Click to access af-nmt-exped-report.pdf (full report with photos)

Empowering Women of Nepal Expedition
Anna Fleming – February 2025

In February I went on a 4-week expedition to Nepal to meet, interview and explore
with trailblazing women who are transforming society and mountain culture in the
Himalaya. In 1994, Lucky and her sisters Nikki and Dicky Chhetri established 3
Sisters Trekking Company the first ever female-led adventure trekking company in
Nepal. In the patriarchal society of Nepal, women did not work as mountain guides:
they were considered ‘impure’ because they menstruate and were not allowed in the
mountains. Meanwhile, female trekkers were experiencing difficulties with male
Nepali guides who expected ‘certain things’ from western women.
Lucky and her sisters have changed all this. Since 1994, they have trained 2000+
Nepali women to work as mountain guides through Empowering Women of Nepal.
Lucky invited me to Nepal in February 2025 for a month, to observe their training
programme with a new cohort of Nepali girls and women, to interview them and go
on an adventurous trek together into the Himalaya. The expedition was a great
success. I gained a deep immersive understanding of their work in action and now,
having returned to Scotland, I will share these insights and experiences widely
through my own work as a writer and mountain professional.
Female Guide’s Training Programme
For the first two weeks I observed the training with a new cohort of twenty-two
female mountain trekking guides. This included classes in empowerment,
environmental awareness, first aid, English language, and practical classes in rock
climbing.
We visited schools and communities so that I could see the range of work that the 3
Sisters do in community development and addressing climate change challenges of
Nepal. I then went on a field trip with the new trainees into the mountains for their
first experience of trekking. Throughout this field trip I made observations and
supported the women with their development as mountain professionals. At the end
they gave carefully prepared presentations on a range of topics.
I was welcomed into the group and soon made to feel part of the family. The girls
were very friendly and curious about Scotland and the UK, my work as a writer and
experiences in the mountains. It was a pleasure to share things with them, helping to
create a mutually enriching two-way exchange.
Interviews & Incredible Life Stories
As well as observing the training programme, I interviewed many experienced
female guides, collecting their amazing life stories.
The first guide I met was teaching the trainees rock climbing. She had joined the 3
Sisters in 2007 and has been a guide with their company for 18 years. She revealed
that she is also a climber and mountaineer. She has climbed big peaks around the
world, including Aconcagua in South America in 2023. The story was familiar. I had
heard a similar story when I was in Bolivia in June 2024, on an expedition to climb
The 48th female
trekking guide
training
with and interviewing the Indigenous Cholita Climbers. One of the Cholitas, named
Julia, she said she climbed Aconcagua with a group of women from around the
world, including one from Nepal.
I asked Muna if she had climbed Aconcagua with a Cholita named Julia and she said
yes! Julia was very strong and very fast she said, climbing in her huge skirt. I sent
Julia a message to tell her I had met her friend Muna in Nepal. Julia was delighted
and sent a hug from Bolivia.
Muna’s life story was incredible. She is from a remote mountain village in Nepal. Her
family was poor so she only went to school for a couple of years. At 13 her family
decided she should get married. At 14 she was married. She had a baby when she
was 15. When she was 16 her husband left her for another woman. As a single
mother who could not read or write, Muna was very depressed. She wanted
opportunities to earn money and do something with her life but there was nothing.
Then a stranger in the village told her about the female guiding scheme. Muna
walked for 5 days to Pokhara to do the training at 3 Sisters, leaving her 3-year old
daughter behind in the village with her mother. The villagers were very disapproving.
In their eyes, women should not have jobs and could not be mountain guides. Muna
should not go, they thought, she could be trafficked, she was breaking with the social
order.
In 2011, Muna climbed Annapurna IV (7525m). The climb changed her life. She was
part of a female group, who were the first Nepali women to climb Annapurna. They
were on the television and celebrated across Nepal. Her village welcomed her back,
finally recognising her achievement.
Trekking in the Himalayas
After observing the training and completing the interviews, I then went on a
challenging 8 day trek led by female Nepali guides, to see their work in action and
meet the Himalaya through their eyes.
I went with a trainee guide (Bimala) and qualified guide (Danu). We walked 90
kilometres, with 6,500metres of ascent and descent. It was off-season: quiet with
mixed weather.
Danu and Bimala taught me a lot about the nature in Nepal, helping me to identify
the birds, plants, trees and animals. We saw monkeys, vultures, Himalayan griffon,
eagles, crow, raven, warblers, bunting, cranes, partridge. Among the plants, there
was flowering rhododendron, magnolia, tree orchids, daphne flowers, primulas and
bamboo.
I saw their work in action and how they are treated on the trail. We climbed to two
spectacular viewpoints at up to 4000 metres altitude, getting close to the snowy peak
of Annapurna.
Conclusion
Through the 4-week expedition, I developed new skills in field research and
interviewing. I successfully gathered lots of extremely high-quality material that I will
write about in articles and a book. This will benefit 3 Sisters, who are keen to
promote the work that they have done. It will also help my development as a writer. I
am currently working on a book project, investigating women’s connection with
mountains through history and around the world. The insights I gained through the
expedition will be invaluable towards this project, making for a magical and inspiring
final chapter, illustrating empowerment in action.
I made many new friends and gained radical new perspectives on the world. It was
eye-opening to meet the extreme challenges and understand the multiple adversities
that Nepali women face. I gained an immersive insight into the spiritual diversity of
Nepal. I was with Buddhists and Hindus and women from many different ethnic
groups from across Nepal, including Sherpa, Chhetri and Gurung people. The
women came from all regions of Nepal, including from Khumbu to remote west
Nepal, Pokhara, Kathmandu and the Annapurna region.
They taught me about the impacts of climate change on Nepal and the challenges
that mountain communities face adapting to this new world. I observed first-hand
some of these impacts and came to understand what nature connection means in
Nepal, where there are many nature-based religions and the country is extremely
biodiverse.
Thank you to the Neil Mackenzie Trust for supporting this research expedition.
Anna Fleming
Edinburgh
April 2025