General Information: Most of the major Credit Cards like American Express, Master and Visa are widely accepted at major hotels, shops and restaurants. Money and Credit Cards Payments in hotels, travel agencies and airlines are made in foreign exchange. Remember to keep your Foreign Exchange Encashment Receipt while making foreign exchange payments or transferring foreign currency into Nepalese rupees. The receipts may be needed to change left-over Nepalese Rupees into hard currency before leaving the country. However, only 10 percent of the total amount may be converted by the banks.

The exchange counters at Tribhuvan Airport, Major banks, and hotels provide services for exchanging foreign currency. Exchange rates are published in English Dailies such as The Rising Nepal and The Kathmandu Post. Nepalese Rupees are found in denominations of 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1. Coins are found in denominations of 10, 25 and 50 paise.

Business Hours: Banks are open 10 am to 2.30 pm Sunday through Thursday, and 10 am to 12 pm on Friday. Nepal Bank Ltd. on New Road is open 7 am to 7 pm everyday.

Time & Business Hours Nepal is five hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT. Government offices are open from 9 am to 5 pm from Sunday through Thursday. On Fridays they remain open until 3 pm except the banks. Business offices are open from 10 am to 5 pm Sunday through Friday.

International organizations and Embassies are open from 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Most shops open after 10 am and close at about 8 pm and are usually closed on Saturdays.

Although Nepal works seven days a week, it observes numerous holidays, at least a couple a month. Government offices observe all the holidays and banks observe most of them. Businesses observe the major holidays only.

Post Office: Communication services at the General Post Office (tel: 227499, 211760) is located near Dharahara Tower and is open from 9 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday. Stamps, aerograms and postcards may be purchased from 9 am to 5 pm at the counters. Services like registration and insurance of mail and small packages, and exchange of IRCs are also available. Express Mail Service (EMS) is also available.

Parcels can be sent and received through the Foreign Post Office next door. It is open from Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.

Communication Services: Nepal Telecommunication Corporation Office located at Tripureswor provides ISD, STD, telex, fax, and telegraph services. Private communication centers and hotels also provide ISD, STD, E-mail, Internet and fax services. The STD code for Nepal is 977. Inquiries can be made at 197.

Electricity: Major towns in Nepal have electricity and the voltage available is 220-volts and 50 cycles. Load shedding is sometime experienced in Nepal. However, most of the major hotels have installed their own generators.

Getting around the valley:

Airport Shuttles: An Airport Tourist Bus shuttles passengers between Tribhuvan International Airport and Downtown Kathmandu.

City Bus: There are many city buses and minibuses available at Ratnapark (old bus park), which depart to different destinations throughout the valley. There is also a Trolley Bus Service, which starts at Tripurshwor (near the Dashrath Stadium) and runs along the Arniko Highway and ends at Surya Vinayak (Bhaktapur). Bus services operate from early morning (5 or 6 am) till 8 or 9 am.

Taxi Cabs: New Metered Taxi Consult Kathmandu Valley map to find out the direction of your destination. Hail a taxi, which is easily recognizable by its taxi sign on top and black license plate.

A metered taxi from the airport to downtown will cost about Rs. 150 to Rs. 200. Private taxis may charge slightly higher than the ordinary taxis.

There is also an arrangement of Night Taxi service operated by the major hotels. The fare is slightly higher than the metered taxi. One can rent a private car through a travel agent or a car rental company.

Auto Rickshaw: Black three-wheeler metered tempos (Auto Rickshaw) and battery operated electric vehicles with fixed routes and rates are also available in the valley. The fare is slightly cheaper than metered taxis.

Mountain Bike: Mountain bikes and ordinary bicycles are cheap and the best form of transportation for economy tourists. One can hire them at Thamel, Rani Pokhari and Jhochhen.

Long Distance Bus Service: Long distance day or night bus services are also available from Kathmandu to all cities of Nepal. There is a bus park on the Ring Road near Balaju from where buses depart for the different destinations.