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Kathmandu, Monday, December 13, 1999 Marga 27th, 2056.
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It’s for
us to find out
Prateek Pradhan’s
write-up Nepal cheap destination for less affluent: Paulin (TKP, Friday November 18) was
interesting because the article reveals visits of the rich and famous such as Michael V
Paulin, his family and friends. These wealthy people come to Nepal unobstrusively as low
profile trekkers and back packers without being identified by the travel trade community
of Nepal.
A few years ago a Nepalese
travel agent in California brought five ex-intel executives and took them to Solukhumbu
himself. Each of them reportedly had 55 million dollars in the bank and owned a lot of
property. But in Nepal, they spent just about 2,800 dollars for a 16 day sojourn. One of
them even flew economy class all the way from San Francisco to Kathmandu just for the feel
of it.
In Kathmandu, they stayed at
a three star hotel and on the way to the Himalaya, they were just trekkers as anyone on
the trail. They have a joint social service campaign in Solukhumbu and they were here to
visit the area for project impact assessment.
My friend assures me they
will be back in the Sagarmatha region to inspect their project in the next phase, but he
is unwilling to disclose details such as when and where will they stay because his clients
do not want it. This is for the tourism community of Nepal to find out. As Karna Shakya
pointed out, such visitors do not arrive here in their pinstriped Bond Street suits and
Rolex watches with Samsonite briefcases lugging their Louis Vuitton suitcases. It is for
us in the trade to find out, as Prateek Pradhan did in his article.
Peter J Karthak,
Fulbari Resort |
