>>2618253you're not allowed to climb it without a guide.
this shit is pretty par for the course in a lot of places. this type of ceremony is a bit over the top, but you'll see something similar pretty much any time you do anything guided, which btw is a legal requirement on a lot of sites and walks.
the most common thing to watch out for is you decide
>ok ok here's twenty bucks for you guysthinking they'll split it. but the guy you hand it to just pockets it and the other dude has his hand out almost instantly for his own $20 bill. so break it up and give them each the money individually. its why I travel with US dollars though, since guides are way more eager and excited about comparatively stable foreign currency. they also can't quite conceptualize the actual value, where if you tip in the local currency they know exactly what a lowball is.
sucks that things are this way now. what was a well intentioned thank you ten years ago has spun into this thing where the operators take all the money for themselves and expect to pay their guides with tips from well intentioned but naive westerners.
