female trek guides

[fishtails04]

i have previously used the excellent 3 sisters trekking agency in pokhara, but i really like the idea of hiring an independent guide, having looked at the thread on this site about cutting out costs to middle men and giving the guides/porters the entire cost. but...i also like using female guides/porters and can't find any advertising their services on that thread.
can anybody recommend any independent female guides/porters in nepal?
thanks
lisa

[Per]

can anybody recommend any independent female guides/porters in nepal?

I am afraid women are really rare in the trade, due to present cultural conceptions. Occasionally, I have seen sherpa and rai girls porter for large expeditions, but then they have been recruited locally and have just worked a couple of days.

[Sharon]

Not so rare, Three sisters has over 300 according to my guide who knows the group.

[Per]

300 women guiding foreigners, that is absolutely splendid, things are really changing.

I remember when I trekked from Trisul to Pokhara 1974 in the vicinity of Gorkha I asked three chetri birds that were working in the fields for the way, and they all demonstratively looked away without reply. They were simply not going to risk their modesty by talking to men that were strangers.

[Sharon]

On this last trip I noticed significant changes. The younger women say under 20 dressed like they would in vancouver. Quite revealing styles. As well I saw lots of young nepali couples holding hands which I have never seen before.

[yakshaver]

On this last trip I noticed significant changes. The younger women say under 20 dressed like they would in vancouver. Quite revealing styles. As well I saw lots of young nepali couples holding hands which I have never seen before.

Yes, it must be the effect of Bollywood, and other socializing media like this... In July at Marpha, my friend has interviewd for tv a couple of high school aged girls, daughters of the inn-keepers, who were quite atrticulate and certainly with a confident air about them. They were attending the local school.

But, I pray thee, where were the revealingly dressed ladies? Maybe we can organise a detour through that particular village...

[Per]

But, I pray thee, where were the revealingly dressed ladies?

In Thamel, the latest issue of The Economist has an article on Nepal with the heading "From treks to sex: Is a new sort of thrill-seeker heading for Nepal?" According to the Economist there "are now an estimated 200 massage parlours and 35 ‘dance bars’, such as the Pussy Cat, in Thamel alone —with over 1000 grils and women working in them."

Apparently, sex tourism is replacing the collapsed trekking industry. An expert on South Asia´s sex trade says it is becoming like Bankok, it´s like Phnom Penh.

Unfortunately, The Economist tends to be very reliable.

[Sharon]

Now that is distressing to hear.

[James]

We met a solo woman trekker with a Three Sister's guide and porter. She had wanted a female guide but Three Sisters said that there were none in the Everest Region. To Three Sisters' credit, they did provide her with a female porter who was training to be a guide. The young woman porter/guide trainee was not from the region, but she had passable English. Both her guide and client said that she was getting teased a lot by the other porters and if she wasn't sitting with her client, she was usually sitting alone while the other porters were in groups talking or playing cards.

My wife also noticed a significant number of young women wearing makeup and western teenage attire, mostly around Namche. The contrast was striking, a young women herding a small group of Yaks yet looking like a teenager back home. Things are changing ...

[trekky48]

( [QUOTE=Sharon]On this last trip I noticed significant changes. The younger women say under 20 dressed like they would in vancouver. Quite revealing styles. As well I saw lots of young nepali couples holding hands which I have never seen before.[/QUOTE What do you expect them to be all their lives ?Wallflowers ,Nuns or be stuck in a village all their life,they cant help it that they have been influenced or corrupted by Western Society ,surely they are entitled to a life :(

[Sharon]

No they have very right to dress and behave as they please. I am sorry if they are however getting into prostitution to survive.