TIBET CLOSED TOURISTS FROM 14 MARCH

BRITISH MINISTER COULDN’T VISIT JUMLA, STRANDED IN SURKHET

Kathmandu, 8 March.: Visiting British Minister of State for International Development Alex Duncan couldn’t fly to the hill district of Jumla to inspect British-aided projects Tuesday.
He was stranded in Surkhet where he acquired information on progammes and projects run with British assistance.
He’ll return to Kathmandu Wednesday; her arrived in Nepal Monday for a second four-day visit in 10 months.
Duncan couldn’t visit Jumla as residents of Karnali anchal in the impoverished region disrupted flights for the fifth consecutive day protesting increased air fares by private operators.
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TIBET CLOSED TO TOURISTS FROM 14 MARCH

Kathmandu, 8 March: Chinese travel agents organizing trips to Tibet sad Monday they have been ordered not to receive foreign visitors around the March 14 anniversary of a bloody anti-government riot in 2008, AP reports from Beijing.
The top Chinese government official for Tibet confirmed there were restrictions but said they were being enforced for safety reasons, citing possible overcrowding and the bitterly cold winter weather,
Beiging Youth Travel Service saleswoman Li Jianyue said the order was conveyed verbally as it often the case with official directives that the government does not wishto defend or explain.
(Note: Thousands of tourists and climbers transit to Tibet via Nepal, adventure tourists mainly from Europe, to climb Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak and other Himalayan peaks along Nepal-Tibet border. They hire Sherpa guides in Nepal for the cross-border climbs in Tibet.)
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