Annapurna I

Annapurna I was the first eight-thousander to be conquered and lies 34km east of Dhaulagiri. The Annapurna

range stretches from 55km and is made up of a series of peaks. Between this massif and the Dhaulagiri range flows the great Kali Gandaki river which has carved what is believed to be the world's deepest gorge with an eight-thousander on either side. Translated from Sanskrit, Annapurna would mean "Full of grain" but is generally known as the "Goddess of harvests". This area has been well-protected under Annapurna Conservation Area Project  (ACAP), one of the most successful conservation projects. Four other peaks in this range share the name Annapurna: Annapurna II (7,937m), Annapurna III (7,555m), Annapurna IV (7,525m) and Annapurna South (7,219m).
As the French expedition led by Maurice Herzog in 1950 had come with the intension of climbing Dhaulagiri, it took them two weeks to locate Annapurna I after they chenged their plans.

Manaslu - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

 Manaslu lies 64km east of Annapurna, between Gorkha and Manang districts in northern Nepal. Of all the

fourteen eight-thousanders, twelve were first summited by climbers from the west while two were conquered by Asians. The fact that the peak was first climbed by a Japanese Expedition has made it one of the most popular mountains among Japanese mountaineers. It all began with a Japanese Manaslu Reconnaissance Expedition in 1952. This was followed by Japanese expeditions in 1953 and 1954 but the latter was unable to approach the mountain following opposition from the inhabitants of Samu village along the route.
The expeditions went up the river Budi Gandaki's course to reach the mountain.

Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu (meaning "Turquoise Goddess" in the Tibetan language) lies 20km west of Everest and forms the

boundary wall between Nepal and China. The first attempt on this mountain was made by an expedition led by the great Eric Shipton and included mountaineers who would one day become very famous: Edmund Hillary, George Lowe, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdilon. They only made it up to 6,650m before turning back.
It was the Austrians, Herbert Tichy and Joseph Jochler accompanied by Pasang Dawa Lama who made the first successful ascent on 19th October 1954, via the north-west ridge. This was the Golden Decade of mountaineering when most of the eight-thousanders were climbed.

Dhaulagiri - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

The Dhaulagiri also known as "The White Mountain" is quite easily recognized because of its unique, mound

shape when seen from treks that leave from Pokhara. Lying in the north-west of Pokhara, this peak first attracted the French expedition that came to Nepal in 1950. Led by Maurice Herzog, the mountaineers looked up at this formidable peak and decided it was impossible to climb and turned their attention to Annapurna I, which they subsequently climbed. It was the dicovery of Dhaulagiri's height in 1809 that brought to light the fact that the Himalayan range of mountains was higher than the Andes in South America. At the time, the Europeans assumed Dhaulagiri was the highest mountain in the world.

Lhotse - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

The Lhotse peak is often overlooked as its neighbor Everest steals all the lime light. Nevertheless, at 8,516m,

it is the fourth highest mountain in the world. The Lotse Middle (East) is 8,414m while Lhotse Shar is 8,383m. The famous mountaineer Norman Dyhrenfurth made an unsuccessful attempt on the mountain in 1955 accompanied by two Austrians. the following year a Swiss team comprising Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger made it to the summit on 18th May 1956. They were  part of the Swiss Mount Everest/Lhotse Expedition. On 12th May, two Austrians, Zepp Maier and Rolf Walter summited Lhotse Shar while Lhotse Middle remained unclimbed until forty-five years later, Russian climbers, Eugeny Vinogradsky, Segei Timofeev, Alexei Bolotov and Petr Kuznetsov finally conquered it.

Makalu

Like Everest and Lhotse, the fifth highest mountain, Makalu lies in the Khumbu region of North-eastern

Nepal. It has two subsidiary peaks: Kangchungtse or Makalu II (7,678m) is north-northwest of the main summit while Chomo Lonzo, the other peak, lies north of it. On 15th May 1955, Lionel Terry and Jean Couzy, members of a French expedition led by Jean Franco reached the summit of Makalu. The following day, Franco, G. Magnone and SherpaGyaltsen Norbu also summitted. The North face and the north-east ridge via which they climbed became the standard route for the clumbers who came after them.
Over the following years, mountaineers climbed over the south-east ridge, the West Pillar route.

Mt. Everest- Pride of the World

Mt. Everest was first climbed on 29th May 1953 by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of

Nepal. This British Expedition was led by John Hunt. The first expedition on Everest was led y Lt. Colonel Charles Howard-Bury in 1921. The early atttempts were make from the Tibetan side as Nepal was closed to outsiders until 1950. Since 1953, more than a thousand people have climbed Everest and among them Apa Sherpa has summitted twenty times. The most commonly used route up the mountain is the South-east Ridge.

Kanchenjunga - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Once mistakenly thought to be the highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga is in fact the third largest and

has five prominent peaks which it is named after. Kanchenjunga in Sikkimese means "Five treasures of the Great Snows". Located in far Eastern Nepal, the other side of the mountain lies in Sikkim, India. The five peaks are Kanchenjunga main (8,586), Yalund Kand (8,505), Kanchenjunga west (8,420m) and the Twin Peaks (both 8,476). The mountain lies 128Km east of Everest.
Although plans were afoot to climb Kanchenjunga as early as 1882, it was only in 1905 that the first attempt wa made. Alister Crowley was the first to make his way up the Yalung galcier. A British expedition led by Charlie Evans finally succedded in

Himalayan Peaks of Nepal - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Nepal has the largest share of the highest peaks in the world. Of the fourteen peaks over 8,000m known as 

the eight-thousanders, eight of them lie in the Nepal Himalaya. These include the highest mountain in the world, Mt. everest (8,848m) and the third highest, Mt. Kanchenjunga (8,586m). Attempts were made on Mt. Everest since the 1920s, but it was only in 1953 that the peak was successfully climed. The 1950s became known as the Golden Decade of climbing as most of the eight-thousanders were conquered within the ten years. Annapurna (8,091m) was  the first among them to be climbed, in 1950. The other eight-thousanders are Lhotse (8,516), Makalu (8,463m), Cho Oyu (8,210m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m) and Manaslu (8,163m).

Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve is located in the far-eastern lowland Terai of Nepal. The pristine sub-tropical

jungle makes Shuklaphanta Nepal's second largest wildlife reserve in Terai. The open grasslands and numerous waterholes of the park extend into a vast expanse of plain grasslands and Sal foress, while marsh vegetation is found along rivers and lakes. The reserve that was originally a hunting area was later converted to wildlife reserve to protect swamp deer. There serve now shelters to almost 2,000 swamp deer, around 50 wild elephants and 30 tigers. Other animals found here are spotted deer, blue bulls, barking deer, hog deer, wild boars, leopards, jackals, langurs and rhesus monkeys. Among birds the reserve provides habitat to sarus crane, swamp francolin, grass owl, warblers, flycatchers, and endangered Bengal florican. Reptile species include marsh mugger, crocodile,

Parsa Wildlife Reserve - Nepal Toursim Year 2011

The Parsa Wildlife Reserve spreads over parts of Chitwan, Makawanpur, Parsa and Bara districts. The

vegetation is tropical and sub tropical mostly covered with Sal forests, while the hills are covered with chir pine. Khair, sissoo and silkcotton are found along water areas. The reserve provides good habitat for animals like wild elephant, tiger, leopard, sloth bear, gaur, blue bull and wild dog. Other common animals in the reserve are sambar, chital, hog deer, barking deer, langur monkey, rhesus macaques, striped hyena, rat, palm civet and jungle cat. There are 370 species of birds found in the reserve, one being the endangered great hornbill found in certain parts of the forest. Other bird species include peafowl, red jungle fowl, flycatchers and woodpecker. Apart from birds and animals the reserve is also habitated by snakes like king cobra, common cobra, krait, rat snake and python.

Koshitappu Wildlife Reserve- Nepal Toursim Year 2011

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve has carved a place for itself as a bird watcher's paradise. The reserve spreads

over Saptari and Sunsari districts in East Nepal over the embankments of River Koshi. The reserve has been recognized as a wetland Site from 1987. The vegetation of the reserve is  mainly grassland with patches of scrub and deciduous riverine forests. The reserve has recorded around 479 species of bird variety, some of which fly all the way from Siberia during winter. A wide variety of ducks, herons, storks, egrets, ibis are seen on the riverbanks. Kohi Tappu wildlife Reserve also has one of the few elephant stables of Asia. Other animals found here are wild buffalo, wild boar, hog deer, spotted deer, blue bull and jackal. Gharial crocodile and Gangetic dolphin are also found here.

Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park

Popular trekking, hiking and recreation area, the Park offers the retreat from Kathmandu.The park was

estalished as a watershed and Wildlife Reserve in 1976 and was declared as a national park in 2002 for the protection of flora and fauna. Vegetation varieties in the park include its 129 species of mushrooms while animals include 19 species of mammals including Himalayan black bear, leopard, barking deer, wild boar, wildcat, rhesus monkey and langur monkey. The park also boasts of 177 species of birds and 102 species of butterflies.

| Basanta Panchami | | Shri Panchami | | Saraswoti Puja |

Basanta Panchami is also known as Shri Panchami or Saraswoti Puja which is very special for students and  celebrated to show the respect to the Goddess Saraswoti,  the goddess of knowledge and learning. On this day students take bath early in the morning, wear clean clothes, worship their books and visit temples of goddess Saraswoti with worship materials. There is a belief that worshipping the goddess on this day broadens up the knowledge horizon and studies will progress further fruitfully. Parents who have toddlers at home take them to temples and make them write on the walls of the temple.

Khaptad National Park

Khaptad National Park in west Nepal is the home of Late Khaptad Swami, the renowned scholar and a hermit. The park with rolling hills of grasslands and forests of subtropical, temperate and sub alpine vegetation, is also a rich natural habitat. The park boasts of 224 species of medicinal herbs and offers excellent bird watching opportunities, with 270 species of birds, the common ones being different varieties of impheyan pheasant, partridges, flycatchers, bulbuls, cuckoos and eagles. Animals in the park are barking deer, wild boar, ghoral, Himalayan black bear, yellow throated marten, rhesus monkey and langur monkey. The park also offers religious sightseeing at Tribeni on the way to its headquarters. There are several historical temples surrounding this area and an annual celebration

Official Inuguration of Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Nepal Tourism Year 2011 is official going to start from the 14th January 2011and celebrated as a festival of all Nepalese. On this occasion, government has decleard public holiday on 14th January and president Dr. Ram Baran Yadav is going on to formally launch the festival at Dasarath Stadium and many other institutions are organising different programs. The main organising committe of the Tourism Year has expected to welcome one million tourist during the year as the statistics shows that about half a million people choose as their destination in average. The natural beauty, bio-diversity, high topographical difference religous and cultural diversity are the key attraction of this festival.

Tamor

The river Tamor lies in the east of the country and is fed by the waters coming down  from

Mt. Kanchanjunga. Tamor has some excellent Class IV and Class V rapids ensuring a good rafting trip. Ideal for adventure seekers, this is another long trip that involves a flight to Biratnagar in the terai, followed by a long drive after which a four-day trek leads up to the put-in point.The trek is rewarding with great mountain views.

The flight from Kathmandu to Biratnagar itself promises grand panoramic views of the Himalayas.

Arun

The Arun river run provides yet another adventutous trip in eastern Nepal for those who want more than just

a river trip. The approach to the river involves a three-day trek through the wilderness, passing through villages and enjoying views of mountains. This is a thrilling trip combining rafting with trekking and camping out in a pristine forest. The large volume of water ensures thrills and spills as it cuts a deep gorge through the hills. Impressibe rapids that are technically challenging are encountered throughout the river run.

The trip begins with a flight to Tumlingtar in the Hilly region of eastern Nepal where rafters camp for the night before setting out towards the river.The next day's adventure is a short trek to the next camping site.On Day 3, the river trip begins and Class III and Class IV rapids are encountered.

Canyoning in Nepal

Canyoning in Nepal- A short Video.

Bheri

The river Bheri has its origin in the Dolpo region of Nepal and is yet to be fully explored. Graded as an easy

 river to raft, it nevertheless gives rafters a thrilling ride. Along the way are encountered charming little villages with ancient traditions that have been perfectly preserved. Bheri is also well-known for its good fishing spots. As with the Karnali, the journey here begins with a plane ride to Nepalgunj followed by a 3-4 hrs drive to the put-in point at Samjighat.

Soon after setting off on the river journey, the first major rapid is encountered and there are many more along the way.