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INFORMATION |
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Nepal's Tourism Department runs on a shoestring budget, letting the
free market fill the gap with a confusing welter of advertising. There
are no tourist offices outside the country, and those few in Nepal are
chronically starved of printed materials and generally bereft of maps.
They can, however, sometimes come up with information on festival dates,
local bus schedules and the like.
You'll always get the most useful information from other travellers.
Check the informal notice boards in restaurants around the tourist
quarters for news of upcoming events or to find travelling or trekking
companions. In Kathmandu, the neighbouring offices of the Kathmandu
Environmental Education Project and the Himalayan Rescue Association can
help out with information on trekking routes and conditions. Despite its
shameless advertiser bias, Travellers' Nepal, a free monthly magazine
distributed to the big hotels and travel agencies, is the best of
several sources of what's-on information.
Maps published in Nepal
While maps published in Nepal have their quirks and errors, they're
generally more accurate and up-to-date, not to mention cheaper, than
those published overseas.
The best country map you'll find in the tourist bookshops is the colour
one produced by Mandala on a scale of 1:800,000, which is reasonably
reliable for roads and towns but not at all helpful for trails. A larger-scale
(1:500,000) three-sheet road map of Nepal is available in a few shops.
Free city maps of Kathmandu, available at the airport and through
tourist offices, are adequate for most purposes. Bookshops and street
vendors sell somewhat better maps of Kathmandu and Pokhara and their
valleys. Maps of other cities simply don't exist.
As far as maps of trekking areas and wildlife parks are concerned, one
series worth mentioning in particular is the one produced by the
government of Nepal with assistance from FINNIDA, the Finnish aid agency.
These 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps, which are comparable in quality to
those published by the British Ordnance Survey and the USGS, are being
released region by region starting in the east.
A note on place names
Even though Devanaagari (the script of Nepali and Hindi) spellings are
phonetic, transliterating them into the Roman alphabet is an inexact
science. Some places will never shake off the erroneous spellings
bestowed on them by early British colonialists - for instance Durbar
Square, which according to widely accepted phonetic rules should be
spelled "Darbaar". Where place names are Sanskrit- or Hindi-based, the
Nepali pronunciation sometimes differs from the accepted spelling - the
names Vishnu (a Hindu god) and Vajra (a tantric symbol) sound like "Bishnu"
and "Bajra" in Nepali. It's often hard to get a consensus on
pronunciation - some people say Hetauda, others Itaura; some say Trisuli,
others Tirsuli - so keep an open mind while map-reading
Map and travel book suppliers
To begin, select a topic in the navigation bar to the left
Hiring a guide
Hiring a guide is a great way to get under the skin of Nepal. You'll
have instant introductions everywhere you go, and will probably be
invited home to meet the family, which will give a perspective on
Nepalis' lives that you couldn't possibly gain on your own. You'll also
learn all sorts of things you won't get from a book (Nepali swear words,
for instance).
Most people only think of hiring a guide for a trek , but a guide is
even more essential when tracking wildlife in the Tarai parks. A growing
number of travellers are discovering that they can escape the crowds of
Chitwan by hiring a guide there and then moving on to remoter parks,
which are otherwise accessible only on an expensive package. A guide can
also save you money when shopping .
Would-be guides often position themselves strategically at temples and
palaces, but these "pay me what you will" characters often end up
blackmailing you for more than they're worth. Better to find one through
an innkeeper, travel agent or someone you've already done business with.
An inexperienced guide hired informally may accept as little as Rs300 a
day; someone with better English will demand upwards of Rs700 a day, and
an agency will charge even more for a licensed guide. Generally, you get
what you pay for
Nepal online
A growing amount of information about Nepal can be found on the Web .
Most of it's pretty self-serving, but a couple of the sites listed below
are very good clearinghouse-type resources, and others have some
excellent content on specific Nepal-related topics. For interactive
advice from fellow travellers, try the Usenet discussion groups.
Needless to say, this list won't remain current for long, but you only
have to find one Nepal site to find the rest, since they're well linked.
AAMA Network Consultant ( www.catmando.com/nepal.htm) . A potpourri of
reference information and links to hotels, trekking companies, etc.
Himalayan Explorers Club ( www.hec.org) . A resource for trekkers and
other travellers, featuring a logbook, newsletter and other useful stuff.
Mercantile Communications ( www.south-asia.com) . Commercial site
representing the Kathmandu Post, Rising Nepal, Independent Weekly, Himal
Magazine and other Nepal-based publications, as well as some Radio Nepal
programming through Real Audio.
Nepal Home Page ( www.info-nepal.com/homepage) . The premier Nepal site,
with an extensive FAQ on travel in Nepal, the Nepal white pages,
directories of trekking agencies and embassies, news services, a
festival calendar, and more.
Nepal Information Center (NICE) ( www.uni-mainz.de/~baadj000/nepal.htm)
. Very comprehensive (if unfiltered) selection of Nepal-related links.
Nepal Trekking Home Page ( www.bena.com/nepaltrek/) . A mix of useful
info and links to trekking companies.
rec.travel.asia. Unmoderated news group with a small portion of postings
devoted to Nepal matters. Can be excellent for getting answers to
specific questions, though bear in mind that firsthand information isn't
necessarily accurate or up-to-date information.
Shangri La Home Page ( aleph0.clarku.edu/rajs/Shangri_La.html) .
Extensive information on Himalayan natural history and the environment.
soc.culture.nepal . Another unmoderated news group, used more by
academics and expat Nepalis.
Travel-Nepal.com ( www.travel-nepal.com) . Online reservations, general
information on Nepal, and links.
US State Department travel advisory (
travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html) . Warns of epidemics or unrest
when appropriate.
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