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Train
operator in Nepal: |
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There are no trains in Nepal, other
than an obscure branch line from India
of limited interest to travellers. |
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Time: |
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GMT+5hours 45 minutes. No
daylight saving time. |
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Currency: |
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£1 = 137 Nepalese rupees.
$1 = 74 Nepalese rupees |
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Visas: |
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All except Indian citizens need a visa.
Tourist visas can be bought at all official frontiers for around
$30. The visa fee must be paid in US$ cash, and you'll need
2 passport photos. Alternatively, visas can be bought from
Nepal embassies - The Nepalese London embassy website is
www.nepembassy.org.uk. |
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Tourist information: |
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Tripadvisor Nepal page
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Page last
updated: |
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24 July 2008.
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London to Kathmandu overland by train
Train travel in Nepal
Delhi to Kathmandu
by train+bus
Varanasi to Kathmandu by
bus
Kathmandu to Lhasa (Tibet) by bus
How to travel overland by train from Europe to Nepal...
It is possible to travel from London to Kathmandu overland by train and
bus via Turkey, Iran, Pakistan & India. It will take a
minimum of 2-3 weeks (preferably more, as you'll probably want
to stop off on the way and explore), and you should consider it more as an adventure or
expedition than a routine way to travel there. The main
difficulty is getting an tourist visa for Iran, although this is
becoming easier - see the London
to Iran page. If you can get a visa, the only
logistical problem is building an itinerary around the weekly
train from Istanbul to Tehran and the twice-monthly trains
towards to Pakistan border. There are also security problems in
southeast Iran to consider -
see the official travel advice for Iran and Pakistan at the
British Foreign Office website,
www.fco.gov.uk.
If you are still interested, see
the London to India & Nepal Overland page.
Sponsored links:
There are no trains in Nepal, other
than the end of an obscure branch line from India which is of
limited interest to travellers. However, regular buses
link most centres.
It's quite easy, cheap, and an adventure to do this journey
overland.
-
Day 1:
Take a train from Delhi to Gorakhpur. The Vaishali Express
leaves Delhi at around 19:45 and arrives at Gorakhpur Junction
at 09:10 next morning, or there's another train from New Delhi
at 17:20 arriving Gorakhpur at 06:35 next morning. The
fare is around Rs 2440 ($55) in AC1, RS 1240 ($28) in AC2, Rs 785
($18) in AC3 or Rs 315 in Sleeper Class - see www.indianrail.gov.in
for times and fares.
-
Day 2:
Take a bus or jeep from Gorakhpur
to the Nepalese frontier at (Indian side) Sunauli/Bhairawa
(Nepalese side, but also often called Sunauli). Journey time
about 3 hours, Rs 55 ($1).
-
Walk across the frontier, it's then a few minutes walk to the
Bhairawa bus station. Take a bus or jeep on to Kathmandu.
Buses take 9 to 12 hours, cost about 120 Nepalese Rupees or 230
Indian Rupees ($2).
There are many buses daily, either daytime buses leaving
regularly until about 11:00 or overnight buses leaving regularly
from about 16:00 until 19:00. Indian rupees may be
accepted here in Bhairawa, but not further into Nepal.
-
It's also possible to travel via Varanasi. An overnight
train links Delhi & Kathmandu. Buses link Varanasi with
the Nepalese border - see the next section.
Traveller's report:
Traveller Robert Marten reports (February 2007): "We
travelled AC2 overnight to Gorakhpur booked in London through
S.D.Enterprises (www.indiarail.co.uk).
The train was 3 hours late due to fog(!?), arriving after
midday. Then we took a very crowded ordinary bus from
Gorakhpur to the Indian border town, Sunauli. We paid
Indian Rp.55 each though I was told by another local that the
normal fare was Rp. 45. We were also nearly taken in by
what we decided was a scam - two different people offered us
"tickets" from Gorakphur to Kathmandu for Rp.450 - saying that
we could pay Rp.225 in Gorakhpur and then another Rp.225 once we
crossed the border - we concluded that in effect all they were
doing was charging us Rp.225 for the bus from Gorakhpur to the
border. Our bus to the border took about 3 hours. Then we
easily negotiated the Indian & Nepalese Immigration. So we
found ourselves in Nepal at about 4pm. After a bit of
shopping around we booked tickets on the 5pm overnight bus to
Kathmandu for Indian Rp.230 per person and arrived in cold
Kathmandu shortly after 5am."
-
Day 1: Direct buses run
from Varanasi to the Nepalese border at Bhairawi (Indian side)/Sunauli
(Nepalese side), running several times
daily (exact times not known). They take 9 hours and
cost about Rs 100 ($2). Walk across the
frontier, and spend the night in a hotel in Sunauli.
-
Day 2: The Sunauli bus
station is a few minutes walk from the frontier. Buses to Kathmandu take 9 to 12 hours,
cost about 120 Nepalese Rupees ($2). There are many buses
daily, either daytime buses leaving regularly until about
11:00 or overnight buses leaving regularly from about 16:00
until 19:00.
Feedback needed..!
If you've any
information or photos that would help improve this page for
future travellers,
please e-mail me
There is no regular
bus service and certainly no train between Kathmandu/Nepal and
Lhasa/Tibet. The only way
this can be done legally at present is to go on an
organised overland tour run by a local travel agency, who will
arrange all the necessary permits for you.
The cheapest tours cost about $400 (ask for a budget tour, there
are more expensive options with better accommodation) and take 8
days, 7 nights for the 955 km journey. Try
www.heiantreks.com, whose tours depart Kathmandu every
Tuesday & Saturday,
www.richatours.com,
www.visitnepal.com/getaway (departing Kathmandu every
Saturday April-October, $450 + $100 Tibetan permit) or do a Google search for other agencies.
In 2005, there were reports of a new twice-weekly bus service
from Kathmandu to Lhasa but apparently this service folded soon
after it started. There are reports of it restarting in
2008 (see
http://en.chinagate.com.cn/development/2007-11/23/content_9280165.htm)
but I'll believe it when I see it! Once in Lhasa, there are
trains onwards to Xian,
Beijing or Shanghai. If you have any feedback or
recommendations,
please email me..!
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The Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable
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It's probably
the most adventurous timetable ever produced... The famous Thomas Cook
Overseas Timetable has train, bus and ferry times for Nepal, India,
China, in fact all of Asia, America, Africa & Australasia. It is published every two
months. No serious overland traveller should be without it..!
It costs £13.50 from the bureau de change in any UK branch of Thomas Cook, or it can be ordered by phone on
01733 416477 (+44 1733 416477 from outside the UK).
Buy online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com
(worldwide delivery).
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