Archive for the ‘Expeditions’ Category

High Mountain expedition lead by our team member Bhaskar

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

We are proud and happy to announce that our team member Bhaskar has successfully lead an expedition to scale a 20000 ft / 6000 metres peak in Ladakh, and we would like to share his expedition report:

 

Mentok Kangri (6277m/20600ft) Expedition 2011

Nature-and-Trekkers-Club-of-JalpaiguriOrganised By: Nature & Trekkers’ Club of JalpaiguriHelp-Tourism-Logo
Approved By: Indian Mountaineering Foundation
Collaboration with: Help Tourism Pvt. Ltd.

 

Leaders’ Report by Bhaskar Das

Planning & Preparation
After successfully completing six mountaineering expeditions in the greater Himalayas the Nature & Trekkers’ Club of Jalpaiguri, planned another climbing expedition to a Himalayan peak. This time the club had chosen Mentok Kangri of 6277metre or 20600 feet in Ladakh Himalayas of Jammu & Kashmir. Mentok Kangri is situated just near the Tsomoriri Lake. The peak receives very few climbers every year & there was no record of climbing by any adventure club. The aim of the programme was to explore the area, gain experience of high altitude area & to give exposure to freshers of the club.

Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-01A six member team was selected for this mission. Five of them were experienced climbers while one member was a beginner. This time also I was given the responsibility to lead the team. Other climbers were Badal Debnath, Dipankar Sen, Mithun Biswas, Sujay Bhowmick & Samiran Mandal.

We received the Indian Mountaineering Foundation’s approval at the right time. Initially the team was facing financial crisis however
many well-wishers came forward to help the team for which we will always be grateful to them.

Flag Off & reaching road head

Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-0221st July 2011 was the date for flag off & departure of the expedition team. Shri. Jayanta Kumar Pal, IPS handed over the National Flag to us & the club’s President Shri. P.K. Das handed over the Club Flag. We boarded the Delhi bound Bhramaputra Mail at Jalpaiguri Road Station at 8:45 pm. The club members came to the station to see us off & gave their best wishes. After spending two nights in the same train we reached Delhi in the morning of 23rd July. The evening of the same day we started for Manali in a bus operated by the Himachal Government. At about 11 pm we halted somewhere on way due to a breakdown of the bus. We were shifted to another bus for rest of the journey & finally we reached Manali next day at about 12.30 pm. We checked-in at a hotel & after lunch we did some marketing for the programme. In advance we booked seats for a bus to Leh. On 25th July we started for Leh at 5:30 am. It was a rainy day & we expected a rough road. Truly before Rhotang Pass we got stuck in a big landslide. We shifted to another bus & reached Keylong at 7 pm. Sujay, Mithun & Samiran had to stay back with the heavy loads at the landslide site & could join us only late at night. Next day our bus stared early in the morning but it had to stop at Sarchu at about 11 am because of a landslide near Pang. After spending four hours at Sarchu the bus finally started for Leh. We could not complete the journey that day & had to spend the night at Pang. Next day we reached Leh in the afternoon. We spent two nights at Leh & made necessary & final arrangements. On 29th July at about 4:30 am we started for Korzok- our last road head. We covered the 225km distance in a small vehicle crossing landscape with scenic beauty. We reached Korzok at 11:30 am& checked-in at Hotel Mentok. Korzok village is situated at about 4540 metre of height, just beside famous Tsomoriri Lake. This picturesque village has a small but beautiful Monastery.

Establishing Base Camp

Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-03On 30th July 2011 we started our trekking at about 9 am from Korzok for establishing the Base Camp. We engaged three mules for ferrying our loads up to Base Camp. We also assigned Mr. Karma from the village as our guide. Route to Base Camp was not so steep but gradual ascend. At about 2:30 pm we had gained about 5420 metre height & decided to establish our Base Camp. We pitched three tents there & made one kitchen using polythene sheet. Badal Da didn’t come with us as he was not feeling well so he decided to stay back at Korzok. We could see Mentok Kangri- I, II & III & Tsomoriri Lake from the Base Camp.

Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-04Next day we climbed higher up to 5800 metre & did recce of the route. We made all necessary preparation before our final mission which was to start early morning the next day i.e. 1st August. We took dinner early & went off to sleep. The temperature outside our tents was below zero.

Summit Day

Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-051st August 2011, we woke up at 2:30 am & took hot tea & porridge. After gearing up with all necessary equipment we started for our final mission at 4 am. One by one, Karma, Myself, Dipankar, Samiran, Sujay & Mithun started negotiating mountain slopes. Our battery lamps helped us to overcome the darkness to some extent. First we negotiated a scree slope & crossed a boulder zone on east face of the peak, then started climbing on the south-east face of the peak. Before reaching the south-east Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-06ridge we climbed almost 100 feet through a zone covered with sharp boulders on the steep southern face of the peak. At about 10 am we reached the ridge at 6000 metre. We fixed crampons on our climbing boot there & with the help of ice axe we started climbing on ice & snow slopes of 60 degree gradient. Sujay & Mithun stopped at 5950 metre height because of physical discomfort. At about 11:50 am one by one, Karma, Myself, Dipankar & Samiran reached the target point at 6277 metre or 20600 feet. Weather condition was bright however there was cold & swift wind which created major problem for us. Via a walki-talki we informed Mithun & Sujay of our glorious news. We hoisted the National & Club Flags atop the mountain. We also hoisted the emblem of Help Tourism, the organization which gave us immense support. As always we offered puja to almighty & took photographs as a memento of our achievement. Our dream came true; wishes of many people behind our venture had borne fruit. We spent 30 minutes there & then started descending. It was risky on our way down because of the snow condition & our tired body, so we negotiated all way very carefully & reached Base Camp at about 4 pm. After filling our empty stomach with Khichuri we put our exhausted bodies in to our sleeping bags.

Returning back & Conclusion

Mentok-Kangri-Expedition-2011_Bhaskar-07Next day we cleaned the Base Camp area & came down to Korzok where Badal Da was eagerly waiting to give us a worm welcome. We spent the night there & together returned to Leh on 3rd August. We passed on the news of our success to all our well-wishers by phone & mail. We returned our hired equipment at Leh. At midnight of 3rd August we started our journey from Leh & reached Manali on 4th August at about 9 pm. We spent two nights at Manali & reached Delhi on 7th August in the morning. Our train for Jalpaiguri left New Delhi station in the afternoon. Finally we reached Jalpaiguri late night on 8th August 2011 where our club members welcomed us with love & pride.

Our special thanks to:
Help Tourism Pvt. Ltd., Shri. Jayanta Kumar Pal, IPS, Shri. Sumita Ghatak, IFS, Shri. R.K. Baid, All well- wishers including advertisement contributors & press correspondents

We are thankful to:

Indian-Mountaineering-Foundation-Logo

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Help Tourism :: Review 2009

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Review 2009

Review 2009

Dear All,

Namaskar and greetings of the New Year!

Year 2009 was indeed a very special for Help Tourism and its partners. Despite the economic down turn all over the world, the organization was able to sustain and strengthen its community tourism movements in East Himalaya where the celebration of life never ends!

Several new projects have been initiated with few more in the pipeline. Few new and exciting trips and circuits such as Butterfly tour in Northeast India, Cultural Festival tour in the Northeast India, Padmasambhava Trail in Western Manas with the heritage circuit of Gouripur and North Bengal extension, ‘Holi Water & Caves’ trail and Areylungchok Dzongri Round Trek from Tashiding, Gangyap and Labdang villages in West Sikkim have been launched. A ‘Heritage Home Stay’ project has been introduced in Ballavpur Danga, Shantiniketan. A special festival trip has been launched on the occasion of the 4th Pangsau Pass Winter Festival – scheduled from 20th to 22nd January 2010 at Nampong, Eastern Arunachal Pradesh. Help Tourism is the Tourism Partner of this unique and colourful cultural extravaganza which takes place every year on the same dates. As a part of the festival, a special vintage car rally named ‘Stilwell Road-Pangsau Pass Car Rally’ with WWII vehicles and motor bikes has been organized jointly by Help Tourism and North East Motor Sports Association.

In 2009 Help Tourism was entrusted with the responsibility for drawing the National Ecotourism Policy framework for Bhutan by His Majesty’s Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation Division and Ugyen Wangchuck institute for Conservation and Environment(UWICE) and 03 rural tourism project of East & Northeast India Business Plan by UNDP & GOI-DOT. The projects will continue in 2010.

‘Green Circuit’ – a unique partnership initiative of five best responsible tourism organizations from India and Nepal was launched from the International Centre for Responsible Tourism’s (ICRT) stand at the World Travel Market (WTM), London to support community-run projects through cross-cultural tours, expeditions and hands-on conservation-volunteering programmes.

The website of Travel To Care – a platform based in India that supports and promotes responsible tourism projects and initiatives in India & the rest of Asia was also launched at WTM. Help Tourism is a proud member of this platform.

As a part of our Mission 2009-10, four PEACE PARKs have been established in some of the crucially important landscapes in the region – in partnership with local communities, to spread the message of cross-border peace, cross-border friendship, cultural exchange and cooperation through tourism.

As a part of our conservation mandates, several biological and species monitoring surveys were organized by our expert resource persons in the protected areas of Tripura, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and North Bengal. The Chilapata Toad & Frog Festival was successfully organized to raise awareness about the importance of protection of lesser-fauna and amphibian species of Chilapata Wildlife Sanctuary and surrounding villages in North Bengal.

The World Tourism Day was observed and celebrated with two major launching programmes: ‘Green Riders’ – a project conceived by a local association named Barefoot to support and empower 50 rickshaw pullers through green tourism in Puri sea beach in Orissa and ‘Kurseong Ecotourism & Heritage Park’ – a joint initiative of Himalayan Ecotourism Welfare Society, West Bengal Tourism and Darjeeling Himalayan Railway(DHR).

As advisor and partner of the initiatives, Help Tourism was present at the launching programmes marked with colourful cultural performances and workshops.

In recognition to its contribution to sustainable development through community-based tourism, Help Tourism received few prestigious national and international awards in 2009.To name a few: TTF Awards, CNBC-Awaaz Award, Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Award. We dedicate this to our partner communities, our tourism partners, our patrons-guests-friends-well wishers and the members of our extended family.

But then, the year did not end with all such good and happy moments only. Despite many new achievements and towering performances the country also witnessed devastating calamities, communal conflicts, rising corruption, alarming climate change, loss of biodiversity, shameless politics, dwindling wildlife, reckless consumerism, saddening violence.

The New Year calls for more responsible action from the citizens of India and the world, more responsibilities from the tourism and other industries before it gets too late!

Our mission – ‘Tourism for Peace’ thus continues in 2010!

With love, regards and appreciation,

Help Tourism Family
January 1, 2010.

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Chautare: A travel magazine for East and Northeast India

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
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the GREEN circuit

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

greencircuitlogo_orange The Green Circuit is an initiative started  in February 2009. It tries to bring together some of the best ‘responsible’ products in the sub-continent together in a circuit, which can then be offered to travellers all around the world. The idea is to make this information known using each others websites and the promotions that we all individualy do, creating a mass awareness of responsible practices, and also generating business for all involved.

It is aimed to become a win win situation where ‘responsible’ operators and products hand hold, share, learn, link (which are all responsible practices in itself) to the betterment of the whole.

With an aim to also make the trip “greener”, we will also support by providing information and service support to connect to these products using train and ground travel. The products are also convieniently developed around international airport, so that access is easy.

Nepal: the Tamang Heritage Trail

17 days, heritage sightseeing, moderate trekking, jungle safari
from £ 675 per person

langtang3 About 150 years ago, Nepal fought Tibet over salt, and some of the biggest areas where this war took place is in the Langtang Region of Nepal, wherein lies the third most popular trekking trail in Nepal. This area is connected to Tibet and the trails in this region were used by traders from Tibet bartering in Salt and mountain goats for meat (changra) with foodstuffs from the south. Developed by the Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Program, the “Tamang Heritage Trail” is the newly developed tourism product, off the beaten track, which highlights an ancient lifestyle combining it with picturesque scenery and healing baths in natural hot springs.
Read more…

Eastern Himalaya: Red Panda Tea and Elephant Trail

22 days, culture, wildlife and tea gardens
from INR 67,000 per pax nett

chilapata-forest-drive East Himalaya is a part of one of the EIGHT HOTTEST BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS of the world. This is a part of the Indo-Burma region. Other then India, the East Himalaya touches the countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and West Bengal occupies more than 100,000 sq. kms of East Himalaya approx. which is about 25% of the Indian Himalaya. This shows a major portion of the Himalaya is existent in the East. Similarly, the whole of Nepal and Bhutan are a part of the East Himalaya.
Read more…

East India: Orissa Odyssey

15 Days Kolkata – Visakhapatnam
from 980 Euros per person

smilingboys An epic adventure through timeless India; stretching from the bustle of India’s renown cultural capital Kolkata, through vast tracts of pastoral plains and palm-fringed paddies, to dense mangroves and tranquil boat rides twisting though the tangled mangrove forest of Bhitarkanika National Park. From natural wonders to the irrepressible man-made marvels of ancient India’s earliest temples at Bhubaneshwar and Konark to the sea swept coastal town of Puri, one of India’s Char Dhams (four holy hotspots of Hinduism). Cruise along Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest salt lake lagoon and camp under a starlit sky
Read more…

South India – The Malabar Holidays

14 days, culture, spice tour, beaches, homestays
from 815 USD net per person

rivernilatrip21-26-183 Malabar was once a British Principality of India. After Independence, Malabar as a state was no longer recognized and the region was divided to form the northern part of what is today called Kerala. Though Malabar has no geographical boundaries, no presence on a map of India, it still exists as a state of mind: laid-back, slow, to live and let live. This is the spirit we capture in this package that begins with Cochin and goes along backwaters, River Nila, Mountains of Wayanad, and ends at the virgin beaches of Kannur in Malabar region.
Read more…

Follow the GREEN circuit on this interactive map:


View Green Circuit, Indian Subcontinent in a larger map

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The Elephant Safari in East Arunachal

Friday, March 7th, 2008

The Great Indian Elephant Safari in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh When we set up a new project like the Great Indian Elephant Safari in a remote area like Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, we are always a bit fidgety when it finally goes live. Receiving a feedback like the one from Leslie than feels like balm:

“The trip with Raj was amazing, more than anything we could have hoped for. Raj is an amazing man, I am so grateful you put us together. I am so glad the 2 people that backed out did so, the trip could never have happened the way it did if they had been there.
The [Pangsau] pass was closed when we got in the area, but we were able to visit with the Commanding Officer of the Indian Army Rifles that control the check points & he phoned ahead. At each check point, soldiers met us with tea & wanted to visit. The road was a mess which made it all the more memorable so John , Raj, & me were going to hike to the pass the last 5 miles. But several Indian soldiers went back & got the stuck vehicle out & we went on getting stuck several more times but managed each time with the help of an Indian soldier that went up with us.
Everyone was so very interested in John’s dad having been in the area during WW2, the adventure just never stopped. The elephants were great, I could have stayed with them for days, took lots of notes & got more info on elephant management from Raj & the mahouts than could ever be found on the internet.”

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