Nepal

Nepal is acclaimed for natural beauty, snow-capped mountains like Mt Everest, lakes, waterfalls, trekking, historical and religious places, climatic variety, ancient art and culture and importantly less expensive.

Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the official name, is the home of Mt Everest which is the highest pick of the world. Besides Mt Everest, there are eight mountains more than 8000m high, lakes like Tilicho which is situated at the highest place of the world, many beautiful waterfalls, historical places like Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, religious places like Pashupatinath temple, Hanuman Dhoka, Krishna temple of patan and ancient places of Tansen. Nepal has five climatic zones, widely matching to the altitude including tropical and subtropical, temperate, cold, subarctic and Arctic. Because of the awesome scenic views, world famous historical and religious places, various art and culture, Nepal is known as the tourists' paradise. Bordering the Republic of India and the People's Republic of China, Nepal is a landlocked country and it is remained as a sovereign state throughout the history. Nepal has ethnic groups and sub-groups who speak over 93 languages and dialects.

Geography

Despite being a small country in comparison to its neighbor countries India and china, Nepal is rich in bio-diversity because of its unique geographical position and altitude variation. Nepal lies in south Asia between latitudes 26°and 31°N, and longitudes 80°and 89°E. The altitude of Nepal ranges from 60 meters above sea level to the highest summit on earth, the Mt Everest at 8,848 meters, all within a span of 150 kilometers causing in climatic variation from sub-tropical to arctic. Nepal's area is 147,181sq km (56,827sq mi) which is 0.3% of the total area of the world and 0.03% of the land area of Asia. Its average east west length is 885 km and average north south width is 193 km. On the basis of topographical features, Nepal is divided in to three geographical regions as Mountain, Hilly and Terai region where eighty percent of the area is occupied by mountain peaks.

The northern part of Nepal is mountain region which is located at Great Himalayan range, which contains numerous high mountains in the world including Mt Everest, Kangchenjunga Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu , Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna. The altitude of Himalayan region ranges from 3300 m to 888m. Sherpa, Bhote and Thakali are the inhabitants of this region who are 6.73% of the total population of Nepal. Hilly region occupies 67% area of Nepal which is highly occupied by Nepal's diverse cultured ethnic people like Kirat, Magar, Rai, Limbu etc. From the total population of Nepal 43% people live in this region. It is ranged from 600 m to 3300 m. The Mahabharat Lekh, at the southernmost part of the Pahadi region is a subtropical (at 1500-300 meters). The southern part of Nepal is Terai region which contains 17% of the total area of Nepal. It is the most populated part of Nepal where mainly Tharu, Madhesi people inhabits. The boarder of this region is India and it is blessed with fertile land and most of the crops are grown in this region. Generally this region is known as the Foodland of Nepal. This region is fed by the three major Himalayan Rivers, the Karnali, Naravani, and Kosi, and many other small rivers. The climate of this region is sub tropical.

 Many religions are practiced in Nepal including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Bon but the majority of Nepalese follow Hinduism and Buddhism. High mountains, long and never drying Himalayan rivers, Hills and Terai plains, different kinds of species, varieties of culture makes Nepal the most beautiful and one of the most bio –diversity rich countries in the world. There are 182 species of mammals, 850 species of bird inhabited here and it covers the 2.8 % of total species of plants found in the globe.There are many protected areas that include nine national parks, three wildlife reserves, one hunting reserve and three conservation area and eleven buffer Zones which cover 19.7% total area of Nepal. Among these Sagarmatha National Parks in Himalayas and Chitwan National Park in Terai are the world heritage areas. Nepal is a heaven and a place travelled by people from all across the world.

Mt Everest

Mt Everest is also known as Sagarmatha in Nepal, Chomolungma in Tibet and Zhumulangma Feng in chaina which is located at the peak of the Great Himalayas of southern Asia that lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet, at 27°59′ N 86°56′ E. Reaching a height of 29,035 ft (8, 848 m), it is the highest pick of the world.After allowing the foreigners to climb Mt Everest in 1949, door for mountaineers to climb highest peak was opened. With the successful ascent of Annapurna (8091m) Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachaenal in 1950, in 1953 historic ascent of Mt Everest (8848m) was achieved by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgey Sherpa.  After those historical achievements Nepal acquired world notice by mountaineers and explorer and tourism industry flourished.Mount Everest attracts many climbers; some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes for Everest, one from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet.There can be found little native flora or fauna. There is a moss that grows at 6,480m (21,260 ft) on Everest. It is the highest elevation plant species. An alpine cushion plant called Arenaria is also can be found in the region.

                The period between 1950 to 1956 is regarded as the golden era for mountain climbing when many high peaks were climbed. Apart from Everest there are numerous high summits in Nepal including Kangchenjunga(8586m), Lhotse(8516m), Makalu(8463m), Cho Oyu(8201m) , Dhaulagiri(8167m), Manaslu(8163m) and Annapurna(8091) which are always a place to enjoy for the mountaineers and explorers.

Outdoor Adventure

Nepal offers an ample array of outdoor adventure which includes:
Trekking
Excursion,
Mountain biking,
 Jungle safari,
Hiking,

Bungee jumping
Climbing
Sightseeing
Religious Pilgrimages
Mountain Flying
Rafting
Famous National Park
Large Variety of Wildlife
Diverse Cultures & Religions

Religious Shrines

Nepal is a secular country after the implementation of Republic system in Nepal. Nepal believes in equality among all the religion practiced. Among all the religion practiced in Nepal, more than 80% Nepalese people follow Hindu religion and 9% are Buddhist. Normally, Sherpa, Bhote, Thakali, Tamang practice Buddhism and Sherpa have been linked with Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. They live in Mountain and Hilly villages and other people who follow Hinduism and other religion are found in Terai region. Lumbini, one of the historical places in the world, is the birth place of Siddhartha Gautam. The light of Asia Lord Buddha was born in 543Bc in a village of Lumbini zone. That is why the Buddhism religion has a very special connection to the Nepalese people. Every year thousands of pilgrimage and tourists visit Lumbini to pay homage to the Lord of peace.

There are lots of Gumbos, temples, Chaityas, Masjids, Bihars can be found here. Being Hindu nation for long time there can be found ample amount of temples, Silalekh, Statues which can be proved as the most important historical religious property of the world. Among all the historical properties Pasupatinath Temple, Krishna temple of patan, Chagunarayan temple of Bhaktapur etc are enlisted in the world heritage sites. Likewise Swayambhunath Gumba, Baudda stupa, Namobudda, Seto Gumba etc are the most sacred and peaceful religious places of Nepal. The temples and historical palaces full of architectural values give impression of the artistry and artistic brilliance. Various religious and social festivals are celebrated, as these festivals are the unavoidable and aesthetical part of the religious and traditional heritage. Seven world heritage sites of Kathmandu, lake city Pokhara, Chitwan National Park are the popular places that tourists cannot help themselves without seeing those places. Smiling and welcoming nature of the Nepalese people annex more value to the hospitality to give visitors the feeling that homely environment is welcoming them in this awesome and charming land.

History and People

History of Nepal says that Hindu sage named "Ne" established himself in the valley of Kathmandu in prehistoric times and the word "Nepal" came into existence as the place was guarded by him. Nepalese history says that in Eight century BC migrants from India settled in Kathmandu valley and started to rule the people. The first ruler of Nepal was Gopal dynasty following Mahispal, Lichhavi, Malla and Shah. Lichhavi dynasty is known as the golden era because they started to practice modern technologies in business as well as they made a kind of law to rule people. They also introduced Hindu traditions and culture (including the caste system). They established so many temples they are still in good condition and known as most important religious places of Nepal. Later they were defeated by Mallas and they rule Nepal over five hundred years. Malla rulers are regarded as the important benefactor of the arts, building elaborately-decorated temples which are known as the amazing talent of ancient people. During that period they introduced handicraft, temples in pagoda style and many more amazing things. In 13^th century Kathmandu was divided into three different states by Malla ruler. Later King Prithivi Narayan Shah unified small states and made Nepal a strong country in 1769. Because of patriotic, country loving people and the long sighted, talented ruler Nepal remained a sovereign country throughout the history. In 1950 Nepal became free from the Rana regime and till 2008 it was Democratic country and after the People's movement now Nepal is named as Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

Ancient temples and hidden cities

Visitors will have awesome experience while visiting numerous temples and hidden cities in Nepal.  Kathmandu valley is known as the city of temple where we can find hundreds of world famous temples such as Pashupatinath Temple(the patron deity of Nepal), Swayambhunath temple (worshipped by Buddhists and Hindus), Kasthamandap( the temple after which Kathmandu was named), Sapana Tirtha Temple, Chandeshwori Temple, Taleju Bhawani Temple , Shobha Bhagwati Mandir, Budhanilkantha Temple, Changunarayan Temple, Nyatapol Temple etc. Apart from kathmadu valley there are many ancient temples all over Nepal. Some of them are Manakamana temple of Gorkha district, Janaki temple of Janakpur,  Muktinath temple of Mustang etc are mostly visited temples of Nepal. Among all the temples some of the are enlisted in world heritage sites.

Likewise, there are numerous hidden cities to explore. Pokhara is a city of lake and cave. There are seven famous lakes in pakhara including Fewa, Begnas, Rupa Lake Etc. Chamere( Bat) cave, Mahendra cave, Sidda cave and Devis falls make the city more beautiful.

Manang and Mustang two districts are known as the district beyond Himalaya of Nepal. These districts receive less rainfall. We take trekkers to the ancient kingdom of Mustang which is a hidden kingdom and recently opened to the world. Mustang lies on the border of China in Nepal. In 1992 it was opened for foreigners and thousands of tourists come to explore the city.  Still governed over by its hereditary dynasty, this unique kingdom-with-in-a-kingdom has ancient Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and many has said there is more of Tibet in mustang than there is in today's Tibet. The trek to Manang and Mustang will help to achieve your dream of adventure.