Traveling in Nepal

When to go

Nepal has a typical monsoonal, two-season year. The dry season runs from October to May and there's the wet (monsoon) season from June to September. Autumn (September to November) and spring (March to May) bring almost perfect weather and are definitely the best times to come to Nepal.

October to November, the start of the dry season, is in many ways the absolute best time. With the monsoon only recently finished, the countryside is green and lush, the air is sparkling clean and the Himalayan views are near perfect. Furthermore, the weather is still balmy. There are some important and colourful festivals to enjoy, though the Dasain festival in October can be disruptive if you are on a tight schedule. For obvious reasons this is also the high tourist season but in recent years, due to the political problems, even Nepal's 'high season' has been pretty quiet.

Time Difference

Nepal time is 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT and 15 minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time.

Tempreture:

Temperature Chart (Kathmandu)
Refer Tem. Chart

Recommended Clothing

The weather in Nepal not only depends on the time of year, but mainly on how high you are.  The width of Nepal is only about 200km on average, yet within this short distance the altitude of the land rises from lowly 60 meters all the way up to above 8000 meters, and temperature change accordingly.  Kathmandu is only at 1350 meters.

So, what to wear?  Medium-weight and easy to wash cottons can be a good choice year-round in the Kathmandu valley. It is recommended that between October to February, woolen sweaters, jackets or similar other warm outfits are necessary. From March through May, light clothing such as short and long-sleeved shorts will do perfectly fine at Kathmandu, Pokhara and most other towns. For mornings and evenings, a jacket or heavy woolen sweater (you can find beautiful ones in reasonable price in Kathmandu) will be essential. For months from June to August, it is recommended that you bring an umbrella or raincoat and a pair of sandals with you as these months are the rainy months of Nepal. Expect lot of walking even if you don't plan to trek. So it's recommended that you bring comfortable footwear: sneakers and sandals are the best
If you intend to go for trekking, a pair of hiking boots will be great. Bring plenty of woolen socks too. Specialized trekking gear is easily available and can be rented in fairly inexpensive charge in Kathmandu and Pokhara
Source: http://www.allnepal.net/climate.php

Costs

If you stay in budget accommodation and survive on a predominantly Nepali diet you could live in Nepal for US$5 to US$7 a day. On an independent 'village inn' or 'teahouse' trek your living costs are likely to be around that level.
If you stay in comfortable, upper budget or lower midrange hotels, sit down to eat in popular tourist-oriented restaurants, rent bicycles and take taxis from time to time your living costs could be around US$14 to US$20 a day. Move to a midrange hotel, hire a car between towns and spend much time rafting or on an organised trek and you are looking at US$40 to US$50 per day. The tourist centres of Kathmandu and Pokhara seem to suck money out of you by osmosis, primarily because there are so many ways to spend it. Kathmandu's Thamel district is aiming itself more at the upper budget range these days.
The current slump in tourism has resulted in widespread discounting and the rates at midrange hotels in particular are currently a steal.
Most hotels and restaurants in the mid to upper ranges charge 10% service charge and13% VAT on top of published prices.
Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/nepal/practical-information/money-costs

Tipping

Tipping is expected for many services. The standard practice is 10% of the total bill. Tipping is optional on bills that already include a 10% service charge.
Money and Cash:
The Nepali rupee (Rs) is divided into 100 paisa (p). There are coins for denominations of one, two, five and 10 rupees, and bank notes in denominations of one, two, five, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 rupees. Away from major centres, changing a Rs 1000 note can be very difficult, so it is always a good idea to keep a stash of small-denomination notes.
Foreign currency, and traveller cheques, can easily be exchanged at banks or authorized agents.  In Kathmandu banks have money exchange counters, which are quick and convenient.
Mastercard, Visa and American Express are accepted at all major Hotels, Travel Agencies, Restaurants and Stores.  Only the first two though, are currently accepted at banks for money advances.  As from august 2000 ATM services are available in Kathmandu. 
In the cities, and specially while trekking, change for Rs500 and Rs1000 bills is not easily available.
Major international currencies, including the US dollar, euro and pounds sterling, are readily accepted. In Nepal the Indian rupee is also like a hard currency - the Nepali rupee is pegged to the Indian rupee at the rate of INRs 100 = Rs 160
The US dollar is about US$ 1 = NRs 74.10 (approx).

Credit cards

Major credit cards are widely accepted at midrange and better hotels, restaurants and fancy shops in the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara only.
Branches of Standard Chartered Bank and some other banks such as Nabil Bank and Himalaya Bank give cash advances against Visa and MasterCard in Nepali rupees only (no commission), and will also sell you foreign currency travellers cheques against the cards with a 2% commission.
The American Express (Amex) agent is Yeti Travels in Kathmandu. It advances travellers cheques to cardholders for a standard 1% commission.

Holidays 2009

1 Jan *Basanta Panchami.
30 Jan Martyrs' Day.
19 Feb Rashtriya Prajatantra Divas (National Democracy Day).
4 Apr Ghode Jatra (Festival of Horses).
1 Mar *Holi.
1 Mar *Ram Nawami (Birthday of Lord Ram).
6 Mar Shivaratri (in honour of Lord Shiva).
8 Mar Nepalese Women's Day.
1 Mar *Chaite Dashain.
14 Apr Navabarsha (New Year's Day).
2 May Buddha Jayanti (Birthday of Lord Buddha).
1 Aug *Rakshya Bandhan (Janai Purnima).
20 Aug Children's Day.
1 Aug *Krishna Janmashtami.
1 Sep *Fulpati Saptami.
1 Sep *Maha Asthami.
1 Sep *Maha Nawami.
1 Sep *Vijaya Dashami.
1 Oct *Laxhmi Puja.
1 Oct *Ghatasthapana.
1 Oct *Gobardhan Puja.
9 Nov Constitution Day.

Source: http://www.allnepal.net/visa.php