One Day Tour from Kathmandu to Bandipur by Road

Posted on Jan 8, 2018 by NepalTravel under Tour

Tags: bandipur,kathmandu,one day, Tour

Bandipur is a small, authentic village/small town in Nepal. Bandipur is famous for its pure and natural surrounding and life style. It’s the complete package for anyone who is willing to spend the weekend in the lap of mother nature. This used to be a stop on the route to Tibet from Kathmandu. Originally a Magar town, the Newars from Kathmandu took over the place and got settled in Bandipur making it a Newar dominated village as it is now. With traditional-style built houses, rich in wooden architecture, this place also offers wonderful views of the magnificient mountains. Its one of the most popular tourist sites these days for scenic views and cultural experiences.

How to Reach Bandipur

Bandipur is some 140kms to the west of Kathmandu and around 80kms to the east of Pokhara. It is around 8kms from Dumre on the Kathmandu-Pokhara (Prithvi) highway. The time to get to Dumre depends on where you are.

Reaching Bandipur From Kathmandu:

Tourist buses leave every morning (6am-7am) from Kantipath/Jamal . There are different operators who run A/C buses with free wifi and even restrooms these days. The bus tickets costs somewhere from NRs. 700-1000. Micro buses leave from New Buspark in Gongabu on the Ringroad. There are over 600 micro buses that run on KTM-PKR route everyday and charge somewhere from NRs.470-500. It takes around 4 hours to get to Dumre from Kathmandu.

What a great weather here at #Bandipur. Just 140km away from Kathmandu. Ancient village and culture. #LocalDestination #Sustainability pic.twitter.com/ZEdAVDFi8a

— MyHolidayNepal.com (@myholidaynepal) October 20, 2017

Reaching Bandipur From Pokhara:

There are local buses that come to Muglin which charge around NRs.80-100 to get to Dumre. Its almost 1.5hrs journey from Pokhara to Dumre. Buses leave from the BusPark or Prithvi Chowk in Pokhara. There are multiple motorbike rental services in Pokhara that you can choose from if you like. A Royal Enfield Motorbike would cost you somewhere from NRs. 2000-3500 per day without fuel. It takes an hour to reach Bandipur.

From Bandipur/Pokhara, you can find private vehicles easily to Pokhara/Bandipur, that will cost around NRs. 3500 (USD35) for one way trip.

Reaching Bandipur From Muglin:

Muglin is the meeting point on the Prithvi Highway for all the vehicles that move in and out of Kathmandu to the East or Western parts of Nepal. You can get down at Muglin if you are traveling from Sunauli/Birgunj/Kakarbhitta/Biratnagar and take buses to Dumre/Pokhara. Its almost 25kms to Dumre

Buses/Microbuses only run upto Dumre. From Dumre, its 8kms to Bandipur. You can either hike for almost 3hours to get to Bandipur or take Taxis. Taxis charge somewhere from NRs. 500-600 per person to get to Bandipur from Dumre.

Things to do at Bandipur

Visit to Tundikhel:

Tundikhel is one big ground from where the scenic beauty of mountains and hills and Dumre bazar can be seen. You do not need anything else except a good company to enjoy there.

Walk around the Bandipur Bazaar:

Go around and see the wonderful wood carvings on door and windows of the traditionally built Newari house. It’s a live museum kind of town where you can see the elderly people dressed up in their traditional dresses and sitting in the sun.

Silk worm Factory visit:

There’s a silk production facility in Bandipur where they grow silk worms and extract silk threads.

Hike to Gurunche:

On top of Gurunche, there’s Thani Mai (goddess) temple. This place offers 360 view of the Himalayas. The visit is a must for spectacular views of Sunrise and Sunset.

Sideshowr/Siddha Gufa:

Believed to be the largest caves in Nepal, its over 4hrs walk to the North of Bandipur. Signposts direct you at each road intersections to get to the cave. Its home to 100s of bats and has amazing calcite formations inside. The entrance fee is NRs. 200 and make sure to take a flash light and non-slippery shoes with you.

Goat Farm:

There’s a goat farm nearby where you can see the Nepali way of farming goats. Try the goat milk.

Eat local:

As Bandipur is a Newari town, it offers plethora of options for foodies. Newari cuisine is rich in beans, beaten rice and Buff meat. Get a Newari thali. Try Samay Baji, Kachila (raw marinated buff meat), Choila (roasted buff meat) and Tho (rice beer).

Jatras and Feasts:

Newars celebrate Jatras (local festivals worshiping their deity) throughout the year. Every Jatra ends with Bhoj (feast) where they serve traditional Newari food. These jatras and bhoj are culturally mesmerizing and portray the Newari way of life. Ask a local for the time and place and they will be happy to invite you.

Planning for Bandipur? Check out this map for travel reference, what to do during the trip. #Nepal #Bandipur #Travel #LocalDestination pic.twitter.com/5HislNlcHJ

— MyHolidayNepal.com (@myholidaynepal) October 22, 2017

One Day Night Stay at Bandipur

I had already been to Bandipur couple of times but, last week, me and my husband planned a Bandipur trip, just to relax and have a cozy time for us. Today, I am writing this blog to share my travel story to Bandipur from Kathmandu.

To go to bandipur from Kathmandu, I booked the tourist bus to Pokhara as there are no direct bus operator from Kathmandu to Bandipur. We started at 7 am. The bus stopped at Naubise from breakfast and Malekhu for Lunch. After a Nepali buffet lunch at Malekhu, it took us almost 2hours to get to Dumre.

At Dumre, we took a Taxi that charged NRs. 500. It took around 20-25 minutes to get to Bandipur. The road blacktopped and passes through agricultural fields. If you are planning a hike, walking through the fields is highly recommended. For us we chose to hire a car as we were tired to walk the hill.

We were so hungry when we reached Bandipur. Then we searched for a good hotel to eat a authentic Nepali meal (Daal Bhaat). Most of the hotel/restaurants were out of service/closed as it was time of Deepawali and they were short of staff. Somehow, we managed to have food and fulfill our hunger. There are so many places in main street of Bandipur Bazar, where you can get nice foods. Although most of them were closed at that time, still there are many open for us to try out the street food. There are more authentic hotels where you can stay overnight. We stayed in one of the hotels in main Bandipur bazar from where we could see the beautiful view of Himalayas everytime, so close to us. 

We were just there to relax so didn’t go around much. We walked around the Bazaar and spent all time there. The Silk farm was closed as it was the off-season. We took a microbus from Dumre to get back to Kathmandu.

Book your Bandipur Trip in Nepal

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