• More than 80% of Nepalese follow Hinduism, which is higher than the percentage of Hindus in India, making it the single most Hinduic nation in the world.
  • Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. It appears that people who were probably of Tibeto-Burman ethnicity lived in Nepal 2,500 years ago. Indo-Aryan tribes entered the valley around 1500 BC. Around 1000 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose. One of the princes of the Shakya confederation was Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BC), who renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as theBuddha ("the one who has awakened").
  • The Mountain Region contains the highest region in the world. The world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali) at 8,850 metres (29,035 ft) is located on the border with China. Eight of the world's fourteen highest mountains are located in Nepal. Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest peak, is also located in Nepal.
  • Mt Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, and is situated between Nepal and Tibet. The South-east ridge on the Nepalese side of the mountain is technically easier to climb, which is why so many keen climbers are pouring in through Nepal to climb Mt Everest. Also other Mountains including Annapurna I, II, III and IV are located in the Annapurna Mountain Range in Nepal.
  • There were just over 8,500 km of paved roads, and one 59 km railway line in the south in 2003. Aviation is in a better state, with 48 airports, ten of them with paved runways. There is less than one telephone per 19 people.
  • There were around 175,000 Internet connections in 2005, but after the imposition of the "state of emergency", intermittent losses of service were reported. Uninterrupted internet connections have resumed after the brief period of confusion as Nepal's second major people's revolution took place to overthrow the King's absolute power.
  • Despite all the adverts on the sides of tea-houses, hot showers generally do not exist (except in Namche Bazaar and the lower Everest region). You can certainly get a bucket of hot water on request in most places, which is good enough. Solar showers only work when there has been a enough sun light (so they don't work at night - and they are never that hot anyway).
previous: Nepal: Everest Base Camp Trek and Kala Pattar next: Breakdown