Zip line comes into operation in Kavre

Dhulikhel, March 13:

Adventure sports lovers in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding districts have a new product to relish. A zip line has come into operation in Dhulikhel, a tourist city about 30 km east of the capital.

The nearest adventure product from the Kathmandu Valley runs on a 1.1 km-long rope from Dhulikhel Municipality – 8, Thakle to Panchkhal Municipality – 5, Khawa in Kavrepalanchowk district, and covers the vertical drop of about 100 metres.

The launch pad of the zip line in Thakle is at the height of 1300 metres from sea level and landing station at 1200 m.

"One can move down at the speed of 60-95 km, and it takes about 1 minute 20 seconds to reach the landing station. We can make about 60 people go down in a day," said Kedar Thapa, chairman of World Wide Adventure Pvt. Ltd, the company that runs Dhulikhel Zip Line project.

The company has offered three categories of zip lining – normal, tandem and superman, of which,  tandem and superman are new in the country, claimed Thapa who is also the Treasurer of the Nepal Trans-Himalayan Border Trade Association.

One person goes down in a sitting position in normal type while others can go down in superman style in superman category and tandem can carry two individuals at a time.

According to Thapa, a healthy individual above 13 years of age can slide down the rope.

"We are building a Children Adventure Camp here with Zip Line, various kinds of bridges such as V-Shape and Tyre and other facilities. All the facilities will be as per the international standards," said Bhupesh Shrestha another promoter of the project. The company charges Rs. 2500, Rs. 3500 and Rs. 4500 for normal, superman and tandem category respectively.

Himalayan peaks like Langtang, Dorje Lakpa and Phurbi Chyachu can be seen from the location.

The company has invested about Rs. 47 million and total investment will be about 70 million. "Our aim is to offer anew product to the domestic as well as international tourists during the Visit Nepal Year 2010, especially those visiting Kathmandu Valley and Dhulikhel," said Shrestha.

After the operation of Arniko Highway, which was damaged in the 2015 earthquake and is slated to reopen from May this year, the Zip Line can attract more Chinese tourists.

The company is planning to run shuttle services from Kathmandu and Bhaktapur to Dhulikhel and inaugurate the commercial operation within a couple of weeks.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 14 March 2019.