14 फ़रवरी, 2008 - Published 12:20 GMT

नेपाल में एवरेस्ट फ़तह करने वालों का सम्मान

Except for the purists who walk all the way in from the nearest road-head, most visitors' first experience of Nepal's spectacular Everest region is the airstrip at Lukla. It's a dramatic introduction, as the plane has to drop down almost vertically between the mountains and then lands on a runway which slopes steeply upwards.

It was actually the New Zealand joint first conqueror of Everest Sir Edmund Hillary, who died a month ago, who inspired the building of the airstrip in the 1960s. And it's been a motor for the development of health, education and tourism in the area.

Now Nepal's tourism minister, Prithvi Subba Gurung, says it will henceforth be known as Tenzing Hillary Airport, also commemorating Hillary's climbing partner, the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who died in 1986. As much as anything it's a tribute to the friendship between the two men and their families, which remained strong, with Sir Edmund visiting Nepal regularly until the end of his life.

Charles Haviland, BBC News, Kathmandu

the purists
वैसे लोग जो पारंपरिक नियमों और विचारों का पालन करते हैं और उसमें भरोसा करते हैं (यहाँ नेपाल के पर्वतारोहियों से संबंधित)

lands
उड़ान के बाद ज़मीन पर लौटना

a runway
हवाई पट्टी, जहाँ से विमान उड़ते हैं और जहाँ पर उतरते हैं

slopes steeply upwards
तेज़ और सीधी ढलान

joint first conqueror of Everest
पहली बार संयुक्त रूप से एवरेस्ट फ़तह करने वाले

a motor for
किसी चीज़ के लिए ऊर्जा का स्रोत

henceforth
अब से

Sherpa
एक जातीय ग्रुप के सदस्य, जो पहाड़ पर चढ़ने में महारत हासिल रखते हैं. कई बार इनका गाइड के रूप में भी इस्तेमाल होता है.

As much as anything
प्रमुख पहलू

a tribute
सम्मान