Mentok Kangri (6277m/20600ft) Expedition 2011

Organised By: Nature & Trekkers’ Club of Jalpaiguri
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.

A 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

21st 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

On 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.

Next 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

1st 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 ridge 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

Next 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:

                          

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

                          

Paharpur World Heritage Site, Bangladesh

WTD or World Tourism Day is observed globally on the 27th of September every year with several themes to be carried forward for responsible contribution of the tourism industry. This is an important day to launch tourism products, especially in the Eastern Indian subcontinent as this is the starting of the yearly season after the monsoons.

Yatra, is an old Indian word which is a part of the Tirtha-Yatra, meaning pilgrimage or journey for enlightment. Hence, the word ‘yatra’ to ‘WTD’, a journey to tourism enlightenment, started on the 27th of September, 2010 from Dhaka. This was followed by the workshop at Paharpur and the journey completed at Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

World-Tourism-Day-2010 Yatra: Delegates

About a 100 delegates from different works of life from Joypurhat, Naogaon, Bogora, Dhaka and India, of which about 87 of them had registered attended the workshop and contributed to the ‘Paharpur Declaration’, a continuation of the ‘Shantiniketan Declaration’, where tourism, peace and heritage conservation in cross-border initiatives were the priorities. The same priorities continued in the formation of the ‘Paharpur Declaration’. There were 60 recommendations in the ‘Paharpur Declaration’ which has been mentioned at the end of this report. Details about the Paharpur Circuit from Joypurhat will be available on the website www.livingbuddhism.in. During the occasion of the WTD Yatra 2010, DMSS opened its guest house on the outskirts of the Joypurhat town on the way to Paharpur. The 10 double bedded (attach toilet cum bath) rooms were used for the delegates and a plan for adding 04 family rooms are in process. The bookings of all these rooms, along with sightseeing and village visits will be available with Help Tourism’s Bangla Initiative. Special interest combined itineraries for Bangladesh will be available with Jouney Plus at Dhaka. For details please check www.journeyplus.com.

Dhaka delegation leader Mr.Pijush Banerjee

The Indian delegates was led by Mr.Goutam Ghose and the Dhaka delegates by Mr.Pijush Banerjee. The moderator for the Paharpur workshop was Mr.Shekhar Das and the Chief Guest was Mr.Safiqul Islam, DG-Archaeology. Dr.Nazmanara Khanum, the DC of Naogaon District was the Special Guest of the occasion. The workshop was opened by the film ‘Beyond Barriers’, a film by Ajoy Roy. The welcome address was made by Taufiq Rahman and the ground for the workshop was presented through a guideline explained by Raj Basu. The organizing part of the workshop and the Joypurhat hospitality was made successful by Shah Fakir Md. Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury Prince and Apurba Sarkar. Almost all delegates participated in the workshop and their inputs were noted as a part of the ‘Paharpur Declaration’.

Indian delegation leader Mr.Goutam Ghose

Ground Work

Help Tourism during its last decade of serious work on Buddhism in the East Himalaya mainly with the scope of establishing Cross-Border tourism for peace and its connectivity with the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda deemed University) wanted to explore the positioning of Paharpur as a World Heritage Site to attract visitors and connect it to development of Community Based Tourism (CBT) locally. Sascha Prinz, a masters degree ecotourism intern from University of Applied Science – Eberswalde, Germany, who had come to work on the Help Tourism sites, was sent to make a preliminary survey in February 2009. As per his report, the region offers great potential but was lacking infastructure. There was no infrastructure to attract special interest tourists in Buddhism who would spent a few days at Paharpur, but the people in general were hospitable.

World-Tourism-Day-2010: Nagaon DC

A two members team led by Raj Basu and joined by Biplab Saha took a YATRA (journey) to Paharpur between 9th to 11th September, 2009 as a part of Help Tourism’s Bangla Initiative (an initiative which was taken by Help Tourism in 2001 to explore the World Heritage Sites of Bangladesh) and talked to several possible stakeholder groups during this period. During this trip the interest and advantage of Joypurhat District town and its people were realized and the initiative to make it a base for Heritage Tourism in North Bengal of Bangladesh, mainly for Paharpur and Mahasthangarh was begun. Again on the World Tourism Day 2009, 27th September a group of tourists from Kolkata (Calcutta), led by Biplab Saha was taken to Joypurhat. They were taken around the several sightseeing places in the area, followed by a cultural evening by the people of Joypurhat and it was confirmed through their satisfaction, that this can easily be developed as the ‘Joypurhat circuit’. Since then several community meetings, local infrastructure development initiatives and circuit development programs were organized. The most active organizations of the area in this initiative have been the Joypurhat Municipality, Phulki, Sishu Udyan and DMSS.

World Tourism Day 2010: Heritage Tourism and Cross-Border Opportunities

The most important part to make everything happen is ‘Motivating Dhaka’. If the intellectual community, administration and travel industry of Dhaka is not a part of this initiative, then it would be half done. Hence, a strong partner from Dhaka became a must for this initiative. We could not think of a better partner than Mr.Taufiq Rahman of Journey Plus at Dhaka, who has been with this initiative from day one with all moral support. During his visit to Kolkata TTF 2010, he was taken for familiarization to Help Tourism’s Community Based Tourism Project at Bali in Sunderbans. This was the starting of a greater initiative connecting Bangladesh all along its borders with Northeast India and West Bengal known as ‘Heritage Tourism and Cross-Border Opportunities’. It was decided that the last one and a half years of ground work at Paharpur would be launched as Part 01 of this greater initiative during the World Tourism Day 2010 through the WTD Yatra 2010 ‘Dhaka to Darjeeling via Paharpur, connecting 02 North Bengals’. This was in continuation with the ‘Shantiniketan Declaration’, a workshop held at Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan on the 29th and 30th of March, 2010 being organized by Help Tourism in collaboration with Visva Bharati University, India Tourism, ACT, Travel to Care, IIPT, ICRT-India and West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. Accordingly, Taufiq with his network developed a Dhaka Team for the WTD Yatra 2010 for which the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh confirmed their collaboration.

About Paharpur

Atish Dipankar as Professor and Chancellor of Sompura Mahavihara translated Madhyamaka Ratna Pradipa into Tibetan language. It is believed that during his stay at Sompura Mahavihara, war broke out between King Nayapala, son of King Mahipala and Laxmilarna, King of Kalachuri. It was Atish Dipankar’s meditation that helped to terminate hostilities and establish peace. Though he was invited to visit Tibet and preach Buddhism by the then King Lah Lama Yioshi Hod, yet he could only make his YATRA (journey) in 1040AD during the reign of King Chang Chub Jnanaprabha. Tibetan Buddhists refer to him as Jabo Chhenpo (a great God), one of the greatest masters of Buddhism.
Tibetan works (Tibetan translations of Dharmakayavidhi and Madhyamika Ratna Pradipa, Taranatha’s history and Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang) reveals the glory of Sompura Mahavihara. Ratnakara Shanti was the stavira of the Mahavihara, Mahapanditacharya Bodhibhadra was a monk of this Mahavihara, Kalamahapada, Viryendra and Karunashrimitra spent time as scholars of this Mahavihara. Taranatha and other Tibetan sources mention that King Devapala built the Sompura Mahavihara after the conquest of the Varendra Bhumi.

Paharpur World Heritage Site

The excavated ruins at Paharpur in the Nagaon District and 10 kms from the district town of Joypurhat, Bangladesh establishes the fact that Sompura Mahavihara was built by the 2nd Pala king, Dharmapala between 781 to 821 AD. Clay seals from the ruins bear the inscription ‘Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-Bhikhshu-Sanghashya’. King Devapala and his son King Mahendrapala continued their patronage to the Mahavihara. During the reign of King Mahipala (995 to 1043 AD) the Mahavihara was repaired and renovated. It is recorded in the Nalanda inscription of Vipulashrimitra, that his ancestor Karunashrimitra lost his life in the fire as he refused to leave the Mahavihara. This was probably from the attack of the Varman rulers of Vanga. About a century later, Vipulashrimitra restored the former glory of the Mahavihara and built a Temple of Tara. The expression then used for the temple was ‘Jagatang Netraika Vishrama Bhuh’ (a singular feast to the eyes of the world).

                          

Buada told me that his father Shibjee had passed away. I rushed to Chilapata today morning and found several people from different communities (Oraon, Munda, Kora, Karjee, Rabha, Mech, Bihari, Nepali, Bengali and Rajbongshi) were present at the funeral. An old man was sitting in front of Buada’s house and was continuously crying and saying: “Shibjee first came to our house more than 50 years back and my father looked after both of us as brothers.”

In a small village near Samastipur in Bihar, Shibjee was born. His father passed away in his young age, and his uncles claimed his mother of having mental problems and chased her away with her two sons, the other elder to Shibjee. The uncles took away the land and the mother with two sons took shelter at a Brahmin’s house at Samastipur. The elder brother went as a child labour to Samastipur Jute Mill and the mother with the younger son worked for the Brahmin at his house.

Not long when Shibjee went to work at Ranchi, from where he managed to go to Calcutta. A long part of his life as he told his son Bua (Ganesh Sah) that he served a doctor at his house in Chittagong. In the year 1949 and the early 1950s, East Bengal was undergoing the process of becoming East Pakistan, and the Pakistan constitution was being formed on the basis of Islam. This created riots in East Bengal, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and several parts of the subcontinent.
This made Shibjee flee Chittagong in 1954 and come and take shelter in Mathura Tea Estate, one of the first established tea estates of Dooars. The rise of the industrial revolution in United Kingdom in the 18th & 19th centuries, that was the time when the English sailed continents in search of new grounds for entrepreneurship, and started to create tea estates in India, mainly East. As a result, large forested landscapes had to be alternated with tea plantations. This is when they needed labours. The Barraiks were instrumental in bringing thousands of labourers from their state of Bihar and adjoining areas, who were made to work hard in these plantations at the present area Mathura next to Chilapata Sanctuary. In the process, the Barraiks became Rajas or Landlords of the area and owned large land areas, elephants, arms and people.

Chilapata had seen kings in the past and the fort ruins next to Bania River remain silent witness to the glorious past. As per historians, the ruins belong to the Gupta age and are often referred to the mythology of Nal Raja of Nal-Damiyanti. Several others believe that this fort belonged to Naranarayan, the King of Coochbehar and some argue that the area belonged to his General Chilla Rai, who was a great warrior and administrator. Today, the ruins are almost hidden in the forests of Chilapata Sanctuary, where the fort is inhabited by our wilder part of the ecology which includes everything from elephants to pythons, both very commonly sited.

Shibjee started his livelihood by selling chana masala in and around Mathura. He gradually started venturing in the forests carrying snack food to be sold to the mahalders and their party, who were engaged in timber extraction. This was a continuation of the imperialistic British policy of earning revenue from their empire areas rich in natural resources. Timber and Tea industries were then at its best in the Bengal Dooars areas and brought generous returns for hardworking Shibjee. The turning point came in when he and his Nepali friend were trampled by a wild elephant in the forest. His Nepali friend died, but he survived with severe injuries. The timber merchants and their people rushed him to the Alipurdual hospital and after weeks of struggle he survived. He was no more capable of walking around to sell his snacks. The Timber Merchants then built him a small shed at present Chilapata More, where his son Bua (Ganesh Sah) still lives with his family, from where Shibjee sold food and sweets often patronized by Timber Merchants and Forest officials coming for short stay at the Chilapata Forest Bungalow.

The Chilapata Forest Bungalow, which was a major transit Bungalow for government officers in the past, a must stopover from Coochbehar through the Dooars in those good old days when the unbroken forests along the Bhutan foothills were abundant with wildlife. The old log book describes the presence of Tigers, Panthers and several other celebrity wildlife which were easily sighted. The other day Chilapata Jungle Camp had some guests, one of the elderly ladies was the wife of a retired Conservator Forests, who had stayed here more than thirty years back. She described that the bungalow was surrounded by forests and had a water body in front, which attracted wild animals throughout the day. Several retired and present forest officials called Buada on his mobile and conveyed their message on the demise of his father Shibjee.

Ganesh Sah, Buada as he is popularly called in the area was brought up in the forest among the timber extraction business. His skills, intelligence and upbringing soon made him a Man Friday to the illegal timber trade lobby. He gradually became a threat to the local Forest Department. In the mid and late 1990s, a community based tourism movement was started by Help Tourism with the West Bengal Forest Department in North Bengal, both Hills & Dooars, a process to achieve protection of forest resources through tourism. The then Minister for Forests, Mr.Jogesh Burman himself, a strong believer of this movement aggressively used the tool for the forest fringe villagers. Buada, became a part of this movement with enthusiasm from the Minister and DFO.
He took a loan from the local bank and started with a tourism infrastructure in the fringe of the forests, behind the Chilapata Forest Bungalow in the name of Shibjee Green India Tourist Cottage. This became a project in isolation and there was hardly any market linkage. Buada was disturbed with the increasing bank interest and approached the Minister again, who suggested him to contact Help Tourism. In the meanwhile Help Tourism was already supporting a wildlife researcher, Subhodeep from Alipurduar on forgs & toads. He along with guidance and support of Zoological Survey of India scientist, Kaushik Deuti encountered upon a new species of frog at Chilapata.

Hence, Help Tourism took up the responsibility to be involved with Chilapata Sanctuary, the green corridor between Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary and Buxa Tiger Reserve. With the help of Wildlife III of West Bengal Forest Department, 29 local youths from different communities were trained as ‘ecoguides’. A yearly ecotourism festival was started with fixed date celebration from 15th to 17th September. Buada was given the support to complete the infrastructure, local people were trained to provide services and bank debts were cleared through a partnership, keeping the ownership of Buada intact. Branding of the infrastructure was brought intune as ‘Chilapata Jungle Camp’. Conservation networking with adjoining Bhutan and Manas Biosphere Reserve has been started.
The Chilapata Initiative is being taken forward to be the core between Assam-Bengal and Bhutan-Bengal Conservation Tourism relations. The rewind of the imperialistic deeds are not possible, but to bring back community ownership and responsibility for their natural resources is of course the goal, which in turn will help to slow the ‘Climate Change phenomenon’.
- Raj Basu, Help Tourism