Annapurna Sanctuary

Common card · No. 284090

The Annapurna Sanctuary is a high glacial basin lying 40 km directly north of Pokhara. This oval-shaped plateau sits at an altitude of over 4000 metres, and is surrounded by a ring of mountains, the Annapurna range, most of which are over 7000 metres. With the only entrance being a narrow valley between the peaks of Hiunchuli and Machapuchare, where run-off from glaciers drains into the Modi Khola River. Because of the high mountains on all sides, the Annapurna Sanctuary receives only seven hours of sunlight a day at the height of summer. The south-facing slopes are covered in dense tropical jungles of rhododendron and bamboo, while the north-facing slopes, in the rain shadow, have a drier colder climate similar to that of the near-by Tibetan Plateau. The entire sanctuary was held as sacred to the Gurung people, one of the many native people to inhabit the area. They believed it was the repository of gold and various treasures left by the Nāgas, the serpent-gods known in India. The...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Nancy Collins, CC BY-SA 3.0