Sarangkot, November 17:

Tourism entrepreneurs in Sarangkot have complained that their business is not catching up even though the tourist arrivals is satisfactory this season. “The tourists visiting Sarangkot don’t stay here overnight,” they said. Prem Maya Chapagain of local Roof Top Restaurant said that tourists visit Sarangkot for sunrise and natural sceneries but they return on the same day, which is why the hotels here are not able to do good business even in the tourist season. “Not a single hotel in this season was filled,” she said, adding that last year also the hotels could not do good business.

There are over a dozen hotels in Sarangkot. Tourism entrepreneurs in Pokhara usually drive the tourists to Sarangkot from Pokhara at dawn and guide them back in the evening after the sightseeing. “The tourists sometimes could not even reach Sarangkot, as the guides usually return them back from Gothadi, which is on the way to Sarangkot,” locals complained.

Sarangkot is just 30 minutes walk from Gothadi. Sarangkot — which is at the altitude of 5500 feet from sea level — is famous for its breathtaking view and the panaromic view that tourists can enjoy from here of different peaks such as Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Mt Ganesh in the east to Mt Dhaulagiri in the west, Fewa Lake, Seti river, sunrise and sunset, and the Pokhara valley.

A Nepali citizen has to pay Rs 10 to enter Sarangkot while a tourist has to pay Rs 20.