Getting To Nepal

There are few direct flights to Nepal, which means most travellers from Europe, North America and Australia have to change aircraft and/or airline en route. International airlines used to come and try it ... and then they stopped servicing Nepal. Nepal's only international airport is Kathmandu's Tribhuvan Airport. If you want to see the mountains as you fly into Kathmandu from Europe, make sure you sit on the left-hand side of the plane; coming from the USA it would be the right-hand side. The departure tax for international flights is appr. US$ 24, or US$15 to destinations on the Indian subcontinent.

The classic overland routes between Nepal and India are still popular. Buses are usually the quickest, cheapest and easiest form of transport between Nepal and India. There are three main crossing points: Sunauli-Bhairawa, Birganj-Raxaul Bazaar and Kakarbhitta-Siliguri. The Sunauli border crossing is the best one from Varanasi, the Birganj crossing is the easiest from Kolkata, and Kakarbhitta is the obvious choice from Darjeeling. A trickle of travellers enter Nepal at the Mahendrenagar-Banbassa border crossing in the extreme west of Nepal, which is handy for travellers coming overland from Delhi who do not want to visit Varanasi. The crossing between Nepal and Tibet via Kodari is open to organised groups but not to individual travellers heading north. Be prepared with alternative plans if you're thinking about using this route, because landslides regularly make it impassable during the monsoon.

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Nepal Airlines and a raft of private companies offer domestic air services, but flights are relatively expensive and often delayed or cancelled due to inopportune weather. Airlines only accept payment in hard currency from visitors. Kathmandu's domestic airport is right next to the international airport.

Public buses are the main form of transportation and are incredibly cheap, incredibly uncomfortable and tediously slow. Buses ply almost every paved road (not that there are many), as well as some of the unpaved ones, and some visitors come back with horror stories about 'almost' plunging into a ravine. There are several services between Kathmandu and Pokhara aimed specifically at tourists like the Greenline bus service. If the affinity to chickens and goats as travelling companions is not deeply ingrained tourists will prefer them. There are no trains and no car rental in Nepal. Cars with drivers can be hired.

Local transport in the Kathmandu Valley and around Pokhara includes metered and unmetered taxis, buses, tempos (three-wheeled buses), auto-rickshaws, bicycle rickshaws and bicycles.