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Weaving through the heart of the hills, the Prithvi Highway (Prithvi Rajmarg) is most visitors' initiation into the pain and pleasure of Nepalese bus travel. You may find yourself on it several times, in fact, since besides linking Kathmandu and Pokhara it's also the first leg on most journeys between either city and the Tarai. Nepal's second trunk road when it was built with Chinese assistance in 1973, the Prithvi Highway has played a crucial role in modernizing the country, opening up the western hills and enabling Pokhara to develop into Nepal's second tourist city. More recently, the government and its foreign-aid bankers have rediscovered the highway's significance for industrial development, and have upgraded and widened it. It's now a fairly well-maintained road, though ironically this makes it more dangerous, since drivers are encouraged to go that much faster. The road stays near the bottom of deep valleys for most of its 200km, providing only intermittent views. If you travel directly between Kathmandu and Pokhara you might think there's nothing worth stopping for, since there are few towns of any consequence along the way, but actually there's a lot to do here. Many rafting parties come this way to paddle Nepal's most popular river, the Trisuli, which the highway parallels for about 50km, or to put in on the Seti, which it crosses at Damauli. Trekkers going around Annapurna get off at Dumre. In addition, three cultural destinations just off the highway - Manakamana, Bandipur and especially Gorkha - offer further reasons to break the journey. Not many people visit them, because it means giving up their seat on the tourist bus, although it's really not that bad continuing on by public bus. If you want to stick with tourist services, you can always buy a separate ticket for a later date and arrange to be picked up at the nearest town along the highway. Or go by mountain bike, motorcycle or hired car, which will allow you to stop wherever and whenever you like. (If cycling, put your bike on top of a bus for the first unpleasant leg to Naubise.)
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