A Little About Nepal

Most people know little or nothing about Nepal, except maybe that it's the home of Mount Everest. To be honest, up until about 3 years ago, I couldn't have even told you where Nepal was on a map (it's between India and China) and didn't know it's where Mount Everest is located.

Although nothing compares with experiencing Nepal for yourself, and no amount of words or pictures will ever truly capture how amazing this country is, I realize not everyone has the time or desire to come to Nepal. My hope is that through this blog, we are able to give a bit of a glimpse into Nepal. And while the greatest part of Nepal is her people, which is why so many of our blogs are simply about our day to day life with them- celebrating birthdays, Christian weddings, Hindu weddings, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and more, I recently realized that there is so much about Nepal that we have not shared. So for those who would like to know a little more about Nepal, the country, here's a glimpse.

First some statics to put things into perspective. Nepal is slightly larger than Arkansas, or about 1/5 the size of Texas.

Population of Nepal: 30.4 million                         Population of US: 317 million

Nepal Unemployment Rate: 46%                        US Unemployment Rate: 9%

Nepal GDP Per Capita: $1,200 USD*                   US GDP Per Capita: $50,700 USD

Nepal Inflation Rate: 9.5%                                  US Inflation Rate: 2.1%

Nepal Literacy Rate: 60%                                   US Literacy Rate: 99%

Nepal Life Expectancy: 67                                  US Life Expectancy: 78.5

Infant Mortality Rate: 43 per 1,000                       US Infant Mortality Rate: 5.9 per 1,000

*Nepal's GDP per capita is $1,200, which puts Nepal in the bottom 5th percentile in the world. To see more comparisons, click here.

Besides Mount Everest (or Sagarmatha, as it is called in Nepal), here are some other popular places to help you get a feel for Nepal:

Swayambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu- aka "The Monkey Temple" that Sam and I lived across the street from our first few months here. In the video (link below) it talks about how it's rumored to have 365 steps to the top, although we've heard that's not actually true. However, Sam used to go running and did prayer walks around the temple and up those steps many of the mornings during the months we lived across the street. I am not as "gung-ho" as Sam and usually slept in, although I did make it up those steps, just barely, on two separate days, which I figured is enough for a lifetime! And we never counted those steps, so I'm not sure if there really are 365 or not, but both times I climbed them it felt like 365 MILLION steps! Click here to watch a  video.

Pashupatinath in Kathmandu- this is where the Hindu cremation ghats (the cremation area with steps leading down to the Bagmati River where the ashes, etc. are swept into after the body is burned), including the Royal Ghats (where the former kings, other royalty and big political people of Nepal were/are cremated). We've been here twice, and each time I have found it very surreal with people bathing downstream from where the bodies are being burned and swept into the river, as well as cows standing along the river eating & pooping, holy men walking around half-naked with yellow and orange paint on them, lots of shrines, smoke from the cremations, monkeys and merchants selling jewelry, paintings, handicrafts, water, snacks and more- all with people dying and being burned maybe 100 meters away! Also, the holy men are happy to let you take pictures of them, but only tell you afterwards that you must pay them for the pictures, and if you start to walk away, they will follow you until you pay them. Click here to watch a video. 

Pokhara is the city we live in now. It is a popular tourist destination with the natural beauty of Phewa Tal (Phewa Lake) and the Annapurna Mountain Range as a backdrop, which is a popular trekking circuit. We have visited Phewa Tal multiple times, including a trip with Ambika and the girls, but have not done the Annapurna Trek yet.

The birth place of Siddhartha Gautauma (Buddha) in Lumbini, Nepal. We have not been here as it is in West Nepal, but click here to watch a video.

As for architecture, Durbar Square shows some of the common Newari style buildings in Nepal (Newaris are one of the people groups of Nepal). Click here for a video.

While many of the homes in Kathmandu and Pokhara are made of concrete, brick and/ or stone, the older homes, as well as homes in the rural villages are typically made of wood, clay, mud and/ or cow dung with tin, wood or thatch roofs, like the one we stayed in during our first trip to Thingan back in June 2012.

So that's a little bit about Nepal, the country, but as I said before, the people are the greatest part of Nepal. Often, Nepali people will ask us what we think of Nepal. When we tell them we LOVE Nepal, they almost always react with delight and thank us as if we've just paid them a huge personal compliment, which just makes me love Nepal even more.