Friend from the north-east, or country far away? (5)
I believe the answer is:
nepal
'country far away?' is the definition.
(country in Asia)
'friend from the north-east' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'friend' could be 'pal' (pal can mean a friend) and 'pal' is located in the answer.
'from' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found in the answer.
'north' could be 'n' (abbreviation) and 'n' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nepal that I've seen before include "Country located mainly in the Himalayas" , "Asian country, capital Kathmandu" , "mountainous region" , "Country in the Himalayas, capital Katmandu" , "Country in plane north-west of India" .)