Since I could not find much information about a direct bus from Kathmandu to Varanasi, I have thus decided to report my detailed experience here in this post. I will try to provide a complete list of “FAQs” regarding all the possible doubts when tackling this journey.
1) BUS FREQUENCY:
The bus should run on a daily basis, even though for certain reasons it might skip some days. For example, I was told that due to public holidays, it was not leaving on the 17th October. You should always inquire beforehand at Swayambhu Bus Station in one of the travel agencies there or any other placed in Thamel tourist area.
2) BUS TIME:
The bus should leave at 18:30. However, given some inconveniences, it might be delayed. For instance, due to bad organization (tickets overselling), we were retained for almost 3 hours ! Anyway, to be on the safe side, you should show up there around 18 h.
3) TICKET RESERVATION:
Unfortunately, I found no way to book my ticket online. The cheapest and most effective way is to reach a travel agency and reserve your ticket there. Thamel agencies are reputed to be more expensive though. They take a much higher commission to save you the trouble to go to Swayambhu. Personally, I walked to Swayambhu (around 3 Km from Thamel) and purchased my ticket directly there. If you do so, the ticket should cost 2200 NPR. I was told that in Thamel the selling price is about 2500 NPR.
Passport is NOT needed. As for the payment method, I am honestly not sure if they accept cards. It is always wiser to bring some cash.
Among the several agencies in Swayambhu, I picked the one called Swoyambhu Manjushree Yatayat Pvt., which directly manages the trip. They have a visible “Varanasi” writing on the door. Location and picture are shown below:
Because of the high demand it is always recommendable to buy the ticket at least 24 hours in advance.
4) BUS CONDITIONS:
The bus is in quite good state. It is a relatively recent A/C bus with reclining seats. Two side notes have to be stressed out:
- A/C is very powerful and even annoying inside. In other words, it is freezing. Hence, you should think about wearing “mountain” clothes.
- No food is provided apart from 1 L water.
The bus is called “Nepal India Friendship passenger bus”, as illustrated in the picture below:
It exactly halts in front of the agency (Swoyambhu Manjushree Yatayat Pvt.) mentioned above.
5) TRIP DURATION AND MEAL BREAKS:
The total journey lasts between 22 and 23 hours. In my journey, we stopped at the following hours:
- Dinner break at around 10 pm.
- Breakfast (pre-border) break at about 5 am (following day).
- Border break (just for bureaucracy) between 6 and 7 am. There you may also change your remaining Nepalese rupees into Indian ones. Moneychangers will easily approach you.
- “Brunch” break at approx. 10:30 am.
- Toilet break at 3 pm.
We arrived at Varanasi Bus Station (near Varanasi Junction train station) at about 5 pm.
6) BORDER FORMALITIES:
It takes around 1 hour to cross the border. You have to stamp out (Nepal) and in (India) your passport. In addition, there is a luggage check on the Indian side.
7) ALTERNATIVE ROUTES:
I got to know that there is an earlier and cheaper bus going from Kathmandu to the Buddhist holy city of Bodhgaya. You may then stop in Patna along the way and switch to a train to Varanasi. The bus leaves at 18 h from the same point. It should cost you a bit less, even combined with a cheap Indian train. It could be another option to save some money or in case of seats unavailability in the other bus. The downside here is that you have to change transport.
To conclude I would say that both the ticket purchase and the travel itself were not that straightforward. Besides the fact that I had to go twice to the office to buy the ticket (no clear info was given), we faced 3 hours delay due to ticket overselling and mismanagement. In addition, we had several chairs and people in the corridor hindering stay and exit. Finally, despite I was told the journey would last 18 hours, the total travel time ended up reaching almost 23 hours. Nevertheless, this is an inevitable part of the authentic overland backpacking.
