RAMECHHAP, Oct 18: More than one thousand tourists heading to Lukla have been stuck in Manthali for as long as five days after flights to Lukla were halted due to the adverse weather at the tourist destination.
Domestic and foreign tourists take airplanes from Manthali to Lukla in Solukhumbu for trekking and visiting the areas around Mt Everest. The tourists who arrived in Manthali from different places including Kathmandu have been stranded in Ramechhap due to the inclement weather in Lukla for flight operation.
As per a Manthali-based tourism entrepreneur, some of the tourists have headed towards other destinations while some others towards Solukhumbu via land route after weather did not improve.
690 tourists stranded in Kathmandu and Manthali due to bad weat...
Information Officer at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Ramechhap, Prajjwal Guragain, said no regular flights have been operated from Manthali to Lukla from Monday due to adverse weather of Khumbu area in Solukhumbu.
“Tourists have been stuck here since Monday,” he said, “Though some flights were operated on Wednesday, flight operation has been affected again since Wednesday.” Guragain shared that helicopters of private companies took 135 tourists to Phaplu and Surke of Solukhumbu on Thursday.
As the number of tourists stuck at Manthali increases day by day due to disruption of flights, tourists are now facing problems in finding accommodations.
According to the Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, Ramechhap, hotels and homestays in Manthali are now packed with tourists. Number of tourists heading towards Everest Base Camp from Manthali via Lukla has increased as autumn is the suitable season to visit the area.
Chief of CAAN, Ramechhap, Hiron Shah, said up to 55 flights are operated daily from Manthali airport in fair weather.
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