Complete travel guide prepared by Jovago Pakistan for Ansoo Lake

Being one of the few countries which are blessed with all four seasons, Pakistan portrays a spectacular picture of beauty.It is home to several mountain ranges, plateaus, deserts, glaciers, rivers, lakes, and various coastal areas. Among these beautiful places that the country has to offer, Ansoo Lake is quickly becoming a popular tourist destination.

If you are planning to visit this place any time soon, refer to the complete travel guide prepared by Jovago Pakistan which will greatly help you to smoothen your travel!

Location

Considered one of the highest lakes in the Himalayas because of its altitude, approximately 14000 feet above sea level, Ansoo Lake is in the heart of Kaghan Valley of District Mansehra. It is situated near Malika e Parbat( Queen of Mountains) which is the highest mountain in the Kaghan Valley.

How to reach this place?

There are two routes through which one can reach this lake.

Route 1: By taking the short yet steeper trek from Lake Saif ul Mulook, one can reach this spot in a 9-hour trek. Due to the steep nature, this trek is covered through mountain climbing. It is recommended that you spend the night at Lake Saif ul Mulook and then set off early in the morning.

Route 2: By trekking through the village of Mahandri, which is situated at a distance of 40 kilometers to the south of Naran, and passing through a jeep trek that leads to Village Manoor one can reach Ansoo Lake in around three days time. Despite its long distance, this route provides the travelers with the opportunity to get allured by the natural beauty of the area.

Due to the high altitude of Ansoo Lake, it is recommended to travel to this area any time during July and August as the snowfall starts by the end of the August. Even the locals start evacuating this area due to the heavy snowfall.

It is said that one need to be lucky in order to get a glimpse of the breathtaking view that Ansoo Lake has to offer. This is because the fog or rain sometimes hinders the tourists from getting a view of the lake.

AkzoNobel all set to compete in 2017 Volvo Ocean Race

Lahore, August 2016:AkzoNobel invited people around the world to follow a great adventure today

when it was announced that the company has joined forces with Dutch sailor Simeon Tienpont to formteam AkzoNobel, with the express aim of winning the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race safely and

sustainably. Team AkzoNobel is the first to enter the forthcoming edition of the competition.

Entering a team into the world’s premier offshore sailing race – which will visit 11 host cities – will

enable the company to connect with new and existing audiences and customers over a prolonged period of time, as well as continuing its proud maritime heritage.Twice winner of the America’s Cup and a two-time participant in the Volvo Ocean Race, Tienpont is an ambitious and inspirational partner. A natural born leader and skipper of the team, he reflects many of the qualities the company values in its own employees.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to harness our combined energy and ambition, channeling it into a sustainable partnership,” said AkzoNobel CEO Ton Büchner. “It will also enable us to captivate people around the world and explore new business opportunities while highlighting how we create everyday essentials to make people’s lives more liveable and inspiring.”

Speaking at today’s launch event in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, Conrad Keijzer, the company’s

Executive Committee member responsible for Performance Coatings, added: “Partnering with Simeon is a winning combination. It brings together our market-leading performance in marine and yacht coatings with a true leader who puts teamwork first and is both determined and inspirational – qualities we value highly at AkzoNobel.”Trained as a naval architect and engineer, Tienpont (34) is no stranger to winning demanding endurance races, having triumphed in the America’s Cup in 2010 and 2013. “I’m honored and incredibly excited to be the skipper of team AkzoNobel,” he said. “We’re both focused on high performance and share the same passion for success. I can’t wait to start racing.”Today’s launch took place in front of Scheveningen Pier (close to where the race will end), which provided a colorful backdrop for the event. Fifty of the famous landmark’s pillars were recently coated by AkzoNobel to provide essential protection against the tides and the elements. The race will also present more opportunities to invest in local communities and make them more livable and inspiring. Due to start in October 2017 and end in mid-2018, the world famous race – which attracts millions of followers – will stop at the following cities: Alicante (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Cape Town (South Africa),Hong Kong, Guangzhou (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajaí (Brazil), Newport (US), Cardiff (Wales),Gothenburg (Sweden), The Hague (The Netherlands).

About AkzoNobel

The AkzoNobel Group acquired ICI in 2008 bringing together the innovation, leadership and expertise of both companies. In 2011, The Board of Directors of ICI Pakistan Limited approved a proposal from its ultimate holding company, Akzo Nobel N.V. to restructure its interest in ICI Pakistan Limited by separation of the Paints Business into a separate legal entity through a scheme of demerger. As of June 1, 2012, they are now operating as AkzoNobel Pakistan.

With thier head office in Lahore and branches across the country, the AkzoNobel Pakistan family

consists of over 250 talented people and many others associated indirectly, all committed to excellence and passionate about providing sustainable solutions to our customers.

Genius Tactics for Hiding Valuables While Traveling

Amidst the excitement and the yearning to explore the new place, one tends to forget about keeping their possessions safe. Safety of one’s luggage is one of the key aspects of traveling. These days, many tourist spots are brimming with adroit pickpockets therefore, to ensure maximum safety of your valuable possessions during travel, read through the following tactics compiled by Jovago Pakistan that can greatly help you in keeping your stuff safe while on voyage.

1. Zipper within the waist belt

You must be wondering how one can hide valuables in a belt? Well, there are belts which come

with inner zipper closure compartments that are a perfect hiding spot for your cash and spare keys. By using these belts, the need to wear those easy to see fanny packs is eradicated.

2. Stash Cards in your smartphone case

This tactic is a very smart way to keep all your cards safe in one place. Through this technique, you would not even need to spend money on purchasing anything as you can just hide your important cards in your mobile phone’s case. This will not only help you to keep your cards safe but will also keep your smartphone protected at all times.

3. Flip flops with slot

If you are into the conventional way of hiding money in shoes, then instead of stashing money in your socks you should get some flip flops which are quite popular these days. These are usually available in various colors and they come with a built-in section which is big enough to conceal your money and cards.  While purchasing some of these flops, you get a free card-sized travel tool that includes a metal wrench, saw, ruler, bottle opener and sun compass. However, beware of the places where you are not allowed to wear these slippers.

Three Easy Ways to Get the Best Hotel Booking Deals

When planning to explore a new place, questions and concerns regarding accommodation and budget is hard to ignore. Unless you have a house or an apartment in the place that you plan to visit, you will have to go through the gruesome process to find a perfect stay for your vacation abroad. To make this process systematic and hassle free, Jovago Pakistanhas compiled a list of methods through which you can get hold of the best hotel booking deals:

Direct Booking

The conventional method of direct booking has been quite popular among tourists in earlier days. For instance, you might have known someone who strolls around different hotels in the visiting vicinity and then books a hotel. Hotels used to award loyalty points to those who booked directly with them. However, with the emergence of e-commerce in the hotel industry, these hotels have also started offering a best-rate guarantee for stays booked on their websites, mobile apps and through their call centers. Hotels have also started offering free internet access to its clients. Also, major hotel chains have introduced rate discounts exclusively for their members.

Online Travelling Agencies

Websites such as Jovago.net, which is Pakistan’s best hotel booking website, offers a list of hotels from which customers can choose from a variety of different brands, hotel types and price points. These hotel websites also have their blogs which have relevant writeups related to food, hotels, traveling tips, lifestyle, technology and various cultural guides. The hotel industry has been revolutionized by these e-commerce businesses which have enabled small, not so popular hotels and guest houses to come onboard and offer affordable deals to their customers. These agencies provide a wide range of hotels and guest houses from which you can narrow down your choices on the basis of price, location etc.

Hybrid Approach

As both direct booking and online travelling agencies have their pros and cons, the best way to benefit from these is by adopting a hybrid approach.Through this, you may make your booking via online agencies based on the options available on their websites and then directly contact the hotels for the booking, to get the best of both worlds.

A Complete Guide on How to Best Capitalize on Your Travel Vacation

It is mostly heard that no time is long enough to host all our travel plans. Sadly, these days due to time compressed schedules and hustling lifestyles, very few people can enjoy the luxury of going on a voyage that has no hard time strings attached. For most others, we need to plan our vacations in a way that most of our plans can be executed in our limited travel duration.

To help you in this regard, Jovago.net has devised a plan to help you get the most out of the not-so-long vacations.

1. Set right expectations

The aim of the trip should be to help you unwind and relax and not to tire yourself with too many activities which you have planned out, which might be the case if you are going for a short duration trip. The solution to this problem will be to not set the bar of expectations too high and to always make an itinerary. One should also remember the cliché: less is more. In this way, despite the trip being slow you will get to create a more intimate travel experience.

2. Skip out on the reviews

Although one should read about the traveling experience of others to get an idea about the tourist destination, it does not in any way mean that you will also have the same experience. Experience differs from person to person. So it is better to ask a local about the place as opposed to blindly following just the reviews.

3. Don’t waste your time on all the tried and tested things

Vacations are a time when you get out of your comfort zone and explore new things and places. These may include trying a new activity such as eating spicy food, rock climbing or going out and meeting new people. The activities do not have to be dangerous but it should make you come out of your cocoon.

JOVAGO.NET HOLDS MEDIA MEET UP IN ISLAMABAD

August ,2016: Jovago.net , an Online Hotel Booking website in its aim to strengthen tourism and to create awareness to book hotels online holds a media meet up in Islamabad. The purpose of this media meet up is to provide information and to raise public awareness about Jovago, enhance relationship with media and bloggers community and provide tourists with a fast, reliable and easy to use service to book the perfect accommodation for their outings and vacations around the country.

Jovago’s senior management and team met with the key media representatives to talk about Jovago’s one year journey in Pakistan, future plans, strategies and policies to promote tourism in Pakistan. Talking about this event, Managing Director of Jovago Nadine Malik said “In Pakistan most traveling plans are made last minute. Jovago.net is first hotel booking website, allowing people from all over the world to book hotels online and at best available prices. This event is intended to serve as a platform to increase networking amongst bloggers by sharing tips and insights about Jovago and to educate travelers about the online booking system that could add to their convenience and will serve the purpose gracefully.”

With many bookings from in and out of the country, Jovago is proving successful in the promotion of tourism. The event was very successful with many prominent print and online media in attendance.

About APACIG

The Asia Pacific Internet Group (www.apacig.com) is a joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo. The group’s network consists of 14  e-commerce and online marketplace companies, operating across 15 countries. Since it was founded in 2014, APACIG has become the leading online platform in Asia, building top internet companies in the region.

About Jovago Pakistan

Jovago.net is an online hotel booking service with offices in Pakistan, Nairobi (Kenya) and 10 other offices across the continent. Jovago is founded by Africa Internet Group and has Rocket Internet, MTN, Millicom, AXA, Orange and Goldman Sachs as its investors. Jovago.net, Pakistan’s No.1 booking portal, facilitates the booking process for its users to provide them with the best hotel booking experience with fast, transparent and easy-to-use services. Jovago.com has over 2000 local hotel listings in Pakistan and over 200,000 hotels around the world.

Jovago.net is an online hotel booking service with offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Dakar (Senegal) founded by Africa Internet Group and has MTN and Millicom as investors. Jovago.net, Africa’s No.1 booking portal, facilitates the booking process for its users to provide them with the best hotel booking experience with fast, transparent and easy-to-use services. Jovago.com has over 20,000 local hotel listings across Africa and over 200,000 hotels around the world.

Complete Guide to National Parks for Extreme Adventure Lovers in Pakistan

Due to its geographical location, Pakistan not only enjoys the four seasons but also homes several mountain ranges, hills, plateaus, glaciers, rivers, deserts and coastal areas. All of these contribute in making Pakistan a beautiful place to visit.

Jovago Pakistan provides a complete guide to national parks for all those extreme adventure lovers who want to wander and explore the hidden beauty of Pakistan.

1. Hingol National Park

A very popular destination among adventure lovers, Hingol National Park is situated near Makran Coast. Established in 1988, it is the largest national park in Pakistan and is home to a huge variety of wild animals, birds and reptiles. Around 250 species of flora are found in this park.

2. Ayubia National Park

More popularly known as Ayubia, the national park is a protected land that covers more than 8,000 acres. It is located in Abbottabad district. It was named after President Ayub Khan. Black Bear, Musk Deer, Grey Goral and Barking Deer are the extinct species of this area.

3. Kirthar National Park

Located in the Kirthar Mountain Range, Kirthar National Park with an area of over 3,000km² is among the largest national parks of Pakistan. It is home to two wildlife sanctuaries — Hub Dam Wildlife Sanctuary and Mahal Kohistan Wildlife Sanctuary. It is also the first Pakistani park to be included in the United Nations’ list of National Parks around the world.

4. Margalla Hills National Park

Situated in the capital city of Pakistan, Margalla Hills National Park is widely spread with an area of 31,148 acres at the foothills of Himalayas. Daman-e-Koh and Pir Sohawa along with Lake View Park and Shakarparyan are among the most popular Hill stations of this park.

 If you have visited these national parks which are full of unique species of flora and fauna, then do share your experience with us.