Tihar holidays bring more tourists to Mustang and Mardi

With the long government holiday for Tihar, the mountain district of Mustang and the Mardi Himal trekking trail in Kaski have seen a rise in the number of tourists.

According to the District Police Office, Mustang, about 35,900 tourists visited Mustang between Kartik 1 and 15. Of them, about 27,100 were domestic visitors and nearly 8,800 were foreigners.

Police said that during Dashain, forecasts of heavy rain, snowfall, avalanches and storms had kept arrivals below expectations, but numbers rose once the weather turned favorable.

According to police inspector and information officer Santosh Baskyal, groups from schools, colleges, government and non-government offices, banks and cooperatives have been visiting. Most tourists have gone on to Lo Manthang, Kagbeni, Marpha and the Korala border point in the north after visiting the Muktinath temple.

Since government holidays continue until Chhath, operators expect the flow of tourists to continue.

Meanwhile, on the Mardi Himal trekking trail near Pokhara, about 600 to 700 tourists go trekking daily. The destination has become popular because many peaks are visible from a single trail and the risk is comparatively low.

According to Rajkumar Tamang, chair of the Mardi Himal Trek Management Committee, the surge that began in Asoj has made it difficult to arrange rooms in hotels.