'Tripoli witness' recounts life in hiding

Gaddafi has become a disputed leader losing almost all domestic and international recognition. He abolish the Libyan constitution of 1951, and adopted laws based on his political ideology. His 41 years, 362 days in power have made him the fourth longest rulling non royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-ruling 

Arab  leader.

There were sleepless nights of fretting over how to report on a protest given the circumstances. Being one of just two foreign correspondents based here and being newly wed to a Libyan from Benghazi made for what seemed like a lethal combination - an arrest and "disappearance" waiting to happen.

Libyan rebels as well as Nato officials will be hoping that the hunt for Col Muammar Gaddafi does not turn into a protracted affair. 

Bhattarai elected new Prime Minister of Nepal

Dr Bhattarai is also the second prime minister of the country from the Maoist party since the peace process began in 2006. He got elected to the top executive post after defeating his rival, Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel, in the election held at the parliament Sunday evening.
Bhattarai received 340 votes while Poudel received 235 votes. Altogether 575 lawmakers participated in the voting.
The prospects of Bhattarai began looking brighter after the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), which has a decisive voting bloc pledged to vote for him earlier in the morning.
NC’s PM candidate Ram Chandra Poudel was supported by the UML and few other parties in the voting, but it was far lower to put up a strong challenge to Bhattarai.

Baburam Bhattarai was born in a village called Belbas in Khoplang VDC of Gorkha District on May 26, 1954. He was born in a low - middle class peasant family and completed his secondary school education from Amar Jyoti Janata Secondary School in Luintel, Gorkha. He scored the highest marks among total examinees in SLC examination conducted in 1970 and topped the I.Sc board again in Amrit Science Campus, Kathmandu. He later completed his PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) in 1986.[3] His Ph.D. thesis was later published as a book "The Nature of Underdevelopment and Regional Structure of Nepal- A Marxist Analysis".

Paragliding in Pokhara, Nepal

 Nepal forms a rectangle on the southern slopes of the Himalaya and is without exception, the most stunning country imaginable. The main area for paragliding is the Pokhara valley, commanding views of 3 of the worlds 8000m peaks with friendly and constant conditions for your paragliding holiday.

 Paragliding is a relatively new adventure sport in Nepal. Paragliding in this Himalayan country can be a truly wonderful and fulfilling experience for the adventure-seekers. You can experience unparalleled scenic grandeur as you share airspace with Himalayan griffin vultures, eagles, kites, while floating over villages, monasteries, temples, lakes and jungles, with a fantastic view of the majestic Himalayas.

Gliding is a weather dependent sport and the flying season in Nepal commences from November through February, the best months being November and December. By virtue of its latitude and monsoonal climate, the tree line in Nepal is at an incredible 3,900 m above sea level. With conditions milder than summer alpine, these are excellent and constant atmospherics. The topography and climate of Nepal also make it an ideal destination for all levels of pilots-subtropical conditions provide plenty of thermals and combine thermals and combined with the long valleys common in Nepal, they produce perfect cloud streets ideal for para gliders, inviting them to fly along this sky highway. The local micro climate, controlled by the numerous lakes in the valley, is unique, which makes it even netter for the glider. The Himalaya is made up of a series of lesser mountains increasing in size, before the Greater Himalaya, with its majestic snow-clad peaks, dominate the sky. The range that is now offered for paragliding is the Mahabharata range, south of these giants. 

 experienced gliders can strike a package deal, which includes being picked up at Kathmandu airport on arrival and spending a night in the capital before heading for Pokhara. At Pokhara, after a few introductory flights, you could take off on a six–day paratrek to the incredibly beautiful west.

So,Paragliding in Pokhara not only gets you airborne, but allows you to fly like a bird and chances are that you will actually fly with different types of birds including vultures, eagles and kites. Leave your worries behind as you will be flown by some of the best pilots available. They know the airspace very well are trained to make your short flight enjoyable to the fullest. This flight offers you an amazing discovery of the valley even if you are a novice.

Ghandruk Trekking in Nepal

 Ghandruk and Ghorepani offer panoramic view of mountains within a short span of timeframe. It takes couple of days from Pokhara to reach Ghorepani and Ghandruk, which is the native homeland of world famous Gurkha Soldiers as well as known for the great views including the both famous mountains Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Dhaulagiri as well as other prominent snow-capped peaks in the Western Development Region of Nepal. For a panoramic view of northern mountains, Punhill (3,210m. which is about an hour's climb away from Ghorepani Pass above Ghorepani Village also offers best view of Mt. Dhaulagiri, Tukchey Peak in the northwest and Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Nilgiri in the northeast.

                                                   View down the valley from near Ghandruk
 This Ghandruk trek starts from the same place as the Jomson Trek but makes a shorter, lower loop back towards Pokhara. It can be done as a self-guided trek, but is often done as an organized, all-included trip using higher-standard accommodation and porters.

                                                Fishtail mountain on the way to Ghandruk

                                                 

Government delays opening of new peaks for mountaineering

New products could have attrcted more tourists during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Thorugh mountaineering sector is of crucial importance for tourism development, hte government has not shown any interest on unveiling new peaks for mountaineering.

                                                                FIG- LANGTANG
There are number of peaks on Nepal- china and Nepal-India obrder, which if opened cadn add bring in more tourists ot Neapl that can increase the overall say period too.

                                                              FIG- DHAULAGIRI
The mountaineering activities creates direct employment for the rural populace apart from development of infrastructure.

                                                       FIG- EVEREST HIGH PASS
The government has also implemented some of the recommendations like scrapping of royalty for peaks lower than 6000 meters to make the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 success. But it has yet to implement a lots of recommendations that could help develop mountaineering sector and reduce negative impact on climbers at base camp as the task force has asked for provisions for climbing team to land below the base camp.

                                                                 FIG: KANCHENJUNGA

 Some of the highest Mountain peaks in Nepal are as follows with Height of each peaks:

Mountain peak	Height
	ft.	m
Everest	29,035	8,850
Kanchenjunga	28,169	8,586
Lhotse I	27,940	8,516
Makalu I	27,766	8,463
Cho Oyu	26,906	8,201
Dhaulagiri	26,795	8,167
Manaslu I	26,781	8,163
Annapurna	26,545	8,091
Annapurna II	26,041	7,937
Gyachung Kang	25,910	7,897
Himalchuli	25,801	7,864
Nuptse	25,726	7,841
Makalu II	25,120	7,657
Jongsong Peak	24,472	7,459
Chamlang	24,012	7,319
Kabru	24,002	7,316
Baruntse	23,688	7,220
Nepal Peak	23,500	7,163
Gauri Sankar	23,440	7,145
Pyramid	23,400	7,132
Api	23,399	7,132
Ama Dablam	22,494	6,856

Now its time to promote Tourism Year in Nepal for 2011

Lets Move Together for Tourism For 2011.

Jiri in Nepal

Jiri is a Village Development Committe in  Dolakha District in the Janakpur Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the1991 Nepal consensus it had a population of 7,138 people living in 1,508 individual households.

Jiri lies at an altitude of 1,905 metres (6,250 feet) and is the eastern-most terminus of the highway coming from Kathmandu. Bus service is available from Kathmandu but the 184 km ride takes 6 to 8 hours due to narrow, winding roads and checkpoints along the high-way(until 2006). A company of the Nepal Army is stationed in town and visitors' equipment and backpacks might be searched. There are a number of lodges available along either side of the main road mainly in Jiri Bazaar.

Jomsom in Nepal

 Jomsom also known as Dzongsam , is a town located at an altitude of 2800m in Mustang, Nepal. It extends over both the banks of the Kali Gandaki River. Along the banks of Kali Gandaki river there are rocks holy to the Hindus. The soaring peaks of Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri form a backdrop. As the district headquarters, it is primarily an administrative and commercial center with government officials and merchants rubbing shoulders with the local residents of the region, known as Thakalis.

Pursuit of Giant Structures

The recently built Kailashnath Mhahadev Statue to the east of  the Kathmandu Valley is considered to be the tallest Shiva statue, at a height of 43.5 meters. Going through the lists of the tallest statues, one quickly makes the observation that most of them are Buddhist statues. of the 25 tallest statues, 20 are Buddhist and most o fthem are located in Japan and China.

Bhedeta, Dhankuta

Bhedetar or Bhadetar is a small hill top town in Eastern Nepal. It is a stop over place for all the vehicles travelling through this hill town, be it morning tea or afternoon snack. It is about 1,420m above the sea level, mostly foggy weather during winter but great place to be during non winter months with cool relaxing temperature and great view of the Himalayas and the Southern plains . It is also a gateway to Limbu villages of Rajarani (King Queen), Okhrae and Chaubise. There are also few numbers of small restaurants, shops and decent hotels. Bhadetar in itself there is nothing much, it is popular more with the people, the word of mouth than the place has to offer. In the early 80s Prince Charles did also paid a visit to view the progress and construction of Koshi Highway, giving the little bumpy hill an Englishman’s (Greek actually) first name “Charles Point.”

Bhedetar is a very popular tourist destination in Eastern Nepal. It is a very beautiful hill station lying on the border of Sunsari and Dhankuta districts.
This place is popular all over Asia for its amazing quick-changing weather. The weather here changes so rapidly that anyone coming to this place gets astonished. It usually remains foggy. When it clears you can see beautiful view of Dharan city along with the gigantic mountains to the north. The place is just awesome. People folk down here in thousands, especially during summer.

About Kanyam, Illam, Nepal

Kanyam is town and village development committe in Illam, District in the Mechi Zone of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 census it had a population of 5,940 persons living in 1054 individual households.

Nepal Tourism Year 2011 targets of hosting one Million visitors to be achieved

On one hand visitor arrivals has seen a steep rise and on the other, tourism income has seen a regular drop. Visitor arrivals via air continue to rise by 24.3% ti 280575 between January and July-the seven months of the national campaign Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011-compared to the same period a year ago. However, around 700,00 tourists visited Nepal within the last seven months, according to the Nepal Tourism Board that claimed likelihood of meeting the target of hosting one Million tourist this year under the national campaign.