10 things you probably did not know about Nepal

Nepal is not all trekking and mountains. We look here at some interesting aspects of this country that might have escaped your attention!

10 things you probably did not know about Nepal.

1. The Tharu, who live in the southern plains are the only known community in the world immune to Malaria.

2. Nepals hydro electricity generation potential is calculated at 90,000 mw, and currently only 1.2% of it has been tapped.

3. Just about 60 years ago, cars were carried by porters into the valley for the Kings and royals to ride them. It took about 50 porters to carry a car.

4. The fabled honey of the giant rock bees, harvested by special local experts, are actually potent and hallucinogenic.

5. Androgeny, where one woman marries the entire brothers in the family, still exists in the mountains of Nepal. The practice is outlawed but it still goes on

6. A strange herb, which is half caterpillar and half fungus, is one of the most expensive exports of Nepal, valued at around 25000 usd a kilo in Hong Kong.

7. The design of the Stupa came from Greek Mathematics and is basically a sphere, a cube and a pyramid stacked together. Combined, it translates the entire principle of Buddhism in its symbolism.

8. Nepal has land from altitudes of 70m till the top of the world at 8848m, in a breadth of just 250 kilometers, making it one of the steepest countries in the world.

9. Mt. Everest grows every year by about two centimeters.

10. During the earthquake of 2015, Kathmandu rose by a meter and shifted three meters to the south in just 56 seconds.