Sikkim revisited

A flight from Kathmandu to Pakyong will save visitors to Sikkim an arduous land journey.

I keep wondering when it will be possible to have a direct flight from Kathmandu to Pakyong that will help get to the Himalayan state of Sikkim without the arduous journey that includes crossing the land border at Kakarbhitta-Naxalbari in eastern Nepal. Cartels on both sides have ensured that well-built infrastructure of a new bridge and good roads are not to be used to provide rickshaws so that local vehicles can continue to fleece travellers. Of course, such cartels cannot exist without the protection and patronage of business organisations and politicians. The thought of crossing the border deters people on both sides, as the frontiers are treated as a point of extortion and control rather than facilitation. However, on both sides of the border, post-pandemic, internal movement between the two countries will perhaps rekindle tourism helping to benefit economies on either side.