Help Tourism

Dear Traveller,

for more than 02 decades, people who travelled through us not only brought peace and relaxation to themselves, but also gave a better life to the destinations where they travelled. Without your visits and your valuable feedback we wouldn’t have been able to create and sustain all those new initiatives that came up since.

The 2012-2021 Mission has no logo yet. We have sent out a request to our friends and partners in the destinations to visualise their idea of “responsible footprints”. Who but them knows best what responsible travel means for a place. Then its your call to vote for your favorite logo.

Stay updated about the online gallery and the public voting

For the last one decade we have also followed with great attentiveness the warnings about how our travels have added to carbon footprints and climate change. We are aware that our travel does have an impact, especially if we have to use airplanes. But we feel that a great travel experience should not focus on the guilt of travellers. Tourism is a powerful tool for rural development, social upliftment and empowerment of the local people. Not that everything always was at its best, sometimes because of more greed at destinations the sustainability factor has been cut short. Yet we are proud of the many positive examples for the benefits of tourism. Those examples we want to highlight and built upon.

If you did not travel, you wouldn’t have understood this land or brought benefits for the people here. We all from the Help Tourism family want to thank you for this important support. We have thought of dedicating this decade 2011 to 2021 to Swami Vivekananda, the wandering monk, who through his travels understood this land and connected it to the world. He often said that it is because of his travels, he has found the meaning of his life and accordingly dedicated himself for mankind. He has left ‘responsible footprints’.

We at Help Tourism after dedicating the 1^st one decade in understanding the philosophy of travel, dedicated the next decade to several missions to establish that tourism can do only good, if we can create opportunities. This decade we want to make travel more meaningful for you, help you in choosing ‘responsible footprints’. We have finally realised that it is only you, the traveller, who through your travels can make this world a better place to live in and visit.

Dated the First of January, 2012.   Help Tourism Family

The annual missions:

2000, Visit East Himalaya, East & Northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh

The 2000 mission was followed by

2011 was one of the most important years for Help Tourism Family, where we could directly show to the world the social, cultural and environmental betterment brought about by tourism volunteers. This has given us the confidence to partner with you, the traveller, to dedicate a decade to Responsible Travel.

‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls…’

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

On 15th of August, 1991 India celebrated its 44th Independence Day. That was the birthday of a new movement: A free thinking in tourism evolved in the Indian subcontinent with the establishment of Help Tourism at Siliguri.

With time Help Tourism became a community movement, which supported natural and cultural heritage conservation, rehabilitation of poachers and terrorists, bringing together people across international borders and above all an effort to establish peace and rural empowerment through tourism.

The movement was initiated in the Sikkim-North Bengal region, which later spread into the whole of East and Northeast India in the 1990s, and further it spread to Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

This Help Tourism movement in the late 90s was indexed under Ecotourism, which in the later half of the first decade of 2000 came to be called as Responsible Tourism movement. In these years, Help Tourism has been consulted in India’s Rural Tourism implementation by UNDP and in Bhutan for their National Ecotourism policy by WWF.

Recipients of several International Tourism awards and finding place in several International Travel Guides, we the members of the Help Tourism family, invite all of you to come and explore the possibilities of exchanging your resources with the numerous Help Tourism destinations.

Pakke is a pristine and most stunning landscapes teeming with some of the most secretive and rare species of fauna and flora. This relatively new Pakke Tiger Reserve which had witnessed rampant hunting and felling a decade ago has now registered a commendable turn around with the initiative of the forest department and the local communities. In a significant move in September 2006, heads of sixteen villages had passed a resolution listing various penalties for wildlife violations and following which the villagers have been keeping a strict vigil in the reserve. The 16-member committee has been working for protection of the Pakke Tiger Reserve in conjunction with the forest department. This initiative is very innovative in approach and a marked departure from the conventional practice of conservation since, the local people, mainly comprising Nyishi tribe, respects the Gaon Burahs (village chiefs) for their wisdom and traditional values, their role is important as they can persuade people to use the natural resources sustainably.

Pakke Tiger Reserve, situated in East Kameng district of the Western part of Arunachal Pradesh with it’s headquarter in Seijusa, falls within the Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot. It is home to over 2000 species of plants, 300 species of birds, 40 species of mammals, 30 species of amphibians and 36 species of reptiles. Many species of the flora and fauna are globally threatened, and PTR is one of the last remaining strongholds left for these species.

The area can be truly termed as ‘Hornbill country’, as four species of Honbill are found here. The endangered White Winged Wood Duck is not uncommon too.

Pakke Jungle Camp is a community-based tourism model jointly implemented and run by Help Tourism and the local tribal self-help conservation group named Ghora-Aabhe. The project is supported by forest department and a Bangalore-based conservation NGO named Nature Conservation Foundation and, the primary goal of the tourism project is to drive and step up conservation and ensure community ownership.

Spread over a richly forested land, the Jungle Camp is a cluster of four local style cottages on stilts made interestingly by the local artisans with local eco friendly materials such as bamboo, thatch, cane brakes and wood. Each hut has a Spartan but cozy and comfortable double –bedded room and a small verandah overlooking the forest canopy. The thatched and spacious dining area provides a very relaxing atmosphere and one can spend time watching birds and butterflies within the vicinity of the camp premises. There is a common bath cum toilet area consisting of two western style baths and toilets each with running cold shower.

Elephants pay visit to the surrounding jungle of our campsite frequently, so there is security fencing at the camp site to keep the curious pachyderms away to a safe distance while allowing them to roam freely in their own territory. Several nature trails and soft trekking routes have been carefully developed or identified around the Jungle Camp to provide our guests with an unforgettable wilderness experience.

PTR is a paradise for viewing and photographing four species of hornbills. The experience of watching hornbills flying to their roost is a must for every wildlife enthusiast. Every evening, just before sunset you will be lucky to witness more than a hundred hornbills flying above the horizon to their roost sites. In addition, PTR harbours other specialties such as the Ibisbill and the White-winged Wood Duck. Nestled among hills and criss-crossed by rivers, Khari is only 13 km away from the park headquarters at Seijusa. White-winged Wood Ducks are often sighted in Khari lake, which is a 10 km trek from Khari beat.

A well planned visit to PTR should coincide with some of the local festivities to have a richer experience of the local tradition and customs. Every year, from 24th to 27th of February, Nyokum yullo, the harvest festival is celebrated by the Nyishi tribe. During Nyokum, all sections of the Nyishi community get together celebrate this festival pompously at Bhalukpong and Seijosa. The mithun is a semi-wild bovid which plays an extremely important role in the cultural, economic and social life of people around PTR. Mithuns are sacrificed and offered to the Nyokum goddess. In Bhalukpong on the 4th and 5th of April, the Adhi tribe celebrates Mopin, the harvest festival. Mithuns are also sacrificed on this occasion. To greet each other, people smear a paste of rice on each other’s faces. Similar to the Nyokum and Mopin festivals, the Miji community of the Tipi area celebrate Chindang on the 14th and 15th of October.

If you do miss the local festivities, do not miss a household visit to see the local handicrafts being made. Members of most households craft products for personal use and therefore handicrafts are not available on a commercial scale. It is incredible to see everyday accessories like market bags beeing still made of cane and bamboo. The Nyishi oryok (a carry knife), galles (hand woven wrap around skirts), naraa (cane woven bags for men), igin (cane woven baskets for women) and dharees (bamboo mats) are some of the craft specialties of the area. These handicrafts take many months to finish since they are made intricately with an eye for detail.

November to April is the usual tourism season. PTR has a subtropical climate with cold weather from November to March. The temperature ranges from 12° C to 36° C. It receives rainfall predominantly from the south-west monsoon (May – September) and north-east monsoon (November – April). October and November are relatively dry. May and June are the hottest months. Humidity levels reach 80 % during the summer.

How does the sun set? It goes down into the sea. It hides behind the mountain. And, what if you do not allow it the space of the sea or the privacy of the mountain? It just dissolves in the sky.

Trust me. I saw the crimson ball look like a half-eaten cookie in minutes and before you could make sense of the changing tones of the silver slivers criss-crossing the valley, the cookie was just a speck, and soon it was gone!

Sipping tea at the bamboo balcony of the dining hall at the Dibang Valley Jungle Camp, I watch the orange orchard surrounding the resort plunge into darkness. And, in the remoteness of far away across the criss-cross of rivers, where I had presumed nobody must have set foot ever, I see flickering lights. One. Two. Three! About seven or eight, in all. So, there are people living there, I wonder.

How did they reach there? Did their flight from Kolkata land at Dibrugarh after an inordinate delay? Were they forced to abandon their onward journey—much after crossing Tinsukia— to spend the night at the Dihing Jungle Camp in Dibrugarh? Did they also cross the Brahmaputra at Dolaghat with their cars on the boats — yes, you read it right; cars, buses and trucks, are all ferried across the river in boats. And, the only people to feel surprised or scared even when the river is on a spate, are tourists— like we did? Will they go back to the “mainstream” that I came from after the three-day Reh festival? Stupid questions clutter my mind for I am full of disbelief as to how can people be living there their daily lives — buying toothpastes and taking their children to school — in a place so remote; where development has turned its back on.  

As I sip the sunset with my first evening tea at Help Tourism’s Dibang Valley Jungle Camp, I realise it is this zeal for life of people living in such difficult conditions that makes Arunachal special, awe-inspiring. And the festivals are just a way of celebrating this spirit.

It’s the first day of the 43rd Reh festival (celebrated between Feb 1 and 3) of the Idu Mishmi tribe here at Roing. Amounting to not more than 12,000 members, Idu Mishmi tribe is one of the smallest sub-tribes of Arunachal (and also India); their language and culture, for obvious reasons, in desperate attempt to survive the onslaught of modernism.

An otherwise family affair, the Reh festival is also celebrated as a community programme, participated by all the members of the tribal village. While yew, the signature brew of the Idu Mishmis, is in the air—that’s the welcome drink you are treated to everywhere— the whole town is a riot of colours with all the people out in their finest traditional attires. This is the time of the year when everybody comes home from wherever they could be studying or working. “This is one time when the tribe comes together,” Lokha Elapra, law student from Delhi, tells me in between nibbling at a roasted intestine, twirled rather crudely to a long bamboo stick and cooked in the community kitchen fire.

In the day, the programmes are mostly traditional with local songs and dances being performed by the youths. The days are followed by not-to-traditional evenings where the youths come together to have fun over yew and pork delicacies. Be prepared to tap your feet to the beats of Idu Mishmi rap number—one of the many ways by which the youths are trying to popularise the local language which has taken a serious beating to Hindi over the years. After a round of the festival, I decide to spend the evening by the fireside, where the community head priest, Igu Haita, is performing the Igu ritual, chanting mantras to drive away evil spirits from the village. I am taken over by the sheer antiquity of his appearance and the ambience of the room whose walls are decorated exploits at hunting—weapons and skulls of mithuns.

Celebrated after the harvest season, Reh is the time when families come together. Especially the relatives and kins of the women members of the family are invited. Gifts are exchanged and guests are treated to mithun and pork delicacies.

It was a sea of flesh—and I am not exaggerating one bit—at the Mayu village, where a community kitchen had been set up. At one end pig flesh was being chopped into cubes, all piled up to form a small hill. Busy hands skewered them in thin bamboo sticks from all sides, while the job of some people was simply to ferry the chopped meat to the fireplace. In two massive cauldrons, right at the middle of the square open area, the cooking was done by able-bodied men who could ladle the boiling concoction without much difficulty. Meme was being made by cooking rice with pork and blood, with dried bamboo shoot, dried ginger and chilly power as spices.

At the other corner was the fish section, populated by largely women, for those who do not eat pork. Dried pond fish, instead of pork, is cooked with rice to prepare the aaku. The yew, which is brewed from rice, is what you wash down your meal with. The meal is followed by more singing and dancing.

And it is not just the experience of a tribal lifestyle, but associated adventure that gives this festival tour a different dimension. And the adventure lies in not only manoeuvring long distances in back-breaking drives on narrow roads and crossing the bridge-less rivers with cars perched precariously in boats. Snug inside a sleeping bag, in a tent set up in the resort lawns, giving company to crickets all night long is no less thrilling. And though I don’t get to sight it– the bird that is unique to this region, a major attraction for bird-watchers across the globe– I quite feel like Mishmi Wren-Babbler!

Article by Anuradha Sharma

Help Tourism’s  2009-2010 annual mission “Tourism for Peace” got unexpected attention. Tourism researchers included Help Tourism’s Sunderbans project and the Gurungs’ Tinchuley homestay in a good practice case study collection. Their paper examines the synergistic linkages among alternative forms of tourism and the establishment of long term peace.

Case Study 2: An Inspiring Example of Wildlife Conservation

… Though the local community in The Sunderbans has been traditionally respectful of the tigers,  there  have  been  confrontations  between  humans  and  the  big  cats  in  recent  times due  to  various  factors.  But  with  the  initiatives  of  some  enterprising  locals  and organisations  like  the  Forest  Department,  The  Sunderbans  Tiger  Project,  the  Wildlife Protection  Society  of  India  (WPSI)  and  Help  Tourism,  tiger  conservation  efforts  were encouraged  among  the  local  community  members  and  The  Sunderbans  has  become  an extraordinary case of wildlife protection in India (Biswas, 2008 ; Hui, 2009).  
The Bali Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society (BNWCS) based in the Bali Island of The Sunderbans is one of the initiatives which have promoted sustainable development with the help of local participation. The Bali Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society is led by Anil Kumar Mistry (principal field officer), a poacher-turned-conservationist and an  enterprising  local  responsible  for  carrying  out  campaigns  like  the  Bagh  Bachao?  or „Save  the  Tiger?  in  motivating  locals  towards  tiger  conservation  (Hui,  2009).  [...]
Promoting The Sunderbans as an ecotourism destination, the Bali Nature and Wildlife Conservation  Society  runs  a  10-cottage  ecotourism  complex  in  association  with  Help Tourism, a group that runs sustainable tourism projects in eastern India. This ecotourism complex is part of a tourism project called The Sunderbans Jungle Camp, a community-driven  initiative  and  it  is  credited  with  providing  jobs,  directly  and  indirectly,  for  a number  of  local  people  (Hui,  2009;  Biswas,  2008).  It  is  also  supported  by  WWF-India (West Bengal State Office), the Department of Forests (Government of West Bengal), and the Association for Conservation and Tourism (ACT) – a non-profit organisation (Biswas,  2008). The complex adjoins a small agricultural settlement, embedded between river and paddy  fields.  The  construction  follows  traditional  patterns  and  uses  local  materials. Several  guided  excursions  and  boat  trips  to  the  forests  and  the  nearby  villages  can  be arranged  by  locals  according  to  the  visitors’  preferences.  Today  the  complex  is  run  by local people almost independently (Gotliffe, 2007; Biswas, 2008 ; Hui, 2009 ; Roy, 2008).
Local social projects, such as an evening school, free medical camps, book and garment banks and scholarships, are supported with revenue from tourism. In the 2007 „Tourism for Tomorrow? Awards in London, organized by the WTTC (World Tourism and Travel Council), The Sunderbans Jungle Camp was one of the award winners in the category of „Investor in People? (Hui, 2009). 
The efforts of the Bali Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society, through projects like The  Sunderbans  Jungle  Camp,  have  led  to  the  fostering  of  peace,  harmony  and  co-existence  between  man  and  wildlife  in  the  Indian  Sunderbans.  The  Sunderbans  Jungle Camp  project  is  an  idyllic  example  of  community-based  tourism  that  protects  the endangered  Bengal  Tigers  while  giving  locals  a  sustainable  alternative  livelihood  (Hui, 2009). According to officials of The Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve , a study conducted by  The  Wildlife  Institute  of  India  for  IUCN  (International  Union  for  Conservation  of Nature and Natural Resources) judged The Sunderbans to be the „best managed park? in the country? (Biswas, 2008).

in: The Journal of Tourism and Peace Research, 1(1), 2010, pp. 27-41, Sudipta Kiran Sarkar and Babu P George, Peace Through Alternative Tourism: Case Studies From Bengal, India.
The full paper is avaiable for download: http://www.icptr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Peace-through-Alternative-Tourism.pdf