<img width="640" height="360" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdfe69c7e80680e083dc6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><img width="640" height="360" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdfe89c7e80680e083dc7jpeg.jpg" alt="">Excavators at work on Thamdada, 24km south of Lukla, despite the fact that the Khumbu Municipality has run out of money to complete the Phaplu-Chaurikharka road. All photos: SURENDRA PHUYALExcavators are clawing through sheer cliff faces, rocks tumble down to the Dudh Kosi below, and once in a while the sound of dynamite echoes in the gorge. A new road linking the town of Chaurikharka just below Lukla to the rest of the country is due to open by December 2022, and work is going on despite the pandemic.Although the road will not enter the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/more-trekkers-more-trees/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/more-trekkers-more-trees/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHgDnPyoWm5s33cFYmGv67Emd96qQ">Sagarmatha National Park</a> which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it will make trekking and climbing in the Everest region more accessible. But it will turn Lukla airfield largely redundant, while locals fear an erosion of the region’s Sherpa culture, architecture and lifestyle.On the Chinese side of Mt Everest, there is a <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-blog/2016/05/04/how-the-everest-experience-is-different-in-china-versus-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-blog/2016/05/04/how-the-everest-experience-is-different-in-china-versus-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEvh2A0em2QlpaKZ1Fq-HEk8HTALA">highway from Lhasa</a> right up to North Base Camp below the Rongbuk Glacier at 5,200m. Since 2016, it has become vital to transport goods and people for expeditions to the world’s highest mountain from the north. <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/kathmandu/Phaplu+Airport,+Dudhakunda+56000/@27.5934293,85.6401045,9z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x39eb198a307baabf:0xb5137c1bf18db1ea!2m2!1d85.3239605!2d27.7172453!1m5!1m1!1s0x39e9155220d2b169:0xc7417bae421f2ebb!2m2!" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/kathmandu/Phaplu%2BAirport,%2BDudhakunda%2B56000/@27.5934293,85.6401045,9z/data%3D!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x39eb198a307baabf:0xb5137c1bf18db1ea!2m2!1d85.3239605!2d27.7172453!1m5!1m1!1s0x39e9155220d2b169:0xc7417bae421f2ebb!2m2!&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFvCx5N59ljf6npdsMGi8vaV1RIww">Kathmandu is already linked through a 277km highway to Phaplu</a> of Solukhumbu district, which is a two-day trek below Lukla. Work started on the 77km road linking Phaplu to Chaurikharka six years ago, but progress has been slow due to difficult terrain, delays due to the 2015 earthquake and Blockade, and lack of money.This means that for at least the next two years, trekkers, climbers and local people will either have to trek from the nearest roadhead near Phaplu or Jiri-Shivalaya-Bamti Bhandar in Ramechhap district, or as many do, take a 30-minute flight to Lukla from Kathmandu. <img width="640" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdfea9c7e80680e083dc8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdfec9c7e80680e083dc9jpeg.jpg" alt="">Sunkoshi Bridge at Harkapur on the highway from Kathmandu to Phaplu. Like all infrastructure projects in Nepal, completion of this road is delayed. Khumbu municipality has run out of money for the remaining 24km dirt track to Chaurikharka from Thamdada. The completion of the road was the pet project of the former Chair of Khumbu Rural Municipality, late Nim Dorje Sherpa who died in June. He believed that connecting Phaplu to Lukla would further <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/khumbu-then-and-now-global-warming-climate-change,4017" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/khumbu-then-and-now-global-warming-climate-change,4017&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHaP0o9BgraYJw55E9-sqlD8hMiSw">lift living standards</a>, bring down prices, and reduce the drudgery of his Sherpa people.  “It’s still our top priority project,” says Lhakpa Tsheri Sherpa of Khumbu Municpality, adding that the construction has been delayed somewhat by the Covid-19 crisis which has also devastated the region’s trekking and climbing income this year. Khumbu used to earn Rs200 million a year just from trekking and climbing fees, not counting the what visitors paid for lodging, food and portering. This year, the income is down to Rs60 million.“It is because of this loss of income that the construction of this last 24km stretch slowed down,” explained Binod Bhattarai, Chief Administrative Officer of Khumbu Municipality. “Now there is hardly any money to complete the project. We are struggling.”The Municipality has decided to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-reopens-but-cautiously/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-reopens-but-cautiously/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHIPb7onJEzgigD7Fidduui2e5d4w">open Khumbu for trekking and climbing</a> even though <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/everest-trek-closed-open-closed-open-again/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/everest-trek-closed-open-closed-open-again/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGd0Y4ezsvNNewMfGjSwlz6S-chMw">nine Covid-19 cases</a> were detected in Namche Bazar last month, and it could have spread. Local people have stopped trekkers from going above Pangboche on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-reopens-but-cautiously/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-reopens-but-cautiously/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHIPb7onJEzgigD7Fidduui2e5d4w">Everest Trail.</a>South of Lukla on Thamdada, bulldozers are at work on the track, while flights to and from Lukla buzz overhead all morning. The road alignment then drops precipitously to the river and Surke helipad below Lukla, before a final ascent to Chaurikharka.   <img width="640" height="541" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdfee9c7e80680e083dcajpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="405" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdff29c7e80680e083dcbjpeg.jpg" alt="">Bhattarai is not giving up, he says: “The Province 1 government has assured financial support for this project, and other officials and MPs, too, have said that the work need not stop. So, we are hoping that we can make up for lost time.”  Not everyone in Khumbu is happy with the road. They think it will spoil the region’s pristine beauty and fragile culture, as has happened when roads have reached other parts of remote Nepal in recent years. Sonam Gyalzen Sherpa from Namche, who is chair of the Sagarmatha National Park Buffer Zone Management Committee, says the economy has to be balanced with ecology. “The Road will enter the boundary of the national park from Surke and it will surely have some adverse impact on local culture and nature,” he said. "But since the Khumbu is remote and needs a road we are trying to ensure that the EIA is carefully done and its recommendations are strictly adhered to. It will be a big challenge for sure. We are currently discussing how we can mitigate damage." However, there are also strong voices in support of the road. A cylinder of cooking gas that costs Rs1,500 in Kathmandu is Rs15,000 in Gokyo or Lobuje in Upper Khumbu. The cylinders have to be taken on a 12 hour truck ride to Phaplu, then transferred to mule trains that take several days to get up to Namche. Sugar, salt and other food items cost several times more than in Kathmandu. <figure><img width="640" height="359" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdff59c7e80680e083dccjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“The road will surely make our life easier,” says Ang Jangmu Sherpa who runs a lodge in Debuje on the Everest Trail. “It will encourage more Nepalis to come trekking, and make certain goods such as cooking gas more affordable.” Says Ang Rita Sherpa of Lukla’s Numbur Hotel: “Even if there is a road, most foreign trekkers  are not going to travel to Lukla on a rough 14 hour road, but it will raise living standards in Khumbu.” “With careful planning to reduce environmental impact and maintain the quality of the trekking experience, tourism in Upper Khumbu can benefit from the new vehicular road access to Chaurikharka,” says Sonia Miyahara, Managing Director of Hotel Everest View. <figure><img width="640" height="359" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdff79c7e80680e083dcdjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Besides the lack of money, the road has several other terrain-related hurdles. A dozen bridges need to be built across the Dudh Kosi gorge with a big one in Orlang Ghat that will cost Rs80 million.Locals lament that despite the central government bragging about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/khumbu-wants-its-share/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/khumbu-wants-its-share/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF89s3tjIo1yI1NcPwoLO9YCjANKQ">Mt Everest and Khumbu</a> as an adventure destination and collecting revenue from fees, it has not chipped in for the road project.“The federal government has done very little to help despite us knocking on doors of various ministries,” said the Municipality’s Lhakpa Tsheri Sherpa. Locals are hoping that even if the 10m wide highway is not fully completed, the track will allow trucks and jeeps to negotiate the final stretch by 2022. <figure><img width="640" height="359" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdff99c7e80680e083dcejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In Kathmandu, Infrastructure Minister Basata Kumar Nembang told Nepali Times that the federal government was committed to the project: “The Phaplu-Lukla road is one of the plans we have given high priority even in this pandemic situation. That road project will go ahead as demanded by local representatives.”Whatever the arguments for and against the road, one thing it will do is remove the need for travellers to be stuck, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/more-than-luck-in-lukla/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/more-than-luck-in-lukla/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604554544964000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGf2wUGvgGL_IbTpxqvU1Q1NX-ayA">sometimes for weeks in Lukla</a>, due to bad weather.

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Nepal building a highway to Everest

<figure><img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b70be9c7e80680e060094jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All Photos : MANISH PAUDEL</figcaption></figure>It is a truism in tourism of the Himalaya that the closer we get to the mountains, the less we see of them. This holds for the <a href="Annapurna%20Base%20Camp%20Trek" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annapurna Base Camp Trek</a>, which follows the narrow <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/go-take-a-hike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mardi Valley</a> where Machapuchre is hidden by towering cliffs. And it is true of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/everest-fights-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest Trek</a>, where the highest mountain in the world is not visible after Tengboche, unless trekkers climb Kala Patthar.For the best panoramas of the mountains, therefore, one has to step back to mid-mountain peaks, like Pathibhara in Taplejung for a view of <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/the-kingdom-of-cardamom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mt Kangchenjunga</a> and Jannu, or Kalinchok for a grandstand view of Mt Gauri Shankar. Then there are peaks like Pulchoki on the southern rim of Kathmandu Valley, Bandipur for a tour d’horizon of the entire Central Nepal Himalaya, and the famous Poon Hill for the vista of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. <img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b70c19c7e80680e060095jpeg.jpg" alt="">But one of the best kept secrets of trekking in Nepal is Pikey Peak in Solu, which offers a view of eight of Nepal’s eighthousanders from one place, including Mt Everest. The 4,065m peak used to be a favourite of Sir <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hillary-centenary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Edmund Hillary</a> after he climbed it to take a look around during the walk-in on his 1953 expedition.For several decades after that Pikey was isolated because it was so difficult to get to, and most people doing the Everest Base Camp trek overflew Pikey en route to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lukla.</a> Indeed, there is a parade of planes overhead every morning doing the Kathmandu-Lukla ferry.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vDEMl1dCdg&amp;feature=youtu.beBut with new roads from Kathmandu to Jiri and the Solu Highway reaching Phaplu via Okhaldhunga, Pikey is suddenly accessible. After major snowfall last month, Pikey saw dozens of Nepali youngsters roughing it out on a camping trip. <img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b70c59c7e80680e060096jpeg.jpg" alt="">Winter is the not the best time for a Pikey hike, but the views can be stunning especially after snowfall blankets the mountains in white. The best time is actually early spring when rhododendron forests are abloom in pink, red and white and the mountains are dazzling against deep blue skies. <img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b70c99c7e80680e060097jpeg.jpg" alt="">Since few people know about Pikey, visitors will find the trails deserted and the tea shops basic, although new lodges are now coming up, and the local Sherpa community is trying to promote homestay tourism. Pikey is revered by the Sherpas as a deity and climbing it does seem more like a pilgrimage than a trek.The fortunate thing about Pikey is that you can make it a circuit so you do not have to come down the same way you went up. A recommended itinerary is to drive up the Jiri Road from Kathmandu, continue on to Shivalaya, following the old trek route <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to Khumbu</a> before Lukla airstrip was built in 1968. <img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b70cb9c7e80680e060098jpeg.jpg" alt="">From Shivalaya it is a leisurely three-day trek to Bhandara, Namkheli and Pikey Danda with only some steep sections. The trail winds through thick oak and rhododendron forests, with pine giving way to grasslands in the higher reaches.What is astounding is that from Pikey on a clear day one can see more than 800km of horizon from Dhaulagiri to Kangchenjunga. All along during the walk-in, Annapurna, Manaslu, Mt Everest, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga and other eight-thousanders play hide and seek behind lesser but nearer peaks. But smack in front is the elegant summit of Mt Numbur, standing tall above Mt Karyolung. <img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b70cf9c7e80680e060099jpeg.jpg" alt="">Sunrise from Pikey Peak is a ‘lifetime experience’ as the slogan for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/make-sure-you-visit-nepal-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Nepal 2020</a> puts it. The sun rises from behind Kangchenjunga, illuminating the peaks to the north one by one, even as the valleys below are shrouded in fog.For the return, the descent can be down to Junbesi, and on to Phaplu, from where you can either take a flight back to Kathmandu or make the trip by road. For those pressed for time, you can make a flight in and out from Phaplu with a circuit to Pikey via Lamjura and down through Dhap. (See map).  <img width="1000" height="1118" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b70d29c7e80680e06009ajpeg.jpg" alt="">...

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Nepal building a highway to Everest

Lifetime experience on Pikey Peak