Instant sun, instant fog . A lake far from human settlements, where hundreds of buffaloes are grazing . And the sound of a horse hanging from the buffaloes' necks . Hundreds of tourists arrived on Monday, playing with the sun, fog, fog and rain, to celebrate the New Year in this land of Phalelung-4 Charraate in Panchthar.

The buffalo tourism festival organized in the Himalayan region attracted more than expected crowds this year despite the adverse weather. Nimesh Baidya from Damak Jhapa and Sudhan Rai from Sunsari Dharan reached the festival to celebrate the New Year with 65 bullet riders from different parts of the country. Their objective was to participate in the festival and observe the green pastures here along with the colorful buffaloes and the beautiful mountains visible to the north .

Sudhan and Nimesh, members of the Nepali Bullet Riders' 'Bullet Gang', are part of a group of youth from Pokhara, Hetauda, ​​Sindhuli, Dharan and Butwal who have come to see the spectacle. Anish Chamling from Gangtok in Sikkim, India, also arrived here in a group of 40 bullet bikes. The riders from Nepal and India, who arrived in Phalelung on 30 Chaitra, toured the Falout and Charate areas on 1 Baisakh and returned the next day.

Reaching Charate, which borders India's West Bengal, is an adventurous journey. You really need to gather courage to reach it by falling on the slippery road that has just melted after the snow. 'It is not easy to cross the hilly and mountainous roads. In some places there was snow left, in others there was mud. Many times I thought I would not be able to go at all.' But we gathered our courage,' said Vaidya.

The Chauri festival, which is held in this area at an altitude of about 3,450 meters above sea level, attracts thousands of tourists. This year, the festival was organized from 30 Chaitra to 2 Baisakh. This is the ninth festival. 'Coming to the high mountains, fighting against fog, mist and rain, was an adventure in itself. When we reached here after crossing a narrow dirt road, it felt like we were in heaven,' said Sudhan Rai, another rider of the Bullet Gang.

The weather did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the nomads. Amidst the cold wind and fog, tourists were busy getting close to the chauri, taking pictures, riding yaks and visiting the stalls selling chauri products at the festival site, said Niskal Chhetri of Pokhara. ‘This year, there was snow in this place until the last week of Chaitra, the road to the Himalayan region was difficult, and since the weather was not good, there was uncertainty about how many people would come to see the Chauri by the morning of the New Year. Despite such adverse conditions, almost twice as many tourists arrived as last year,’ said Chauri keeper Chandralal Nepal.

To reach Charrat, one has to travel about 60 kilometers from Phidim, the headquarters of Panchthar. Although the road from Phidim to near Barbhanjyang has been blacktopped, the rest of the road is unpaved. The journey on the narrow road, with its sharp turns, uphill and downhill sections, and the inability of two-way vehicles to pass, is also risky in itself. However, Bir Bikram Thamsuhang, chairman of Falelung Rural Municipality, the promoter of the Chauri Festival, informed that this year, twice as many domestic and foreign tourists arrived here as in the past.

According to him, the Chauri Tourism Festival was started here in 2074 BS after the number of Chauri and Chauri farmers decreased. After the festival was started, the number of Chauri and Chauri farmers increased and it also helped in the promotion of Chauri products. According to Ramchandra Gurung, a leading Chauri farmer of Falelung, there were only 18 Chauri Goths here before the festival started. Now it has reached 31. The number of Chauri that was around 200 at that time has exceeded 600, while the export of ghee and chhurpi produced here has increased.