ExoticBuddha Blog

A significant number of tourists enjoy mountain biking in  Nepal. The range of biking routes has made people with different interests, time, endurance and capabilities take mountain biking in Nepal. The ease of taking a ride has encouraged people who travel to Nepal take mountain biking. Various biking championships - both in national and international level have also made Nepal as an attractive destination for travelers with interest in mountain biking and by extension in adventure travel. 

There are several biking tour companies in Nepal which rent or sell bikes, organize biking tours and championships.

14th Asian Mountain Bike Championship (Photo Courtesy: Nepalnews.com)

Nepal Tourism Board, a government agency assigned for promoting travel to and inside Nepal is celebrating its tenth anniversary today. 

The board headquartered in Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu has been providing free information to tourists. It has opend information centers in the entry points to Nepal and in the major cities which are frequently visited by the tourists to Nepal. The board also promotes Nepal in the international markets by participating in travel fairs and running advertisements in popular media like the BBC. 

Have you used the services of the Nepal Tourism Board? How do you like its services? Have you made a decision to travel to Nepal because of the promotion by the board?  We would love to hear from you.

The operations of the Manakamana Cable Car, the only cable car facility in Nepal, has been suspended due to labour dispute in the company. 

If you are planning to visit Manakamana Temple in Gorkha, Nepal via the cable car, then you need to postpone or cancel your travel arrangements. 

Have you been affected by the suspension of the operations? Has your plans about travel in Nepal been hit by this? We would love to hear from you. Visit us for further updates.

In a move that will go well with travel entrereneurs, people visiting Nepal and the public, Chitwan has been declared a strike free district of Nepal. This will remove the unnecessary anxiety that people who travel in Nepal have to bear due to frequent strikes on the major highways. 

Chitwan is the gateway to the Chitwan National Park, which is famous for one horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tigers, elephant and jeep safaris, gharials and many variety of wild plants and animals. Disruptions on the highway have led the travelers to Nepal spending less time on their destinations. The end to strikes on the highways will make Chitwan even more attractive destination for the people who want to visit Nepal. 

Nepal Tourism Board has welcomed this move by the political parties, their student wings, entrepreneurs and civil societies.

To allow the people who want to travel to Nepal during the peak travel season for this year, the government has allowed the international airlines to increase the frequencies of their flights to Nepal. It was reported that October saw a record increase in the number of tourists who visit Nepal by air. With the international airlines being unable to meet the demand for tickets to Nepal, many would be travelers to Nepal chose some other destinations instead. 

There were some delays in taking this decision and the Tourism Minister was criticized by the tourism entreprenuers in Nepal for that. The demand for tickets was severe in Delhi to Kathmandu and Bangko to Kathmandu sectors. 

Were you affected by lack of tickets to for flights to Nepal? Have you changed your decision because of this? Please share your thoughts on this.

Prince Harry will be part of a trip, Exercise Khumbu Challenge,  to the Everest Base Camp for the wounded members of the British armed forces in October and November 2009. The members included in the teams will be drawn from the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines. The soldiers wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afganishtan will be included in the team to enable them to return to the military environment. 

An experienced team will undertake different challenges in the Khumbu region including climbing Mount Ama Dablam.

What would be the impact of such a high profile visit to the Everest region? Will it raise the profile of the region or will it make the trekking in the peak season even more crowded for the regular visitors? Can the infra structures in the region cope such a large scale event? What do you think?  We will be glad to know your views.

14th Asian Mountain Bike Championship is being organized by the Nepal Cycling Association from November 6 to 10, 2008 at Chobhar, the outskirt of Kathmandu valley to the south. 

For more information and update about the cylcing event please visit the 14th Asian Mountain Bike Championship in our website.

Nepal Tourism Board has been promoting travel to Nepal internationally. It has broadcast two ads on the BBC World and other programs of the TV channel and placed photos of Nepal on the online version of the BBC including news on demand. 

Nepal's ad in the BBC website

It has claimed success in the marketing campaign. I have seen the 30 second ad on the BBC World News several times. The ad touched on what one might do in Nepal, like bungee jumping, paragliding, rafting, visiting temples and the sort. It was quite short and I am not sure whether it would make an impact on prospective travelers.  And I liked the ads promoting travel to Malaysia. 

Have you seen the ad promoting Nepal? Did you explore about Nepal after seeing the ad? We would love to hear about that.

Tourist arrivals to Nepal has risen sharply in October compared with the same month last year. The number is the highest monthly figure since 2000. 

October marks the beginning of the tourist season after around 4 months of monsoon. This year, most of the hotels, airlines have been booked by the large number of tourists who wanted to/have visited Nepal. Some of the airlines have increased their flights to Nepal for this season and many hotel entrepreneurs have been expanding the infra structures.

How difficult was it to get the plane tickets and the hotel rooms? Are you planning to travel to Nepal this autumn? Or do you know of anyone planning to travel to Nepal sometime soon? We would love to know your experiences. 

How did

Just wanted to write about the current state of the Nepal for travelers and the ever important question.

Is Nepal safe to travel right now ?

My answer is yes , YES, and YES !!!.

and the security situation in Nepal for travelers has never been better and the records prove it.

By the way, happy Tihar (Dipawoli) one of Hindu main festivals is starting in tommorrow. Festival of lights as they call it.

We regularly update Nepal travel advisories on this log here.

http://www.exoticbuddha.com/english/2007/10/10/is-nepal-safe-for-travelers/

Few Excerpts from there “Yes, Nepal is safe for travelers.

Until 2 years ago there was a Maoist insurgency, which since has been solved by having a successful peace process. Right now, the country is building a new constitution after having a successful election for the members of the constituent assembly.

Although there have been instances of sporadic violence in southern regions, tourists have never been harmed. The Hilly and Himalayan region, including the capital Kathmandu, are safe for travel. In the past two years, I have heard only of less than five reported instances of physical harassment of tourists in Nepal during the entire period………”

Happy trekking in Nepal to those of you who are already here.

enjoy,

Exoticbuddha team and nepal travel enthusiasts.