The Great Himalayan Range, which runs from Pakistan through India, Nepal and Bhutan, is the result of the collision between the main Asian continent and the Indian sub-continent. Nepal bears the brunt of this collision that resulted in the string of great peaks that run its 800 km length. Of the world's 14 peaks over 8000m, eight are in Nepal - Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna.

Although Nepal is a small country of around 141,000 sq km, it contains a huge variation in altitude - from the Terai at near sea level to the highest point on earth, Mt Everest at 8848m. From south to north, you cross from tropical jungle, through the terraced hillsides of the Himalayan foothills, up through pine and rhododendron forests, to the peaks and glaciers of the Great Himalayan Range that form Nepal's northern border with Tibet.