KATHMANDU, April 29: Tourism entrepreneurs have proposed branding the Juphal-Dolpo trail as the 'Ambassador Trail' and promoting virgin, mountainous Dolpo of the Karnali region as a new tourist destination. 

The proposal comes after three former Indian ambassadors to Nepal returned to Kathmandu after trekking 15 days in various parts of Dolpo including Shey Phoksundo. 

Stating that despite having lots of tourism potentials and pristine mountains the region is not prioritized for trekking, tourism entrepreneur Bikram Pandey proposed developing this trekking route of the Karnali region by rebranding it as the Ambassador Trail for promoting tourism in this region. "Everest was not much popular until Sir Edmund Hilary trekked there. The same is the case of the Annapurna trail. It became popular after Prince Charles and his 90-member expedition trekked this region in the early 1980s," said Pandey, adding, "So, let's brand the unexplored Dolpo as the Ambassador Trail and promote it to the fullest."

At the function, Deepak Raj Joshi, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board, said he is positive about branding this trail as the Ambassador Trail in coming days and promote the untapped tourism potential of this region. 

Former Indian ambassadors to Nepal - Dev Mukherjee, Shyam Sharan and Ranjit Rae- had trekked to Dolpo and returned to Kathmandu earlier this month. "We are positive about this. I hope your visit will inspire many more tourists to visit Nepal," said CEO Joshi. 

Ex-ambassadors who trekked to Dolpo through Himalayan Expedition said there is no pristine and beautiful land like Dolpo in the world. "We spent nearly 30 years in various parts of the world in course of our job in diplomatic mission, but never witnessed a place as beautiful as Dolpo of Nepal," former Indian envoy to Nepal, Rae said. 

In 2015, ex-envoys Mukharjee and Sharan had arrived in Nepal to trek to Dolpo but they postponed their trekking plan following the devastating earthquake. A year after the devastation of earthquake they trekked to Langtang. This time recently retired envoy Rae also joined the team and they trekked to Dolpo. 

Saying he was sucessful to trek to Dolpo even at the age of 77, ex-ambassador Mukharjee asked everyone to trek to Dolpo. 

The Dolpo region is famous for Yarshagumba, Shey Phoksundo Lake, Rara Lake and mountainous views. Despite having unique scenic beauty, the Shey Pkhosundo Lake receives less than 2000 trekkers annually. "Trails have to be improved to promote this trekking trail," said Rae.

 
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