Dashain 2083 Kathmandu to Pokhara Bus: What the Nagdhunga Tunnel Actually Changes

Last updated: 22 September 2026

If you are booking a Kathmandu to Pokhara bus for Dashain 2083, this is the first festival season in which the road out of the Valley is genuinely different. Nepal's first road tunnel is open at Nagdhunga, and the Prithvi Highway has just reopened at Krishnabhir after an 18-day closure.

But there is a gap between what people assume and what is actually true right now, and it matters for your journey. Here is the honest picture.

Quick answers

- Will buses use the Nagdhunga tunnel this Dashain? Not yet confirmed. As of late September, the tunnel is in trial operation for private vehicles only. Buses are expected in a later phase.

- Is the Prithvi Highway open? Yes — two-way traffic resumed at Krishnabhir on 18 September 2026, over a temporary gravel track.

- Journey time during Dashain: budget 8 to 11 hours, against 7 to 9 normally.

- Fares: NPR 1,000–1,200 sofa seater, NPR 1,300–1,600 VIP sofa or sleeper.

- Tika day: Wednesday, 21 October 2026 (Kartik 4, 2083).

- Advance booking opening date: not yet announced by the Department of Transport Management.

Dashain 2083 dates and when the rush actually hits

Ghatasthapana falls on Sunday, 11 October 2026 (Ashoj 25, 2083), Phulpati on 17 October, and Vijaya Dashami Tika on Wednesday, 21 October 2026 (Kartik 4, 2083).

The dates that matter for bus tickets are not quite the same as the dates that matter for tika:

That second peak is the one people underestimate every single year. Travellers book the outbound leg carefully and then find themselves standing at Prithvi Chowk on 25 October with no seat back to Kathmandu.

Book both legs at the same time. It is the most useful sentence in this article.

Will your Dashain bus actually use the Nagdhunga tunnel?

This is where you need the real answer rather than the assumption, because it changes your travel plan.

The Nagdhunga–Sisnekhola tunnel is a 2,688-metre road tunnel connecting Sisnekhola in Dhading to Nagdhunga in Kathmandu, bypassing the steep climb that has been the worst bottleneck on the way out of the Valley. It was inaugurated on 27 July 2026 after 79 months of construction, built by Hazama Ando Corporation with Japanese concessional funding at a final cost of around Rs 29 billion.

It is opening in phases, not all at once:

So as things stand, your Dashain bus will most likely still climb the old Nagdhunga road. Approved bus tolls of Rs 260 inbound and Rs 200 outbound are already set and will apply once buses are admitted — which, going by the original three-month trial timeline, could fall close to Dashain itself.

Motorcycles, three-wheelers, pedestrians and fuel tankers are permanently barred from the tunnel.

For the full breakdown of tunnel specifications, toll rates and which routes benefit, see our detailed explainer: Nagdhunga Tunnel Opens: What It Means for Bus Travel.

What this means for you: plan your Dashain journey assuming the old road. If buses are admitted before you travel, treat it as a bonus of 30 to 60 minutes, not as the basis of your schedule.

Krishnabhir: open, but on a gravel track

In early September, flooding from the Rasuwa disaster eroded the Trishuli riverbank at Krishnabhir and collapsed a retaining wall, destroying the road surface. The Prithvi Highway was blocked for 18 days.

It reopened to two-way traffic at 6 am on Thursday, 18 September 2026 — over a 270-metre temporary gravel track cut above the damaged section. Authorities are monitoring it before blacktopping, and road lights are being installed for night travel. A long-term tunnel or bypass bridge is under study, with a decision expected within six months, while an 18-kilometre alternative via Benighat to Fisling is being upgraded.

Passable, yes. But it is gravel, carrying festival volumes, and it slows badly in rain. Full details: Krishna Bhir Road Update 2026. You can also read our

How long the Kathmandu to Pokhara bus really takes this Dashain

Normal conditions: 7 to 9 hours. Peak Dashain days: 8 to 11 hours.

The Nagdhunga climb is still in play for buses, Krishnabhir is on a temporary surface, and the Malekhu–Mugling section narrows in all the usual places under festival traffic.

Leave a buffer day before tika. Do not book a 6 am bus on 21 October and expect to make the muhurat.

Kathmandu to Pokhara bus ticket price 2026

Fares move with operator, seat type and season. The Department of Transport Management has said it will coordinate fuel pricing through the festival period specifically to prevent fare increases, so a quote far above these ranges is worth questioning. A modest adjustment once tunnel tolls apply is legitimate; a doubled fare is not.

Full route detail: Kathmandu to Pokhara Bus 2026.

Where the buses leave from — and the truth about "counter numbers"

A lot of people search for a Kathmandu to Pokhara bus counter number, so let us be straight about it.

Here is where services actually depart and arrive:

Now the counter phone numbers. We could publish a list, but it would mislead you. Counter allocations inside Gongabu get reshuffled between seasons, operators change numbers, and during Dashain many counters stop answering altogether because there is a queue of forty people at the desk. Any list you find online is likely part-stale — and in festival season, part-stale means standing at the wrong window at 5 am.

This is the actual problem online booking solves. On GoMyGo you see live seat availability across operators, pick your seat on a seat map, and pay from home. No calling six counters to find out who still has a sleeper berth for 18 October.

Need a person? Our support team is on WhatsApp at +977-9704666777.

When does Dashain 2083 advance booking open?

The Department of Transport Management has not announced a fixed date. Director General Rajiv Pokharel has said the decision follows an assessment of weather and the ongoing disaster situation, and that long-distance vehicles must clear strict fitness tests before receiving route permits. Chief district officers will monitor highway service quality through the festival.

The practical consequence: the window will be short and demand immediate. Sleeper and VIP sofa services on this route go first.

Be ready rather than watchful — download the GoMyGo app so you can book the moment seats are released.

Explore Nepal with GoMyGo

Dashain gives most of us the longest break of the year, and Pokhara is only one way to spend it. If you have days to spare after tika, a few directions worth taking:

- Chitwan — jungle safari country, an easy run down the same Prithvi Highway corridor

- Lumbini — Buddha's birthplace, quiet and uncrowded outside peak pilgrimage season

- Bandipur — a preserved Newari hill town barely off the Kathmandu–Pokhara road, ideal as a one-night break in the journey

- Ilam — tea gardens and cool air in the eastern hills

- Janakpur — Janaki Mandir and Mithila culture, and a natural pairing with Chhath in November

GoMyGo covers bus routes across Nepal, from the Kathmandu Valley to the far west and the eastern Terai, with live seat maps, transparent fares and instant confirmation. Browse routes and fares at gomygo.com.

This is the first Dashain in which a tunnel exists to do the climbing for the Kathmandu–Pokhara route, even if buses are still waiting their turn to use it. Everything else — the fares, the rush windows, the Krishnabhir reality — is known now. Book early enough to travel calmly.