About Me
I have traveled far and wide to such places like entire Ladakh to Eagles\' Nest National Park, Arunachal Pradesh. From Silent Valley to Nanda Devi National Park. Trekking, rafting, wildlife and discovering new destinations. Recently with the blessings on UN, we have begun a project of cleaning Ladakh\'s trek routes that are best in the world. For this, WE NEED YOU.
9A, Bowali Mondal Road, Kolkata 700026
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Partha De sarkar Male, Age Range: 55 +, Kolkata, India |
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Guwahati, Assam Partha De sarkar, Kolkata, Posted Date: 21st October 2009 At a distance, the Himalayas stood in dusk like a giant the reclining Buddha. Birds returning..... At a distance, the Himalayas stood in dusk like a giant the reclining Buddha. Birds returning home in trees were making noise in otherwise silent jungles of the Manas National Park. Women at Maozzigendri village were busy preparing food for men folk who either had returned from rice field or yet to return with guests who were still out in the National Park viewing wildlife and prolific birdlife. That was the Manas National Park that evening of November 2009. The eastern states of India were getting dark fast. Along with Marcus Buer, I had reached that evening to Manas Jungle Camp at the fringe of the core area of the protected rainforest. We had reached late for making a trip into the National Park. Once, the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary was a premier wildlife habitat with more than 100 species of mammals and 42 species of reptiles. Birdlife was prolific. And the poachers were the villagers as agriculture did not really give much to the Bodos who are inhabitants of the Manas region. The Maozzigendri Jungle Camp is a group of bamboo-cane huts, comfortable, clean but with running water and modern toilets but rustic. We were sipping tea sitting in front of our room when Gogol (name changed) Bodo joined us. He is a forest guard. His story is typical of Bodo youth of the region. Gogol grew in an impoverished agriculturist family. When he was a youngster in early teens, he learnt to make his own guns and bullets. He also learnt that a tiger skin or a rhino horn fetched much more money to the family than toiling in fields. He became a poacher. Life of a poacher was difficult. Forest guards hunted Gogol as he hunted rhino or tiger or deer. Yet he was bringing in cash to family. One day a wild bore attack left him with one hand. His poaching days were over practically. Then it was ‘Bodo Homeland’ agitation that turned into militancy. Many like Gogol thought the solution to their poverty lay in having an independent homeland out of Indian republic. But Indian government retaliated with state powers and as the struggle continued, Manas with its wilderness became a sanctuary for Bodo militants. They killed animals for food and getting money by selling coats of tigers and leopard and rhino horns besides many other articles. Tourists stopped coming to Manas and the spectacular wildlife sanctuary was on the verge of destruction when Bodos sat with Indian government and achieved autonomous status within India. Peace returned to the region. People resumed normal life but Manas rotted while UNESCO listed it as “Heritage Site in danger”. Eco-lovers and NGOs believed that the Manas can be given back the lost glory and the tag “in danger” could be removed. Along with the authorities, poachers like Gogol were turned into protectors by appointing them forest guards. One organization came up with a novel idea of creating a jungle camp for the tourists to come and stay but the camp would be run by the local Bodos with hospitality training imparted by specialists of that tourism outfit. Women to cook, clean and even baby sit when parents go out for animal safaris. Once implemented, income of Bodos around increased. Being once poachers now turned guards, security for the animals to roam free increased. The Manas National Park was looking up. So, social tourism started at Manas. Gogol got up and offered to take us around the village. Along with the authorities, poachers like Gogol were turned into protectors by appointing them forest guards. One organization came up with a novel idea of creating a jungle camp for the tourists to come and stay but the camp would be run by the local Bodos with hospitality training imparted by specialists of that tourism outfit. Women to cook, clean and even baby sit when parents go out for animal safaris. Once implemented, income of Bodos around increased. Being once poachers now turned guards, security for the animals to roam free increased. The Manas National Park was looking up. So, social tourism started at Manas. Gogol got up and offered to take us around the village. We saw the beautiful Bodo girls making clay pots. There were women going about family chores. Boys were tending banana rafts made of the banana plants to take us on rafting aboard these rafts. Before moving in for dinner we saw a dance performance by village belles. Coloufully attired in ethnic dresses called dokhna. I saw a young girl baby sitting for a European couple who had gone on safari. Social tourism at its best is visible today around the Manas National Park. More » |
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Darjeeling, West Bengal Partha De sarkar, Kolkata, Posted Date: 19th October 2009 The beautiful Tinchuley village is 30 km away from Darjeeling. We drove down to Tinchuley in two..... The beautiful Tinchuley village is 30 km away from Darjeeling. We drove down to Tinchuley in two hours through magnificent mountainous countryside. Location was selected away from the main road to avoid too many flocking and destroying its ambiance. A few families with bigger accommodation were convinced to spare a few rooms and convert these to lodges with expertise from Help Tourism once permission from WBFDC was obtained. We were at Bara Mangwa in the Teesta Valley of Darjeeling Hills. It is a village where only profession was agriculture even a couple of years back. Bara Mangwa was used for rafting on the Teesta only. Local school buildings were used for putting up people coming for day time rafting. But it had future as a home-stay tourist destination as the village had prospect for creating rock climbing facilities, caving in near by caves and bird watching. Nature is bountiful here. Hills are covered with green pine and oak trees. The gurgling Teesta runs through a narrow gorge. Rainfall in upper reaches creates waterfalls when it rains. When we neared Bara Mangwa, we saw three such rainfalls coming down the slopes. More » |
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Kalimpong, West Bengal Partha De sarkar, Kolkata, Posted Date: 20th July 2009 As the sun went down over the mountains, electric lights of Lava and Rishyap were shining like..... As the sun went down over the mountains, electric lights of Lava and Rishyap were shining like twinkling stars on mountains far away. The Jungle Camp of Kolakham in the Neora Valley at the fringe of the National Park plunged into darkness without having electricity. We were happy that the beauty of the splendid, still unexplored and densely forested wore a virgin look in kerosene lamps and campfire light. We had sought out the place exactly for this reason to be away from crowd, noise, smog and pollution. We were in North Bengal, close to Darjeeling and Kalimpong, two hill stations of renown yet as if thousands of miles from both. Our Mahindra Scorpio ran along a road that is no road but stones and ditches. Jayanta is driving in these areas long enough to negotiate bends, small rivulets and highs and lows easily. There were dense forests of oaks and rhododendrons, bamboos and sal. There were shrubs with wild flowers and tall grass and wild orchids and lichens hanging from trees. Fern and moss added to the mystery of the yet to be explored jungle. We had parked the Scorpio near a hair-pin bend to take in the magnificent panoramic views when we could see some movements above us in jungle. Jayanta signaled us to be silent and whispered that a Himalayan black bear was around. We waited it to show itself but almost 20 but it did not show up. From a distance we could see the Neora Valley Jungle Camp where we would be staying for a week. The Neora Valley seemed to us a perfect place for meditation, introspection and recharging of our bodies’ batteries. We took a sharp curve and were at the gate of the Jungle Camp. I woke up and it was still dark. The kerosene lamp was switched off before I slept. I drew the curtains. The sun was somewhere in the horizon yet a silhouette of the third highest mountain could be seen, orange and distant. I picked up my binocular and Mt. Kanchenjunga came into my focus. I went outside. It was cold and lonely. Down below oak forest looked ghostly. We ate mixed vegetable, dal, chicken with roti and rice. Guests from abroad are also served same food and they relish it. I asked Kaushik and Bhaskar who were looking after the Camp that if Rais were vegetarians how they cooked chicken. They explained that Rais were convinced that for the survival of the camp depended upon tourists coming to Neora Vally and if they were not given food of their choice they might not stay long at the Jungle Camp making it unviable. More » |
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Ladakh (Leh), Jammu & Kashmir Partha De sarkar, Kolkata, Posted Date: 19th July 2009 Ladakh, a destination that is awesome in beauty, rugged, snow desert with moonscapes. I had been..... Ladakh, a destination that is awesome in beauty, rugged, snow desert with moonscapes. I had been first at Ladakh in 1966 as a young pilot officer and last in February this year to have an associate to handle my tourists. First time Ladakh was a forbidden land except for armed forces personnel and civil govt. officials. This time it was a paradise for the tourists. Nubra Valley, Khardungla Pass, Pangong - Tsomorir - Tso Kar lakes, Monasteries, Lama dance in its real form which is fast disappearing, Taksen Monastery, Diskit etc are common tourist spots. Go and lose yourself in vast land where The Great Himalayas, Karakoram and Zanskar Range meet. Rfating down the Phy (Zanskar River) or down the Nimu (Indus) is unforgettable experience. More » |
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