A Thrilling Journey into the Himalayas

Before jumping into my journeys and experiences in the Himalayas, although it may not be new for you, I am going to present a brief introduction of the Himalayas; especially the origin and evolution!

A View of Himalayas as seen from Phyuk Ri, Nuwakot

A quote, my favorite one, about the Himalayas by a famous Nepalese Geographer which, I always appreciate and adore:

“IT WOULD BE MORE REALISTIC TO CONSIDER MOUNTAINS AS DYNAMIC, CERTAINLY NOT FRAGILE”

– Dr. Harka Gurung (2004).

#1. Himalayas: The Youngest Mountains in the World

Mt. Dhaulagiri Range as seen from just above Ghorepani, Myagdi

According to Bob Stoddard, Professor of Geography at the University of Nebraska-Linkon, US; the origin of the Himalayas dates backs some fifty million years ago when the two continental plates that form the cores of peninsular India (Gondwana land) and central Asia (Laurasia) began squeezing together. Previously these huge sections of earth surface were separated by shallow sea, which was receiving the eroded sands and muds that were being dumped into it by rivers emitting from the land masses. As the two continents moved together, they squeezed and buckled these relatively soft earth materials into gigantic folds. As these earth materials became pushed higher, they formed the ranges of mountains – now called the Himalayas. Actually this mountain-building process is still occurring as the mountains continue to rise each year.

Gauri Shanker Himalayan range with (Abeis tree on foreground) as seen in the evening from Kalinchowk temple, Dolakha; 28 October, 2010

The evidences are: one is the limestone beds that compose part of the highest mountains, such as Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha) because the origin of limestone was the former shallow sea. And these days those sedimentary rocks are way far from the sea level standing as a water tower. Next evidence: the fossils found on the slopes of the mountains (e.g. the Ammonites i.e. Saligram Sila found in Kaligandaki valley, Mustang, Nepal) indicate life that once existed in seas before the mountains arose.