Thinlas Chorol
Thinlas Chorol, founder of the Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company, is a native Ladakhi from the village of Takmachik in the Sham region. Ladakh’s first professionally trained female trekking guide, she started working as a guide in 2003.
A former SECMOL(Student’s Educational and Cultural Movement Of Ladakh) student, she started working for the organization’s travel agency ALS (Around Ladakh with Students) in 2004 while continuing to work as a freelance guide with other agencies in Leh. In 2007 Thinlas completed a mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, receiving an A grade for her performance. The following year she completed the spring semester course at NOLS – India (National Outdoor Leadership School), gaining a diploma in wilderness activities. Since then she has worked as an instructional aide for NOLS during two of their courses in India, becoming the first Ladakhi ever to do so.
In 2009 Thinlas established the Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company, the first travel company in Ladakh to be both owned and operated solely by women. Since her start as a guide in 2003, Thinlas has lead countless treks around Ladakh and is today working to bring more women into the field of tourism. A strong advocate for eco-friendly and community based tourism, such as homestays, she is constantly promoting sustainable development of the tourist industry. Aside from trekking, Thinlas has a BA from Jammu University and was awarded Charkha’s “Ladakhi Women’s Writers Award” in 2008. She also received a bronze medal in the National Ice Hockey Championship 2006.
In January 2014 Thinlas received the 21st Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar Award from the Ladies’ Wing of the Indian Merchants’ Chamber in recognition of her outstanding contribution as an entrepreneur in the field of rural business development in India.
In March 2015, Thinlas received The Weekend Leader and VIT’s “Person of the year” award during an award ceremony at Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai. She was given the award for having provided jobs opportunities to Ladakhi women and for her promotion of Homestays in Ladakh through her company, Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company.
In February 2016, she received Devi Award from the Sunday standard for “Showing the way to Ladakhi women”. The award was presented to her, along with several other Indian women at a ceremony in Delhi, by the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Ms. Sushma Swaraj.