Gate Way To Mount Everest

Best of Namchey Bazzar

Things You Need to Know Before Travelling Nepal

01 Food & Beverage: Food is generally not expensive when you compare to Europe and US however Restaurants in Durbar Marg, Thamel can be as expensive as to that of European Countries. Normal Restaurants offer very good menus from $3 to $5. If you want to try typical Nepali Menu Thakali Restaurant is doing well.  All Normal restaurants may not be very clean and hygienic so be smart enough to judge its standard from its appearance. Drinking tap water is strongly not recommended. Use bottle waters only. If you are in Kathmandu or Pokhara find Bhat Bhateni Super Market to buy groceries or other things. Do not forget to try Nepalese Beer when you are in Nepal they are really very good.

02 Travelling in Nepal: If you choose tourist buses to travel if available to your destinations you are in better facilities. If you choose local transportation to short routes you are in a different world that you may never like it. If you get city transport Saja Yatayat coverage in your route you are lucky. If you want to travel by taxi consider to travel in taxi meters however one kilometer of distance should not be more than NRS 40 Nearly 40 cents. If you want to travel short distance you can bargain and rules do not much apply. You will always get Tourist Buses to go to Pokhara and Lumbini they are good always try them. Taxi from airport to hotels are crazy if you are traveling alone or unscheduled or don’t have airport pickup. After 8 PM Taxi normally double their fair and it’s normal.  

03 Money to Beggars: Not advised

04 Dress Code: Though Nepal is practicing open society in recent years it is not advised to show body parts while you travel. 30 years back if any women showed ankles would be vulgar.. now its pretty much changed  in the city areas. But still will be advisable to cover your body.

05 Sex and “ganja” (marijuana): Nepal does not practice Legal Brothel nor marijuana. However they are available but is strongly advised to keep your distance from them. People are badly cheated and if you are the victim you will have trouble getting help form the police as you are already involved in Illegal issues. Ganja are easily available in the hillside and Kathmandu river banks keep your distance. Going to Dance bar and Cabin Restaurants are too not advised price will inflate terribly there.

06 Security: Nepalese police are among the best in the world and there is a Tourist Police hotline available remember to have that in advance however police lack resource and materials so you may not get prompt help.

07 Trekking or Hiking alone: Strongly Not Advised, Landscape is demanding, plenty of wild animals are there as the growth of greenery is outstanding in Nepal in recent years, and of course social crimes too can take place. Specially women or small group, traveling alone can be vulnerable in remote or isolated areas. 

08 Electric Equipment’s: Use universal charger when coming to Nepal. Nepal uses 220V.

09: Night life: Thamel is open until late night. However other normal shops start closing from seven onwards. Restaurants do open until 9 or 10. If you are visiting Pokhara in the weekends you will definitely enjoy Night life for sure.

10: Entrance fee: Depending upon the place you visit entrance fee may vary from $2 to $7. So always have local Currency with you.

11. While visiting many temples do not display your food or eat in the public. You will be attracting monkeys and they can snatch food and create trouble.

12. Its always advised to carry tissue papers and sanitizer in your local travel.

13.When you are travelling in the local Newari city in Kathmandu its likely you will come across lots of  small worships in front of the entrance doors with tika food and other things so make sure you don’t step on them.

14. Its advisable to have all your Nepalese currency exchanged before you leave the country as its not legal to take money from the Nepal.

15. Buying products in the local shop is done through price bargaining so if you have no idea about the product make sure you get some advice from your local guide or someone you get to know. 

Best Way to Travel Nepal

Hey Guys! What’s up!!  Planning to visit Nepal any time sooner…!! How do you want to travel Nepal?

Don’t get confused! Nepal is a developing country you won’t get all your luxury that you may imagine back in your country….. But don’t be upset as the country has lots of exciting life time memory waiting for you. Since the level of facilities and infrastructure is very much unbalanced the way you travel will be there accordingly.

Whenever you plan to visit the country your level of fun and adventure varies depending on your interest and intention to travel.

Basically many people have very little idea about Nepal, Many people come up with surprising questions about Nepal, like once I was asked If Nepal had any International airports? Or does it have its airlines? Are there five star Hotels etc. believe me reply is not very exciting. Yes of course there is an International Airport but be prepared to be very less demanding there. When I was once landing to the one and only International airport in Kathmandu one of the nervous British Tourist stood from her seat and asked where the city and airport was?  Before landing all the international plane has to go through the remote hills and you feel as if you are landing on some hill tops and you don’t see the city nor any residence around ……. landing in Kathmandu is one of the toughest job for the pilots in the region. There is one saying “no pilots are perfect until they land in Kathmandu” but due to advance technologies many things have become easier these days. Nepalese authorities are trying to do better in terms of airport service and facilities but don’t expect much once you are there.

In case of Nepalese airlines they are doing well but has extremely limited international flight however number of other international service is overwhelming. Qatar airlines and Thai airlines are among reliable airlines providing their services. Nepalese airlines has very limited International service. Lucky are those who get Nepalese airlines. (In terms of service and Price) However honestly I have not yet preferred my own Nepalese airlines till date.

In case of hotels there are enough Hotels in the capital and in major cities, they are available in highly reasonable price. Well online booking is there in five star hotels however that trend is not much in general hotels. So take the opportunity to email and make your bargain. You can even do that in five Star hotels. You must have booking in advance in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Mountains and Trekking Routs. Hill Station Such as Dhulikhel and Nagarkot are also fully booked during weekends.

Low tourist traffic areas can always give you good rooms starting from $15 to $ 25 per night.  Well you can start getting room as low as $5 per night but don’t really recommend them unless you are a backpacking tourists. If you pay $50 dollar per night in Pokhara you must get five star standard rooms even in Normal Hotels. Take a tour to be sure with the standard of room and the price that you are paying for match up if you are a walk in customer. It’s good to be careful in advance rather than having a bad feeling afterwards. 

Nature and Life

Birth Place Of Ravan ?

Ramayana
Most of us know that Nepal is the Birth Place of BUDDHA & JANAKI. Supringly many of us are unaware that RAVAN too was born in Kathmandu Nepal in Sleshmantak Jungle Presently  near Pashupatinath Temple.
He Later on took over the Kingdom of Kuber and Ruled over Lanka.

So while Promoting Religious Tourism in Nepal I also see an opportunity of Curiosity about the birth Place of Ravan in Nepal.

One of the Best Picture of Nepal found on the Internet

Pokhara

Nepal is Not Just a Country of Mountains Its a Live Museum Too.

Mt Amadablam Everest Region

Moonlight Tourism

Beautiful Kathmandu On a Super Full Moon Night from Phulchoki Hill: Onlinekhabar.com

Beautiful Kathmandu On a Super Full Moon night from Phulchoki Hill: Onlinekhabar.com

Beautiful Kathmandu On a Super Full Moon night from Phulchoki Hill: Onlinekhabar.com

Beautiful Kathmandu On a Super Full Moon night from Phulchoki Hill: Onlinekhabar.com

Beautiful Kathmandu On a Super Full Moon night from Phulchoki Hill: Onlinekhabar.com

Beautiful Kathmandu On a Super Full Moon night from Phulchoki Hill: Onlinekhabar.com

Moonlight Tourism

"Let me be clear in one thing : Of course there is huge money in Moonlight Tourism. and this of course is an unique opportunity to cash and sell the moments from the prospective customers. Well we need to make customers develop feeling on them.
One simple thing, have you ever walked on the full moon day during night in the mountains, in the sands or have we seen from outside the window. Try once and you will understand what i am talking about specially if you live in the mountains when there is snow.

Good luck with your creativity.

Bhugrung Khola Raazz Timilsina

This is what it is when you travel in Nepal, specially in remote areas. Take it as an adventure but is the way of life to many local people there.

Patan Durbar Square

Pokhara Most Beautiful Place on Earth

Pokhara, Machhapuchhre and Danfe

Basantapur Durbar Square and Pokhara at its best

TOURISM IN NEPAL

TOURISM IN NEPAL

“Let’s make it better”

        *Rabin Sapkota

Something very commonly debated topic, topic that fails to pinpoint on the objectives that can be accomplished and the opinion and thought that gets marginalized. Nepal, pioneer of tourism industry in the region with plan policy and strategic document is still in predicament not knowing what this industry offers. The problem is not in the lack of opinion, people with brilliant ideas come forward everywhere but putting those ideas into systematic development has become something that we see as immense unsolved task.

Doing what we were supposed to do could have taken us all into entire new level however the ground reality does not reflect the tangible picture as shown in the documents. The problem with the leadership is everywhere, politicians prefer populist speech and populist speech does not count little and important tasks that needs accomplishment rather prefer hypothetical agendas that can entertain mass.

It’s high time that the country needs to think on those small and minor issues that can make tangible effect on the picture and correct our working pattern. World is a common ground where every country is competing with one another for quality and performance to embrace the benefits that this industry offers. It is only us and our commitment that can change the scenario.

Amenities: Sometimes people wonder, Nepal a strategic location between such a huge population south and north keeps us away from all the possibilities. The reason behind these faded hopes is nothing more than our incapability’s to develop appropriate destinations and facilities according to the time spectrum. What if we had cable cars connecting snowline in all our five development regions? Do we have to worry about tourists from hot and humid India?

Ambiance: When tourists from third country enter Nepal via India they hardly realize if they have entered the new country. Border check point performance is under the benchmark and if any tourist without realizing that it had entered Nepal goes back to India will definitely think that the person never entered Nepal, so grumbling hear in Kathmandu that “Buddha is born in Nepal” is like an irrational statement. All Nepalese are well aware about the strong ambiance one has to come across when visiting Tatopani through Miteeri Bridge. Unless we create similar ambiance while entering Nepal no tourist will realize where they are, so naturally if the ambience is created in the entry point we don’t have to spend millions in marketing and the message will flow naturally to concerned stakeholders and visitors.

Brand: Advertisements are no more effective in tourism marketing though it does still have some impact. “Word of a Mouth” is indeed a vital icebreaker yet in the country like Nepal verbal recommendation from the tourist is not safe from their unprecedented ethical and unethical experiences. Introspection on experiences gained by the tourists for last 30 years and its analysis will tell us what impression we have created in Nepal for the prospective new visitors. There were times during 70’s and 80’s that Nepal truly was natural and of course the guest were treated like gods as guided by cultural ethics. The worst and the best part of Nepal is that it is still not facilitated with modern infrastructures, which makes most part of the country no better than what it was before, so on this ground tourists can still enjoy Nepal as any tourists that had enjoyed Nepal  during 60’s and 70’s. However modern professional growth and exposure of Nepalese in the international market cannot be undermined in the recent years. There is no doubt that Nepal is desperately looking for the new brand that can be established and can be suitable for the country image. Bringing new words as brand or slogan may be easy but what is truly forgotten is that the brand and image of the country relies on the combined factor of all the variables that are involved in making this industry. Fragile structure, underperformance, unprofessional behavior may not support any beautiful combination of words that we put forward. There is no option and alternative to everyone’s collective effort to upgrade this industry the way we think is better.

Religious Tourism: Once one of the Vietnamese person came across the statement mentioning that Buddha was from Vietnam. In Thailand people think that Buddha is from their own country. Most of the Chinese have no idea where Buddha is from. These are not just mere mistakes they truly reflect how insignificant our performance is on the prospective market. Similarly most of the Indians have no clue that Nepal is the land of gods and sages. Many people who reside in Nepal are the true inheritance of those bloodlines. Nepal is not just the country of Hindus but also possess strong spiritual environment that can flourish mental peace and prosperity.

So what is sellable here in Nepal is not only the religious destinations and its value but the experience that one gets and can experience is beyond ones expectations. Diversity and practices in Nepal is more than an open university. One just needs to come up with open mind.

Cultural Tourism: Well Nepal definitely is poor in many economic terms but there is no another country in the world who can boost its cultural enrichment despite severe poverty. Surprisingly even at this poverty level people here are calm, tolerant, and ethical, contains high moral values unlike many developed countries. The term culture does not only indicate at what we practice now but also indicates what makes us do so that is different and is a lesson that can aware the world in many terms. Rites and rituals practiced in this country is very much related to modern terminology that intellectual society uses in abundance to create global awareness. Of course the present society is strongly influenced by the modern achievements however certain behavior practiced by the society is amazingly a lesson to all humans. 

Accessibility: There is plenty of typology in tourism that can be discussed about however any pristine location or place that is available as a product is not far from its inaccessibility. What if Pokhara was not connected with the roadways! So is the case of other destination that if possibly had access could have unimaginable breakthrough.

Product: It’s a lame idea to depend only on one typology of tourism. Our misconception that was built during 60’s is still at large on our minds. It surprising that we still strongly believe that tourists come for mountains and nothing else. Without realizing the fact that the tourists arriving for trekking hiking and mountaineering consists a very small portion and size in the world. This narrow mindset among the stakeholders has stopped us from going beyond normal practices and harvest the possibilities beyond horizons. 

Rabin Sapkota is a Program Supervisor of Masters of Hospitality Management Program in Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM). Conducted in Affiliation with Tribhuvan University

Mt.Dhaulagari

Annapurna Range Nepal

Beautiful Mountain of Nepal 

Pokhara: Believed to be one of the most beautiful place on Earth (Nepal)

   

INTROSPECTION OF HOTEL INDUSTRY IN NEPAL 2015

Despite ample of opportunity industry which is overrated at all times comes to us in pathetic shape never like before. There were times when this industry used to boast its blissful status with less than half the tourists compared to now visited Nepal. At present earthquake that divested the industry and an Indian blockade that took the whole lots of hope in despair does not indicate any relevance to the management practice that we have been following at present.

What have we done? It is indeed always very easy to pin point at somebody else, politics, leadership, disaster, violence, unionism, whatever may be our answer that we may declare appropriate never solve challenges that we are facing at present. As a business, does this sector even have sufficient grooming to be called an Industry? What in the world will anyone do without diligent and competent human resource than to linger? When will we realize the fact? Of course employee turnover is high but is that the problem without solution? Yes the society has upgraded itself to 21^st century but have we ourselves seen problem from those prospective of new generation? How can we claim that the system established during sixties and seventies should still function?

Veterans of this country found it important to establish this sector as an industry much before many nations in the region and around the globe were not even close to the idea, however achievement that we have made all these years is nothing more than “a bubbles of reputation” nothing stable nor countable.

Lack of transformation in employee dose not only mean increase in salary, working environment and hours, holidays and facilities, job satisfaction, performance and appraisals these are only few components that has distracted newcomers in the industry.

Operational issues just provides a gloomy picture.

Human Resource: Nepalese people are famous all around the globe leading this industry except in their own country. Looking into details it’s not surprising to find many doing good as mid-line managers and even general managers of star hotels around the world. Sadly there are only countable managers that are capable of holding the post of general managers in Nepalese star hotels. Situation in this industry is beyond managerial analysis and is funny most of the time.

“Students who go to Five Star Hotel for their research gets the very humble answer almost every time:  We would love to help you but these issues are something we can’t address this time or there are no one to come into your contact so we can’t help you”.

Why these reactions are funny is primarily those who reply are most of the middle line managers and don’t exactly know what research mean to their organization and are afraid that their mere errors will be spotted or even the managers with higher education don’t have the confidence to understand what suggestions and feedback they might come across or most importantly what they are afraid is that the researcher might come across those loopholes and their deceitful activities which they have maintained with local government authorities. While doing so what this industry really is missing, is the billion dollar idea and suggestions that every new and young researcher brings to this industry and revive the worst case scenario to their own rescue and advantage. If competitive corporate culture was in existence these industry would have hired researcher to improve their weakness and improve themselves and now even when students on their own purpose come across them to find their rooms to improve and support the industry people on these sector not only show ignorance but also find it useless activity and are avoided most of the time.

Contemporary situation indicates best manpower are being consumed by banks and are screening significant progress in the region, however hospitality industry is facing massive brain drain and are unable to compete with those regions in the middle east which either don’t have much attractive pay scale. Looking at the reason beyond the cause reflects massive mismanagement within the industry. Hotels in Nepal does not have any trend nor culture to overcome employee turnover and the industrialists are happy thinking that they are able to exploit maximum from their employees unable to understand the fact that the overworked employee are counterproductive for the organization.

Hotel industry unable to upgrade its working culture and environment is facing massive ignorance from the prospective candidates produced from academic institution in the recent years. Traditional and classical working environment and culture in Nepal has compelled many diligent manpower to look for better alternatives in the global market and Nepalese hotels never come to their priority list. Solution is not only the payment, primarily hotel as an organization is unable to present the glamour that this industry needs, working hrs are terribly mismanaged, behavior are below standards as many employee are found to be overworking and management is busy fishing in the blurry atmosphere.

No matter how bleak this article must have been, if taken positively there are ample of Bright-side that can lead us to prosperity. If we are at worst condition due to various reasons there is no better opportunity than this to upgrade our systems and working environment to entire new level.