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Since 1979 people have entrusted their dreams with us. Ibex has been a leader in adventure travel, off-the-beaten-path holidays, wildlife safaris, special interest vacations and deluxe escorted journeys in luxury hotels & camps or quaint lodges. Our endeavour is ensure that our trips benefit the environment and communities. We welcome each one to our Incredible India!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Friday's Feature

~ A Direct initiative of help for the village folk of Dharali beyond Uttarkashi by the team of Ibex Expeditions and its friends ~

 

Over the years, the village of Garhwal has been close to us along with its simple village folk who have been friends of Ibex Expeditions, being hired as porters, cooks, and guides, apart from earning a fair livelihood from their fields and crop.

Today, they no longer have a livelihood, and the danger of losing their homes looms large ahead. The Himalayan Tsunami of June 2013 came unexpectedly in the areas of Uttarakhand, and has so far claimed a flood devastation of over 6000 lives and hundreds of small villages.

Fortunately, there was no loss of life in Dharali as the town residents escaped their homes, taking shelter in caves close to the village.


However, with roads broken and washed away, the 500 village community of Dharali is close to worse times, with food reserves depleted and damage insurmountable. The Dharali village has lost its crop and orchards, as well as the guest houses that brought in an income.

The traumas they have experienced are inconceivable.

In a simple, yet effective, initiative, the Ibex Expeditions team have decided to help this one village restore themselves by supplying what they need most at the moment: food and rations.

As you would know, Dharali is a village that lies 18kms short of Gangotri and the road is broken at at least 3 places between Uttarkashi and Dharali. Our plan is to purchase rations like rice, sugar, flour, tea, pulses that are most required, and hire porters to ferry them to reach them effectively and directly.

We have given the responsibility to our Chief Guide, Khem Singh Panwar, along with the husband of the village Pradhan, Bhagwat Singh, who will travel to Uttarkashi, purchase food items. Along with porters, they will travel 5 Kms in a vehicle to Gangotri, walk from Gangotri to Sainj for 10-12 Kms, then from Sainj in a Jeep to Bhatwari for 6 Kms, the trek 10 Kms from Bhatwari to to Gangani, and from Gangani to Dabrani in a Jeep for 12 Kms with one breach in between, and finally walk 20 Kms from Dabrani to Dharali. Khem Singh will oversee the entire effort and send detailed accounts, bills of food purchased, porter fees, intermittent transport charges, and the final distribution at Dharali village via the Gram Panchayat (village head) to the community which will be documented and photographed.

We are very grateful to those kind souls who have already rapidly reached out with generous donations to the relief process. We will inform each donor of where and how the money was use. A lot of past clients and friends who have traveled in India have come forward to help in many ways.

Read more about Dharali in the News:




















A Traumatized Village that Can't Sleep
Pankaj Doval, TNN: June 28, 2013, 06:28 IST

DHARALI (Last village on the Sino-Indian Border in Uttarkashi): For people here, life's been a nightmare ever since flash floods hit Uttarakhand.

When the skies open up now, people of this remote village run to the dark and treacherous mountain caves and spend uncertain hours there. The village, on the the Gangotri pilgrimage route, is home to 500-600 people and was hit hard by flash floods on June 16.

The devastation was massive. Small houses were destroyed and hotels went down. An army officer described the horror: "We came to know that Dharali had been impacted, we rushed there. We found the area was devastated, not a soul was around. We shuddered at the thought that all the villagers had been washed away by the Bhagirathi. But, soon we got to know that they had taken refuge in the caves."

Dharali gets snow for six months, and many villagers move to Uttarkashi during this time. A stream that flows along Dharali swelled into a mighty river after the rains came. It now threatens to wash the village away. The villagers are scared. "We live in danger and can't sleep at night. The moment we hear thunder, we run and take shelter in the caves," Savita, in her early forties, says.


Donations to be sent to: Ibex Expeditions P Ltd., 30 Community Centre, East of Kailash, New Delhi 110065, INDIA.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Vintage Monday

~An Expedition to Remember ~


Around 1981, once Ibex Expeditions was up and running , various adventure trips were on agenda and one of them was a mountain biking trip from Delhi to Kathmandu.

So when a group of 12 from France wanted to do a cycling expedition from Delhi to Kathmandu, it was an exciting venture and a 1500 km three-week program was designed.

While it was being arranged, Mandip envisaged this personal experience would help him immensely and a desire for more adventure got the better of him. In those days in India, multiple gear bikes were not available, so a second hand bike was bought and practice sessions around Delhi was the training in waiting for the adventure.

All began well for the group, but on the first few days, speed was definitely not on Mandip’s side as he would find himself left behind and would only meet them at camp in the evening, so the question playing all along was ‘What the hell is happening? This was supposed to be adventurous, right, and now it’s getting embarrassing.’

And then the truth unfolded that this group of 12 from France were really not normal touring adventure driven tourists, but were seriously training for the Tour de France, an annual bicycle race held in France covering 3600 kilometres over three weeks.

This expedition was from Delhi - Agra - Etawah (Chambal region of the baddies ) Allahabad - Varanasi to Gorakhpur and northwards towards Pokhara in Nepal and finally ending in Kathmandu.

In those days, Chambal was the dreaded refuge of various groups of dacoits ( bandits ) . On this journey, the idea was to camp every day and alternate it with a guesthouse and hotel to freshen up. With a bus trailing the group carrying the gear and spares and a distance of 100 to 150 kms to cover every day, days were pretty arduous.

One evening while traveling through the Chambal region with the usual schedule of camping around 6.30 pm, the experience of two whirling police jeeps and a hurricane like pack up and move order seemed quite bizarre for the group. All had a sigh of relief as word had leaked to the local police that the bandits were due to attack the group that evening.


All ended well once the group successfully completed the arduous pedaling expedition and Mandip swore never to sit on that bicycle seat again! Adventure probably has its own ways, from a hard seated bicycle to escaping mild mishaps; the memories are what live for a lifetime.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Friday's Feature

~ A Tribute to Roger Payne ~

 

Mandip Singh Soin and Roger Payne at Pigne de la Le.
Roger Payne left us on 12th July, 2012, at the age of 55, leaving friends across the globe devastated. Roger was a dear friend of Anita & Mandip for 25 years, and travelled to India often. Roger was the force behind the Indo-Pakistan Friendship expedition, supported by IUCN and UIAA in the Swiss Alps in 2002 - the Year of the Mountains.

Indo-Pak Friendship Expedition in the Swiss Alps ,2002.
He was the former General Secretary of the British Mountaineering Council and was a qualified mountain guide and avalanche expert, having done over 20 expeditions to the Karakoram, South America and Himalayan Ranges, including K2 and the north face of Changanbang, and having made first-ascents in 4 continents.

Roger Payne, Charu Sharma and Mandip Singh Soin at Riffelhorn in Zermatt.
Mandip Singh Soin and Roger Payne in front of Mt Allalain.

On his first death anniversary, Ibex Expeditions pays tribute to a gentleman who walked lightly, with care, in the mountains he loved to passionately.


Loretto McNaught Davis, Roger Payne and Mandip Singh Soin at the Alpine Club's 150th Celebration.
We will always remember Roger, and send healing energy to his wife and climbing partner, Julie-Ann Clyma.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Vintage Monday

~ Adventure is His Business~

 

The excitement and thrill of  exploring distant lands an mountains lured Mandip Soin to adventure sports. And he has taken it up as a business: he has been running an organization which conducts expeditions.

You only live once, they say. Whether you exist in staid shades of grey, or live it up in multicolours - that spell high adventure and thrills. For most of us life indeed follows the prosaic path where adventure stays a distant dream. Yet, a miniscule minority has the adventurous spirit flowing through its veins, that pushes it off the beaten track into unventured realms.

Mandip Singh Soin, mountaineering and trekking veteran who organizes adventure travel got living, definitely belongs to this latter breed. "It was a drastic change from the IAS where I might have ended up:, he grins. An M.A. in history from Delhi's St. Stephen's College, he was destined for other things. "My dad was into parajumping ... he encouraged me during my first trek to the Kuari Pass at the age of 14, and my first climb ... "

"Again, my school principal, Hari Dang, had been to Everest ..." It may have been his genes or his upbringing that did it, but he was hooked soon enough by the great outdoors.

As president of the Hiking Club in college, he rock-climbed and trekked extensively. "There was an unusual trip to the Andaman Isalnds," he recalls, "where I did deep sea fishing, caught sharks, and studied the ways of the tribals. After college I went to Europe to improve my skills in climbing, trekking and skiing in the French and Swiss Alps, and the Italian Dolomites." Soin also instructed at outdoor schools in Wales and Scotland.

Today there's no knowing where he might be. Climbing a rugged Himalayan peak, river rafting in the U.S., or leasing a camel safari in Rajasthan! Or just skiing through he icebound Arctic!

"I was warned about having a 'three month husband," smiles attractive wife Anita, "But its not that bad! He's usually away three or four months in a year, a month to six weeks at a stretch." A freelance graphic designer and writer herself, she decided it made better sense to accompany him whenever she could, along with their three-year-old daughter, who is aptly named "Himali" ("daughter of the snow"). Anita assists in filming expeditions and making video programmes for distribution.

At first glance, their East of Kailash barsati apartment could belong to any young urbanite couple. Only the ropecoils and rucksacks lying around tell their own story, "We're just back from an elephant expedition to Kerala," Anita explains. During the ten-day trip which covered 101Km on elephant back in the Parambikulam Wildlife Reserve, the 11-member team studied the ways of elephants and the environment, as also tourism potential of the unknown terrain. All this as part of the exciting business of living.

Excitement can indeed be good business. "One thing led to another and what started as a hobby turned into a profession," says Spoin,who runs two companies today - Ibex Expeditions (P) ltd. and Ibex Equipment. Ibex Expeditions specializes in tailor-made adventure holidays, ranging "from the very easy to the very tough ..." It all depends on "whether you would like o climb a Himalayan peak, look for the Snow Leopard, or search for the Yeti ..." In a decade of operation, Ibex, the first company of its kind in India, has handled over 100 expeditions. Mountaineering, trekking holidays, ski trips, safaris, river rafting, cycle tours, etc., are all on the cards managed by a team of professionals who share their outdoor knowledge.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Wildlife Wednesday

~ Satpura National Park ~

 

 


At Satpura National Park, you get the wildlife experience in a whole new avatar, with guided walking safaris through the reserve, boat rides along the river, take a classic jeep safari, or enter the park on elephant back. In addition to this, you can stay the night in one of the exciting lodges in the area.

Get in touch to find out more, and book your trip this coming season: October 2013 - June 2014.

Email us at ibex@ibexexpeditions.com

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Tuesdays for Tomorrow

~ Could New Delhi be the City of India's Future?~


The Indian capital is cosmopolitan, daring, intellectual and durable: So say the scholars, and quite a few ordinary thinkers as well.
Spiraling inward: Connaught Circus (officially Indira Chowk) is the outer ring of Connaught Place (now Rajiv Chowk) and one of the rotating commercial centers of New Delhi.
The constant verbal sparring between Mumbai and New Delhi comes as no surprise to residents of either city.

Mumbai's own split identity of cosmopolitanism and an historical threat of religious violence have been popularly reflected upon, in books like "Maximum City" and movies such as "Mumbai Meri Jaan". But who has done this for New Delhi? Really sat there and pulled out the definitive threads in a book to make people sit up and take notice?
Perhaps the average Mumbaikers' apparent distaste for New Delhi arises from the latter's inherent rebellion towards being understood. I want to understand, so I sit in on a nostalgic May lecture called The Transformations of Delhi: India's Capital at 100, where some of New Delhi's most prominent intellectuals speak about that which characterizes the capital, to an audience comprising of old Dilliwallas -- writers, editors, researchers -- and a few interested expats.
The conversation between William Dalrymple, Mukul Kesavan, Mushirul Hasan and moderator Mahmood Farooqi celebrating 100 years of New Delhi as the capital city of India, if anything, tells me that the essence of Delhi (both old and new) exists in its refusal to be stereotyped. But, the intellectuals argue, no creation of man can exist without pattern: even in dispersal and chaos there is repetition.
These themes represent the closest we can get -- while we live in it -- to understanding the idea of Delhi and New Delhi, one of its nine districts.

Nostalgic New Delhi

Dilliwallas find a sense of belonging by romanticizing the gardens and old monuments which exist in a time passed, incongruous with the aggressive world outside their gates. This disjunction in time exists in the classification of roads in Delhi too, claims Farooqi. The names of roads bear no semblance with their locality and are instead isolated within biased definitions of those that contributed to India's creation, and recreation.

As opposed to Paranthe Wali Galli in Old Delhi or Marine Drive in Mumbai, New Delhi's Aurungzeb Road or Connaught Place's new avatar as Rajiv Chowk, for example, are simply historical tags imposed on places the names have nothing to do with.
Majestic Cinema in Chandni Chowk, 1953. When telephone wires weren't as tangled and Old Delhi was fashionable.
Metropolitan New Delhi

The single contemporary pride, as opposed to its obsession with its past, is the newly built Delhi Metro Rail which converges inwards to the center or projects outwards from the center, depending on the way you look at it. It allows for a previously flat, dispersed city to travel both below and above ground, above the roads, flyovers and trees, for a new view.
The metro is a mechanical metaphor for the essence of Delhi -- a blurring between the edges of the city and its center, like a small base with a large outer rim, and a crack traveling through.

The Delhi Metro extends all the way to Dwarka in the west, allowing for much of the city to be viewed from above.
Delhi as a spiral

Like a cyclone burgeoning from its calm eye, Delhi exists as a spiral, both geographically and culturally, the pundits say. William Dalrymple theorizes that whilst central Lutyen's Delhi, inhabited by the white neo-Georgian columns and verandahs, is sprawling and quiet, the outskirts of the city are densely-populated and ripe with activity. In contrast, cities around the world are most vibrant in their central squares and circles.

Delhi as a pendulum

Geographically, the walled city of Old Delhi spread from Shahjahanabad to the center and then just grew further and further south. This shift in its North and South borders mimics the to-and-fro movement in the consciousness of the city.

Kesavan attributes Delhi's as a history of "getting away", characterized by a middle class aspiration to shift habitat with economics and hope. The locomotion between the old and new, between the already decayed and the modernized, is relentless. The spiral becomes a pendulum -- circulating to and fro, a linear left and right movement in a circular city: a pattern in dispersal.
The 1984 Republic Day parade near Parliament in New Delhi. Lutyen's Canopy is at the center, emptied of its King George Vth statue post-independence.










In 2010 Delhi spreads outwards. With Jama Masjid, the principal mosque of Delhi, on the horizon.
The future of New Delhi

Despite this existential quality to the spirit of Delhi, moderator Farooqi closes the discussion by predicting New Delhi as the city of India's future: the most cosmopolitan, daring, intellectual and durable. The statement elicits proud and slightly shocked murmurs and a few hisses. But what if it were true?

Does New Delhi's essence exist in its freedom to assume any character, once a spiral, once a pendelum, timelessly and simultaneously becoming its own past, present and future? While Mumbai has had to endure the pressure of too many millions on one narrow strip of land, struggling every monsoon to keep all heads above water.

Article by Himali Singh Soin
First published http://www.cnngo.com, 8th June 2011