Nature Trail Travels & Tours, Trekking & Expeditions

Placement organization

Name of organization: Nature Trail Travels & Tours, Trekking & Expeditions
Town/city: Kathmandu
Country: Nepal
Website: http://naturetrail.com

Student

Name of student: Kristina Tschunkert

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Trekking company / travel agency
Organization’s activities: Trekking tours, (soft) adventure activities and other tours in Nepal, India, Bhutan and Tibet.
Target group of the organization: Mainly European and North American adventure and nature lovers
Company culture: There is the owner and one manager in the office as well as 3-4 other employees, the atmosphere is very positive and informal, low hierarchy, first name basis and everyone is very accessible
Number of employees: ~20 including field staff
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? main office, “management assistance” I’d say…
Brief description of your daily activities: marketing (brochures, social media), answering enquiries from customers or potential business partners the owner met at the travel fair in Berlin, pick up customers from the airport now and then
Brief description of your company assignment: Assess the company’s level of sustainability and make recommendations and an action plan to become more sustainable and a member of the Travelife System – Sustainability in Tourism.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Bishnu, the owner, has been supportive and whenever there is a question, it is easy to talk to him and he is happy to help anytime. However, I wish he had more expectations of the interns and that he would think about daily activities more and also beforehand as this was going rather slowly

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, must be able to adapt to very different culture and style of working, flexible, show a lot of initiative
Additional company requirements for this placement? good English skills, MS Office, social media
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? with help of company
How did you go to work every day? by foot 15 mins

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes, tourist visa on arrival 90 days and then extend again for 60 days
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: on arrival
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? I’d recommend, Typhus, Hepatitis A&B and Rabies. If you don’t have Hepatitis vaccination yet, you need at least 6 months to get all 3 shots.

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? no

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € ~800€
Accommodation (monthly): € 110€
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € ~250-300€
Costs of visa: € ~150€
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? No financial compensation or accommodation but all activities for cost price and local transportation for sightseeing or other activities

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read a lot about Nepal on the Internet beforehand and asked a few Nepali people that I had met during exchange and through a teacher before. Talking to them definitely helped a lot, but really preparing beforehand is difficult, it will still be overwhelming once you get here – in a good way.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? yes – slow way of working, people generally have low or no expectations and it took a while to get used to all of that

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: ktschunkert@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t walk around in hot pants and tiny shirts, that will attract attention and make you feel watched all the time – knee-long shorts or skirts are fine, though.
It is generally very safe, but try to avoid walking alone at night – also because of the stray dogs everywhere.
Get out of the tourist center and explore other places where locals hangout as well.
Get out of the city as much as possible – your lungs will be thankful and then you will discover the real beauty of Nepal.
Don’t have too high expectations of the work – it is more relaxed than at home and you probably won’t be busy all the time.
Come with an open mind and just try to accept all the cultual differences, then you will have a great time!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Kathmandu is huge and there are a lot of possibilities here. Going out for dinner is nice and cheap with all kinds of food, there are many great bars – in the tourist area and beyond. Shopping is great – fake things, traditional clothing and also branded clothing. There are many many temples to visit, cinemas, football stadium, garden of dreams or on a hot day you can also go and use the pool at a hotel closeby for a small fee (~5-7€).
On the weekend it is easy to take a bus or bike outside of the city to a more relaxed place in the valley, for example, Nagarkot where you can relax, hangout and enjoy the views. There are plenty of activities to choose from otherwise: rafting, bungy jumping, mountain biking, trekking – all possible for 1 day but also for several weeks.
Moreover, there are lot of festivals – religious festivals like Holi Festival of Colours, Shiva Rartri but also just music and dance festivals, food festivals etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link