PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL FEATURES OF JIRI

Dolakha, a district of Nepal lying in Janakpur Zone, can be a nice place for the tourists. Charikot is the district headquarters of Dolakha. It has 2 municipality and 48 village development committees (VDC). The total area of Dolakha district is 2,191 sq km. Absolute location of Dolakha lies between 270 28’ to 280 00’ north latitude and 850 50’ to 860 32’ eastern longitude. Total population of Dolakha district is 186,557. It is a district with a strong religious affiliation. It is popularly known amongst most Nepalese for the temple of Dolakha Bhimeshwar.

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, it had a population of 7373 people living in 1899 individual households.  Absolute location of Jiri lies between 270 38’ north latitude and 860 14’ eastern longitudes. Jiri lies at an altitude of 1,905 meters (6,250 feet) and is the eastern-most terminus of the highway coming from Kathmandu. Bus service is available from Kathmandu but the 184 km ride takes 6 to 8 hours due to narrow, winding roads and checkpoints along the high-way (until 2006). A company of the Nepal Army is stationed in town and visitors' equipment and backpacks might be searched. There are a number of lodges available along either side of the main road mainly in Jiri Bazaar. There is one high school namely Jiri Higher Secondary School at Hatdanda.

Jiri was set up as agricultural development centre by the Swiss Government Aid in 1938. As the closest road head, Jiri is now the trailhead for many treks into the Mount Everest region. The trek to Lukla will take seven or eight days. Few people actually begin a trek from Jiri, as only 5% of all trekkers who attempt the difficult trek to Everest Base Camp start at Jiri. The other 95% choose to fly into the small airstrip at Lukla, thus cutting off a week of difficult but beautiful trekking.

Although the trailhead from Jiri into Sagarmatha National Park is referred to as the "classic route to Everest", the original trailhead actually began at Kathmandu. All early Everest expeditions—including the one led by John Hunt that put Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on the summit—passed through Jiri. So Jiri is also called the "Gateway to Mt. Everest". Jiri is the home of an ethnic group called the Jirels and Sunuwar.