“This is what happens when the captain of the boat cannot give right instructions in time,” the guide says curtly to a group of journalists who are accompanying him on another raft. Unfortunately, the principal guide of the raft that flipped is Ritu Gyamdan (Tamang), 22, from Betrawati of Rasuwa.[break]
Whether the guide made the comment because of Ritu´s gender was not known, but she said she sometimes gets harsh feedbacks for mistakes which otherwise would have been overlooked if the person was a man. This is largely because whitewater rafting in the country is still a male-dominated sport and many still think it is not for the girls. The job is physically exacting and inability to remain fit and take quick decisions may put lives of those on the boat in danger.
This, however, does not mean all the men that Ritu has come across in the sector are male chauvinists. In fact, it was her brother who was a tourist guide who introduced her to the business. Inspired by her sibling, she first obtained a tourist guide license in 2008 soon after completing higher secondary. Then about a year later, Ritu, now a third-year Bachelor´s level management student at Public Youth Campus, met a Swedish girl on a trekking trip, who introduced her to kayaking and trained her in it.
This heralded her journey into the water-world, which Ritu said is not that smooth in the initial days. “The sport in which every aspiring river guide must excel was quite challenging and although I was an experienced swimmer, I used to panic every time my kayak overturned,” she said, reminiscing of the days when she used to think “this sport is not my cup of tea”.
Yet she completed the 15-day training with the Swedish girl at Phewa Lake in Pokhara. After which she embarked on her first river trip in Seti Khola. She, however, does not have fond memories of that trip either. “I fell into numerous minor accidents,” she said on the sidelines of the 10th Himalayan Whitewater Challenge 2011 organized by Nepal Association of Rafting Agents.
At that time she broke down and was determined to quit the sport. But her brother and his friends inspired and encouraged her to continue with it.
Now, after two years in this sector, she thinks she´s a better kayaker and rafting guide. Of course, she still has to hear criticism from “narrow-minded” male colleagues at times, but according to her, that does not happen as much as in the past. “In many group, I am seldom looked at as a woman,” she said. Thanks to this, Ritu is confident today and is determined to make a career out of it.
“This is fun while I can also make good money,” she said. “So, it makes sense to continue with what I am doing.”
Currently an employee of Adventure Aves, she draws a salary of Rs 4,000 a month. “And, during river trips in the season that stretches from September to November and March to May, I get an allowance of around Rs 600 per day,” she said. But after two more years in the sector, she thinks her income can be more than double of what it is today.
Megh Ale, founder of Ultimate Descents and Borderlands Resort, agreed that river guides who have experience of at least four years can earn as much as Rs 35,000 per month in the peak season.
These people with at least four years of experience get opportunities to go to countries like Japan, US, Canada and others in Europe during the off-season in Nepal to work as river guides and instructors, said Ale. During such trips, each guide makes up to Rs 200,000 per month. This allure has pulled more than 10 girls like Ritu to the traditional male bastion over the last four years.
“These girls have also proved their mettle as they are sincere, hardworking and are as competitive as their male counterparts,” said Ale, who believes presence of women river guides would help promote whitewater rafting among Asian women tourists, many of whom do not feel comfortable around male guides.
So, will the number of women guides go up? Nobody knows. But Ritu says since she became a river guide, she has pulled at least one of her friends into the rafting sector.
“I believe the number will gradually multiply,” she says.
Related story
Money and life
