SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE TRAVELLING TO NEPAL
Before coming to a country like Nepal , you must do some homework along with packing bags. People might not tell you about the things you must know when you are planning a trip here . We do not want you to face anything like expectation versus reality. It might get totally different when you land here and what you had been reading on the internet . Note this seven things you need to know before travelling to Nepal .
Etiquettes to be shown
Being a Nepali , I have seen lots of foreigners joining their hands to greet each and every person saying “NAMASTE “ OR “ NAMASKAR” . For Nepalese , We do Namaste to greet people who are elder than us and whom we meet occasionally . Trust me , you do not really have to do that with every person you see on street . Just a beautiful smile and it will work wonders . Do not get amazed by the amount of people looking at you , we are just like that . Seeing people from different parts of the world , their admiration towards our country makes us really happy and inspires us to respect the land we are living in . You can refer to people slightly elder than your age by saying “ dai” if they are male and ‘ didi’ if they are female . Take off your shoes when ever you are entering to a Nepali house and temples as well . Highly influenced by the western culture , many girls in the city area are into revealing clothes and they too follow the trends of Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashain . However , in some parts of those city area and definitely the rural areas , it is not appreciated . Please do not wear bikinis in swimming pool , it will really get awkward , stick to one piece . And if you are someone who has already been here before and you saw people staring at you even when you were fully dressed , don’t worry they might have seen you just because you are way too beautiful or few of them might be perverts and well , I also can’t help it.
Take a partner while hiking
Being exposed to the new environment and new people , it might get hard for you to adjust . Infact , you might get into communication issues . Taking a partner with you will be a great help . Especially if he is Nepali then it Will hep you a lot . Do not tend to hike alone as it is really dangerous . This is something I strictly recommend you to follow . Who knows what kind of problem you might have to face .
Stick to water bottles
It is really harmful to rely on tap water as they might not be filtered. Sticking to water bottle is a great idea for you . Though the hotel will provide you with filtered water but still for the sake of your good health , use bottled water . You definitely do not want to spend the reat of the trip peeing on your washroom.
Buy Nepali sim card
Though you might have planned to use the international data but I would recommend you to buy Nepali sim cards . As soon as you land on Nepal , you can buy those sim cards real cheap , you just need to have a passport size photo and a physical passport . Just opt for the Ncell sim Cards as they are more faster in terms of internet .
Visa on arrival
Tribhuwan international airport is the only international airport in Nepal . The Department of immigration has facilitated to provide on arrival visa to the tourist in the airport . Even in the border areas you will have the easy access to the visa . Simply on arrival visas are tourist visas.
Cash over credit cards
Though many shops in Nepal and places has credit card services but not everywhere . You will be doing Souvenir shopping from the street vendors , at that time you are supposed to pay by cash . Even when going to the rural area , you are supposed to make payments from cash .
Careful while crossing road
Though you will find zebra crossing on the roads of Nepal specially Kathmandu . But people are aggressive on road , they won’t stop their vehicles even when you are crossing the road through zebra crossing . I myself have experienced this thing a lot of times .
