The one-time leader of Nepal's Maoist insurgency on Tuesday
launched a new tourist trekking trail, giving visitors the chance to retrace
the guerrillas' footsteps.
The Guerrilla Trek, a three-week hike which stretches across
central and western Nepal, is designed to draw in more foreigners as the
Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild an economy devastated by the 1996-2006
"People's War".
An estimated 16,000 people died in the decade-long conflict fought
by Prachanda and his fellow Maoists against the once-absolute monarchy. The
rebels later turned to politics and took power in elections two years later.
The trek passes through Nepal's lush valleys that stand in the
shadow of mountains including Dhaulagiri and through dramatic waterfalls, lakes
and the country's only hunting reserve, according to the organizers.
The Maoists were the largest party in the parliament until its
dissolution in May over the failure to deliver a post-war constitution.
