Road at The Doorstep of Lukla Best for Everest Trek

January 4, 2025. Lukla - Gateway of Everest

The newly constructed 64-kilometer dirt road, inaugurated on January 4, 2025, Nepal Government Prime Minister Mr. Oli that connects Surkhe Heliport ofthe lower Lukla to Salleri. Which ultimately enhancing the second best alternative of accessibility to the Everest region by road. Road development is expected to reduce transportation time and costs for hikers and locals, as goods and amenities can be transported by road instead of relying solely on air ceiling to Lukla and beyond. For instance, the price of an LPG cylinder in the Surkhe Heli Port area has decreased from Rs 3,900 to 2,800 Nepalese Rupees. Similarly oranges now cost 200 per kg, down from 500 Nepalese rupees per kg . Additionally, the road opens up the Everest trek to more domestic tourists by making it more affordable and reliable by road without flight to dangerous airport of Lukla.

However, the environmentalists and mountaineering purists express concerns about potential ecological impacts, such as increased pollution and strain on local resources of Everest Region. No matter what, Now every hikers can do Everest Base Camp Trek without Flight by Road with more reliability and bypassing the flight to Lukla and without facing the flight cancelation and delays.

There is good news for the trekkers who want to trek to the Everest region. There used to be Kathmandu to Jiri and Kathmandu to Phaplu or Salleri bus service to reach Lukla, or you have to take Kathmandu to Lukla flight in order to continue your trek to Everest region. Due to the bad weather, there is a history of flight delay or even cancellation which leads trekkers to be stranded around Lukla for a day or even more until the weather clears up.

On December 7 2024, 16 Mahindra Pick-up reach the lower Lukla which is widely called as Surke Heli Pad. Thi is the ultimate acheivement for us to link the Lukla with overland road network. Pasang Lamhu Rural Municipal already sign the MOU with central government and locals to extend this road till Lukal and Chaurikharak for better access for everyone. Not limited for locals, trekkers or traders. We are hopeful in many ways that in next few years, the road will become more easier and can save 400 USD flight tickets and skip the big crowed during the flight cancellation and delays.

Enjoy The Road and Mt. Everest with Everest Base Camp Trek without Flight

The bus will take you to the point where you have to walk for more than 5-6 hours to reach Lukla which is tiresome adding an extra day for the trek. This leads trekkers to walk for more hours, but recently there is a newly constructed road that will take you further near to the Everest Trekking Region, let's say to the doorstep of Everest. This newly constructed road will take you to the Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality in the Solukhumbu region. The road further connects from Salleri which is a district headquarters to Kharikhola; is near the Khumbu Region.

We are Seeing the Possibility that Road Trail will link to Lukla by 2024, even after the global pandemic of Covid-19. This helps you to skip Lukla even in Bad Weather, which is the most important benefit of Road at the Door Step of Mt. Everest.

This newly constructed road is expected to boost the flow of domestic as well as international tourists. This will help to enhance the lifestyle of the local people living in this area financially. With the completion of this newly constructed road, it is likely that there will be more lodges, hotels as well as tea houses, enhancing the local economy as well as living standards. This will also be easier for the trekkers and expedition team to travel via road in case of flight obstruction or delay due to the bad weather in Lukla. After the construction of this road, it is likely that the cost of the food and other daily requirements will be reduced compared to before as it was transported via air or carried all the way to Lukla by porters or on an animal back.

Read Recent News regarding Road Newtwok to Lukla

If we borrow the words of Mr. Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa, Wea re desperately trying everything possible to operate all the construction work for the road to the Everest Region. Construction is getting slow, but our focus how to complete the project in time and operate the smooth work on site. We are cooperating with all related sectors to make sure that all resources get available on time, especially construction material, fuels, manpower, and their other necessity. Harkapur Sun Koshi Bridge was completed and the track was completed till Tham Danda he proudly mentions this. As the report of March 20, 2021, only 24 Km is left to open the track which connects the road to Lukla.

Trekkers and Locals Both Will Be Happy If The Road Connects to Lukla Not Everest Base Camp

We understand how difficult the terrain is from Tham Danda to Chaurikharak ( where the Lukla Airport is). The distance of 277 km from Kathmandu to Lukla airport sounds easy. But we have to remember that we are during in the Highway of the Himalayas. It is better to make a smooth and better road between Kathmandu and Lukla, before opening the track towards Everest Base Camp or Namche.

We understand the value of the Everest Trekking Region as well development of infrastructure. Everest only makes over 200 million Nepalese rupees just from tourism activities. We can not compete with the Tibetan side and try to make the road to Everest Base Camp as they do. Road to Lukla is better for all than the Road at The Doorstep of Everest Base Camp.