Kathmandu Getting there & around

Getting there & away

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Land

Long distance buses

The Kathmandu bus station (Ring Rd, Balaju) is north of the city centre. It is officially called the Gongbu Bus Park, but is generally known as the Kathmandu Bus Terminal, or simply 'bus park'. This bus station is basically for all long-distance buses, including to Pokhara and destinations in the Terai. It's a huge and confusing place and there are very few signs in English but most of the ticket sellers are very helpful. There's often more than one reservation counter for each destination. Bookings for long trips should be made a day in advance - Thamel travel agents will do this for a fee.

The exceptions to this are the popular tourist buses to Pokhara (seven hours, Rs 250) that depart daily at around 7am from a far more convenient location at the Thamel end of Kantipath. Buses are comfortable and you get a fixed seat number with your ticket.

Greenline (4257544, www.catmando.com/greenline; Tridevi Marg; 7am-5.30pm) offers air-con deluxe services that are considerably more expensive than the tourist buses (but include lunch). There are daily morning buses to Pokhara (US$12, seven hours) and Chitwan (US$10, six hours), with a lunch break and bus change in Kurintar. The Lumbini service is currently on hold. You should book a day in advance. They also offer 'drive there, fly back' packages to Pokhara (US$59) and Chitwan (US$59 to US$67).

Golden Travels (4220036; Woodlands Hotel, Durbar Marg) also runs similar services, departing at 7am, to Pokhara (US$12) and Sunauli (Rs 525), changing buses in Kalanki.

The Kathmandu Valley

Buses for destinations within the Kathmandu Valley, and for those on or accessed from the Arniko Hwy (for Jiri, Barabise, and Kodari on the Tibetan border) operate from the City (Ratna Park) bus station, also known as the old bus stand, in the centre of the city on the eastern edge of Tundikhel parade ground. The station is a bit of a horror; drenched in diesel fumes, with no English signs and not much English spoken. Keep shouting out your destination and someone will eventually direct you to the right bus.

Services include to Banepa (Rs 20), Dhulikhel (Rs 25), Barabise (Rs 86; last bus 4pm), Kodari (7am, Rs 160), Jiri (departures between 5.30am and 8am; Rs 247, express Rs 290 to Rs 320). Unless otherwise noted buses depart when full.

As with anything in Nepal, however, there are exceptions to the rule. Buses to Bhaktapur (Rs 12, 45 minutes) run from a stand on Bagh Bazar.

A single direct minibus to Nagarkot (Rs 150, three hours) leaves from just north of Leknath Marg, north of Thamel, at 1.30pm.

Buses to Pharping (Dakshinkali) leave from Shahid Gate (Martyrs' Memorial) at the southern end of the Tundikhel parade ground, as well as the Ratna Park station.

Buses to Bungamati, Godavari and Chapagaon in the southern valley leave from Patan.

Car

Although you cannot rent cars on a drive-yourself basis they can be readily rented with a driver from a number of operators. The rental cost is high, both in terms of the initial hiring charge and fuel. Charges are as high as US$50 per day, although they can be lower, especially if you are not covering a huge distance.

Wayfarers can arrange car hire for a one-way drop to Pokhara (Rs 5500) or Chitwan (Rs 4100). Sightseeing around the Kathmandu Valley costs around RS 2500 per day depending on the itinerary.

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Air

There are three important rules with flights out of Kathmandu: reconfirm, reconfirm and reconfirm! This particularly applies to Royal Nepal Airlines (RNAC); at peak times when flights are heavily booked you should reconfirm when you first arrive in Nepal and reconfirm again towards the end of your stay. Even this may not guarantee you a seat - make sure you get to the airport very early as people at the end of the queue can still be left behind. Thai doesn't require reconfirmation.

Domestic airlines

The various domestic airlines have sales offices around the city but locations and phone numbers seem to change with the weather. Anyway, it's far less hassle to buy tickets through a travel agency and you'll probably get a better deal this way.

RNAC has computerised booking only on five routes: Pokhara, Jomsom, Lukla, Bharatpur and mountain flights. These can be booked at the main RNAC office (4248614; Kantipath; 9am-1pm & 2-6pm) on the corner with New Rd.

All other RNAC domestic flights are booked in a haphazard manner at a small domestic office (4224497, 4226574; 10am-1pm, 2-5pm) just around the corner. Here it seems the booking clerk keeps issuing tickets as long as people keep fronting up with money. With no apparent reservation charts to speak of, the potential for overbooking is high. Confirm more than once, and get to the airport early. The other domestic carriers are much better organised.

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