Dashain holidaymakers visiting Mustang are spending more time than they would like to on the journey, stuck in a seemingly endless traffic jam these days.

With the traffic volume more than doubled in the last few days, it is taking more than 12 hours for vehicles to reach Jomsom from Beni. On normal days, the Beni-Jomsom road could be traversed in about five hours.

“The traffic jam on the road had not cleared well into 1am Monday. It took us more than 12 hours to travel the road,” said Bal Krishna Subedi of Myagdi.

People from different parts of the country are visiting Mustang for the festival holidays these days. Locals say they had never seen so many motors on the Beni-Jomsom road before.

Police Sub Inspector Gopal Khatri of Ghansa Police Post said the road is currently carrying traffic more than it could handle. “The route is congested since Friday, the main day of Dashain festival. Traffic on Sunday and Monday was worse,” he said.

The log kept by Ghansa Police Post shows that around 5,000 tourists, mostly domestic, entered Mustang on Sunday and Monday alone.

The condition of the road has also not helped with the current situation.

The road is not wide enough for two-way traffic flow at many sections, particularly at Akkare Bhir, Begkhola, Bhirkote, Rupse Chhahara and Badarjun Bhir areas.

Moreover, floods and landslides of this year have damaged the road in many places.

“When the road is in a poor state and you have high traffic volume, the travel duration will definitely increase. Plus the journey experience is also not going to be a nice one,” said Sub Inspector Khatri.

The people visiting Mustang as well as those returning are bearing the brunt of long arduous journey.