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/
Unusual Points of View – Writing
Unusual Points of View
Rita Marie Keller
Most writers are familiar with first and third points of view and their variations. But have you ever experimented with alternative points of view Below are some less used points of view, what I call
Alternative View Points and the Lamp of Creativity – Digital Cameras
Alternative View Points and the Lamp of Creativity
Sue Kendrick
Pictures they say are worth a thousand words, but many writers know that they are worth much more than that!
Without decent photographs or other artwork to accompany an article many features published in todays magazines and newspapers would never see the light of day, so it makes sense to try and supply illustrations along with your submissions.
Last months article gave some tips and advice on how to improve your camera wielding technique so click here if you missed it.
This month were going to look at how photographs can spark off ideas for features and other writing opportunities which means taking the slightly unusual step of writing the article around the picture rather than finding photographs to illustrate the article.
So lets begin with the hanged man. Who on earth is that and what does he have to do with writing or photography Not much really, but he makes a nice analogy. The hanged man from the Tarot card deck for those not familiar with this form of divination, is the only card in the major arcana which is the right way up when it shows the hanged man upside down!
Although he is bound and beset by problems and troubles he has taken the bold step of considering the world and his options from an alternative view point which is what exchanging our computers and pens for a camera can do for us.
A good method of doing this is to set yourself a couple of themes. What these themes are depend on you and your interests, but lets suppose you chose "chimneys" and "dogs".
Both of these are common enough to ensure plenty of subject matter and you should be able to find enough examples whether you are a town or country dweller. Dont forget to take plenty of film with you, or spare batteries and flash cards for digital cameras, and most importantly! A pen and notebook!
A couple of hours wandering the streets gazing skywards at smoke blackened chimney stacks or staring fixedly at the local canine Romeo plighting his troth to Lady Mucks prize Saluki might earn you a few odd looks from the neighbours, but with a bit of luck and determination on your part could also add a few pennies to the coffers as well.
The trick is to take plenty of snaps, a doddle if youve got a digital camera as youll only be printing off the shots you want to keep. If not, well you can often get cheap film from your local dealers bargain box. The developing costs youll have to take on the chin, unless theres a special offer running.
The next stage is to examine what youve got. This is a bit like a deep sea fisherman trawling for cod. Your net is not very discriminating and youll find a lot of sprats and mackerels amongst your "catch". You may not actually have any photographs worthy of publication, but you will almost certainly have ideas and if this means that you will have to go out again armed with your camera to shoot appropriate illustrations, then so be it!
Lets assume you do have a fair amount of reasonable photographs. What sort of article could you write around these subjects Well of course this will depend very much on what is actually in the photographs, but lets go back to our neighbourhood Romeo. A few ideas you could pursue are the problems of stray dogs and irresponsible dog owners, owners that resemble their dogs, or other pets, where to responsibly exercise the town dog, dogs at work, get the idea
The chimney photographs may suggest a feature on ornate chimney pots,Victorian potters, many were often made locally, the local chimney sweep, the history of a particular house or row and the characters associated with them, Santa and problem chimney stacks, or lack of them!.
The photographs themselves will spark ideas, but you dont have to stop at newspaper or magazine features. Good animal, nature and landscape shots may also find a market with greeting card manufacturers and if you can write the sentiments to accompany them so much the better.
In fact, once you build up a collection of quality photographs your options increase all the time, not only in providing illustrations for your own articles, but as stand alone sales to newspapers which for the new comer, is one of the easiest markets to break into.
Our canine Romeo for instance could just make an editors day as an alternative and humorous slant on Valentines day. Now theres an idea! How about a feature on love in the animal kingdom Just the thing for next years Valentines day!
Finally, a word of caution. Do be careful when taking photographs. Many people consider it a breach of privacy having their photographs taken without asking and may not relish being splashed across the front page of the local rag.
You need to be even more cautious when photographing children. They of course make excellent subjects but sadly your motives can easily be misconstrued. If you want to cover a local sports day, school fair or play always obtain permission from the school first.
When you arrive at the event, make a point of letting the head teacher know that you are there. Sending copies of snaps to the school and the children concerned will help to establish trust and credibility.
So, going back to the hanged man, all you need to make sales is an alternative view point. Thankfully you dont have to suspend yourself upside down from a tree, just reach for the light box and light the lamp of creativity!
Poetry for Profit contains a lot of information on the greeting card market which is an ideal place to target words and pictures while READ ALL ABOUT IT! The WriteLink to Newspaper Writing has a detailed chapter on taking photographs for the local and regional press.
About The Author
Sue Kendrick is a freelance writer and graphic designer living in the English Midlands.
She has written many special interest articles for magazines and contributed extensively to her regional newspaper.
She edits and publishes www.writelink.co.uk a UK writers resource website and monthly newsletter and www.writelinkpro.co.uk a content providing service for Writelink and other publications.
Sue also writes fiction and has won several prizes for her short stories.
sue@writelink.co.uk