Your first 48 hours in Kathmandu, planned properly
Visa on arrival, the SIM card that actually works, what to pay for a taxi, and the three streets in Thamel worth your time.
Anish Shrestha30 Jun 20265 min read
Kathmandu rewards preparation more than most cities, largely because the first six hours after landing are where people lose money and patience. Here is the sequence that works.
Visa on arrival is straightforward but the queue is not. Fill the form at the kiosks before joining the payment line, and carry US dollars in cash — the card machines are unreliable and the queue for them is longer. Thirty days costs USD 50 at the time of writing.
Get a SIM at the airport counter or in Thamel, but get a registered one — you will need a passport photo and a copy of your visa page. Ncell and NTC both have adequate coverage in the valley; NTC is better in the mountains if you are heading to Khumbu or Annapurna.
The prepaid taxi counter inside the terminal charges roughly NPR 800–1,000 to Thamel. Outside, drivers will open at 1,500 and settle around 700. Neither is a scandal; pick whichever your patience level supports after a long flight.
In Thamel, the three streets worth walking are the main Thamel Marg for gear, Chaksibari Marg for food that is not aimed at tourists, and Mandala Street for bookshops and coffee. Everything else is the same six shops repeating.
On gear: the down jackets and sleeping bags in Thamel range from genuine ex-expedition stock to convincing counterfeits at the same price. If you cannot tell the difference, take someone who can. It is the single most common way travellers overpay in Nepal, and it is entirely avoidable.
