The beauty of Himalayan areas such as Gurudogmar Lake have inspired many travelers to brave the region's treacherous paths.

This is the translation of "Himalaya," a word that comes from Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. White drifts of snow, deep glaciers with even deeper fissures, and cold winds never leave the six-mile-high peaks of Mount Everest and its companion mountains.

But even among these mountains, the highest in the world, a few plants and animals — even some people — manage to eke out a life. The Himalayas may seem stark and desolate, but they are also very beautiful. They have acted as an almost impassable divide between China and the countries of South Asia. They appear in literature and are celebrated in music. And without the Himalayas there would be no monsoon, the weather pattern that is responsible for bringing water to South Asia.

The Rooftop of the World

In 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary were the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Of these, the most famous is Mount Everest, which rests on the border between Nepal and Tibet. With its peak 8,850 meters (29,028 feet) above sea level, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. No wonder the Himalayan Mountains have earned the nickname "Rooftop of the World."

The Himalayas stretch from Pakistan to China.

In fact, Mount Everest's peak reaches two-thirds of the way through the air of Earth's atmosphere to regions where there is so little air that it's almost impossible to breathe without special equipment. Long thought unclimbable, Mount Everest stood untouched for thousands of years.

Tibetans named it Chomolungma, which means "Goddess Mother of the World," but they never climbed it. Attempts began in 1920, but the cold, the winds, the precarious chasms, and the lack of oxygen made the going extremely difficult.

No one made it to the top until May 29, 1953, when Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay climbed all the way to the summit.

Beasts of Myth and Reality

Although related to the giant panda, the red panda actually looks more like a raccoon. Natives of the Himalayas, red pandas spend a great deal of the day eating their favorite food -- bamboo leaves.

In the forested regions of the Himalayas, monkeys, black bears, and the occasional leopard can be seen. Higher up live brown bears, red pandas, and the rare and beautiful snow leopard. The Tibetan yak, an important domesticated animal, is native to the mountains. And beautiful butterflies abound.

Mount Everest Adventure Do you have the guts to tackle Mount Everest?

Unfortunately, some animals are threatened with extinction because of the encroachment of human civilization. The Indian rhinoceros that formerly flourished in the foothills is nearly gone, as are the musk deer and Kashmir stag. Without careful conservation efforts, these unique animals will disappear forever from the Abode of Snow.

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