Nepal - Kathmandu - Gurkha recruits group photo and Boudhanath Stupa

Nepali boys pose for a group photo under Kathmandu's Boudhanath Stupa after recruitment into the British Gurkhas. Trying for places in the Gurkha Regiment is part of a tough endurance series to find physically perfect specimens for British army infantry training. They will need to perform 25 straight-kneed sit-ups at a 45° slant both within 60 seconds to pass. 60,000 boys aged between 17-22 (or 25 for those educated enough to become clerks or communications specialists) report to designated recruiting stations in the hills each November, most living from altitudes ranging from 4,000-12,000 feet. After initial selection, 7,000 are accepted for further tests from which 700 are sent down here to Pokhara. Only 160 of the best boys succeed in the journey to the UK. The Gurkhas have been supplying youth for the British army since the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

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Filename: gurkhas08-16-01-1997_1.jpg
Copyright: Richard Baker
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Nepali boys pose for a group photo under Kathmandu's Boudhanath Stupa after recruitment into the British Gurkhas. Trying for places in the Gurkha Regiment is part of a tough endurance series to find physically perfect specimens for British army infantry training. They will need to perform 25 straight-kneed sit-ups at a 45° slant both within 60 seconds to pass. 60,000 boys aged between 17-22 (or 25 for those educated enough to become clerks or communications specialists) report to designated recruiting stations in the hills each November, most living from altitudes ranging from 4,000-12,000 feet. After initial selection, 7,000 are accepted for further tests from which 700 are sent down here to Pokhara. Only 160 of the best boys succeed in the journey to the UK. The Gurkhas have been supplying youth for the British army since the Indian Mutiny of 1857.