A team of people's representatives from Lomanthang and Loghekar Damodar Kund rural municipalities have reached Dhongwasen, China, with a proposal to open a religious and tourist route connecting Mansarovar via Korala.
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Initiatives have been taken to open the route to the holy pilgrimage site of Kailash Mansarovar via the Korala checkpoint in Mustang.
A team of people's representatives from Lomanthang and Loghekar Damodar Kund rural municipalities has reached Dhongwasen, China, with a proposal to open a religious and tourist route connecting Mansarovar via Korala. Lomanthang Rural Municipality Chairman Tasinarbu Gurung said that the two local level people's representatives went last Friday for discussions with Tibetan people's representatives and officials in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Immigration Department.
The team, which is passing through Korala, includes 13 people's representatives, including Lomanthang Rural Municipality Vice-Chairman Chhyumi Bista and Loghekar Damodar Kund Rural Municipality Vice-Chairman Chhiringlhomo Gurung. Chairman Gurung also said that this visit was at the personal expense of the people's representatives.
'We have come to study the feasibility of a religious tourist route to reach Mansarovar via Korlanaka in coordination with the Nepal and Chinese government officials,' he said. 'If our initiative proves fruitful, we are confident that it will add a new dimension to the tourism, cultural relations and economic prosperity of Gandaki Province and Nepal.'
Chairman Gurung said that this will be a short route for people going to Kailash Mansarovar, Lhasa and Tibet via Korla checkpoint and for bringing Chinese Buddhists to Lumbini via Korla checkpoint. According to him, Kailash Mansarovar is 300 kilometers from Korlanaka and 1,000 kilometers from Lhasa.
Chairman of the Myagdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Subin Shrestha said that it will be a very short, less expensive and easier way to visit Kailash Mansarovar from Korlanaka. Currently, Indian and Nepali tourists go to visit Mansarovar via Humla.
Currently, a single religious tourist has to spend more than Rs 200,000 per person while traveling through India, but if there is easy travel from Korlanaka, Kailash and Mansarovar can be visited at a much lower cost.
An immigration office was established at Korlanaka, which has been open for Mustang residents to shop for goods since 27 Kartik 2080, and since this year, after the Tatopani and Rasuwa checkpoints were closed, exports and imports between China and Nepal have started to be carried out through this checkpoint.
From Pokhara and Kathmandu, one can easily reach Mansarovar by air and road via the Korala checkpoint and by using vehicles. Thousands of Nepali tourists visit the Kailash Mansarovar region in Tibet, China, every year.
To reach Kailash Mansarovar via Mustang, it takes 25 minutes from Kathmandu to Pokhara, and after a 25-minute flight from Pokhara and a 400-kilometer journey, one can reach Korlanaka in Mustang via Myagdi Beni. Those who reach Jomsom in Mustang by air can reach Korala in about four and a half hours after covering a distance of 96 kilometers via Lomanthang.
From Nechung-Liji customs, it is about 58 kilometers to reach Jhomwasen in Shigatse province of China, and from there, after a journey of 300 kilometers, it takes six hours to reach Kailash and Mansarovar, said Chairman Gurung. He said that the journey is very easy as the road network and vehicles in the Tibetan region are also modern. Kailash, which is called the abode of Shiva in Hinduism, is located at an altitude of 6,603 meters above sea level. It is believed that circumambulating Mount Kailash brings great merit and bathing in Mansarovar leads to salvation.
Pravesh Baduwal, head of the Immigration Office at Korala checkpoint, said that a team of 13 people's representatives went to China for a week via Korala after obtaining visas from the office for the first time. A 150-day 'on-arrival visa' will be provided free of charge to citizens of China and other countries entering Nepal. The government has imposed a $500 entry fee for foreigners entering Upper Mustang, which poses a challenge.
