Tips for travel to Nepal

in TravelFeed3 years ago

Nepal is one of those countries that I really enjoyed visiting and have fond memories of. Well, at least the trekking side of things. In my opinion the country has a good side and a bad side but this is true of every country in the world. The major cities including and especially Kathmandu are very crowded, dirty, and polluted but once you get out in nature, things change dramatically. Because of the tough terrain, this is likely to stay this way for a long time if not forever.

Here are a few tips about travel to Nepal that I found out from being there and keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I am not trying to hurt anyone's feeling with anything negative that I say.


Pay extra for VIP tourist buses

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The first trip I went on I decided I was going to try and travel like a local and simply went to the side of the road bus stop for my initial journey to our "base camp." This turned out to be a terrible mistake. These buses are extremely crowded and they will never stop accepting new passengers. We managed to get a seat but that was a rather meaningless luxury as the seats are extremely small and at one point someone, without even talking to me, just decided to sit down on my lap. I looked around and noticed that everyone else with a seat was doing the same thing so it is not like I was being picked on, this is just the way that it was. Eventually because of my claustrophobia I went up to the roof and it was a little bit fun for a while but that quickly wore off.

The next time I took a bus I went for the VIP tourist bus where they only sell the number of seats that exist on the bus. They also didn't stop for just anyone on the side of the road and no one was on the roof. This ticket was not a lot more expensive than the regular tickets either. While I do not remember the exact cost the difference in price was only a few dollars. Trust me on this one. Bus journeys take a LONG TIME in Nepal due to the winding mountainside roads, and you are in for a lot of discomfort if you ignore this experienced advice.


Bring as little as possible on your treks

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Especially if you are doing any of the "tea trekking" (routes that have lodging along the way) you really should take a serious look at your pack, get it down to the bare minimums and then probably remove about half of that stuff too. All of your heavier gear such as warm clothes are going to be on your body when you are moving anyway so honestly, you really shouldn't be bringing anything with you at all. There are smaller packs that you can rent in the shops in the main city of Kathmandu for $1 a day and this is totally worth it.

I am not a smaller person, and I thought that when I got my bad down to 12 kg that I had done enough. After a 5 hour trek (which is what you can expect to do basically every day, this starts to feel as though it weighs 100kg and I really regret bringing a lot of the stuff with me that I did.

Also, if you discover that you have forgotten something essential all of the guesthouses that I stayed at along the way had tons of clothes that other people, who had made the same mistake as I did, left behind and the owners will normally give it to you for nothing if you want it.


Weed is not legal

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There is this opinion among trekkers that since you encounter all sorts of marijuana products for sale up in the mountains and crops are randomly growing all over the palce that it is legal in Nepal and this is simply not true. The mountain regions kind of get a pass from the government as far as I can tell but I can assure you that the drug is NOT legal in the country and you can get into a lot of trouble if you are in an area that has police and you are using it and get caught.

I'm not trying to tell anyone how to live their lives and personally I think that weed should be legal world-wide and we are headed in that direction soon. But for the time being, exercise the same caution in public with this drug as you would back in any other country where it is illegal. Getting "caught" with it here will likely only result in a fine / bribe, but it is still trouble that you do not want.


Get rid of all your Nepal money before you leave the country

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Although it is considered one of the world's most beautiful currencies, no other country's exchanges are interested in this money. I found this out by doing it the wrong way and found myself back in Malaysia with about $400 worth of Rupees and after the 3rd exchange handing it back to me someone finally told me that "no exchange will trade Rupees." I was finally able to get rid of it by putting up flyers at a guesthouse and offering it at a massive discount to whoever would give me dollars for it.

You should also try to take advantage of the exchanges that are in Kathmandu city before heading to the airport because the exchanges at the airport are very aware that they are your last resort and they take advantage of you accordingly. This can be tough to do but with a little bit of budget planning you will be ok. Since almost anyone is willing to accept dollars instead of Rupees for payment, there isn't really any reason to hang onto excess Rupees during the end of your stay.


Other small tips that aren't worthy of their own section go like this:

  • Do not give to beggars: I've been told that many of them are faking and this is actually a second job for them. There are many poor people in Nepal and if you truly want to help there are a bunch of charitable organizations that you can donate to.

  • Don't drink the water out of taps - although when you see / smell the water out of the taps you probably wouldn't do this anyway

  • Be very wary of dance clubs in Kathmandu: Many of these are scams that charge extortionate prices for drinks and food and will become violent if you protest the bill.

  • Bring photos for your visa on arrival, also, bring USD or Euros to pay the visa fee. Strangely, they do not accept their country's own currency for this visa... and I found this out the hard way.

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