Highest and lowest pt on earth make a symbolic meet as stones from Dead Sea is placed on Mt Everest

Two poles never meet. But they always attract.

However, the marvelous feat of making two opposites meet -- at least symbolically-- was achieved on Tuesday as a joint Nepali-Israeli team placed a monument brought from the Dead Sea -- the lowest point on Earth -- at the base of Mt. Everest, the highest point on Earth.

The ceremony to unveil the monument, which has stones from the Dead Sea embedded on it, was held on Tuesday at Namche Bazaar, Solukhumbu.


A joint Nepali-Israeli team placed a monument brought from the Dead Sea -- the lowest point...
The joint team was led by Embassy of Israel in Kathmandu, Mayor of Tamar Regional Council-Dead Sea Israel Dov Litvinoff, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nepal, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in Nepal and the Nepal Tourism Board.

Mayor Litvinoff along with Israeli artist Jojo Ohayon, who created the monument, brought the Dead Sea stones to Nepal for the ceremony.

Speaking at a press conference held in the capital on Thursday, Israeli Ambassador to Nepal Hanan Goder said, "We are very happy and excited to announce that there is now on top of the world, a monument brought from the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea."

He said stones from Mt Everest are already on a journey to Israel, and a similar monument will be placed on the banks of the Dead Sea.

Ambassador Goder said that the main objective of these projects is not only to promote natural beauty and cultural heritages of the two countries but also to mark the long standing and friendly relations between the two countries.

"The idea is to further strengthen existing friendly ties between Nepal and Israel and bring it to the people-to-people level," he said.

Also speaking at the function, Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Sushil Ghimire expressed his happiness and excitement to announce the placing of monument brought from the Dead Sea at the base of Mt. Everest.

"Now we can enjoy the feelings of the Dead Sea at the highest point on Earth," Secretary Ghimire said, adding that a matching monument will also be placed near the Dead Sea next month, which will have a stone embedded on it from Mt Everest.

He also hoped that this will encourage more tourists to visit the two regions.

Mayor Litvinoff said that the successful completion of this project has brought Tamar Regional Council and Namche Bazaar "very close" and that the "two places are now friends", hinting that there will be increased cooperation between the two regions in the days to come.

This project is a follow up of a joint activity in September 2012 -- issuance of Nepal-Israel joint postage stamps featuring the Dead Sea and Mt. Everest.