About

Formerly the world’s last Hindu kingdom, Nepal (“Home of the Gurkhas”) is now a multi-party federal democratic republic of some 27.8 million people (2013 census) and a total land-locked area of 147,181 sq. km. with India in the south, east and west and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China in the north. It has some of the most rugged mountainous terrain in the world, with the Great Himalayan Range, including Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, in the central and northern parts.  Altitude variation is 70 meters above sea level in the southern plains to 8,848 m in the extreme north (Mt. Everest), with oxygen rates varying from 88% to 33 % correspondingly.   The climate also varies tropical in the southern plains, temperate in the middle hills and lower mountains, to arctic cold in the extreme north (the real Himalayas.)

The people of Nepal are mostly of Indo-Aryan stock with various tribes of Mongol-Tibetan origin both of which resulted in numerous dialects and sub-dialects apart from the official language: Nepali.  (Spoken and written English is quite widely common due to the last half-century’s stress on modern international-type education and increasing diplomatic and commercial relations with other countries.) Similarly, there exists an astounding mosaic of customs and traditional practices which result in Nepal being so colourfully diverse and interesting.  Constitutionally a secular country, Hindus are in the majority followed by Buddhists (Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal), Moslems and Christians in the minorities.  Various tribal groups practice animism and spirit worship.

The Nepali rupee is the official currency, but the US dollar is always easily negotiable!

Transportation:  Kathmandu’s Tribhuwan International Airport is served by some 16 international airlines while there are over a dozen domestic carriers which connect Kathmandu to airports throughout the country, some of them the highest and thrilling in the world.  There are 12,493 kilometers of motorable (black-topped, graveled and dirt) roads crisscrossing plains, hills and mountains (but Mountain Legend carefully plans trek routes to avoid as much as possible dusty roads, sticking to virgin foot-trails wherever possible).

Nepal’s market economy is based largely on agriculture, and it is a major producer of medicinal herbs which grow on the slopes of the Himalayas including “Yarshabumba”, the Himalayan version of “Viagra”.  Tourism is a prime contributor to the national revenue, although the April and May 2015 earthquakes hit this industry critically.  Due to centuries of geographic and self-imposed isolation, Nepal unfortunately remains one of the world’s least-developed nations but is striving to catch up.