Just Landed in Nepal? Your First 7 Days

Mobile data is cheap and the fastest way to get online, and a prepaid SIM will cover you for weeks while you sort out a home connection. Home fibre broadband is widely available in the cities but installation typically takes several days and outages during storms are common. Carry a power bank, because although the scheduled load-shedding of the past has largely ended, localised power cuts still happen without warning.

Typical cost: A prepaid SIM with a monthly data pack costs roughly NPR 500 to 1,000 depending on the data allowance, while home fibre broadband from WorldLink, Vianet, or Subisu runs about NPR 1,200 to 2,500 per month, usually with a router deposit or one-off installation fee.

Nepal runs on cash. Cards are accepted at upmarket hotels, supermarkets, and some restaurants in Kathmandu and Pokhara, but everyday shops, tea stalls, taxis, and landlords all expect physical rupees. The rupee is pegged to the Indian rupee at 1.6 NPR to 1 INR, so its value against other currencies moves with the Indian rupee.

Opening an account: Foreigners can open an account with a valid long-stay visa (usually a work, business, or non-tourist visa) at banks such as Nabil, Standard Chartered, Himalayan Bank, or Global IME, bringing a passport, visa, photographs, and often a local reference or proof of address. Tourist-visa holders are generally turned away, so a bank account tends to follow rather than precede your visa conversion.

Cash: Keep a stock of small notes for taxis, tea shops, microbuses, and tips, as vendors rarely have change for large bills and will sometimes send a child to a neighbour to break a NPR 1,000 note. Bargaining is normal and expected in markets, souvenir shops, and with taxis, but not in supermarkets, pharmacies, or fixed-price stores.

Tipping: Tipping is appreciated but modest. Leave around 10% at tourist-facing restaurants (some already add a service charge), round up taxi fares, and tip trekking guides and porters generously, as gratuities form a genuine and expected part of their income.

There is no municipal address-registration requirement for foreigners in Nepal; you do not report your residence to a local town hall the way you would in much of Europe. What matters instead is your immigration status. Tourist visas permit up to 150 days per calendar year and can be extended for a fee at the Department of Immigration, but you cannot legally work on one. For longer stays or employment you must convert to a work, business, or non-tourist visa, which is normally sponsored by an employer, company, NGO, or investment, and the paperwork is processed in person and can be slow.

Where: Department of Immigration, Kalikasthan, Kathmandu, or the regional immigration office in Pokhara for those based in the west.

Kathmandu traffic is congested, dusty, and largely unmetered, and journeys that look short on a map can take a long time in gridlock. Most residents get around by ride-hailing app, motorbike or scooter, or the cheap but crowded microbuses and buses that ply fixed routes. A dust mask or buff is worth carrying year-round, and many long-stay foreigners eventually buy a scooter for freedom, accepting the real road-safety risks.

From the airport: Tribhuvan International Airport sits about 6 km east of central Kathmandu, roughly a 20 to 45 minute drive depending on traffic. Use the prepaid taxi desk in the arrivals hall (around NPR 700 to 1,000 to Thamel or the central neighbourhoods) or walk to the gate and book Pathao or inDrive, which is usually cheaper. Avoid the unbooked drivers who cluster outside quoting inflated flat fares to arrivals.

Most expats rent flats or share houses in the western Lalitpur neighbourhoods such as Jhamsikhel, Sanepa, and Pulchowk, or in Lazimpat, Baluwatar, and Boudha in Kathmandu, with Pokhara's Lakeside as the main alternative. Listings spread by word of mouth, local agents, and Facebook groups such as Kathmandu housing and expat pages rather than large property portals, so ask around, view in person, and be ready to decide quickly on good places.

Typical rent: A furnished one to two bedroom flat in a central Kathmandu neighbourhood runs roughly NPR 20,000 to 45,000 per month, while unfurnished local flats and places in Pokhara or on the city fringe start lower, around NPR 12,000 to 20,000. Expat-standard houses with gardens and generators cost considerably more.

Deposit norm: Landlords typically ask for one to three months' rent as a deposit, and sometimes several months' rent in advance on top. Rent is usually paid in cash, and it is common to get little in the way of a formal contract, so confirm in writing what is included, since electricity, water, gas, and internet are frequently billed separately and can add meaningfully to the monthly cost.

Public hospitals are very cheap but crowded and under-resourced, so expats and wealthier locals use private hospitals in Kathmandu such as CIWEC Clinic, Norvic International Hospital, Grande International Hospital, and Nepal Mediciti. Standards at the best private facilities are reasonable for routine and urgent care, but for serious or complex cases patients are often stabilised and then evacuated to Bangkok or New Delhi.

How to access it: For non-emergencies you can usually walk in or book at a private hospital and pay upfront in cash or by card, with no referral needed. CIWEC in Kathmandu is the long-established go-to for travel medicine, vaccinations, and expat care, and it also runs a clinic in Pokhara. Pharmacies are plentiful, open late, and dispense many medicines, including some that need a prescription elsewhere, without one.

Insurance: There is no free national health system available to foreigners, so you pay for care yourself. Carry comprehensive private health insurance that explicitly includes emergency helicopter and air ambulance evacuation and international repatriation, which is essential given the mountainous terrain, the altitude on many treks, and the limits of local intensive care.

• Greet people with a slight bow and 'Namaste', palms pressed together at the chest, rather than a handshake, especially with elders and in religious settings.
• Remove your shoes before entering homes and temples, and dress modestly at religious sites, covering shoulders and knees.
• Use your right hand for giving, receiving, eating, and handing over money; the left hand is traditionally considered unclean.
• Ask before photographing people, sadhus (holy men), cremations at Pashupatinath, or temple interiors, and expect that some sites forbid photos entirely.
• Accept tea or food when offered in a home, even a little, as refusing outright can seem rude; a gentle 'just a little' is better than a flat no.
• Walk clockwise around stupas, mani walls, and Buddhist shrines, keeping them on your right, and spin prayer wheels clockwise.
• Learn the timing of major festivals such as Dashain and Tihar, when offices, banks, and shops close for days and staff travel home to their villages.

• Do not touch anyone's head, including children's, and never point the soles of your feet at people, food, or shrines, as both are seen as disrespectful.
• Beef is taboo and cows are sacred and legally protected, so do not seek it out; wandering cows in the road also have right of way.
• Public displays of affection between couples are frowned upon, particularly outside tourist areas.
• Be cautious with photography and comments around political demonstrations and strikes (bandhs), which can escalate quickly.
• Non-Hindus are barred from entering certain temple sanctums, such as the main precinct of Pashupatinath, so watch for signs and follow guides' instructions.