This was years ago...A weary traveller, not from around these parts, sought shelter. It was getting dark, and he needed a place to spend the night,” says Tej Kumari Chitrakar. “I thought it would do no harm to let him sleep in our corridor. He was a Pardesi, after all...I couldn’t think of anything bad that could come from giving him one night’s shelter here.”

Tej Kumari has an animated sort of expression on her face. You sense that she really wants to tell this story. What she is about to confide in you amazes her, and she wishes for you to share in that wonder. “It was late at night when I heard frantic knocks and opened the door to find the Pardesi on the landing. ‘The Devatas will not let me sleep,’ he told me. ‘They have hit and prodded me all these hours, and will not let me rest’.”

You find yourself in an old settlement in Bhaktapur, in a home that’s not quite like all the others. It is the holy house of Ya-che Tole where Tej Kumari’s husband, Purna, moulds, paints and brings to life the 13 sanctified masks of the Nava Durga Naach each year.

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On the northern face of Rupakot hill, the highest point in Khotang, sits the village of Jalapa. Diktel, purportedly a ‘sugam’ city, lies on the other side five hours away. But Jalapa, with nearly 600 houses, has become the model village in the district.

In the early eighties, five SLC graduates from here—Jaiswor, Pratiman, Tanka, Ram Prasad and Kumar Rai—started a campaign to upgrade the lower secondary school in their village to a secondary school. Against the scepticism of the elders, these young men formed the Janahit Yuba Samaj, a club, something not encouraged during the then-Panchayat regime. Regardless, they banded together to raise awareness on the importance of having a high school and began gathering funds by playing deusi.

Their strategy was thus: Three of the employed club members would contribute two percent of their income to the fund while the others would donate two rupees per month. During rice planting season, villagers were encouraged to put a day’s wage towards the fund. Donations picked up so that in two years’ time, the villagers were even selling property to invest in the school. Still, the local administration refused permission for the upgrade—a mostly political call, based on the fact that the club members were supporters of the multiparty system. It wasn’t until they’d appealed to the Regional Education Directorate, Dhankuta, in 1983, that they were finally given permission.

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KATHMANDU - As the chief of building codes and earthquake safety of the Lalitpur Municipality, located about 10 kilometers from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, Sainik Raj Singh has the tough job of cracking down on builders who fail to comply with the government's construction regulations." One can make many enemies by enforcing the codes but it is high time that we follow the rules strictly," the official told IPS in his office in Lalitpur.

Singh is not on a power trip - he is simply concerned about the number of unplanned buildings in Kathmandu, which has been ranked the world's most "at-risk" city for earthquakes by GeoHazards International (GHI).

Situated on top of the active Indian tectonic plate, which is

constantly pushing up against the Tibetan tectonic plate, Kathmandu was found to be extremely vulnerable to seismic activity, which can cause landslides and fires along with earthquakes.

While the city's 1.5 million residents are on alert, the city itself is unprepared for what experts believe is an inevitable disaster: the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) estimates that over 90% of existing buildings in Kathmandu and other cities in Nepal are non-engineered.

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With the recent completion of the Chame-Besisahar road in Manang, a three-four day journey from Besisahar to Chame now only takes six hours. The 65km road linking Chame in Manang with Besisahar in Lamjung has made the lives of residents much easier, now that the transport and supply of goods has become faster. The road, which took 11 years to complete, was built by the Nepal Army.
With the new road, the price of daily essentials has decreased by around 30 percent. For instance, an LPG cylinder, which previously went for Rs 3,100, now costs Rs 2,300. One kg of pulses sell for Rs 140, the same quantity cost Rs 160 earlier. A packet of iodine-laced salt costs Rs 35 while it was Rs 45 earlier.
“With the construction of the road, the transport of goods has become cheaper, thus decreasing prices in the market,” said Anita Lama, former chairperson of the Chame Yuwa Samuha.

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The Kosi River—also Saptakoshi , is a trans-boundary river flowing through Nepal and India, known for its seven Himalayan tributaries. Some of the rivers of the Kosi River system, such as the Arun, the Sun Kosi and the Bhote Koshi, originate in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is one of the largest tributaries of the Ganges.
Along with its tributaries, the river drains 29,400 km2 (11,400 sq mi) in China (mainly the upper Arun basin north of the Mount Everest region), 30,700 km2 (11,900 sq mi) in Nepal (the eastern third of the country), and 9,200 km2 (3,600 sq mi) in India.
The river basin is surrounded by ridges which separate it from the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the north, the Gandaki in the west and the Mahananda in the east. The river is joined by major tributaries in the Mahabharat Range approximately 48 km (30 mi) north of the Indo-Nepal border. Below the Siwaliks, the river has built up a megafan some 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) in extent, breaking into more than twelve distinct channels, all with shifting courses due to flooding. Kamlā, Bāghmati (Kareh) and Budhi Gandak are major tributaries of Koshi in India, besides minor tributaries such as Bhutahi Balān.

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The Kali Gandaki or Gandaki River (also known as the Narayani in southern Nepal and the Gandak in India) is one of the major rivers of Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. It is also called Krishna Gandaki in Nepal. In Nepal the river is notable for its deep gorge through the Himalayas and its enormous hydroelectric potential. It has a total catchment area of 46,300 square kilometers (17,900 sq mi), most of it in Nepal. The basin also contains three of the world's 14 mountains over 8,000m, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna I. Dhaulagiri is the highest point of the Gandaki basin. It lies between the similar Kosi system to the east and the Karnali (Ghaghara) system to the west.
The Kali Gandaki river source is at the border with Tibet at an altitude of 6,268 m (20,564 ft) at the Nhubine Himal Glacier in the Mustang region of Nepal.
The headwaters stream on some maps is named the Chhuama Khola and then, nearing Lo Manthang, the Nhichung Khola or Choro Khola. The Kali Gandaki then flows southwest (with the name of Mustang Khola on old, outdated maps) through a sheer-sided, deep canyon before widening at the steel footbridge at Chele, where part of its flow funnels through a rock tunnel, and from this point the now wide river is called the Kali Gandaki on all maps. In Kagbeni a major tributary named Johng Khola, Kak Khola or Krishnaa descends from Muktinath.

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Rupa Lake ,Rupa Tal is a freshwater lake in Nepal located in the south-east of Pokhara valley that includes Lekhnath municipality. It is the third biggest lake in Pokhara valley of Nepal and at an altitude of 600 m (1,969 ft) covering area about 1.35 km2 (0.5 sq mi) with an average water depth 3 m and maximum depth 6 m.The lake is elongated north to south and is fed by perennial streams. Its watershed area is 30 km², where The main inflow of water is from Talbesi stream, whereas Dhovan khola is the feeder stream with its outlet Tal khola at Sistani ghat. It supports a number of floral and faunal species. A total of 36 species of waterbirds have been recorded in the lake which represents about 19 percent of the total 193 wetland-dependent birds found in Nepal.

Rupa lake is the second main tourism attraction after Begnas Lake outside the Pokhara city. It provides enough space for boating experiences for national and international visitors. Cage culture as well as pen culture have been practiced in Rupa lake for fish farming. Farmers in the Kaski district of Nepal have formed the Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fisheries Cooperatives Limited to help protect the watershed.

 

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Begnas Lake is a freshwater lake in Kaski district of Nepal located in the south-east of the Pokhara Valley. The lake is the second largest, after Phewa lake, among the eight lakes in Pokhara Valley.Water level in the lake fluctuates seasonally due to rain, and utilization for irrigation. The water level is regulated through a dam constructed in 1988 on the western outlet stream, Khudi Khola.
Begnas Lake area with a number of resorts is a popular destination for tourists visiting Pokhara.The water from the lake is used for irrigation and some parts of the lake are used as caged fisheries. The Begnas lake area has a number of swampy areas around it, many of which have been converted to paddy fields day by day.

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Thamel is a popular tourist destination in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is a full Wi-fi zone in Nepal. Thamel has been the centre of the tourist industry in Kathmandu for over four decades starting from the hippie movement when many artists came to Nepal and spent weeks in Thamel. Even though Thamel has been referred to as the "ghetto" by some, most low-budget travelers consider it a tourist heaven.
Its concentration of narrow streets are lined with small shops selling everything from food, and provisions to clothes, walking gear, cakes, pastries, music, DVDs, handicrafts, travel agents, and budget hotels.
The area has many very good restaurants. Although prices tend to be significantly higher than non-tourist areas, food hygiene is generally a lot better too.

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Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City is the second largest city of Nepal with 264,991 inhabitants and is situated about 200 km west of the capital Kathmandu.It serves as the headquarters of Kaski District, Gandaki Zone and the Western Development Region. Pokhara is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal. Three out of the ten highest mountains in the world — Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu — are situated within 30 miles (linear distance) of the city, so that the northern skyline of the city offers a very close view of the Himalayas.Due to its proximity to the Annapurna mountain range, the city is also a base for trekkers undertaking the Annapurna Circuit through the ACAP region of the Annapurna ranges in the Himalayas.
Pokhara is situated in the northwestern corner of the Pokhara Valley,which is a widening of the Seti Gandaki valley that lies in the midland region (Pahad) of the Himalayas. In this region the mountains rise very quickly and within 30 km, the elevation rises from 1,000 m to over 7,500 m. As a result of this sharp rise in altitude the area of Pokhara has one of the highest precipitation rates in the country (3,350 mm/year or 131 inches/year in the valley to 5600 mm/year or 222 inches/year in Lumle). Even within the city there is a noticeable difference in rainfall between the south and the north of the city,

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