| |  Lyn Taylor's AdventureTravel is a unique company dedicated to providing customers with personalised service and value for money on all trips. Wherever it may be Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Sth Africa, Vietnam or South America you will experience a holiday with a difference. These countries may be worlds apart but are close in spiritual harmony each containing a potpourri of ethnic culture and physical beauty on which travellers want to leave their boot print.
Travellers return to these countries time and time again. Why? Some say it is the mountains, some the people, some the spiritual experience. Whatever it is that leads you to those wonderful countries why not allow Lyn Taylor's Adventure Travel guide you to an inexpensive hassle free holiday! We specialise in "off the beaten path" trips to take you away from the mainstream traffic, so that you can experience the true culture of a country.
FESTIVALS IN BHUTAN
 Tshechus are annual festivals held in all the districts of Bhutan. Being held once a year it becomes a time for people to leave everything behind and enjoy happiness. It is the only time when most rural folk get a respite from their back breaking work.
Families eagerly wait for this event as it means means love joy and excitment. Click here
TREKKING IN NEPAL
Trekking in Nepal is a passion for those who have discovered the beauty and challenge of its formidable terrain and distinctive culture. A trek through Nepal is an unforgettable and life-changing experience.
INFORMATION ON NEPAL
Size and Extent: Nepal with an area of 1,47,181 square kilometers is an independent kingdom located on the Mid-Himalayan mountain section of Asia. It is a small landlocked country situated at a distance of about 500 km. from the nearest sea. It extends from 26deg 22’ N. to 30deg 27’N. And from 80deg 4’ E to 88 deg 12E. On an average, it stretches for 885km. In an east-west direction and for 193km. In a north south one. Being sandwiched between China on the north and India on the South, Nepal is said to be a Buffer State. It is now declared to be a Peace Zone and this concept has now been recognized by more than 90 nations of the world.
TOPOGRAPHY: Nepal is a mountainous country with about 77% of its total area consisting of mountains, hills, elevated plains (locally known as tars) and river valleys. In general, the topographic altitude increases from south towards north. If the highest peak is Mount Everest (8849m) on the north, the lowest point from sea level is the southern part of Saptari District (61m) in the tarai plain on the south. Topographically, the country is popularly divided into the following three units: -
(a) Himalayan Region: It occurs in the northern part of Nepal and contains various Himalayan Ranges with lofty peaks like Mt Everest (8848m), Kanchanjunga (8598m), Dhaulagari (8137m), Annapurna (8091m) and so on. There are some 200 peaks of over 6000m and 13 peaks of over 8000m. Including the sub-Himalayan areas of over 3000m. this region represents approx 27% of the total area of Nepal.
(b) Hilly Region: The region is very extensive and covers about 50% of the total area of Nepal. Its elevation ranges from 600m to 3000m. Its topography consists of Mahabharat Ranges, Churia Hills, and elevated flattish land and river valleys. There are some isolated broad valleys lying in between the Mahabharat and Churia Ranges. These are known as Duns or Inner Tarai.
(c) Tarai Region: It is the plain region whose elevation runs up to 300m from sea level. It occurs in the southern part of Nepal and covers some 23% of the total area of Nepal. It has been formed out of alluvium brought and deposited by the rivers flowing from the northern mountain region; and as such it is of tremendous significance from the agricultural point of view.
Drainage: mainly three major river drains Nepal - Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali are their tributaries. These are all perennial rivers forging through varied ranges running in an east-west direction. Other separate rivers originating from the Mahabharat Ranges include the Mechi, Kankai, Kamala, Bagmati, Tinau, Rapti, Babai and Mahakali. The first and last mentioned rivers act as international boundaries between Nepal and India. Then there are several lakes located mainly in the Himalayan Zone. Rara, Phoksundo, Phewa, Tilicho, etc. are the most popularly known large lakes of Nepal. Finally, glaciers of varied dimensions exist in the Himalayan region; Khumbu, Langtang, Kanchanjunga; Yalung, Ramtang, Barun, etc are the major glaciers of Nepal.
Climate: Though Nepal falls on the regime of sub-tropical monsoon climate, actual climatic conditions vary from area to area depending mainly on topographic altitude. In general, temperature during both summer and winter months decrease from south towards north. However, low river basins of the mountain zone have warmer climate than adjacent higher areas. The prime source of rain is the summer monsoons blowing from southeast direction. The regional distribution of rainfall varies much from area to area depending on local topographic features and oceanic distance. In general, rain diminished from Pokhara Valley towards the west. The intra-Himalayan high basins located in Mustang, Dolpa and Manage Districts are the areas receiving least amount of rain (less than 50cm). On the other hand, there are several pockets in the hilly and mountainous zones of central and eastern Nepal where the total annual rainfall is exceptionally high (higher than 300cm). Since altitude is the guiding factor in the climate of Nepal, five different types of climate on the basis of topographic elevation have been recognised. These are - (a) Sub-tropical Monsoon Climate (b) Warm Temperate Climate (c) Cool. Temperate Climate (d) Alpine Climate (e) Tundra Climate.
Natural Vegetation: In Nepal, natural vegetation follows climate. As such, five different types of natural vegetation can be distinguished on the basis of the climate types noted above. These include (a) Sub-tropical Evergreen Forest (b) Deciduous Monsoon forest (c) all reveals that forest (d) alpine grassland (e) Tundra Vegetation. It all reveals that forest is the dominant type of vegetation in Kingdom of Nepal.
Economic Setting:
(a) Forest Resource: It is one of the major resources of Nepal and has been playing a significant role on its economy. The forest existing in the country may be categorised into three major types as mentioned under natural vegetation. At present, approximately 37.6% of the total area of Nepal are reported to be under forest. Due partly to reckless felling of trees and partly to random encroachment, the area under forest seems to be awfully decreasing. Included within forest resource are the varieties of wild lives. In order to preserve them and to maintain ecological balance, several national parks and wildlife reserves have now been organised in diverse parts of the country.
(b) Soil Resource: In an agrarian country like Nepal, soil plays a vital role on the agricultural production of the country. But most of the soils found in the country are not favourable to agriculture, because almost all the mountain and hilly areas are covered with infertile rocky and sandy soils. Only the tarai plain and river basins contain agriculturally fertile alluvial soil. It reveals that soils in most parts of the country are not fit for agricultural activities. In addition, soils erosion accompanied by landslides. It is, therefore, a crucial problem affecting the agricultural life of the country.
(c) Water Resource: It is another vital resource playing a significant roll on the overall economy of Nepal. At present, it is being used in three major purposes - (a) Drinking water (b) Irrigation (c) Electricity. Pipe water for drinking purpose is now being limited to only major urban centres. As far as irrigation is concerned, very limited proportion of water resource has been used in irrigating merely 13% of the total cultivated land of Nepal. Regionally, over 80% of the irrigational facility are concentrated in the tarai plain. Another important use of the water is associated with the generation of hydro-electricity. Due to being a mountainous country with several perennial rivers flowing through deep and narrow gorges, Nepal is immensely rich in waterpower resources. Its potentiality has been estimated to be 83 million kW. But unfortunately, the power actually generated so far in the country is limited to merely 1,62,00 kW. In order to boost its production, several hydro projects including micro plants have been executed and some are still going ahead. Most of them are located in the central development region of the country.
(d) Mineral Resource: The mountainous and hilly areas of Nepal bear varied types of minerals like iron, copper, mica, marble, limestone, magnesite, lead, zinc, nickel, petroleum, cole, etc. But in most cases, their quantity and workability have yet to be assessed and ascertained. At present, the chief minerals that have to some extent been economically exploited include magnesite, limestone and marble. Regionally, most of the mineral deposits are concentrated in the central and eastern sectors of the country. These days exploratory work on petroleum is going ahead.
Agriculture: It is by far the most dominant economic activity of the Nepalese people. It provides employment to 91% of the total population and brings in 52% of the total revenue of Nepal Government. Being a mountainous country, the cultivated land is limited to merely 18% of the total area of Nepal. Farming is mainly of subsistence type and yield per unit of land is very low. Owing to limited irrigational facility, Nepalese agriculture is excessively dependent on the mercy of monsoons. Due to excessive pressure of population on land, the par capita share of arable land comes to be just 0.2 hectare and holdings all are ver5y small. About 80% holdings are below one hectare. The tarai plain is the principal agricultural region representing about 70% of the total cultivated land in the country. Agricultural crops grow in Nepal are popularly divided into two groups - food crops and cash crops. About 82% of the total sown land are allotted to food crops. The most important food crops of Nepal are paddy, maize, millet, wheat and barley. Among them, the most important is paddy, which occupies 55% of the total land, devoted to food crops. About 80% of this crop are produced in the tarai region. Maize and millet are basically hill crops. On the other hand, leading cash crops which occupy 18% of the total arable land include oilseeds, suger cane, Jute, tobacco, potato, tea, cardamom, fruits, etc. Almost all these cash crops are produced mainly in the tarai belt. Associated with crop farming are livestock farming in the Himalayan region, dairy and fruit farming in the hilly region and fish farming in the tarai region. These activities are performed in a limited scale and in a scattered form.
Industrial Enterprises: Owing to various reasons, the process of industrialization is very slow. There are very few large-scale industries and the population engaged in this activity is awfully meager, it being just about one percent of the total national population. Most of the existing industries are agro-based and forest-based. The leading industries include jute, sugar, cement, tobacco, paper, match, leather shoes, textiles, agricultural tools, distillery, brewery, biscuit, plywood, plastic and stainless steel utensils, brick and tiles and so on. Spatially, these industrial enterprises are very unevenly distributed. About 80% of the industrial units are concentrated in the tarai region, particularly in the central and eastern sections. In the hilly zone, the Kathmandu Valley is the most important area and diverse types of industries. With the view of developing small and medium scale industries based on locally available raw materials, several industrial estates too have now been established in various centres of the country. Then there exist varied traditional types of cottage industries scattered over all parts of the country.
Tourism: It is a new type of industry that has been making rapid stride during the period of last two decades. As a vital source of foreign exchanges, it has been playing a crucial role on the entire economy of Nepal. The existence of charming natural beauties and rich cultural heritage is basically responsible for the continuous growth of this activity. From the spatial point of view, the two valleys - Kathmandu and Pokhara - have heavy concentration of tourist and trekking traffic.
Foreign Trade: On the process of economic development in Nepal, foreign trade is no less significant than any other vital wings like agriculture and industry. Along with the growth of population, their wants and the execution of economic plans and projects, the value of Nepal’s foreign trade is progressively growing up. By 1986, the value of import and export trade has been reckoned to be of Rs. 9270 million and Rs. 3100 million respectively. It reveals the have trade deficit of Rs. 6270 million. In Direction, about 45% of the total volume of foreign trade are with India. Trade percentage with other individual overseas countries of the world, though gradually growing now days, is extremely low. In composition, the export trade consists of mainly food and raw materials belonging to agriculture and forest sectors. On the other hand, the import items include mainly manufactured goods like machinery, equipment's, textiles, vehicles, chemicals, stationery goods, construction and luxury items. Major trading centres are located in the tarai region. .
Infrastructure: Transport system in Nepal is very poorly developed. Though several factors are involved in it, irregular mountainous terrain accompanied by landlocked location is the major physical constraints affecting the balanced development of transport network in Nepal. This weakness in transport has seriously hampered the speedy development of social-economic life of the country. At present there are 5950km roadways, 43 airports, 61km railways and 42km. Ropeways in the country. All the railways and most of the roadways are concentrated in the tarai region. Airports are scattered over hills and tarai belt. The Tribhuvan airport located just on the east of Kathmandu City is the International airport. Being a landlocked mountainous country, water transport is virtually nonexistent. In general, transport facility diminishes towards far north and Far West of the country.
Ethnic Groups: The population of Nepal is composed of various types of ethnic groups like Brahman, Newari, Chhetri, Magar, Satar, Gurung, Sherpa, Rai, Tharu, Thakali, etc. Although all these human communities can be met with in almost all parts of the country, each group has its own care area located in one or other geographic region of the country. These ethnic groups have their own language, ------------religion culture, civilisation and ways of life. Among the groups, the Newar community is most widespread. Since they are basically trading people, they are widely distributed among all urban and market centres of all ecological zones of the country. In reality, the Kathmandu Valley is the prime seat of Newar settlement.
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Women's Adventure Trip BHUTAN – NEPAL 15 days Nov 2008/2009 >>> More
What to Expect on Your Holiday? >>>More about this trip
KEEP (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project)
AFAP (Australian Foundation for Peoples of Asia and the Pacific)
IPPG (International Porter's Protection Group
Lyn Taylor Adventure Travel, PO BOX 947 Mona Vale 2103 N.S.W Australia
TEL: (612) 9997 7442
Email: lyntaylor@tayloradventure.com , tayloradventure@hotmail.com
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