If you had to remain silent for every minute for every Ghurka soldier that has died in combat while serving with British Army in WWII, you would have to be silent for two and a half weeks. So says the Ghurka Welfare Trust that looks after the welfare of veteran soldiers. Work out that number and it is a huge amount of men that have fallen in combat! And for country not even their own!

But Pokhara is not just a jump-off point for treks into the mountains, it is also the home of the Ghurkhas. Since 1815, the British Army has been recruiting these hardy hill soldiers into their ranks. So impressed by their enemy's courage, valour and combat prowess during a battle in what is now India in 1815, the then British East India Company started recruiting these soldiers into their ranks; and have done so ever since. Since then, and since non-British soldiers could earn them, the Ghurkas have earned 13 Victoria Crosses (the highest recognition of bravery and valour for those in combat in the British Armed Forces) and not to mention countless other medals and Mention in Despatches.

Their underlying Hindu faith and militaristic belief that it is better to die than live as a coward, means that these soldiers are feared for their outstanding courage and soldiering skills by their enemies. In the Falklands War of 1982 for example, Port Stanley was ordered to be taken by the Ghurka Battalion. Once it had fallen, the campaign would have been over and peace restored to the islands. But previous to the war, British propaganda had interviewed and photographed these Ghurkas wielding their distinctive curved knives, called chukiris, and detailing what they did to enemies in battle. Naturally, this information found its way into the hands of the Argentinean conscripts defending Port Stanley. The Ghurkas were all fired up and ready to hurtle into conscripts when the Argentineans surrendered. One conscript said, "We did not want our heads chopped off!"

But in order to be selected as a recruit, there are many significant hurdles that the potential recruits have to overcome far in excess of the British Army recruit. Bear in mind that most of the kids seeking selection have never left the mountains or seen roads or anything that many of us take for granted. They travel for miles to see the galla walla. Until 1958, Nepal was a closed country to Europeans on orders of the king. Before that time, only 163 Europeans were officially allowed into Nepal! The British always had to do their recruiting through these galla wallas. They did the initial selection before passing them onto the British Army for final selection. Of the many tests that these wannabes have to pass is the 5km step run. The paths in the Nepal mountains are well maintained and in most places it is either up or down, there is no flat in Nepal mountains! This run requires that they run 5km up and down uneven stairs with 25kgs of rocks on their backs! Impressive indeed. Not only that, but another test sees them running for 2.4km in under 25minutes and then immediately after having to run another 2.4km in under 12 minutes! No European recruit has to do these. So intense is the competition for one of the 300 places that it is not unknown for 30 000 recruits to try their luck. That is 1000 people for every spot! The British Army truly gets the best of the best out here.

So intense is the disappointment in not gaining selection that it is not unheard of for some rejected recruits to hurl themselves off the high suspension bridges that span the numerous gorges here because the shame is too great to bear!

The British Army represents one of the few chances that young men can escape to see the world, earn money and status and follow in the traditions of their forefathers. Serving soldiers generally send much of their pay back home. It is said that this "pay-back" accounts for a very significant part of Nepal's GDP. Not only do the soldiers support whole communities at home, they also become highly skilled while with the British Army and as a result, after their 20 year service (if you join when you are 18, then you can embark on a whole new career at 38, courtesy of the British Army), they are highly sought after by specialist security organisations around the world. To say that competition is intense is like saying that the sun doesn't shine during the day!

The ironic point here is that these soldiers have proved themselves in the very darkest hours of Britain's need right from the Indian Mutiny where Queen Victoria personally acknowledged their contributions in stemming the Indian mutineers' tide to exceptional service in places as diverse as Kosovo and Iraq and Sierra Leone; where European recruits bring a whole host of problems with them and therefore prove troublesome for their officers and surrounding towns, Ghurkas are always acknowledged as being very gracious neighbours.

Next time you see a Ghurka soldier in the street, he is due all the respect that his uniform and bearing deserve.