The Prithvi Highway: The Road That Connects Nepal

Every country has a road that tells its story. In Nepal, it is the Prithvi Highway, named after Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king who unified the country in the eighteenth century. It links Kathmandu, the capital, with Pokhara, the gateway to the Annapurnas, and at Mugling it hands travellers south to Chitwan and the plains.

A road that follows rivers

Mountain roads are built where the land allows, and in Nepal that usually means along rivers. For much of its length the Prithvi Highway runs beside the Trishuli and then the Marshyangdi, milky green in winter and a roaring brown in the monsoon. Suspension bridges swing across to villages that were once reachable only on foot.

Towns made by the road

Before the highway, Pokhara was a quiet valley town reached by days of walking. Today, towns such as Mugling, Dumre and Damauli live on the traffic that passes through: tea shops, mechanics, fruit sellers, bus parks and roadside hotels. The road did not just connect places; it created them.

The traffic tells the story too

Drive it on any day and you will see Nepal in motion: trucks carrying goods from the Indian border, tourist buses bound for Pokhara, families on motorbikes going home for a festival, pilgrims heading to Manakamana. It is busy, dusty and slow, and it is the lifeline of the western half of the country.

Drive it slowly

Most travellers see the Prithvi Highway as an obstacle between two destinations. Try treating it as a destination itself. Stop for lunch by the river, walk across a bridge, spend a night in Bandipur. It is the best introduction to Nepal there is.