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.

                          

Date: 10thDecember, 2011,        Venue: Chamakdangi Forest Village (20 kms From Siliguri), off Sevoke Road

NCT or Noam, Chel and Teesta represents an area, which is the natural and cultural diversity between the hills and the plains in North Bengal, with areas which were important trade transit centres of the historical to recent past. The Haats or weekly markets then played an important role and the routes connecting them were important. Two such Haats which were famous are Matigara and Oodlabari, which were further connected to the legendary Silk route terminating or starting at Kalimpong. The route from Matigara or even the Darjeeling hills went through the Sukna-Sevoke forests, presently Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and stood at this village of Chamakdangi, west bank of Teesta. From here all travellers had to cross by boat, elephants etc, depending on the water depth and status of travellers. Chamakdangi then was a mixed village of several different communities, was helped to settle here by the King of Jalpaiguri. Crossing to the Eastern bank we then meet an area, which has been formed by the meeting of several rivers to Teesta River, called Gajoldoba, surrounded by the Royal Baikanthapur Forests. These rivers like Leesh, Gheesh, Chel come from the mountains, separating the villages on the high ridges known as Bagrakot, Chuikhim. Yelbong, Barbot, Manabari etc with Oodlabari at the centre.  Hence, as natural corridor these non notified Forest areas connects Neora Valley National Park with Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary.

There are several such biological corridors all over Asia, some of them active and some lost with time and several on the verge of extinction. Responsible Tourism Initiatives have in the recent years helped to maintain such corridors with the help of the local residential communities of the area by giving them meaningful livelihood, bringing them out of isolation and confirming more commitment from the local communities in conservation. There is a trend of supporting such initiatives through new forms of travel programs like voluntourism, CSR programs, participatory tourism etc. This trend is being very heavily reflected in travel guides, travel columns, travel magazines, travel programs in televisions and most media being used for travel promotion. Hence, this travel writers’ meet, where veteran International travel writers like Stefan Loose and local like Gouri Shankar Bhattacharya are expected to attend and share their experiences. This meet in the wilderness setting of North Bengal will certainly help to make travel writing and documentation more rooted to the cause of local empowerment. This meet is being dedicated to all who have completed 50 years of travel writing.

Registration details

                          

‘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.

                          

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:

                          

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.