Namaste friends. The biggest scam here in Nepal is the friendly local scam. When you think you've met a friendly local but at the end they end up taking you to like an overpriced expensive art school... ...or just outright asking you for money. So let me show you the scam and how to get out of it. Actually, it took me a long time to capture this scam simply because... ...the street hustlers know me these days and that's what you're gonna see in this first clip. Remember when someone approaches you from behind, like you're gonna see, and especially if they open with: 'Hello my friend' - it's a red flag. They're probably a tourist hustler or scammer. Namaste my Friend! -Namaste bhai. How are you? Hey I know you! How do you know me? -Subscriber. You good? -Yeah man, really good. Where've you been? -All around Thamel. And you? Very good. Walk around. What's your business? -Well, I have a shop actually. You're out here to get customers? -Yeah. Now there's 3 common approaches here. They might ask you to practice English. They might tell you facts about your country. -Where are you from? -New Zealand. "Kia ora" that's what we say. -You're the first person I am talking as a Kiwi. Or most commonly: they will ask you to come to an art school and see their artwork. Namaste bhai. -Oh, you speak Nepali? -Few words man. My name is Karl. When did you arrive? -Like, 2 days ago. So I'm a painting... a painting school I have. You wanna have a look? My painting? -No no no. -Just down this road... You did the paintings yourself? -Yes, since long time. Since I worked 22 years in trekking and after that I'm painting thangka. Painting arts, mountain arts, landscape. No, thank you brother. Where are you going, Sir? -Just walking around man, enjoying. -You wanna see my place? I will show you some nice artwork. Oh you're an artist? -Yes. You make paintings? -Yes. You can have a look... It's an art school? -Yes. -Oh no... I won't go. What other businesses do you do? -I'm also smoking (drug dealing). I have some paintings... Ow, you're an artist? -Yeah. You make the paintings yourself? -Sure yeah. I practice there. If you like to go painting shop I will show. -No. I won't buy anything. It seems like every hustler who approaches you on the street is an artist and they're gonna take you on a nice trip to their art school. This is just a story to fool you. These guys will also have you believe that they're trekking guides, smoking guides, dance bar guides, massage guides. Whatever you are looking for - they are it. So we took the next fake artist up on his offer. Let's see how the scam works so you don't get ripped off. And I'll show you the real price for these paintings too. Now keep an eye on this guy in the black leather jacket.
He is acquiring his target and making a beeline for me. Namaste Brother, good morning. -Namaste. How are you? -I'm fine... Where're you from brother? -New Zealand. -What about Auckland? -Yeah, man. How did you know? I have a friend from Auckland. -Really? -She's a girl. First time here brother? -Yeah, first time. Welcome to Nepal, bro. Where are you heading? -Just exploring with my camera, man. These are your camera? -Yeah. What kind of camera? -It's a GoPro. GoPro? -Yeah, it's waterproof. How do you feel in Nepal? -Happy, man. Really happy. It's beautiful. How long are you gonna be here? -Like, 2 more weeks. Me, I study art. -Really? I do paintings. Mandalas, Kalachakra Mandala. I will show you my work. We paint with one single hair of yak... very tiny brush. I have met so many painters today. -Because we got more than 100 students here. Come I will show you my school. You have a look. You're travelling by yourself? -I'm alone man. My friends are coming soon though. -This is life. New experience, different culture and lifestyle. How far is your school, man? -Just right here brother. This is our school here. -School's in here?!? This is our top school. Old Monastery. -Oh yeah. Old Monastery Thangka Painting Art School. This is our Buddhist art school. The students are on holiday, so you don't see much students. This is all the paintings they do. This is all painted on cotton cloth. Cotton canvas. Namaste. -Namaste. - The colours are from minerals and vegetables. Do you see brother? -Yeah, yeah. It's Beautiful. This is all painted with one single hair of yak. Really? Yeah, all painted with one single hair of yak. I don't believe. -Man! I'll show you... This is not yak.. It's quite thick... these are thick strokes man. You see here, we use thick brush. -Yeah, that's what I said. I said the details here, the texture like this, is with one single hair of yak. So you use brushes though as well? -Yeah, surely. You can't say it's all yak then. -That is with one single hair of yak especially mandala, here I show you. She is also studying art. First, we have to make a sketch. This is like normal cloth and we use yak skin glue. Oil in it and it's rubbed with stone and turn into a canvas. The colors you can see... fresh finished. Oh, who is this? -This, one of the Goddess. Goddess of Compassion. It's beautiful. Now I'll show you my painting. Yeah, sure. This is my master here. This is my master. Namaste, how are you? -Welcome to our school. Come, Sir. See some painting. Which is yours, Sonu? How much does this one cost? -This one is costs 390 my friend. 390 rupees? -$390 USD, not Nepali rupees, but dollar. I thought you said rupee. It's like 3 months work, you know. When people think too much and get headache, this is for focus for 5 - 10 minutes, for peace and relaxation. Look, Sir. This is painting that I'm doing. Very beautiful. This is Sonu's work. It's beautiful. I love the gold.
- You love the gold. And how much is this one? This is, my friend, $90. The money you can pay with Visa or Mastercard. And whatever people get from here, we roll... It's helping our school... to continue our goal... And how much do you get from this? -To be honest, I am helping, I get रू1000 - रू1500. To help my family. We are a family, you know. You get 10-15% something like that? Yeah. That's because we gotta look after family. We do our work here. We tell you honest. If you really like this kind of beautiful art, it's the best souvenir. And in return, you give us opportunity. So this will be cheaper here than outside? -Yeah. because this is our school where we make our stuff. Here it's not about money. The main thing is you give us opportunity to make more parents and support our families and art. This is a non-profiting art school. Whatever people come and buy, it supports our school. Ok, you have a card or something? I won't buy now but maybe I will come back. No worries brother, if you like come back. No, I checked already... it's nice. Or maybe you'll like some smaller... No, I will wait for my friends to come and maybe we'll come back and check it out, ok? You know one thing Brother... I just got here so I don't wanna spend money just yet. I gotta shop around man. $50-$60 you go for bargaining, just like that. -I'm gonna shop around man. This is रू1500. Beautiful. Thank you. This is here. We don't want to force you. It's something from your heart. -Thank you, bro. It is an expression of feelings. Do you want sightseeing, Brother?
- No, I'm ok. This is beautiful. -Thank you. -This is the real art of Nepal. Now here's the thing: If you're gonna buy Thangka painting from an art school do you think you're gonna get master-level paintings? Nah. You're getting student-level paintings. The cheapest possible. But you're probably paying master prices. Instead, find a master's studio. I walked past this lady every day for a week, and I watched her working on the same painting. It's clear she is not a student and this isn't an art school. But more on this in how to identify a real Thangka painting later. Hey Bro. Namaste. I was just at another art school. They were selling this one. How much is it right here? It depends on the quality, Sir. Some quality after 3-4 years later the colours fade. But how much is it? This is रू5000. So they were selling for 90. -Rupees? -$90 dollars American. Wow, and you bought it? -No no no. This one was, wait how much? $390 USD. -This one? -How much is this really? What's the real price? The real price of this is रू18,000. So they're charging double kind of. This one is so beautiful omg. It's really really hard to know what the price of these paintings should be for you. Because, there's different standards, different qualities of paintings. There's beginner, intermediate and master. How are we gonna know by looking that what is a master painting? We can't know. So, you just have to look online, see what's available. Check out the prices of different levels of quality. And bargain from there. Whether or not what you're buying is master-level, you're gonna have to get someone to show you the difference between beginner, intermediate and master. Get them to show you that in the store so you can see & appreciate it. So now how to get out of it. And that friendly local they have built this little relationship up with you. And in the more high-pressure situations, you'll feel like you have to buy just to get out of the shop. It could be that bad. There is one easy way out of all of this. You need to learn to say "No." To say "no" and to walk away, and to keep walking even when they're calling out to you. Or yelling at you. Or they're angry at you. Just keep walking and get yourself out of that situation. "No" is the most important word in life and it did take me some time to learn this. This is a skill that you will learn in India and Nepal. Just keep practicing and you'll get damn good at saying "No" and leaving.
