Rara Lake in Nepal
Rara is in Midwestern part of Nepal which is 862 km far away from capital city. Rara itself is a lake and national Park. Rara national park is the smallest park of Nepal where as Rara lake is biggest Lake of Nepal. It is located at Mugu district of Nepal which is near to Chinese border. The maximum depth of lake is 167 m where as its maximum width is 2.7 km. The surface area of lake is 2620 acres and the average depth of lake is 100 m.The best vantage point to get view of lake is Chuchemara Hill which is height of 4087 m. The maximum length of lake is 5.1 km.The primary inflows and outflows of this lake are Karnali and Nijar River.
The easiest means to get Rara is direct flight from Nepalgunj to Jumla or Nepalgunj to Mugu. If you love trekking then you should take flight of Jumla because your destination is 2-3 days walk away from there. To reach to Rara from Jumla you should start trekking from hilly village of Jumla where you can see the apple trees stretching around the hills. The trek journey of Rara Lake can be one of the fascinating treks of your life.
The best time to visit lake is September, October and April to May. In recent years Rara is becoming the major attraction for both internal and external tourist and as well as there is improvement of infrastructures and services too. During the journey period of Rara Lake you will able to see thick pine and juniper forest and as well as the green hill which has surrounded the lake from the all side. You can also do the camping at the bank of lake at 2990 m. There is also the facility of boating so you can be able to do boating on sparkling and fresh water of the lake and as well as if you are fond of riding horse then you can get this opportunity by making cash payment to their owners.
Now, if we talk about the Rara national park then it is totally being surrounded by alpine coniferous vegetation .It is located at Jumla and Mugu district. In this park there are different type of endangered flora and fauna, animals, fish and plants etc. In this park we can find more than 500 species of plants, 20 species of mammals and 214 species of birds. The Rara lake is also included in this park, so many endangered fish are been preserved by Nepalese army who looks after the park and lake .There is also restriction of fishing. If somebody tries to do illegal fishing then legal action is taken upon them.
Local people of Rara area are friendly, cooperative and helpful in nature .Most of people of this area are involved in agriculture and animal rearing occupation and as well as they sells the herbs and shrubs in local market and in international market. In recent years the literacy rate of this area is been significantly increasing so you may not have trouble in communicating with local people. The large number of population follows the Hindu religion and worship the Takur Baba as a god.