Joint bid to promote Lhasa

Press, 31 October 1984, Page 49

Joint bid to promote Lhasa

NZPA-AFP Katmandu Nepal and Tibet are pressing their drive to boost bilateral trade and tourism at the roof of the world from early next year, according to officials in Katmandu. They hope that at least 10,000 tourists and trekkers annually will visit Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, and other parts of the autonomous region of China when regular bus and air services from Nepal get into full swing. But for now, officials have agreed to open the first Nepal-Tibet overland routes in the first half of 1985. Perched at nearly 3700 m between two mountain ranges, Lhasa, dominated by the remarkable Potala Palace, the former residence of the Tibetan godking, the Dalai Lama, has long been considered one of

the world's remotest places. More than 3000 km from Peking, the city so far has been easily accessible only by air, after a 24-hour trip from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China. But soon adventurous tourists en route to Tibet will be able to take a regular bus service or hire private taxis for the threeday overland journey to Lhasa via the KatmanduKodari highway. In hectic exchanges of visits in the last six weeks, high-level delegations from Nepal and Tibet have also agreed to open three additional points for regular bilateral trade, officials said. These were at Olangchungola and Kimathanka, both in north-eastern districts of Nepal, and Tinger Lipu in the Darchula District of north western Nepal, they said.