Transport in Nepal for tourists

By plane

There are direct flights from Kathmandu to Bangkok with Thai Airways ] and the flag carrier Nepal Airlines. Currently Nepal Airlines doesn't offer yet an online booking system. You can make reservations through agencies. One-way tickets from Kathmandu to Bangkok cost USD 220 (including all taxes), Singapore ], Hong Kong with Dragon Air/Cathay Pacific ]. ArkeFly ] flies direct to Europe (Amsterdam, Netherlands). Many European destinations can be reached via Doha with Qatar Airways ], Abu Dhabi with Etihad ], Dubai with Emirates ] or the low cost carrier FlyDubai ], Bahrain with Gulf Air ]. Flights are also available via Delhi on Jet Airways and UAE on Air Arabia. Turkish Airlines is beginning 4x/week service from Istanbul starting 1 September, 2013 ].

Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport is located just outside of the Ring Road in Kathmandu. The terminal is a one-room brick building with a large wooden table serving as both customs and immigration. http://www.immi.gov.np/touristvisa.phpTourist visa of 15 days or more is available on arrival. Money can be changed to the local currency as well, but these services are only available directly after scheduled arrivals.

Outside the airport, all 'representatives' of the tourist industry are required to remain 10 metres (about 30 feet) from the front door. This does not prevent them from waving large signs and yelling in an attempt to encourage you to choose them as your guide/taxi/hotel/luggage carrier. Make your choice before crossing the line, or better yet, arrange your first night's accommodation before you arrive and ask the hotel to send someone to meet you. Many hotel and guest houses offer complimentary pick up and delivery from the airport. Fixed priceTaxis are also available before you exit the building but you may get a cheaper fare if you are willing to haggle. As always, negotiate the price beforehand with the driver. A taxi ride to Thamel or Boudha should be around 300 NRS. Otherwise, order a taxi at the pre-paid booth inside the airport, which costs 400+NRs (and rising). This is more than the normal taxi rate, but it saves the hassle of long negotiations. You can also walk a few hundred metres to the Ring Road and grab a city bus or taxi there.

By car or motorcycle

It is quite easy to rent a car with a driver in Nepal, however you would need to haggle to get a reasonable price. If you come in summer, better take a car with air-con. Car rental without a driver in Nepal is almost unheard of, as is renting a car in India and taking it across the border.

Many travellers drive from India on Royal Enfield motorcycles. Technically, foreigners have to pay customs at the borders but most don't bother. Selling the bike in Nepal is easy as other travelers are looking for bikes to ride back to India.

If you are coming from India you will find driving in Nepal a lot less chaotic! The roads are amazing and the new east-west highway currently under construction with support from the Japanese will open up new destinations for those interested in exploring Nepal by motor-bike.

Please check before hiring a motorbike on the current state of fuel. At time of writing (13DEC 09) there was large problems with fuel supply which can leave riders stranded. At time of writing, bike hire should be no more than 500Rs a day (Pulsar, Hero Honda, scooter) unless you are hiring an Indian Enfield.

Hirers are also notorious for trying to charge tourists large amounts of money on returning the bike for 'damage payment' that may not have been from you. Therefore make sure a thorough damage assessment with the hirer is carried out before departing and if the hirer tries to scam you on return go to local police.

The best route to explore nepal by road on motorcycle, is to enter from the border crossing of Banbasa- Mahendra Nagar, just after the border crossing, the Mahendra Highway (made with collaboration from India) is amazing to ride on.

Crossing the border requires you to pay a daily toll of 120 rs (Nepali) and a transport permit of 50 rs Nepali(one time), the cops can ask you for these two pieces of document anytime during the ride.

By bus

There are five border crossings open to tourists. The Sunauli-Bhairawa border crossing is the closest to Varanasi, the Raxaul-Birganj crossing to Patna, Kolkata, and Siliguri-Kakarbhitta is to Darjeeling. The Banbassa-Mahendrenagar border crossing, in the extreme west of Nepal, is the closest to Delhi. TheBahraich-Nepalganj border is the one closest to Lucknow , the easiest destination by air or train from Delhi.

The crossing between Nepal and Tibet via Kodari is open to independent travelers entering Nepal, but only to organised groups entering Tibet.

By train

Cargo and passanger trains operate between Sirsiya in southern Nepal, and the Indian town of Raxaul. However, except for Indians, foreigners are not allowed to cross border with it. Internal train network is limited to few kilometres of train network in Janakpur.

Get around

Domestic Flights

There are now many airlines, offering frequent flights to several destinations include companies with beautiful names like Yeti air, Buddha Air and Cosmic Air. Destinations to and from Kathmandu include places such as Pokhara, Biratnagar, Nepalganj, Lukla, Pokhara, Simikot, Jomsom, Janakpur and Bharatpur.

For bookings from outside Nepal, there are internet agents (like NepalAirFlight, NepalFlightCentre) who can make bookings, take payment (credit/debit cards/Paypal) and then send e-tickets. Other than these agents, tickets can only be bought on arrival in Nepal so if you are flying at short notice it is necessary to be flexible on flight times/dates as the planes often get fully booked in advance. Note that cancellations and delays due to severe weather conditions do occur. If you have time, just board the next plane.

Micro Bus

This kind of trnsportation has become very popular lately. They are 10-12 seaters with very fast service. It has almost replaced local bus service given its fast service. However, apart from previous few routes, Micro Bus has come up with many other alternate routes and now has got good coverage. The fare is more expensive than the local bus. Tourists should be aware though that microbuses are often driven with great speed and very little care and have unfortunately been the cause of a large percentage of the road accidents in Nepal! Use microbuses with caution!

• Local Bus - Although the system can be confusing, they are cheap. They can be crowded at times both with people and domestic animals such as goats, ducks etc. Some buses will not depart until full to a certain quota.
• Tourist Bus - Book a few days ahead at a Kathmandu or Pokhara travel agent (or your hotel will book for you). A few steps above local buses (no goats, everyone gets a seat) but not much safer. "Greenline" is the most reliable company and has trips between Kathmndu, Chitwan, Lumbini and Pokhara.
• Rickshaw - Good for short jaunts if you don't have much luggage and don't mind being bounced around a bit. Bargain before you get in, and don't be afraid to walk away and try another.
• Tempo - These come in two types. One is a three wheeled electric or propane powered micro-bus for 10-13 passengers. They run in different routes around the city and cost 5-12 NRs. The other type is a newer Toyota van running the same routes at a higher price and a bit faster and safer. Be prepared for a crowd
• Taxis - There are two types of taxi: "private", which pretty much run from the airport to your (upscale) hotel, and "10-Rupee", which don't leave until they are full. When haggling for fare, remember that taxi drivers have been hit hard by the petrol crisis, sometimes queing up overnight to get 5 litres of petrol at twice the market price. So be sympathetic but don’t get ripped off! Offer to pay 'meter plus tip', 10% is more than enough.
• Tram - The old-fashioned street cable-car that ran from Kathmandu (near the stadium) to Bhaktapur is currently closed due to 'non-existing maintenance' and the fact that none of the drivers paid for the power.
• Custom or classic motorcycle - Run by a European couple, Hearts and Tears in Pokhara offer lessons, guided tours and rental of 350cc and 500cc Royal Enfield bikes. In Kathmandu, Himalayan Enfields (behind the Israeli Embassy on Lazimpat)sells/rents good bikes and does repairs. The official Enfield dealer in Nepal is in Balaju Industrial Estate off the Ring Road.
• Local motorcycle - Another choice is to rent a small motorcycle. And it can be rented in the Thamel area. Again with the petrol crisis, motorcycle rental has become a costly choice, depending on availability 1 litre of petrol will cost you 120-250 NRs on top of the rental fee (300-800NRs).
• On Foot - although motor roads are penetrating further into the hinterlands, many destinations can only be reached by foot (or helicopter). See the section on trekking, below.

Talk

The great biological and cultural diversity of present-day Nepal is matched by its linguistic diversity. Nepal boasts a variety of living languages, many of which are remnants of the traditional Asiatic cultural amalgamation in the region. Impressively large number for a country with a small land mass like Nepal, it has more distinct and individual languages in one country than the whole of the European community.

The official language of Nepal is Nepali. It's related to Sanskrit, and other Indo-Aryan languages, and is normally written with the Devanagari script. While most Nepalis speak at least some Nepali, a large percentage of the population has as their mother tongue another language, such as Tharu around Chitwan, Newari in the Kathmandu Valley, and Sherpa in the Everest area.

Although Nepal was never a British colony, English is widespread among educated Nepalis. Nevertheless learning even a few words of Nepali is fun and useful, especially outside of the tourist district and while trekking. As Asian languages go, Nepali has to be one of the easiest to learn, and the traveler making the effort isn't likely to make worse blunders than many natives with a different first language.

See: Nepali phrasebook

A disturbingly large number of Nepal’s mother tongues are severely endangered and will likely be reduced to symbolic identity markers within a generation. So why not try to pick up a few phrases!