Culture, Lifestyle and pride:
1. Nepal is the birthplace for the Lord Gautam Buddha, the light of Asia. Siddhartha Gautam (Buddha) was born in Kapilvastu, Lumbini which lies in Nepal. Lumbini is a sacred place for Buddhists.
2. Nepal was never under any foreign invasion. Thus Nepal does not have an independent day because Nepal was never colonized. Nepal is also the oldest country in South Asia.
3. Nepal has the densest concentration of World Heritage Sites. Kathmandu valley alone has 7 World Heritage Cultural sites within a radius of 15 kilometers. No wonder Kathmandu is called the living cultural museum of the world.
4. Nepal is the only country with a non-rectangular flag. Nepal’s flag is maroon with two triangular shapes stacked on one another with blue border. The upper triangle consists of moon and the lower triangle consists of the sun. The current flag has been in place since 1962 although the basic design has been used for over 2,000 years in Nepal.
5. Cows are sacred in Nepal. Recently turned secular, Nepal still has the highest proportion of Hindus in the world. Cow is considered the national animal of the country. In Nepal, cows are not eaten and it is considered illegal to kill the animal. Due to this fact, it is not uncommon to see a cow wandering around the streets of Kathmandu.
6. Nepal has the only living goddess in the world called Kumari. Kumari literally means virgin in Nepali.
7. People in Nepal greet one another by saying “Nasmaste” or “Namaskar” with their palms together and bow their forehead. Namaste is directly translated as ‘I salute the God in youˇ. Like “Namaste” is common in the Hindu influenced culture, “Tashidele” is a common greeting in the culture close to Tibetan culture.
8. Elephant polo game was originated in Meghauli, Nepal. Tiger Tops in Nepal is the headquarters of elephant polo and the site of the World Elephant Polo Championships.
9. Some of the highest permanent human habitat exists in Himalayan region of Nepal.
10. Nepal has over 80 ethnic groups and 123 Languages (Mother Tongue) .
11. Nepal opened its borders in 1949.
Environment:
1. Over nineteen percent of the total country’s landmass is protected under National Park and Protected Area in Nepal.
2. Shivapuri National Park at Budhanilkantha in Kathmandu is the only World’s National Park close to the capital and international airport.
3. In the last 25 years of conservation work, Nepal has managed to save Blackbuck from extinction, successfully increased the tiger population, and brought back endangered wildlife species such as Gharial, Indian bison, wild buffalo and many others to a healthy and viable population.
4. Chitwan National Park and Everest National Park is listed in World Heritage Site.
5. Multi conceptual park management system was first successfully implemented in Annapurna Area and now ACAP is the world model for conservation and sustainable development.
6. During 70s, there were less than 80 rhinos in Nepal, now Nepal has more than 500 remnants. This is undoubtedly an excellent result in the context of global wildlife conservation record.
e) Adventure:
1. Nepal boasts few of the world’s most popular trekking trails such as Annapurna Circuit trekking and Everest Base Camp Trek.
2. Nepal is one of the best arenas for Extreme & Adventure Sport tourism such as mountaineering, cannoning, paragliding, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, bungee jumping, high altitude marathon etc.
3. Karnali in Simikot is one of the best rivers in the world for kayaking and most of the upstream Nepalese rivers offer the best rapids for white-water rafting.
Facts about the Himalayas:
1. The word ‘Himalaya” in Sanskrit means abode of snow.
2. The geological age of the Himalaya is approximately 70 million years. It is the youngest Mountain Range in the world.
3. According to Hindu mythology, God Shiva resides in the Himalaya.
4. Nameha Barwa peak is the easternmost and Nanga Parbat is the westernmost peak of the Himalaya.
5. Kumbhakarna is the new name of mount Jannu (7,710 m).
6. Gosainthan (8046 m) is the Nepali name for Shisha Pangma.
7. The ideal height gain per day for mountaineers is 1,000 ft above 10,000 ft.
8. The Himalayas are the source for rivers such as the Indus, the Yangtze and the Ganga-Brahmaputra. All three are the major river systems of the continent of Asia.
9. The Himalayas are the third largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, after Antarctica and the Arctic. There are approximately 15,000 glaciers located throughout the range.
10. The Himalayas are alive geographically! The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia
Source : himalayanecotrek.com
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