Festival of Goa in Nepal

By A Staff Reporter

In association with Embassy of India and State Government of Goa and with the support of B P Koirala Nepal India Foundation, a week long Goan Zatras Festival is being held at the Himalchuli restaurant in Soaltee Crown Plaza from 22 - 28 April.

This festival brings in the best of Goan cuisine and culture over to Kathmandu for the first time and is intended to highlight the potential and prospect of cooperation between the two favorite tourist destinations in South Asia - Kathmandu and Goa.

Artistes Goa performing local dance during the Zatras festival.

The festival has been appropriately named after “Zatras” which are popular Goan village fair. These Zatras are held all around the year in Goa to celebrate various festivals of both Hindu and Christian origins.

For the festival, master chefs from Goa have been specially flown in to create a bit of culinary magic. The ambiance will be further enhanced by the exotic dances performed by a fourteen-member Goan cultural troupe.

Picturesque Goa nestled along the western coast of India will be showcased in terms of both food and culture in the Himalchuli restaurant for eight days presenting a wonderful opportunity for Kathmanduites and visitors alike to sample a piece of Goa in the Himalayas.

Goa was liberated from Portuguese after nearly 451 years and the result of this great mix of cultures is today a happy blend of Eastern and Western cultures. The Goan cuisine also reflects the mixing of predominantly Indian way of cooking with Portuguese influence.

The habitat being predominately coastal, one finds a heavy use of sea food and fishes in the dishes.

The original flavour of the Goan dishes are retained through controlled seasoning. Creative blends of spices and cooking methods bring out the best and create a distinctive Goan cuisine.

A high level delegation led by the Chief Minister of Goa Honorable Francisco Sardinha is here to grace the occasion.

Minister of Tourism of Goa, Victoria Fernandes, while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the festival said that such cultural exchange will help strengthen the ties between the countries and provide more opportunities for promotion of tourism of both places.

Direct flight to Yangon in near future

By A Staff Reporter

At a time when tourism entrepreneurs have been clamouring for more international airlines to come into Nepal, one more foreign airline could fly here and contribute significantly to this sector.

At a function organised by the Nepal-Myanmar Friendship Council on Sunday, the Ambassador of the Union of Myanmar, U Tin Win informed that efforts are being made to have direct air link between Kathmandu and Yangon. “It could take place in the very near future,” he said. The Maynamarese envoy was of the opinion that this would help in enhancing “people to people contacts”. Naturally, it would also facilitate a lot of religious tourists who wanted to come into Nepal, the birth place of Lord Buddha.

It may be mentioned that both the national flag carrier of Myanmar and also RNAC had scheduled flights to and from Yangon some years back.