When traveling in an unfamiliar country (or even back home), sooner or later someone will attempt take advantage of your ignorance and foreignerness and take your money (or otherwise exploit you).
Nepal is not one of these places (especially once you get into the mountains).
The Nepalese are exceptionally friendly people (or they’re all incredibly skilled manipulators). Outside the occasional guy on the street aggressively selling tour packages or (more commonly) tiger balm, everyone I have met in Nepal appears to be genuinely interested in helping me out – or just having a friendly conversation.
I’ve been lent phones, guided to destinations, and even invited into the homes of complete strangers. Sometimes people people have gone so far out of their way to lend a hand I could have sworn that I was somehow being duped into doing something I would regret (or at the very least have to pay for), but every time I’ve been happy to find my assumptions made in error.
Here’s a look at some of the incredible people I’ve met during my time in Nepal.
