12 Nepali women have gathered in Kathmandu on Friday and are heading towards Taplejung for the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), a very difficult but world-famous trekking route. With reference to International Women's Day, 12 women, led by mountaineer Maya Gurung of Sindhupalchok Panchpokhari Thangpal, were bid farewell to the Buddhist stupa by their families on Friday.

In order to further increase the number of Nepali women in the tourism sector and to once again make Nepal known through the collective courage of women, we have started the Great Himalayan Trail trek spread across 17 Himalayan districts,' said 45-year-old climber Arohi Gurung, 'We got off the car at Taplejung on Saturday and started our trek from Pathibhara Temple.' There are women up to years. Stretching from Taplejung to Darchula, this trail is at least 1700 kilometers long and is considered very challenging due to difficulty, altitude, weather etc.  Gurung, who led the

trek, is a member of the first all-female Mount Everest climbing team organized in 2008. Sangeeta Vishwakarma, Deepa Lamichhane, Shanti Thing Tamang, Saraswati Tamang, Ranjita Lama, Varsha Vick, Sangeeta Tamang, Pramita Sapkota, Srishti Tamang, Manmayama Tamang and Anisha Shrestha from Sindhupalchok are on the walk. 

Among them Shanti is the mother of only one child. In recent years, Maya has been gathering single women, destitute, trafficked, women from marginalized communities in Sindhupalchok and Kathmandu and giving them skill training, language, computer, story telling etc. The women who went on the current trek are also trained by him and are working in the tourism sector. 

The two main routes in the Great Himalayan Trail, built below the base camp of 8,000-meter high mountains including Everest, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Manaslu, Annapurna, and Dhaulagiri, are famous among foreigners. An upper difficult section of about 6100 meters. A lower route with a second remote village. This group said that they will trek through the last settlement of the Himalayan district crossing the high Himalayan pass at an altitude of 6100 meters. Walking in this way, 17 to 20 districts will fall on this route.

'We have to go on many adventures. Also, the power of Nepali women should be explained by interacting with the local people," said Maya, "This is the first time that this kind of women's walk is taking place on this route in such a large group. The world should also be given a message about Nepal's tourism and the availability of technical manpower including female guides and porters in this industry.' 

There will be around 20 male porters to help women trekkers on this journey. Trekking through extremely remote trails, Bhanjang, glaciers and starting from the highway will cost Rs 12 to 15 lakh per person. Maya said that Nepali organizations related to tourism including Nepal Tourism Board, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation have not provided financial support. We women who have been working in tourism have come out by paying our own expenses. We have estimated that one and a half million rupees will be spent by the time this trip is completed. We have asked for help from foreign organizations that like Nepal through online," she said.