Nature Trail Travels & Tours, Trekking & Expeditions

Placement organization

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

Student

Name of student: Sabrina Braschke

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: tour operator
Organization’s activities: Ticketing, guide service for sightseeing or trekking, porter service, client advise, accommodation,
Target group of the organization: undefined, international tourist in Nepal
Company culture: informal
Number of employees: 25
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

sustainability, website

Brief description of your daily activities: updating and improving content on the website mostly, setting up new documents needed for Travelife certification
Brief description of your company assignment: my company assignment was to “develop the sustainability of the company”, which did only encompass to help them through the process of Travelife certification
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Bishnu is very friendly, however, does not have a clear idea of what he wants the student to do or learn. Many times I was left without a clear task other than to update tour descriptions on the website – something that was not communicated beforehand.
Bishnu was so friendly to give me a few days off so that I can go trekking and discover Nepal a little bit more.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? cultural awareness and sensitivity, being able to adjust to a different way of working and living, patience,
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills, creativity
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself, company helped a little
How did you go to work every day? walk 10 min

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes – tourist visa 90 days + extension for 60 more days
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: visa on arrival
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? I already had them

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? knowing some Nepali might be helpful, but is certainly not necessary

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 120
Local transport (monthly): € 5
General costs of living (monthly): € 200
Costs of visa: € 200
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Domestic flights to Lukla for trekking ($360)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
doing a little google research and watching videos on youtube is helpful
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? yes, the very easy-going Nepali work culture made it a little difficult for me to work

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 154443@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Go for trekking! The most amazing trip I’ve done in my life!
Eat the local food and avoid the tourist restaurants. Make friends with locals!!
Visit my friend Manish for a coffee at “My friend’s hostel” – he was my roommate and best friend in Kathmandu and will help you with anything you need.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Kathmandu Valley is full of nice places to visit.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link