MYAGDI, Nov 8: Tourist activity has picked up at Annapurna Base Camp and along the Maurice Herzog Trail in Narchyang, Annapurna Rural Municipality-4, Myagdi, as favourable weather draws visitors during the Dashain and Tihar holidays.
The 4,050-metre-high base camp, located beneath the 8,091-metre Annapurna I, along with Panchakunda Lake and the Maurice Herzog Trail, has seen an influx of domestic and international visitors.
Tej Gurung, an advocate of the Maurice Herzog Trail, said around 200 Nepali, Indian and other foreign tourists have been visiting the base camp daily since Dashain.
"Since the trail escaped damage from the monsoon-related disasters in October and remains safe, young people and working professionals have chosen Annapurna Base Camp for their holidays," he said. "Restaurants and campsites along the trail are packed."
Airline companies to pay Rs 10,000 for chartered helicopter fli...
The base camp has emerged as a new tourist destination in recent years, raising hopes among tourism entrepreneurs in Beni, Bhrung-Tatopani and Narchyang.
Manita Rayamajhi, a professor at Myagdi Multiple Campus who recently returned to Beni after a family trip to the base camp, described the two to three-day journey as short, adventurous and scenic.
To accommodate visitors, temporary facilities have been established at several locations along the trail from Humkhola to the base camp. These include tea shops, eateries and hotels offering food and accommodation. Shelters have also been built at Sandhikharka, Bhuskate Mela and around Panchakunda Lake.
Tourism infrastructure, including drinking water facilities and toilets, has been developed at Humkhola, Futfute Waterfall, Guphaphat, Bhuskate and Panchakunda. Federal, provincial and rural municipality funds have also been used to repair the trail and suspension bridges.
Statues of the first climbers of Annapurna I, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, along with their Nepali companion Sonam Wangchuk Sherpa, have been installed at the base camp. An open-air museum has also been established.
A tourist information centre was opened last week at Basbot, the entrance to the trail.
Lok Bahadur Fagami, ward chairperson of Annapurna Rural Municipality-4, said the trail was named after Maurice Herzog, who led the first successful expedition to Annapurna I.
Known in Nepal as the country's 'senior-most mountain', Annapurna I can be reached through the Maurice Herzog Trail. Visitors travel about 20 kilometres by vehicle from Narchyang through Dobhan and Chhotepa to Humkhola, followed by an approximately 21-kilometre trek. The journey from Humkhola to the base camp takes around two days on foot.
Futfute Waterfall along the trail, Panchakunda Lake near the base camp and the surrounding Himalayan landscape add to the appeal of the trek.
