As many as 692 Indian visitors have reached Simkot for their onward pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet. Many tourists came here in the last five days.
Five helicopters were chartered to carry the visitors to Hilsa, the transit point on the Nepal-Tibet border in Humla, the Simkot airport sources said. The Simrik Air operated two helicopters, the Summit Air operated two helicopters and the Mountain Air operated one helicopter for the chartered flights.
Meanwhile, 20 Indian nationals who had reached Simkot en route to Kailash Mansarovar returned home from Simkot after they were rejected visa by Chinese Embassy, manager of Sun Valley Resort, Nima Lama, said. Sunny Trek was managing their travel.
The Embassy gave visas to travel to Kailash Mansarovar to 55 Indian nationals and rejected visas to 20 visitors.
The District Administration Office Humla has issued border passes to 2,258 Nepali citizens in the last three months, Assistant Chief District Officer, Mahesh Kumar Pokharel said. The District Administration issues border passes to the Nepali citizens for short visits to Tibet.