Travelling back to the Himalayas has always been a huge dream of mine, and I was rather excited to finally able to make the plans and finalize the details. There was some time in the middle, when I thought I would not be able to go due to sudden financial troubles, but 5 minutes with the wonderful folk , and I was back on my feet again. Himalayas, here I come well hopefully, if the blockade continues the money will go to a Canadian Rockie trip,, just as exciting.
The Himalayas are one of the most recognized mountain ranges in the world. It’s home to some of the world’s tallest peaks- Mount Everest, K2, Kanchenjunga, etc. Geologically speaking, the Himalayas are fairly new- they are the youngest range of mountains in the world! Recent studies have shown that the mountains have not come to a rest- they still move about 20 mm every year. This continual tectonic activity is what causes earthquakes, landslides and avalanches on a frequent basis!
The Himalayas stretch across six countries- Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. In fact, 75% of Nepal’s land area is covered by this mountain range. Nepal’s culture and history has been shaped by the Himalayas for a long time. Surprisingly, Nepal is home to some of the tallest peaks of the Himalayas. Of the top 15 tallest mountains in the world, 8 can be found in this small Hindu country, including Mount Everest ( where I had my honeymoon!). The Nepalese people call Mount Everest “Samgarmatha”, which means Goddess of the Universe. The sherpas that live in the Nepal Himalayas are experienced mountaineers, and usually help mountain climbers scale the mountains in the area. The most popular sherpa, of course, is Tenzing Norgay who, along with Edmund Hillary, was the first person atop Mount Everest. Fun fact: Norgay is said to have carried a couple of his daughter’s pencils with him, and once he reached the summit, he buried them there.
Where there are mountains, there is water. Three major rivers (and hundreds of minor ones) originate in the Himalayas- the Indus, the Ganga, and the Yangtze (known as Brahmaputra, on the Indian subcontinent).
Stay tuned for even more exciting Himalayan facts!