The road reaches the entrance of the highest peak Everest. Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality-2 has direct road access to Surke village in Luklamuni.
Passenger buses have started arriving in Surke with the completion of the road track digging work which started two years ago . From Khumbu Pasanglhamu-1 Kharikhola to Ward-2 Surke, about 25 kilometers of road track has been opened at a cost of 160 million. An alternative route has been opened for tourists who depend on Lukla Airport to go to Everest with the main investment of the municipality.
Mapyadudhkoshi rural municipality opened the road track to Kharikhola, while Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality built the road from Kharikhola to Surke, said Lakpachiri Sherpa, spokesperson of Khumbu Pasanglhamu. The 12.3 km road from Kharikhola to Thamdanda has been dug at a cost of 60 million 14 million, while the construction of 12.5 km road from Thamdanda to Surke has been completed at a cost of 10 million 52 million through contract.
Chetanath Kattel, Head of the Accounts Branch of the Rural Municipality, said that 50 percent and 50 percent of the two hydropower projects (Silk Power and Dudhkoshi Sixth) have been invested in the 12 and a half kilometer road.
Now it is possible to easily reach Surke by vehicle after crossing 64 km from the district headquarters Salleri . The road network has been extended to Surke by placing a temporary hump pipe in the Dudhkoshi river at the place of the Miteri bridge which was damaged by the Thame flood. Sherpa, the spokesperson of the village, said that the vehicle was transported to Kharikhola and Paya Khola across Dudhkoshi by placing a hump pipe in two places. Now, Bolero jeeps and buses are reaching Khumbu directly from Saleri.
The seasonal airport is seen as an alternative to Lukla with the motor reaching near Lukla in the Khumbu region . When the weather was unfavorable, foreign tourists had to wait for weeks at Manthali in Ramechhap to come to Khumbu. Now that the bus has started running directly near Lukla, the dependence of Lukla airport has been removed for tourists.
Tourism businessperson Nima Sherpa said that since Fakding can be reached in an hour and a half walk from Surke before reaching Lukla, the road route is a reliable option for tourists. After reaching the road, half of the tourists go to Khumbu by road, said Nirajan Sharma, another tourism businessman. According to the rural municipality, the program for the inauguration of the road by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on January 20 has been decided.
After the road was built, the bus reached Lukla Muni Surke . Photo: Bhanubhakta/Kantipur
