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Metro Plus
Ticket to the mountains
THE NEPAL Tourism Board in conjunction with the Royal Nepal Airlines has come with an interesting offer to shore up the tourism industry of the tiny landlocked Himalayan kingdom. When a domestic air ticket (Chennai-New Delhi-Chennai) would set you back by Rs 16,500, it sounds unbelievable that one can fly from Bangalore to Kathmandu and back for just Rs 14,500. And this includes four days and three nights stay and food at a five star hotel with airport transfers and two half-day sightseeing trips.
Nepal obviously is pulling out all stops in a frantic attempt to boost its tourism industry, its biggest foreign exchange earner in the aftermath of the killings in the royal household and Maoist insurgency. Pradeep Raj Pandey, the CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, in Chennai recently, explained that the country is safe for tourists now.
Replete with idyllic spots, Nepal is home to 10 of the world's highest mountains including Mt. Everest. Pashupathinath, the world's most revered Shiva temple in Kathmandu is gearing up for the annual festival (Maha Shivratri) between March 10-12. As many as 13 world heritage sites can be found within a radius of seven miles outside Nepal's capital and Nature has blessed the tiny country with lush vales and snow-filled peak.
Besides, the natural beauty, the variety of activities on offer is incredible — adventure sports like mountaineering, biking, white water rafting, canoeing, kayaking, mountain flights on light aircraft, hot air ballooning, bungee jumping or more sober things to do like trekking, bird watching and fishing. The country has 848 varieties of birds, 500 butterflies and 319 orchids, apart from temples and mountains.
The year 2002 has been declared as the International Year of the Mountains and Nepal is trying to attract many tourists specifically targeting South India with twice a week departures from Bangalore on its national airline. The package offer of Rs 14,500 per head is valid up to April 15 this year (for a group of 15 people) while those travelling on their own could plump for Rs 12,000 per head for airfare and stay only, making their own arrangements for food and sightseeing.
A must do in Nepal is to go on the Everest flight (around Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per head for one hour flight). A turbo-prop plane and depending on whether it is pressurised or not, would take you within the sight of the summit but never over it. Apart from the fact that a turbo-prop cannot fly at such altitudes, the tourists also feel that the Everest loses its grandeur when seen from above.
So fly to Kathmandu but beware of the swings of fortune in the casinos.
SRINATH NARAYAN
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