Looking forward to our first visit in March.
Would appreciate any advice, tips etc. Clothing to bring, restaurants, scams to watch out for, travelers cheques or credit card, best buys and so on
Will be visiting Kathmandu, Chitwan National Park and Pokhara.
Thanks in advance
Pete
Advice for first time visitor
Hi Pete,
I just returned from Nepal from doing the exact same itinerary.
The weather is sunny and warm during the day but it gets quite chilly during the night, so you will need both winter and spring clothes (it does not get as cold as the UK though).
Restaurants, I reccommend Helenna%26#39;s Place, in Thamel, and also the restaurant in garder of the museum of Patan Palace. Generally they were all quite good, althought it can be explained by the fact that we always went for the expensive ones (which in Nepal means about 2 or 3 quid per person!).
Money: I brought some traveller%26#39;s checks with me, but they are not really neccessary since the country is extremelly safe, so you can bring cash with you carefully concealed in a neck or wrist pouch. There is not violent crime but there are a few pickpockets around, so keep your valuables out of their reach.
The credit cards are accepted only in very touristic places like hotels, travel agents, etc If you try to use it in shops or restaurants, they either don%26#39;t accept it or it is coincidentally %26#39;out of order%26#39;.
There are cash machines in Thamel and the centre of Kathmandu. You will be charged a small commision but they can come out handy if you run out of cash.
Not really a scam, but I found a bit annoying the %26#39;nice people%26#39; that comes to you pretending to be friendly, asking where are you from etc, only to end up trying to sell you something.
One of the taxi drivers had the meter tampered with and the price of the ride was about three times the usual. Of course we bargained but still had to pay more than we should. From then on we always negotiated a price before departure instead of using the meter.
We hired a car with driver to go to Pokhara and Chitwan, which was much more comfortable than the buses and not as expensive as you could imagine. We did a triangle trip kathmandu-Pokhara-Chitwan-Kathmandu, since it saves you a lot of time.
Stuff to buy: Very interesting stuff to buy are Thangka (traditional paint), Khukuri knifes (get the real one in a specialized shop in thamel, not the cheap decorated imitations in the street vendors), wooden masks, stone carved calendar, silver jewelry, and in general any handycrafted items. Beware of %26#39;stone carvings%26#39; that are actually resine (look for stripes on the bottom of the figure).
Always bargain hard, and for the expensive stuff try in several places first to get an idea of the real price. Keep in mind that the initial asking price can be anything from a 50 to a 1000% of the real one, so sometimes it is difficult to guess.
Since we had to attend to a wedding, I had a tailor made suit done for me. It was wool and cashmere high quality fabric and costed me 60 pounds!
If you want (genuine) top brand western clothes at bargain prices go to Bluebird shopping mall. They have fixed prices so it is a rest from all that bargaining. Thay also have a food supermarket where you can safely buy saffron, tea, etc.
Advice for first time visitor
Hi Pete,
I just returned from Nepal from doing the exact same itinerary.
The weather is sunny and warm during the day but it gets quite chilly during the night, so you will need both winter and spring clothes (it does not get as cold as the UK though).
Restaurants, I reccommend Helenna%26#39;s Place, in Thamel, and also the restaurant in garder of the museum of Patan Palace. Generally they were all quite good, althought it can be explained by the fact that we always went for the expensive ones (which in Nepal means about 2 or 3 quid per person!).
Money: I brought some traveller%26#39;s checks with me, but they are not really neccessary since the country is extremelly safe, so you can bring cash with you carefully concealed in a neck or wrist pouch. There is not violent crime but there are a few pickpockets around, so keep your valuables out of their reach.
The credit cards are accepted only in very touristic places like hotels, travel agents, etc If you try to use it in shops or restaurants, they either don%26#39;t accept it or it is coincidentally %26#39;out of order%26#39;.
There are cash machines in Thamel and the centre of Kathmandu. You will be charged a small commision but they can come out handy if you run out of cash.
Not really a scam, but I found a bit annoying the %26#39;nice people%26#39; that comes to you pretending to be friendly, asking where are you from etc, only to end up trying to sell you something.
One of the taxi drivers had the meter tampered with and the price of the ride was about three times the usual. Of course we bargained but still had to pay more than we should. From then on we always negotiated a price before departure instead of using the meter.
We hired a car with driver to go to Pokhara and Chitwan, which was much more comfortable than the buses and not as expensive as you could imagine. We did a triangle trip kathmandu-Pokhara-Chitwan-Kathmandu, since it saves you a lot of time.
Stuff to buy: Very interesting stuff to buy are Thangka (traditional paint), Khukuri knifes (get the real one in a specialized shop in thamel, not the cheap decorated imitations in the street vendors), wooden masks, stone carved calendar, silver jewelry, and in general any handycrafted items. Beware of %26#39;stone carvings%26#39; that are actually resine (look for stripes on the bottom of the figure).
Always bargain hard, and for the expensive stuff try in several places first to get an idea of the real price. Keep in mind that the initial asking price can be anything from a 50 to a 1000% of the real one, so sometimes it is difficult to guess.
Since we had to attend to a wedding, I had a tailor made suit done for me. It was wool and cashmere high quality fabric and costed me 60 pounds!
If you want (genuine) top brand western clothes at bargain prices go to Bluebird shopping mall. They have fixed prices so it is a rest from all that bargaining. Thay also have a food supermarket where you can safely buy saffron, tea, etc.
Thanks Treskel very helpful information
Useful link kalapather.
Started to count down the days!
Pete
did this route 2 years ago, great trip!!! Save the shooping for the end of the trip so you don%26#39;t have to lug the stuff around.
Do the himilayan sunrise view in Pokhara. I stayed at the Riverside resort in Chitwan, right on the river, it was nice. Elephants came down to the river right next door every day to bath, and you can go bath with them!! Grat little bar on the beach next door also. Do the elephant ride into the jungle.
Consider a local guide in Kathmandu, they add a lot in terms of explaining things and keeping the street sellers away from you. They can also help negotiate prices on goods, as there is Nepalli price and tourist price on everything!!!
