Nepal

Plates fairly long, most commonly white; private = red, public = black

ALL road coverage = shitcam (brownish, big circular blur)

India: India also has smallcam Gen4 + trekkers; Nepali Devanagari uses ङ/ङ्ग and native Devanagari numerals (rare in India).

Bangladesh: Bengali script → Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka: Sinhala script → Sri Lanka.

Drives on the left

Devanagari (top line, straight verticals) - Nepali tells: ङ / ङ्ग much more common than in Hindi + native Devanagari numerals on signs (very rare in India)

India: ङ्ग + Devanagari numerals + all-shitcam + Himalaya → Nepal.

Square concrete poles (flats) / thin metal poles (mountains), often trident tops

The trident+triangle-support pole is unique, the wide-gap insulator pole almost unique - all other Nepali poles look like India's, so anchor on those two.

India: Triangle supports under the trident, or the wide-gap insulator pole → Nepal; plain trident → could be either, check other clues.

Outer yellow lines (dashed/solid) + dashed white middle on bigger roads; solid outer yellow ↔ very common in eastern Bagmati

Black-white striped concrete bollards (3-5 stripes), often a red top marking

Flat agriculture in the south, high-altitude mountain roads in the northern half

Colourful blocky multi-storey buildings or small painted-concrete/brick/thatch houses; triangle-shaped facade decorations common

Black-white striped signposts

India: Smallcam/trekkers + Indian scripts → India.

Bhutan: Dzongkha script → Bhutan.

Bangladesh: Bengali script → Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka: Sinhala script → Sri Lanka.

Malaysia: Malay Latin → Malaysia.

White Buddhist stupas, sometimes with painted eyes - only in Nepal

Districts appear in addresses, often in English too; far south = flat (Terai), centre/north = high mountains

Vegetation metas: western hills dry w/ exposed hillsides (east greener); areca palms → southeast; canola → southern pockets in the west; chir pines → mountains (esp. west + near Kathmandu); white fluffy grass → SE of Kathmandu; Japanese cedars + tea plantations → far east only

Roof metas: rounded tiles → flats S of Kathmandu + west; West-Bengal-style tiles (diamond protrusions) → far-west flats; grey square stone tiles → Birgunj/Janakpur (NOT in India-lookalike areas!); messy rectangular tiles → western mountain towns; corrugated metal → Birgunj-Janakpur; roof railings → west (Tulsipur valley, stair-shaped; east limit ≈ Kawasoti); golden god-carved gables → around Kawasoti; stick fences → eastern plains; triangular roof 'window' + sloping section → far east; hip roofs w/ small ridge protrusion → (west of) Biratnagar

Mosques only in Muslim pockets: around Janakpur, Birgunj, Nepalgunj, Biratnagar/W of Koshi; round clay huts w/ thatch → around Birgunj (also across the Indian border)

Poles w/ a cross near the top → east; Kathmandu poles: asymmetric crossbar + triangle attachment + support bar; yellow water tanks → east (green/black everywhere)

Car metas: orange car → Nepalgunj/Madi/Biratnagar/Birtamod (w/ blue ribbon = Biratnagar); blue car → Pokhara/Birgunj/Malangawa (w/ antenna = Pokhara); white car → Butwal, H10, H04, near Kathmandu, NE-Birgunj, Janakpur-Lahan, Itahari; black spoiler → Janakpur; grey car → Kathmandu + Lahan; blocky grey truck → E of Birgunj + S of Kathmandu; grey car w/ backlight → Pokhara/Kathmandu/N-Malangawa/E-Itahari; red car (long antenna) → Kathmandu + N of Janakpur

Road spotlights: N of Siddhicharan (east) - high hills full of dark rhododendron bushes (red flowers); NW of Bhimeshwor - foggy gloomy road in the only natural east-Himalayan-fir forest; NE of Phungling - sketchy yellow/orange dirt road w/ high-elevation oaks; N of Khaptad NP - NW-bound valley dirt track w/ snowcapped mountains NW

Trekker coverage only SW of Mount Everest - green forests in the south, barren trails north; near Namche Bazar: sunny near the treeline; compass mostly unreliable!

Trekker settlements: Namche Bazar = biggest, dense (+bird's-eye views); Lukla = southernmost, narrow street, extremely dark; Khumjung = jagged peak above + nearly all green roofs (label further north is misleading); Pangboche = bright, forested mountains; Phorste = sparse, huge mountain, dead-looking trees

Trail metas