By Prem Adhikari
Ilam, Nov. 17: Gokul Kafle, who had come to Shree Antu from Kathmandu to watch the rising sun, returned home without getting his desire fulfilled after he was unable to find a hotel room and homestay there.
A few days ago, Kafle, who arrived in Shree Antu with his family in the evening, was answered by the local homestay and hotelier that all the rooms over there were booked in advance. He then reached Pashupatinagar to stay overnight.

Tourists arriving in Kanyam and Shree Antu have been referred to other places to stay after the hotels and homestays in these areas are overcrowded.
Rudra Ghimire, director of Antuka Homestay, said that the tourists who come to the area all of a sudden do not get accommodation as hotels and homestay rooms were already booked.
He said that there are hotels and homestays in Shree Antu that can accommodate up to 15,000 tourists, and they are forced to send other tourists back as they cannot accommodate more.

Tourists have started coming to Kanyam and Shree Antu in Suryoday Municipality of Ilam, Sandakpur Danda in Sandakpur Rural Municipality and Panitar Tea Plantation in Deumai Municipality with the declining risk of COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, the number of tourists visiting Kanyam and Shree Antu from different parts of the country has skyrocketed.

With the influx of tourists, hotels, cottages and homestays in Kanyam and Antu have become crowded.
Dhankumar Ale, a homestay operator in Shree Antu, said that for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, many tourists have come to Shree Antu. He said that the number of tourists visiting to see the sunrise was high in this season. Kanyam, Antu of Suryodaya Municipality, which has many places of choice for domestic and foreign tourists, has been crowded with tourists in every season. Antudanda is one of the most famous places in Nepal for sunrise.

Tourists flock to Kanyam to take pictures of tea gardens, horse riding and don cultural costumes of different castes.
Tourists visit Shree Antu to watch the sunrise, take a boat ride on the Antu pond, stay in a homestay operated in a beautiful wooden house and enjoy the local food. At present, 56 homestays are in operation in Shree Antu.
Another homestay operator, Ale, said that all the homestays and hotels have struggled to accommodate tourists. Tourists even come for sightseeing and picnics in Kanyam, he added. Hotelier Tekraj Giri said that the hotels operating at the local level are not able to accommodate all the tourists. Recently, Antu and Kanyam have also become excellent sites for film shooting.

Mayor of Suryodaya Municipality Rana Bahadur Rai said that the tourist attraction has increased after the beautification of Kanyam and Antu.
“We are working to make Kanyam and Shree Antu major tourist destinations of choice. Infrastructure development will further attract tourists,” he added. The provincial government has already declared Suryodaya a tourist municipality. Similarly, Sandakpur, which has been chosen by tourists coming from India and Bangladesh and other third countries, is full of tourists after a long time. Hotelier Rinji Sherpa informed that the pressure of tourists has increased in Sandakpur as well from where the view of dozens of mountains and sunrise can be relished.
The 3636-metre-high Sandakpur is haunted by foreign tourists for weeks.