Nepal Magic

Shangri-La of legend, novel and classic film is a real place, the Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. This tiny country next to Tibet is home to Mount Everest and much more. From arts and handicrafts tours to trekking and mountaineering, the Himalayan kingdom has something for every traveler.

All Nepal adventures start with the flight into Tribhuvan airport in Kathmandu. Spectacular mountain views give way to green, terraced hillsides and small villages of thatched homes as the plane makes it’s rapid descent. Immigration and customs clearance are easy for tourists; visas are issued automatically on arrival for $30.

Expeditions and tours start from Kathmandu, so you’ll need a base and a chance to recover from the long flight. The Yak and Yeti hotel, next to the Royal Palace, is close to shopping and the old city. If the Yak and Yeti’s $200 rates leave you wooly-headed, there are many options, from $2 per night guest houses to comfortable hotels for less than $100. Even if you don’t stay at the Yak and Yeti, stop for an exotic drink in their lovely garden or a roll of the dice at the Casino Royale. The Raj lives on too at high tea every afternoon in the lobby.

Walk into the old city of Kathmandu along a street that was the ancient trade route from India to Tibet. The city grew up around traders’ stalls lining that route, and the market is still in full swing. Fruit, flowers, spices, medicines, metal wares, silk and pashmina, incense, jewelry and more - the 2,000 year old bazaar churns with activity.

The bazaar opens into a complex of palace buildings, enormous temples, and interconnected open plazas. The old Palace Square rivals the best Venice can offer for elegance of design, baroque complexity, and majesty. But here the materials are simple brick and plaster, with elaborately carved wood. Every exposed wooden surface is carved with animals both mythical and real, flowers, religious symbols and gods and goddesses.

The house of the Kumari, Nepal’s virgin goddess, faces the palace. A small girl is chosen by elaborate rituals, and Nepalis believe the king’s personal goddess enters into the girl. From then until she reaches puberty she is treated as a deity. Each fall she confers on the king the right to rule for another year. In 1955 the then-Kumari dozed off during the ceremony, then blessed the crown prince by mistake when she awoke. Later that year the king died and the crown prince ascended to the throne.

North of the Palace Square, 15 minutes walk or a one-dollar rickshaw ride away, is Thamel, the trekkers and tourist neighborhood. Thamel resembles Harvard Square or The Haight, but on a dizzyingly vast scale. There are literally thousands of small shops selling handicrafts, clothing, expedition gear, music and much more. Mixed among the shops are hundreds of restaurants catering to every taste from Korean to Kosher, and scores of budget hotels and guesthouses. Darbar Marg, two blocks west is Kathmandu’s High Street, a neighborhood of expensive, classy shops and hotels, including the Yak and Yeti.

source : http://newsblaze.com/story/20080623222855chil.nb/topstory.html

MUMBAI: Fever FM has tied up with Nepal Tourism to promote Nepal in India through its on air programming. This initiative is to bring the flavour of another country alive on the station’s morning show. RJ Lokesh from Fever began his interactive journey in Nepal on 12 July, to jumpstart your mornings with bytes from Nepal.

A journey spread over two weeks in the neighboring Nepal is a once in a lifetime experience as summed up by RJ Lokesh from on site. “The entire country is like a picture postcard.” The excitement began the very moment he landed in Nepal. He had barely reached the hotel, when he realized that he was in midst of a traditional Nepalese wedding. An over enthusiastic RJ Lokesh was caught roaming around with a wide eyed curiosity but with an additional bulk of technical paraphernalia. The high point of the trip so far, was a special flight to the top of Mount Everest, with RJ Lokesh screaming in ecstasy on the phone for his listeners to hear.”

There is increased interactivity with the listeners in Delhi with whom RJ Lokesh is linking up every hour to get an update on what is happening in Delhi while he is on job vacationing!. The listeners are feeding Lokesh with Delhi buzz and Lokesh is drawing parallels between the two cities, comparing traffic at rush hours, colleges, youth lives etc. To top this all, Lokesh is carrying back personalized gifts for each and every listener he’s chatting up with.

Lokesh’s invitation to all his listeners in Delhi via a fun contest, where one lucky listener couple wins a holiday package to Nepal including air fare, everyday.

Says an excited RJ Lokesh said, “So far, I have brought Delhi closer to Delhites. It’s a thrilling experience to now bring the country of Nepal closer Delhites. I don’t think I want this sojourn to end.”

Nepal tourism’s Neeraj Dhawan said, “Radio leaves an element of fantasy and yet describes the destination with a story telling art. It has been a pleasure to associate with Fever 104 who are giving this fantastic reach. We are hopeful that this initiative will bring about a new way of promoting the tourism industry.”

Fever FM Vinay Manek programming head said, “This is truly a cross cultural innovation on radio. Balle Balle Dilli to Balle Balle in Nepal is a unique concept and the response from our listeners has been both touching and overwhelming.”

source : http://www.radioandmusic.com/headlines/y2k8/july/15july/fever.php

Nepal is a landlocked nation. It borders China in the north and India in the south. Defending its sovereign identity from these two giant nations is Nepal’s nationalistic strategy. But the most unfortunate fact is that majority of our political leaders are Indian agents. It is worthless to expect from these leaders to save our nationality and independence. Unless traitors and corrupt leaders dominating in the big parties are chased away, democracy and nationalism will not be secured. There is no alternative to parliamentary democracy in Nepal. But it does not mean that we follow Indian orders and perish Nepal’s identity.

The definition of Nepal’s nationality is to maintain balanced bilateral diplomatic ties with both the countries, China and India, based on democracy and by protecting its pride. Cordial people to people level relations between Nepal and India has existed since ancient times. We have to keep friendly relations with India due to our similar cultural and religious traditions. But sadly Indian congress, ever since coming to power has been striving to destabilize Nepal. India, through its intelligence agency ‘RAW’, has been found continuously involved in destabilizing our national identities - royal institution, Hindu Kingdom and national language, which were developed along with the ideology of national unity, security and national identity. RAW through its agents in the Nepali Congress, UML and Maoist parties is now pressing for autonomous federal states on communal basis.

Due to the open border, India has been masterminding various strategies to keep Nepal under her influence. Due to her continuous interventions her assistance and supports have turned into a curse. 58 years ago, in name of helping Nepal in establishing democracy she endorsed an unequal treaty in July, 1950. They urged the then rulers, Ranas, were promising them of the continued support for their regime. Four months later, she planned King Tribhuvan’s escape to New Delhi and kept Nepal under the influence of India through another document - the Delhi Agreement.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Shangri-La of legend, novel and classic film is a real place, the Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. This tiny country next to Tibet is home to Mount Everest and much more. From arts and handicrafts tours to trekking and mountaineering, the Himalayan kingdom has something for every traveler.

All Nepal adventures start with the flight into Tribhuvan airport in Kathmandu. Spectacular mountain views give way to green, terraced hillsides and small villages of thatched homes as the plane makes it’s rapid descent. Immigration and customs clearance are easy for tourists; visas are issued automatically on arrival for $30.

Expeditions and tours start from Kathmandu, so you’ll need a base and a chance to recover from the long flight. The Yak and Yeti hotel, next to the Royal Palace, is close to shopping and the old city. If the Yak and Yeti’s $200 rates leave you wooly-headed, there are many options, from $2 per night guest houses to comfortable hotels for less than $100. Even if you don’t stay at the Yak and Yeti, stop for an exotic drink in their lovely garden or a roll of the dice at the Casino Royale. The Raj lives on too at high tea every afternoon in the lobby.

Walk into the old city of Kathmandu along a street that was the ancient trade route from India to Tibet. The city grew up around traders’ stalls lining that route, and the market is still in full swing. Fruit, flowers, spices, medicines, metal wares, silk and pashmina, incense, jewelry and more - the 2,000 year old bazaar churns with activity.

The bazaar opens into a complex of palace buildings, enormous temples, and interconnected open plazas. The old Palace Square rivals the best Venice can offer for elegance of design, baroque complexity, and majesty. But here the materials are simple brick and plaster, with elaborately carved wood. Every exposed wooden surface is carved with animals both mythical and real, flowers, religious symbols and gods and goddesses.

The house of the Kumari, Nepal’s virgin goddess, faces the palace. A small girl is chosen by elaborate rituals, and Nepalis believe the king’s personal goddess enters into the girl. From then until she reaches puberty she is treated as a deity. Each fall she confers on the king the right to rule for another year. In 1955 the then-Kumari dozed off during the ceremony, then blessed the crown prince by mistake when she awoke. Later that year the king died and the crown prince ascended to the throne.

North of the Palace Square, 15 minutes walk or a one-dollar rickshaw ride away, is Thamel, the trekkers and tourist neighborhood. Thamel resembles Harvard Square or The Haight, but on a dizzyingly vast scale. There are literally thousands of small shops selling handicrafts, clothing, expedition gear, music and much more. Mixed among the shops are hundreds of restaurants catering to every taste from Korean to Kosher, and scores of budget hotels and guesthouses. Darbar Marg, two blocks west is Kathmandu’s High Street, a neighborhood of expensive, classy shops and hotels, including the Yak and Yeti.

In medieval times there were three great cities in the Kathmandu Valley. One of them, Bhaktapur, was mercifully spared from being “developed”. It is a few miles from Kathmandu, but centuries away. Bhaktapur moves to the same rhythm it has for a thousand years. The craftsmen and farmers you will meet are doing as their families have for dozens of generations. In Bhaktapur the festivals and traditions are so old that people say the gods created them.

Pashupatinath temple complex is the holy-of-holies to Nepal’s Hindus, and the destination for many Indian pilgrims. The dead are cremated here, and their ashes are cast into the holy river. Here too pilgrims cleanse their sins by bathing in the same river. The central shrine, off-limits to those who are not Hindu, has a spectacular temple with a giant golden bull kneeling in worship. The riverbanks and surrounding hills are littered with sculptures rivaling any museum’s Asian art gallery.

Most visitors head out of Kathmandu for other adventures. Jungle safaris from two to four days feature elephant-back expeditions to watch wildlife, and jungle walks with naturalists. Accommodations are rustic but pleasant, with attached baths, all meals and a well-stocked bar. Older children are welcome for all activities, and one lodge has a separate facility for families with younger children, with a pool, ponies, and special activities.

Nepal is the most vertical country in the world, and the whitewater rafting is superb. There are one and two day trips and longer expeditions. Rafting companies provide all equipment and training, and professional guides. You can combine a short rafting trip with mountain biking, a bungy jump, or the new sport of canyonning, a combination of rock climbing and tubing through river gorges and pools.

source : http://newsblaze.com/story/