Bus Ride to Besi Sahar
(about a 7 hour bus ride)
In order to trek the circuit,
you will need to get to the start of the trailhead, which is Besi Sahar. You can
either take a tourist bus, known as a "Swiss" bus to Dumre, then get
off there and take a local bus to Besi Sahar, or you can take a direct local bus
to Besi Sahar. Swiss buses are more comfortable, but only the tourists ride
them. Local buses are less comfortable but give you an amazing cultural
experience. If you ride a local bus, chances of you being the only westerner on
it is pretty high. I was the only westerner on my bus. Cost for either bus is
more or less the same.
To get your bus ticket, go to a
trekking agency and tell them where you'd like to go and what kind of bus you'd
like to be booked on. I booked the direct local bus to Besi Sahar and it cost
250 rupees in March 2001. The agency will take your money, and ask you to come
back in a few hours while they send someone to go buy your ticket for you. There
are 2 bus stations in Kathmandu, make sure you know which one you're supposed to
go to.
The story of my bus ride
to Besi Sahar
I had thought that I purchased a Swiss bus (tourist bus) ticket to Dumre, where I would then change to a local bus to Besi Sahar. However, when I got to the bus station in the morning, all I saw was about 500 local buses, and no Swiss buses. I was the only westerner I could see, and I had to find a bus number at this completely unorganized station. There were thousands of Nepalese people here and there and I had no idea where to look for my bus. There really were 500 buses here, with all the bus numbers written in Nepali. I guess I was looking pretty lost, because some young kid came up to help me. He looked at my ticket and then walked me around the back and showed me the bus that I was supposed to be on. However, because the bus numbers were written in Nepalese, I couldn't tell if this was the actual bus that I was supposed to be on. There were 6 people on the bus and nobody spoke english. Oh yeah, I had thought that my bus was going to go to Dumre, where I would then change to another bus to Besi Sahar. However, the company that sold me my ticket put me on a direct bus to Besi Sahar. When I looked at people and pointed at the bus saying "Dumre?", they looked at me like I was mental, not even the bus driver would talk to me. The 6 people on the bus sat all around me, with me in the middle, which made me feel a little uneasy. Then, as we're pulling out of the station, the young guy that helped me find the bus, gets on. This is where I started to get worried and also when I started praying. I had seriously thought that the possibility of me getting robbed was rising very sharply. There were literally hundreds of buses and thousands of people, so the chances of him being on my bus was just... well... it just didn't seem right. Then, about 2 minutes later, that same guy leans out the door and starts yelling at the local people. He was turning people away from getting on the bus, which I didn't like, since I thought I was going to get robbed. Then, I heard what he was yelling was "Besi Sahar". Then I put it all together... He worked at the bus station and the buses always have 2 people working in them, a ticket/money person and the driver. The money guy always yells out the door telling people where the bus is going and lets people on and off. He'll also go on top of the bus to collect money from the people riding on the roof of the bus, all while the bus is in motion of course. Seven hours later I arrived in Besi Sahar, found a hotel and then went looking for a guide.