ON THE ‘TOURIST DRAIN’ TREK

(1995)

      Nepal had followed a ‘closed door’ policy for trekking and climbing in the kingdom for several decades. No foreigners (and very few Indians) were allowed to visit the Nepal Himalaya. When they opened the range for trekkers it was done with some wisdom, or at least so it seems to someone like me who had trekked mostly in the Indian Himalaya. First of all there was an effort to develop the infrastructure, prepare and distribute information about trekking routes to welcome all the tourists with open arms. This was done by developing a few selected treks, what came to be known as, ‘Tourist Drains.’ Every facility and information was developed for those few selected treks, the rest of the treks were open to enterprising visitors only. This allowed a stricter control over the chosen treks and preservation of a majority of other areas. It brought in trekkers (and dollars) but preserved the environment. The trails to the Everest Base Camp, Gosainkund, Muktinath and Annapurna Circuit were amongst the few that were developed. On these trails locals were encouraged to build lodges for trekkers to stay in, kerosene depots were established to supply fuel, maps and information made available and local population was trained to help the trekkers at a profit. Of course like many things in this part of the world everything did not progress as intended but the main objective was mostly implemented.

    Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, has developed as a major tourist centre. It is also a popular place to hold business conferences. I found myself invited to Kathmandu for one such conference.1 At the end of it I had about a week to spare and decided to trek to the Annapurna Base Camp. These ‘tourist drains’ were specifically designed to offer a lot to a trekker in a hurry like me. I had to carry only a sleeping bag and personal clothing. Food, porters, lodges, and all other requirements were available on the trail. So after the conference was over I picked up a map and was on my way flying to Pokhara.

    The last time I had visited Pokhara had been way back in 1965. At that time we had walked from the Indian border to Muktinath and returned to Pokhara. Except for one restaurant at the airport no readymade food was available in the town and we as young students stayed with a ‘local’—the beginning of the ‘lodge culture’. Now Pokhara had choices of several hotels to suit all pockets and the ambience offered to the tourists was of a high order. The ‘resort’ where I stayed organised Nepali hill dances and songs every night and after the show performers promptly sold cassettes, both audio and video, of similar cultural fair.

    I began my holiday by spending an evening in Pokhara with J.O.M. Roberts who was a legend in his life-time. He had lived in Nepal for many decades. One of the first trekking agencies, ‘Mountain Travel’ was started by him and many have given him credit for developing Nepal as a trekker’s paradise. Jimmy, as he liked to be called, was a soldier in the British army and was posted to India. During his years in the army he explored many parts of the Himalaya. I had corresponded regularly with him and found myself following his journeys and climbs to many unknown valleys. He was the first foreigner to visit Spiti, in 1939. He had visited many areas. He had been to Saser Kangri in Ladakh, he had climbed in the Kullu valleys. The first ascent of Chau Chau Kang Nilda in the Spiti was by him. He was the transport officer on the successful British Everest Expedition in 1953.

    I was particularly fascinated by his small week-end climbs, in the thirties, in the Dhauladhar range. Whilst posted at Dalhousie, Jimmy and friends would finish the Friday evening parade and drive to Dharamsala, MacLeodgunj. By nightfall the party would be up at Triund. The next two days would be spent climbing in the Dhauladhar range and return was ensured by late Sunday night to the waiting car. A drive, a shave and a quick change into uniforms and they would report for the Monday morning parade! I worked upon their same idea to visit the range for week-long outings, by travelling by trains from Bombay.2

    After retirement Jimmy shifted in Pokhara to live on a pheasant farm. When I met him, he looked frail but was alert in mind and spirit. On his table was a map, an altimeter and a compass kept handy. He showed me the Annapurna range from his gallery and talked of several of his exploits.

    ‘I have two requests to make,’ I told him. ‘Why don’t you write an article or a book recalling your experiences and meeting with so many persons.’

    Jimmy smiled and almost dismissed the suggestion.

    ‘What is the other request?’

    ‘Will you please write a Foreword to my next book on Spiti?’

    He readily agreed to that, to my good fortune.

Having been connected with the development of mountaineering and mountain tourism in Nepal from its inception, I have developed a theory of ‘tourist drains’. According to this theory (classification yet to be proposed) a main route or track through a beautiful country is not necessarily a bad thing as it draws off most of the visitors onto a single route, leaving the country left and right of it more or less unspoilt. A good example is the ‘drain’ of the ‘Round Annapurna’ trek. (We run into difficulties however, when the main track runs into a mountain side, like the Annapurna Sanctuary, and the trekkers tend to spill out into the surrounding country).3

    I was lucky to have spent a few hours with him in his domain. Jimmy died on 1 November 1997 in Pokhara and his ashes were scattered on the banks of the Seti river. I wished he had accepted my first suggestion also, for a lot has been lost with him.

    On 27 August 1995 I started from Pokhara (915 m) for short trek on the Annapurna trail. I was alone but met several trekkers on the way and there was always company. I drove in a taxi to New Bridge (1200 m)4 which is on the highway. There were no defined stages to be followed for there were lodges everywhere en route. ‘Tea House Trekking’ was fun. One can walk a little, halt for tea and snacks wherever one likes. Anytime during the day, at any place one can eat lunch, relax or stay for the night. There were plenty of lodges to choose from each offering almost standard fare and rates. That day I walked till Savani Bazar (1235 m; 6 km) past Lamakhet.

    The next day the track climbed a little. Leaving the bifurcation to Ghandruk I traversed on a new trail to the right of the river. The trail went past a thick forest. That evening, having walked for only five hours I decided to stay at Himal Kyu (1550 m; 12 km). On the following day I was at Chhomrong, the central place on the trail (2200 m; 7 km).

    I observed the various facilities these lodges offered. The ‘Chhomrong Guest House’, where I stayed, had a solar-heating system. On arrival I was able to take a hot shower. This was followed by a cold beer with pizza. The rooms had glass panels and I could see the Annapurna range whilst lying in bed. Solar heating is provided inside the rooms too and service boys are always on call to take an order from the large menu. The prices for lodges and food rise as one goes further into the valley. Voluntary agencies had trained villagers in providing services, running lodges and preparing western dishes. Some trekkers do miss interaction with the ethnic Nepali culture, cuisine and customs, but this has brought in dollars and that’s what the tourist drains were all about.

    By evening the trekkers staying in the lodges generally get together in the dining-hall in groups. Many solitary trekkers like me can join in the fun and the atmosphere is cordial. I played games with a German group, discussed politics with the British and by the time I was through, the evening had been an enriching and memorable one. Meeting locals and interacting with other tourists has its own charm and advantage.

    I recalled my trek to Muktinath, exactly 30 years before.5 That time as young students we had trekked on these trails. Little did we know then about the changes that were to follow. Many are heard complaining about the loss of culture and commercialisation of the treks. But I for one found these enjoyable and trails clean. Of course like all activities price has to be paid. What we spent in 1965 for a 45-days trek was the cost of my 4-day trek now in 1995. I was in the area for a few days only to comment on other ‘price’ paid by the people, if any.

    On the last night I stayed at a lodge near the road. Talking to the owner I understood the economics of the trade. His young son, well-educated in Nepal, was inquiring about computer education in India, about different avenues and openings in the employment sector. It seemed that the locals were gaining far more than simple economic benefits. If opportunities such as these allow locals to live in their villages and have gainful employment then the trekking culture has served its purpose for both guests and hosts. That may be the last word on the development of trekking in this part of the world.

Notes & References

1. This was a conference organised by the cloth manufacturers I deal with. This resulted in an article in Himal, published from Kathmandu, titled, ‘A Cloth Merchant Who Knows His Ropes’. See Himal, February, 1997
2. These forays are described in ‘Weeks in Dhauladhar’, in my book High Himalaya Unknown Valleys.
3. From the Foreword to Spiti: Adventures in the Trans-Himalaya.
4. It was called ‘New Bridge’ when it was built on this highway. Though now it is several years old, the name remains the same.
5. See article ‘Muktinath’ in the present book.

 

 

MUKTINATH

(1965)

      Generally Muktinath is visited from Pokhara. But Zafar,    Vinod, Amit and I decided to trek from the southern border of Nepal, northwards. From the Terai to the Himalaya was our aim.

19 March 1965: In the afternoon we were at Varanasi, the first stop on our 45-day outing. We took a train to Nautanwa (via Gorakhpur), a border town in Bihar. It took a comparatively shorter journey of two hours. We hired rickshaws to Sunauli   (8 km), on the India-Nepal border. As it was Saturday, a public holiday in Nepal, the customs officials were conspicuous by their absence.

After the usual formalities were done with, we travelled by bus to Butwal (28 km). The roads were totally unworthy of even a rickety old bus, but our Sardarji driver was not in the least perturbed by the fact. He drove merrily on. The ride was enjoyable for Vinod and myself, for we were compelled to sit on the roof of the vehicle. It was impossible to sit inside it. From our unstable perch we saw our first sunset in Nepal. The ride lasted nearly two hours though the distance was short. It was already dark in Butwal when we reached and we took shelter in a small primary school. We lost no time in going to the firm of M/s Sherchand Bros., about 2 km across the river. We met the manager, Rudrabilasji, and asked him to help us find the porters. He promised to do so the next day. We returned to the school.

21 March: We went to Rudrabilasji early in the morning. After some time his assistant called two young men who, he claimed, were going to work for us. The porters demanded exorbitant rates (NRs. 12).1 But Bilasji gently bargained on our behalf. At last the contract was signed for NRs. 10 per day, and they would provide food for themselves. By then it was almost noon and we returned to the school after changing our Indian currency into Nepalese rupees.

Around 4 p.m., we went back to Rudrabilasji to collect some letters of introduction. He had insisted on our carrying them with us. We hardly thought they would be necessary but as we did not have anything else to do we went. These very letters subsequently saved us a lot of harassment from the local chiefs.2

22 March: We set off for Ranibas en route to Muktinath. Our porters Amarbahadur and Virbahadur came well in time. They both carried nearly 35 kg each whereas Zafar and I carried 20 kg each. It was rather heavy but we were determined to carry the load as a measure of economy. Soon, we came across two landslides. After Deoban (7 km), there was a steep and difficult climb. Slowly and steadily we progressed and came to Ranibas (12 km) at noon. We found a camping-site about half a km away.

23 March: The second day’s destination was the well-known village of Tansing (20 km). After a steep climb of 2 km, we came to Murrek village. By then the sky was overcast and in a few minutes it began to rain. We waited for nearly an hour before it stopped. In the course of the day we passed several small villages like Swasni (3 km), Masyam (6 km) and Nayapatti (14 km). We reached Tansing after a final ascent of 350 m. It was a big village where we rented a house for the night, as the winds were strong and threatening.

24 March: We were up early. We paid NRs. 10 as rent and commenced on our walk. Our plan was to go to Birgha (20 km). After an initial climb of a kilometre there was a gradual descent to Ranighat (11 km) through a forest on the bank of a river. We crossed the river and camped on the other side.

25 March: We had to go to Setibeni khola (20 km). The first 5 km had a steep climb of 450 m. On the top of the ridge, was Waiga village, from where we could see Birgha village down in the valley about 3 km away. Our walk to Birgha was easy and from there to Mirmi the path was almost straight (5 km). Thereafter it was a steep descent to Andhi khola, followed by a steeper 2 km long ascent to Mohandanda. We ached all over and decided to halt for the night. Our camp was 5 km short of Setibani.

26 March: In spite of the rain we did not delay our departure for Bachha (18 km). The terrain was rather difficult up to Setibeni and even further up to Behadi (12 km). Again, we stayed 2 km short of our day’s goal, the village of Bachha.

27 March: We thought this would be a holiday of sorts as Falebas was only 8 km away. But we had to struggle for nearly four hours to get there. This was supposed to be the finest place on our route. Not the least! We had obviously been misinformed. Not a drop of water in the vicinity! One had to go 2 km and 150 m downhill into the valley to get drinking water. We did not wait even for two hours tired though we were, and forced our protesting muscles, limbs to move. The nearest source of water was unfortunately not less than 5 km away on the bank of the river Modikhola-Madhubeni. It was almost 5 p.m. when we pitched camp and we were drained as much psychologically as physically.

28 March: Without bothering to make morning tea, we packed to move. We headed for Bagloong (12 km). The route all along ran parallel to the river. At one point we saw a strange sight: there were corpses neither buried nor cremated but kept on the bank of the river and allowed to decay. No wonder the porters were not drinking the river water. A little before Bagloong we met an American Peace Corps Volunteer, Jerry Young.3  At about 1 p.m. we came to Khanneghat. As Bagloong was way off, up on a ridge, the porters advised us to pitch our tents on the bank of the river in the valley. We, too, decided it was better to rest here possibly for the following day as we were really fatigued.

30 March: Refreshed, rested, ready to move. We intended going to Beni (10 km). The route was again along the riverside and soon we were in Beni with our energy and enthusiasm intact. So we decided to proceed further. But before that we had to do some shopping. We went to a person for whom Bilasji had given a letter of introduction. Whilst there, a policeman materialised from heaven knew where and started arguing that we had entered Nepal without the permission of His Majesty’s Govt. We showed him our permits but he was not appeased. He ordered us to go to Bagloong to get a permit from a local officer. We tried to persuade him to change his mind but to no effect. At last Bilasji’s man-on-the-spot came to our rescue. He argued for nearly two hours with the policeman and in the end gave an assurance in writing to the police that we would behave ourselves and stated that we were not dangerous to Nepal. The significance of such ‘introduction letters’ dawned upon us. We left the town and went to Rakhu village (4 km).

31 March: It had rained for almost the entire night and our departure was unavoidably delayed. We had to go to Tatopani (18 km) and there was only one village on the way, Tipling. The route was not frequented. It started raining in the evening and we decided to stay in a house at Tatopani. There was a route to Pokhara from here.4

1 April: The rains held us up till 10 a.m. Although it was only drizzling we did not feel stepping out for we had no raincoats. I was not feeling well; my stomach ached. When the drizzle stopped, we moved but only till Dana (8 km). It was raining in Dana, so we were forced to find a house in town. We had decided not to stop there because the town had a Police Commissioner whom we were wary of. For the second time we went to a person who Bilasji knew. We had given our letter of introduction already. He was happy to meet us. As expected, the Police Commissioner paid a visit. He glanced at our luggage, was satisfied that we were no danger to Nepal and permitted us to go ahead. My stomach was no better in spite of taking medicines.

2 April: My deteriorating condition allowed us to cover only 3 km. I was feeling giddy. We were forced to pitch the tents near a waterfall. At 3 p.m. it poured. Our tents began to leak. We were wet and miserable.

3 April: We were up rather late because it was not possible for us to start before the tents dried anyway. The weather was perfect, the clear sky was blue and the sun was warm. We were able to start off by noon. By the time we reached Ghada it was almost 4 p.m. and we pitched our tents in the compound of a school.

4 April: The sky was bright. We intended to go to Tukuche (15 km). Hardly had we gone a kilometre and we could see snow-covered peaks in front of us—The Dhaulagiri range. We moved on and saw Machhapuchhre. The last 4 km covered a flat terrain strewn with pebbles and stones. We could see the tiny houses of Tukuche far away on the horizon. It was a tiring walk to Tukuche. The town was deserted, the houses locked. The few people present told us that the rest had gone to the plains for the winter. We stayed in a palatial building, well protected from the nocturnal rain.

We were tired of the damp and wet surroundings and so we asked around for horses so that we could reach Muktinath without much trouble. The horses were rather expensive not less than NRs. 120 each. There was no other alternative.

5 April: We got up early for the return journey. The sky was clear and the peaks looked beautiful. A day-long march brought us back to Ghada, in body and mind. The school’s compound was being used for some festive celebrations. We thus had to find a house to spend the night in.

6 April: We went to Tatopani. Dana was on the way. We were in Tatopani by afternoon. We camped by the river.

7 April: We took the bifurcation to Pokhara, turned eastwards and crossed the river. In the distance we could see Ghorepani, our day’s destination (3355 m; 18 km). It was a continuous climb to Ghorepani pass. We reached there late in the afternoon. The place was cool and lovely. We pitched the tents in a dense forest, near a shepherd’s house.

8 April: We headed for Birthate (1070 m; 20 km). The route was downhill and reached a river. For the next 8 km the road went along the river all the way to Birthate. It was quite hot there and we felt it more because we were 2750 m lower than the previous day. We put up for the night on the bank of the river. It was our last night in tents because we were to be in Pokhara the next day.5

We were up at 4.30 a.m. because we wanted to reach Pokhara as soon as possible and avoid the heat. Pokhara was 20 km away at a height of only 760 m. There was a steep climb for nearly 2 km. After that it was a straight road to Pokhara. We could see the great lake of Pokhara from a distance. As expected, the temperatures were high. After walking 10 km we came to Navdanda. We reached Pokhara at 4 p.m. We thought it would be a big town. We were wrong. A few small huts were the only buildings to be seen. No food was available anywhere other than the airport.

11th April: We managed to get a place on the afternoon flight to Kathmandu (155 km, or 45 minutes for NRs. 72). We journeyed by road to Raxaul in Bihar and from there by train to Bombay.

Notes & References

1. As students we found everything expensive. Even though Indian rupee was far stronger against the Nepali rupee then, such rates were worth bargaining for. Of course we just cannot think of such rates in the present days.
2. This was a typical practice in India and Nepal at that time. These introduction letters can almost see you through anything and any situation. It is also customary to obtain money through such letters, if you do not intend to carry too much cash in person.
3. Peace Corps were in full strength in Nepal in these years. The scheme was popular in the USA. Young student volunteers would visit Nepal and participate in rural development. They will spend a year or two getting experience of the rural life while helping the villagers.
4. Pokhara is now connected by motorable road from here. Nearby from here a route bifurcates for the visit to the Annapurna South Base Camp, a popular trek.
5. With five-star hotels, several resorts, many daily flights and scores of hotels Pokhara is a different place today!

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