Leglessbird Travel Tour

Visa:
You can apply for land visa after you arrive Kathmandu airport, please bring along one photo and fill up a form at airport. For HKSAR passport holder, visa is free.

For BNO or other passport holders, US$30 for visa fee.

Cash and Currency:
Please bring along US$ cash for your travel expenses. (US$ has better rate than HK$ ). US$1 to around 70 Rupees. You can easily change US$ into local currency Rupees in tourist area. They open from Monday to Sunday. The rate at airport counter may be lower, so it?s better not to change money there. Our guide will bring you to tourist area Thamel upon your check in hotel, so you can change money there.

Tips to Tour Guide:
For tips of your tour US$84 per person, we would like you to pay us in US$cash and we will collect this amount from you in Kathmandu by the end of the tour.

Cash expenses ? Shopping:
For a piece of 28 inches good quality pashmina shawl (70 % pashmina & 30% silk), cost around HK$ 300. For the best quality 100% pashmina scarf cost around HK$450. For silver jewelry, it will cost you from few US$ to US$20 for a piece of pendant or earrings. Nepalese knife cost you from small one US$5 to big one around US$20. Some of the shops accept credit card but they will charge you 4% handling charge.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) or altitude sickness:
According to professional medical advice, human beings in general may experience this kind of problem when they go beyond 3,000m. Most of the treks ranges from 1,000 - 3,000m. It will be safe.

Political situation:
There was big strike in April and the situation was tense. But from May onwards, all parties including Maoist has started peace talk. The king has given the power back to the people, so situation is peaceful these few months. From Sept onwards, there are many tourists in Nepal, things are back to normal and travel business is picking up. It is now safe to travel to Nepal.

Battery and Electricity:
It is 220 volt in Nepal and for socket, 2 round legs. You can easily find this socket in supermarket in tourist area Thamel. They charge you around HK$6. In Kathmandu and Pokhara, you can recharge battery for your camera but on the trek, electricity supply is not stable. We are not sure whether you get chance to charge battery, thus it is advised to bring backup battery for your camera.

Trekking:

a) guest house - on trek accommodation is quite basic. They will provide you double room but toilet is outside the room. For hot shower, they usually provide Solar system, but as weather in winter is very cold and this kind of system usually doesn?t work. We can try to request the guest house to boil a bucket of hot water. But it is not 100% guaranteed.

b) water and food ? make sure that water is safe to drink or treat it with iodine. Watch what you eat and ensure your medical kit has Lomotil or Imodium. You can easily buy mineral water to drink on the trek, there are many different small shops or guest houses where you can buy water easily. They only charge you few HK$ per litre bottle. It is advised to drink mineral water throughout your whole tour in Nepal as you are not used to the local water and you may get sick after drinking local water. It is advised to avoid salad and cold food during your tour. Cold desserts on trek should be avoided. Hot soup, fried rice, fried noodle are available on trek. For drinks, hot lemon, hot tea and hot coffee are safe to drink. You can also bring along water boiler, then you can have hot drinking water available easily

c) Sleeping bag ? you can rent sleeping bags from trekking equipment shops from Pokhara, they only charge you few US$ for your 4 days trek. Quality is good and clean. If you don?t have sleeping bags or you don?t want to bring along, you can just rent here. Most of the trekkers do this.

d) Trekking boots or comfortable shoes ? it is advised to wear trekking boots (water proof is better) as it will give you more comfort on the trek, if you don?t have it, then please wear comfortable sport shoes.

e) Weather and clothing ? It is good to wear in layers for flexible adjustment. Dry season from Oct - May. It is very warm from Oct to Nov, it will be over 20 degree during the day, night time it may fall down to around 10 degree or below. While from December onwards, it is cold on the mountains, it may fall down to minus degree in the midnight. Jan and Feb are very cold, once in a while there may be snow fall in the mountain, thus you need down jacket, warm hat, gloves, sunglasses and warm trousers (water proof is better). The morning going up to Dhampus, it can be very cold. If you have Gortex gear (water and wind proof), that is good. During day time, you should be fine. In Kathmandu and Pokhara it is warmer, it will go up to around 15 degree during the day and night time may fall down to a few degrees in Jan and Feb. Monsoon season from Jun - Sept, not recommend for trekking.

f) Fire place ? some of the guest houses on trek may provide fireplace for you to keep warm

g) Packing ? it is advised to bring along at least one backpack for a group of 2 people. Suitcase is not suitable for trekking. We will provide you one porter to serve a group of 2. They will carry your packpack and you only need to carry your own small bag of camera, wallet and small personal belongings. You can pack your luggage into the packpack for your 2 days trek and you can leave remaining luggage that you don?t need for your trek in your hotel because you will stay in the same hotel when you come back from the trek.

Adventure activities:
Paragliding, small mountain flight are available in Pokhara, it is worth to try as price is very attractive. They are operated by expatriates with professional trained instructor or pilot. Horseriding, mountain bike, boating, canoeing, kayaking ?.. are also available.

Domestic flight:
The flight will only take off when the weather condition is good. One of the airlines available started in 1997 and it is the only domestic airline using brand new aircrafts.

Free time in Kathmandu:
The first afternoon upon arrival, our guide will take you to tourist area and you can walk around, there are many trekking equipment shops and you will get cheap gloves, hats?.etc. Down jacket is cheap here but design is so so, it only costs you around HK$250 to HK$350. It is cheap but design is not so nice compared to what?s available in Hong Kong. Gloves and hats are fine as they are cheap and practical.