Planning a trip to Pokhara with my kids

My last trip to Pokhara was one of my wildest escapades, a 200 km journey on bike starting off at 5:00 PM from Kathmandu. It was the 3^rd of January, 2008. I wasn't riding alone; had my colleague too. Both of us had our bags loaded with clothes and stuffs and were so heavy that it we could barely enjoy the ride. As a matter of fact, I had to discard some of my belongings and hand them over to an acquaintaince soon after exiting the valley. Due to poor visibility and several stopovers for my complaining partner, it was half past eleven at night when we reached hotel in Pokhara.

For some things, once is enough, I thought at that time. I had to ride alone all the way back home because my partner got a complimentary return flight ticket. Not counting the one and half an hour of recess I took at a point almost halfway, I arrived home in just four hours. I had left from Pokhara at 3:00 PM. I promised myself that day that I would think several times before riding such long distances on a bike in future. 200 kms in 4 hrs may sound easy enough to you unless you are familiar with the hilly terrains of Nepal.

That story is now more than 4 months old. If you're curious to know what's new, then I'm scheduled to report to the bus-stop tomorrow at 6:30 AM. Same destination. Alone? No, this time I'm taking my three dearest kids. They're the youngest three amongst my cousins. So, is it a family vacation? Not entirely, as I've got some official works to take care of. My plan's plain and simple. I'll take them for a whole day sightseeing on Saturday. I'll be visiting some of the hotels we're dealing with in the next two days. I expect my kids to go with me to all those places and to spend some time in the gardens while I finish my business indoors with the managers. They'll comply, I hope, because they're aged between eleven and fourteen years.

Have we packed up? The kids have and are already dreaming. I'll try to finish mine after publishing this very post and tucking this very computer into my bag. I had a very restless and tiring day today and now am a bit worried that I may not be able to get enough rest. To make it on time to the bus-stop, we'll have to get up at five and freshen up and dress up and make some last mintue rechecks and leave by 6:15 AM.

A note of gratitude

Over the past few weeks, I remained busy spreading the word about our newly launched portals, http://www.nepalhotel-link.com/ and http://www.kathmanduhotel-link.com/. The overall feedback was positive, if not overwhelming. Personally, I think that we're suffering from the lack of interest from our own people. The initial statistics on the traffic we're getting show that only a small part of it is generated by domestic visitors. Had it been for me, I would not have lagged behind in promoting works of others, priority definitely going to those of our countrymen. What about you? Don't you think your small contribution today can change the way tourism is done in our country? If you think it can, I hope you will pass the word around and let your friends and colleagues know about our 'Caring for Destination' initiative and other activities related to responsible tourism in collaboration with whl.travel network.

I remain thankful to the following publishers who took their time to hear us and brought our efforts to the public through their media.

Gorkhapatra/The Rising Nepal
The Himalayan Times
eTravel Board
Nepali Times
Nepal-News.org
People's Review
Yahoo! Buzz (Howang Nhu)
Mixx (Howang Nhu)

I also wish to thank all those who are not in the list above but who did care to indicate their support in their own ways, and not to miss, all of our link partners.

If you care too, don't wait to let it out. Tools are plenty, just take your pick - email, buzz, chat, blog, Twitter, SMS, MMS and so on.

A cordial reception

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the airport with my teammates to welcome the first guests visiting Kathmandu after having made their hotel reservation through our portal a week later its launch was announced.

It was a typical Nepalese style reception, which our guests seemed to enjoy. We greeted and garlanded them and transferred them to their accommodation in Kathmandu.

An awaited announcement

One announcement which I had been waiting for several weeks finally came on the 15^th of April. I'm pleased to share it with you as it's the result of a great teamwork of my colleagues for nearly four months.

KathmanduHotel-Link.com was launched early this April as the 156^th locally managed destination website brought to the public by whl.travel, the global grassroots travel network catering to independent and responsible travellers. It is the first of two whl.travel destination portals currently chosen for Nepal and the 14th in South Asia.

With an all-inclusive approach this portal aims to provide a common platform for the local providers. Using a user-friendly interface and a robust backend system powered by whl.travel, KathmanduHotel-Link.com allows all providers, from small budget hotels to multi-star hotels and tour companies, to showcase their products and services in a virtually boundless e-marketplace.

So this new journey begins for me and my team. I'm glad to see the initial stages have been successfully accomplished. You can learn learn more on the announcement or download its PDF version from the WHL Blog. You can also see the official press release done in Kathmandu. And if you find it noteworthy to circulate the news in your own circle of regional press, travellers, hoteliers, tour organisers, or anyone who might be interested, please do so without any hesitation.

Though at this time most of the travel stories originating from Nepal in the media are pessimistic, let's hope that this endeavour will help tourism in this naturally and culturally rich country take a new direction. After all, it's high time something promising came to light, isn't it?