Business 360 and Media 9 People in Kathmandu, They Rock

Tonight, I will leave Kathmandu, 11pm flight of Dragon Air to Hong Kong, then I  will get a Cathay Air connecting flight to Manila and I should be home around noon tomorrow. I just feel so privileged, so pampered, to be sponsored and hosted by Media 9 and its editor, good friend way back in 2005, Charu Chadha, editor of the publication, seated in the middle. This was taken yesterday at their office here in Kathmandu.

I came to Kathmandu to attend the 3rd Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) held at Soaltee Crowne Plaza, January 8-10 last week. I stayed at the nearby Grand Hotel though. After the conference, Media 9 arranged a trip for me and Prof. Christopher Lingle, accompanied by two Media 9 staff, David Shakya and Razan Bhattarai. From left: Cris, me, David and Razan, walking the streets of Pokhara, Nepal.

Cris and I were the speakers in a small group forum with some university students of Pokhara. Nice experience to interact with the young people of that  cool city.

Pokhara is the tourism city of Nepal, about 30 minutes by plane from Kathmandu. Long ridge of ice-covered mountains are visible from a distance. We stayed at Shangrila Village Hotel, very nice place.

Then we went back to Kathmandu last Monday, Jan. 12. I stayed at Royal Singi Hotel. Yesterday, after a visit at Media 9 office, Charu and her partner Sandesh treated me to late lunch. Sandesh is a cool guy, grew up in Australia, he does multi-martial arts (MMA), so he does boxing, wrestling, karate, etc. all-in-one.

Then Charu brought me to the Kathmandu Durbar Square. Lots of fascinating structures there. This is after we entered the market.

Basantapor area, near the Hanuman Dhoka.

I don't like taking my photos in my travels, I prefer to take photos of places, not myself in them, but Charu insisted that I should have at least one in this area, so here it is. Thanks Charu.

This morning, two other Media 9 staff, Sushil Dhungana and Sanchit Lamichhane, toured me to Swoyambhu temple, it's on top of a big hill in Kathmandu. The big Buddha at the top.

The main tower at the top.

One side of Kathmandu from this temple. The city is expanding fast.

After that, Sanchit invited me to visit his place. Nice, beautiful house, three storeys, and he has an organic vegetable plot at the back of his house. We ate broccoli freshly harvested, fresh and crispy. Plus bread and coffee, yum. Below from right: Sanchit, Sushil, and Sanchit's mama. She's a late 60s cool woman and yet look so energetic and cheerful.

Ahh, Media 9 people, the publishers of Business 360 and World of Women (WOW) magazines, you simply rock!

Ok, another tour, then dinner, then Charu and team will bring me to the airport. Leaving Kathmandu soon with a joyful heart, lots of good memories with wonderful places seen and warm, friendly people met.

Soon, a blog post for each of those places. This is only an "intro" post about them. Lots of photos begging  to be seen and posted. cheers.