Women Travellers

This always seems to be a major point of discussion in guide books, so I thought I would dedicate a post to it. Women travelling in Nepal is really no problem at all. I have run into very few major problems on this journey because of my gender. From what I have heard, Nepal seems to be a much more tame country for women travelling than some of the other countries in this region. Although it is not much of a problem, I will not say that I never get hassled. Especially being caucasian and blonde, I look more like Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears which all the boys aged 13-25 wear pictures of on their t-shirts, than any Nepali woman. So, the inquiring looks can get a little tiresome after a while. Often times, when walking around alone I will be approached by groups of Nepali guys, who are never make obvertly sexual comments, but you can sort of tell by their tone of voice what some of them think of Western women. Anyways, I am always asked the question: "Are you alone?" Although, in fact, I am alone, I always say that I am not. Especially when hiking outside of Kathmandu valley, or even in the valley, I will say "No my friends are just up there," or "No my husband is just waiting for me up there." This is a good one to get people off your trail.
Women in Nepal hardly EVER travel, and if they do travel they travel with an entourage of their whole family, so a woman travellng along is quite strange. But travelling here alone is very doable.
In Kathmandu, especially around Thamel, especially late at night gropey hands of young men will sometimes materialize out of the dark. This is more of an annoyance than a threat. Sometimes when walking young men will stick out their elbows to brush against you, but this too is more of an annoyance than a threat.
In general I would totally recommend Nepal as a great country for women travelling alone. Of course, you must be careful and have common sense like don't walk around alone at night, etc, etc... but that is necessary to remember anywhere!
Namaste!