Kathmandu to Pokhara by road is broken: 150 tourist buses idle, flights packed

What happened

Floods in the Bhotekoshi river on 26 August triggered erosion along the Trishuli, which took out a section of the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir in Dhading. The Prithvi Highway is the main road between Kathmandu and Pokhara and the spine of Nepal’s tourist circuit, and its loss has rearranged how people move between the two cities.

About 150 tourist buses working the Pokhara–Kathmandu route have been left idle, the Kathmandu Post reported on 6 September. The tourist bus park at Mustang Chowk in Pokhara, normally busy from early morning to late at night, is largely deserted. Buddhi Sagar Paudel of the Prithvi Highway Bus Operators’ Company said 24 buses used to leave for Kathmandu in the morning and eight at night, with a further 14 from Prithvi Chowk, eight from Lamachaur and two each from Hemja and Zero Kilometre. Only tourist buses to Chitwan and Lumbini are still running.

Everyone is flying instead

Air traffic on the short Pokhara–Kathmandu hop has nearly tripled. Jashoda Subedi, spokesperson for Pokhara International Airport, said 1,300 passengers travelled between the two cities on 25 August. On Friday more than 3,500 did, across 28 Buddha Air flights, 18 Yeti Airlines flights and four operated by Shree Airlines. For scale, the route’s all-time peaks — Dashain, New Year — run to about 4,400 a day.

"Passenger loads had fallen after the Prithvi Highway improved, so airlines would merge flights or operate with relatively few passengers," Subedi said. "Now occupancy has risen sharply. Flights are packed, and tickets are difficult to get." If your itinerary assumes you can buy a Pokhara–Kathmandu seat on the day, that assumption is currently wrong.

What the road looks like now

Seven days after the washout, a 252-metre temporary track was opened at Krishnabhir, reconnecting the highway. Bijaya Jaisi, director general of the Department of Roads, said substantial work remained before normal traffic could resume — about a week. The track was cut by the Nepal Geo-Technical Society into the hillside rather than along the river, to reduce the risk of further flood damage.

Under the temporary arrangements, large passenger buses and freight entering Kathmandu must use the Tribhuvan Highway, while vehicles heading towards Hetauda take the Kanti Lokpath. Vehicles carrying fewer than 14 passengers can enter the Kathmandu Valley through Bhimphedi, Kulekhani, Sisneri and Dakshinkali, returning via Pharping, Phakhel, Kulekhani and Bhimphedi. The tourism industry is looking at its own workaround because large vehicles cannot use the Tribhuvan Highway between Hetauda and Naubise.

The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Gandaki chapter inspected one such route on Saturday: cross the suspension bridge from Krishnabhir to Jamire on foot, take a jeep about 11 kilometres to Benighat, and transfer to buses coming out from Kathmandu. "A diversion track is currently being built at Krishnabhir, and we have been told it will be operational within a week," said Sangeeta Paudel, chair of NATTA Gandaki. "But it is unclear how long it will withstand traffic once it opens."

What it means if you are going

This lands as Nepal’s autumn trekking season begins, and the disruption has already hit close to 1,000 tourism businesses and workers. If you have a Kathmandu–Pokhara transfer booked as a road journey, ask your operator now whether it is flying you instead and who is paying for it. If you are booking independently, book the flight early rather than at the airport. Treat any "one week" estimate as an estimate — the people giving it are saying openly that they do not know how the new track will hold.

Sources

This report is based on the following published sources. Rules and schedules change — confirm with the issuing authority before you travel.

• Prithvi Highway collapse leaves Pokhara’s tourist buses idle as air traffic soars — The Kathmandu Post, 06 September 2026
• Kathmandu supply lines rerouted after floods block main highway — The Kathmandu Post, 06 September 2026