Recently, a rumor that "Everest Base Camp will be permanently closed for an indefinite period" has caused a great disturbance in the tourist circle. A large number of similar news that Everest Base Camp is no longer available in the future start to spread on the Internet. Many tourists who have been to or never been to Everest Base Camp begin to complain that seeing Mount Everest in a close range has become history. In fact, such wording is neither rigorous nor accurate. This article will share with you a detailed analysis and interpretation of the announcement on the close of Everest Base Camp, and explain actual impacts on tourists after the change of viewing point of Mount Everest.
At the end of 2018, the Mount Everest Administration Bureau in Tingri County, Shigatse City, Tibet issued an announcement as follows: [In order to implement relevant requirements of the national "Green Shield" action in 2018 and effectively protect ecological environment of natural reserves, according to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Natural Reserves, from now on, any unit or individual are forbidden to enter the core area of the Mount Everest National Nature Reserve for tourism, namely area above Rongbuk Monastery]
After the announcement was issued, our travel agency employees in Lhasa contacted relevant staff of the Tourism Bureau for detailed information. It is confirmed that tourists can still enter Mount Everest National Park from Tingri County, Shigatse, then pass through Jiawula mountain pass and go all the way to Rongbuk Monastery which is 4km away from the original tent hotel of Everest Base Camp. For tourists, it is still feasible to view Mount Everest. We can understand that the location for viewing Mount Everest is moved backward and the location for accommodation is moved to Rongbuk Monastery area from the original tent hotel of Everest Base Camp.
At the new viewing point for Mount Everest -Rongbuk Monastery, tourists can still clearly view the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, which is grand and majestic, and this place is also an excellent location for taking pictures and viewing. Tourists who want to ride to Mount Everest can also ride all the way from Lhasa to Rongbuk Monastery. Shigatse is 354km away from the original Everest Base Camp and 350km away from the Rongbuk Monastery, which means the viewing position is moved backward for 4km, in such case, it has little impact on the whole tour of viewing Mount Everest.
Environmental protection is an eternal theme. The core protection area of Mount Everest is more than 5000m above sea level, where the ecological environment is fragile. Human tourism activities leave a lot of permanent domestic waste here, which cannot be naturally decomposed and digested by the environment, resulting in the increasingly poor environment in the core area of Everest Base Camp.
In order to protect the environment of the core area of Everest Base Camp, clean up the large amount of domestic waste generated, and let the land at the foot of Mount Everest rehabilitate, it is necessary to temporarily move the viewing point down to the Rongbuk Monastery area. It is expected that environmental management will enable Everest Base Camp to welcome tourists in a more primitive state.
When viewing Mount Everest at Rongbuk Monastery, the beauty of Mount Everest will not be reduced at all, and the scenery of sunshine on golden mountain is also spectacular. When taking photos of Mount Everest at Rongbuk Monastery, the Buddhist monastery and pagoda can be taken into one photo, which forms a contrast and shows grandeur of Mount Everest. When traveling in Tibet, if you can take Tibetan culture into photos, you can show the charm of Buddhism in Tibet in a better way.
In the past, tourists who went to Everest Base Camp to view Mount Everest could choose to stay in the tent hotel of the base camp and the hostel area of Rongbuk Monastery. During the period of removing tents from the end of October to April every year, tourists could only stay in the Rongbuk Monastery's guest house. At present, since it is in golden period to view Mount Everest, and there is little rain in dry season in Tibet, the probability of viewing Mount Everest is higher, but the temperature is low at this time, and the tent hotel has not been rebuilt. Whether the Mount Everest tent hotel will be relocated and built in the future is uncertain, but the Rongbuk Monastery guest house can still provide accommodation space for tourists. Welcome to follow us. We will announce the news of Mount Everest tent hotel once we get any.
After the viewing position of Mount Everest is moved downward, tourists can still enter Rongbuk Monastery area to view the towering Mount Everest and take photos with the Mount Everest height Monument (the monument will be set up in Rongbuk Monastery). The whole journey will not be affected greatly and the driving time is only 10 minutes less than that to the previous base camp area. During the 8-day trip to Mount Everest, you can continue to visit Mount Everest from Lhasa to Rongbuk Monastery according to the planed arrangement and then return.
The ticket for Mount Everest scenic spot we include in our trip are called "Ticket for Mount Everest National Nature Reserve Scenic Spot". On the way to the Mount Everest scenic spot, tourists will pass through a scenic spot called "Mount Everest National Park". Usually, they need to pay tickets and tolls to enter the scenic spot. The whole mileage is 100km from the gate of the National Park to Rongbuk Monastery. After buying the ticket, tourists can not only see the scenic spot of the original Everest Base Camp, but also see all plateau sceneries and landscapes along the 100km route, including 4 viewing platforms for snow mountains 8000m above the sea level - Jiawula mountain pass.
Therefore, even when the viewing position of Mount Everest moves backward, tourists still need to pay RMB180 per person for the scenic spot ticket of Mount Everest National Nature Reserve in the process of viewing Rongbuk Monastery.
The close of core area of Everest Base Camp does not affect tourists who have booked the trip to Everest, nor does it affect tourists' close viewing of Everest. At Rongbuk Monastery, tourists can enjoy and take photos of Everest from more perspectives, and can experience intimate interaction between Buddhism and the world's first peak more profoundly. Tourists looking forward to the view of Everest and night sky can go there at ease.
If you have never been to the Everest viewing area in Tibet, you must go there as soon as possible. We can't guarantee that the viewing spot of Everest will continue to move downward in the future for the sake of environmental protection. After all, we could view Everest 8km ahead of Rongbuk Monastery three years ago and 4km one year ago, while from now on, we can only view the world's first peak at Rongbuk Monastery.
Published on January 10, 2019, last updated on December 30, 2019.
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