Mountain system in southern Asia that forms a barrier between the Plateau of Tibet to the north and the plains of the Indian subcontinent to the south. It constitutes the greatest mountain system on Earth and includes more than 110 peaks rising to elevations above 24,000 feet, including Mount Everest. The system extends some 1,550 miles to west and covers about 230,000 sq miles. Between the eastern and western extremities are several provinces of INDIA and the kingdoms of NEPAL and BHUTAN. The glaciers and snows are the source of 19 major rivers, including the Indus, Ganges (Ganga), and Brahmaputra. (www.britannica.com/place/Himalayas, accessed 12/30/2022)
    

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James Scott, Australian medical student lost in the Himalayas for forty-three days without food, drinking from a snowball to rehydrate in the afternoon sun. Drawing by M. H. Boscott, 1993.

Nepal; town life in the Khumbu, 1986. As N0022572C. Namche Bazar (altitude 3446 metres) under snow. The climate in the Khumbu can be harsh and unpredictable. The tents in the foreground belong to a European mountaineering expedition. The yaks are unperturbed.

Nepal; town life in the Khumbu, 1986. Namche Bazar (altitude 3446 metres), a bustling and prosperous market town, is the largest Sherpa settlement in the Khumbu. Many of its Tibetan-style houses devote the ground floor to animal shelters while the family lives upstairs. Most have windows and doors at the front of the building only, the back being built into the side of the mountain. Firewood is stacked against walls, and small terraced fields grow staples (potatoes, barley, wheat). At left is a Buddhist shrine or stupa, on each side of which is painted the eyes of the Buddha. Prayer flags are strung out from its summit.

Nepal; bridge over river in the Khumbu, 1986

Nepal; cremation on the Baghmati river, 1986

Nepal; wooden suspension bridge over a canyon

Nepal, Sherpa children of the Khumbu, 1986

Nepal; agriculture and subsistence in the Khumbu, 1986. Area as N0022565. Farmland on the lower slopes of the Himalayas (altitude 2900 metres). Sherpas are Buddhists and their houses are surrounded with prayer sticks flying cloth flags. A sherpa group with yaks travel along

Nepal; yak transport in the Khumbu, 1986. Sherpas drive a pair of heavily laden yaks along a narrow path on the long climb from Lukla (altitude 2827 metres) to Namche Bazar (3446 metres), the main town in the Khumbu region. The yak is the beast of burden in the Khumbu as well as providing wool, milk, cheese and butter. Yak butter is burned in votive lamps and drunk in tea. The animals command a high price and are carefully nurtured by their owners.

Joseph Dalton Hookers "Himalayan journals" : Tagebuch auf einer Reise in Bengalen, dem Himalaya in Sikkim und Nepal, dem Khasiagebirge, etc.

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Nepal; wooden suspension bridge over a canyon

Nepal, Sherpa children of the Khumbu, 1986

Nepal; agriculture and subsistence in the Khumbu, 1986. Area as N0022565. Farmland on the lower slopes of the Himalayas (altitude 2900 metres). Sherpas are Buddhists and their houses are surrounded with prayer sticks flying cloth flags. A sherpa group with yaks travel along

Joseph Dalton Hookers "Himalayan journals" : Tagebuch auf einer Reise in Bengalen, dem Himalaya in Sikkim und Nepal, dem Khasiagebirge, etc.