Arriving By Air
Arriving by air at Tribhuwan International Airport , 5km east of the city centre, you'll first have to deal with immigration . If you haven't already got a visa, fill out an application form and join the relevant queue. You'll need one passport-size photo and the exact amount in cash US dollars - you can get dollars at the exchange counter in the immigration hall. If you already have a visa, join the other queue. The duty-free shop in the immigration hall has some pretty good bargains. Baggage claim is downstairs, where you should be able to grab a trolley. There's another exchange counter to the right as you exit customs, but rates are somewhat better in town. Nearby is a government tourist information desk, which hands out free city maps and brochures, and a free hotel association booking service (mostly the more expensive hotels). You can call lodgings yourself from one of the free courtesy phones, if they're working. Outside, the guest-house touts and other hangers-on can be awful. You'll have an edge if you've made an accommodation booking because you will have removed the touts' incentive (a commission) to hassle you. If you haven't made a booking, you can still pretend that you have: just name a place where you know there'll be other fallbacks nearby if it's full. Alternatively, entertain offers from touts, choose one, and see what kind of room you end up with (you can always change the next day). The worst part of the airport arrival experience, however, is the leech-like young men who crowd around and render all sorts of unasked-for assistance and then demand a tip. If you don't want their help, say so and make it clear that you will be giving no money, and then be prepared to stick to your word. If you do want help, Rs20 should be more than enough. Most taxis at the airport operate on a voucher system. Vouchers are sold from the drivers' syndicate booth just inside or just outside the arrivals exit. Prices are fixed in the high season and are posted on a board; at the time of writing they were Rs200 to most parts of Kathmandu, Rs250 to Patan and Rs400 to Bhaktapur (50 percent higher after 9pm). Touts may offer a "free" ride if you stay in their lodge, but of course the fare and the tout's commission will just get added on to the room charge - this will roughly double the price of the room, which is why you'll probably end up moving the next day. Local buses offer a cheap (Rs3) but inconvenient alternative. They depart from the main intersection at the end of the airport drive - a 200m walk - and terminate at the City Bus Park, nearly 2km from most guest houses. Forget it.
Can you help...?Me says "I have never been to Kathmandu in my life... but does anyone know any kind of websites that might help about the basic knowledge of it? I'm doing a report on it and everything I search for is off-topic or has to do with tours and vacations and stuff. SO HELP ME!!!!!!!"
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