General information of Nepal

Useful in formation / general information of Nepal
Foreign Currency and Credit Cards
Payment in hotels, travel agencies, and airlines are made in foreign exchange. Credit cards like American Express, Master and Visa are accepted at major hotels, shops, and restaurants. Remember to keep your foreign exchange encashment receipt while making foreign exchange payments or transferring foreign currency into Nepali rupees. The receipts may be needed to change left-over Nepali currency into hard currency before leaving the country. However, only 10 percent of the total amount may be converted by the bank. ATM is widely in use in Kathmandu.
Major banks, hotels and exchange counters at Tribhuvan International Airport provide services for exchanging foreign currency.Exchange rates are published in English dailies such as The Rising Nepal, The Kathmandu Post and The Himalayan Times. Nepali currency notes are found in denominations of Rupees 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1. Coins are found in denominations of Rupees 5, 2 and 1. One rupee equals 100 paisa.

Business Hours in Nepal
Nepal is five hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT.Business hours within the Valley:
Government offices are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday in summer and from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. in winter. On Fridays Government offices open from10 a.m. to 3p.m. Most business offices including travel, trekking and tour agencies are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Embassies and international organizations are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Most shops open after 10 a.m. and close at about 8 p.m. and are usually closed on Saturdays.Business hours outside the Valley:
Government offices are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday in summer and from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. in winter. On Fridays Government offices open from10 a.m. to 3p.m.  Banks are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. On Fridays, banks remain open until 12 p.m. only. Business offices are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Recently many private banks have re-organized to have different branches open at various different times making banking hours longer. If one branch is closed another will be open.Holidays:
Nepal observes numerous holidays most of which have cultural or religious significance. Visitors wishing to partake in the holidays or observe local festivals, may want check our calendar. The longest holiday in Nepal is during the Dashain festival in late September or October. Government offices and banks observe most of the national holidays. Private business offices observe major holidays only. For a list of public holidays please click Public Holidays (Please insert table here).

Other Amenities

Electricity:
Major towns have electricity and the voltage available is 220-volts and 50 cycles. Load shedding or power cut is scheduled during the dry season and eases off once it begins to rain. However, most major hotels have uninterrupted power supply through their own generators.

Media:
Major Nepali daily newspapers are  Gorkhapatra,  Kantipur,  Rajdhani,  Samarcharpatra,  Nagarik  and  Annapurna Post while the English dailies are The Rising Nepal, The Kathmandu Post, Republica and The Himalayan Times. A number of other newspapers and magazines are also available. Government audio and television news networks are Radio Nepal and Nepal Television respectively. Numerous FM radio stations and television stations are run by private organizations.

Communication in Nepal
Telephone Services of Nepal:
Landline and mobile phone services are available in Nepal. Network covers Kathmandu, major cities and towns and most of Nepal, except some rural Himalayan places. Nepal Telecommunications Corporation at Tripureshwor, Kathmandu, is the national service provider. There are also private service providers. Hotels and private communication centers also provide long distance telephone and fax facilities.
For calling from outside, country code for Nepal is 977 and the area code for Kathmandu is 1.