Geography

Nepal has often been described as "a Yam caught between 2 giants" due to its position dividing the super-powers of India and China. The land is made up of three geographical zones: the Himalaya, the Mahabharat, and the Tarai (the mountains, hills, and flat lands).

› Emerald lakes in the Himalaya

Nepal also has a huge diversity of flora and fauna and is famed for having over 650 species of birds alone - more than the whole of the North American continent.

The Tarai region is warm and there are jungles with orchids, tigers, rhinos, hyenas, monkeys, and elephants.

Higher up in the Mahabharat hills it is colder with a European alpine climate with fir trees, rhododendrons, bears, deer, and antelopes.

In amongst the hire Himalayan mountains there is little life except for small bushes and grasses and wild goats and yaks. More famous of course is:

The Yeti

› Who could forget the Yeti in the Himalaya?

Many people thinking of the Himalaya immediately dream of the Yeti. Indeed most Nepalese believe in a number of varieties of yeti from small friendly ones to larger dangerous ones, and the Nepalese government officially declared its existence in 1961.

The scary movies about the Yeti apparently originate from an incorrect translation by a reporter as "abominable snowman" instead of "little man-like animal".