Nepal — Neighborhoods

Kathmandu — Thamel is the tourist nightlife core: bars, dohori (folk-music) venues, so-called dance bars, and massage parlors of varying legitimacy. The dance-bar sector is notorious for aggressive bill-padding — inflated 'lady drinks' and invented cover charges — so agree prices upfront and carry limited cash; the sector also has documented labour-exploitation problems. Freelancers work the larger Thamel bars, and Durbarmarg has the upscale clubs. Pokhara — the Lakeside strip repeats the pattern at lower intensity.

Legally, Nepal is a grey zone: selling sex is not explicitly criminalized, but soliciting is prosecuted under public-offence provisions, brothels are illegal, and the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2007 exposes buyers to serious charges where any coercion or trafficking is alleged. Everything operates behind fronts as a result.