View the route
Date of the journey:- January 2020
Distance travelled:- 107 miles
With there being no trains in Nepal, the journey from Chitwan to Kathmandu had to be completed by bus.
As the two destinations are both tourist areas, we were able to get a tourist bus. Scheduled as a 5 hour journey at a cost of 800 Rupees. Tickets were booked through our accommodation in Chitwan The jungle Wildlife Camp. They also dropped us off at the Sauraha bus station in Chitwan, the departure point for the bus.
The journey ended up being some 7 hours due to roadworks on the mountain road. We departed Chitwan at 0800 hrs in a shroud of fog. As the bus made the climb up towards Mugling, the fog cleared, giving some stunning scenic views along the way.
The roads were as expected, bumpy, very bumpy, and extremely bumpy. The bus made regular stops for toilet breaks and refreshments. Beware of buying coffee and taking it back onto the bus. Don’t get caught out as fellow passengers did. Not bothering to have a lid on their coffee cups the inevitable was going happen. Most of their coffee ended up all over them.
Arrival in Kathmandu wasn’t as expected. It was a long climb up the mountains from Naubise. So we were expecting a long drop down the other side, but it wasn’t as far. Kathmandu is at an altitude of 1400m, so once over the crest of the mountains, you are pretty much on the outskirts of the city.
With the bus terminating on the ring road, getting into the city was by taxi. Kathmandu taxis rarely run on the meter owing to a long running feud with the government over meter rates. So bargain with drivers to get the best price.
As a tourist you will find anything you buy, unless the price is shown on the item, will be at an inflated tourist price. This also applies to bus and taxi fares.
Our accommodation at The Life Story Guest House was a 10 minute taxi journey from the bus drop off point.