Solukhumbu. The surrounding snow walls, the aroma of Sherpa culture, and the captivating view of the Himalayan beauty have attracted the attention of thousands of tourists in the Everest region. With the onset of spring, the number of tourists in the Everest region has increased. According to the Everest National Park Office, 12,030 tourists visited the Everest region last month.
According to National Park Ranger Vivek Shrestha, this season is suitable for mountain climbing, trekking, and mountain sightseeing, so the arrival of tourists has increased. ‘Since this is the best time for mountain climbing and sightseeing, foreign and domestic tourists continue to come. Since the mountains including Everest fall within the Everest National Park area, our busyness has also increased with the increase in tourists here,’ Ranger Shrestha said.
With the increase in tourist traffic, commercial activities and hotel lodges have also increased in the Khumbu region. Currently, hotels from Namche Bazaar to Lukla are full of tourists. When the weather is favorable, hundreds of tourists are entering the park daily from Kathmandu and Ramechhap’s Manthali Airport via Lukla.
However, when the weather is unfavorable, the same tourists are choosing an alternative route and traveling from Kathmandu to Surke by jeep via Salleri, according to travel businessmen.
Air and Road Routes to the Everest Region
Earlier, the only major option to reach Everest was by air to Lukla. However, in recent years, as the road to Lukla has been expanded, it is now possible to reach the lap of the mountain by car. When the weather is bad, when the plane cannot fly, tourists who set out in search of an alternative route reach Solukhumbu headquarters Salleri via jeeps via Khurkot, Ghurmi, Okhaldhunga.
From here, they travel by Bolero to Surke, a place near Lukla. From drivers working in the park to hoteliers, the recent road development has been welcomed. Tourism entrepreneurs say that now they are no longer forced to turn back before reaching Lukla because of bad weather.
With the Lukla-Manthali and Kathmandu-Lukla air services affected, the number of foreign tourists going to Surke, a place just below Lukla, via Salleri, has increased, said transport entrepreneur Ram Bahadur Baraili. ‘If the weather deteriorates, the hotels and lodges in Salleri and Phaplu are full of foreigners coming from Kathmandu via Sumo jeeps,’ he said.
Tourists who arrive at Solukhumbu district headquarters Salleri via jeeps from Kathmandu via Khurkot and Ghurmi, use Boleros from Salleri to reach Surke. Driver Santosh Tamang said that since the road above Salleri is unpaved, Sumo jeeps cannot go, so they use Bolero.
Tourists have an alternative to flying as the unpaved road near Lukla has been reached, said Karma Sherpa, senior vice president of the Trekking Agency Association of Nepal (TAAN). ‘Flights are often disrupted due to the bad weather in Lukla, but now that the road has reached near Lukla, it is possible to go by car, which is a good thing,’ said the vice president.
However, some tourists who want to come to Khumbu are diverted elsewhere due to the weather, according to businessmen.
Businessman Tembachiring Sherpa said, ‘The easiest way to go to Khumbu is by plane, but when the weather in Lukla gets bad, some foreigners going to Khumbu go to other places. Since they come with a ‘visa’ of a certain period, the possibility of going to other places increases when the weather turns bad.’
The arrival of tourists in the park area is encouraging
The Sagarmatha National Park, established in 2032 BS in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of Solukhumbu district, is spread over an area of 1,148 square kilometers. Located in the Solukhumbu district of eastern Nepal, this national park is home to the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, as well as other peaks over 6,000 meters high, including Lhotse, Nupse, Choyu, Lhotsesar, Pumori, Amadablam, Thamserku.
Gokyo and the associated lake within the park were included in the Ramsar List in 2007. This park has been included in the World Heritage List since 1979. This park is at an altitude of 1,800 meters to 8,848 meters.
This national park, which has a high mountain environment, is home to trees such as Gowre Salla, Thingre Salla, Hemlock, Dhupi, Bhojpatra, and Gurans. In the spring, the flowers of the red-bellied tree make the forest inside the park very picturesque and beautiful.
Wild animals such as musk deer, mountain bear, snow leopard, Thar, ghoral, and jharal, as well as 193 species of birds including the shrike, the shrike, the kalij, the snow chicken, the red-billed crow (tunga) and the yellow-billed crow Temu, are found in this national park.
The Sagarmatha National Park is also an area of cultural importance. Buddhist education is imparted in the Tengboche and Thame monasteries here. Thousands of tourists come here every year mainly to see the panoramic views of Mount Everest and this area, to go mountaineering, to observe Sherpa culture and wildlife.
Not only mountain climbing and trekking, but also cultural tours have been attracting thousands of tourists annually. The main season for tourist arrivals in the Everest region is from Falgun to Jestha and from Asoj to Mangsir.
43,000 tourists visit the park in nine months
More than 43,000 tourists have visited the Everest National Park in the nine months of the current fiscal year. According to the park, 44,608 tourists have reached the Everest region from last Shrawan to Chait.
125 people entered the park in Shrawan, 1,394 in Bhadra, 8,02 in Asoj, 4,394 in Mangsir, 1,711 in Poush, 943 in Magh, 2,487 in Falgun and 12,03 in Chait through the park’s checkpoint, Ranger Vivek Shrestha informed.
Sagarmatha National Park has collected Rs 113.291 crore in revenue from tourists. Among the visitors, 37,796 are foreigners and 5,897 are Nepalis. 3,996 are from SAARC countries and 33,800 are tourists from other countries.
Currently, more than 400 foreign and domestic tourists are reaching the Everest region daily through various means. The continuously increasing influx of tourists is benefiting the Everest region economically, but along with the income, environmental problems have also been added.
Tourism expert Ang Tshering Sherpa says, ‘The priority now should be the conservation of natural resources and sustainable development of tourism. Everest is the pride of Nepal and Nepalis, and the message should be given that the unique beauty of the country should be experienced once in a lifetime.’
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्