Mount Everest sits on the pinnacle of the Great Himalayas, lying on the border between Nepal and Tibet. On May 29th 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa from Nepal became the first explorers to successfully summit the Mount Everest. So every year Nepal celebrates May 29 as the International Mt.Everest Day marking the the first successfull ascent of the worlds’s highest mountain peak.
2017 marks the 64th anniversary of this iconic day. This year’s celebration holds a momentous occasion as Nepal begins its march back as a tourist hotspot in aftermath of the 2015 earthquake. Nepal Tourism Board along with PATA celebrated it at the International Mountain Museum. One of the highlights was the felicitation of the Sherpa community. This community is the spine of all the Everest expeditions. Honorable chief guest Mr. Kazi Sherpa along with Mr Suman Pandey, President of Pata Nepal addressed the crowd of travel bloggers and media delegates from across the world on how Nepal is encouraging mountain tourism to the world. We were acquainted about the life of mountaineers, mountains and mountaineering with a museum tour.
Now let me take you on a Familiarisation tour of the International Mountain Museum.
Internatinal Mountain Museum
Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), officially established the International Mountain Museum (IMM) in Pokhara on 5th February 2005.The basic objective was to record, document and chronicle the past and present mountaineering activities around the world. It was setup in order to preserve the courageous momentous feats of mountaineering in the Himalayan peaks, all showcased under the same roof in the one and only Mountain Museum in the world – the International Mountain Museum, right at the foot steps of the Himalayan range in Pokhara, Nepal.
What makes it more interesting is that this mountain museum is a stone throw’s away from the Annapurna Mountain Range(also known as the fishtail peak). The very shape of the museum resembles that of a mountain skyline. The museum is divided mainly into three exhibitions halls. Man, Mountain and Mountaineering.
Man
It showcases the indigenous mountain habitants of Nepal and the other parts of the world. The lifestyle and culture is displayed and preserved beautifully inside full sized glass boxes for public viewing. In order to understand and know more about them in specific, the information is displayed just below them.You’ll be amused seeing the plethora of cultures, social attributes and lifestyle of the people of Nepal and other countries including Taiwan, Slovenia and Japan all under the same roof.
Mountains
The second hall is the Hall of Mountains. Here we were familiarised with the national and international mountains, their historical background, highest peaks in numbers and much more. All the information regarding the 14 peaks of the Himalayan range and their photographs are displayed here in this section. Another interesting feature to observe here is the varied rock samples of mountains and the flora and fauna collection of the wild mountains is displayed here to catch your and your kids interest. The mountain tigers, leopards and wild bears are a treat for the children .
Mountaneering
This third hall displays all the the essential professional equipment and clothing that are required to climb the mighty Himalayan peaks. There is detailed information about the required health factors and how hard it is to climb these. The most fascinating section of this hall was the legendary tales of Yeti and the myths surrounding them . One will also get to see the various photographs of the British expeditions of the Mount everest from 1921 to 1953. Also the pictures contributed by the travellers over the years capturing the beauty of Nepal is displayed here. Also in order to create awareness about the ecology and environment of the mountain, a separate section is displayed where all garbage collected from Mount Everest is showcased as a part of environment degradation. The International Mountain Museum is one of the must visit destinations on your next visit to Nepal.
