Bagmati River Festival 2010

Adventurehimal Nepal, not lagging behind in its Corporate Social Responsibility is actively supporting Nepal River Conservation Trust (NRCT) in organizing the Annual Bagmati River Festival.

NRCT is a non profit organization with an aim to conserve the natural and cultural heritage of the rivers of Nepal through various conservation, awareness and community development activities. Enthusiastically involved in conserving Nepal's Himalayan River system, preserving Nepal's rich cultural heritage and developing an environmentally responsible river tourism industry.

The 10th Mega Annual Bagmati River Festival, also known as the festival of the 21st century aims to provide a platform for all to work cohesively towards a common goal of maintaining the integrity of Rivers of Nepal. Clean up campaign, Awareness, Bagmati Eco challenge and Water Sports is targeted to making a difference by preventing further damage and loss of natural habitat along the Himalayan Rivers.

Monsoon Madness - Trishuli High Water

Its monsoon time and a calling for all river junkies once again. Not much can be said about the Trishuli river at other times but during the monsoon season, its a story untold. Huge runoffs from the tributary rivers make this river swell and shear with voluminous water making it a sheer delight to whitewater enthusiasts.

A two-day trip starting at Baireni and finishing at Gaighat this is a classic river experience. You run all the good rapids, watch the river grow as its tributaries join, marvel as it cuts its way through impressive gorges before it spills over the lowlands. During the trip, we camp on the sandy beaches surrounded by streaming tropical forest.

Everest Base Camp Selected in 20 Journeys of Lifetime

The UK's leading magazine The Observer, sister publication of UK's Guardian in its Sunday edition published on January 11, 2004 has selected Everest Base Camp of Nepal in 20 Journeys of a Lifetime. Selected by journalist Jill Hartley as great adventures that one never forgets, Everest Base Camp has been placed in the seventh position beating the destination like Galapagos Islands which was placed first by UK's internet based travel company iexplore.com in 2003. Galapagos Islands has been placed in sixteenth position in this list of The Observer. The famous traditional trade route known as Silk Route from Kashgar (China) then Tashkent - Samarkand - Khiva (Uzbekistan) is in eight position.

The Everest Base Camp is the only South Asian destination that has been included in the list. Most of the journeys included in the list are shared by two countries. The journey from Ruta Maya Antigua - Quetzaltenango (Guatemala) to Lake Atitlan - Antigua (Guatemala) via San Cristobal - Palenque - Merida (Mexico), Belize City - Caye Caulker (Belize), Tikal has been selected as number one among 20 journeys.

Free Visas to Nepal for Everest Climbers

Foreign mountaineers who have climbed Mt. Everest and Mt. Dhaulagiri will get a free Nepali visa for two years. The visa fee will be free for year 2010 and 2011 as a part of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 celebration.To mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. Dhaulagiri, the visa fee for Dhaulagiri summiteers has also been waived off.

Each foreign climber has to pay USD 5000 to the government of Nepal as royalty for climbing Dhaulagiri, however after the announcement of the rebate on the fee they now have to pay just USD 2500.

Paragliding Flights in Kathmandu

Kathmandu paragliding and Hang gliding companies and X sports Nepal are offering both tandem and solo flights in Kathmandu. X sports offers two types of flights, Black Kite Flight and Eagle Flight. The Black kite flight runs between 20 – 30 minutes while the Eagle flight lasts for about 45 – 60 minutes. The flights are operated by licensed Paragliding instructors and pilots. During June- August the paragliding flights are not scheduled due to bad weather.

3rd international Sagarmatha (Everest) Day on May 29

The 3rd International Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) Day celebration is being observed in Nepal on May 29, 2010 with various programs. More than 250 Mt. Everest summiteers, including renowned climbers like Chris Bonington, Peter Habelar, Ken Noguchi, Apa Sherpa, Min Bahadur Sherchan, Dawa Steven Sherpa, Bill Burke, David Liano, and Meagan McGrath are expected to attend the program. To honor the Summiteers a request letter has been sent to the Government of Nepal asking to provide them free visa every time they visit Nepal. The summiteers will be regarded as the Goodwill Ambassadors of Nepal to promote Nepalese mountain tourism.

NTY 2011

After a mega launch of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 officially from the capital on February 26, the campaign is being launched outside the Kathmandu valley in April. The NTY 2011 will be launched from five different cities – Pokhara, Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Bhairawaha and Janakpur – from east to west of the country. Various promotional programs have been organized within April in these cities aspiring to creating awareness about the ambitious national campaign that aims to attract one million tourists.

Nepal tourism board along with private sector will develop a one window policy at the border area to facilitate the services required by tourist entering Nepal by land. Facilities of Immigration, custom, transportation office, food court, handicraft exhibition centre and other related services required by the tourists will be developed at different border points. With the slogan – together for tourism, all the political parties have committed not to call for any strike and other disturbance during the year 2011.

Tourism being the largest industry in Nepal is the largest source of foreign exchange and revenue. Possessing eight out of the 10 highest mountains in the world, Nepal is a hotspot destination for mountaineers, climbers and people seeking adventure.