Mundum Trail Visit Year 2025 announced

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, June 19:To promote tourist destinations in eastern Nepal, 2025 will be celebrated as ‘Mundum Trail Visit Year’. The Mundum Trail Visit Year was announced during a programme held at the Tourism Board on Monday.

The Mundum Trail includes tourist spots primarily inhabited by the Kirats in Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Khotang and Solukhumbu districts of Koshi Province. This trail is known for its easy hiking paths. The main attractions of the Visit Year include festivals such as shed stay, oranges, shamans, Sakela Ubhauli and Udhauli, and Rudraksha, intending to lure more than 100,000 tourists to the area, said a press statement issued by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

Speaking on the occasion, former Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati stressed that the Mundum Trail is a unique cultural route and underscored tourism development would not harm its natural state. He said that tourism reflecting indigenous and traditional cultures was a hallmark of Nepal’s tourism, and added promoting the Mundum Trail would support the overall tourism sector.

Former Minister Shankar Koirala said that the Mundum Trail was a new and unique tourist destination and that its promotion would add a new dimension to tourism in Koshi Province.

Senior Director of the NTB, Hikmat Singh Air, said that the board had been regularly working on the promotion of tourist sites and assured continued support for the promotion of the Mundum Trail.

Chairman of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Nilhari Bastola, said that it would be difficult to promote the trail without the involvement of local authorities and suggested assigning the responsibility of its conservation and promotion to the local levels.

Ramesh Kumar Rai, Chairman of the Maiyung Temke Salpa Silichung Tourism Promotion Centre, informed that preparations were underway to celebrate 2025 as Mundum Trail Visit Year. He said that the aim was to attract over 100,000 tourists, both domestic and international, by 2025, having been promoting the trail for seven years.

During the programme, advisors of the organisation, including Ram Kumar Rai Pasang, Provincial Assembly Member Binod Bantawa Rai, representative of the Swiss Development Corporation Sushil Shrestha, Mundum Trail tourism ambassador and actor Dayahang Rai, Chairman of Salpa Silichung Rural Municipality Daulat Kulung, and advisor Hari Bahadur Rai stressed the need for the promotion of Mundum Trail. 

Singer Rajesh Payal Rai, artist Dayahang Rai, ultra runner Mira Rai, world cyclist Pushkar Shah, and mountain guide and climber Pemba Wangchu Sherpa have been declared tourism ambassadors.

The main tourist sites of this Mundum trail include Chakhewa Hill, Temke Hill with the Temke Temple, Hans Pokhari, and Salpa Silichung. The trek starts from Temke Hill, situated at 3010 metres on the border of Bhojpur and Khotang, and ends at Salpa Pokhari via Maiyung Hill and Silichung Hill. The Mundum Trail is about 80 kilometres long.

Declared by the Nepal government in September/October 2018 as one of the 100 must-visit tourist destinations in Nepal, the Mundum Trail lies on the border areas of Khotang, Bhojpur, Solukhumbu, and Sankhuwasabha districts. Since then, efforts have been going on to make the Temke-Maiyung-Salpa Silichung range a top tourist destination.

From the east, one can reach Chakhewa Bhanjyang via Dharan, Bhedetar, Dhankuta Hile, and Bhojpur Bazaar, then head to Khotang in west. Visitors can stay in homestays in Chakhewa and start the next day towards Mundum. On the other hand, from Kathmandu, one can reach Mundum via Khotang Diktel and Chakhewa.

The Mundum Trail can be reached by trekking from Chakhewa Hill, which marks the boundary of Khotang near Temke. During the rainy season and the months of February/March and March/April, the area is lush green, with blooming rhododendrons.

Mundum encapsulates the entire essence of Kirant civilisation, culture, and philosophy, hence the trail is named Mundum as it passes through predominantly Kirat Rai settlements.

Ranging from 2,300 metres at Chakhewa to 4,110 metres at Silichung Hill, the trail is a convergence of natural beauty, indigenous lifestyle, myth, faith and Kirat culture. 

From the trail, one can view six peaks above 8,000 metres, including Mt. Everest, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, and Lhotse. The cool climate attracts people from the Tarai as well as both domestic and international visitors to the Mundum Trail.