nepal news and updates - Himalayan Dreams
November 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under News and Article
Jet Airways to launch Kathmandu-Mumbai flights in December
NAC to fly to Lhasa in 2010
Tourist arrival up by 11 pc in Oct
Entry fee to Swoyambhunath Stupa revised
Jet Airways to launch Kathmandu-Mumbai flight in December.
India’s leading private sector airline Jet Airways is introducing daily flights from India’s commercial capital Mumbai to Kathmandu from December 2. The ariline will use Boeing 737 for Kathmandu-Mumbai flights.
Jet Airways currently operates 13 flights a week in Kathmandu-New Delhi sector. The airline will increase its flights on the Kathmandu-New Delhi sector to 14 flights a week effective from November 17.
“The Nepal-India sector is a very busy one, in terms of leisure and business air traffic. We are confident that our new daily services on the sector will be much appreciated,” Nikos Kardaiss, acting JEO, Jet Airways, stated in the company’s website.
NAC to fly to Lhasa in 2010
Nepali and Chinese officials have agreed to operate Kathmandu-Lhasa-Kathmandu flights by designated Nepali airlines. The agreement was raeached during the Third Joint Tourism Coordination Committee Meeting on November 9.
Joint secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Murari Bahadur Karki and Deputy Director General of the Tibet Tourism Administration Wang Songping signed the agreement.
Nepal Airlines Corporation will start the direct flight to Lhasa, while China Airlines will operate Canton-Lhasa-Kathmandu flights.
The meeting also decided to promote a joint rafting industry by the private sector of both sides, develop an action plan to establish a trekking route from Lomanthang of Nepal to Mansarovar of Tibet.
Meanwhile, officials of both the countries are making preparation to resume direct bus service between Kathmandu and Lhasa. The bus service has remained defunct for the last three years.
Tourist arrival up by 11 pc in Oct
Tourist arrival to Nepal in the month of October has increased by 10.8 pc to 56,009 compared to arrival figure of same period last year. Nepal’s peak tourism season begins from October.
Growth in arrival in the month of October was contributed by robust growth in arrivals from India and China. Arrivals from India and China increased by 20.1 pc and 116.4 pc respectively. Similarly, arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) also recorded positive growth. Arrivals from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand increased by 10.7 pc, 55.8 pc, 127.8 pc, 4.3 pc and 3.6 pc respectively. Arrivals from the Asian segment recorded a positive growth of 41.2 pc.
In the SAARC region, arrivals from Pakistan and Sri Lanka increased by 177.4 pc and 106.3 pc respectively.
Arrival from the European market registered a growth of 9.9 pc in the period. The month saw the incrment of arrivals from UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands by 4.3 pc, 6.6 pc, 5.8 pc, 2.3 pc and 13.6 pc respectively. However, arrivals from Switzerland, Spain, and Belgium declined by 3.1 pc, 9.5 pc, and 15.5 pc respectively.
Travel theme and great ideas!
Enjoy the great opportunity of a lifetime! These treks will reward you with marvelous Himalayan vistas, panaromic views of the most gigantic mountains from Kalapathar, with a beautiful sunrise, through Mt Everest. Take a gentle trek through the Dudhkoshi river valley following beautiful terraces and rhododendron forests. Enjoy the culture of the Sherpas, visit ancient monasteries and learn how Lamaistic Buddhism influences Sherpa
life. Stop at any of the numerous teahouses, sip a glass of sweetened tea or Chang (millet beer), and get a taste of hospitality unique to the Sherpas.
Beautiful, multi-hued prayer flags, prayer wheels and intricately carved Mani stones line every hilltop, rock wall and trailside, singing prayers to the gods with every breeze and every passing traveler !
Entry fee to Swoyambhunath Stupa revised
The Federation of Swoyambhunath Stupa Management and Conservation has revised entry fee for foreign visitors to visit Swoyambhunath Stupa, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
According to Tourist Guide Association of Nepal (TURGAN), foreign visitors will have to pay Rs 200 to enter the Swoyambhunath area as entry fee effective from November 16. Earlier, the fee was Rs 100 per person.
Swoyambhunath Stupa is one of the seven UNESCO World Heritage sites in Kathmandu Valley.
SOURCE: TAAN E-News.
Best New Trips: Hiking Nepal’s Great Himalaya Trail
October 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Nepal, News and Article
BY http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com
As the sun warmed the valley, the memory of a subzero night faded. The golden barley mounds around us mimicked the forms of two peaks in the distance—snowy, arrowhead-shaped giants jutting literally miles into a deep-blue sky. I pictured a blindfolded person being flown around the world and deposited in this hidden valley. When the mask was removed, he would almost certainly guess where he was, for there was only one place on Earth this could be: the Himalaya. The world’s greatest mountain range. Nepal, where the modern adventure travel industry was born, and where its focus has newly returned.
Find out more
[published in NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM] sited on 29th oct, 2009
Meeting the God Regularly
Meeting the God Regularly
By Ashesh Maharjan- www.ecs.com.np
It is not quite possible to avoid visiting temples often when you live in a city like Kathmandu, well known as the ‘City of Temples’. It is said that at one point in history temples outnumbered houses in this place. Though we no more have the luxury of this claim, the density of the temples still awes tourists and natives alike. There are votive shrines scattered throughout in the city. We can find one within a stone’s throw in every direction. What is even more amazing is that these temples are never unattended, they always have at least have a few if not many visitors throughout the day.
People in Kathmandu, whether they know or admit it or not, are religious (or some say superstitious). They thank god for a meritorious day, and regret the sight of an empty gagri (a narrow-necked water vessel) that morning for an unfortunate day. And feelings like these drive most of the people regularly to the temples, at least once a week or, at most, several times a day. They don’t even realize how religious they are because that’s what they have been taught since childhood; it’s their way of life.
Some temples are visited frequently and some are not. Banglamukhi Mandir is one of the temples which is almost always has many devotees; but on Thursdays, the place is teeming with people. Thursdays, for many residents, has become synonymous with Banglamukhi. They believe that worshiping and offering burning incense, flowers and fruits to Banglamukhi Mai every week will make their wishes come true. A local woman of Patan in her weekly darshan (to pay respect) to Banglamukhi temple says “Banglamukhi Mai really made my wishes come true, my son now holds a US visa and all the credit goes to Banglamukhi Mai and Manakamana Mai. I’m sure going to offer something big to Manakamana Mai this year.” God really made her happy. Manakamana is another major Nepalese Hindu temple of wishes.
“I used to go to the temples just for the sake of going, a year or so ago,” says Prabin Sijhapati, a local of Bhaisipati, “but since my mother got sick and lost one of her kidneys, I’ve started to visit temples with a deep sense of faith and hope that god will look upon her.” Prabin is a very playful and amusing person and a converstionist, so nobody, including his best friend, would guess the anxiety he is facing. But when he enters the premises of a temple, he is a different person, very grave and filled with hopes. “I no more go to temples with an intention of flirting with girls,” he says, ending the conversation on a humorous note.
Some less religious people, or those who claim themselves to be less religious, visit temples as well. But they have different reasons (or excuses) to go each morning. A young local Newar of Patan says: “I don’t really believe in miracles, but I do visit temples every now and then when I walk past one, and I do have faith.” For almost all, temple-going is a way of life. Some pay their respects to god by visiting temples during morning walks or on the way to or back from work or school.
As people here get old, they lean towards god even more and take on religious quests. They believe that this leads them to salvation. Some religious sites are as popular among youngsters as they are with the old folks. One of them is Krishna Mandir. Though this temple is mostly visited once a year during Krishnastami, the temple complex is always full of youngsters evenings and often until late at night. It’s their hang out. “After a day of college and work I come here with my friends to feel loosened,” one said. “And to have tea, chat with friend and just watch people passing by,” his friend interjected. The large number of white plastic tea cups scattered all around the place suggests the great popularity of the local tea shop. Basantapur is another similar place often crowded with people each evening; but by removing the itinerant street-vendors lately, it has become a bit less crowded.
The worship of one’s kul deuta (ancestral god) is considered important in Nepalese culture. This practice dates back to the Kirat Period (from about 900 .C to 300 AD). Kirat religion, based on fact, love, respect, appreciation and harmony, realized that all of these five principles of life were taught to them by their ancestors. This led them to start worshiping their ancestors, who for them were the greatest of gods. Each family in Kathmandu has their own ancestral god. They visit the temple of their kul deuta every year to pay respect to their patrilineal forebears. The day long ritual, called dewali, is like a family gathering and a picnic at the same time. “All the prosperity, status, fortune, health and all the good things that can happen to a family are believed to be the asirvad (blessings) of our kul deuta,” said an elderly local of Patan when asked about this ritual.
Pashupatinath, the most famous and most holy Hindu temple of all, is visited by people on religious pilgrimage from all over the Indian sub-continent. This holy place, an abode for long-haired sadhus and agile monkeys, is most visited during Maha Shivaratri in February. Swayambhunath, the biggest of all Buddhist shrines on top of a hill west of Kathmandu city, is also most visited once a year during Buddha Purnima in May/June. Another popular temple is Lord Ganesha in Chovar, where every year during a month long mela (festival) in November, thousands of devotees climb all the way up the hill of Chovar to worship Lord Ganesha. Temples like Suryavinayak, Karyavinayak and Dakchinkali are also visited at least once a year by the inhabitants of the valley, but they don’t have a fixed date on which they are worshiped.
Meeting god regularly is the way of life of the Nepalese in Kathmandu. They have reasons to visit temples every now and then all round a year. It gas shaped the history and culture and, not least, the daily lives of the people in this holy valley.
Tourism comes home to Nepal !
December 30, 2008 by admin
Filed under News and Article
Tourists! For thousands of years people have travelled away from their homes to distant lands to enjoy the natural or man-made wonders of the world. The ancient Greeks traveled to holy places scattered across Greece and then moved on into the areas of new colonies to explore the environments away from the mountainous confines of their island home. The Romans carried it even farther with actual groups of citizens banding together and traversing the excellent Roman road system to the wilds of modern day Scotland and to the shores of the Mediterranean and the wonders of ancient Greece and Egypt. By the First Century AD road houses and inns lined Roman roads across the empire to take care of the adventurous Roman tourist.
With the advent of modern transportation, peoples from all over the world criss cross the globe seeking adventure, respite from the modern world and just to “see” new and different places. Retired men and women, seekers of adventure, scaling the mountains, those in search of spiritual renewal, men and women from all walks of life now become the modern “tourists”.
Nepal has become a “new” and different destination, drawing thousands to its cities and the magnificence of its varied terrain and way of life. The mountains which soar toward the heavens call to those who want adventure and the environment beckons people who are concerned for the planets preservation. Raging rivers for white water rafting, and deep gorges which beg to have the Bungee jumpers meet the challenge. By its proximity to China and Tibet on the north and east and the vast, sprawling lands of India to the south, Nepal has been in the past and is today a magnet for the modern “tourist”.
Anyone who has been in the tourist business knows that to maintain an active and loyal following and to bring on board new clients, today’s modern agency must meet even stricter demands from the travelers of today. An agency that fails to meet the demands of the modern traveler will soon fade away. One need not look very far to see the disastrous results of an agency failing as it did to XL tours out of London. 90,000 passengers stranded and the black mark on travel and tour groups will remain for a while.
Can tourists be difficult? Yes, of course they can. Anyone who deals with the public knows that there are as many different types of tourists with as many different types of problems. Agencies must be flexible and able to create new approaches to problems that arise and always keep in mind that the tourist is the staple of the business and must be handled in a professional and supportive way. New agencies that forget that simple idea will fail.
In addition, a wide variety and selection of tours should be made available as the clients in the tourist industry need to be able to select and also to alter any given tour to meet their needs. The package tour does not offer this flexibility, and although many travelers prefer to travel in this way, a great majority of the people traveling in Nepal want a more tailored and creative selection to meet their needs .
The interaction between tourist and agent should always be one of mutual respect and a professional approach on the part of the agent. As tourism grows in Nepal, many new agencies will appear on the horizon. Those who offer a selection of packages, operate in a professional manner and keep the client’s needs uppermost in their mind, will help the industry to grow and prosper as Nepal becomes a destination of choice and a place where the traveler can rely on experienced, professional and caring help to fulfill their traveling needs.
Visions n’ Vistas.
Welcome to the magnificent vistas, the wondrous pulse of ancient religious, and the over powering magic that fills the crystalline air!
Nepal is a land of rich bio and cultural diversities. Its exquisite beauty has lur ed citizens from all over the world to share her natural and cultural treasures. Nestled strategically between Tibet and India, it is presently a dynamic living classroom for sustainable development, ecological restoration and cultural preservation. Presently, micro-financing projects supporting the women are setting an example worldwide for positive development.
Upper Dolpo – A forbidden kingdom Valley.
The Himalayas, roof top of the world, is a magical place where the magnificence of the world’s highest mountains is mirrored in the rugged beauty and unique Bhatia culture of the people who live in their shadow.
Upper Mustang – a land of ancient civilizations
On the border of Tibet, this region is only recently opened to outsiders and is home to ancient tribes and contains remote Buddhist and Bon monasteries. Recent explorations have discovered century’s old Buddhist caves with paintings untouched since the 13th century.
Tibet …. a Himalayan Shangri-La.
Join us in our pilgrimage to Tibet on the ancient caravan route between Kathmandu and Lhasa through hidden valleys, ancient villages and centuries old monasteries. The Buddhist culture permeates every rock in the landscape.
Besides Lhasa, with its world famous Potala Palace and major Buddhist monasteries, we also offer group pilgrimages to Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar Lake where it is said that heaven abides on earth. The four great rivers of Asia, the Indus, Pramaputra, Ganges and Sutlej flow through this region.
A Taste of real Nepal- a cultural immersion-11 Days
This trip offers an experience of the real Nepal. After visiting seven culture world heritage sites, you will experience the reality of life in Pashupati Temple. A highlight of your experience will be riding on an elephant!
Your trip takes you to a wonderful banana palmed valley where the tropical climate ensures your pleasure. Scan the horizon and the 140 kms of majestic Himalayas staggers your imagination.
Holiday of a lifetime in the Himalayas
Anapurna Classic Treks.
Everest Base Camp treks.
Journey to Kanchanjunga.
Chitwan Jungle Safari.
Ghorepani Treks.
Royal Treks.
Jomsom Treks.
Langtang Gosaikunda Treks.
Ancient Heritage tour.
Magic of Himalaya.
Himalayan Holidays.
Himalayan Luxury holidays.
Discover ancient trail.
Discover Bhutan - the last Shangri-La
Travel with us and discover the last SHANGRI-LA, the buddhist faith and the culture where Guru Rimpoche or another Shabdrung may have stopped to meditate. The place where prayers flags are even more common, fluttering on longs poles, they maintain constant communication with the heavens. Read more
Himalayas & beyond
Himalayan Dreams operates under a number of self-imposed guidelines to ensure that each itinerary has a positive impact on the local culture, environment and economy. We work to ensure not only the safety of our clients, but also to create a positive long term relationship with our staff and people and natural environment of Nepal.
Trekking to Annapurna
Trekking to Annapurna
Crossing innumerable ups and downs through lush evergreen forest up to astonishing altitude variations and ecological diversity of amazing Annapurna makes everyone completely fresh and rejuvenated mentally. Among the many tourism-related activities, trekking is a modern-day adventure and leisure activity in its refined form.
Travel by foot, whether it is a languid stroll or a quick-paced walk with purposeful strides in order to reach a particular destination within a set time frame is indeed a trekking. The terms – “trekking” and “hiking” – are directly attributed to “hill walking“. Trekking – long, hard, mountain walking – is nowadays more synonymous to on-foot excursions in Nepal. A trekking course follows the paths from village to village crossing deep valleys and mountain ridges, and staying overnight in one village after another.
The Annapurna Sanctuary leads you among the valleys surrounded by enormous peaks, out of barren plateaus. The combination of high alpine valleys, lush jungles, quaint villages, wide variety of species of orchids, rhododendron and birds reflects the land of unique diversity. The Sanctuary is a hidden glacial hollow, which shimmers like a jewel in the mountains. For thousands of years, many people from diverse ethnic backgrounds have carved a lifestyle out of its steep terraces.
This is a famous trekking destination. The recent data indicate that nearly 64 per cent of the trekkers choose this destination because of the best and splendid Himalayan panorama of Mt. Dhaulagiri (8167 m), Mt Annapurna South (7219 m), Hiunchuli (6441 m), Mt. Fishtail (6907 m), Annapurna III (7555 m), Mt Annapurna IV (7525 m), Lamjung Himal (6980 m) and hundreds of other magnificent peaks. Pokhara, a lake city, is the starting and ending point for this trek.
The trek can be organized in two ways – teahouse and tented camp treks. The tea house trek means staying at local inns along the trail. During the trek you are served food in cozy drawing rooms with kerosene heater under the table; and the tented camp trek means you trek with all necessary camping gears. The cook, porters and their assistance will provide you all as you carry everything. The advantage of this trek is that you can stay wherever you want.
Every year hundreds and thousands of people from all over the world visit Annapurna and explore the fascinating natural beauty and breathtaking view of panoramic mountains.
Equipment, clothing, health safety and security:
Trekking to Annapurna, which starts from Pokhara – the tourist hub of Nepal – does not cost much as compared to other adventure activities. Lots of fine lodges during the trail serve you with their warm hospitality. Most of the foreigners choose Annapurna for their trekking destination because of its accessibility by both plane and several luxurious tourist buses (to Pokhara). The trekkers needn’t be fully equipped as the required things are easily available along the trails. The main emphasis should be given to keep warm and dry while at the same time maintaining lightweight. Fleece jackets, woolen hat, pants or trousers are adequate. Medicine shops are available on the way during the high season, but it is advised to carry first aid kit. Nepal is a safe country to trek, provided the basic rules are observed. One should not trek alone, follow rules, do not display wealthy ornaments, keep belongings secure and within sight. Before going to trek, personal information and trekking planning should be registered.
The autumn season is the dawn of the trekking season. When I was there last, the panoramic view was just hiding behind the cloud due to heavy rainfall and foggy weather. People had been staying at Ghorepani (2800 m) for best view. Enrico and Shana, two tourists from London, were disappointed for the first three days of their trekking but the weather favored them later.
Michael Lareuz from France says, “When I feel myself mentally sick of over- work I pack my backpack and run to Annapurna for relaxation.” Annapurna hypnotized me during my first visit in November last year. “What an amazing beauty!” exclaims Stephanie Marshall from London. Carlos Esparta from Spain enthusiastically expresses his experience, “I don’t have even a single word to explain, because my words never suffice the explanation of its (mesmerizing) beauty”.
Some bitter facts:
Some trekkers this time were bit disappointed because they were charged from both sides – the government and the Maoists. The government charges Rs. 2000 per person and Maoists charged them US$ 15. So they have to pay slightly more than Rs. 3000 to secure trekking permits. Because of adverse political situation of the country, tourism business is receiving major setback. Some travel and trekking agencies are doing well, whereas some are even in the breaking point.
Enrico and Shana later on expressed their experience, “We had a dream to come to visit Annapurna. Now the dream has come true. We felt completely safe and secured during our 15-day holiday in Nepal. Sincere Nepali people, wealthy natural resource and rich cultural heritage are worth of it.”
