celebrations and features the biggest animal sacrifice of the year. Running a close second is Tihar (November), but unlike Daisan, animals are honoured rather than slaughtered. Other festivals celebrated nationally include the water-tinged Holi (March) and Chaitra Daisan (April), which is yet another bad day for animals. Hindu festivals number the Haribodhini Ekadashi (November) and Maha Shivaratri (March), both celebrated in Pashupatinath, the Gai Jatra (August) in Kathmandu and the Krishna Jayanti (August/September) in Patan. Buddhist celebrations are just as thick on the ground, and include Mani Rimdu (November) in Solu Khumbu, Buddha Jayanti (May) in Kathmandu, and Losar (Tibetan New Year) (February) in Swayambhunath, Jawlakhel and highland communities.

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Climate

Climatic factors are very important in deciding when to visit Nepal. October-November, the start of the dry season, is in many ways the best time of year: the weather is balmy, the air is clean, visibility is perfect and the country is lush following the monsoon. February-April, the tail end of the dry season is the second-best period: visibility is not so good because of dust, but the weather is warm and many of Nepal's wonderful wild flowers are in bloom.

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When to Go

In December and January, the climate and visibility are good but it can be chilly: trekkers need to be well prepared for snow, and cheaper hotels in Kathmandu - where heating is nonexistent - can be gloomy in the evening. The rest of the year is fairly unpleasant for travelling: May and early June are generally too hot and dusty for comfort, and the monsoon from mid-June to September obscures the mountains in cloud and turns trails and roads to mud.

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