It was a hectic past month or perhaps more than that, as I was busy in working on my new travel website. That didn't leave me with enough time to write my scheduled blog posts. It is perhaps first time since I started writing blogs almost eight years ago, that I haven't done a blog post for more than 30 days. Feel sorry for that, but still relived that I was doing something equally dear to me. I do have this travel blog, but there was much of other content that I always wanted to share- informations, news, updates and features. Hence, a dynamic travel site was always on cards. Then this pandemic resulted in applying the brakes on my print travel magazine--yes I have one (Awara Musafir)--as the printing press was shut down. It was then, I started working fanatically on my website. W...
Read MoreTag: Nepal
Bali in Indonesia is the top destination in world favoured by the travellers. This is what TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards for the year 2017 show. Surprisingly (or not) there is no Indian destination in this top 25 list. List has some notable evergreen gems and some equally notable misses. There is no destination in the list from China or Australia or Japan or South & Central Africa, not even Mauritius or Reunion islands. Besides India, Asia also has notable misses like Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao or even Maldives. Probably, travellers always search for newer shores. But what can be said for sure is that more and more people are now travelling to beach destinations. This list of 25 destinations is actually beach heavy with only seven destinations have no access to sea, or are n...
Read MoreFermented alcoholic drinks have been part of different local cultures since time immemorial. They have been part of local traditions and the art has been transferred from generations to generation. Many survived and many modified themselves. In India, wherever you go, you will find such local flavours in deep interiors of the hinterland. One such famous drink is Tongba. You go into hills of Sikkim and West Bengal and you won't be able to miss it. During my treks to Sandakphu and in North Sikkim over the years, we could see it everywhere and actually enjoyed it... if not for taste then for its culture, and of course the unique way it is served in a container which itself is called as Tongba. This drink is actually traditional and indigenous drink of Limbu people of eastern Nepal and
Read MoreNepal has had the worst year imaginable. But even after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, political unrest that resulted in a five-month blockade, and the two deadliest years in the history of climbing o… Source: After Two Deadly Years, Everest Climbers Gear Up for a Strong Season
Read MoreSherpas in Nepal have refused to rebuild a climbing route on Mount Everest that was destroyed by an earthquake-triggered avalanche more than a week ago, a decision likely to end this year’s climbing season. Gyanendra Shrestha, an official at Nepal’s Mountaineering Department, said the Sherpas informed the office on Monday that they were not going to rebuild the route because of safety and time reasons. It would be the second consecutive year that the climbing season has been called off because of deaths on the world’s highest peak. The season was canceled last year after an avalanche killed 16 Sherpa guides. Actually among the big teams attempting the summit this year, almost all have already called off. Around 350 foreign climbers, and double the number of local guides, were on the mounta
Read MoreThese are tough times, when there is a big tragedy so close, as seen in Nepal. Wouldn’t it have been first choice for many of us to visit in summer vacations, had it not been for this earthquake! In this modest mood we bring you our choice of top ten ideas for the month of May- first of India’s traditional two months of summer vacations. Many festivals around and a few adventures to boost the adrenaline. Go ahead. Escape the heat at Coorg Escapade A perfect one for those who love fitness and the great outdoors. Organised for the first time in 2014, the Coorg Escapade is set out to be India’s premier outdoor sports festival. Last year the Coorg Escapade was but was restricted to a 10K Trail run. This trail run took runners through coffee plantations, waterfalls and hills. Focus was o...
Read MoreExactly a year later tragedy struck again to the Everest region and at the very crucial time of the Everest climbing season. And this could be probably the worst tragedy to hit Everest region. After the quake today noon an avalanche swept the face of Mt. Everest after the massive earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday. An Indian army mountaineering team found 18 bodies on Mount Everest on Saturday, an army spokesman said, after a huge earthquake in Nepal unleashed an avalanche on the mountain at the start of the main climbing season. Nepal’s Tourism Ministry could only confirm 10 deaths, but spokesman Gyanendra Shrestha said that the death toll could rise, and that the avalanche had buried part of the base camp. He said two tents at the camp had been filled with the injured. Ministry o...
Read MoreNortheastern region and its adjoining areas – Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar as also the Andamans – have been rocked by at least 16 earthquakes in the current month, with the series of tremors of Saturday causing major damage in Nepal. The IMD website, in its earthquake data for the current month (April) showed that while seven of these 16 earthquakes were significantly felt in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, these measured from as low as 2.8 on the Richter scale in the West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya on April 9 to the 7.9 that epicentred in Pokhara in Nepal but was felt not just across northern and eastern India but even down south in Kochi and other places. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has grouped the country into four seismic zones on the basis of va
Read MoreEarthquakes are always devastating causing massive loss to property and lives. Today's earthquake in Nepal has caused catastrophic damage to country's infrastructure and this couldn't have happened at a more worst time when huge tourism season was just round the corner. Many tourists have been injured, killed or trapped in today's earthquake. Initial reports say that up to 400 people, many are expected to be tourists wanting to enjoy a panoramic view of the Kathmandu valley are currently trapped when the Dharahara Tower or Bhimsen Tower collapsed. It was a nine storey (61.88m) tall tower at the center of Kathmandu. It is a part of Architecture of Kathmandu recognized by UNESCO. It was built in 1832 by the Prime Minister of the time, Bhimsen Thapa of Nepal. The tower had a spiral stairc
Read MoreThe Nepal government is preparing to lease the Kathmandu-based old palaces for foreign and local investors who are willing to set up businesses catering to tourists in the next fiscal year, officials said Friday. The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a wing under Nepal's ministry of tourism, said it has already prepared profiles of 90 historical palaces and buildings in the country's capital. "As the spaces and buildings for initiating tourism-related business in Kathmandu is limited, there is still a strong need for them," says Subash Niroula, acting chief of the NTB. The NTB initiated a research, titled 'A study of historically and architecturally important buildings of Kathmandu Valley', earlier in 2013 aimed at identifying historically, archeologically and architecturally significant build
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