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Buddhist monks blew their horns to herald a day of golden jubilee celebrations marking the conquest of Everest on 29 May 1953

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Festivities honoured all the mountaineers who have tackled the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) peak

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The celebrations drew a large crowd of supporters and well-wishers....

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... and some who were just plain curious

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Sir Edmund Hillary was made an honorary citizen of Nepal at a special ceremony in Kathmandu

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... for being the first - along with the late Sherpa Tenzing Norgay - to reach the world's highest point 50 years ago