Rara welcomes crowds of internal tourists during Dashain holidays

Jumla: The biggest freshwater lake in the entire nation, Rara, welcomed around 1,500 internal tourists daily in this season. The number of tourists from home visiting the Lake based in Mugu, the district in Karnali province, increased during the Dashain holidays.

Situated at an altitude of 2,990 meters above the sea level, the lake, the major attraction of the Rara National Park, was declared a site in the Ramsar list in 2007.

But, lack of sufficient infrastructure including hotels and lodges to accommodate the increasing number of tourists has caused inconvenience to guests, said Gothijiula police beat's head constable Dirgharaj Adhikari.

Around 300 motorcycles, 150 jeeps and 10 buses arrive here every day, carrying visitors. The site has a limited number of hotels and lodges and tourists have no way except to spending nights under tents, buses or jeeps and making a bonfire to avoid cold, said Nirmal Bhandari from Nijgadh, Bara.

Similarly, roads from Nagma to Rara turn muddy in rainy season and dusty in winter, making a journey a challenging and uncomfortable. The central, province and local governments should focus on improving the condition of such roadways and do something for the convenience of tourists arriving here, they asserted.