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BALLOON FLIGHT
Traditionally the Spring, Fall and Autumn seasons are regarded as the best time to visit the Himalayas, but a visit in the Summer...
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RAFTING
The Trishuli River is easily accessible from Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan National Park.
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TIBET
Rooftop of the World' - locked away in its Himalayan fortress, Tibet has long exercised a siren's » read more |
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BHUTAN
Bhutan is a country nestled in the eastern Himalayas. The country has been visited by a great many saints, mystics
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| NEPAL INFORMATION |
 Situated in the central Himalaya Nepal encompasses some of the most spectacular scenery on earth. Adventurers have long been enticed by the lure of the world's highest mountains. However, the Himalaya is not just a chain of mountains, but a complex tapestry of natural & cultural landscapes. A land truly of disparate cultures, extremes of climate and unusual biological diversity. Nepal's rivers, headwaters to the Ganges cascade down gorges and course through enthralling countryside, verdant fields, thick clumps of forests and villages trapped in time. The Kingdom abounds with temples emblazoned with art conceived from centuries old oriental religions and cultures. Nepal's history is closely related to its geographical location, separating the fertile plains of India from the desert-like plateau of Tibet. Its position between Indian and China meant that the country was able at times to play the role of an intermediary - a canny trader between two great powers. Internally, its history was just as dynamic, with city-states in the hills vying with each other for power until one powerful king, Prithivi Narayan Shah, overran them all. That history is very visible today with the three great towns of the Kathmandu valley - Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur - still bearing witness to their days as fiercely competitive mediaeval mini-kingdoms. Indeed, in Nepal it's often possible to go back to the ancient times and mentally roll the clock right back to the mediaeval era. |
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Behind the old temples and places of the Kathmandu Valley, above and beyond the hills that surrounding the valley, ‘the abode of snow' is a natural kingdom' and an attraction to mountaineers from all over the world. With a touch of enterprises and a modicum of fitness most travelers can walk the trails that lead into the road-less heights of the Himalayas. In Nepal, one trek is rarely enough, and many visitors soon find themselves planning to return. Fascinating old towns, magnificent temples and great walks are not all Nepal has to offer. Many visitors come to Nepal expecting to find these things but also discover how friendly the Nepalese are in the background of the mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism, which is the integral part of social life of Nepal because of many mixed marriages from the ages. |
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Geography
Situated between longitude of 80 degree 4 minutes to 88 degree 12 minutes east and latitudes of 26 d 22m to 30 d 27 m north, Nepal is a landlocked country with an area of 1,47,181 sq kilometers, roughly a quarter of France. The country is almost rectangular in shape with its 120-240kms of width and nearly 900kms of length, wedged between two big Asian countries India and China.
Within such a small area, however, is the greatest range of altitudes to be seen on this planet - starting with the Terai, only 100m or so above the sea level, and ending up at the top of Mt. Everest (8848m), the highest peak on earth.
Often a visitor's can see the mountains, especially the Everest and the Annapurna as well as the flora and fauna with interacting friendly Nepalese people. The plains in the south, four mountain ranges, and the valley lying between them provide a variety of unparalleled landscape. The lowlands with their fertile soils and the southern slopes of the mountains with sunny exposures permit the cultivation of cereals and rice and fruit farming. |
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People
 Like the geography, the population of Nepal is extremely diverse and highly complex. Simplistically, Nepal is the meeting point for the Indo-Aryan people of the Indian origin with the Tibeto-Burman people of the Himalayas, but this gives a little hint of the dynamic ethnic mosaic that has developed and continues to change to this day. In anthropological terms, the chief classification of the different ethnic groups living in Nepal can be described as two principle ones that is, the Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman groups. However, more than forty ethnic groups exist in Nepal.
Population
Nepal's population currently stands at around 25.2 million (2005 Census) with an annual growth rate of 2.6%. The largest city is Kathmandu, the capital, has 1.5 million people. In the mountains, the rate of increase is lower than in the Terai, but this is because many people are migrating from the hills to the Terai. Despite extremely high rates of infant mortality, the average life expectancy is 58 for men and 56 for women. |
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