Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
between Kathmandu and the countryside be greatly improved.
This would facilitate economic development and help the
peripheral areas to catch up with the cities.
Isolation can breed dissatisfaction and unrest. This is
something that Nepal, so often torn apart by internal strife, can
ill afford. Many of Nepal's prospects for future economic devel-
opment also depend on improved access. Today, only about
one-third of the country's population has access to all-weather
roads. Nearly all of them, however, are located in the Terai low-
lands and mountain foothills. More than half of the country
has almost no access whatsoever. Nepal's landlocked position
and rugged terrain create many additional obstacles.
The country has only 10,800 miles (17,380 kilometers) of
roadway, about half of which is paved. Amazingly, it has only
about 37 miles (59 kilometers) of railroad, some of which is
managed by an Indian company. There are hardly any water-
ways that can be navigated by boats other than small rafts and
other sport craft. As an exit to the global sea, Nepal uses the
Indian port of Calcutta (Kolkata). Air traffic projects a slightly
brighter picture, although it, too, is in serious need of improve-
ment. The international airport in Kathmandu serves as the
main hub for domestic air travel and is the sole hub for inter-
national connections.
TOURISM
In Nepal, tourism really did not begin until 1953. In that year,
a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer named Sir Edmund
Hillary, guided by his Sherpa assistant, Tenzing Norgay, stood
atop Mount Everest. They were the first climbers to achieve
this monumental feat; generations of professional and amateur
climbers would follow their footsteps. A quarter century later,
Italian climber Reinhold Messner and his Austrian partner,
Peter Habler, would accomplish the previously unthinkable.
They reached the summit without an additional oxygen supply.
The interest in conquering physical extremes, such as the world's
