Buses, Nepal

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The most ordinary type of traveling from place to place inside Nepal is by bus. Being a mountainous country, straight roads and highways are few in Nepal. There are three types of bus services: "Tourist bus", “Micro bus” and "Public bus". Tourist bus, run by private bus companies or travel agencies, are little bit costly than the public buses. However, they are more comfortable, faster and less crowded than public buses( no goats, ducks etc). "Greenline" is the most reliable company and has trips between Kathmndu, Chitwan, Lumbini and Pokhara.

You can get tickets at any travel agencies at Thamel in Kathmandu. In Pokhara and Chitwan, just ask your hotel to book one. It is a good idea to buy your ticket a day in advance and reserve a seat. The benefits of taking a bus to any of your destination is, you will get the chance to see different parts of Nepal that you would be missing while flying and same time save a good amount of money too.

You need to experience a local bus in Nepal once in your life, but make it only once in your life.

Great fun, buses full of colour and jam packed full of people, produce, the odd livestock, people riding on the roof (and this is possibly the safest place for a quick exit!), people sitting in the aisle, people hanging out the door, people on your knee, all over the drivers area, of course the driver will be yelling to everyone on the road, talking on the cell phone and sometimes keeping an eye on the road with one hand on the wheel.

As you go around incredibly steep or rough mountainous roads, you'll be wondering why you didn't climb on the roof so you can jump when needed. The longer trips never seem to end and the toilet stops are usually an open air affair for all on the side of the road.

Often the local bus won't leave until its full or near full (although once you get going there always seems to be room for more), so be prepared to wait.

Well worth the money as its so cheap, the experience is priceless!

The Greenline Bus service, very comfortable, plies the Kathmandu-Pokhara-Kathmandu route daily. Online booking possible. Guaranteed MINIMUM travel time to Pokhara (fast travel by mini buses and scheduled buses on this route are real killers). Seat booking, no overload, so be quick to book once you have decided to go.
When I used it it was 12 USD, comfortable seat, drinking water. Pit stops en route, lunch possibility. Highly recommended, often full....

If you are trekking Langtang then you need to get to either Dunche or Syapru Besi and the only practical way of doing this is by local bus.
If there is a large group of you then you can consider hiring a Toyota Landcruiser or the like, but other than that you are stuck with the local bus !!
The bus departs from the new bus station at Ring-road. The Bus Leaves at 6:30 or 7:30. And costs about 200NPR, Get your ticket at least one day in advance at the bus station at Ringroad to ensure that you have a good seat. The journey takes about 11 /12 hours to Syapru Besi, the road as far as Trisuli Bazaar is good but after that it is appalling !!
From Kathmandu to Trisuli Bazaar it is quite good, Surfaced, narrow and steep, But the problems start to arise after Trisuli Bazaar, The road is just a dirt track, well more of a rock track, rutted with great big holes in it, massive drops off the edge. Edges crumbling and loose. Then you arrive at Dunche. After Dunche the road gets Worse and crosses a ridge on a narrow thread of a road that traverses a sheer rock-face, In the middle of this rock face is a chasm and the way this chasm was bridged is the stuff of nightmares as all they did was to make rock filled wire baskets and drop them in and the road precariously makes its way over the top of them – You Really have to see this to believe it ;-)

My own journey was in February and we went though a heavy hailstorm on the ridge between Trisuli Bazaar and Dunche, the bus lost traction and slid off the edge of the road, Unbelievably everyone stayed on-board and the driver revved up, crashed gears as he attempted to get the bus back on the “road” – Alas this wasn’t to be and the bus just slid further over the edge and teetered there, at this point I jumped off !!! The bus was left teetering on the edge of the precipice and still 80% of the passengers remained on-board. The driver and crew then spent about an hour moving larges stones and jacking the bus up with a trolley jack and eventually got ready for another attempt to get moving, I stayed outside and watched – After much more crashing of gears and tumbling rock the bus hit the road and kept going – Myself and a few passengers then had to run behind for about a kilometre before the bus stopped to let us back on.
This was Truly the Bus Ride from Hell and one I will never forget !!!
Good Luck
Rob

Yes I Know " Luxury " and Bus are words that Rarely appear in the same sentence in Nepal !! But Now you really can travel in Luxury by Bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara and return with " Golden Travels "
When departing from Kathmandu your journey starts with free coffee before boarding the Bus, then bottled drinking water and small snacks are provided en-route, a lunch stop around half way with lunch included in the price then on to Pokhara and all for around $12 -- OK I Know that's expensive by Nepalese standards but what price a Comfortable Bus journey in Nepal !!??!!!!
The seats recline and are comfortable and really Do have room for your legs too !!!
I was so impressed that I also travelled my return journey back to Kathmandu with them !!!!!

2006 -- This time I tried the Rival "Luxury Bus" company, "Green Line" -- I wasn't Impressed, So my recommendation for "Golden Travels" still stands 100%.

2008 With the increased cost of fuel prices have gone up again, now the price of a ticket is around $15 / $18

If you are staying at lakeside you will notice the little busses that go up and down the main street, These are Great little buses and ply the route in-between Lakeside and Pokhara Bazaar, The route takes them passed places like the airport and goes close to the tourist bus station, The fairs are very reasonable, depending on where you get on the bus the fare can be as little as 12NPR from Lakeside to Pokhara Bazaar.
If you are on a tight budget or if you want to go into Pokhara Bazaar from Lakeside then catching the bus costs a fraction of the price of a taxi !!
The busses run regularly from early morning until well into the evening
They do get a bit crowded but it is still a great way to travel !!

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There are several bus companies operating Tourist bus services between Kathmandu and Pokhara (As well as form Kathmandu to Sauraha) and there isn’t a lot to pick between any of them.
They all leave at round the same time from The Kantipath from Kathmandu at 07.00 and from The Tourist Bus Station at Lakeside Pokhara at 07.30.
In 2008 the price of a ticket was 300NPR in either direction.
It is advisable to book at least a day in advance, then you get a better seat, I always try and get the seat behind the driver on the journey to Pokhara and the front seat next to the door on the way back, The views are better by doing this and the front seats have that little bit more leg-room
They usually stop twice en-route, once for breakfast and once for lunch, however it is always a good idea to take along your own snacks as the stops tend to be at isolated roadside restaurants that have higher than average prices, No doubt the bus companies get a good kick-back for stopping at certain restaurants !!

I am in Nepal while I write this 29. March '08, and I get reports regarding the situation at the border. More people are coming into Nepal than crossing the border on outbound journeys right now because of the elections. I would assume that there will be more traffic on the outbound route after the elections, mainly Nepalese workers returning to India. Traffic flow is better than it has been in a long time, so it should be no problem now. However, after elections, depending on the satisfaction with the results from the maoists' side, it may or may not be easy to travel. Today there is a bandh (traffic and business closure) in the Dang district in response to political violence, but that is of temporary character. At the moment I would have no hesitation of travelling around and indeed I will be doing so myself. My qualified guess is that bus services and crossing the border to India will be ok.