The all-season paradise in eastern Nepal

Bhedetar bazaar, a hill-station sandwiched between Dhankuta and Dharan, has of late become a year-round tourist destination. The guests who reach Bhede­tar after navigating the serpen­tine mountain roads are wel­comed by its crisp air that is cool through the year. Perched 1,425 meters above sea level, Bhedetar is the perfect viewing point for the green eastern hills, snow-covered Makalu and Kum­bhakarna and the Saptakoshi River flowing in the gorge below.

Peekaboo

The constant fight for suprem­acy between the sun and clouds is one of the features of the place. “During the summer months, tourists come to escape the brutal Tarai heat and perhaps sip on cold beer, while during the winters they like basking in the sun all day,” says Jitendra Rumdali Rai, secretary of the Hotel Association of Bhedetar. In the peak summer season, up to 5,000 tourists visit Bhedetar daily, and 75 percent of tourists are Indians. “Earlier, most tour­ists would come in the morning and leave in the evening,” says Rai. “But now many of them stay for three or four days”.

In addition to being a popular picnic spot, Bhedetar is also an entry-way into eastern moun­tains. In this light, the place can be seen as the first pit-stop for travelers to these mountains. The motor road heading out of Bhedetar winds its way up to Panchthar and Ilam districts before reaching the mountains of Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha and Terhathum districts.

Bhedetar first came into prominence when the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, visited the place in the late 1980s. A view-tower was later built in his name, and it soon became the most favored spot from which to view the east­ern Himalayas. The tower was badly damaged in the 2015 earth­quakes; it is being rebuilt.

Investing big

Hoteliers have already invested over Rs 3 billion in Bhedetar, according to Rai. There are now around 150 big and small hotels there, of which 80 are consid­ered of high standards.

Moreover, in the nearby Namje and Thumki, there are around two dozen home-stay facilities, bringing the total hotel capacity to around 1,200 guests a day. As local accommodations improve, Bhedetar is also becoming a venue of choice for regional trainings and seminars.

To further boost tourism the Hotel Association of Nepal has for the past six years been organizing a ‘local cuisines festival’ on the day of Grego­rian New Year. The guests at Bhedetar are treated to local del­icacies like gundruk (fermented vegetables), dhido (a wheat dish) and stinging nettle.

Places to go

There are over a dozen places visitors to Bhedetar can go to. Right next to Bhedetar bazaar is Thumki, a popular viewing spot for the scenery all around. Like­wise, the temple of Shankhas­wor Mahadev is another place that is always filled with tourists. Another favorite among religious tourists is Pathibhara temple two kilometer away, which must be visited on foot.

Then there is the historic San­guri stone fort, the seat of power for the 10 kingdoms assembled under the erstwhile Limbuwan. The fort is at a walking distance of around 25 minutes from Bhedetar bazaar. Similarly, the nearby Magar villages of Namje and Thumki are famous for their home-stays, for those who prefer not to stay in expensive hotels. Namje is also famous for its sacred burial grounds of the Magars who still practice a form of animism. CNN found the small Namje village so piquant that in 2011 it listed the village among its global “12 best places you have never heard of”.

A trip of Bhedetar is consid­ered incomplete without visiting the Namaste waterfall, which is 20-minute drive from Bhedetar bazaar. This middle-of-the-jun­gle waterfall has of late been welcoming above 1,000 tourists a day, many of them there for canoeing.

All these attractions make Bhe­detar one of the tourist hubs of Province 1.