Happy 2008

MANDY NICKERSON, MD UPDATE

All the time preparing and all the build up for Christmas and New Year and no sooner do you blink when it is all over!

Happy New Year to you all. I know that so many of us make New Year resolutions full of good intent. I have to say I didn’t even last one day with mine, how pathetic is that. I guess the best thing is not to make them in the first place. I wonder if you any of you are still keeping up with yours? One of my sons from the early age of about 6 decided he would give up anything with chocolate from New Years day until Easter Sunday. It was certainly not imposed by me, he loves chocolate and has no weight issues issue but he felt he wanted to do this health check and his will power and resolve means that he has never faltered from achieving this.

I would love to think that one of your resolutions is travelling with Bales in 2008 and sincerely hope this is one that you do commit to – your world would change and no I am not being dramatic and I will boast that we are that good!!

I am based in our office on the top floor which is the third floor. I have been in the office constantly for some time now with no meetings set externally. I fell like I am the girl in the attic and guess our staff treat me with kid gloves as they think I am Mr Rochester’s wife out of Jane Ayre - the scary mad woman in the attic!!! Help …. I need to get out….

In reality I have had a good consolidated time looking at our processes and procedures and seeing if we can improve in any areas. I know I said we are good, but there is never room for complacency and in our ever changing world it is important that we address everything frequently to see if we continue to offer you the best and how we may be able to improve efficiency.

I am very excited as tomorrow we are hosting to 250 of you by way of going to the Tutankhamun Exhibition at O2 and then taking you by boat (champagne cruise) to the Four Seasons Hotel in Canary Wharf for drinks and canapés where you can meet many of us and to top it all, we have Rosalie David, a famed Egyptologist giving a guest lecture. It is not just the event that excites me but having the opportunity to meet you. Our business is done by phone, internet and through travel agents so rarely do we get the opportunity to meet you. But when we do, it is such a pleasure , we are blessed with having such nice people as clients,

Another full week in the attic next week and then off to India and Bhutan.... oh and I guess that regular readers may be interested to know how my training (or lack of) is going. Not as much or as often as I should but did go for a run last week and committed to do two runs this weekend with my ultra fit girlfriends. I know a lot of you don’t know me but I have been accused of being a chatter box. And I secretly think that is why my friends always want to do something for fitness as I have enough trouble breathing let alone talking when I am running, so it is their way of silencing me.

Thank you to all of you that have put your belief in Bales to look after your travel arrangements – you are so important to us and our mission is to get every holiday to be the best holiday you have ever had.

Will catch up on my return from India and Bhutan, but don’t worry because I leave the office with 60 excellent staff who can discuss and plan your holiday.

Till next time adios.

   

Mandy Nickerson

   

Blog - 28th January, 2008

The Tutankhamun Exhibition event we held was fantastic, I was genuinely surprised at how many of you came over to the Four Seasons as I know it was so absorbing to see the exhibition and how easy it would be to stay there for a considerable length of time. I think that you would agree it was worth coming over, not least to meet so many of our staff face to face when I know that many of you have regular contact with them. It’s always good to put a face to name. I know I speak for our staff when I say we all very much enjoyed seeing and meeting so many of you. How lucky we are that we have such a very appreciative clientele who really do value what we do, sorry for regular readers you will see that I regularly say this but it is just that when I talk to some of my peers it really does make me realise that your clients are special.

A very busy week followed , with much longer days than normal – I think I might be getting insomnia which is good as I was needing to get up at 4ish – better to be busy though and I am certainly not complaining.

I really felt guilty about leaving my colleagues for a week and thought I should cancel my trip to India and Bhutan but their support was amazing- maybe an ulterior motive – please leave us in peace for a week! but without their support I would not have gone. What a mistake that would have been – let me tell you why:

I arrived at Heathrow in plenty of time – and enjoyed the many facilities that Heathrow offers , in particular the shopping , in fact it is one of the few times that I really enjoy shopping and I wanted to get various gifts for our ground handlers. I was laden with bags and then I would like to say elegantly , but those that know me would know that is not true , proceeded to walk down some spiral marble steps and fell down them( I promise I had not had a drink!!!) . Well, I fell quite badly and ‘did my knee in’ – not a good sign for going trekking in Bhutan!!! Of course the gate I had to get to was the furthest away and I limped pathetically there. I must have looked really bad as the ground crew suggested I may not wish to fly. Well, I can honestly say nothing in the world would have stopped me getting on the aircraft. I was immediately given packs of ice to put on my knees. What a high maintenance client I would be!!! The next day the hotel suggested I saw a Doctor; I honestly didn’t want to make it a drama but wanted to get some confirmation that I would be OK for the trekking. In the end I spoke to a Doctor and they suggested I went to hospital to get my knees checked out. Oh what a drama queen I felt, arriving at the emergency ward at the hospital, kindly taken by our ground agents in India. Nothing to worry about regarding bones, just very inflamed and bruised for which they gave me tablets and spray. I must say a fantastic hospital, service was fantastic and I didn’t have to fill in hundreds of forms before they even saw me. The cleanliness was very apparent and I would have been very happy had I needed to have any type of treatment. So after a day spent with my ground handler in Delhi I went the next morning to meet the group that I was to travel to Bhutan with.

This was what is called an educational trip whereby we get invited by hoteliers, ground handlers or airlines to come and experience their services. In this case it was organised by Como Hotels and Taj Hotels. There were 15 women on the trip from a mix of travel agents and tour operators.

Our first stop was Paro where we stayed at the Uma Paro, owned by Como. It is such a ‘wow’ place in the middle of a valley sitting between the Himalayas. This trip was particularly important to me as I have personally wanted to go to Bhutan for over 30 years and it was a dream come true. Only thing about the ambition and desire to travel to a country for so long is you just hope that when you finally do it, it does meets up to your expectations. I have to say Bhutan far surpassed everything for me and I was in awe the whole time. The Uma Paro is a really luxury property but not overly stated and a wonderful base to do day trekking from. Whilst you can do longer treks – up to 10 days staying in camps, I very much enjoyed returning to the hotel every night with yoga classes, massages and fantastic food not to mention the height of luxury in accommodation. Yes definitely day trekking is for me.

The guides were so motivational and if any of us feared going up a steep slope, made more scary because we had a lot of snow and it was actually snowing consistently on one day, then the guides got us through it and we all felt so proud to have achieved it.

Whilst we do a lot of tailor made trips and it is an increasingly growing area of our business, I saw the value of the camaraderie of the group on this trip and shared so many magical moments. Of course I would love to do this trip with my husband Steve, thought I would really think about doing it with others as it added so much. I think not least how much we all supported each other. On the second day of trekking we were going up to Tigers Nest – an ambition I have had for such a long time. As we started walking, the stronger knee caved in and one of my companions said it was because I had been compensating the weaker knee and so now I had two dodgy knees. When it went, I know I was ashen and childlike as I was so emotional about the probability of missing Tigers Nest. Like a guardian angel one of the groups gave me her own knee support bandage which was bliss and I was able to achieve it. Thanks Billie- without you I would never have done this!!! It is not a busy time to go to Bhutan because of the weather and if you are contemplating a trip I would suggest you go in the spring where you will see mountains laden with flowers and also Autumn when it is warm enough and not rainy or snowy. It did make the trip harder and though we do tell our clients how to prepare – did I take our advice- my shoes had lost any grip they had (absolutely essential) and thermals are a must if you go in the Winter.

Whilst much of the walk is climbing through the mountain woods and in clearings it is fine as long as you have a certain level of fitness. If you never walk anywhere or do any exercise it is no doubt it is going to be harder. It is when you get to the steps at Tigers Nest that you have to consider things like vertigo as it is very sheer going down and not all the stairs have railings. Three of our group had vertigo, but again with their own courage to fight it and the support of the group, they all made it to Tigers Nest!

For those that don’t know, Tigers Nest to Buddhists what Mecca is to Muslims. I was taken with the inner happiness of the monks and their own serenity and calm. There are a few Buddhist shrines there as well as a cave where special monks could come and pray for up to two years. They would never be able to see sunlight, never come out of the cave but many monks wanted to have this experience. Nowadays it is not in the cave as there are treasures in there, but there are places around on the mountain and within where they can do this .

After a delightful time which I did not want to end in Paro, we headed for Thimpu and stayed at the Taj Tashi. We were very honoured as they only opened the hotel on the previous day, but I can honestly say if there were teething problems we did not see them. Another Taj Hotel where attention to detail is in every aspect of what they do and the rooms were fantastic, some overlooking the town some overlooking the mountains – well all overlooking the mountains actually as beyond the town you can see the mountains. Rooms are finished with very beautiful mahogany flooring and a bathroom which you can open up into the bedroom if you want the space or keep closed should you prefer the privacy,

I am really thrilled that I did not miss Thimpu as they have some magnificent monasteries and sights to see.

Thimpu is the capital of Bhutan and has around 100,000 inhabitants. The whole country is the size of Switzerland with a population of approximately 650,000, so you can imagine the space and the clarity of the air.

So if you like the outside life, you are interested in flora and fauna or simply want to see the more spiritual side of Buddhism then I would thoroughly recommend this country that simply absorbs all your senses.

I am now back and found that some of my colleagues have been doing very long days to support their own work load and mine in my absence. I am so so grateful to them all for helping me complete this trip of a lifetime.

As for the knees and the half marathon I am due to run this month I will need to get those wonderful knee supports if I am to do it and again I think it is a popular decision that I carry on as I am not one to give up lightly , though I suspect it gets me out of peoples hair again and of course will be quiet for the whole time I am doing it – an added bonus to those I will be with.

I hope you have managed to plan your 2008 holidays (with us of course!) and should you still be undecided please do call one of our experts to discuss the numerous options and destinations, it may be you know what you want to do , but are not sure where to do it – and of course we are here and delighted to help you by putting together the holiday the experiences you want to include on your trip.

Look forward to chatting again soon,

 

Mandy