Nepal for all seasons
Nepal for all seasons
A Swiss trekker died and three others sustained injuries in an avalanche at Thorang Pass, east of Muktinath in the Mustang district on October 27, 2006. According to police source from Pokhara, Thom Asnikles was buried by the avalanche and died on the spot. Niles Alain, another Swiss trekker, and two Sherpa guides-- Sher Jumbu Sherpa, 36, and Kanchha Sherpa, 42, from Khumjung village of the Solukhumbu district-- were also injured. They were trapped in the avalanche while climbing the peak on the way to Thorang Pass. The body of the dead, and those injured were rescued by the Nepal…
View DetailThanks to the ongoing peace process, the number of tourists visiting Nepal has increased during the current season. Most of the airlines operating flights in Nepal have run out of tickets. The unprecedented demand has been created due to the ongoing peace process. “Air seats are packed not just for this year, but until April next year,” reports ekantipur.com quoting a Thai Airways official as saying. The season is considered favourable for trekking, jungle safari and a myriad of other adventure and cultural activities in Nepal. Some of the foreign online airlines have added some extra flights to Nepal for…
View DetailThe Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has extended cease-fire by three more months effective from October 29, 2006. "We have extended the duration of the cease-fire for three months keeping in view the positive development in the peace talks between CPN (Maoist) and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) government," said the Maoist Chairman Prachan (Pushpa Kamal Dahal), in a press statement issued in Kathmandu on October 28. The extension of the cease-fire shows that the CPN (Maoist) is committed to the peace process.
View DetailMore and more trekkers have been receiving the Trekking Registration Certificate (TRC documents. As of October 29, 2006, the Thamel TRC counter alone has issued TRC documents to more than 1,900 trekkers during the last nine days. Being the implementing agency, the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) started issuing TRC from October 21, 2006. The foreign trekkers, who are interested to visit various general trekking areas of Nepal, are required to receive TRC documents through any of the registered trekking agencies prior to their departure for the trekking areas. As per the Nepal Government's decision, trekkers need to get…
View DetailAs per the mandate of the Government of Nepal, the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) is all set to launch the Trekking Registration Certificate (TRC) on October 21, 2006. The TRC check posts in the general trekking areas will be activated only from October 27, 2006. TAAN has urged all the visiting guests interested to visit the general trekking areas to receive TRC documents through the registered trekking agencies of Nepal before leaving for the trek.
View DetailGMG Airlines, a Bangladeshi private sector carrier, is going to start operating scheduled flights on Dhaka-Kathmandu-Dhaka sector from October 22 this year. "In the beginning, we are operating three weekly flights. We are planning to operate daily flights after few months," said Virendra Nautiyal, Director Commercial International Operations of GMG Airlines. The flights will be operated on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to the airlines. The flight leaves Dhaka at 3:50p.m. and lands at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 4:50 p.m. Similarly, the Kathmandu-Dhaka flight leaves Kathmandu at 5:50 p.m. Nautiyal said that the flight operations would help further…
View DetailA six-member Japan Mt. Manaslu Expedition 2006 is leaving for Gorkha soon in its bid to climb Mt. Manaslu, 8,156 metres. The Japanese team is making the attempt on the eighth highest mountain in the world to mark the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the first ascent of the peak Manaslu. The peak was first climbed by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu of a Japanese expedition on May 9, 1956. To be led by Mr. Yoshitomi Okura, 55, from Japan, other members of the team include Aikra Suzuki, 68, Masami Yamanashi, 64, Yoko Mihara, 65, Hidehiro Minamii, 70, and Takesh Ogawa,…
View DetailIndian Airlines will be resuming its scheduled daily flight on Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu sector with effective from September 15, 2006. The airlines has decided to resume its flights considering the growing air traffic this season. The Indian Airlines flight will depart from Kathmandu at 1510 local time and will arrive Kathmandu at 1420 local time, according to the airlines.
View DetailVisitors' arriving to Nepal by air recorded a decline of 12.2% in the month of August, 2006 as compared to the figure of the same period last year. Arrivals from India went down by 23.9% and third country arrivals decreased by 3.9%. Only a total of 22,813 visitors visited Nepal in the month, according to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Except for Japan, the Asian market showed a downward trend in terms of tourist arrivals. Arrivals from Bangladesh declined by 58.7%. The Chinese market suffered by 27.4% with the rest of South East Asia, except for Malaysia…
View DetailThe Government of Sweden has lifted the travel advisory against Nepal effective from September 7, 2006. It was stated in a letter sent to Nepalese Embassy- UK by Dr. Roland Dahlam, Consul General of Nepalese Consulate General in Sweden, according to a news report of the NTB Media Centre. The lifting of travel advisory will allow the Swedish travellers to get travel insurance to visit Nepal. Travel insurance is very common among the Swedish population and will again be effective in connection with travel to Nepal, he said. Dr. Dahlman said that it would help to increase the number of…
View DetailWith the cease-fire turning into permanent peace, the entire tourism industry is in the process of revival. Both the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leaderships have expressed their commitment that they would give the much-required positive message to the country soon by holding summit peace talks before the Dashain festival. Against this backdrop, some six international airlines are in the process of operating their flights to Nepal soon. According to the latest news reports, GMG Bangladesh, Orient Thai, Air Arabia, Korean Air, Etihad, and Sri Lankan Airlines are flying to Kathmandu as a…
View DetailWith the date for the implementation of the Trekking Registration Certificate (TRC) nearing, the government has recently approved the TRC Directives as submitted by a taskforce. TRC is coming into force from October 1, 2006. As assigned by the government, Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) will issue TRC for the trekkers interested to go on trekking in the open areas of the country. Similarly, the government has adopted temporary measures to encourage more foreign international airlines to operate flights to Nepal. “Considering the unavailability of required flights for this season, we have decided to allow international airlines to add…
View DetailDespite massive search and rescue operations, the whereabouts of the chopper that has gone missing since Saturday (September 23, 2006) morning is still unknown. The bad weather has hampered the rescue operations. A total of 24 persons, including State Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Gopal Rai, were aboard. They included some foreign embassy officials, senior World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials, conservation officials from Nepal and two journalists. Minister Rai and the officials from the WWF had reached Taplejung to attend a function to mark the handing over of the Kanchanjunga Conservation Area to the local community. The helicopter of…
View DetailThe festival of Dashain, which is the greatest festival celebrated throughout Nepal during September-October, has begun. The 15-day auspicious festival falls during the bright lunar fortnight ending on the day of the full moon. The goddess Durga, in all her manifestations, is worshipped with abundant offerings and sacrifices of animals. The festival is marked as part of commemoration of a great victory of the gods over the wicked demons. One of the stories related to the victory is narrated in the Ramayan. As per the story, the lord Ram, after a big struggle, slaughtered Ravana, the fiendish king of demons.…
View DetailNewly developed tourism areas on Internet Information on rural areas like the western exotic destination of Dolpo is just a click away. Travellers and trekking agencies within Nepal, or in any part of the world can easily access information like off the beaten trails, pictures, permit fees, videos, weather of far away remote places. Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) have developed websites for different product areas viz, Dolpa, Solukhumbu, Chitwan, Langtang (Rasuwa), Kanchenjungha (Taplejung). The links are: Solukhumbu: www.welcomenepal.com/everest Dolpa: www.welcomenepal.com/dolpa Chitwan: www.welcomenepal.com/chitwan Rasuwa: www.welcomenepal.com/langtang Taplejung: www.welcomenepal.com/kanchenjungha Information on Lumbini can be accessed…
View DetailWith the improved law and order situation, the number of tourists visiting the Langtang region has increased this year as compared to the last year. According to the Langtang National Park, about 10-12 tourists have been visiting the area daily this year. The tourists are found visiting Gatlang, Goljung, Chilime, Briddim, Thuman, Nagthali, Langtang and Kyangjin areas. They seem to be attracted by local art and culture, graciers, mountain ranges, rural Tamang settlements and lifestyle and biodiversity. Local tourism entrepreneurs are very optmistic now, as the tourism industry has started to revive.
View DetailA Nepali trekking sirdar has become one of the winners of the first ever global award for tour guides. The Wanderlust announced Shes Kanta Sharma, who works in the Annapurna region, and Manda Chisanga, a safari guide from Zambia, as the winners of the Paul Morrison Guide Award. More than 70 guides from around the world were nominated for the award this year. As per a news report, the judging panel was led by best-selling travel writer Bill Bryson and comprised members Lyn Hughes of Wanderlust, top naturalist Mark Carwardine, and Mark Ellingham, founder of Rough Guides. Shes Kanta Sharma,…
View DetailAll the foreign ambassadors working in Nepal are scheduled to take the tika collectively in the capital on the day of Bhai Tika, which falls on October 24 this year. The Didi Bahini Foundation Nepal, Nepal Tourism Board and Kumudini High School, Kalimati are going to make necessary arrangements for this. The tika offering ceremony will take place at the Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza at 4 p.m. The organisers said that the programme is going to be organised in order to protect the tradition.
View DetailThree members of the Slovak Mountaineering Expedition Tilicho Peak climbed the 7,134-metre Mt. Tilicho on October 14, 2006. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the successful climbers were Mr. Ivan Prokop, 41, Mr. Stanislav Tomovic, 39, and Mr. Vladimir Gembes, 30. Led by Mr. Marian Sajnoha, the team, which had 8 members, was permitted to scale the peak from Northeast route for the period of 60 days from September 21, 2006. Meanwhile, Mr. Ivan Prokop died while descending from the peak by falling down the crevasse on October 14.
View DetailNepal Tourism Board, Nepal Airlines and private sector of Nepal jointly participated in the JATA Congress and World Travel Fair 2006 held between September 21 and 24, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. This year, a large number of exhibitors from all over the world took part in the mart. The According to the Japan Association of the Travel Agents (JATA), about 38048 trade visitors and media persons and more than 68,000 consumers visited the fair this year. NTB participated at the said fair with the new tourism branding theme "Naturally Nepal, Once is not Enough." A large number of consumers visited…
View Detail
