Enchantment is everywhere in Nepal be it in the cool and invigorating shade of the high mountains, or on terraced farmlands carved like stairways out of hill ridges, or still across waterfalls, creeks, rushing mountain rivers amidst gorges, valleys and forests teeming with a cornucopia of flora and fauna.

There are lakes amidst breathtaking settings, strong-existing rivers for rafting, Wildlife Safaris, the tallest mountains to climb, trekking across vales and dales, and, above all, warm, friendly, welcoming people. In this respect, Nepal becomes a ideal holiday destination for tourists, trekkers, mountaineers, writers, honeymooners, lovers, retired individuals and folks interested in study.

Nepal Geography

As Nepal is sandwiched in between two economic and geographical Leviathans, it is rightfully regarded as “ A Yam between Two Boulders” as While Nepal abuts on Indian border in the east, the west and the South, Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China shares the vast Himalayan frontier with Nepal. The length of the county is 885 kilometers from east to west, and its breath varies from 145 kilometers to 241 kilometers from north to south. The total location is 147,181 sq. kilometers.

Climate

Nepal isn’t only the house of mysterious Yeti and elusive Snow Leopard, but also a constant cause of wonder for meteorologists for her merely incredible variations in climatic conditions. Divided into three various geographical regions, Nepal houses the snow-capped Himalayas in the north, a vast stretch of plains in the south and two chains of hills, recognized as Mahabharata and Churiya range, acting as a geological bridge among the northern and southern region.

The most astonishing thing about the geography of Nepal is that the distance among the tropical lowlands and the snow-capped mountainous region is very less. Even though the distance among the tropical and alpine regions in most of the countries about the globe is more than 1000 km, it is just much less than 100 km in some locations in Nepal. The temperature varies between zero in the mountains to over 30 degrees Celsius in the valleys, and to mercury plummeting up to 38 degrees throughout summer in the lowlands.

Population

‘Unity in diversity’ is actually the mot just for a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual country like Nepal. It had a population of 18,462,081 at the time of the 1991 census. The typical population density at the time was 125 persons per sq km (329 per sq mi), even though nearly half the men and women were concentrated in the narrow Terai region. In contrast, the 2003 population estimate was 26,469,569. The population has grown quickly because 1950 when there had been only 9 million folks. In 2003 the population was growing at an annual rate of 2.3 percent. Only 12 percent of the population lived in urban locations. The rate of population in the urban locations even so has grown substantially thanks to a number of social, political and economic reasons.

Get in

You might need a tourist Visa to enter the country. A propspective visitor can apply for the visa from a number of embassies and consulates in most countries in the world. Nepal has diplomatic missions in Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Burma, Canada, China, Denmark, Finaland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, The Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Phillipines, Spain , Sweeden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tibet, the United Kingdom and the United States of America that problem visas to the propective visitors.

Entrance/Egress

The following entery/exit points have been set by the government of Nepal for the foreign visitors:

1. Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu

2. Kodari, Sindhupalchowk (North)

3. Karkarvitta, Jhapa (East)

4. Belahia,Bhairhawa (West)

5. Birgunj, Parsa (Central Nepal)

6. Jamunaha, Nepalgunj (Mid-East)

7. Mohana, Dhangadi (Far-West)

8. Gadda Chauki, Mahendranagar (Far-West)

Via Air

Given that there is only one international airport, Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, in Nepal, it is the Hobson’s choice for vistors to start their Himalayan voyage from the capital city itself. The following airlines firm operate their services from/to Kathmandu:

1. Nepal Airlines (Run by the Nepalese government, it operates its service to/from Bangkok, Banglore, Calcutta, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Osaka, Paris, London, Shanghai, Singapore)

2. Korean Air (Seoul)

3. Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Dhaka)

4. Air China (Lhasa)

5. Condor (Munich)

6. Druk Air (Paro)

7. Gulf Air (Abu Dhabi)

8. Indian Airlines (Delhi, Calcutta, Varanasi)

9. Qatar Airways ( Doha)

10.  Thai International (Bangkok)

11. Martin Air (Amsterdam via Sharjah)

Via Land

Although Indo/Nepal border is a porous one, you need to enter the country by road from India through one of the border crossing points (as described under the heading Entrance/Egress). If you are coming from Tibet, the route is Kodari, Sindhupalchowk. There is no national passenger rail service in Nepal but there is a rail service operating from Calcutta, India. A train by the name Mithila Express plies regularly between Howrah Station, Calcutta, to Birgunj, one of the chief entry points to Nepal.

Get in touch with

Though the comminication infrastructure of Nepal is not to the world’s common, nonetheless the pincipal cities across the countries entertain nearly all forms of sophisticated communication systems. These contain:

1. Telephone:

The international country code for Nepal is 977. There are two to three digit location code and six-digit neighborhood telephone numbers. The communication system, operated by Nepal Telecom, a quasi-governmental organization, caters its service in virtually all the seventy-5 district of the country. But some off-the-map villages do not have telephone facilities. Nonetheless, the East-West optical fibre project, which is on the verge of its completion, is expected to cover all the villages and hamlets of the country inside two to three years time. Besides Nepal Telecom, United Tele Communication Restricted (UTL), a privately owned firm, is supplying its services in Kathmandu Valley.

2. Cell Phones

Mobiles are widely utilized, but due to the geoprphical constraints, some rural locations have only analog service or no service at all. Nepal Telecom and UTL operate operate CDMA networks Mero Mobile, a private mobile organization, operates the only GPRS network. Travellers planning to bring their GPRS phones with them may do nicely to check that their handset supports the suitable frequencies.

3. World wide web

There are cyber cafes in nearly most of the tourist areas all over the country. A trekker can surf the net in Solokhumbu, the entry point of Mount Everest Region. Nomal rate is Rs. 20 to 30 per hours in the primary cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara. New Pokhara Lodge Lakeside Pokhara supply free of charge net to hotel’s consumers.

4. Mail

The snail mail method is there but as a rule, it is not usually speedy. Also, international parcel postal services can be expensive. In addition, internationally acclaimed courier service providers like DHL and Fedex also have their branches in most parts of the country.