Alternative ‘trekking route’ to reach Mardi Himal

Krishna Duwadi

Kaski. A new trekking route has been developed targeting domestic and foreign tourists visiting the world-famous Mardi Himal.

Pokhara Metropolitan City-25 has been developed as a trekking route to reach Mardi Himal by constructing tourist infrastructure at various places from Melbot to Astam.

The infrastructure has been constructed as per the plan to develop the trekking route starting from Melbot and connecting Mardi Himal via Astam, Dhital, Dhampus, Pritam Deurali, and Dhital Lwang, Ghalel Kalimati.

In the last fiscal year, a budget of Rs. 1 million was spent on it. According to Bishwa Adhikari, coordinator of the Melbot-Astam-Dhital-Dhampus-Mardi Himal Footpath Construction Committee and a senior tourism entrepreneur, the tourism infrastructure has been constructed targeting domestic and foreign tourists who have recently chosen Mardi Himal for trekking.

According to him, a new route to Mardi Himal has been explored as the trekking route is disappearing due to unorganized road infrastructure construction and the trekking period is getting shorter. A two-meter wide footpath has been constructed by laying a stone roof.

It is believed that tourists will enjoy trekking through the beautiful forest as the trekking route developed from Melbot will not be touched by the road till Astam.

To reach Mardi Himal, one can reach Dhampus, Kalimati, Machhapuchhre Municipality, and the Australian Camp of Annapurna Municipality by car. Under the initiative of the committee, a new footpath has been constructed by starting the trekking from Melbot.

“Starting from Melbot, we are looking for a brand new trekking route and building the infrastructure,” said the coordinating officer.

The newly developed trekking route is said to prolong the stay as well as attract tourists to the rural culture, lifestyle and meditation. Most of the seven-kilometer trekking route from Melbot to Astam is smooth. The committee has stated that there is a plan to make the footpath suitable for cycling.

Secretary of the committee Krishna Bahadur Kunwar said that the government should prepare a detailed project report and study the feasibility of a footpath up to Mardi Himal even though the committee has only planned a footpath up to Dhital for the time being. He said that it is believed that it will attract more tourists if a pedestrian walkway is built up to Mardi Himal.