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Nepal: A Diversity of Delights
| Article
# : |
12967 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1987 |
1,707 Words |
| Author
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Carole Ottesen
Carole Ottesen is an author and freelance writer who
specializes in gardening topics. She lives in Potomac,
Maryland. |
Any visitor to Nepal who walks down the winding streets of Kathmandu or treks high footpaths to remote mountain villages finds something of personal interest and comes away an enthusiast for this small Himalayan kingdom.
For the art lover, there is exquisite architecture and sculpture; for the outdoorsman, an opportunity to trek among the world's finest scenery. Gourmets delight in the breadth of Kathmandu's culinary offerings, and shoppers enjoy a thousand stores offering precious stones and jewelry, clothing, and objets d'art - all at reasonable prices.
For the historian, a visit to Nepal is an opportunity to journey back in time. The short flight from New Delhi, Bangkok, Calcutta, Rangoon, or Colombo into Kathmandu is like a voyage through a time-tunnel to another era. A tourist can prepare for his first glimpse of Kathmandu by reading accounts of life in medieval European cities. Add to these an Oriental overlay and anachronistic imports from the West and the picture is complete.
Nepal's geography has shaped its history. The world's highest mountains and passes have isolated this ancient country and preserved its rich cultural detail. Only a small strip of jungle, the terai, ridden with malaria until recently, is level terrain. It is also the home of the famous Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge. The rest of the country rises in a series of hill and mountain chains to the very top of the world: the Himalaya. Mount Everest, Annapurna, Machhapuchhare, and Dhaulagiri, mountains famed for the near impossibility of ascent, are located in Nepal. Some of the earth's most rugged terrain isolated Nepal from the rest of the world until the mid-twentieth century. In 1954, a modern road, a marvel of engineering skill, was constructed from Raxaul in India to the capital city of Kathmandu. Only then could vehicular traffic enter the country.
Thrust into the Twentieth Century
In the intervening thirty years, other sections of road have been built, directly linking Kathmandu with points in surrounding India and Tibet, now the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. One road snakes west, passing steep gorges along the Kali River to the beautiful lakeside town of Pokhara before turning south to the Indian border at Nautanwa. Another heads due east to the Indian border at Siliguri, from whence it is a short trip to Darjeeling. Another, called the Chinese Road because it was built by the Chinese, crosses into Tibet at Kodari. There are
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