Construction of an open museum begins at Annapurna Base Camp

By Thakur Prasad Acharya

Myagdi, Mar. 19: An open museum is being built at the northern base camp of 8,091-meter-high Annapurna I in Narchyang, Myagdi.

Annapurna Rural Municipality is planning to build the open museum at the base camp, which is 4,190 metres above sea level, to mark the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. Annapurna. 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will inaugurate the open museum at a special programme at the base camp on June 3, informed Tej Gurung, an expedition member of the Maurice Herzog Trek.

Three years before the first ascent of Mount Everest, a French team led by Maurice Herzog successfully climbed Annapurna I on June 3, 1950. The day is now celebrated as the Annapurna Day.

The open museum will feature statues of the first climbers of Annapurna, French citizens Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, along with Nepali climber Aamtharki Sherpa. 

Additionally, it will have stone inscriptions detailing the history of mountain climbing, the equipment used by Maurice during his first ascent, and a copper plate listing the names of 488 climbers who have summited Annapurna, along with their ascent dates, said Gurung.

He added that Annapurna Rural Municipality has allocated Rs. 1 million, while the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) has contributed Rs 400,000 for the museum's construction.

Gurung further informed that the work on the statue of the first climbers and the engraving of names on the copper plate had already begun.

To celebrate Annapurna Day, an Annapurna Day Main Celebration Committee has been formed under the coordination of Bharat Kumar Pun, who is also the chairman of Annapurna Rural Municipality, informed Gurung. Gurung is also a member of the committee.

He said, “We are organising a grand celebration at the base camp to mark the first ascent of Annapurna, which lies within Myagdi. To promote tourism in Annapurna, which is also the oldest mountain, both nationally and internationally, we are preparing to take a team, including Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Maurice Herzog’s 81-year-old wife, his son Mathis Herzog, at least 10 climbers, French journalists, and other distinguished guests, to the base camp.”

On the same day, Prime Minister Oli will inaugurate the museum and release the Nepali translation of the book ‘The Annapurna’, originally written in English by Maurice Herzog, said Gurung.

Chairman Pun said that the open museum is being constructed to develop the Maurice Herzog trekking route and base camp into an attractive tourist destination.

According to him, infrastructure development has started at the Annapurna Base Camp and along the Maurice Herzog Trek at a total cost of Rs 12.5 million.

Pun informed that Rs. 10 million from Annapurna Rural Municipality, Rs. 2 million from Nepal Tourism Board, and Rs.500,000 from Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) have been allocated for the construction of shelters, toilets, drinking water facilities, trekking trails, and tea shops.

For the convenience of tourists, temporary structures have been built at various points along the trekking route from Humkhola to the base camp, with tea and snack shops and hotels providing food and accommodation. 

Three shelters are under construction at Sandhikharka, Bhusket Mela, and Panchkunda Lake, costing Rs. 4 million.

The construction of drinking water and toilet facilities is progressing in Humkhola, Phutphutey Jharana (waterfall), Gufaphant, Bhusket, and Panchkunda. 

Rural Municipality chair Pun mentioned that efforts were being made to establish communication facilities at the base camp, which currently lacks connectivity, by June 3. 

After travelling 22 kilometres by vehicle from Pokharebagar, the centre of Annapurna Rural Municipality, to Humkhola, one can reach the base camp area by hiking another 21 kilometres.

Phutphutey waterfall along the trekking route, Panchkunda Lake at the base camp, and the surrounding natural beauty of the mountains have contributed to the area’s rise as a popular tourist destination.