Nepal starts "Hop on-Hop off" bus service connecting five world heritage sites

Lalitpur [Nepal], May 23 : The Nepal Tourism Board and Lalitpur Metropolitan City in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism have launched a "Hop on-Hop off" bus service connecting five world heritage sites.

Lalitpur Mayor and the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation started the service for tourism promotion.

Hop-on, hop-off bus service is popular in cities like London and Paris. Such services allow tourists to visit the city's tourist destinations for a day on a single ticket.

The new bus, the first kind of it in Nepal, is set to connect five UNESCO World Heritage sites in Kathmandu and Lalitpur. The route starts from Sajha Yatayat in Pulchowk which reaches Patan Durbar Square then Basantapur Durbar Square, Pashupatinath Temple, Bauddhanath Stupa and Swayambhu.

Also, those buses will also make rounds of other important places such as Narayanhiti Palace Museum, the National Museum at Chhauni in Swayambhu and the Taragaon Museum at Bauddha.

"This (hop-on, hop-off) service will further give spontaneity to the visit of Nepali as well as foreign tourists. Driving on a single bus, tourists can go around the listed heritage sites of Kathmandu and Lalitpur in a single day that too in low price and it is free-of-cost for a week. It basically saves the expenses and there is no other better option than this. This indeed will provide support to all the tourists (domestic and foreign) for sure," Chiribabu Maharjan, Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City briefed the media.

The authorities have tied up with Sajha Yatayat- a cooperative-operated shuttle service to run the buses on the road. Two electric buses with semi-low flow easy to get on and off for people with different abilities will provide services free-of-cost for a week as the rates for the service is yet to be finalized.

Although not fixed as yet, the bus tickets are likely to be priced between Rs 800-Rs 1,000, for foreigners and around Rs 500, for locals. The ticket prices will be fixed by the Department of Transport at a later date.

As per the plan, visitors can spend 45 minutes or about an hour at a particular site, and they will get picked up by the next bus that reaches the area every 45 minutes.

Earlier, in 2018, the late Rabindra Adhikari, the then Minister for Culture and Tourism and Civil Aviation on the first day of his office had proposed to launch such a bus service in the Valley. But it could not materialize then.

As a pilot project, the Sajha Yatayat is operating two electric buses along the 45-kilometre route that will take around three hours to complete. However, for now, those buses will not be reaching Bhaktapur Durbar Square and Changu Narayan, which also fall under World Heritage sites.

At one time 46 people can travel on the hop-on, hop-off bus. Inside the bus, the visitors can get information about the sites they are visiting through video clips and brochures.