Staying Online Once You Leave the City

There are three honest ways to have data here. You roam on your own plan, you buy a travel eSIM before you fly, or you get a local number once you arrive.

None of them is the right answer for everyone. The choice depends on how long you are staying and how far out of the city your days actually go.

Roaming

Roaming is the option that needs no decision. Your phone works when you land, your number is the number your bank already knows, and nothing has to be configured.

The cost is the part to check at home rather than here. Look at what your operator charges for this country and decide before you fly.

A travel eSIM

An eSIM suits a short trip well, because you buy it in advance and it starts when you land. There is no counter to find and no queue after a long flight.

Two things decide whether it works for you. Your handset has to support it, and the provider you buy from has to cover the country properly.

A local number

A local number is the version that keeps working when everything else gets awkward. It is also the sensible choice if you are here for more than a few days.

You will need your passport to buy one. That is normal here and it is not a reason to worry about it.

Registering a foreign handset

There is a registration system for foreign phones used on local networks. We are not going to publish the fee or the time limit, because those belong to the operator and they change.

Ask at the counter where you buy the SIM and take the answer from the person selling it. A forum post from two years ago is not a source.

The valleys are the real question

City coverage is not what catches people out. What catches them out is a road through a gorge, a village behind a ridge, or a guesthouse at the top of a climb.

Do not plan on a live connection in every valley. Mountain roads are the part of the trip where your phone is least reliable and least needed.

Download the map first

Save your offline map while you are still in the city. Do the same with the route, the address of the guesthouse and anything you would otherwise have to search for.

The same goes for your documents. A booking that lives only in an email you cannot open is not really a booking.

WhatsApp is where we are

Our whole conversation with you happens on WhatsApp, from the first question to the message on the morning of your flight. It works on any of the three options above.

If you switch to a local number, send us one message from it. Otherwise we are writing to a phone you stopped using on the second day.

Wi-Fi

Hotel and café Wi-Fi covers most evenings comfortably. It is the daytime, on the road, that decides whether you wanted mobile data.

That is the whole argument for a local number in one sentence. It matters exactly when you are furthest from a router.

Battery

A long regional day is hard on a phone, especially with the camera and the map both running. A power bank is the cheapest insurance you can pack.

Ask your driver about charging in the car rather than assuming. It is a normal question and the answer takes a second.

The short version

Short city stay: roam, or buy an eSIM. Longer trip with regional days: get a local number and download the maps anyway.

Tell us your dates and your route, and we will tell you which of your days are the ones where the phone will be quiet.