ExoticBuddha Blog

The first constituent assembly meeting convened at the Birendra International Convention Centre, New Baneshwar, Kathmandu proclaimed Nepal as a federal democratic republic. This puts an end to more than two centuries reign of the Shah dynasty. The official name of Nepal has now changed from Kingdom of Nepal to Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

The king has been told to vacate the Narayanhity Palace within two weeks. It seems that the king has agreed to the demands of the constituent assembly and is expected to shift to the Nagarjun Palace in North Western outskirt of Kathmandu.

We are trying to translate our website into different languages.

Let us know if you want to help us. Would appreciate it.

Right now we are using Google Translate. but a human translator beats any machine, anytime !

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Various records have been set by mountaineers while scaling the Everest summit. Appa Sherpa has reached the summit for the record 18 times breaking his own record. Min Bahadur Sherchan has climbed Everest at the age of 76- he is the oldest person climbing the Everest.

Similarly, nine out of ten Nepalese women of the First Inclusive Women Expedition have also scaled the summit.

Update (May 17): Transportation strike in eastern Nepal has been withdrawn. Now you can use the road transport to commute.

Transportation strike has crippled normal life in the east of the country. The areas affected by the strike are Mechi, Koshi, Sagarmatha and Janakpur zones.

Travelers planning to use the road transport are advised to use the air service instead. It is better to book tickets early in advance as there will be much pressure on the air tickets.

Nepal is celebrating the International Mount Everest Day on May 29, 2008 to commemorate the successful ascent on the summit of the Mount Everest on May 29, 1952 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary.

The day is marked by a special ceremony organized by the Government of Nepal (Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation along with Nepal Tourism Board) in Kathmandu. A procession from Bhadrakali to Thamel, Basantapur will be organized at 6:30 to 8:00 am. National Song Street Festival will be organized in Durbar Marg at 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Mountain Film Show will be organized at the Nepal Tourism Board hall at Bhrikuti Mandap from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Everest Marathon, which covers the distance of 42.195 kilometer from the Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazar, is also organized on the same day.

Please share your thoughts on how this day should be celebrated.

The government of Nepal has lifted a ban on mountaineering the Everest from south face from May 8, after the Chinese lit the olympic torch on the Mt Everest summit.

The government had previously put a ban on mountaineering activities above the altitude of 7,500 meters to allow the Chinese to take the torch to the summit. This was taken in the light of anti China protests during the olympic torch relay around the world.

The travel industry is relieved by lifting of this ban and so are the mountaineers waiting in the base camps and other camps at the Everest to summit it.

A makeshift bakery shop serves mountaineers, their support staff and others visiting the Everest Base Camp.

We would love to hear from you. Have you been to the base camp and used its services? If yes, how did you find its services?

The olympic torch which is at an undisclosed location on the Everest in the Chinese part of it is yet to make an attempt to the summit. This is attributed to the bad weather conditions at the Everest now.

The concern to the Nepalese side is that whether the torch will reach the summit before the May 10, the day till which the government has banned campng above the altitude of 7,500 meters. If there is delay on the Chinese side, things will be difficult on the Nepalese side as many mountaineers are waiting for ban to be lifted.

Nepal’s tourism industry has seen a bounce back from the slump days that it experienced during the period of conflict in the country.

The concern now is how to at least sustain this number, increase the quality of the travelers who visit Nepal, increase the infra structures for the industry, and mitigate the environmental impacts of the rise in numbers.

As always, your thoughts are welcome.

The government of Nepal has decreased the royalty for mountaineering expeditions during the off seasons and exempted royalties to launch expeditions in the mountains of the mid and far western regions for five years.

The industry hopes that this will promote the mountaineering expeditions throughout the year and will create more job opportunities and royalty for the country.

Let us know what you think of this step? Is it a step in the right direction? A step that has not gone far enough or will it just make expeditions seem less glamorous?