Nepal by bus, spend a bit more on the VIP ones

When I think about backpacking locations that I have been to a lot of them have a lot in common. Most were tropical and basically just a cheap beach getaway with that pure water that so many people look forward to in their own countries but are unwilling to pay for. Most of the backpacking places I went to were precisely that.

Nepal on the other hand isn't exactly a beach getaway and that should be obvious. It is a pretty amazing place to visit but a lot of people have the wrong impression about the country and I feel as though some of this should be known before heading out. Backpackers try to save as much money as possible and some of these things end up being terribly detrimental to the overall travel experience.

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One thing that you definitely need to keep in mind is that Nepal is an extremely poor country and this becomes evident the moment you arrive. The standards of their international airport are extremely low. Most of the airport was dirty, especially the bathrooms. There is very little in the way of technology and the taxis can be a bit frightening. This travel standard does not improve with the buses and this is where a lot of backpackers make their first mistake... I can say this because it was where I made my first mistake and is subsequently the reason that I know better now.

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Getting on a standard bus might seem like a fantastic idea and when you see that going 100 miles away is going to cost $2 you might think that you got a real score as far as deals are concerned. Let me tell you, you are setting yourself up for disaster but not spending the $5 - 10 that the Tourist buses cost and the answer is simple.

The standard buses will continue to pick up anyone on the side of the road and their farm animals even once the bus seats are already full. People will jump on the roof, then they will sit on the floor, and at one point a man, without saying anything to me, just sat down on my lap. I don't know if this is culturally acceptable but I didn't like it but didn't know what to say to get him off me. Thankfully, some people got off the bus about 20 minutes later so this was short lived but I have to tell you, there is nothing quite as odd as a person who sits on you and acts like this is a perfectly normal situation.

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Because of the amount of stops that these buses make, the journey also takes much much longer than if you had bought a ticket on the Tourist buses that are only going to Himalayan launch points for trekking, which is what most foreigners come to this majestic part of the world for anyway.

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The very clearly marked and easy to find Tourist buses have a policy that is just delightful once you have experienced the alternative: They only sell the number of tickets according to how many seats the bus actually contains. They have luggage storage (for the most part) and no one sits on the roof, in the aisles, or even on your lap. The also only stop at pre-determined locations and for bathroom breaks. That's it.

We took the journey out to our launch point in a public bus and it was some of the worst hours in my life. On the way back, the ride was comfortable, much faster, and I even fell asleep at one point which is not something i do often on buses.

I know we are all trying to save as much money as possible while trekking but honestly, there are a few things in the world that I think is truly worth the extra money and getting a real bus in Nepal is definitely one of them. Dont make the same mistakes that I did!