Nepal eSIM for Kathmandu, Pokhara, and the Everest and Annapurna treks

Nepal is a trekking permit bought in an office, a ride app that also books a motorbike, and a mountain where the last bar of signal is a lodge with a paid Wi-Fi code, and Tribhuvan's arrivals hall is where the phone should already be working. The best eSIM for Nepal is the one added at home, on Wi-Fi, so the Pathao into Thamel is booked and the trekking agency messaged before the visa-on-arrival queue moves.

Below: how a Nepal plan works, how to set it up before you fly, what to expect in Kathmandu and Pokhara, on the treks, and in the jungle, and why the Global plan doesn't cover the country.

Asian trips tend to be multi-stop, and most travel eSIMs want a fresh profile at every airport. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per trip: one country for a single-city break, the Asia plan when the route runs through several, and next year's trip on the same eSIM. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.

The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in Nepal, not at checkout. Buy it weeks ahead, add it at home, and a delayed flight costs you nothing. The full rule is in what plan validity means and when it starts.

Choose a fixed plan for a set amount of data at the lowest overall price, or an unlimited plan when you'd rather not count. Unlimited plans give you 5 GB a day at full speed, then a slower speed until the allowance resets the next day. If a fixed plan runs low, top up in the app and the extra data lands on the same eSIM.

See it in two minutes: Meet KR.One, iPhone setup with KR.One, or Samsung setup with KR.One.

Do this at home on Wi-Fi. It takes about a minute.

Before you leave

1. Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Nepal plan.
2. Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Nepal plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
3. Leave data roaming off on the KnowRoaming line until you land, and turn it off on your home line too so it doesn't run up charges in the background. Steps are in turning off roaming on your home line.

When you land

1. Turn the plan on in the app, then turn data roaming on for the KnowRoaming line. That setting lives in your phone, so the app can't flip it for you.
2. Give the phone a minute to find the network. If nothing happens, turn airplane mode on for 30 seconds and off again.

Prefer a QR code? The checkout page and your confirmation email both carry one; scan it from your phone's settings. Every tap, by device, is in adding your eSIM on iPhone, adding your eSIM on Android, and adding your eSIM on Samsung, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.

Tribhuvan International is 30 to 45 minutes from Thamel in traffic, and Pathao and inDrive book cars and motorbike taxis with the number you already have; the visa on arrival takes cash or card at the machines and the queue moves faster with the form filled online. The rupee is the currency, cards work in Thamel's hotels and the bigger restaurants, and cash covers the rest, from the trekking lodges to the temple entry.

Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, and Pashupatinath are Kathmandu's first days; the tourist buses to Pokhara and Chitwan leave from Kantipath early and are booked the day before, by message or in person.

Pokhara, seven hours by bus or about half an hour by air, is the lake, the paragliding, and the trailheads for the Annapurna Base Camp and Circuit treks and the shorter Poon Hill loop; permits and the TIMS card are bought in town. Ncell's 4G covers Pokhara and the lower trails to the first villages; above them the signal thins to nothing on every network, and the lodges sell Wi-Fi by the hour. Download maps, save the guide's number, and agree a check-in for the trekking days.

The Everest Base Camp trek starts with the flight to Lukla, weather permitting, and climbs through Namche Bazaar, which has 4G, to lodges where the signal drops away above Tengboche; the lodges' paid Wi-Fi is the connection from there. The Langtang and Manaslu treks are the same pattern. Altitude, not data, is the thing to plan around, and the guide's satellite device is the safety net, not the phone.

Chitwan's rhinos and the jungle lodges, Lumbini's monastic zone at the Buddha's birthplace, and Bardia in the west are the lowlands, well covered in the towns and thin in the parks; the Terai is also the road to India, at Sunauli and Birgunj, for the overland route to Varanasi.

Nepal is on the Asia plan, 28 countries on one plan that also covers India, so the overland route from Varanasi or Delhi runs on it with the phone switching networks by itself at the border. Nepal is not on the Global plan, which catches round-the-world travelers who arrive on it; add a Nepal plan or the Asia plan to the same eSIM. Bhutan is on neither, and Tibet is China, on the Asia plan with its own permits and internet rules. A Nepal-only plan stops at the border. Read do I need a new plan for every country? for the detail.

Your plan connects to Ncell on 4G LTE. There is no 5G on this plan. Coverage is strong in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, and the Terai towns, and reaches the lower trekking villages, Namche Bazaar among them. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.

Above the first villages on every trek, in the parks, and on the mountain roads, expect no signal on any network for days at a time. Power is intermittent outside the cities and the lodges charge for it; a power bank and a solar charger earn their weight.

Most phones sold since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later and most Android flagships from the same window. Check yours before you add a plan; it takes a few seconds. On iPhone, go to Settings, General, About and look for an EID or Available SIM. On Android, go to Settings, Network & Internet, SIMs and look for an option to add an eSIM. On Samsung, dial *#06# and look for an EID.

Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. If you're not sure, carrier-locked vs unlocked: how to tell shows you where to look.

Adding a Nepal plan doesn't touch your regular SIM. Calls and texts on your usual number keep working exactly as before. The new plan handles data while you're there, and most phones run both at once without you doing anything else. Bank codes and two-factor texts still arrive on your home number, as long as that line stays switched on.

For Asia the alternatives are a home-carrier roaming pass that resets at every border, an airport SIM counter at each arrival, or hotel Wi-Fi that stops at the lobby. A Nepal plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and one plan across every stop on the route.

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