Guns for Hire: British Gurkha Tryouts

POKHARA, NEPAL - NOVEMBER 29: Young Nepalese men take part in a doko race during one of the many strenuous physical exams administered during the British Gurkha tryouts in Pokhara, Nepal on November 29, 2005. The doko race consists of the young men carrying a woven backpack, or Doko, holding fifty-eight pounds of rocks over three miles up a steep mountain. Every year some thirteen thousand young Nepalese men travel from their villages in the foothills of the Himalayas to take part in the physically and mentally challenging tryouts with the hopes of becoming members of the British Gurkhas. The Gurkhas were first hired as soldiers of fortune in the early 19th century by the British East India company. They formed the backbone of the company's private army. After the company was disbanded the Gurkhas were absorbed into the British military. To this day these Nepalese men still fight under the British flag. Of the thirteen thousand that tryout only a few hundred will be accepted. (Photo by Matt Moyer/Getty Images)