Country book · Asia

Nepal

Home to eight of the world's ten highest peaks

Nepal is a small country that contains an outsized share of the planet's highest terrain, along with Kathmandu Valley's dense concentration of temples and living Newari culture. This book is Nepal today — the people, the truths, the myths, the food and the towns travellers pass through on the way up.

Myths

What's true, what isn't

Actually true

It really does have eight of the world's ten highest mountains
Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse and more sit within or on Nepal's borders, making it the world's premier high-altitude destination.
Sherpas genuinely hold most of Everest's climbing records
Sherpa guides like Kami Rita have summited Everest more times than anyone else on Earth, often more than 20 times each.
It was never colonised
Nepal maintained its independence throughout the colonial era, unlike most of South Asia.
Kathmandu Valley has an extraordinary density of UNESCO sites
Seven UNESCO World Heritage monument zones sit within the valley, including three historic royal Durbar Squares.

Commonly believed, wrong

"Nepal is just Everest"
Nepal has lowland jungle in the Terai with tigers and rhinos, alongside its high Himalaya, a totally different landscape and culture.
"Everyone there is a mountaineer"
Most Nepalis live far from the high mountains, working in farming, the Kathmandu Valley or the growing service economy.
"It's part of India or Tibet"
Nepal is an independent nation with its own monarchy history, language (Nepali) and distinct Newari, Gurung and Sherpa cultures.
"Climbing Everest is only about fitness"
Altitude, weather windows and logistics make it as much about timing, money and Sherpa expertise as physical conditioning.

Highlights

The best of Nepal

The Everest region

The Khumbu valley's Sherpa villages, monasteries and the classic trek to Everest Base Camp.

Kathmandu's Durbar Squares

Densely packed temple complexes showcasing centuries of Newari wood and stone carving.

The Annapurna Circuit

One of the world's classic long-distance treks, crossing from subtropical valley to high mountain pass.

Chitwan National Park

Lowland jungle home to one-horned rhinos, Bengal tigers and elephant-back safaris.

Culture

Cultural riches

Newari temple architecture

Pagoda-style temples with intricately carved wooden struts, a Kathmandu Valley invention that spread to China and Japan.

Sherpa mountain culture

Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags, monasteries and mountaineering expertise define Khumbu life.

Living goddess Kumari

A young girl worshipped as a living incarnation of the goddess Taleju in Kathmandu.

Dashain and Tihar festivals

Nepal's biggest annual festivals, marked by family gatherings, kite flying and lights.

Food

What to eat

Dal bhat

Lentil soup, rice and vegetable curry — the everyday meal eaten twice a day across the country.

Momo

Steamed or fried dumplings filled with meat or vegetables, Nepal's most beloved snack food.

Gundruk

Fermented leafy greens, dried and used in soups, a preservation technique from the hill regions.

Sel roti

A ring-shaped sweet rice-flour doughnut made especially for festivals like Tihar.

Newari feast dishes

Bara (lentil pancake) and choila (spiced grilled meat) are staples of traditional Newari cuisine in Kathmandu.

History

Important people in history

Prithvi Narayan Shah

1743–1775

King who unified the small kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley and the surrounding hills into modern Nepal.

Tenzing Norgay

First Everest ascent, 1953

Sherpa mountaineer who, with Edmund Hillary, made the first confirmed ascent of Everest.

B.P. Koirala

1959–1960

Nepal's first democratically elected prime minister, a key figure in the country's early democratic movement.

Cities