NEPAL TRAVELLER
Located in the heart of eastern Nepal, the BP Highway is a very scenic route with stunning views for a journey. The road links Kathmandu Valley with the Eastern Terai region passing through many rivers, hills, and valleys. It is among the most remarkable road trip in Nepal. The highway offers an enthralling and enticing drive with beautiful and picturesque bends. Various points on the road provide magnificent vantage points to look at the majestic mountains and admire their beauty. However, due to narrow and sharp turns, one must be careful while driving through the highway.
In the year 1996, the dream project of BP highway, also known as Banepa Bardibas highway, started its construction work. This 158 km long dream took a couple of decades with an approximate cost of NPR 21.5 billion to complete and finally was handed over to the Nepalese government on 3rd July 2015 by the Japanese government.
During the construction of the project, different innovative technologies like Shotcrete, to control landslide and Geotech, to eradicate soil erosion had been used for the first time, of its kind, in Nepal. Furthermore, various slope stabilizing techniques like the use of retaining and breast wall, crib works, gabion works, geotextile, and many others have been adopted for sustainability.
The highway stretches from Dhulikhel (3km east from Katmandu) to Bardibas(where it meets the east-west highway), only to exit the dense quake-prone Kathmandu, in case the Muglin-Thankot road is obstructed. This highway is the shortest link between Kathmandu and terai. Crisscrosses through mountain region with the hairpin turn with a width of one bus width in numerous places is a boom for bikers and travel lovers. The highway passing through many rivers, hills, and valleys provide a great riding experience to the travelers. The BP Highway is also a gateway to Patale(the place where you get to see Everest in its full glory) in the Solukhumbu district. Stories of local people and a round of experience into their lifestyle will make the ride a memorable one.
Q. What is the length of BP Highway?
The length of the highway is 158 km (98 miles) long, totally paved.
Q. Is the BP Highway dangerous?
The road is risky, locals warn. It is in good condition but is narrow with many curves and sharp hairpin turns. In a few points, it hardly accommodates two crossing vehicles.
Q. How long does it take to drive the BP Highway?
It takes around 4 hours to complete the drive without stops. Make sure to have enough spare time to make plenty of stops along the way.
Q. How far is Bardibas from Kathmandu?
The distance between Bardibas and Kathmandu is 97 km. The road distance is 188.4 km.
Complied by Pawana Shrestha a content writer at Nepaltraveller.
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