Four routes across Nepal

Each route has its own bus, its own traffic and its own problems. Pick one and start your shift.

Passengers board a green and white city bus at the Ratnapark stop

Route 4: Kathmandu city

City bus, 6 stops

From Ratnapark through Bagbazar, Putalisadak, Chabahil and Kalanki to Kalimati. Traffic lights at 16 junctions, cars that stop on red, and the Ring Road at 50 km/h.

Drive Route 4

An old Tata day bus with a loaded roof carrier and a ladder on the Prithvi Highway, with the river below the hills

Prithvi Highway: Kathmandu to Pokhara

Tata day bus or tourist coach, 8 stops

Through Naubise, Malekhu, Kurintar, Mugling, Dumre and Damauli. Take the Nagdhunga tunnel or the old pass, follow the Trishuli, get past the Krishnabhir landslide, dodge potholes and unmarked speed breakers, refuel and stop for a meal at Mugling.

Drive the Prithvi Highway

A painted local bus with Horn Please on the back drives the divided Siddhartha Highway near Manigram

Siddhartha Highway: Butwal to Sunauli

Local Terai bus, 8 stops

The real road at real length, built from OpenStreetMap. Real shop and bank names on the boards, the Lumbini Gate, Indian trucks, autos and e-rickshaws, and the truck queue at the border in Belahiya.

Drive to Sunauli

The city bus in the Lakeside bazaar in Pokhara, under prayer flags, with the Hotel Landmark board and hills behind

Pokhara Lakeside

City bus, 8 stops

From the Tourist Bus Park along Lakeside Marg, past Barahi, Hallan and Khahare Chowk, then along the shore of Phewa Lake to Khapaudi. The real 6.4 km road and hills, prayer flags over the bazaar, the Annapurnas on the skyline and people walking on the narrow shore road.

Drive Lakeside