Tourists make a beeline to Sandakpur

Ilam: Hotels in Sandakpur of Ilam are brimming with domestic as well as foreign tourists. Not only Sandakpur, hotels in other neighboring areas like Chhintapu, Alahatar and Jaubari are also filled with visitors.

Tourists started visiting these popular villages in Ilam after weather conditions improved, offering them beautiful views of sunrise as well as different snowcapped peaks. As these villages have limited hotels, some groups can be seen staying in tents.

“All our rooms are already occupied and the booking for coming weeks is also encourage,” Pasang Daba Sherpa, owner of Sherpa Chalet Hotel, Sundakpur said.

Sandakpur and other surrounding villages draw around 400 tourists from different parts of Nepal as well as from India, US, England, Japan, Germany and Australia on daily basis.

“Hotels here can accommodate only around 70 tourists,” added Sherpa.

In the lack of proper surface transport, most of the foreign tourists visit Sandakpur via India. Sandakpur offers magnificent views of Mt Everest, Mt Kanchanjunga and other snowcapped peaks of Nepal, India and Bhutan.

Baburam Khatiwada, CDO of Ilam, said the local administration was holding talks with private sector in the area to increase accommodation capacity keeping in view the growing number of tourists in the area.

source: republica,6 Nov 2012