Passing a stone cairn, enjoying a small refreshment

In Himalays, the stacks of carefully placed stones translated in english as "cairns" are often aligned beside rivers and at mountain alters, making the path-markers on a trail. While this is true for Nepal as well, cairns hold a much more cultural meaning than just direction-pointers. Both Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism, two major local religions, have philosophies that indicate every sentient being is connected to the universe. Many cultural symbolisms occur in the form of stones in old legends,including the local shamanistic traditions.Cairns in the Himalayas are also often ornamented with prayer flags, and the stones are often arranged in a certain way, with some even worshipped as altars to the gods.