What Nepal Taught Me After I Thought I’d Seen It All

I believed I’d seen all of it after six months in Southeast Asia—tree rats, squat bathrooms, zipline-only treehouses, Komodo dragons, and monkeys with a style for laundry detergent. Then I landed in Nepal, and all the pieces modified.

I’ve spent the final yr touring round Southeast Asia. Years in the past, I promised myself that as I turned 40, I’d search out journey. One thing just like the six months I spent touring South America in my early 20s.

This time, I’d discover a unique a part of the world. So in July 2025, I shouldered my new backpack (the outdated one had met with a big Marmite-based incident) and flew to my first cease, Singapore.

Since then, I’ve visited six different nations: Malaysia (together with Borneo), Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. I’ve slept in a jungle treehouse solely accessible by zipline, spent two weeks volunteering with solar bears in Borneo, peered into the crater of an energetic volcano and posed for a (guide-approved) selfie with one of many world’s most harmful animals, the Komodo dragon.

I spent a month dwelling in lovely Chiang Mai and two in vibrant Da Nang, Vietnam, experiencing life like an (admittedly middle-class) native.

So I used to be fairly certain I’d acclimatised to no matter journey may throw at me whether or not it was tree rats (Laos), monkeys stealing my laundry tablets (Borneo), what I sincerely hope was a gecko in my mattress at night time, however was in all probability a rat (Thailand), and big flying cockroaches (Vietnam).

And there have been non-animal associated tradition shocks too: the shortage of sidewalks making strolling harmful in most cities; the enduring impression of Agent Orange in Vietnam; studying to be a passenger princess on Seize bikes; making my peace with squat bathrooms.

After which I received to Nepal.

Clean crusing on arrival in Kathmandu

Nepal isn’t in Southeast Asia, so I knew issues could be completely different. I’d finished my analysis and knew sure issues – like highway journey – could be completely different, and even considerably harmful. However I’d forgotten that, in the end, no quantity of analysis prepares you for tradition shock.

Issues started easily sufficient. The airport arrival was a bit chaotic, with shouting taxi drivers and disorganised baggage declare, however nothing new. My first resort was wonderful. A stable 3-star “deal with” resort, with pleasant workers who gave me a heat welcome even at midnight.

I favored Kathmandu greater than I anticipated, because it has a fame for being busy, crowded and polluted. There may be a lot historical past in Nepal’s capital – I visited Kathmandu’s Durbar Sq., which was closely broken by the horrible earthquake again in 2015. The still-visible harm was an early indicator that Nepal wasn’t going to be on the identical wavelength as rapidly-modernizing Southeast Asia.

However I engaged an ideal tour information. Once we met, he was studying The Handmaid’s Story by Margaret Atwood, so I knew he’d be an excellent match. Not solely did we see all of the sights, we ended up having espresso and a deep dialogue about books.

Scratching beneath the floor: gender disparity

However beneath the historical past and hospitality, I began noticing deeper variations that challenged my perspective.

It wasn’t till I began looking for laptop-friendly cafes that I observed one of many greatest variations I discovered between Nepal and lots of Southeast Asian nations – the gender steadiness. I struggled to search out cafes that weren’t male-dominated, and girls weren’t almost as seen as they’re in Southeast Asia.

In Vietnam, I spent a whole lot of my time in cafes and coworking areas based by wonderful feminine entrepreneurs. Within the locations I visited in Nepal, front-facing roles have been principally stuffed by males. I discovered NGOs throughout the nation devoted to empowering girls economically, and Kathmandu is full of outlets promoting cute felted bag charms, as this affords a home-based employment alternative for ladies.

I later learn an eye-opening non-fiction guide that touched on how entrenched patriarchal constructions are in Nepal – and whereas this was simply my perspective, it stood out as a distinction in comparison with many components of Southeast Asia.

Transport can at all times be a tradition shock – however in Nepal? Much more so

After which there was transport. A lot of Southeast Asia has invested closely in airports, and I usually discovered new airports even in off the overwhelmed observe locations like Sumatra or southern Laos.

Kathmandu’s home terminal felt like a time warp: handbook vacation spot boards, handwritten baggage tags, and workers wheeling luggage away from the desks, hopefully headed to the precise flight. But it surely all labored out as I received to sit down subsequent to a workers member on my tiny aircraft, who kindly identified completely different Himalayan mountains on our quick journey.

The roads are one other shock, even when in comparison with the notoriously horrible roads in Laos. My preliminary concern was that we’d go too quick and crash , however I quickly realized that was the least of my worries. The roads have been so unhealthy we may barely rise up any velocity in any respect, rocking back and forth like a fairground experience. My greater fear was not throwing up!

The bus journey from hell

My last bus journey was meant to take eight hours, however was fifteen after we received caught simply 5km from Kathmandu when the one westbound highway into the capital was closed.

Between sudden lurches ahead and stretches of numbing boredom, I ended up in a shouting match with the driving force, simply to safe a bathroom break for the feminine passengers. In the meantime, the male passengers have been hopping off each few meters to pee on the aspect of the highway.

As we lastly made it by way of, the heavens opened and torrential rain poured from the sky, and all of us nervously eyed the aspect of the roads the place we may see countless ‘Beware: Landslides’ indicators.

The deepest properly of shock

My greatest shock got here in Bhaktapur, one other UNESCO Heritage web site in Kathmandu. This lovely space is filled with wonderful historical past, however as I wandered round, eyes extensive with awe, I spotted that not solely have been there nonetheless many historic wells dotting town, however girls have been visiting them frequently to attract water for requirements equivalent to washing.

It was deeply stunning to witness what number of households in central Kathmandu nonetheless depend on wells for primary wants, one thing I’ve seen in rural areas of Southeast Asia, however by no means in main cities. It gave me a robust reminder of how uneven international entry to infrastructure nonetheless is, even in capital cities.

Tradition shock is available in positives, too

There have been different, happier, experiences of tradition shock as properly. My information in Bhaktapur took me to his tea store for a cup of scrumptious Nepali tea and made some for all his neighbors on the similar time, one thing you’d by no means see in Western cities.

There have been bookshops in all places, whereas in a lot of Southeast Asia, books are so costly that they’re out of attain for many individuals.

And once I went paragliding in lovely Pokhara, we have been greeted by a standard native band on our descent, to rejoice the primary time in years that exact spot had been used for paragliders.

The great and the unhealthy: broadening my horizons

Why did I discover this expertise of tradition shock so precious? Southeast Asia is straightforward to navigate if you happen to’re not a novice traveler. International locations like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia see such financial profit from tourism that they’ve a big curiosity in making journey as seamless as attainable. After months of touring, it’s simple to assume you’ve seen all of it.

Being in Nepal shocked me out of that mindset. It jogged my memory that there are such a lot of wonderful variations on the earth, alongside the horrible ones like an absence of working water.

The unhealthy tradition shock, just like the taxi driver in Kathmandu who fell asleep and almost drove into oncoming visitors, goes alongside the wonderful like seeing rhinos up shut in Chitwan Nationwide Park, or paragliding over Pokhara Lake, and makes the general expertise a lot richer.

After a yr of tree rats, flying cockroaches, and being outwitted by monkeys, I believed I used to be unshockable. Then Nepal threw me a 15-hour bus experience, a dozing taxi driver, and girls amassing water from wells in the midst of a capital metropolis. Nepal jogged my memory that journey doesn’t simply broaden your horizons—it humbles them.

As I head into my forties, that’s precisely what I’m after: not consolation, however problem; not predictability, however discovery. There’s nonetheless a lot left to see, and I’ll by no means cease touring.