It would seem to go without saying that Nepal is the place to be, if you want to travel on the cheap. With the present rate being 65 Nepali Rupees (henceforth NRS) to the dollar, and a simple nepali meal being only 40-50 NRS, it would seem that it would be impossible to not travel on the cheap in Nepal! However, don't be fooled! Kathmandu, especially, as well as other tourist spots can truly suck the money right out of your wallet. All of the "cheap" purchases can add up very quickly, and many things are not as cheap as they should be, if you are a foreigner in the kingdom.

So let me start by saying this: Nepal is probably my favorite country in the world, and I have travelled a lot. The culture is beautiful and amazing and it has a rich history as well as beautiful nature. It is also the country where I have spent the greatest amount of money per week.

But, if you do the right things, Nepal is a perfect trip if you want to travel without pulling out too much from the bank.

Step 1: getting to Nepal. One of the easiest ways is to fly in from India. There are multiple flights daily, via such airlines as Jet Airways, Royal Nepal, Indian Airlines and Air Sahara. As with all flights, booking early is the key to a cheap flight, and these days, flights book fast. This is because of the other way to get to Nepal, the bus. Daily or tri-weekly (depending on how India is feeling) buses go from Delhi to Kathmandu over a period of two days. They are destinctly cheaper than the airplanes, but due to political instability in both eastern India and southern Nepal, are probably not the safest route. Many buses are robbed and sometimes the buses are simply cancelled due to political interference. Make sure you check the news and politics in both nations before deciding to take the bus, but if you are really short on cash, it is the way to go and it WILL get you there (your luggage is another question...) Buses can be booked in Delhi as well as many other cities in India, but all buses leave from delhi. I personally highly reccomend working with Tibetan travel agents. Most are located in Majnu ka Tilla, New Aruna Nagar in Delhi.

Back to airplanes however. Assuming you chose to fly and book your flights early, you can usually find round trip flights cheaper than $250. Beware that if you are flying Indian Airlines or Royal Nepal, you have about a 40% chance of having your flight cancelled. But don't worry! A cancelled flight (at least from Nepal to Delhi)

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