As frequent general strikes and political
unrest hit tourism in Nepal, the government's plan to attract one
million air travellers this year received yet another setback with
reports of two more missing foreign visitors.
Nepal police said a 49-year-old Japanese woman, identified only
as Makiko, has been missing from a valley in northern Nepal since
Wednesday.
The Japanese national had been staying at Peace Fall hotel near
the Gosainkunda lake in Langtang valley, a frozen lake that is
considered sacred and is a major pilgrim destination.
Police said the woman had gone out for a walk in the morning and did not come back. A hunt has been launched to locate her.
The Langtang valley, one of the remotest areas in Nepal close to
the Tibet border and a favourite trekking circuit, is also the region
from where a young American woman, Aubrey Sacco, disappeared last year.
The 23-year-old was last seen April 22, 2010, leaving a small inn known as Lama Hotel on the Langtang trail.
Her family, who conducted an intensive search for her, has still
not given up hope that she might be found. This week, they renewed
their search for information that could lead to her whereabouts.
Information is also being sought about a missing 19-year-old Lithuanian, Paulius Zavadckis, who went missing in March this year.
The teen had come to Nepal in February to volunteer for a
charitable project in the Helambu region. His family says after leaving
the project, he sent an email March 7, following which he went out of
contact.
The day he sent that last email, the teen was traced to Pokhara city, a popular tourist destination.
In December 2008, a 32-year-old British tourist, Julian Wynne, disappeared while trekking in the Everest region.
In 2005, speculation arose about a possible serial killer
preying on young women travelling alone in Nepal, after a French and
German tourist went missing from a protected national park close to
Kathmandu.
The body of the missing German, Sabine Grueneklee, was found in
the Nagarjuna park in 2006 and nine months later, the remains of the
French tourist, Celine Henry, were also found in the same area. IANS
