Communication:

Can I use my AT&T, MCI or other international calling cards?
No, you can't.

Can I call collect?
No, unless you want to call Canada or the United Kingdom. But many "communication shops" in Kathmandu and Pokhara give you a "call-back" option: you call your home, give them the phone number of the "communication shop", and ask your folks to call you back. The cost to you would be the cost of one minute of international call plus about $0.30 for every minute of phone usage.

How about Internet access?
Cyber cafes are among some of the hottest trends in Kathmandu these days. In the main tourist centers of Kathmandu and Pokhara you will find cyber cafes in every corner. These cafes provide full Internet services including ftp services, Internet phones, etc. And these days there are also some cyber cafes that help you to call in United States through Internet in a very reasonable cost.

I am a news freak. How can I keep in touch with the happenings of the world?
In Kathmandu and Pokhara, major international newspapers and newsmagazines (International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Newsweek, Economist, Time etc) are available in the newsstands. Cable television is a booming business in Nepal. If you have access to cable TV at your hotel in Kathmandu, you can probably get BBC World and CNN International twenty-four hours a day. You may find it amusing, but popular American TV shows like X Files, NYPD Blue, Oprah, Baywatch, 90210, they are all there!

Besides this, you can also listen news in English from Radio Nepal, FM Kathmandu, K.A.T.H 97.9, Kantipur FM, and Nepal Television in Kathmandu. If you have a short-wave radio, you can also catch BBC World Service.