Overview
Area of the Program :
The Great Himalayan National Park, undoubtedly the most pristine mountain landscape in the Western Himalayas… and perhaps the planet. From the Andes to Nepal and Tibet, to the mountains of Eastern Europe and Western China - the pressures of a growing human population have left the landscape – even so-called “national parks’ - overgrazed, denuded of timber, devoid of wildlife and covered with signs of animals and their shepherds. Ironically, here in India, home to over a billion people, it is still possible to find vast virgin forests and endless fields of wildflowers and ranges of un-named, unclimbed summits. Blue sheep, Himalayan Thar, even bear and snow leopard abound.
Participating Organizations :
We will be doing this program with the Kullu project ( www.kulluproject.org) and BTCA (Biodiversity Tourism and Community Advancement) operating under its guidance and expertise. This program continues developing a paradigm wherein local villagers actually benefit from having their ancestral lands turned into a wilderness preserve and use the remaining landholdings for generating high value organic herbs and vegetables. A part of the adventurous journey is to expose local youths in eco-tourism and trekking so that more resources become available to them than ever in the past while wild nature is preserved for posterity. A plan of simple elegance and sweeping implications!
Prime Objectives:
- Volunteering on projects spreading environmental education particularly the importance of organic farming and growing high value crops.
- An adventure week spread entitled the Forest Learning Program entailing climbing a 4500 meter peak in the core zone of the Great Himalayan National Park ( with qualified mountaineering instructors), learning life skills through activities like jungle cooking, rappelling, rock climbing, camping, star gazing, river crossing, wildlife and bird watching exercises, nigh trekking, rafting etc. Improvised shelter making, fire making, map reading, navigating with compass, signaling are only some of the cool techniques you will master. These life skills make the participants make friends with the outdoors.
- Learning about the unique culture of the Kullu Valley ( Seraj Region) with the help of Shamans of the Himalayas etc. and unique example of self help groups of the people of the buffer zone of the Great Himalayan National Park .
Safety :
We have been operating in the Great Himalayan National Park and have done over 100 school groups. Our detailed eye for locations, adventure equipment, activity sites, locations, fire, first aid and standby vehicles have meant that the holiday for kids go hassle free and totally safe. Our instructors have been trained in first aid and are qualified mountaineering instructors from the Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Manali ! Moreover we ensure a great student to instructor ratio ( 5:1 ) so that every participant remains under the watchful eyes of the instructors while doing all activities.
Day Wise Schedule
Day 00 : Arrival Kullu and transfer to base camp at Sai Ropa.
Day 01: Orientation & Activity Day :
Day 02 – Day 05: 3 Nights and 4 Days
Day 06: Trek from Rolla ( 2100 meters) to Shilt Meadow (3300m):
Day 07: Trek from Shilt to Rakhundi Top ( 4500 meters) and back to Shilt :
Day 08: Shilt to Rolla and to Park gate :
Day 09: Park Gate to SaiRopa base Camp:
Day 10: SaiRopa Base camp:
Day 11: Morning drive to Chandigrah and catch flight back home.
Detailed Itinerary
Day 00 :
Arrival From Banglore by Flight in morning to Chandigarh Airport . Start drive from Chandigarh Airport to Kullu Valley . Journey time 7 hours . The journey will be done by air conditioned tempo traveler having individual seat belts for safety. Our drivers are well versed with the Himalayan road conditions and have an impeccable safety record. o/n Arrival Kullu and transfer to base camp at Sai Ropa.
Day 01: Orientation & Activity Day :
Morning : Pre-breakfast in-campus activity of doing the Biodiversity trail in the campus. Bio-diversity Walk: An in-camp activity, in which participants will document, with the help of local interpreters & biodiversity expert staff, the plant diversity in and around camp site as well as the commercial and medicinal uses of prominent trees and plants.
Breakfast and Freshen up
Morning Session :
Orientation Session in the community hall : Explanation about the area and the activities through slide show / documentary . Do’s and Donts. Question and Answer Session.
Village – Waterfall Nature Walk : Walk to the Waterfall doing bird watching and learning about the beautiful ecosystem. Flying Fox adventure over the Tirthan River .
Lunch
Post Lunch Session : Introduction to life skills of river crossing and trout fishing with the help of expert instructors. The Tirthan valley is famous for the Himalayan Brown and the rainbow trout indicating its pristine ecosystem. Participants will be told about the river ecosystem and will master the art of spinner fishing with shared fishing rods.
Evening :
Introduction to the various initiatives of social entrepreneurship, biodiversity conservation and community advancement in the area . Discussion about the Gold Residental Project and its importance .
Day 02 – Day 05: 3 Nights and 4 Days
Building an organic farm demonstration site for high value crops:
Transfer to Base Activity Camp : Our work in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation area would be four days long and the work will consist of the landscaping of an Organic farm in the area which will act as a demonstration site for growing high value herb. This new initiative to create a Model Farm would be done with the help of scientists belonging to GB Panth Institute of Environment . BTCA had struck a deal with a local family in the area to use their land to build an Organic Farm in the area, a farm that would serve as a model for other farms like it in the future and hence provide the basis for organic farming and seed generation.
The Farm has 4 main dimensions:
- Income generation through the cultivation of non-native herbs
- Serving as a model and a tourist attraction to educate both locals and outsiders about the methods and benefits of organic farming.
- A Seed Bank
- An experiment to test the marketing and demand in the markets of Kullu and Manali for Organically grown non-native herbs and other products.
Landscaping is needed and our work will be centered on the landscaping of the remainder of the farm that had not yet been used for cultivation. Intense manual labor for 4 days to try and build steps, a vermi-composting station and a path that ran through the farm, which could be used by visitors. In total an area of One Bigha has to be built. Among the tools that will be used are spades, picks and Kiltas (baskets used to carry stones or weeded grass). Moving rocks, building stonewalls; carrying baskets of grass and stones u and down, the farm was labor-intensive.
We would be staying with local families in homestay styled accommodation during this phase of the program.
Day 05: Adventurous Journey : Forest learning Program & Climbing a trekking peak called Rakhundi Top
This leg of the program will introduce you to the core zone of the Great Himalayan National Park . We will be undertaking an adventurous journey to one of the mid altitude trekking peaks in the National Park .
Our adventurous journey will inspire the participants to attain the inner elusive peak within themselves . But it also requires exhaustive planning, specialised equipment, expertise and experience which will all be shared by the experts with the participants . Bonhomie, camaraderie, esprit de corps and team spirit is developed through this journey into the core of the World Heritage Site.
From Base Camp we will drive to Goshaini where the participants would be introduced to the trekking team. From Goshaini its an easy walk to Rolla Camp in the core zone of the Great Himalayan National Park taking about five hours from an altitude of 1500 meters to 2100 meters in 11 Km . Evening would be spent learning about camping and rock climbing. Overnight in twin sharing dome tents.
Day 06: Trek from Rolla ( 2100 meters) to Shilt Meadow (3300m):
Strenuous climb through oak and conifer forests. Possible sightings of Himalayan Tahr or Black Bear. Shilt meadow is very good place for bird watching. This forest is home to the endangered king of the birds “the Western Tragopan” (In the villages close to GHNP, the local name of Western Tragopan is Jujurana . Juju means bird and rana means king, i.e. the king of the birds). There is a local legend that the “Lord” created this pheasant and all the birds in the universe donated a feather each to give it color and unparalleled beauty. The male is one of the world's most spectacular birds: black on the head, a deep crimson on face and mantle and orange on breast, the black belly and dark wings are spangled with star-like white specks. Though rare, with luck we might see them! Distance: 7 kms. Overnigh Base Camp at Shilt meadow.
Day 07: Trek from Shilt to Rakhundi Top ( 4500 meters) and back to Shilt :
Today is the big day when we go in for our peak climbing along with our instructors. An early start would lead to an inexplicable view at the top which is breathtaking, with so many peaks around that they seemed to be completely filling the valley. As we offer prayers at the temple atop, the participants can get busy in identifying rare alpine herbs found only above a certain altitude. o/n Camp Shilt Time taken 12 hours
Day 08: Shilt to Rolla and to Park gate :
A four hour long walk along a narrow trail passing through the entry gate of Great Himalayan National Park takes you to a lonely hut on the right bank of Tirthan at Rolla(2100m).From here we would trek for another hour to camp at the gate. Sing Pahari songs and enjoy your meals with bonfire. Tirthan is your music for the evening and lullaby for the night. Overnight Camp at Park Gate .
Day 09: Park Gate to SaiRopa base Camp:
Here we meet our vehicles which will transfer us to our base camp at Sai Ropa where we will rest and have much needed bath . After having hot lunch and hot showers we would share our experiences and there will be a slide show presentation of the entire program o/n SaiRopa Forest Center
Day 10: SaiRopa Base camp:
After breakfast we will leave for visiting the mighty Jalori Pass .This will be followed by Rafting in the white waters of the mighty Beas in the Kullu valley from where we could do some small shopping. In the evening we drive towards Chandigarh to stay at Hotel in Bilaspur.
Day 11: Morning drive to Chandigrah and catch flight back home.
