The Great Himalayan Trail

If you’ve got as far as here, then you are probably aware of the very popular Annapurna and Everest circuits in Nepal. These have been a mountain lover’s closest encounter with the Himalayas for decades. But now you can get a lot more of the Himalayan experience. The Great Himalayan trail is a hiking route that spans from Mt. Kanchenjunga in the east to the remote Humla district in the west. It passes through the worlds tallest peaks and high altitude human settlements. This is a great addition to the adventure destinations Nepal already provides. In addition to closer look of the big mountains, this route covers a comprehensive cultural mix: from majority Buddhist Sherpa communities of the Khumbu region, to Tamangs in the Langtang region, to ancient Hindu communities of the Annapurna region and countless Gurung, Lama settlements along the trail.

This is a 1700km trail which takes about 150 days to complete in total, so you can get the ultimate hiking adventure. This is certainly a lifetime opportunity for an enthusiast to experience a one-of-a-kind mountain hiking.

Parliamentarians in Kathmandu were debating national budget, who ran down to the streets after the shocks were felt. They returned after spending 15 minutes outside.

Earthquake Epicenter - Sikkim

About 14 people have been reported dead at this point. 3 of them in Lainchaur section of Kathmandu where a British embassy wall collapsed into a narrow public street which borders British and Indian embassies. The embassies have tall walls which must have been weakened following incessant rains in Kathmandu. Police inspector Dan Bahadur Thapa, chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Sohrakhutte identified the dead as Sajan Shrestha-36, a father and his daughter Anisha-8 and one other Bir Bahadur Majhi. At least 2 people are reported dead in the eastern city of Dharan which lies close to the epicenter. The dead have been identified as Santosh Pariyar and his 6-year old son Kamal Pariyar. And around 9 people are reported dead in Sikkim.

Nepali people in US

What this has done is, it has boosted the identity of the once minority community in the country. New York State created a whole new segment for the Nepali community in the last census that earlier used to be included in the ‘other’ category. Darshan Rauniyar, a Nepali by origin, is trying to create history by running for the 2012 US Congress. Politicians in Connecticut have begun to learn from Nepal and be able to ‘do more with less’.

Nepal has a long way to go to become an example for other countries. But it does have its roots in the early eastern civilazation that was based on righteousness. Leaders with vision and collective effort of the people from all walks of life is all that it needs right now to make Nepal an example.

You can view the results by

Phone: Call 1600 and follow the instructions to enter your symbol number

SMS: Send sms to 1400

Online:

slc.ntc.net.np

slcresult.soce.gov.np

educationsansar.com

While there were few questions that I had no clue about, there were some that were directly related to Nepal and I was confidently going through them. This particular one must have been the easiest for me. ‘Which religious tradition does not trace its roots back to India?’ I saw ‘Buddhism’ as one of the four options and proudly clicked on it without even thinking about the other options.

Alas! it told me I was wrong.

Siddhartha Gautam, popularly known as Gautam Buddha and the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini (in Nepal) around 500 BCE. He was a prince to King Suddhodana of Kapilvastu. At the age of 29, he left his family, his palace and material wealth in search of the ultimate peace and happiness. He did, however spend time in India during his search for enlightenment but I cannot reasonably associate that with having the roots of Buddhism.

This issue has been brought up several times before. Newsweek editor and CNN host Fareed Zakaria sparked controversy from similar statements in his book. Even Google Maps once put Lumbini within Indian borders. This is a sensitive issue and deserves due attention.

The roots of Buddhism are peace and non-violence; and the original mission of  the Christian Science Monitor was “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind”. Buddhism is an identity of Nepali people and to be depicted incorrectly by an entity that shares such a similar ideology is very un-fateful.

We sincerely request Christian Science Monitor to either fix the quiz or remove it to avoid controversy.

This is the day to celebrate the contribution of women to the society, identify and expose problems faced by the female population and discuss ways to improve their lives.

Anuradha Koirala at CNN Heroes

Nepal has had significant achievements in terms of women empowerment. Noble works of Anuradha Koirala from Maiti Nepal, were awarded with the highest honors by CNN, as the CNN Hero Of the Year 2010. She is also going to be presented this year’s Manhae Foundain Peace Award

Bandana Rana is president of an organization called Saathi (meaning ‘friend’ in Nepali language), that works for Nepali women and the challenges they are facing. The constitution has also made significant improvements by ensuring enough room for women in all sectors of public service.

Apart from all these recent developments, there is still a lot to be done. Women trafficking, under-representation, and violence are widespread in the country. We believe education and awareness is the true solution to improve these conditions. There are numerous unknown women and men working for women in Nepal. On Women’s day today, we call everyone to contribute in whatever way they can to this important cause.

You can work with GetInNepal on challenges faced by women in Nepal.

Happy Women’s day again!

The region was also attractive to students coming for higher education primarily in distinguished schools like the Yale University and University of Connecticut. Around the turn of the millennium, there was a good influx of Nepali students to these schools along with other private schools like University of Bridgeport and Fairfield University. Most of these students land jobs or setup businesses in small but booming cities like Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport and New Haven. And the suburbs of these cities provide a great environment to settle down and raise a family. Metro North Railroad provides a comfortable commute to New York City which attracts a lot of professionals who want to keep their career-focus while enjoying a decent family life.

Fresh resettlement of refugees in CT towns like Ansonia is adding strength to the growing Nepali community in the area. It will be great to see these Bhutanese refugees representing Nepali culture raise their families here and live the American Dream.

GetInNepal is also working on knitting this community stronger by organizing special functions during Dashain, Holi & New Year and also providing information about the area to visitors, students and professionals.

Connect with Nepali community in the area

Earth Day-Nepal 2010

My parents hesitated to get a property so far away from downtown since you had to encounter foxes and wild dogs to get to it after dark. Less than 30 years to it, all the eye can see from here is lumps of concrete. Forget the paddy fields and our football playgrounds, even the trees that covered the Ring-Road sides were gone the last time I went back. My sister back home told me yesterday that the old well they used to get their drinking water from went dry last week.
Kathmandu truly looks like a big mess and a catastrophe waiting to happen. It gives me chills to even try to relate to what happened in Haiti. ‘Hariyo ban Nepal ko dhan’, which means Greenery is Nepal’s wealth, sounds like a verse lost in distant history. On this day – Earth Day 2010; lets raise our voices to spread awareness on this subject. Lets stop this onslaught of concrete, lets bring our essence, our life, our true ‘hariyo dhan’ back to Kathmandu.

Know More about Nepal

Time to say good bye to 2066 and welcome 2067.
Wish you all a very happy and prosperous Nepali New Year 2067.
Get In Nepal Family!

Visit and contact us at http://getinnepal.com

Nepali New Year 2067

Nepali New Year falls on the second week of April; precisely 14th of April this year. Nepalese all over the world celebrate this day in different ways. Since its a national holiday in Nepal, this is a great occasion to meet relatives and celebrate the past year while sharing wishes for a bright new year ahead. And since the weather is so pleasant this time of the year, its a good day for an outing or a picnic. Traditional celebrations of Bisket Jatra is also celebrated in the town of Bhaktapur during the new year.

“Navavarsha” is the nepali word for New Year. So, a happy and prosperous Navavarsha to everyone from Get In Nepal!!

A typical day for a Nepali starts with a morning worship and a fresh cup of tea. Eastern Nepal (including the world famous tea producer: Ilaam) is the major source of tea not only for the country but the whole South Asian region and abroad. Eastern Nepal and parts of Indian Darjeeling and Sikkim are home to the world’s finest tea gardens. Some people in Nepal take additional rounds of tea/coffee in the morning because normal work-hours begin a little late (around 9 or 10 AM). Unlike a light breakfast, they take a decent size morning meal which is Daal-Bhaat. Daal is primarily a lentil soup and Bhaat is plain rice. The southern Nepalese plains are the major producers of rice among other crops.

Daal-Bhaat is always accompanied by a curry which can be any vegetable or meat product. Everyone is so used to with it. A day would not formally start without a heavy Daal-Bhaat in Nepal. The afternoon lunch is light and can be anything. And finally, dinner is again Dal Bhat. The dinner gets richer with a variety of pickles and side dishes.  A cup of tea or two anytime during the day is never unusual.

Daal-Bhaat is so important that its not just a food but an integral part of life in Nepal. While visitors may find it a little bizarre, Nepalese are so used to and always enjoy two courses of Daal-Bhaat a day. Even Nepalese who have been living outside Nepal for years including us, still take at least one course of Daal-Bhaat (usually dinner) in a day if not two.

Besides the all-important Daal-Bhaat, there are other typical dishes like Gundruk (dried and fermented green vegetables leaves. Usually served as soup but can be eaten in a variety of different ways), Kwati (Soup with 7 or 9 different beans), Aloo Tama (Bamboo shoot and potato usually served as soup), Khir (served as dessert), Sekuwa (dried and roasted meat..ohhh…they are so good!!!) etc. Momo (A kind of Dumplings) is one of the major Nepali dishes which is believed to have been inherited from Tibet. Momo makes a great lunch. It can be chicken, pork, buff and veggie and is served in almost every restaurant in Nepal.

If you are visiting Nepal, don’t miss to try the traditional Daal-Bhaat, or Momo or the Sekuwa. Nonetheless if you ever wanted to have something out of the traditional cuisine, you do not have to worry because a dish to your liking and taste is always around the corner. You can always hop in to any of the abundant western style fast-food restaurants including the recently opened KFC and Burger King!!