China hikes Kailash Mansarovar Yatra fees, Indians will have to spend Rs 1.85 lakh

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China has started issuing visas for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra which was closed for three years. This time Beijing has made very strict rules. Along with this, many types of fees for travel have almost doubled. Now Indian citizens will have to spend at least Rs 1.85 lakh for the journey.

If the pilgrim will keep a worker or helper from Nepal for help, then they will have to pay extra $300 i.e. Rs 24 thousand. This fee is called ‘Grass Damaging Fee’.

China argues that during the journey, the grass around Mount Kailash is damaged, which will be compensated by the traveller.

New changes

China has added some rules which have made the process more difficult. For example, now every passenger will have to get their unique identification done at the Kathmandu base itself. For this, there will be scanning of fingerprints and iris. Nepal tour operators say, according to The Kathmandu Post, the tough rules have been made to limit the entry of foreign pilgrims, especially Indians.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is a big business for Nepal’s tour operators. With the new rules and increased charges, tour operators are now charging at least Rs 1.85 lakh per passenger for road trips, as against Rs 90,000 for road trip packages in 2019. Registration for the yatra has started from 1 May.

According to The Kathmandu Post, this time pilgrims will have to be physically present to collect the visa. The online application will not be accepted. This means that the traveller will have to go around the Chinese Embassy first. After that one has to go through the biometric identification process at the Kathmandu or some other base camp.

Kailash Yatra is done through three different highways. First- Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand), Second- Nathu Pass (Sikkim) and Third- Kathmandu. These three routes take a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 21 days. In 2019, 31,000 Indians went on pilgrimage, since then the yatra has been closed.

With inputs from agencies

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