Tourism in Ghandruk

Tourism in Ghandruk

From 1975 to 1985, hundreds of groups of trekkers and mountain climbers came through the way to Ghandruk for sightseeing and mountain climbing together with their guides and porters. There were no lodges, hotels or home stays in Ghandruk during that time. The tourist and expedition teams used to sleep in tents in an empty land. The group used to purchase the food items and firewood from the villagers. They used to set up a camp fire in the evening and participate in the cultural programs performed by villagers. The villagers used to raise fund for the school by showing cultural dances. After sometime there was an arrival of many individual tourists. The Sherpas (an ethnic group of mountainous region of Nepal considered to be very brave and strong) and guides encouraged the people of Ghandruk to establish lodges and they also taught villagers the way to cook foods for foreigners. In 1976 the first lodge was opened with 10 beds named Annapurna lodge by local entrepreneur Sankar Man Gurung who was also a teacher of Ghandruk School.  Ghandruk lies on the Annapurna trekking trail. According to a survey by Modern Maturity (USA), Annapurna is recognized as one of the world‟s tenth best trekking trail . The Annapurna region has been a unique place in the world because of various characteristics. The region contains the world’s deepest river gorge Kali Gandaki Gorge, the world’s largest rhododendron forest in Ghorepani, and the fresh water lake Tilicho situated in the world’s highest altitude. The area is rich in terms of cultural diversity, biodiversity and a house for 1,226 species of flowering plant, 102 mammals, 474 birds, 39 reptiles, and 22 amphibians  A magnificent view of three peaks over 8,000 meters can be seen from this trail (Eco walk 2013).

Thus, this has become one of the best trekking part and the pleasurable tourist destination. Moreover, this is the most important and popular route for all the Annapurna travelers, mountaineers who choose their destination through this exciting route. It is considered the way from Ghandruk is the easiest and fastest way to reach Annapurna and Machhapuchre base camp. The mountain views of Annapurna and Machhapuchre can be seen clearly from this village . The basic route ascends from the Modi Khola, a river crossing the suspension bridge at Birethanti. It lies on the eastern side of the village. It is then followed by beautiful trace to forest and hill village. It presents a unique opportunity of median beauty and natural significance. It is said that the visit to Nepal will be incomplete without the visit of Ghandruk. Ghandruk has attracted many national and international tourists. Among the tourists who visits Pokhara (the nearest city of Ghandruk), 60-70 percent go trekking to Annapurna area. The report says that 70,000 foreigners go trekking to Annapurna area every year but there is no data how many Nepalese go trekking in this area . Except the nature, people visit Ghandruk to see the art and culture. Most of the visitors are there to spend holidays and some Nepalese couple for honeymoon (Sharma 2011). The houses are made of stones, mud’s and the roofs are made up of thin sliced stones. Ghandruk has a peaceful environment and the streets are stone paved beautifully. People have taken care to maintain the cleanliness of the village area and trekking trails. The effort of local groups, tourists, ACAP and other participants has played a vital role to preserve the natural beauty of the region. Ghandruk is one of the far western regions of Nepal but is still an important route of tourism. As of 2012 fiscal year, 7.4 percent of GDP was contributed in Nepal by travel and tourism. Tourism in Nepalese rural Himalayan villages has been a mileage to the local economy. It is possible that there may not be better example of locally controlled tourism in the country rather than in the Everest and Annapurna regions. The majority of restaurant and lodge owners, guides, porters, staffs are from the local villages. The majority of the people of Ghandruk were serving in military and agriculture and it was the main occupation in the past. . Now-a-days tourism industry is growing in Ghandruk and it has been the source of income for the inhabitants. The local people are getting employment as guides and potters. Because of tourism the occupation of people has been changed from agriculture or military to tourism entrepreneur. The employment opportunity can be found in the village by which the local people don’t need to migrate to bigger cities or other countries to work. The local economy of the village and life standard of people has been changed by the foreign exchange earnings. In other hand, when the local people are attracted towards tourism the people don’t want to work in agriculture as a result the fertile land turned to barren. Before the place was introduced to the tourists, its culture was virgin and unspoiled. The people of Ghandruk had attraction, respect and positive attitude. After the development of tourism, both positive and negative effects were seen in the society. For example, a positive impact was seen in the living standards of the local people. They got a chance to establish an income generating tourism business companies such as guest houses, lodges and coffee houses.  Beside the positive impacts, tourism has also created a gap between rich and poor people in Ghandruk bringing a social partition. The development of tourism has banned access to previously accessible natural resources for the poorer people of the society (Nepal 2002, 42). The negative impact and influence of tourism was directly seen among the young generation of Ghandruk in terms of clothing, food, language, songs and dances. Instead of wearing the traditional local Gurung dresses they copied foreign culture and dressed in modern western style clothes. The traditional dances and songs were endangered and English, Nepali modern songs and dances were in practice.

source:- shrestha promad thesis