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Vijay Chadda Chief Operating Officer, BTI-Sita, India answers your queries...

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1) What does the thaw in Indo-Pak relations mean to flight timings to different countries? Will there be a substantial reduction in ‘air-time’?

* Mayank Arvind,

Pune

While all the international airlines operating on the India-Europe sector were permitted to fly over Pakistan, it is only Air India and Indian Airlines that did not have the requisite permission to fly over Pakistan. However, all that has changed and flight timings to the West have certainly come down.

2) I have heard that there are travel agents abroad who take you to Mount Everest for a fee. Is this true? How much do they charge? Do they guarantee a safe trip?

* Maya Remedios, Goa

There are many expedition tour companies that organise treks to the Himalayas and to the Mt Everest base camp but none undertake trips to the peak of Mount Everest.

As far as the tour operators who conduct expeditions to ‘Mt Everest Base Camp Trek’ a well known one is Alpine Ascents International.They conduct a 24-day trip that costs US$ 3,400 (land cost only).

For more information on this tour you can call 1-800-43975673.

Though all these tour operators claim this to be pretty safe but still do not guarantee any kind of safety because the amount of risk depends on each individual’s physical condition which varies significantly.

3) How long would it take to tour across all of China? What would be the ideal circuit to cover for somebody who wants to get an idea about the Chinese nation?

* Anjali Khanna, Kolkata

A 12-day tour of China should give you a fair overall view of Chinese culture and the beauty of Mainland China.There are operators who conduct such tours that will cover Beijing- Xi'an-Yangtze River- Wuhan- Shanghai.

4) In the manner in which we have ayurveda tours, are there other such medical packages (allopathy excluded) anywhere in the world… for example, acupuncture tours, homeopathy tours, etc.?

* Chinar Rathore, Mumbai

'Know The World Tour' - this is a Canadian tour operator who organises tours on acupuncture.They also organise trips to the ‘Pan Pacific Acupuncture Forum’ which is being held this year between the March 5-21. For more information about any more trips being organised you can call toll free on 1-800-5549754.

Kerala tourism in India organises all sorts of Alternate Medicine tours which includes ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy, yoga, acupressure and acupuncture.

5) I may have to travel on business soon to India and am concerned about keeping in touch. Does India have any teleconference operators whose services I could use whilst there? As a follow up, if I need to attend teleconferences based in the US, would I need to dial +1 or is there a cheaper alternative to dialling into the USA – maybe some sort of calling card?

* Kevin Horn, Glasgow, Scotland

International teleconferencing is available with any international phone line though I am not aware of any teleconference operator. To dial the US you need to dial 00-1(code for US) followed by the number. We do have calling cards in India but they are not USA specific. They can be used to make any international call and are not much cheaper than a normal call. Telecom tariffs in India have come down considerably in the recent past.