Nepal - Kathmandu - Gurkha recruits group photo and Boudhanath Stupa

Young Nepali boys pose for a group photo beneath Kathmandu's Boudhanath Stupa after recruitment into the British Gurkhas. The recruitment test for the Gurkha Regiment is part of a tough endurance series to find physically perfect specimens for British army infantry training. For example 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 in the shadow of the Himalayas. 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.jpg
Image Size: 5466x3567 / 4.3MB; portrait photo visitors visit boudhanath stupa landmark location place buddhism buddhist recruits group boys kathmandu capital gurkha gurkhas recruiting recruit nepali nepal young men job career jobs careers prospects futures livelihood mod army foreign regiment british defense defence spending spend budget himalayas
Contained in galleries: Gurkha Selection

Young Nepali boys pose for a group photo beneath Kathmandu's Boudhanath Stupa after recruitment into the British Gurkhas. The recruitment test for the Gurkha Regiment is part of a tough endurance series to find physically perfect specimens for British army infantry training. For example 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 in the shadow of the Himalayas. 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...