Very important!! Before traveling, you should be simply aware of your own travel conditions, and double-check if you have prepared a basic but required preparation for your traveling abroad. Also, try to know more about your destination country as it would help you for your ease and comfort to your traveling. At a minimum, you should ensure yourself that you are prepared as following for easy, comfortable and safe traveling to your adventure destinations Nepal.
Check your Passport & Its Validity
Please kindly check your passport and its validity before traveling. Entry to most of the countries in Asia could require a minimum validity in your passport.
For traveling to Nepal, at a minimum, you should have 6 months of validity to your passport on the date of entrance to Nepal. Also, simply check that your passport has an empty page (Esp. if you preparing to travel to the country who grants you a visa on arrival). If your passport has no empty pages, then (But you may not know this before), could create a problem (Mostly for the business travelers or world travelers who travel a lot in a short time frame).
Know about Visas Procedure
Also try to know about the visa procedure of your interested travel country as some of the countries you desired to travel may not allow visa upon arrival in Asian countries, such as Myanmar, Tibet Bhutan & INDIA. So if you simply know the visa procedure of the local country that you traveling, then it is easy and convenient to you to prepare for your visa beforehand.
Nepal Visa: All foreigners require a visa for entry into Nepal (Except Indian nationals). You could easily get Nepal Visa upon arrival to Kathmandu international airport. Or you could also obtain your Nepal Visa at your country at nearest Nepal consulate or Embassy before traveling. If you making your Nepal visa on arrival to Kathmandu, then you should be taking 2 passport size photos, should prepare to pay for the visa fee in USD cash or equivalent- (But not in Travelers Cheque).
Travel Health
Travelling to Nepal in different climates and environments zone can expose you to disease and health risks. You should be aware of the dangers and how to stay healthy. Diseases which may or may not be present in your own countries such as yellow fever, malaria, rabies and dengue fever could be an issue for traveling to South Asia & Nepal as well.
Vaccinations and Immunizations
Visit your GP as soon as possible to check if you need any vaccinations or other preventive measures (such as malaria tablets) to the country that you traveling. You should be prepared for traveling to Nepal with the vaccination of the endanger diseases such as Hepatitis A, Japanese Encephalitis, Polio, Rabies, Tetanus, Typhoid and Malaria etc,
General Travel Health Tips
Consult with your medical Doctor before traveling if
If you have a pre-existing medical condition
General Travel Precautions
To make your trip as smooth and as safe as possible, we recommend that you take the following precautions to your travel to Nepal.
Trekking at High Altitude
Remember: altitude can and does kill. To avoid Acute Mountain Sickness ascend slowly and acclimatize fully. Take professional advice, only work with professional local companies who are licensed and authorized by Nepal Gov. Take a reference to the company from Nepal Tourism Board or TAAN Directory & NMA.
Know Local Laws and Customs
Please be aware of the local laws and customers to your traveling country to be in safe hand traveling. Even if Drugs used are illegal in Nepal, but Nepal is facing are the problem of using illegal drugs in modern cities of Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nepalgunj, Biratnagar etc, so you should be aware of this.
Penalties for drug-related offenses are severe. Possession of small amounts of marijuana can lead to a prison sentence in excess of five years, usually after a lengthy and expensive legal process. The availability of Class A drugs are on the rise and an increasing number of people are being caught smuggling drugs in every part of the country.
Custom - You should respect the local customs. Women should avoid wearing shorts and sleeveless tops in public places where this might be seen as inappropriate. Shoes should be removed before entering certain holy places. Non-Hindus are not permitted in certain temples.
Currency in Nepal
Nepal has its own currency called “Nepalese Rupee”, but it is different than Indian Rupees. Nepalese rupees come in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 rupee notes.
Please Note - AMEX Card is not widely accepted in Nepal so take an alternative card for traveling to Nepal instead of AMEX Card for your easy & comfort traveling.
But you do not need to obtain Nepalese currency prior to your traveling to Nepal. Upon arrival at Kathmandu international airport, you could easily get Nepalese rupees (ATMs in Kathmandu international airport is available at outside terminal areas).
Foreign Currency use in Nepal- United States Dollars, Canadian dollars, Australian Dollars, Euro, GBP Pounds, Singapore Dollars, etc are widely accepted in major cities in Nepal. ATMs - Major cities of Nepal such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nepalgunj, Biratnagar has a wide choice of ATMs use facilities and credit card, master card are easily accepted on ATMs.
Tribhuvan International Airport - Kathmandu, Nepal
Tribhuvan International Airport is an only international airport in Nepal and has its domestic section terminal along the side of the international terminal.
Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu operates an executive lounge for first and business class passengers for some airlines. But Thai Airways International operates a business lounge for its business class passengers separately as well as for the Star Alliance Gold Card holders.
As Tribhuvan international airport is newly renovated, now the distance from the international terminal to the airplanes is shorter. At present, about 30 international airlines connect Nepal to destinations in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The airport is about six kilometers from the city center, in the Kathmandu Valley.
Some Airport Facts:
Arrivals:
Upon you would be landed at Kathmandu airport, you are requested to come through the immigration, where you mostly spend a minimum of 30 minutes as it has a queue of peoples for obtaining Nepal Visa and visa procedure simply takes a min of 10-15 minutes. But if you have Nepal Visa, then you could go to the visa check-in counter and it is pretty quick so you would not have to stay in the queue for long.
Baggage claim can be a bit disorganized, thus most of the time you can be slightly delayed to leave the airport at your arrival.
Departures:
Most of the international airlines who are flying from Kathmandu request their passengers to check-in to their airlines counter a minimum of 3 hours before the flight leaves (But these days you could also do online check-in and if so you could only reach to the airport in 2 hours to flight time).
Check-in could always take time if it happens that few planes is flying almost in a similar hour. You mostly have to stay in queue onto the pavement outside the terminal (Not pleasant at all), but when you are in, then the procedure is quick ahead.
Some travelers find the departure from Kathmandu a little difficult, saying staying in a long queue to get inside the airport where their ticket is checked. In the age of e-tickets, this is difficult, as the security guard could not read the tickets, and those who did not have their e-tickets printed out had to argue to their way in because security mostly wants to see your ticket printed on your hand while approaching inside the airport.
ATMs & Communications:
Tribhuvan international airport in Kathmandu has only one ATMs facility which is outside of the arrival terminal. Credit card or Master Card easily works at this ATMs (In Nepal, ATMs gives you Nepali Currency called Rupees and its current equivalent with USD is Approx of 85 rupees).
Also, at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, it does have a few Telephone Booths for the communication facilities to the travelers.
Note: it usually has a problem finding sufficient trolleys as they are not usually found in the areas where they needed to be. And please avoid trolley collectors as they initially seem gentle to take your baggage’s to your car/taxi then you would hassle you with asking a mandatory tips/ charge which is illegal. As they followed up and insisted on tips, you may need to be harsh!!! Please be aware!!! Or have small change for them!!!
Mode of Communication in Nepal
Nepal's official language is called “Nepali Languages” and it is widely spoken at any side of the country. Nepal does also has 70 different ethnic groups and 90 different spoken languages and in every part of the country, you would find different types of peoples and ethnic groups but everyone speaks ‘Nepali.
English- is widely spoken in the major cities in Nepal such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nepal Gunj, Biratnagar, Bhaiwahawa, etc but once you would be more in the remote mountains areas, you could have the trouble of communication as very fewer locals communicate in English in mountains and rural areas.
For your pleasant holidays in Nepal, you could also learn some Nepalese words or phrases.
Nepal Standard Time
Nepal is 5 hours and 45 minutes ahead of GMT standard time so please set your time different with Nepal before traveling for your ease and comfort.