Nepal Travel Logistics: What it Costs if You Can’t Be Bothered

I did a lot of reading about Nepal travel logistics before I went in August. During this preparation time, I found several helpful articles by backpackers describing how much it costs to get taxis and SIM cards in Nepal, when you haggle it down or follow their tips to look for deals.

What I couldn’t find was, whether it is really very important to your travel logistics in Nepal, to haggle and look for deals? I mean, how much would it hurt my wallet if I simply didn’t bother?

After all, I was focused on two quite difficult things that I would be doing for the first time: trekking up a mountain over multiple days, and travelling abroad solo for an entire month. A month is significantly different from 2 days. What if I wanted to save my mental resources for that?

But it seems that all the bloggers writing about Nepal travel logistics were on a shoestring budget. In the end I simply accepted that I’ll just have to find out, by doing it.

Now that I’m back, I’m here to tell you how that went, and you can decide if it’s a big deal to you.

Note: This is based on a 2017 trip to Nepal in the month of August in the off season. Additionally, I should mention that I am Asian, and look pan-Asian.

How much does a tourist visa to Nepal cost?

Your very first cost is going to be the tourist visa fee, through the Visa on Arrival facility. There are three different rates depending on how long you’re staying. For 30 days it is $40.

What I had read online mentioned the need to have an ID photo, and to fill in a form. However I ended up not needing to do either.

There are e-visa kiosks when you reach the immigration area. Because I couldn’t be bothered filling up forms manually, I went for these. Using the kiosk means you don’t need to fill in a paper form and do not need to have an ID photo handy as it scans from your passport. (Actually I don’t know if you really need a photo anymore. The immigration systems in Kathmandu seem to be quite modern and digital.)

Further information can be found on Nepal’s Immigration website.

Anyway, the point is I found this part quite easy even with almost no preparation.

Data costs for telecommunications in Nepal

The least bothersome way to get a local SIM card is to buy it at the airport. Which is what I did.

I wasn’t quite sure whether I would even be able to, you know. Most of the articles on the internet about Nepal travel depict it as a kind of faraway, mystique-laden, disaster-struck third world land where a traveller must be supplied by shrewdly picking her way through the side streets of Thamel. So I was prepared for a rudimentary airport with few facilities, and having to roam about Thamel looking for SIM card kiosks while avoiding being accidentally adopted into magical guilds by Tilda Swinton.

But to my surprise, Kathmandu airport is quite all right. (To a Southeast Asian, anyway. In fact Nepal as a whole feels very like Southeast Asia.) Not swank, but they have all of the services and systems you would expect in an international airport.

Which telco provider should you choose in Nepal?

There were two stores for telecommunications service providers at Tribhuvan International airport (Kathmandu): NCell and Nepal Telecom (NTC).

I chose NCell for no other reason than that the line was not as long. Later, I found out that while NCell is supposed to provide good coverage if you’re going to Everest Base Camp, it isn’t as good for the Annapurnas. My trekking guide and porter were both on NTC.

I bought a 3.6GB data package for 1000 rupees, from the Nepali store clerk who regarded me with a very familiar sort of urban bored patience.

I confess, as someone from a ‘third world country’ myself, it pleased me to see the utter lack of exotic mystery and indifferent self-confidence. It was my first inkling of the pride of the Nepali people. While they may appreciate help, they are not a nation to feel sorry for.

How much does road transport cost in Nepal?

Most – if not all – information online would tell you what a negotiated taxi rate should come to. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like to haggle.

• So, on multiple times on this trip I simply didn’t bother to haggle.
• Second, I generally abided by the airport taxi system.
• Third, I also mostly asked my guesthouses to pre-arrange taxis to the airport.

How much extra does that cost?

Taxi costs in Kathmandu

Contrary to the conventional wisdom of Nepal travel, instead of staying in the backpacker’s hub of Thamel, I opted to stay at Boudhanath, near the UNESCO World Heritage Site Buddhist stupa.

The rate for an airport taxi to get from the international terminal to Boudhanath was 800 rupees.

However, the return trip even with a pre-arranged taxi was 500 rupees, to both the domestic and international terminals.

On the other hand, from the domestic terminal to Boudhanath was only 650 rupees, also via the airport taxi service.

At some point you’ll want to get to the Thamel area (or vice versa). The opening bid is usually 500 rupees, so this is the fare if you can’t be bothered. With some gentle haggling it can easily drop to 300 rupees, depending on the time of day, current traffic and weather conditions. But countering 500 with 300 will cause the fare to fall somewhere in between.

I didn’t haggle hard, because I felt that I’d pay a Grabcar or Uber something like that anyway to move around in my home city. Plus, the roads are quite poor in Kathmandu. There are many potholes and uneven surfaces such that your taxi rides can feel like a 4×4 rally! It must be murder on the suspension! I figure the drivers need to make enough money so that they don’t have to choose between basic livelihood and maintaining the vehicle.

Taxi costs in Pokhara

Treks in and around the Annapurna range all depart from Pokhara. I couldn’t decide whether it was safer to fly or take the bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. It seems the jury is out on that.

In the end, I chose to come in by air. For this part of my journey, I stayed in Lakeside like most people would.

The taxi fare from Pokhara airport to Lakeside was 500 rupees.

The return trip cost 300 rupees (although if you’re local, it only costs 200).

Travelling from Kathmandu to Pokhara: Bus or Flight?

A key feature of most tourism-related Nepal travel is the Kathmandu-Pokhara connection. But even past travellers I asked could not say whether they recommend either one, no matter which option they actually went for.

On the one hand, transit by road comes with disturbing warnings of possible landslides, and anecdotes of a bus careening into ravines every week or so. Supposedly the more comfortable tourist buses are less prone to this, and you could also hire a small van.

On the other hand, flights may be delayed or cancelled, particularly in the monsoon season. And the condition of the planes is a question.

Logistics of air travel in Nepal

Here’s the scoop on the plane option. I flew Buddha Air; the ticket cost me $122. Actually this isn’t that much more expensive than the bus option, so it makes reasonable sense if you can’t be bothered. (By ‘bus option’ I mean the tourist bus option, which reportedly has a lower probability of ending up in a ravine.)

Air travel is a perfectly good option to get to Pokhara, unless you want to explore other places along the way (I had wanted to go to Gorkha initially!), in which case the trip should be done overland.

The plane looked very standard – standard fittings, no disturbing views of plane innards, etc. As far as I can tell, the airport procedures are also very standard and surprisingly thorough. I mean, when was the last time a baggage handler asked to see your baggage stub before letting you have your luggage?

Buddha Air vs Yeti Airlines

Later on, a local Kashmiri family befriended me in Pokhara. I learned that they consider the better airlines to be Yeti Airlines and Buddha Air. Neither of them will fly in bad weather, although they have different habits. Yeti tends to delay and wait for the weather to clear, whereas Buddha tends to cancel the flight.

She also told me a morbidly funny story about her brother, who famously never takes the bus to Pokhara when he visits the family shop. Not that he liked flying either – he is convinced both ways would kill him eventually.

One day he decided he would try the bus instead of flying. Unfortunately on that very day, the 2015 earthquake struck Nepal! (He’s ok).

P.S.: In the end I took a flight the other way too. August 2017 was the very same monsoon season that saw so much rain and flooded large areas of Nepal and north India. Landslides were reported along the highway and there were massive jams for a few days.

How much do laundry services cost in Nepal?

OK so I don’t know about you, but I can’t feel easy unless I know whether and how I can get clean clothes. It was my first time travelling long enough that I actually will need multiple laundry cycles.

I realise this is something most travellers deal with as they go. I know it would probably be affordable, and is just about my peace of mind. But it still irked me a bit during my Nepal travel budget planning, that I did not have visibility of the cost to do laundry in Nepal.

So if you’re like me, rest easy for you shall have some ballpark numbers to work with now.

Laundry costs in Kathmandu

I didn’t do laundry in Kathmandu. However, while wandering about Thamel, I did note the prices there. It seems to go for around 100 rupees per kilo.

Also, for some reason beyond my appreciation, laundry by “American machines” is a selling point. Hopefully someone more savvy than me can explain what that’s about!

Laundry costs in Pokhara

For some reason, the cost for laundry services in Pokhara is very variable.

Now, remember that I can’t be bothered. I simply asked my guesthouse to manage my laundry. In my defense, the day after the trek concluded I found it really hard to care about anything but a massage. By this lack-of-method, laundry cost me 150 rupees per kilo.

Later on I couchsurfed at the home of the Kashmiri family who befriended me. Another girl who was likewise there reported that at first she was paying even between 200-210 rupees per kilo in the Lakeside area.

However, if you take some time to look further south, away from the tourist strip of Lakeside, you can find laundry services in the side streets at 50 rupees per kilo.

Nepal travel for Muslims: Halal food

This final topic is a bonus one just for Muslim travellers.

Is it easy to find halal food in Nepal? The answer is yes.

The catch is (I’m looking at you, Malaysians!) it is vegetarian food. But don’t be sad, vegetarian food is very good in Nepal. And *ehem* I believe it’s sunnah to eat meat only sparingly anyway!

Nepal is mainly Hindu and Buddhist, and while they’re not entirely vegetarian in Nepal, vegetarian cuisine is easy to come by. I’m told that around 10% of the Nepali people are Muslims, plus a few more in the form of resident Kashmiri communities.

So what Nepali foods should you try?

The must-eats: Dal bhat and Mo Mo

There’s of course the vegetarian dal bhat – essentially rice with veg sides. I adore this Nepali staple and relied on it throughout my trek, supplemented by vegetarian mo mo. If you don’t try these in Nepal, I think the visa stamp in your passport should be confiscated.

Tibetan street food: Laphing or Lafing

Near Boudhanath in Kathmandu, you would also find lots of little stalls selling laphing, a Tibetan street food. This is also vegetarian and tasty – and very cheap. Like, the portion in the photo below was less than 100 rupees. In fact, I wish I’d tried it earlier, so that I would have had time to eat it more than once.

Non-vegetarian halal food in Pokhara

If you really miss meat, here’s a Pokhara tip.

There is a restaurant there run by local Nepali Muslims that serves halal meat dishes. They are literally called ‘Pokhara Halal Food Land’ and can be found on map apps. However it is a bit hidden, as you have to enter a short corridor into an inner mall area, which is where it’s located. Prices are ok, and the food is good.

Also, Pokhara’s situation by Lake Phewa means that you can also easily get fish dishes here. There’s a spicy fish dish in one of the Pokhara restaurants that I still think of today.

Carbon offset information to Nepal

A return flight between Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu produces carbon emissions of approximately 2,629 lbs CO2e. Return flights between Kathmandu and Pokhara produces ~178 lbs CO2e. It costs about $14 and $1 to offset them, respectively.

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