Avoid overcrowding in Ladakh, ensure pre-booking of hotels: Admin to tourists
With domestic and foreign tourists making a beeline for the ‘land of high passes’, Union Territory of Ladakh has issued an advisory for the visitors, asking them not to overcrowd tourist destinations in the region.
The UT administration has also advised the tourists to embark on their trip to Ladakh only after having proper pre-booking of accommodation in hotels to avoid inconvenience.
The tourism department of Ladakh has issued the advisory after instances of problems being faced by tourists and visitors like not getting accommodation at places like Pangong lake etc. come to its notice.
“Considering the huge inflow of tourists and visitors, they are advised to travel to Ladakh by road/air with proper pre-booking (through registered travel agents/tour operators) of accommodation to ensure safe and secure stay in the UT of Ladakh,” the department said in its advisory.
It added, “Pangong lake area is a wild-life notified sanctuary and hence accommodation availability is limited. Considering the limited accommodation available, visitors should avoid plan of stay at Pangong without prior booking of accommodation. Tourists are also advised to not travel to high altitude areas such as Khardongla, Changla, Pangong Lake, Tsomoriri, Pentela etc before 48 hours from the time of landing/arrival at Leh”.
Lakhs of tourists who had planned their visit to Ladakh in 2020 and 2021 remained in dilemma and uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The start of tourist season in Ladakh in the current year has reported high footfall of visitors.
The visitors have also been advised to ensure advance booking of taxi or conveyance through registered travel agents to avoid inconvenience. “Tourists are also advised to contribute in maintenance of cleanliness at all tourist spots and along all routes. They are advised to respect nature, environment, local traditions and culture and follow all rules, regulations and advisories issued by the district administration (Leh and Kargil) and the tourism department, UT of Ladakh,” it added.
Pertinently, Ladakh administration had recently made it mandatory for all those travelling to the region to undergo a mandatory 48 hours of acclimatization in Leh before continuing their journey.
The move came in the wake of preventing acute high altitude sickness among tourists, for which the Leh (Ladakh) administration had issued an order stating that tourists arriving in Leh would now have to undergo mandatory 48 hours of acclimatization before commencing their journey in the cold desert region.
As Leh town is situated at an altitude of 3500 m above sea level, the same can cause sickness among tourists arriving particularly by air. Generally, a number of tourists reaching Leh are hospitalized as they face mountain sickness.
