Does anyone live outside of Kathmandu?

Hi,
         Mostly people love to live here in pokhara for long stay baglung and syangja also a very good place.i can help you for that you can contact me

Nepalilovestory, what a lovely handle. I wish I would have thought of it first. Welcome to Expat.com. I have a blog listed here, FrugalTravelsNepal. I think you will find a lot of valuable information there.

I found the bus ride back to Kathmandu to do business is a real hardship for those living outside the Valley, a full day of tumultuous travel and then paying for a room and meals out and then the ever so scary ride back home. Two of my recent guests got stuck on the road for hours because someone died in a road accident.

If you are going to or from rural places in Nepal and you hit a road stoppage due to an accident it is almost always a better choice to get out of the bus and head toward a village down hill. It will allow you to have a better adventure than wasting the day on a bus. Also, never take a local bus outside the Valley. Always get a tourist bus or private car.

So, I actually live in a guest house in Changunarayan. It's still in the Valley but high up and about 20 Km away from the airport. We've made it so it isn't all rooms to rent by making a living room/parlor on each floor. It's more like a home-stay than a guest house because we only have 3-4 rooms to rent to tourists. We have a restaurant, but we are not in a place where people will randomly drop by, so our restaurant is only for our guests. We have a cook who can prepare just about anything for you-surprisingly good.

Kathmandu is loud and polluted, so it's best for short stay or day trips. We have a car so we offer free or reduced rates for trips around the Valley for our guests and a pay plan that includes all the food you want to eat-prepared like you like it.

A recent guest who came to stay here long term has found a 3 bedroom, fully serviced, totally top shelf, fully furnished apartment-really nice for only about $1,000 per month. It even has a bathtub and oven!

There are many housing options. I strongly suggest you find a temporary place with help to find the perfect place. Otherwise, you may end up doing like I did. I dragged my furniture with me through 4 landlords and countless guest houses before I found my lovely home in this ancient village.

Hope you will get a chance to read my blog. It's indexed pretty well so you can easily find the answer to your questions. Anyone can also write to me to get a western ex-pat's opinion on things. I've lived here for 4 years and love it more everyday.

Yes I am outside of Kathmandu now a days if you need any suggestion you can write me. Now a days i am at Pokhara.

There is quite a large group of expats living in Pokhara as well

Pokhara is not as clean as many wish to think and there are certainly no more than one or two expats living there.

pollution in Pokhara stems from three main sources:

- all the "town's" sewage water flows into the lake; and as a matter of fact swimming is not allowed due to the bio-hazard of the waters.  and on another note; the fish from the lake does smell like poop even after it has been cooked and marinated in lemon juice.

- i used to live on top of a hill in Pokhara and at sunset you can see and smell dozens of bonfires fueled by plastic bottles and other non organic trash.  and the locals happily huddle around them to warm up and chat about the weather.

- if you go to Pokhara "city" about 2 Km up new road; its an environmental catastrophe thanks to two major bus stations ( Preithivi and Baglung stations) overcrowded with diesel fueled buses and 100's of motorbikes and smaller trucks.  i used to go there by motorbike for a short 10 minutes ride; my clothes were literally smudged with black carbon fumes.  i started wearing goggles too in order to protect my eyes.

- Kathmandu: sure, its polluted and on a sunny day you can also see particles of dust and ashes in the air thanks to the numerous incinerators and the people burning plastics and other forms of trash - also used for warming up on cold days - basically no one gives a crap about the environment nor about their health when inhaling such fumes.   on a happier note the airport is just 5km tops from downtown KTM.

traffic is not so bad in KTM; its a relatively small city.
and i really see no point in living outside of KTM for an expat.  it doesn't offer any perks but at least you're not living out in the boonies with 3 to 4 hours of electricity a day.

- Chitawan: settling there as an expat is almost impossible since the whole industry revolves around the national park and there's nothing else to do.  plus it is the MOST expensive spot in nepal i saw ( expect to pay $10 or more for a roasted chicken ).  lack of electricity and scorching heat puts the location at a premium.  as most nepalis around the country; everyone will look at you with a huge dollar sign over your head - it gets frustrating after the first few hours -

all i can say is that during my total 6 months visit there; not once has a local extended a courtesy or offered to make our stay more comfortable or advantageous.  yet, every single one of them has asked us for some sort help or tried to rip us off by hiking prices or taking advantage of our "lack" of knowledge in regards to the territory - although for us it was really funny cause we traveled the world while they never left the village.

i can see why the locals have such an impression on foreigners; i met some really naive tourists that actually paid to live in shacks in order to help the less fortunate; while the locals would never want to have anything to do with "inferior casts".  one of the most insane things i ever saw there were two beautiful 20 year old australian girls that paid money to work for a month in a village dedicated to HIV patients - now, that's crazy and risky as hell.

there's also a lunatic 70 year old woman from the US living in pokhara and running a tour guide business with her 24 year old nepali husband ( i know, at first even the judge refused to legalize their marriage due to age difference...pedo ?..).  Here's the deal: you pay $30 a day to her husband as he takes you on a road trip 750Km by motorbike all the way to his native village; then sleep on a wooden floor like all of them do; sponsor a donation to the school where his brother is employed; do some repair work on the schools's structure; and you can also buy a goat for his dad to sacrifice ( and eat ) in return; he'll give you a blessed bloody dot on the forehead - the Tika !! -

but hey, it all sounds like gravy...when paying 30 bucks a day per person and exploited as a manual laborer on holiday and paying for all sorts of donations.  no wonder they think we're all dim wits.

Question: why don't the locals ever help the community ?

good luck.

jitendra: " Hi,
         Mostly people love to live here in pokhara for long stay baglung and syangja also a very good place.i can help you for that you can contact me"


please, don't try to rip her off with an overpriced apartment in pokhara and promises of a furnished places that will never materialize.  it was a really uncool thing to do; yet very nepali.

Lol read with a chuckle your "interesting" observations !!  Having been in Nepal now for 3 months, that's the question  my wife and I keep  asking ourselves. Like you we are also avid travelers ( logged 250 K air miles last 24 months).

Is it not funny "no locals are helping the locals" ???   Rest assured these two "dim wit foreigners (USA) are not going to " fall into" the "giving back ideas of "bleeding heart liberals"  that seems to abound "poor countries" like Nepal.

It always amazes us why "liberals can not come up" with "heart centered projects" that does not look so obviously "foreigners being exploited"--HAHA

Agree with you , why bother living any place but KTM or nearby towns as in USA Embassy areas etc.  One can only take in sights so long and 18 hour lack of electricity is "poopy" to the two of us. Our stay has been fantastic in Nepal to-date . We are  in a beautiful 3 Bed, 3 Full Bath,  Serviced apartment with 5 MB internet , 24 hours special security, 24 hours continuous electricity and English speaking staff. Now that's the good life

Cheers to all .

To each their own and life goes on &  on a Tuesday afternoon from a cloudy KTM

Peace out mates !!!