Transcript
003: Bishnu Thapa of OneSeed Expeditions

Theresa Christine: Welcome to The Wild and Curious Podcast, a show that's part travel, 

Suzanne Schmedding: Part feminism 

TC: And completely inspired by extraordinary women worldwide. I'm Theresa Christine,

SS: And I'm Suzanne Schmedding.

TC: Well, to compare, to compare hiking in Los Angeles to trekking in Nepal is insulting.

SS: Totally reasonable.

TC: Very insulting.

SS: Oh, ok, right, insulting.That's what I was gonna say, too. 

TC: I will admit, going to Runyon Canyon, or like, Griffith Park, which we've done before, is, it's a good workout, but it's like two hours and then you're sitting at home. And you're you've showered and like that's it. 

SS: Yeah, right. You don't like go get a smoothie and you know, bathe your dumb dog Oscar.

TC: Have you ever done like, like a full on backpacking trip where you carried stuff on your back? 

SS: I have carried a, like a backpack with trail mix on my back and that's about it. All trail mix and, like, I don't know, a spare bottle of water or something. What about you? Have you have you done one of those things?

TC: Only once in my life, I did it in high school with my girl scout troop. We set up our tents. In just like the tiniest little bit of ground that was slightly lower than the rest of the ground around it. So when it rained that night, we all woke up in just a puddle of water. And I'm sure we we called it all short after that we were like, this is not, this is not enjoyable. I would love to do a really full on serious trek.

SS: Yeah, I think you know that I would like to hike Machu Picchu one day, which is...

TC: Yeah!

SS: The goal, or like the end of it, is just the fact that you have accomplished, or that you have finished it. You know, you've, you've done the hike, you've seen the sights and you've had your breath taken away.

TC: And that's why we're speaking today with Bishnu Thapa, who is the head of guiding for One Seed Expeditions Nepal. She worked as a porter for three years, got her master's studying how adventure tourism empowers women and she is currently a trekking guide.

Bishnu Thapa: Every day is different, like, women, we are trekking, as guides. We usually do you know the weekend to climb in the mountain and every day we do a new day we get the safety briefing every day and then we see it out into the history, culture, religion, whatever, you know, the clients would like to know. And sometimes you know, the as a guide, I have to do, prepare for you to handle the emergency situation and how you have to beat the sun to climb around the mountain, sickness, and you will be safety, and also of course like listening to the client what our clients are saying, and then also prepare like if clients were sick, what to do and assess things like that so I'm always you know, the we listen to the client and then I do prepare accordingly.

TC: And so much of that must be like also weather and taking into account what that is like right?

BT: Yes, So of course like you know, the, we always usually inform you know, the, before the day we start looking at night, you know, the, what does the weather look like, and you know, the, what sort of clothes we have to wear, and what sort of, you know, the safety we have to, you know, the concern about and then everything like what sort of things they need for mistakes, and yeah sometimes you know, the, when they are in altitude area and we have to prepare accordingly, usually we say that, you know, the, for instance, they have to do the walk slowly and then the wall you know the web for for equipment and so they need to walk slowly and those kind of things and clients understand

SS: This sounds like such an incredible job and a ton of responsibility. You have to have like, a really wide base of knowledge. What, what inspired you to get into being a guide in the first place?

BT: Yes, you know, before like how I aspired to become a guide, I, if I see it like history, like how, how I did personally participate in trekking circuits, you know, So, you know, the I grew up in countryside and I mean I, when I studied higher senior to secondary school, I you know, I, I get the scholarship for two years from the Peace Core Volunteer Office and that time, you know, the Peace Core taught  English and then I, I complete like two years higher secondary school. And then I asked like our teacher, Peace Core from U.S. And then I asked him, like whether he knows someone here that I can work with in Nepal. And then you know, the after I complete my Higher Secondary School, and my family, you know, the student support for my education, public education, I really wanted to, you know, continue my history. And then my teacher he knows about the you know, the some trekking company and training center in Pokhara, quality system and I contact, I contact with them and then they say I understand everything but that time like I didn't know what is trekking what is job look like and then what is training look like and I was not sure like after training like if I could get a job or not and I talked out everything with the teacher on the telephone and because there was no return to my hometown. And then later I talked with my mother's family that I want to, you know, the go to the some City area for a job and education, but my mother and family like didn't want to send me because I am a girl, unmarried and then it is not really safe to go. And I tried to convince her a lot, but later I decided myself and then I went to [inaudible]. And then I went and I stayed with the sister in a hostel and I took a training about the trekking from there and then I decided and then okay I think I like you know, this job. I got out slow and then and that is how I started trekking. And you know before I go to, before I was trekking I mean I took a training but I did not know like, 'What does trekking look like and what is this job about?' But when I worked, then I knew like what is trekking and at the beginning I started at my job as porter. So as porter, I did around three years.

SS: What, what was the actual training of becoming a porter and becoming a guide like?

BT: So at the beginning, you know the training is taught about the community information, tourism, environment, map reading and you know, talking with the client. English speaking, because, you know, they usually are what we study at government school, like army, so we have very poor, you know, they speaking English, so in this class, first aid and handle emergency situations and giving us all the stuff

TC: You mentioned that your mom didn't want you to go to training for this. What were people thinking when you started out in this line of work? Was everyone the same, they were like, 'Oh, don't do this'?

BT: Oh, yes, it's different like you know, the, especially in Nepal is male dominated society and you know, the, especially in the beginning, especially in countryside, for women, it is like, you know, not good to leave the home. I mean, there is no [inaudible] girl who guided in the society and then, even my family sometimes say 'okay', but they don't understand you, what is your job look like. When they say 'okay' Sometimes our neighbor and you know the society thinks negatively. Like for example, like, even in our hometown is like that. Like I mean 10 years ago like if women go to outside, you know the [inaudible] and people think negatively and they talk about, they talk like, Oh, this maybe is equal and like this, but when I, you know, the more people here and I said it myself and then when I began trekking and I found it's exactly the similar you know, the, in the, on the way, sometimes male guides, also like, they say, 'Oh, this job is for men and women are too weak for the work as trekking' and then you are quite educated and you can do all kinds of work. And even if you have like, really different attitude and then the one team started teasing like this and then many people on the way, like, we will [inaudible] guide or not and something like that. So, in Nepal because of you know, the traditional male culture, women need to stay at home, look after the children, we will be cooking watching the [inaudible]. And it is this is like it's very public so people can

TC: Yeah, and you're like spending the night, other places when people think you should be at home instead. Right? 

BT: Mm hmm. 

TC: And so trekking in Nepal is a very, like it's a very well paid position as well. Right?

BT: Yes. So you know the, after the trekking, Yes, trekking, it is very safe for the women, It is not it is not a, maybe is difficult, I mean, difficult in terms of like, a stay in guest house or whatever because you know the, we have to get room somewhere in the separate place, and then if there is a pool sometimes we see a room with the same gender, in the same room. I'm in unity just you [inaudible] because of this you know the patriarchal society and then because of the women and people think like that.

TC: Are people changing their attitudes a little bit and are they kind of embracing female tracking guides a little bit more now?

BT: Yes, exactly. This is really good question. So nowadays you know, the, after the few years and I have seen in the field and also in the [inaudible] female like leading and then they are more inspired by themselves and they decide themselves like what they wish to do. Then the number are increasing nowadays and you know the perception like what people think, are you know the tours working as trekking, this as it stands now, you know they [inaudible] the hundred percent women but it's a lot, a lot. So people are understanding very well now.

TC: That's really good to hear.

SS: Yeah, that's amazing. I love hearing that. Do you find that the women who have  become involved in, in becoming this you know, this female company who's doing porting and trekking, do you find that that has created this..I don't know, I guess, like a special community of people who are bonding against this kind of patriarchal society? 

BT: Oh yeah. So, is still now like, you know in Nepal like, well known women trekking company run by [inaudible] Pokhara, and this is how there came to be female guides and training the females. And also now you know the One Seed where I work now wants to go to continue to keep the opportunity. And it's not you know, the people that deserve but even if there is not any restriction, but its still like people, you know, they don't offer like [inaudible] reserved for the women. I mean they, they really, they're hesitant to give not, not all company, but some companies do hesitate. So it is, it is quite difficult for women.

TC: Yeah, so how can, as a traveler, how can you put your money towards female trekking guides? Can you request them or, obviously One Seed Expeditions has you, so like, how can travelers put their money towards getting more female guides?

BT: Is depending on like, for example like, One Seed is very safe, and One Seed is being like, not for the female, but One Seed is supporting for the Inouye women. I know the entrepreneurs through the micro finance. So, our clients like One Seed, you know, the key sister I named, Cora, and they organize the training and then clients will know like, it was the understanding, like, whether we operate funding or not and then how can this money go to the women, so, so, using the you know the [inaudible] training and then, so through the training they get inspired. So guys know, you know, the when they ask with the question to the operator, when they take to the website, and they will know,

SS: What, what do you think the future holds for for women who want to become trekking guides?

BT: I hope like, it is very innovative, very bright future for the women and also the women be safer for the, especially the women traveler. So if women get, you know, they continue or you know, they inspire with education and also the same time so you know they get opportunity and women will be you know, be more involved, and if women involved in, sometimes you know, the female traveler especially, who they are seeking, taking the time to female guide and they can get it. It means always you know the, it is always very safe to take a female guide for, especially for the slow solo traveler in a specific region and I think even give like training and opportunity and definitely it is positive.

TC: She wanted to do this thing, her mom was like, 'I don't know', and society was like, 'Oh, I don't know'. But she did it!

SS: She did it! She was talking about how she had to know so much about, about the weather and the landscape and like, you know, really take care of the medical needs of her clients. And..

TC: Oh, yeah, 

SS: You know, it's just like you got rained on as a Girl Scout. Yeah.

TC: And, I was like WAH

SS: Yeah, yeah, you cut it short. And she's just, you know, she's up there. And 

TC: That's not an option. Her clients are like, 'Let's do this!

SS: Right. 

TC: And so she has to do everything in her power to make sure that they're safe and that they get there. And it's a good point you brought up too, about how I mean, just the amount of knowledge that she has, even if you were to just walk around like Kathmandu with her I feel like she would have so much interesting information to give you. 

SS: Oh, yeah, she's I mean, you know, she's born in Nepal. She knows the country. She's been, been trekking, she worked as a porter first. She's just, she's so cool! 

TC: She is. And I also, I found that Nepali Times article, it is from November of 2019. And it says that over of the total 17,164 licensed guides in the country, only 886 are female. But their numbers are growing faster than male guides, which is very cool. And I will put that source in the show notes. 

SS: I would like to talk to all 886 of them, please. 

TC: Well, we've got one down.

SS: Okay, great, great 885 to go. If you are as interested as I am in trekking Nepal with Bishnu, or one of the other extraordinary guides from One Seed Expeditions, check out oneseedexpeditions.com

TC: And if you are thinking of booking an expedition in Nepal, Bishnu gave us the hot tip that Annapurna is her favorite. She said that you can see so much in even a short trek and it's not too high, unlike Everest, so it's great for people like us.

You've been listening to The Wild and Curious Podcast hosted by me, Theresa Christine 

SS: And me, Suzanne Schmedding. If you've enjoyed this episode, there's more where this came from. Subscribe to The Wild and Curious Podcast wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. You can also follow along with our adventures on Instagram. Our handle is @_thewildandcurious_ and we will also put that in the show notes for you. 

TC: We are always looking for extraordinary women to talk to you on our show. If you have someone in mind or you are that someone go to thewildandcurious.com to let us know