A Room With A View – Travel
A Room With A View
Scott Chamaden
In March of 1999, the Guinness Book of Records bestowed upon Hotel Everest View the title of Highest Placed Hotel in the World. This hotel is situated 13,000 ft 3,964 m above sea level in Sagarmatha National Park in the Southern Khumbu region of Nepal. With its luxurious accommodations, guests stay overlooking the Himalayan peaks and Mt. Everest.
A Japanese construction company, Trans Himalayan Tours Ltd, built the Hotel Everest View in 1968. In October of 1973, the hotel opened its doors for the first time. The hotel was built with the intentions of attracting wealthy Japanese tourists seeking luxurious getaways that offered a breathtaking view of Mt. Everest. In order to accommodate tourists, the Shyangboche airstrip was built to receive private plans and helicopters.
Unfortunately, the Japanese tourists encountered some difficulties adjusting from a lower altitude to 10,000 ft above sea level. Tourists flying into the Shyangboche airstrip from Japan experienced horrible motion sickness, including nausea and vomiting. Even though Hotel Everest View offered a beautiful view of the surrounding peaks and high-quality accommodations, guests were unable to enjoy themselves.
Hotel management tried desperately to resolve the issue by supplying guests with oxygen tanks, but the problem still remained. It was after several deaths were reported that the government finally took action and forced the Shyangboche airstrip to shut down, leaving Japanese tourists to fly into Lukla 9,200 ft and walk three-days up the mountainside.
Elimination of chartered flights into Shyangboche airstrip caused a devastating affect on tourism for Hotel Everest View. Very few tourists would endure the three-day hike up the mountainside to enjoy the amenities of the hotel. Business declined rapidly and left the facility bare. Since than, the Shyangboche airstrip has reopened to transport gear and supplies to Mount Everest. Tourists that are accustomed to the altitude fly into Shyangboche airstrip to visit the Hotel Everest View.
Tourists still climb up the mountainside from Namche Bazaar, in the Himalayas, to stay at Hotel Everest View. Although the menu has changed from ravishing meals to light food and hot and cold beverages, this Japanese run establishments accommodations are still breathtaking. For a reasonable rate $170-$270 per night, guests can enjoy a luxurious room overlooking the surrounding peaks.
Hotel Everest View is staffed with Sherpa people, who are natives to the Mt. Everest region. Om mani padme hum, a Tibetan Buddhist mantra, is inscribed on the hotel interior walls. These ancient stone carvings serve as a constant reminder of the Sherpas deep religious beliefs. A Sherpa tour guide is on hand for guests.
Plane or helicopter charters are available for guests that desire a more direct flight to the hotel. Guests may also take advantage of a 50 minute flight over Shyangboche from Kathmandu and walk 45-minutes up the mountain trail to Hotel Everest View.
Reservations and transportation can be arranged through:
Hotel Everest View
P.O. Box 1624
Durbar Marg
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977-01-224854
Shyangboche: 977-038-40118
Fax: 977-01-227289
Credit Cards Accepted
About The Author
Scott Chamaden owns and runs Route Four Travel a quality source of travel related information. For more travel articles take a look at: http://www.rftravel.com/ezine/
Grunting: The Dreaded Free Weight Room – Diet
Grunting: The Dreaded Free Weight Room
The Icon Reader
I am new to the world of the gym. Having resolved to make my health and fitness a priority, spending time at the gym is becoming a staple in my weekly routine. While I find that I am getting well acquainted with different exercises and exercise machines, there is one area of the gym that I fear to tread.
Behind a partial wall, tucked to the rear of the building, away from the cardio machines, spinning rooms and yoga mats, is the free weight room. When I work the weight machines I am a stones throw from the free weight room, not close enough to really see what goes on in there, but definitely close enough to hear what goes on in there.
They say if you sit long enough in one place, the whole world will pass you by. This may be true, but if you sit long enough near the free weight room, you see a whole other world of gym patron pass you by. Into this mysterious room disappear giant men, their poor t-shirts barely able to contain their burly mass, arms propped out by massive lats; Amazon women with bodies of iron and physique most men would sell their mothers for. They disappear behind the wall and for a good while they vanish. All that remains is their grunting.
From the free weight room issues forth a chorus of hissing and grunting that would put any tennis player to shame. Now being a novice in the gym, I can only assume the grunting issues forth under the Herculean effort needed to heft such tremendous weights. On my side of the wall, the weight machine side, we are a quiet lot. The only break in the peace is the occasional clang of a poorly executed rep. In fact, on my side of the gym we are so quite, that no one even notices when we come and go. We are like gym ninjas
A Beautiful Carpet Sets The Mood Of Any Room – Home
A Beautiful Carpet Sets The Mood Of Any Room
Mike Yeager
The first discovered carpet dates back to 1480 BC in the form of an Egyptian Fresco of handloom. Ever since, carpets have made their mark in most tastefully decorated hearths and homes. Carpets also provide an added measure of warmth and insulate against extreme heat or cold. And because a carpet is usually the foundation of decorating, covering a large quantity of the surface of our living spaces, it is an important consideration in the overall scheme of color and texture. It can provide simplicity, casualness, softness and livability; or it can provide pizzazz with vibrant color and heavier textures for making a decorating "statement." Using a carpet can be one of the easiest ways to personalize an environment - its color can be a neutral foundation "in the background," or it can be a vibrant focal point. Therefore, to find the right carpet lifestyle that fits your home, think about the way you live and the overall feel you want your home to have and you