Mustang. MUSTANG: With the incessant cold of winter, the religious and touristic district of Mustang has started to lose its tourist charm.

With the extreme cold, hotels in the district headquarters, Jomsom, as well as on the national highways have started deserting.

During the winter season, the tourism business here comes to a standstill. This is the reason why the tourism business here descends to the valley in the pretext of escape the winter during the tourist ‘off-season’. Some tourism entrepreneurs have been waiting for tourists here as the Beni-Jomsom road has been accessible in recent period. The Pokhara-Jomsom air service has been suspended a month ago due to extreme cold weather. The number of vehicles plying on the national highways is also very low.

The upper Mustang received its first snowfall of the season in October last November while the lower Mustang did not receive snowfall. However, with the arrival of winter, the extreme cold and the effect of the northern wind have affected the normal life here. With the onset of December, the temperature in the upper Mustang drops to minus 20 degrees Celsius while the temperature in the lower Mustang drops to minus 10 degrees Celsius in the morning and evening.

Due to the influence of the northern wind of the winter frenzy, the local people are not able to move out of the house easily. Although the weather is clear and sunny in the afternoon, the cold wave along with the northerly wind has affected daily life.

Hotels and houses of locals at Lomanthang in Upper Mustang have been closed due to extreme cold. Umesh Poudel, chief of ACAP Lomanthang, said that the upper Mustang has been completely deserted as the people have come down to the valley to escape the cold. Although the hotels of Muktinath are open, there is no tourist activity.

The locals of hotels and houses have been coming down to the valley one by one due to the off-season of tourists, while partial manpower has been staying in the hotel. Most of the hotels in the area that used to be full of tourists during the rainy season have been emptied due to the off-season. Most of the people of Mustang go to the valley to escape the cold during the months of Poush and January. The people of Upper Mustang, on the other hand, come down to the valley to escape the cold and climb up only after the onset of April.

Normal life of the locals in Upper Mustang has been affected due to the accumulation of snow in the rivers, branch rivers, household taps, irrigation canals and safety tanks. The cold has taken a toll on the health of the locals who have been waiting in the village to escape the cold. Local farmers in lower Mustang are braving extreme cold for the management of apple orchards.

According to the District Police Office, the number of tourists has drastically decreased with the onset of winter. Police Inspector Santosh Basyal said although the number of foreign tourists increased in the month of December as compared to December, the number of domestic tourists has decreased. The number of domestic tourists decreased by 24,010 or 56.66 per cent in December as compared to December.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in the month of December this year has increased by 5,559 or 54 per cent as compared to December. According to police sources, one hundred and fifty tourists visit Mustang via Beni-Jomsom road every day. Police Inspector Basyal said although there is no hustle and bustle like in the tourist season, it is found that tourists visit the place partly even during the winter season.

According to the tourism records of the District Police Office, tourist arrivals have decreased by 10.05 percent from Shrawan to Poush 21 of the current fiscal year compared to the last fiscal year. A total of 312,471 domestic and foreign tourists had visited Mustang in the first six months of the last fiscal year. A total of 280,929 domestic and foreign tourists have visited Mustang till January 4 of the current fiscal year, according to police.

A total of 221,653 domestic and 60,347 foreign tourists have visited Mustang from August 7 to January 4 of the current fiscal year. A total of 11,831 domestic tourists visited Mustang in the month of July, 13,550 in August, 65,740 in September, 79,800 in October, 42,371 in November and 18,361 till January 7.

Similarly, 7,950 foreign tourists visited Mustang in the month of July, 9,655 in the month of August, 9,859 in the month of September, 13,966 in the month of October, 6,679 in the month of November and 12,238 in the month of Poush.