TRAVEL
INFORMATION
Time
Nepal is 5 hours
ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or 10 hours ahead of Eastern standard time in
Canada. This means that 8 PM in
Toronto or Ottawa is 6 AM next day in Nepal or when it is 5 PM in Vancouver it
is 6 AM next day in Nepal.
Electricity
Nepal’s
electricity runs at 230-240 volts, 50 cycle (50 Hz) AC, which is different from
Canada’s 110 volts, 60 Hz AC current. Adapters
will be necessary unless your appliance has a two-position “international”
switch. Electricity is widely
available but black-outs and failures are not unusual. For this reason,
battery-powered equipment is more convenient.
The Nepalese rupee
is the basic unit of currency in Nepal.
One Canadian dollar is worth about
65 Nepalese Rupees.
Participants will need spending money for personal use, such as telephone
calls, postage stamps and gifts. Traveler's
cheques in denominations of $20 and $50 are recommended.
Keep two copies of numbers on the cheques, one in Canada and one with a
friend on the trip. You will need
these numbers in case of loss. Many
shops accept credit cards for more expensive items in the cities.
In small villages and during trekking, cash (Nepalese Rupees) is the only
currency that can be used. There is
no black market for Canadian or American dollars in Nepal.
Even if you are offered a little more for dollar exchange, it is not
worth the risk. You are strongly
advised to exchange dollars through a bank or authorized money exchange agency.
To exchange money
or cash traveler's cheques you need your passport. Also, your signature on the cheques and in the passport must
tally closely. In addition you must
keep all receipts for exchange of money. You
may be asked to present them when leaving Nepal or to convert back Nepalese
Rupees to dollars. Please remember
that all transactions at the banks and other institutions in Nepal take much
longer than they do in Canada, so be patient.
Try to exchange as much money at a time as you are comfortable carrying
and take many small denomination notes. It
is very advisable to carry a light money belt or pouch with you.
Money belts made up of canvas or lighter material can be worn inside your
clothing around the waist, and so avoid undue attention which a fanny pack or
external pouch attracts. Small
pouches of canvas/leather that can hang from the neck would also be useful.
Film or X-Rays
Despite the
reassuring notices next to the X-ray machines at airport security gates, film
has been known to fog up after being X-rayed.
Whenever possible have your camera and film manually searched and do not
let it go through the machine. If
you are particularly concerned, lead-lined bags offer some protection. The fogging effect is cumulative: the more times through the
X-ray the worse the film may look. Buying
film in Nepal is expensive, so bring as many rolls as you need with you.
Printing and developing are also expensive, so take the exposed film back
home for developing and printing.
Taking
Pictures
Most travelers
take usually large numbers of pictures – far more than they expect – so you
are advised to take lot of rolls.
Pictures
to Avoid
Many Nepalese are
sensitive about foreigners photographing beggars, slums and unsavoury sights, so
be highly discreet about this. Don’t
take indiscriminate picture of funeral pyres, the inner sanctums of temples or
of women.
Video
Equipment
You may take a
video camera with you. However, it
will be marked on your passport when you enter the country and you must take it
back when you leave. You must carry
with you a good supply of videocassettes and batteries, as they are not readily
available in the Himalayas. The
easiest and most convenient camera to take is the one-piece camcorder with a
tape transport mechanism built into the body.
Food
Nepali food is
very different from the food consumed in North America; nevertheless, many of
the standard items like milk, tea, coffee, fruit, eggs, grains and bread are
readily available. Undoubtedly
everyone in the Group will get many opportunities to taste and live on Nepali
food, but it is imperative that no one feels rushed about it. Do make extra efforts to eat nutritious and satisfying foods.
Drinks
Chiya
or tea is the most popular
drink, although it is decidedly different from the tea served in the west.
Chiya is usually prepared by
boiling water, tea, milk and sugar together; although it is almost addictive
once you begin to like it, it may take some getting used to. Western-style tea, with tea, sugar and milk in separate
containers, is served at higher price in most relatively fancy restaurants.
Coffee and carbonated pop are readily available, as are hard drinks
(alcohol) and beer.
As in Northern
Ontario, you can’t avoid flies and mosquitoes.
Coating yourself with insect repellent might help a little bit, but
won’t hold them off for long. It
may be good idea to take a mosquito net along, however; it is small, easily
carried and offers some protection. Remember
that mosquitoes are attracted to soap, shampoos, etc. Some people recommend washing in the morning and going to bed
with the day’s dirt on to reduce the mosquito bite count.
Most toilets in
Nepal are of the “squat” style, although Western-style sit-down toilets are
increasingly being used in hotels and cities.
Except in hotels with star ranking, you are expected to provide your own
toilet paper, which is generally rather expensive in Nepal.
It is advisable to carry one or two rolls from Canada.
When traveling in the mountains or villages, toilet facilities are almost
non-existent. This poses difficult
problems for women in particular. Women
participants should be aware of this fact and should always carry with them a
small wrap-around sheet or long skirt.
As in most
countries there are no clear-cut rules in Nepal about tipping in restaurants and
other services. In cities and towns
a 10 to 15 percent tip is generally expected, and it is equally true of many
other services. There are, of
course, many other ways of expressing your appreciation for various services and
for hospitality – a small gift or a word of thanks are gestures of courtesy
and good will.
Laundry facilities
are available in most hotel and lodges. They
will take your clothes in the morning or evening and bring them back the next
day. They are quite expensive. It
is a good idea to take along a few clotheslines or lengths of strong nylon-based
string for drying clothes.
Nepal’s
international call code is 977; the city code for Kathmandu is 1, and for
Pokahra it is 61. Telephone charges
from Nepal to Canadian cities are quite high, hence it is advisable to make
prior arrangements with your family to call you in Kathmandu or Pokhara.
Hotel phone numbers will be provided to participants before leaving on
the trip.
E-mail facilities
are available in most cities in Nepal. So,
it is recommended that you get a Hotmail.com or Yahoo.com e-mail address before
leaving Canada in order to keep in touch with your loved ones.
Nepal has some
very beautiful handicrafts, carpets and all kinds of garments/clothing at most
reasonable prices. It might be a
good idea to pick one or two pieces here and there instead of keeping everything
to buy at the last minute. In and
around most tourist sites you will be followed by number of men and women
wanting to sell their products. The
best way to avoid them if you are not at all interested is not to answer any
question (even if it sounds rude) and to avoid eye contact.
Any kind of conversation or eye contact will be regarded as your interest
in the product.
All participants
are advised to carry some reading material with them, especially for times when
moving outdoors may not be possible. Consider
bringing one or two paperback novels, a deck of cards and Walkman/CD player.
Some board games like checkers, chess and others would be very ideal. Frisbee has always been very popular among the participants
and the local people. You may expect others in the Group to also bring a few, so
swapping would be possible.
In general,
Nepalese people are gentle and very friendly.
They especially enjoy talking to foreigners – both men and women alike.
But be careful about getting involved in private conversation with a man
by yourself, as this could be considered a turn-on. Open eye contact, too,
indicates aggressive interest. The
most believable “NO” is to turn away with a certain dignity.
It is definitely within your right to tell someone who is hassling you to
go away. Do whatever you have to do
to protect yourself. Different
cultures have different sets of norms regarding personal space, gender, and the
relationship between men and women. The
idea of men and women being ”just friends” is not one shared by every
culture, and so being “friendly” may be taken as an indication of being
flirtatious. In general, all
participants – men and women alike – are advised to move in groups of three
or four, the classic “buddy” system.
If you lose
something, don’t panic, as The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy suggests.
If it is a valuable or an insured item, then make a report to the local
police. They will make out a
report. Be sure to get a copy of
this. In this report, you give your
version of how something was lost, and when was the last time you had it in your
possession. If necessary, take
someone along to the police station to translate for you.
You can take someone from the organizing group or from the hotel or tour
organizing staff. IIFS staff will be glad to assist you in any way possible.
If it is your
passport, and you have lost it when away from Kathmandu, telephone the Canadian
Cooperation Office (1- 415- 193/389/391 or Fax 1-410-422), and upon return back
to Kathmandu go to its office at Lazimpat, Kathmandu.
All travelers have
to pay N Rs. 650.00 departure tax at the airport at the time of departure, so be
sure to have this money available since it has to be paid by each participant
personally. You may exchange
dollars at the airport if necessary.
One of the most
rewarding activities that participants can engage in, even those who are not
submitting a paper as part of a credit program, is to write about the experience
in Nepal for a campus or local newspaper. This is a wonderful means of sharing your ideas and
impressions on the Nepalese culture, environment and lifestyle that you
experienced. This also allows other
persons who might be interested in such a program, or who are just interested,
to read about life in Nepal from your perspective.