Local Transportation
A taxi to the airport from Lakeside is around Rs 125.
Tourist buses usually arrive at the Main bus stand, two or three km from the main areas to stay at Lakeside and Damside, to where it cost around Rs 50 to Rs 70 to get to. On arrival you can expect to be attacked by taxi drivers and touts who will often tell you enough negative things about the hotel that you request to go to that you almost want to cry.
It cost Rs 50 to Rs 70 by taxi to go from the Baglung Highway bus stand on the west side of town, where you get the bus to the Annapurna region. If you are arriving from the south on the Siddhartha Highway you could ask to be dropped off at Damside (ask for Pardi, the local name).
Taxis hang out around the airport, bus stands and at the circle at the beginning of Lakeside. It is often easier to have your hotel arrange a taxi. The taxis have meters, but most drivers will not use them. Foreigners are expected to pay a high price. To get around the area it could be a good idea to get a taxi for the day. It should cost around Rs 1400 per day, plus petrol. For a long trip and to stay over night should costs more.
There are regular buses between the airport, lake and bazaar. The buses for the most part move rather slow in Pokhara.
You can rent bike in the Damside and Lakeside areas for around Rs 50 per day. Mountain bikes with gears are around Rs 70 to Rs 125. Pokhara has a steady slope uphill going north.
The rent a motorbike is around Rs 500 for a day, plus you pay extra for fuel.
Travel
Air There are several daily flights between Kathmandu and Pokhara. It takes about 30 minutes and you have a great view of the Himalayan range on the right hand side of the plane coming from Kathmandu and left side departing from Pokhara. The fare is $61 one way. There are two or three Royal Nepal Airline (21021) flights a day from Kathmandu. Two good airlines are Necon Air (20256, 25311) and Buddha Air (21429). Other airlines are Cosmic Air (21846), Yeti Airways (20027), Lumbini Airways (27233; Kathmandu; 483-381) and Gorkha Airlines (25071, 25971). It is best to take the earliest flight possible to get a view of the mountains, as clouds come in later in the day.
It is usually better to arrange flights with a travel agency. Travel agents can often confirm by phone in Kathmandu international flights.
There are flights to Jomsom (3 daily, $60) and to Manang ($65). Everest Air and Necon Air have daily flights to Kathmandu.
There are mountain flights ($65) to get a great view of the Himalaya Mountains.
A taxi from the airport to Damside is around Rs 70 and to Lakeside is Rs 100.
Bus Tickets should be purchased one day in advance to insure a seat. The ticket office for night buses is up some steps. The booking office for day buses is at the booth in the back of the bus stand. There are buses to Kathmandu (8hr, 10 daily, Rs 120), Sunauli (9 hr, 8 daily), Narayanghat (5 hr, 10 daily), Gorkha (4 hr, 2 daily), Bhairawa (8½ hr, 10 daily) and Tadi Bazaar (for Chitwan, Rs 90). Buses traveling on the Siddhartha and Prithvi highways depart from the Main bus station, east of Prithvi Chowk.
Travel agents offer more comfortable tourist buses to Kathmandu (7 hr, Rs 250 to Rs 350), Narayanghat (Rs 200) and to Sunauli (Rs 200). During the off-season prices may be cheaper. There pick up passengers in Damside and Lakeside. Greenline Tours arranges luxury buses to Kathmandu for Rs 650. There are some tourist buses to Sauraha (Chitwan National Park). Bus tickets prices vary between travel agencies, so you may want to shop around.
It costs between Rs 50 and Rs 100 to get from the bus stand to the Lakeside or Damside areas.
There is no reason to deal with the touts (commission agents) who will try to bring you to a hotel of their choice, so they can get a commission of up to 50% of the price of the room. You can get a taxi to a restaurant in Lakeside, have a meal, and then set out to find a room.
Tourist buses arrive at the tourist bus station near Damside. Greenline buses stop at the south end of Lakeside. As soon as you arrive it is a good idea to get a taxi immediately, or you will be attacked by the touts trying you to bring them to a hotel of their choice. The touts will tell you they will bring you for free to a hotel, so they can receive a good commission from the hotel. A taxi to most destinations will cost from Rs 30 to Rs 85.
Public buses mainly arrive at the Main bus station, east of Prithvi Chowk. If you are coming from an Annapurna trek and coming to Pokhara on the Baglung Highway the buses arrive at a small Baglung bus stand at the west side of town. A taxi to Lakeside or Damside will costs around Rs 100 from these bus stations.
Baglung buses are known to be very crowded and dangerous. You might want to take a taxi to the beginning of a trek in this area.
To Kathmandu
Public buses from the bus stand are Rs 120, and private buses are Rs 150 for a big bus to Rs 250 a mini-bus. The mini-buses are faster, but for some people maybe to fast (more dangerous).
The tourist buses are much more convenient for pick-ups. In Pokhara they pick-up passengers outside their hotels. Buses coming from Kathmandu stop at a bus stand at Mustang Chowk, located between Damside and the airport.
Bus departing from Kathmandu pick up passengers and drop them off in Thamel
Greenline (27271) has a daily luxury A/C service to Kathmandu, which includes breakfast halfway.
You can get a morning tourist bus for Rs 175 which takes about seven hours. You can arrange this with one of the many travel agents in Kathmandu.
To India Border
Buses to the Indian border depart from the main Pokhara bus stand. To Sunauli/Bhairawa (9 hr, 8 daily; Rs 135 day, Rs 160 night), Bhairawa (8½ hr, 10 daily; Rs 130 day; Rs 160 night) and Nepalganj (15 hr, Rs 285). The road going to Sunauli is called the Siddhartha Highway.
There are no tourist buses to the border, but supposed tourist buses pick you up outside your hotel.
To Trekking Starting Points
Several treks begin in Pokhara. Treks can often be begun by walking from Pokhara, which adds one to three days to some treks. To cut off some days you can take a bus or taxi further along a trek.
For the Annapurna Circuit the bus goes to Baglung. Many trekkers take the bus to Nayapul (2 hr, Rs 40) (on the way to Baglung) and from there it is a 20-minute walk to Birethanti, where the trek begins. Buses depart every half-hour from early morning until the late afternoon.
There is one bus daily from the main Pokhara bus stand at around 7 am to Besisahar (5 hr), where the Annapurna trek begins.
Taxis and Jeeps
If you take a long distance vehicle, you often have to pay for travel in both directions. Taxis are more comfortable than buses and cheaper than flying. Your hotel or lodge, or a travel agent can arrange taxis. The typical taxi cost to Kathmandu is $65, Sanauli or Lumbini $85, and to Chiwan is $85.
The maximum altitute attained is 5,000 feet. This flight is designed for the curious who just wants to have a little fun.
The operations are controlled by Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, which checks pilots’ proficiency & the condition of the aircraft.
Thamel also serves as the pre-base camp. It is known for its varied collection of pubs, foreign money exchange booths, mountaineering gear shops, clubs as well as nightlife together with infinite guest houses and travel lodges. Teenage violence-crazed events and Gang crimes take place pretty often in some areas of greater Thamel. In general, Thamel serves as a home to a variety of audience of Nepal for employment and entertainment purposes. The capital of Nepal is preferably the biggest cosmopolitan city. you can refer to it is a melting pot of thousands ethnic groups. It is also considered to be the home town of the Newars. The trader and the master craftsmen of this place are simply great. For more than thousand years, Kathmandu has managed the caravan route between India and Tibet.
However, in spite of its scenic beauty, there are many people who complain about Thamel. To them, Thamel is nothing but a noisy, crowded, chaotic and dangerous place. But then, the pros certainly outweigh the cons. With so many shops, travel agencies and internet café you are sure to fall head over heels for it. Most people prefer their stay at the Freak street area. The place is best suited for shopaholic. So friends, if you love shopping and planning to go visit someplace soon then make sure to go in for Thamel.
A taxi to the airport from Lakeside is around Rs 125.
Nepal straddles the Nepali – Tibetan border and is reached via international flights into the Kathmandu International Airport. Internally there are many flights to remote local airstrip. But in the far west on Nepal lies the region of Dolpo situated in the Shey–Phoksumdo National Park separated from the rest of Nepal by the Dhaulagiri massif this is truly an isolated corner of Nepal. To get there requires linking bus and air flights together as well as strenuous trekking in very remote areas and at altitude.
The people of Dolpo are mainly of Tibetan origin whose lives revolve around Buddhism, barley, and yaks. The majority on settlements are over 4,260 meters and are among the highest settlements on earth. The park shelters blue sheep, Himalayan black bear, leopards, wolves and the elusive snow leopard. During your trek you may be lucky enough to see some of these endangered species.
Mustang is a remote, semi-independent Tibetan kingdom within the territory of Nepal (just north of the Annapurna Region on the Tibetan border), and one of the last bastions of undisturbed Tibetan culture in the world. Buddhist monasteries and nunneries are built into forbidding cliffs and mountain ledges, and the starkly beautiful, windy, arid Tibetan plateau is unbroken for many hours of trekking or riding on, horseback. The trek enters upper Mustang at Kagbeni, a quaint medieval town nestled in apple orchards and encircled by snow mountains. It eventually reaches the ancient capitol of Lo Manthang, a walled city built of whitewashed mud bricks and teeming with Buddhist prayer wheels and stupas, seeming to arise from the earth itself. There are very few guesthouses and restaurants in the region; so camping is required and most necessities must be carried in. Entirely closed to visitors until the early 1990s, upper Mustang treks are still restricted by a set of rules for cultural conservation and require a minimum $700 permit fee for a ten-day trek. (Treks are typically ten days but can be longer.) The high winds, altitude and cold add to the challenge of this trek. It is not recommended to do in the winter months and can be strenuous for some people even in the warmer months.
Kanchenjunga is the world’s third highest mountain and is situated in the north-eastern corner of Nepal, straddling the border with Sikkim. Kanchenjunga is not a single summit but a mountain massif consisting of five summits with several satellite peaks and glaciers.
Until Nepal opened its borders to foreign visitors in the early 1950’s Kanchenjunga was probably the best recognised and most well known of all the Himalaya peaks as it could be clearly seen from Darjeeling, then part of the British regime. After the border control was relaxed, focus turned to the Annapurna and Everest regions and Kanchenjunga lost a bit of its appeal. Access became difficult from the east, the traditional starting point, as Sikkim then closed its border to foreign travellers. It was not until as late as 1988 that access to the north side of Kanchenjunga was relaxed and explorers, climbers and trekkers were able to fully appreciate the majestic beauty of this Himalayan giant.The area is home to a variety of endangered species; The snow leopard, musk deer, red panda, grey wolf and the Himalayan Black Bear. It is still a pristine environment and an area that every mountain lover should not only visit but take an active role in protecting its natural diversity.
