(CRI) The Chinese government is set to spend 12 million building a new visitor centre at Mount Everest.
At present no such facility exists, even though tens of thousands of climbers visit the mountain every year.
There are, however, better provisions on the Nepalese side of the mountain, and so most expeditions currently start from there.
The journey to the Nepalese base camp in Lukla is perilous. It involves landing on an airstrip (which is also a road) at the end of which is a cliff face. This makes it impossible to 'go around' - so if the pilot makes a mistake on the approach, no recovery is possible.
In the other direction, when taking o ff, the strip isn't long enough for some of the small propeller planes to make it into the air. Instead they lose height after leaving the strip (which hangs off the edge of a mountain) before recovering and gaining height. Accidents and crashes are relatively frequent.
For this reason, pilots must be very experienced and specially trained for landing at Lukla.
The new facility will undoubtedly encourage more tourists to attempt the climb from the Chinese side and will avoid the need to make that dangerous journey.
When completed in 2019, the centre in Gangkar will include access for emergency helicopters, a medical centre, shops, a hotel, and a museum.
Work to build the centre is expected to start in 2017.
Source: CRI
from China Travel & Tourism News http://ift.tt/1iB6EFm |  | |  |  |
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