Tourists from Maharashtra prefer buses over hotel rooms in Nepal

Tour guide Sachin Bhise spent Saturday night with his eyes wide open on board a sightseeing travel coach parked in Kathmandu, with 30 tourists from Maharashtra.

Tour guide Sachin Bhise spent Saturday night with his eyes wide open on board a sightseeing travel coach parked in Kathmandu, with 30 tourists from Maharashtra. Not just his group, but scores of tourists have deserted hotels in Nepal, after a massive earthquake killed thousands and reduced various tourist destinations to a rubble.

An-earthquake-measuring-7-5-magnitude-struck-80-km-50-miles-east-of-Pokhara-in-Nepal-Photo-credit-gunaraj-on-Twitter

According to a Mumbai-based travel company that Bhise worked for, tourists are too scared to sleep in their hotel rooms. “All of them were safe, but were too shaken to spend the night in the hotel,” said Veena Patil, founder and managing director of Veena World, the travel company that organised the tour.

Even as shocking visuals of the disaster were seen on television and social media portals, some tourists decided to go ahead with their tours scheduled to begin on Sunday. “We were surprised that some of them wanted to go ahead with their vacation plan, despite the option of rescheduling it,” said a Colaba-based travel operator.

The trips, however, got cancelled after the massive aftershocks in the earthquake-hit region on Sunday afternoon. “A few airlines that were to operate flights from Mumbai cancelled the services, as the Kathmandu airport was shut following the aftershocks. We have put all Nepal-bound trips on hold for a week,” said the travel operator.

This is the second instance of tourists refusing to call off leisure trips to a disaster-hit destination, said travel operators. “A few weeks ago, when Kashmir was hit by unseasonal rain, we had come across some tourists who were willing to take a risk,” said Patil.

To get in touch
Maharashtra disaster helpline
022 22027990

Maharashtra’s Delhi disaster helpline
011 23380324

Helpline specifically for those from Mumbai
022 26556499