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An idealistic backpacker volunteering as an English teacher in Nepal finds herself entangled with an international gang of smugglers whose Thai leader believes she's stolen their diamonds. "A book I'd like to mention to any readers thirsty for some armchair adventure." - Beth Green of The Displaced Nation Overworked computer programmer Zelda Richardson is teetering on the edge of burnout. Inspired by a girlfriend's trip around the world, she sublets her apartment in Seattle, Washington, buys a backpack and flies to Kathmandu as a volunteer English teacher - determined to make a difference and find herself whilst doing it. She can't wait to immerse herself in Nepalese life - wear a Sari, eat with her right hand and wipe with her left - but becomes overwhelmed by its foreignness. Despite the power outages, lack of running water and difficulty in learning the language, she sticks it out, wanting to prove to her friends and family - but mainly to herself - that she can survive without the luxuries of home. One distraction is the charming Ian, the sexy Australian backpacker whom she gets to know on arriving in Nepal. When her students laugh her out of the classroom and the headmaster publicly humiliates her, Zelda flees to the tourist district of Thamel to drown her sorrows with Ian. What follows is every traveler's nightmare as they find themselves entangled with an international gang of smugglers whose Thai leader believes Ian and Zelda have stolen their diamonds. Can Zelda find a way to get the smugglers off their backs and her Nepalese students to respect her, before her time in Kathmandu is over? Similar to The Beach, Are You Experienced?, Losing Gemma and Backpack, Down and Out in Kathmandu: adventures in backpacking is the perfect book for lovers of backpacker fiction and (mis)adventure novels. A Face-paced, fun and insightful read, especially if you're interested in - or about to travel to - Nepal or Thailand. "Down and Out is an engrossing and thrilling travel mystery that was hard to put down." - Author Jill Dobbe "Anyone who has backpacked, thrown themselves naively into another culture, will be able to relate to this, and should read it." - Author Kait Fennell