I just played chess with someone in Kathmandu Nepal. I looked it up and I found some interesting stuff.

Kathmandu is and has been for many years the center of Nepal's history, art, culture, and economy. It has a multi-ethnic population within a Hindu and Buddhist majority. Religious and cultural festivities form a major part of the lives of people residing in Kathmandu. Tourism is an important part of the economy.

Kathmandu is a fairly safe city, but what it lacks in dangers it more than makes up for in annoyances: The combination of ancient vehicles, low-quality fuel and lack of emission controls makes the streets of Kathmandu particularly polluted, noisy and unpleasant.

Don't give Nepalese people money or gifts with your left hand.

It is better to use your right hand to pay or hand gifts to local people so it will be greeted with warmth and gratitude. However, you can still use your left hand but only in those cases you want to unambiguously demonstrate that you are not satisfied with the services of the person you are paying.

Beware of yaks.

You won't see crowds of people in the alpine zone, but instead you definitely will come across yak caravans, the main transport of Nepal. These are real “locals”: the homeland of yaks is Tibet. The domestic yaks are also called Bos Grunniens (the discontent animal makes grunting sounds), but this should not bother you.

With a weight of 400 kg, yaks have poor visual and hearing perception, and may simply not notice people next to them, and injure them with their load. So be careful with these animals.

Also keep in mind: in the highlands yak caravans raise the dust on the trail, and their excrements fall there too. It dries up, get mixed with dust and turns into suspended matter, which the nearby travelers breathe.

This may also cause indigestion, so if there is a yak caravan right in front of you, keep some distance: it's better to stop and let the animals pass.