Tag Archives | Sherpas

New to Nepal? Not anymore.

All Around This World map of South and Central Asia (featuring Nepal)

This week’s online class for kids takes us to Nepal, a place many Westerners know as home to Sagarmatha (okay, we know it as Mt. Everest) and sure-footed Sherpas. Do we consider the country a refuge of freaky hippies or a haven for budget-travelers? How about as place to go to cleanse the soul?

Nepal is all of those things, but it’s also a linguistically and ethnically complicated nation,  undergoing historic political change while facing the challenge of substantial poverty. It’s also a deeply spiritual land — both the birthplace of Buddha and the only officially Hindu nation in the world…at least until 2006 when, facing political pressure, the country formally became secular.