Nepal – A Himalayan journey among hearty people - Part 1

Nepal covers an area of about 150,000 square kilometres and is home to about 30 million inhabitants, of whom over 80% are of the Hindu faith, just under 10% are Buddhists, and the rest are Muslims, Christians, members of the local Kirat faith, and members of other religions. The vast majority, as much as 75% of Nepal are mountains, and therefore most of the 30 million inhabitants live in more accessible areas, of which a good tenth are in the Kathmandu Valley, and in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, about two million.

By travelling to Nepal, we help the development of the country and the well-being of locals

Nepal was very isolated until the 1950s, and it established a system of parliamentary democracy only in 1991, and in 2008 it was officially named the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Due to the closure in the past, Nepal is still one of the less developed countries with slightly less than 5,000 USD GDP per capita, and tourism is one of the main economic sectors, as services in total represent more than half of the total GDP. But even though we help the local economy by travelling to and around Nepal, it is still important to travel as sustainably as possible.

Nepal has close economic ties with neighboring India and China, as well as with nearby Bangladesh and other countries, but it is precisely the connection to the first two partners that promotes the popularisation of electric vehicles, which, given the fact that about half of all electricity comes from renewable sources, an additional incentive.

Travelling around Nepal in a Chinese-made EV SUV

With this realisation, I set off across Nepal with a rented Chinese-made electric all-terrain vehicle, which just blended into the relatively bad roads, especially since I was travelling during the monsoon season, when landslides on the roads were more the rule than the exception. My companion professor dr. Bogomil Ferfila could not help but be surprised by this leap, because during his last visit to Nepal there were almost no normal roads there, and in 2023, Nepal was well interspersed with a network of fast charging stations for electric vehicles, most of which are of Chinese or Indian production. But the path to getting a vehicle was not an easy one. In Nepal, most agencies offer vehicles only with a driver, and Self Drive Nepal was the only one offering car rental without a driver last August. The price was not as low as in some European countries, but even 60 euros per day was not excessive, as the cost of charging even at fast charging stations is negligible, and we can charge the battery for the next 150–200 kilometres for just a few euros.

Searching for airline tickets can take some time, but it pays off in the end

Every trip starts with the search for affordable plane tickets and sometimes rather unusual combinations are needed if we want to fly at a good price, and so the journey to Kathmandu led me from Vienna via Kuwait to the Nepalese capital in a combination of Wizzair and Jazeera Airways. The price of a return ticket from Vienna to Kuwait with a 32kg suitcase was only 160 euros, and the price of a return ticket from Kuwait to Kathmandu was 93 Kuwaiti dinars or about 275 euros, including two large suitcases. To this, you need to add 3 dinars for the Kuwaiti visa in each direction, and thus the total cost from Vienna to Kathmandu was around 450 euros, which is 30-50% cheaper than "normal" tickets with one carrier. Buying two separate tickets also includes possible pitfalls, as we assume responsibility in the event of a delay in the first flight, and therefore it is necessary to purchase such tickets that have a sufficient time reserve between the arrival of the first and the departure of the second flight in the event of a delay.

With the booked car and plane tickets, the only thing left to do was to book accommodation, which is the least of problems in Nepal, as there is plenty of quality accommodation available at reasonable prices.

As with accommodation, obtaining a tourist visa is not a problem, as it can be obtained right at the airport, and it costs 30 US dollars for a 15-day visit and has an unlimited number of entries.

Finally, some tips for transportation without a rented vehicle

Before we set off on our adventures, a word of advice for those who find right-hand drive on the left-hand side of the road and the sometimes chaotic traffic stressful and frustrating. There are several transport companies in Nepal that offer quality bus services between the most important tourist places such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and others at very reasonable prices, as a ticket for a 10-hour journey between Kathmandu and Pokhara costs from 10 euros for an ordinary seat to 20 euros for a very comfortable lounger on the night bus, but I didn't decide for it myself, because even on the way between these places there are quite a few famous and even more hidden gems that we won't see and experience by bus.

You don't need your own car to travel around Kathmandu and the Kathmandu Valley, as they have an exemplary inDrive application through which you can agree on the price of transportation in advance and thus avoid taxi drivers who offer excessive prices, especially when they are dealing with tourists. The application allows you to book a car, but if you're travelling alone, you can also order a motorcycle ride, which is significantly faster during rush hour, but also a bit of an adrenaline rush. Of course, you need internet to use the application, so it makes sense to buy a local SIM card right at the airport. With the help of this application, for a 10-minute ride in Kathmandu, you will pay 2-3 euros for a car and less than 1 euro for a motorcycle, which is only a little more than the cost of public transport, which is relatively well organised, at least in Kathmandu.

At the end of the first part of this travelogue, I hope that I have provided you with enough information to help you decide to travel to Nepal and I look forward to the next part of the travelogue, when we will go through the Kathmandu Valley and visit some of the sights that are listed in UNESCO World Heritage List.