16 Days Spending Breakdown While Travelling in Nepal

Travelling in Nepal is something I never thought was going to be expensive. After all, Nepal is known to be an affordable country to travel to. But, after tabulating the cost of our trip, it looks like it wasn’t expensive if we didn’t include the flights. But with the flights, the entire trip became expensive all of a sudden.

It’s all thanks to Air Canada allowing us to book a plane ticket that didn’t exist. As a result, we had to purchase tickets from Air Asia (backstory link to what happened) last minute. This blunder by Air Canada also made us pay extra for hotels and accommodations and taxis while we sort out all the issues. Regardless, I don’t regret travelling to Nepal. Looking in hindsight, there wasn’t anything I would have done differently other than don’t trust Air Canada for any fifth freedom flight redemptions.

Regardless, Karen and I got to do the Annapurna Circuit trek which was worth the price we paid to make this trip happen.

My 16 days spending breakdown while travelling in Nepal

• 30-day Visa on arrival – 6,239 NPR ($64.42 CAD, $50 USD)
• Laundry – 2,240 NPR ($23.22 CAD, $17.94 USD)
• Jeep from Besisahar to Chame – 3,000 NPR ($31.09 CAD, $24.02 USD)
• Simcard – 1,400 NPR ($14.51 CAD, $11.21 USD)
• Oxygen levels check in Manang – 100 NPR ($1.04 CAD, $0.80 USD)
• Porter from Manang to Thorong La Pass – 9,000 NPR (18,000 split in two) ($93.28 CAD, $72.07 USD)
• TIMS – 2,000 NPR ($20.73 CAD, $16.02 USD)
• ACAP – 3,000 NPR ($31.09 CAD, $24.02 USD)
• Pokhara bus depot to Airbnb ride – 300 NPR ($3.11 CAD, $2.40 USD)
• Sleeping bag and pole rental – 2,400 ($24.88 CAD, $19.22 USD)
• AAA battery purchase in High camp – 500 NPR ($5.15 CAD, $4 USD)
• Food and drinks – 51,362 NPR ($532.37 CAD, $411.29 USD)
• Bus – 1,373 NPR ($14.24 CAD, $11 USD)
• Entrance ticket to the Monkey Temple – 400 NPR ($4.15 CAD, $3.20 USD)
• Van from Muktinath to Jomsom – 2,250 NPR (4500 for two people) ($23.32 CAD, $18.02 USD)
• Watching Dr. Strange 2 at a Nepalese movie theatre – 480 NPR ($4.98 CAD, $3.84 USD)
• Antigen test – 2,122 NPR ($22 CAD, $17 USD)

Food, accommodations, and taxis

• Taxi from our hotel in Kathmandu to the airport – 700 NPR ($7.26 CAD, $5.61 USD)
• Taxi from Monkey temple to Chayya Centre (mall near our hotel) – 500 NPR ($5.15 CAD, $4 USD)
• Hotel in Jomsom – 3,050 NPR (6,100 split in two) ($31.61 CAD, $24.42 USD)
• Taxi to Monkey temple from our hotel in Kathmandu – 500 NPR ($5.15 CAD, $4 USD)
• High camp room – 250 NPR (500 split in two) ($2.59 CAD, $2 USD)
• Room in Ledar – 250 NPR ($2.59 CAD, $2 USD)
• Taxi from Kathmandu airport to our hotel in Thamel – 800 NPR ($8.29 CAD, $6.41 USD)
• Taxi from our hotel in Thamel to the roadside bus depot – 400 NPR ($4.15 CAD, $3.20 USD)
• Fairfield by Marriott (4 nights) – 17,524 NPR ($182.81 CAD, $141.87 USD)
• Airbnb (3 nights) – 15,567 NPR ($161.36 CAD, $124.66 USD)
• Taxi from Pokhara to Besisahar – 2,000 NPR (4000 for two people but we split the cost) ($20.73 CAD, $16.02 USD)
• Taxi from our Airbnb to trekking permit office in Pokhara – 500 NPR ($5.15 CAD, $4 USD)
• Yak Hotel in Manang – 500 NPR (1,000 split in two) ($5.15 CAD, $4 USD)
• Chame mountain hotel – 1,075 NPR (2,150 split in two)
• Taxi from Kathmandu domestic terminal to our hotel in Thamel – 800 NPR ($8.29 CAD, $6.41 USD)
• Hotel Tulsi home in Besisahar – 600 NPR (1,200 split in two)

Flights in and out of Nepal and domestic flights

• Air Asia flight from Male to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore – 28,993 NPR ($299.33 CAD, $232.32 USD)
• Singapore to Kathmandu flight on Singapore Airlines using Aeroplan points – 8,475 NPR ($87.50 CAD, $67.91 USD) + 80,000 Aeroplan points
• Alaska miles redemption for the flight from Kathmandu to Doha to Chicago to Seattle – 7,200 ($74.29 CAD, $57.70 USD) + 85,000 Alaska miles
• Tara Air flight from Jomsom to Pokhara – 16,250 NPR ($167.77 CAD, $129 USD)
• Flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu on Buddha Air – 9,116 NPR ($94.49 CAD, $73 USD)

Total cost of travelling in Nepal with flights

• 203,216 NPR ($2,106.33 CAD, $1627.29 USD)

The average daily cost of travelling in Nepal with flights

• 12,701 NPR ($131.65 CAD, $101.71 USD)

Total cost of travelling in Nepal without flights

• 133,182 NPR ($1,380.43 CAD, $1066.48 USD)

The average daily cost of travelling in Nepal without flights

• 8,323 NPR ($86.27 CAD, $66.65 USD)

Total points and miles spent while travelling in Nepal

• 80,000 Aeroplan points and 85,000 Alaska miles

Conclusion

Travelling in Nepal is inexpensive if you do it as a backpacker. I looked at the prices of hostels and they are dirt cheap. Of course, you are sacrificing comfort in favour of saving money. I also saw Nepal as a good chance to maintain my Elite Status with Marriott hotels since their properties there were significantly cheaper than in North America.

I also included the flight to Nepal and the flight home which obviously makes the price much higher. Most people pay for flights out of pocket while Karen and I used points and miles. We not only got to visit Nepal but we also travelled to the Maldives and Sri Lanka on this trip.

So overall, yes, the cost was more but we also travelled for nearly 30 days on my most recent trip. And trips cost more when you are doing touristy-related activities. In our case, it was the food and logistics of the Annapurna Circuit trek.

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