Locked between the snow peaks of the Himalayas and the seething Ganges plain, Nepal has long been home to wandering ascetics and tantric yogis. It has eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, the world’s tallest, on the border with Tibet.
Sadhus and Ascetics
The Nepali flag is the only flag in the world which is triangular in shape.
The word Himalaya means “abode of snow”. It’s a Sanskrit word which has two parts, “alaya” meaning “dwelling or abode” and “him” which means “snow”.
Mount Everest
The geological age of the Himalaya is approximately 70 million years. The Himalayas were formed because of the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with the Eurasian Plate.
Ravi – Himalayan River
The Himalayan rivers are older than the Himalayan peaks. The five main rivers of the Himalayas are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej.
In Nepal, there are 8 of the world’s 14 highest mountains above 8000 meters, including Mt. Everest.
Kanchenjunga
Other seven are namely Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, and Annapurna.
Nepal has 8% of the total species of birds found in the world.
The highest lake on earth, Tilicho, is in Nepal. It rests at 15,748 feet. It’s higher than Lake Waiau on Mauna Kea in Hawaii which is 13,000 feet.
Frozen Lake Tilicho
Nepal has the deepest lake at the highest elevation. She Phoksundo is 145 meters deep and rests at 3600 meters.
The Kali Gandaki is the deepest gorge on earth, dropping 1200 meters.
Nepal also has the lowest valley on earth, the Arun valley.
Lumbini in Nepal is the birthplace of Buddha – the apostle of peace.
Stupa at Lumbini, the Birth Place of Gautam Buddha
Nepal is the only country where people worship the living goddess called Kumari, a young virgin girl.
Nepal has the densest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Kathmandu valley alone has 7 World Heritage Cultural sites within a radius of 15 kilometers.
In Nepal, there are as many as 80 ethnic groups speaking more than 100 different languages.
Wild honey hunting Gurung tribe in Central Nepal
Dang Valley situated in the mid-western development region of Nepal is the largest valley of Asia.
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May 23, 2016 12:00 am Leave your thoughts