Travel essentials

apply in writing to Tribhuvan University (Campus of International Languages, PO Box 4339, Exhibition Rd, Kathmandu T01 422 8916, Wbishwobhasa.edu .np), which runs courses in Nepali, Tibetan, Sanskrit and Newari.

STUDY AND WORK PROGRAMMES

Campus of International Languages Tribhuwan University T01 422 8916, Wbishwobhasa.edu.np. Kathmandu’s most highly regarded university. Himalayan Rescue Association Whimalayanrescue.org. Accepts doctors to staff its high-altitude aid posts. Naropa Institute Wnaropa.edu/studyabroad. Colorado institution that runs a pricey course on Tibetan Buddhism each autumn at Boudha. Partnership for Sustainable Development Wpsdnepal.org. Small, friendly organization, running four-week to five-month programmes for international volunteers – digging wells, building classrooms, hospital internships – often incorporating tourist activities. Peace Corps Wpeacecorps.gov. Places US citizens with specialist qualifications or skills in two-year postings. Restless Development Wrestlessdevelopment.org/Nepal. Teaching placements and environmental education programmes for young people aged 18–25. School for International Training Wsit.edu. Based in Vermont, with its own campus in Kathmandu. School of South Asian Studies Wwisc.edu. Full-year study programmes with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Study Abroad.com Wstudyabroad.com. Good list of study and volunteer programmes in Nepal. VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) Wvso.org.uk. Highly respected charity that sends qualified professionals from the UK, US and EU to work for local wages on projects beneficial to developing countries. There are special programmes for young people and the over-60s too.

Climate

Nepal’s climate varies significantly through the year, with seasons showing themselves very differently at different altitudes. The pre-monsoon period, generally very hot and humid at lower elevations, lasts from mid-April to early June, while the monsoon itself, when travel is difficult but not impossible, dominates the period between mid-June and mid-September. Autumn sees pleasant temperatures and dry weather, while winter is generally cool and clear. There’s a fuller rundown of Nepal’s various seasons and weather changes in the introduction to this guide (see p.7).

Costs

Children

Kids always help break the ice with strangers, and Nepal can be a magical place for a child to visit. Arranging childcare is easy, and Nepalis generally love kids. Some children (especially those with fair skin and blond hair) may be uncomfortable with the endless attention, however.

Parents will of course have to take extra precautions in the light of Nepal’s poor sanitation, dogs, crowds, traffic, pollution, bright sun, rooftops and steep slopes. It may be hard to keep hands clean and yucky stuff out of mouths, and you’ll have to keep a firm grip on small children while out and about. If your child comes down with diarrhoea, keep them hydrated and topped up on salts – have oral rehydration formula on hand.

Naturally, you’ll want to plan a more modest itinerary and travel in greater comfort with children than you might on your own. In tourist areas it should be no problem finding food that kids will eat, though in other places it might be more challenging. Baby food and disposable nappies/ diapers are available in Kathmandu and Pokhara, but are hard to come by elsewhere. Some toys and books can be bought in Nepal, but bring a supply of your own. Carry small tots in a backpack or papoose – a stroller or pushchair will be virtually useless. Trekking with children is generally a wonderful experience (see p.320), though it can be logistically awkward if they’re too old to ride in a backpack and too young to hike on their own (though mules or horses can often be arranged). Your money goes a long way in Nepal. Off the tourist routes, it can actually be hard to spend US$30–40 a day, including food, transport and accommodation. On the other hand, Kathmandu and some of the other tourist traps can burn a hole in your pocket faster than you might expect. Even so, it’s still possible for a frugal traveller to keep to US$20 a day in the capital, although the figure can effortlessly balloon to US$50 or more simply by choosing slightly nicer hotels and restaurants. However, if you travel in less-touristed areas, use local buses and live as the locals, it’s perfectly ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= possible to live on as little as US$10 a day. If you like to travel in greater luxury and do a few activities, you should reckon on spending US$60–80 or more per day, depending mainly on standard of accommodation. You’ll inevitably pay over the odds for things at first, and it may even feel as if people are charging you as much as they think they can get away with,

but that’s hardly a market principle exclusive to Nepal. Bargain where appropriate, but don’t begrudge a few rupees to someone who has worked hard for them.

Many hotels (and most tourist restaurants) quote their prices exclusive of the 13 percent “government” tax (essentially a value-added tax) and charge another 10 percent service charge. Hotel prices quoted in this guide (see box, p.28) include all surcharges and taxes, as do the sample prices listed in restaurant reviews.

No matter how tight your budget, it would be foolish not to splurge now and then on some of the things that make Nepal unique: organized treks, rafting, biking and wildlife trips are relatively expensive, but well worth it.

Crime and safety

Nepal is one of the world’s more crime-free countries, but it would be unwise not to take a few simple precautions, especially as crime is on the rise in urban areas.

The main concern is petty theft. Store valuables in your hotel safe, close windows or grilles at night in cities to deter “fishing”, and use a money belt or pouch around your neck. Some public bus routes have reputations for baggage theft. Pickpockets (often street children) operate in crowded urban areas, especially during festivals; be vigilant.

If you’re robbed, report it as soon as possible to the police headquarters of the district in which the robbery occurred. Policemen are apt to be friendly, if not much help. For insurance purposes, go to the Interpol Section of the police headquarters in Durbar Square, Kathmandu or to the Tourist Police in the Kathmandu tourist offices, to fill in a report; you’ll need a copy of it to claim from your insurer once back home. Bring a photocopy of your passport and your Nepali visa, together with two passport photos.

Violent crime is rare. An occasional concern is a certain amount of hooliganism or sexual aggression in the Kathmandu tourist bars, and late-night muggings do sometimes occur. In addition, there have been a couple of well-publicized armed robberies and sexually motivated murders in the national parks on the edge of the Kathmandu Valley. A few Western women have been raped, but most problems come about within relationships with Nepali men – trekking or rafting guides, for instance (see p.311) – not due to attack by strangers. The countryside, generally, is very safe, though there is a small risk of attack by bandits on remote trekking trails. In the Terai, there are a number of armed Madhesi groups, but tourists are not targets and you are unlikely to be affected

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL

Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec JANAKPUR 70M, TERAI PLAINS

Max/min (ºC) 26/11 35/16 35/20 33/26 31/22 25/11 Max/min (ºF) 79/52 95/15 96/68 91/79 88/72 77/52 Rain (mm) 20 40 40 310 70 10

JOMOSOM 2713M, HIMALAYAN RAIN SHADOW

Max/min (ºC) 10/-2 19/4 23/12 23/13 18/6 12/-2 Max/min (ºF) 50/28 66/39 73/53 73/55 64/43 54/28 Rain (mm) 10 20 20 30 30 10

KATHMANDU 1300M, CENTRAL HILLS

Max/min (ºC) 20/4 27/11 29/19 28/20 26/13 20/3 Max/min (ºF) 68/39 81/52 84/66 82/68 79/55 68/37 Rain (mm) 20 60 260 320 60 150 NAMCHE 3450M, HIGH HIMALAYASipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= Max/min (ºC) 6/-6 12/1 15/6 16/8 12/2 7/-6 Max/min (ºF) 43/21 54/34 59/43 61/46 54/36 45/21 Rain (mm) 20 30 140 240 80 40

POKHARA 800M, WESTERN HILLS

Max/min (ºC) 22/9 30/15 30/21 30/22 27/17 20/8 Max/min (ºF) 71/48 86/59 86/70 86/72 81/62 68/46 Rain (mm) 30 120 700 850 170 20

much beyond the odd delayed bus, roadblock or bandh (see below).

There are several ways to get on the wrong side of the law. Smuggling is the usual cause of serious trouble – if you get caught with commercial quantities of either drugs or gold you’ll be looking at a more or less automatic five to twenty years in prison.

In Nepal, where government servants are poorly paid, a little bakshish sometimes greases the wheels. Nepali police don’t bust tourists simply in order to get bribes, but if you’re accused of something it might not hurt to make an offer, in an extremely careful, euphemistic and deniable way. This shouldn’t be necessary if you’re the victim of a crime, although you may feel like offering a “reward”.

The worst trouble you’re likely to run into is one of Nepal’s civil disturbances, which are thankfully less common than they used to be. Political parties, student organizations and anyone else with a gripe may call a chakka jam (traffic halt) or bandh (general strike). In either case, most shops pull down their shutters as well, and vehicles stay off the roads to avoid having their windows smashed. Demonstrations sometimes involve rock-throwing, tear gas and lathis (Asian-style police batons), but you’d have to go out of your way to get mixed up in this.

Entry regulations

Drugs

Drugs are illegal in Nepal, but it is impossible to walk through Thamel or any of the other tourist hot spots without being approached by a dealer offering hash. It would be incredibly stupid to go through customs with illegal drugs, but discreet possession inside the country carries relatively little risk. While the drug dealers are often shady characters, they are not generally informants.

Electricity

Power comes at 220 volts/50 cycles per second, when you can get it: lengthy power cuts (“load shedding”) are a daily occurrence – these are sometimes random, but often planned, so ask for timings at your hotel. Smarter hotels and restaurants have backup generators; ask for a room away from them as they can be noisy. Tourist guesthouses usually offer sockets that accept almost any kind of pin, but the European standard two-pin is the most common.

Emergencies

Dial T100 for the police. Hospitals and other organizations have their own telephone numbers

for an ambulance, but get a Nepali-speaker to do the talking. Registering with your embassy can speed things up in the event of an emergency. All foreign nationals except Indians need a visa to enter Nepal. These are free (for 30 days) for nationals of other South Asian Area Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries: Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh. All other nationals have to pay for them. Tourist visas are issued on arrival at Kathmandu airport and official overland entry points. At the former, queues can be long, so you may prefer to get one in advance from a Nepali embassy or consulate in your own country. Otherwise, have a passport-size photo at the ready; you can also save time by filling in an online application in advance, on which you can attach a digital photo (Wonline.nepalimmigration .gov.np/tourist-visa). At the airport, you can pay the visa fee in US dollars, euros, pounds sterling or other major foreign currencies. At overland entry points, officials tend to demand US dollars or Nepali rupees. The fee structure at the time of writing was US$25 for 15 days, US$40 for 30 days and US$100 for 90 days; all are multiple-entry visas. Fees may change without warning, however, so double-check at Wnepalimmigration.gov.np before setting out. Tourist visas can be extended up to a maximum of 150 days in a calendar year: an extension of 30 days or less costs US$30. You’ll need to apply online (at Wnepalimmigration.gov.np), then take the email response with you to the Kathmandu or Pokhara Department of Immigration offices. You should be able to collect your passport with the visa extension added later the same day. Submit your passport and one digital photo with your application – if you haven’t submitted your photo online you can put it on a USB stick. A non-extendable transit visa, valid for 24 hours, can be issued at airport immigration and costs US$5; you can save time by applying online first. Don’t overstay more than a couple of days as you’ll have to pay the visa extension fee plus fines, and don’t tamper with your visa – tourists have been fined and even jailed for these seemingly minor infractions.ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= It is no longer necessary to have a trekking permit to visit the most popular trekking regions, but you will need the TIMS card, which amounts to much the same thing. You’ll have to pay national park entry fees for the Annapurna, Everest and Langtang areas. A handful of remote regions are still restricted, and require permits to enter (see box, p.314).

EARTHQUAKE DANGER IN NEPAL

The earthquakes that periodically trouble Nepal are all too tangible proof that the Himalayas are still rising, forced ever upward by the movement of the Indian subcontinent plate as it drives into the greater Asian plate at a rate of 2cm per year. Tremors of magnitude 4 and 5 occur a dozen or so times a year, while the country was terrified by a 6.8-magnitude shake in September 2011 (fortunately, it occurred on the sparsely occupied eastern border, and killed very few).

The most recent major earthquake, in 1988, registered a terrifying 8.3 on the Richter scale and killed seven hundred people in the eastern part of the country. When a similar quake hit Kathmandu in 1934, it destroyed a quarter of the capital’s buildings and killed some seventeen thousand people inside a single minute, its power amplified by the valley’s soupy soil, which liquefied in places, due to the shaking.

Since then, the population has swelled dramatically, and thousands of concrete houses are built every year – the majority officially considered “highly unsafe”. Unnervingly, tourist guesthouses, built ever upwards in unceasing competition for rooftop airspace, are among the main contenders for collapse – along with schools and hospitals. The best guess is that an 8-magnitude quake in the Kathmandu Valley would kill some 100,000 people and leave at least a million homeless. Survivors would be stranded, without succour: all the hospitals would collapse, and the roads into and out of the capital would be blocked by landslides.

Recent seismic studies, moreover, predict that a major earthquake, one that hits 8 or more on the Richter scale, is due to hit Nepal “soon” – which is to say probably within the next fifty years. Local experts contend that the less populated (and much less visited) western region is a more likely target than Kathmandu, but it’s small comfort if you’re in Pokhara. Here’s what to do if there is an earthquake: • If indoors, stay indoors. For most people, this is counterintuitive. Get under a table or stand against an interior wall. Stay clear of heavy furniture, and stand back from exterior walls and windows. • If outdoors, find open space if you can. Stay clear of walls, buildings and power lines – if you can. • If trekking, walk up from riverbanks and away from landslide areas. • Expect aftershocks. Stay in a safe place and gather things you might need in an emergency: first-aid kit, blanket, emergency lights, water purification tablets, food.

It’s worth noting, too, that a few sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including the entire city of Bhaktapur, charge entry fees.

Customs officers are fairly lax on entry, but checks are more thorough on departure, and it is illegal to export objects over 100 years old (see box, p.114).

Insurance

Gay and lesbian Nepal

While the gay scene in Kathmandu is growing slowly, and the government is taking a more progressive line than in the past, homosexuality is still very much frowned upon. (Lesbianism is barely even considered a possibility.) In a society where men routinely hold hands and often share beds, gay couples may feel a certain freedom in being able to be close in public, but otherwise the same advice on sexual behaviour in public applies as for heterosexual couples (see p.40). The only approach a gay traveller is likely to get is from touts who, at the end of a long inventory of drugs and “nice Nepali girls”, might also offer “boys”. But it’s nothing like the scene in, say, Thailand. For

more information, contact the Blue Diamond Society (Wbds.org.np), a Kathmandu-based gay rights pressure group. It’s worth taking out insurance before travelling, to cover against theft, loss and illness or injury. Before paying for a new policy, however, check whether you’re already covered: some all-risks home insurance policies may cover your possessions when overseas, and many medical schemes include cover when abroad. A typical policy usually provides cover for the loss of baggage, tickets and – up to a certain limit – cash, ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= as well as cancellation or curtailment of your journey. Most of them exclude so-called dangerous sports unless an extra premium is paid: in Nepal this can mean whitewater rafting, trekking (especially above 4000m) and climbing. Many policies can be tailored – for example, sickness and accident benefits can often be excluded or included at will. If you do take medical coverage, ascertain whether

Rough Guides has teamed up with WorldNomads.com to offer great travel insurance deals. Policies are available to residents of more than 150 countries, with cover for a wide range of adventure sports, 24hr emergency assistance, high levels of medical and evacuation cover and a stream of travel safety information. Roughguides.com users can take advantage of their policies online 24/7, from anywhere in the world – even if you’re already travelling. And since plans often change when you’re on the road, you can extend your policy and even claim online. Roughguides.com users who buy travel insurance with WorldNomads.com can also leave a positive footprint and donate to a community development project. For more information go to Wroughguides.com/shop.

benefits will be paid as treatment proceeds or only after return home, and whether there is a 24-hour medical emergency number. When securing baggage cover, make sure that the per-article limit will cover your most valuable possession. If you need to make a claim, you should keep receipts for medicines and medical treatment, and in the event you have anything stolen, you must obtain an official statement from the police.

Internet

Cyber cafés are abundant in Nepal. Beyond Kathmandu and Pokhara, however, connections can be painfully slow. Expect to pay around Rs50–100/hr. Find out whether a power cut is due before going online, as only a few cyber cafés have backup generators. Most hotels and restaurants in touristy areas offer wi-fi access.

Laundry

Most hotels and guesthouses provide laundry services, generally charging around Rs50–100/kg. In Thamel and other tourist areas, numerous laundries offer a same-day service. If you’re doing your own, you’ll find detergent sold in inexpensive packets in cities, or you can buy a cheap cube of local laundry soap almost anywhere.

The media

Mail

Post generally takes at least ten days to get to or from Nepal – if it arrives at all. Postcards (Rs25–30 to anywhere in the world) go through fine, but envelopes or parcels that look like they might contain anything of value sometimes go astray. Letters can be sent to a hotel or a friend’s home, or care of poste restante in Kathmandu (see p.117). Mail should be addressed: Name, Poste Restante, GPO, Kathmandu (or Pokhara), Nepal. Mail is held for about two months, and can be redirected on

request. In Kathmandu, American Express handles mail for cardholders and those carrying Amex cheques, and US citizens can receive mail c/o the Consular Section of the American Embassy. When sending mail in Nepal, there’s rarely a need to deal directly with the postal system; most hotels will take it to the post office for you. Book and postcard shops in tourist areas sell stamps, and many also have their own, largely reliable, mail drop-off boxes. Where no such services exist, take your letters or cards to the post office yourself, or wait to send them from Kathmandu. Never use a public letterbox: the stamps will be removed and resold. Parcels can be sent by air or sea. Sea mail is cheaper but takes a lot longer (three months or more) and there are more opportunities for it to go missing. Again, the private sector is much easier to deal with than the official postal service. Shipping agents and air freight services will shield you from much of the frustration and red tape, but for this they charge almost twice as much as the post office. Be sure you’re dealing with a reputable company. The media is fast developing in Nepal and even remote places now have access to newspapers, TV and, increasingly, the internet. Despite a literacy rate of less than fifty percent, Nepal boasts more than a thousand newspapers – an outgrowth of two noble Brahmanic traditions: punditry and gossip. Several are published in English, the most readable and incisive being the ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= weekly Nepali Times. Of the dailies, the Kathmandu Post remains the frontrunner, overshadowing The Himalayan Times and República. All are hard to find outside big cities, but are available online. A number of magazines are published in English, the most interesting being Himal (Whimalmag .com) and ECS Nepal (Wecs.com.np). Foreign publications such as the International Herald Tribune,

Time and Newsweek are available from bookshops in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

As well as several terrestrial Nepali channels, cable and satellite TV – broadcasting programmes from India and the West – is widespread, and more and more hotel rooms have TVs. The influential government-run Radio Nepal (Wradionepal.gov .np) on 103 FM has English-language news bulletins daily at 8pm. Local FM stations are sprouting like mushrooms and increasingly using ethnic languages and local dialects. There are a couple of English-language ones in the Kathmandu Valley; the trendiest is Kantipur (Wradiokantipur.com) on 96.1 FM. If you have a short-wave radio, you can pick up the BBC World Service: Wbbc.co.uk/world service lists the frequencies.

Money and banks

Nepal’s unit of currency is the Nepali rupee (rupiya), which is divided into 100 paisa (which you will never see). At the time of writing, the exchange rate was around Rs100 to US$1, Rs150 to £1 and Rs115 to €1. Most Nepali money is paper: notes come in denominations of Rs1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000.

More upmarket tourist businesses quote prices in US dollars, and may even expect payment in that currency. A fistful of rupees will very rarely be refused, but if you’re planning to stay in classy hotels, or book flights or rafting trips, it’s worth bringing some US currency. A selection of denominations is useful; make sure the bills are relatively new. Euros and pounds sterling are accepted too, converted on the basis of the bank’s tourist rate, or the one printed in that day’s newspaper. The Indian rupee, also widely accepted, is known as IC for Indian Currency.

One minor annoyance of travelling in Nepal is getting change. Outside tourist areas, business people will hum and haw about breaking a large note. It gets to be a game of bluff between buyer and seller, both hoarding a wad of small notes for occasions when exact change is vital. It pays to carry a range of smaller bills.

Credit and debit cards

Top-end hotels and some travel agents, shops and mid-range guesthouses accept credit cards (charging a processing fee for doing so), but most others places don’t. Most towns covered in this guide have at least one ATM, and places like Kathmandu have hundreds. Almost all ATMs have instructions in English and many are open 24

hours; most accept foreign debit and credit cards (although not, at the time of writing, Cirrus or American Express cards) – check with your bank before leaving home. Annoyingly, most ATMs have an Rs10,000–15,000 withdrawal limit for each transaction, the exception being Nabil Bank ATMs, which will often give you up to Rs35,000 (though not in tourist areas like Thamel). Let your bank know you intend to use your card in Nepal before leaving home, as they sometimes stop cards used abroad for fear that they have been cloned or stolen. Some banks also issue credit card cash advances, and American Express cardholders can draw money inside branches of Himalayan Bank. A good alternative to debit or credit cards are the pre-paid “cash passport” cards (Wcashpassport.com) issued by companies such as Travelex.

Travellers’ cheques

Travellers’ cheques are more secure than cash, but are used less and less these days. US dollar cheques are widely accepted in tourist areas, and cheques denominated in other major currencies are usually accepted as well. If you’re travelling off the beaten track, however, it’s wiser to stick to cash.

Banks and moneychangers

Using banks in Nepal is, by south Asian standards, hassle-free. Numerous banks vie for tourist business, as do a horde of government-registered moneychangers. The former tend to give slightly better rates, though the latter are often more convenient. Moneychangers can be found wherever there are significant numbers of tourists, while banks are more widespread. Hours for foreign exchange vary: at least one Kathmandu airport moneychanger operates around the clock, Nepal Bank’s central Kathmandu (New Road) branch stays open seven days a week, and some private banks keep extended hours, but lesser branches generally change money only from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday, often closing early on Fridays. Moneychangers keep generous hours (usually daily ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= 9am–8pm). Hold on to all exchange receipts in case you want to change money back when you leave. Some banks (including those at Tribhuwan airport and official border crossings) will buy rupees back, though they may only give US dollars in return. If you’re entering India, changing Nepali currency into Indian currency is no problem.

Opening hours and public holidays

CALLING HOME FROM ABROAD

In the Kathmandu Valley, government offices and post offices are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm (sometimes closing at 4pm between mid-Nov and mid-Feb); outside the valley, they often open on Sunday as well.

Museums are usually closed at least one day a week; opening times are fairly similar to office hours. Shops keep long hours (usually 9–10am to 7–8pm), and in tourist areas generally open daily. Some banks in tourist areas and Kathmandu are also generous with their hours, but elsewhere you’ll generally have to do your transactions between 9am and 3pm from Monday to Friday. Moneychangers keep longer hours. Travel agents tend to work from around 9am to the early evening; airline offices are open roughly the same hours as government offices, and often close for lunch between 1pm and 2pm.

Nepal’s hectic calendar of national holidays can shut down offices for up to a week at a time. Dates vary from year to year – Nepal has its own calendar, the Vikram Sambat, which began in 57 BC. The year starts in mid-April and consists of twelve months that are a fortnight or so out of step with the Western ones. Complicating matters further are religious festivals, which are calculated according to the lunar calendar, while Tibetan and Newari festivals follow calendars of their own.

Phones

All tourist areas and major towns have telephone/internet shops that offer a variety of To make an international call, dial the international access code (in Nepal it’s +977), then the destination’s country code, before the rest of the number. Note that the initial zero is omitted from the area code when dialling the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand from abroad. Australia + 61 New Zealand + 64 UK + 44 US and Canada + 1 Republic of Ireland + 353 South Africa + 27

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

ways to make cheap international calls, including on Skype. Most have backup generators for power outages. Simpler telephone-only outfits, which advertise themselves with the acronyms ISD/STD/ IDD, can be found almost everywhere there’s a phone line. Mobile phone coverage is now found across the country, even in some trekking areas. You can generally use foreign SIM cards in Nepal, but it is far cheaper to buy a local one: Ncell is currently the most popular network, though it is not the best choice when in the mountains. When you buy a SIM (from Rs99) you’ll need to take photocopies of your passport and visa and a passport photo; it can take up to half an hour to process. Nepali numbers are always eight digits long: in the Kathmandu Valley the T01 area code is followed by a seven-digit number; elsewhere, a three-digit area code is followed by a six-digit number; mobile phone numbers are ten digits long. You don’t need to dial the area code when you’re calling landlines from within that area. Numbers in the Kathmandu chapter of this guide Prithvi Narayan Shah’s Birthday Jan 10 are listed with codes, but note that you’ll need to or 11 remove T01 when dialling from within the Basanta Panchami Late Jan or early Feb Shiva Raatri Late Feb or early March Democracy Day Feb 18 or 19 Kathmandu Valley. The international dialling code for Nepal is +977. For directory enquiries call Nawa Barsa (Nepali New Year) April 13 T197; for Kathmandu numbers you can look online or 14 at Wipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= nepalhomepage.com/whitepages. Chait Dasain Late March or early April Ram Nawami Late March or early April Time zones Buddha Jayanti Late April or early May Janai Purnima Late July or early Aug Nepal is 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT. That Krishna Asthami Late July or early Aug makes it 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of London, Dasain Late Sept or early Oct (6 days) 10 hours 45 minutes ahead of New York, 13 hours Tihaar Late Oct or early Nov (3 days) 45 minutes ahead of Los Angeles, and 4 hours 15 Constitution Day Nov 9 minutes behind Sydney. Nepal doesn’t observe daylight saving time, so daylight saving time

elsewhere reduces/increases the time difference by one hour.

Tipping

Most restaurants automatically include a ten percent service charge in the bill and this will almost always go straight to the staff – it’s one of the few bits of useful legislation the Maoist introduced while in government. Trekking porters and guides have their own expectations (see p.312).

Toilets

Toilets range from “Western” (sit-down) flush options to a shed over a hole. In basic lodges the norm is a squat toilet. When travelling by bus you’ll almost always find a bathroom available at stops – but sometimes there is nothing but a designated field. If in doubt, ask Toilet kahaachha? (“Where is the toilet?”). Don’t flush toilet paper: put it in the basket provided. Note that paper is not provided in more basic places; Nepalis use a jug of water and the left hand.

As many villages have no covered toilets, it’s deemed okay to defecate in the open – but out of sight of others, in the early morning or after dark. Men may urinate in public away from buildings – discreetly – but women have to find a sheltered spot.

Travellers with disabilities

Tourist information

The handful of Nepal Tourism Board offices inside the country are generally friendly, if not necessarily full of information. You’ll get the most useful information from guesthouse staff and other travellers. Check the notice boards in restaurants and guesthouses around the tourist quarters for news of upcoming events or to find travelling or trekking companions. In the capital, the Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP; Wkeep nepal.org) and the Himalayan Rescue Association (Whimalayanrescue.org) can provide trekking information. Nepal’s English-language newspapers and magazines are also good sources of information, and there are several useful websites.

USEFUL WEBSITES

Wcatmando.com Comprehensive (if rarely updated) lists of Nepal-based businesses, including hotels, restaurants, travel and travel agencies.

Wdigitalhimalaya.com Hosted by Cambridge University in the UK, this site offers the last word in research, news and resources for Nepal and other Himalayan countries. Wekantipur.com Online edition of the Kathmandu Post, one of the country’s best dailies. Wfco.gov.uk/travel This UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office site is usually the most detailed government advisory service on travel to Nepal. Whimalayanrescue.org Useful trekking resource run by the Himalayan Rescue Association. Wkeepnepal.org KEEP’s website is good for environmental, cultural and trekking information. Wnepalhomepage.com Helpful Nepal gateway, with FAQs on travel in Nepal, local yellow pages, directories, and photos, though information is not always up to date. Wnepalnews.com Good news aggregator with links to many Nepali media outlets, including the fortnightly Spotlight magazine. Wpilgrimsbooks.com Online branch of Nepal’s best bookshop. Wtravel.state.gov The US Department of State’s website details the dangers of travelling to most countries in the world. Nepal is a poor country without the means to cater for disabled travellers. If you walk with difficulty, you’ll find the steep slopes, stairs and uneven pavements hard going. Open sewers, potholes, crowds and a lack of proper street crossings will all make it hard for a blind traveller to get around. That said, guides and porters are readily available and should be prepared to provide whatever assistance you need. With a companion, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy many of Nepal’s activities, including mountain flights and sightseeing by private car. If you rent a taxi, the driver is certain to help you in and out, and perhaps around the sites you visit. A safari should be feasible, and even a trek, catered to your needs by an agency, might not be out of the question – mules or horses can be used on a number of trekking routes, for example. Basic wheelchairs are available in Kathmandu’s airport, and smaller airports, including Pokhara, are mostly at ground level. Generally, however, facilities for the disabled are nonexistent, so you should ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= bring your own wheelchair or other necessary equipment. Hotels aren’t geared up for disabled guests, though the most expensive ones have lifts and (sometimes) ramps.