Silver Award Expedition to India

DOHA COLLEGE

HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION

Introduction

The Indian Experience is an organization that caters to the requirement of the International traveller who wish to explore what the country has to offer. Its focus is the international client as opposed to domestic clientele and differentiates itself by catering to the needs and requirements of this specific market segment, foremost amongst which is safety.

Kiran and Deepak Kapur have successfully organized several in bound theme groups. The themes include history, culture, adventure, shopping and sightseeing. In 2005, the Group brought out students from both the Doha College and the American School, for a week of adventure in India.

The Indian Experience has collaborated with Snow Leopard Adventure and Hashmat Singh who specialize in adventure tourism. Snow Leopard Adventures specialises in adventure trips for schools. Over 12,000 students have benefited from their programmes. Snow Leopard Adventure operates a permanent camp on the bank of the Ganges which we shall use as a base camp for the launch of the expedition. The Expedition Leader is Hashmat Singh, an accomplished mountaineer with vast experience that is vital to the success of an expedition of this nature. Hashmat has lead trips for several clients in the entire Indian subcontinent including India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.

Trekking in the Himalaya

The Himalaya offers several scenic opportunities to launch expeditions. Several options that suit all levels of proficiency, a multitude of activities and timings are available. The Himalaya takes one away from the madding crowds to the white and silent core of Ladakh; Himachal; Garhwal and Kumaon; Bhutan; Sikkim and Darjeeling; and Nepal that form the five principal trekking regions. One can choose between jungle riddled, summit strewn, flower rich and colour mad passages of thrill and adventure.

For treks in the months of February / March we ordinarily limit ourselves to hiking in the lower Himalaya as the higher reaches are still snowed in. In any event hiking in the upper reaches requires more than a week to allow for transit and altitude conditioning.

On a recent Himalayan trek

Experience with Schools.

The Indian Experience has organized expedition for Doha College since 2005.

Snow Leopard Adventures specialises in adventure trips for schools. The trips are a combination of safe adventure, loads of fun and educational activities. The British and American Schools in New Delhi regularly use the SLA programs. Over the years an excess of 12,000 students have participated in the school programmes.

Aside leading Indian Schools, Hashmat has organized and regularly lead similar expeditions for international schools that include The Jakarta International School and the Charterhouse School from the UK.

Below details are given of the 2006 Doha College expedition. Each year the details of the expedition will vary however the aims remain the same. In 2007 more emphasis was placed on the trekking element. This will continue in the 2008 expedition. More details about the forthcoming trip will be made available at a later stage.

Upon arrival in New Delhi we transferred to a near by hotel to freshen up and have a quick breakfast. Post breakfast we departed for a half-day sightseeing tour of New Delhi and then proceeded to the New Delhi Railway station to take the 1530 hrs train to Haridwar.

We arrived at 1930 in Haridwar and transferred to Snow Leopard Adventures Camp, Shivpuri.

Set in the foot-hills of the Himalaya 250 km north east of New Delhi and on the banks of the R. Ganges amidst a thick forest, Leopard Beach Tented Camp is located 16 km from the temple town of Rishikesh near the historic confluence of Deoprayag in Uttaranchal Pradesh. Deoprayag is the confluence of the Alaknanda and the Bhagirithi rivers, the two main tributaries of the Ganges.

The camp is known for its excellent cuisine, efficient staff, hygiene and an impeccable safety record. Accommodation at the camp is in comfortable safari tents on a pristine beach by the Ganges

The evening activity will involve a briefing session by the camp manager, introductions to the expedition and the team.

We ran our Ganga River Rafting programmes from the Leopard Beach Camp. The water levels are low in February / March allowing for good rapids. We provided a comprehensive logistic support for the short river running expedition from the Camp to Shivpuri. Our river gear includes modern self bailing rafts fully equipped with safety gear.

Our rafting trip down the river will took between 3 to 4 hours. It involved Grade 3 rapids such as 'Black Money', 'Three Blind Mice', 'Crossfire', plenty of thrills and spills for the novice and the experienced. The rafting expedition concludes at our camp at Shivpuri.

Lunch was taken and we boarded our coaches to drive to Bhagwan where we will set up camp that will serve as a base for the next three days activities.

The day’s activity comprised a full days trek with a picnic lunch. We drove for two hours to the starting point of trek at Hakulikhal. We trekked the whole day to Srinagar. This is a beautiful trail offering fantastic view of the Himalayas almost through the entire trek. At the conclusion of the trek we drove back to our base camp at Bhagwan

Day 4: Monday, March 27, 2006:

Stage 1 Alaknanda River Rafting Expedition Rafting – Kaliasaur to Bhagwan Section

We left camp after breakfast and drove for an hour to the small hamlet of Kaliasour. We stoped briefly to look at the Kali Temple and the life of the villagers at Kaliasour. The locals are a friendly lot and are very keen to entertain visitors.

Trek down to the river and we started the Alaknanda River Rafting Expedition. A few kilometres downstream the valley widens and the river eases in intensity once we were past the relatively big town of Srinagar. The town is famous in the area for its university. The entire rafting is through areas rich in avi-fauna and wildlife.

Day 5: Tuesday, March 28, 2006:

Stage 2 River Rafting Expedition Bhagwan – Devprayag Section

The river enters a breathtakingly beautiful gorge and picks up in intensity. After crossing a small suspension footbridge over the river, we stopped to inspect ‘Moutup’s Hatrick’ a series of three exciting rapids named after a rafter who fell off the raft in all three rapids. Another hour of rafting through the gorge and we stopped at the holy town of Devprayag, which is at the confluence of two sacred rivers, the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda. Both the rivers merge here to form the Holy Ganges.

The people gathered along the roadside to watch as we headed into the white water, just above the confluence. One can wander around this pleasant town and its temples. After a short stop we rafted down to an isolated beach for lunch and then proceeded further for a few kilometres to set up camp for the night on an isolated beach on the River Ganga.

Rafting began after breakfast. The river now widens out and is relatively calm for the remaining stretch. We beached our rafts on a secluded beach by the river near Mahadevchatti for lunch. Post lunch we trekked to Chandpur village. The trek became challenging as we gained height to reach the village. After visiting the village we trekked back to Mahadevchatti to board the waiting coach, for camp.

Day 7: Thursday, March 30, 2006:

Activity of the Day: Rafting, Depart for Delhi

Early morning wake up call followed by breakfast. Post breakfast we went for an exciting session of rafting. On this stretch we rafted through some of the best rapids on the Ganges River - Return to Sender, Roller Coaster and Golf Course and conclude rafting at NIM beach.

Drove back to camp for lunch and then we departed for Haridwar to board the Dehradun Shatabdi departing from Haridwar at 1810 hrs. Arrive in Delhi at 2245 hrs. Met on arrival by a Snow Leopard representative, transfered to a hotel for a midnight snack and then onward to the International Airport to board the flight for Doha.

a) An Expedition Leader who led and managed the expedition. The Expedition Leader joined the group in New Delhi on Day 1and stayed till it departed.

b) One trained hiking Paramedic with a comprehensive medical kit will joined the group in Rishikesh.

c) All meals on the trip starting from breakfast on day 1 to dinner on day 7 (Soft drinks excluded).

c) On trek we provided all camping facilities including trekking tents, dining tents, toilet tents and kitchen tent, mattresses for sleeping, all staff to cook and pitch tents and all food. Everyone was required to get their own sleeping bags.

d) Porterage of camping equipment and up to 10 kilos personal gear per student.

e) Rafting equipment including boats, safety helmets, life jackets and well trained guides.

d) Travel insurance including baggage insurance, medical evacuation and air evacuation in case of emergency.

e) Any en-route or personal expenses such as beverages (Soft drink, Mineral water), telephone calls, tips & gratuities, laundry etc

g) Contingency expenses due to alteration/ extension of the above itinerary due to riots/ landslide and/ or any other reason beyond our control.

h) Video camera/ camera charges at the monuments or any other item not specified above