Properties in kathmandu with 24 hr water electricity

Hi Tanya,

In Nepal / Kathmandu anything is possible.
You could hit the jackpot and find your perfect home exactly as advertised on a housing website, or all could be a lie, just as long as you come and visit the house then they will try to talk you into renting it anyway. The former being a little less likely then the latter...

24 hours water is not that uncommon. There are vast areas in Kathmandu that suffer enormously from lack of drinking water, but at the same time there are equally vast areas that have never heard of any lack of water. It completely depends on the area where you're trying to rent. Personally I have a well in my backyard, and it has never run dry (yet).

24 hours electricity is usually a bit more tricky...
99% of the areas in Kathmandu valley suffer from loadshedding.
Loadshedding is scheduled, and if you know in which regime your area is located, you can know when electricity will go and when it will be coming back.
The schedule can be downloaded from the website of Nepals Electricity Authority; http://nea.org.np
Follow the 'Load Shedding Schedule' link from the homepage and you can download a schedule, and look up your group numbers plans (there are 7 groups in which your area can be located - just numbers without any preference in them, all have a different but equal load-shedding schedule).
Oh, and the PDF is in devanagari script, so you will have to study at least the numbers to understand the times (not too hard to do...)

So, no area has 24 hours electricity (temporary exceptions exist), and if 24 hours electricity is advertised, then usually it means that there is a backup, either by batteries or by generator. This could be a 64 Ampere backup which would allow you to run your whole building for hours and hours during load-shedding hours, but more likely (much more likely) is a simple battery backup which will allow you a simple reading light during load shedding hours, and can't power your PC or TV, let alone your refrigerator.

Wifi can be supplied by house owners, but they might want you to share in the costs of their 256 kbps internet connection, and in the bandwidth...

And security is not too expensive in Nepal, so many apartment complexes have a guard during night time. Then again... maybe the house owner will explain you he meant a lock on the front door with security... who knows...

My advise to you would be to first get yourself booked into a nice (or cheap if you prefer) hotel for the first couple of weeks, and from there start looking for a more permanent location for yourself. Don't rent a room or apartment over the Internet, for you will get much better deals and a better understanding of the location when you visit the place. Over the internet you don't smell the stink of a sewage plant nearby ...


Jorge.

Hey Jorge,

thanks so much for such a detailed great response. it was really helpful.Iam planning to move either near kathmandu or to places like lalitpur or bhaktapur where it's a little bit more busy like restaurants clubs etc and civilised.Also hopefully better internet connection for my online business.

JW's answers were great. Do not rent until you get here. But another thing is that they charge a lot more if it's for a 'tourist.' It seems like you will need something furnished. I know of one in Bhaktapur that is a good value and fully furnished, including the kitchen. But many of these furnished apartments go for 30,000 NRs. per month, around $400 USD.

I love living in Nepal and hope you have a wonderful time here. Check out my blog at FrugalTravelsNepal.Blogspot.com for some great tips on exploring Nepal.

hello madagascar,

yes i am quite interested by your blog.i think my dad is going to see the properties when he goes to nepal in december iam prepared to spend around 50,000 if there's a nice flat,. iam sure theres sum way to keep the pc,net and fridge on during hrs of laodshedding with a good invertor,right?.
had a question abut your book Iam also plannig to sell digtal products online..what kind of tax do u pay for that?

I don't know if we both fall under tourist category as well even though i've been living in the uk for 7 years iam Indian born in India,so i don't know if that makes a difference.
Also i plan to do coaching from my home part time i don't know what kind of tax even i need to pay for that.

The only kind of tax I pay in Nepal is White Tax. We can't own real estate property. Of course our visas are a tax. You may not work here without a business visa. I have not been earning Nepali money. I pay as an American to the US. You can come on a tourist visa for five months in a calendar year, but it's good to come here first like that and then after you get settled to do the big visa. It requires an escrow deposit.

If you want a furnished apartment you will need to spend a maximum of 25,000 NRs. and that should have 24/7 electric and WIFI. I pay 15,000 for a 3 bedroom apartment, very, very nice, but I bought my own inverter for around $100 and have a couple hours of computer back-up. I also have rechargeable lamps for all the rooms. This is actually much cheaper than wiring the house to an expensive inverter. But the other thing to know about renting and 24/7 electric is that they hook it all up but only connect a couple of tiny bulbs to work with the inverter. So, you still need help to read. Don't pay too much for an apartment. I'm white, but why do they think I'm green?

I will send you an email about the digital work. It isn't quite as easy as it would seem.