Barun Valley

Barun valley (Chukchuwa Upatyaka)
Valley
A place called Nghe within Barun Valley. Nghe in local Sherpa language means a 'Sacred place'.
Country	Nepal
Region	Koshi Zone
District	Sankhuwasabha
Length	46 km (29 mi)

Barun Valley (बरुण उपत्यका) is a Himalayan valley situated at the base of Mt. Makalu in the Sankhuwasabha district Nepal. This valley lies entirely inside the Makalu Barun National Park.

Barun Valley provides stunning contrasts, where high waterfalls cascade into deep gorges, craggy rocks rise from lush green forests, and colorful flowers bloom beneath white snow peaks. This unique landscape shelters some of the last pristine mountain ecosystems on earth. Rare species of animals and plants flourish in diverse climates and habitats, relatively undisturbed by human kind.

The valley was created by the Barun River which becomes a glacier in winter. The river is known as Chukchuwa in the local indigenous Kirat language. Study has shown that this place was originally inhabited by Mewahang, Yamfu and Kulung Kirat-Rais centuries ago.

In the ancient religious Buddhist books, seven Beyul ( Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung) situated in the Himalayan region are described as mystical and spectacularly beautiful evergreen places where no one gets old. It is told that, in case of great cataclysm, life will remain only in these seven areas of the world. In those books one of the Beyul is mentioned to be situated somewhere at this Makalu-Barun region.

All the area of this valley is uninhabited. It is mostly covered by grassland (Kharka). In the summer, some temporary camps are made. Listed below are the names of these camping regions.

Barun Valley climbs from Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests at low elevations through Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and into Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows.

Recognized for its tremendous diversity of plants, animals and people, the area contains over 3,000 species of flowering plants, including 25 species of rhododendron, 47 types of orchids, and 56 rare plants. 440 species of birds, and 75 species of mammals, including the endangered clouded leopard (Snow leopard), red panda, musk deer, wild boar, have been recorded.