Good news! The Ladakh tourism department’s request to permit overnight stays for international visitors in the Union Territory’s villages of Hanle, Marsimik, and Sko Valley has been approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). These areas were earlier accessible to only domestic visitors but will now be open to foreign tourists as well.
Stay Overnight At Hanle, Marsimik, And Sko Valley
Hanle had previously been off-limits to visitors from other countries. The high-altitude settlement, which has already been designated a Dark Sky Reserve by the Wildlife Department of the UT Administration of Ladakh, was only open to domestic tourists.
A proposal for the opening of Marsimik and Sko Valley to tourism and trekking in the UT of Ladakh was also sent by the department of tourism in Ladakh. Following repeated follow-up, the MHA announced in a communication on September 14 that it had approved the UT of Ladakh’s proposal and permitted the opening of Marsimik and Sko Valley for tourism and hiking.
Dark Sky tourism is said to have grown significantly in recent years, and Hanle’s opening to all visitors—domestic and foreign—is anticipated to significantly increase tourism in the area.
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A Significant Astro Tourism Destination
In light of the marketing of Hanley Hamlet as a significant astrotourism destination, the Tourism Department of the UT of Ladakh has sent a proposal for permitting foreign tourists to spend the night at Hanle.
About 270 kilometers southeast of Leh, in the Changthang area, is a little settlement called Hanle. The six hamlets of Bhok, Punguk, Naga, Shado, Khuldo, and Tibetan refugee habitations within Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary constitute a cluster that has been formally recognized as the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve.
The communication offers the alternative of hiking through the high-altitude Sko valley located west of Marsimik La for the most intrepid travellers. At 184 kilometers east of Leh, tourists can speed up in their 4X4s or motorcycles to the 18,314-foot-high Marsimik La (pass in Ladakhi). (As per The News Now)
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