Chinese officials also sent a message via WeChat on Tuesday urging Nepalis not to immediately send them to Tibet, as meteorologists have warned that the weather will worsen further.
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Phutik Sherpa from Yadma, Faktanglung Rural Municipality-7, left her home for Tibet, China, on Tuesday to meet her family after one and a half years. It will take her at least three days to reach her family home in Riu, Dingze County, China, via Yangma to Olangchunggola, Gola to Mauwatar, and Mauwatar to Tiptala Bhanjyad.
Carrying her belongings including ghee, butter, tea leaves, and bread, she finally realized that the road to her family was completely blocked due to snowfall when she reached the settlement of Olangchudgola. She was confused by the message she received after walking from Yangma at 6 am and reaching Gola at 9 pm via Lakhtaran. However, she is not the only one walking to her family in this way. There is a group of five people including Lamu Sherpa, Phumu Sherpa, and Khanje Sherpa, who came to Nepal after marrying their Tibetan relatives. They are stuck in Olangchunggola and are confused about what to do next. They are worried about when the season will open and the snow will be gone.
Phupulhamu Sherpa, a ward member of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-7, was preparing to return to Olangchunggola from Riu on Wednesday. On November 21, she went to Rio from Tiptala Bhanjyad and prepared to bring household, livestock and business goods such as salt, chaff, shoes and other things for livestock and livestock. The plan was to bring the goods to Tiptala Bhanjyad in a Chinese vehicle and from there to the settlement on a cart. Her family members were preparing to take the cart from Gola to pick up the goods. She was not alone in returning like this. Her team also includes another ward member, Wadgya Sherpa, Wadgya's wife, Jodegi Sherpa, Sonam Sherpa, Dabaphuti Sherpa, and Chhavesad Sherpa.
They stopped in Tibet after snow covered the bilateral border from Tiptala Bhanjyad to five kilometers below the land on the Tibetan side. ‘We had already loaded the luggage in the vehicle, but we are stuck here after the news of heavy snowfall came during our journey and the traffic came to a standstill,’ Phupulhamu said in a message sent to Ward Chairman Cheten Sherpa Lama via WeChat. Tiptala Bhanjyang is located at an altitude of 5100 meters above sea level. Ward Chairman Sherpa says that snowfall occurs here with the change in the seasonal system. It is difficult for the residents of Olangchunggola to get information about this. ‘There is no telephone service at the border, and it is not visible even from the settlement below,’ said Ward Chairman Cheten. ‘We have to ask the Rio administration whether there is snow at the border.’
He said that this would not be possible as the telephone and internet are not working in Olangchunggola. He complained that he had to use the internet via a slow-speed 2G. According to ward employee Tenzid Sherpa, sometimes one has to go to a place called Jongin, which is a three-hour walk away, to use the internet. When the weather is good, the 4G network of the headquarters tower works here. Tenzid said that Chinese officials also sent a message on WeChat on Tuesday not to send Nepalis to Tibet immediately because the weather forecaster had given a message that the weather would worsen.
‘The list of names of citizens going to Tibet through the Tiptala border crossing and a copy of the border pass identity card provided by the District Administration Office, Taplejud, should be sent to the Rio administration a week in advance. After they check the details and give their approval, we will finally send them from here,’ Tenzid said, ‘Otherwise, the immigration people from there will not come to the border and those who have gone from here will not be able to go.’ The ward chairperson or ward employees have been facilitating the movement in this way. So far, only the residents of Olangchungola and Yangma are traveling to Tibet. Tenzid said that the girls who had barely managed to get to Mait are planning to stay in Gola for a few days while waiting for the season to open and return to Mait. The locals of Gola say that it would be better for them to return after reaching Tibet as it takes a whole day to reach Yangma from Olangchungola. The outgoing ward chairperson, Cheten Sherpa Bhote, says that since there is no communication link in Yangma, they are forced to travel based on guesswork.
Meanwhile, tourists who had gone to the base camp in the Kanchenjunga area have returned to their settlements as snow has started falling. Kazi Gurung, the clinic in-charge of the Eye Treatment Center Taplejung, who had traveled from the district headquarters Phungling to Pangme for the base camp, said that they had reached Khambachen and returned. When they reached Khambachen on Tuesday evening, tourists were returning from Lonak in Pangme. ‘We also returned to Ghunsa without reaching the base camp,’ said Kazi. ‘Now we are preparing to wait in Ghunsa for two days until the weather opens or we will return to the headquarters.’ According to Tashi Sherpa, tourism assistant of Ghunsa in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, there are about 200 foreign and 100 domestic tourists in the area. He said that everyone may be staying in a safe place as they received a message of snow only above Ghunsa.
