All by myself
Nepali Travelers started funding solo women travelers to instill confidence in them as well as encourage them to become independent. The project started when Pemba Sherpa, an avid traveler himself, sat down with his friends and came up with the concept. “Our aim is to build a travel culture in the country. We have a lot of mountains and other beautiful places, but nobody wants to go camping,” he said, revealing that that’s exactly the kind of thing he wants to change.
Isha Upadhyay talked to some women who won the competition and went on trips in the previous years to learn about their experiences traveling solo.
Shristi Shakya
My 14-day trip started out on a bad note when the conductors on the bus from Pokhara to my ABC entry point, Kande, harassed me and kept asking me for my number throughout the journey. The woman sitting next to me thought the boys were my friends and were just teasing me. It didn’t even cross her mind that I could have been traveling alone. It was only when I got off the bus with her, before my destination arrived as I was too scared to go alone, did she realize what was up. She helped me get a lift from her stop to my destination, but I was already shaken and rethinking my decision to travel alone. But, when I reached Kande, I met four Australian girls who were out trekking by themselves and they motivated me and reminded me to not let a few people stop me from doing what I wanted to.
After the ABC trek, I went to Ghandruk and Barpak, where I lived with host families and learned a lot about their lifestyles. I was a shy introvert when I went on the trip but I came back as a confident girl. I am glad that I didn’t let my initial setback come in the way of my journey.
Priyanka Shrestha
Looking back, I wish I had more time to decide on my routine. I ended up spending a lot of time on the buses and trains, with one journey that exceeded 55 hours on a train. If I had the time to plan things carefully, I would have allotted more time to immerse myself in the culture of the places I visited.
The wait staff and all the other people at the hotel too wouldn’t stop staring. The hotel I stayed at while in Kerala had a guy from Sikkim working there and I felt the true joy of running into someone who speaks your language when you are away from home. This is probably why I felt most at home when I was there. I realized through this experience that although there are many setbacks for women in our society, there is still nothing we can’t achieve when we set our minds to it.
Kripa Dangol
At last I steeled myself and went on my 21 days journey, with a map in hand because as remote as the trail was, there was going to be no signal for telephone services, let alone Google maps.
I faced a lot of challenges along the way. I have trekked for 13 hours straight while I had fever because I misplaced my map and got lost. All the people I met during the day would tell me to go back the way I came from because it was too risky for a girl to walk alone in those areas. I was in such remote areas that a war could have broken out and I wouldn’t have known.
I definitely felt stupid at times for choosing such a hard trail for myself. One man, in particular, was shocked that I was being funded to put myself through so much. His exact words, something that I will never forget, were “Yeta ko Manche garib bhayera dukha garcha, tapai chai paisa bhayera dukha garnu huncha”. [People here struggle for money, and you struggle because you have money.]
I am someone who has been lucky in life and feel empowered right where I am, but with the trek I realized I rely on my friends and safety network here. When I was out there, I was the only one I could rely on, the only one who could help me. For a man, the only concerns they have are physical ones and safety from wild animals. I met women who would tell me outright that I might be raped because I was traveling alone. But instead of scaring me it acted as a motivation of sorts. I was doing something that not only few people did but something people were actually scared to do.
I learnt so much about myself that despite the challenges I faced, given a chance, I wouldn’t change a thing. The sweat and tears I put into the trek made me realize who I really am and what I am capable of.
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