Shillong : The Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdohof Meghalaya attended the send-off programme for trek leaders training on September 19 wherein he encouraged the first batch of participants to stay focused in the training and come to the state enriched with knowledge. The programme was attended by C.V.D. Diengdoh, Director Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya.

Speaking at the programme the minister Paul Lyngdoh said, “Adventure tourism is an integral and a very significant set of tourism in Meghalaya. It delights me that 25 trails have been mapped and identified. I am sure that in the subsequent year, we will be able to be in a position to identify more such trails. Most of the trails happen to be connected with local history or folklore. The government has invested money and time in preparing for your trip. I would sincerely urge each of you to invest your time very wisely. Make sure to stay focused and come back enriched.”

The Trek the Himalayas is an agency empanelled by Meghalayan Age Limited (MAL) for identifying multi-day Trekking and Hiking Trails in Meghalaya.

Trek the Himalayas is a certified member of ATOAI (Adventure Tour Operators Association of India), their expeditions cover over 100 peaks across the Himalayas that are permitted by the IMF (Indian Mountaineering Foundation) and their team consists of members who are qualified with Basic Mountaineering Course and Advanced Mountaineering Course.

The key objectives of the project are to prepare a detailed Master plan for setting up Trekking and Hiking activities in which 25 multi-day trails have been identified.

The project aims to create a user-friendly Booklet and an App that lists all the identified sites for reference by the tourists even as the booklet and app is currently under review.

It also aims to provide an experiential training or exposure trip to the local resources which is ongoing and the schedule of the training is for 120 participants.

The training dates for the first batch is September 20-30, 2023 with 30 participants in Darjeeling, the second and third batch comprises 60 participants will be on September 27-October 6, 2023 in Uttarakhand and Darjeeling and the fourth batch will be on October 3-12, 2023 that has 30 participants.

The participants of the first batch are from Pashum, Laitsohum, Diwon (3 participants from each village), Wahkhen, Laitiam, Nongblai (5 participants from each village), Mawlyngbna and Lapalang (1 participant from each village), and Mawten (4 participants only).

The team departed from Shillong to Guwahati Railway Station in the late evening of 19th September, 2023.

A team briefing was held on September 15, 2023 at Shillong Club and the Founder, Rakesh Pant, of the Trek the Himalayas briefed the participants through video conference. The session was also attended by Gregory Warjri as a local coordinator, Founder of Nomads.