A homestay has opened in Saklungkot village of Kaski, where the then Prince Charles III (now the King) of Britain resided. 'Saklungkot Homestay' has been operational since Wednesday in Rupa rural municipality-7 Syaklungkot Ditha village of Kaski.
Homestay management committee chairman Chandra Prasad Gurung informed that homestay was started from 5 houses. He told that the homestay was brought into operation with the aim of feeding local products to the tourists and increasing income in the village to prevent migration.
Annapurna snow range and Pokhara can be seen from Saklungkot . This village is 24 km east from Pokhara market. Saklungkot can be reached in 40 minutes via Prithvichok, Vijayapur, Talchok, Begnastal, Sundaridanda, Talbensi in Pokhara.
Due to the problem of roads and drinking water, this village is facing a serious problem of migration. At one time there were 85 households, now only 17 houses are inhabited. Now most of the roads leading to the village are paved and drinking water is delivered through lifting.
Captain Tej Bahadur Gurung, the leader of Syaklungkot, said that the concept of homestay operation was brought so that those who stay in the village do not migrate. "All the villages are empty, the fields are barren," he said, "we have started to see if we can do something by doing a homestay." Takaraj Gurung inaugurated on Wednesday . He said that tourism is a reliable means of enriching the country. "We should go towards self-reliance". A prosperous country and a happy Nepali is our journey to the future. The most reliable means of that journey is tourism development, he said.
The path walked by the then British Prince Charles 43 years ago is known as the 'Royal Trek'. Charles spent the second night of his four-night trek at Saklungkot Hill, which is part of the trek.
