September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal.    
The four-member team of trekkers is led by Maria Andre from Slovenia.The team started the trekking from Taplejung district for Ghunsa, said the locals. The Great Himalayan Trail is a trekking route that goes through various mountainous areas within Nepal covering a distance of around 1,700 kilometres and passes through eight mountains. It is becoming one of the best, ambitious and challenging treks for tourists at home and abroad. It traverses from Taplejung district in the east to Darchula district in the west.    
 Andre has already scaled eight mountains including Mount Everest. Andre, who in 1991 successfully climbed Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, is currently in Nepal for the GHT.    
They plan to complete the trekking within 115 to 120 days, said Ensuhang Rai from Solukhumbu district who is a guide to the team of trekkers. It costs an estimated amount of Rs 5 million to Rs 6 million for a four-member team of trekkers to complete the trail, he added.    
The team will go from Lumbasubba mountain to the Makalu Base Camp of Sankhuwasabha district through the Kanchenjunga Base Camp to Olanchung Gola as part of the GHT, said tourism entrepreneur Tenzing Nupu.    
It takes around 150 days to complete this trek under the GHT, said a guide Santosh Tamang. 
A week ago, the locals also bade farewell to another team of trekkers including three foreign tourists who embarked on the GHT trek. The team of trekkers includes two Germany nationals and one Australian.    
Amir Maden, mayor of Phunglin Municipality, bade farewell to the team and wished for a successful trip amid a function.    

This trekking trail used to be the only one route used by tourists heading to Kanchenjunga before the construction of a road network.    
The approximately 4,500 km long GHT spans from Kanchenjunga of Taplejung in the east to Darchula in the west.    
    
High mobility of tourists in Taplejung lately has encouraged tourism, hotel and transport entrepreneurs, said a hotel entrepreneur Bimal Bhandari. -- RSS