cell phone coverage in nepal

[bob]

i have a 90 year old father+in+law that i would like to keep in touch with while trekking to everist base camp or the anapurna circuit. is there cell phone coverage in the area or radio phones at any of the villages? might be a silly question but i would appreciate any info any one can share? thanks.

[Sharon]

No cell phones but the odd Village will have a sat phone you can call home on.

[lisa]

Absolutely no signal at all for my cellphone along AC. i tried many times last november and it doesnt work.

You can find telephone at chame, costing labout 200 rupees per min. And another one at manang but it is very costly at 600 rupees per min. Pretty easy to find a telephone after crossing Thorong La especially in Muthikna , jomson and gorepheni. I have seen trekkers calling home in gorephani.

[hoot72]

If you are a subscriber to a mobile phone service/company, double check with your phone company if they do have coverage in Nepal.

I got majorly screwed by my phone company promising me coverage...when I got there, no coverage. And for 3 weeks, it was a major pain in the arse not being able to stay in contact with the office over work issues or problems.

I wasnt expecting coverage on the trek so in hindsight, I should have taken a sat phone (I should probably buy one given I am always out of town).

But whatever it is, Malaysian Celcom and Maxis and Digi subscribers, DO NOT take the word of the customer service staff....make them double check with their supervisors!

bradley

[yakshaver]

Satelite phone is the only way you will be in touch whenever you want from the Himal. If you can afford one, buy it and take it with you. Take a European type power plug converter for your charger - you may be able to charge it from time to time. But keep the talk to the bare minimum as you can't be sure. And keep the phone, battery (maybe you want to have two, and charge them up beforehand) close to your body, and in your sleeping bag at night.... Like any batteries, their life will shorten dramatically when cold. Although many of the phones these days have lithium batteries, which are apparently more robust in this respect.

Major centres like Lukla, Namche, Gokyo, or perhaps Manang, Jomsom, Ghandruk etc - will have lodges with satelite phones, where you can contact whowver you want around the world. It would be expensive. They charged my 5 US per minute (maybe 4 US dollars, I forgot...) to speak to the ouside world.

[Oli]

I'm not sure about the facts - but it may be that due to the current State of Emergency in Nepal there may be tightened restrictions on ownership and use of satellite phones, you may need a permit?
Might be an idea to email your embassy in Kathmandu - doubtless they will know about cellphone services in the city and ought to be able to advise on the legalities of satphones.

But for me, being incommunicado for a month is one of the joys of trekking.

[yakshaver]

Oli you mean to say you don't have to check with your shrink every day, cousel you boss on key business matters, make sure the neighbour has watered the pot plants, your psychotically codependent spouse/girlfriend or boyfriend can't get in touch with you at every hour of the day/night, and you won't check up on the dispositional state of your cat with the specialised cat minder who's done cat communication and cat psychology at post gratuate level??!!! How CAN you survive on trek without this???

[wey_aye_man]

I did the Annapurna Circuit and survived without a phone, had over 300 emails when I got back to work mind?

If you must send txt to your girl friend, wife or lover write them in a little book and give them to her when you get back.

Enjoy the experience