The shelter built by the locals of Chimkhola village at an altitude of 3,840 meters from wood and zinc sheets has provided tourists and guests with a safe night's sleep.
What you should know
The situation of having to spend the night in caves has come to an end with the construction of a shelter at the tourist spot Sobang Dhuri located in Chimkhola, Raghuganga Rural Municipality-7.
Chimkhola's Tara Garbuja Pun, Lokin Pun, Gopin Pun and Hire Pun have constructed a shelter building at Sobang Dhuri, located at an altitude of 3,840 meters, using wood and zinc sheets. Garbuja said that the shelter with a capacity of 20 people was built to end the situation where tourists and guests visiting Sobang Dhuri have to spend the night in caves.
'An agreement has been reached with the ward office to operate a restaurant in the shelter building on a long-term basis, which can be used by guests and tourists who go there immediately,' Garbuja said, 'We are preparing to test paragliding from Sobang Dhuri.'
The main feature of Sobang Dhuri, which is included in the Dhaulagiri Icefall trekking route connecting Myagdi and Mustang, is the view from the foothills to the peak of the Dhaulagiri mountain.
Along with the sunrise, you can observe the Gurja, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Nilgiri, Manapathi, Tukuche, Machhapuchhre and Manaslu mountain ranges. There are panoramic views of Baglung Bazaar, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Punhill, Mohredanda, Mulde, Khopara, Todke as well as the rural settlements and hilly geography of Myagdi and Parbat.
In the forest along the trekking route to Sowang Dhuri, animals including ghoral, deer and herbs including five-fingered, sedak chini can be observed. Two years ago, the Mandali Youth Club of Chimkhola had identified a trekking route connecting Sowang Dhuri from Chimkhola via Patlekhet-Jaslang-Sijikhola-Sijikharka-Thamkharka-Kholakharka-Sisarka-Tallomela-Upallomela-Alekharka-Nepane.
A ‘viewing center’ has been established to promote the newly identified trekking route and Sowang Dhuri. Tara Garbuja Pun, who hails from Chimkhola and currently resides in Pokhara, and her brother Gopin Pun have placed two drums of 500-liter capacity near the camping spot 200 meters below Sowang Dhuri. The ward office has also placed two more drums.
After the snow melts and the arrangement is made to collect the rainwater in the drums, tourists as well as shepherds have been provided with convenience. On the proposal of the ward office, the rural municipality had built a public toilet in Sowang Dhuri last year.
Under the leadership of the Tourism Agencies of Western Regional Chapter (TAAN) and the then District Development Committee, a study of the Dhaulagiri Icefall trekking route via Galeshwor-Rakhubhagwati in Myagdi was conducted in 2068 BS.
This trekking route connects to Lete in Mustang through the high mountain ridges of places such as Piple, Bhagwati, Begkhola, Dagnam, Chimkhola, Kuinemangle in Raghuganga Rural Municipality of Myagdi, Doba, Bhurung Tatopani, Dana in Annapurna Rural Municipality, and others.
