Kailash Masarovar Yatra hits hurdles ahead of opening next month

Several private operators in Nepal have come together to submit a memorandum to the Chinese ambassador, explaining the hassles that the new regulations would cause. The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal and Association of Kailash Tour Operators Nepal have urged the Chinese authorities to ease the movement of the pilgrims.

The memorandum also claims that the charges fixed by China for Indians are higher than those for tourists from third countries.

As per Yatish Kumar of Exotic Miles, which has been taking Indian pilgrims on the yatra for over a decade now and has offices in Ghaziabad and Kathmandu, “The steep hike in Chinese permit fee has straightaway pushed the cost by Rs 50,000, taking it to upwards of Rs 2.25 lakh for an all-inclusive trip per person. This is bound to sound prohibitive to most yatris and affect business in India and Nepal.”

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also organises Kailash Yatra every year through two different routes – Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim). It costs almost the same and takes 23-25 days to complete the whole yatra through these two routes. However, the government-backed yatra, which was stopped in the wake of Covid-19, hasn’t been resumed yet. “The date for registration for the KMY 2023 has not been decided as yet,” the official website says.

Tour operators said it’s unlikely that the pilgrimage organised by the MEA will open this year; if it were the plan, the registration process would have started by now. “Normally, the MEA announces it by April as the yatra is held between June and September every year,” said Satish Khurana, who runs a travel agency in Delhi. Thereby, the only option for the pilgrims this year is to travel through private operators via the Nepal route.

Besides cost escalation, the Indian pilgrims are also facing the problem of non-availability of an online platform to get visas for Tibet. Kumar said, “Once a person registers with us, we send their details to our Nepalese counterparts to obtain a yatra permit from Tibet. The permit as well as the passport is then submitted to the Chinese embassy for visas.”

Also, they are being told that to obtain a visa, “Indians are required to be in a group of at least five persons, of whom four should be physically present for the visa interview”. The tour operators feel the move is “impractical” and the Nepalese side is said to have mentioned this in their memorandum as well.

Kumar said they are sending their first batch — comprising NRIs — on June 1, while for Indian citizens they will wait for specifics from the Nepalese counterparts, and hope to send out the first batch by mid-June. But operators admit the bookings are very low as compared to previous years.

China has also increased the cost involved for Nepali workers, who assist pilgrims with their luggage. The “grass damage charge” for Nepali guides, porters and cooks who accompany the pilgrims has been increased from $100 per person to $300 for a 15-day stay. “Even rules have been made stricter for them to apply for their visas,” said Khurana.