11 days: jeep & yak safaris, homestays, ancient monasteries

Experience mystical high Himalayan passes and breathtaking valleys. Connect with remote villages via local homestays and community development initiatives. Travel high altitude grazing pastures and meet traditional folk artists dissipating social and ecological mores. Ride a yak through trans-himalayan deserts. Visit ancient Buddhist monasteries and tap into traditional cultures that have existed relatively unchanged throughout the centuries.

Itinerary

Days 1 - 2  Manali:
Traverse the Shivalik ranges to reach Manali, a bustling hill station nestled in the middle Himalayas. Explore an eclectic art gallery and castle in nearby Naggar.

Days 3 - 4  Kaza:
Ascend the high passes of Rohtang and Kunzum la. Take time to acclimatize to the altitude with excursions to highland villages and the largest monastery in Spiti Valley, Kye Gompa. On the way back there is an opportunity to jump on mountain bikes!

Day 5  Tabo:
Connect with the local community via grassroots initiatives to promote solar energy (in an effort to reduce firewood consumption) and regional produce (indigenous herbs & berries are processed be a women’s cooperative here). Meet traditional folk artists bent on spreading social & environmental messages through theatre.

Days 6 - 7  Dhankhar & Demul:
Explore the 1000 year old monastery complex of Tabo. Skirt the border of Tibet (China) to visit the most remote village of Spiti, Giu – be prepared to witness a rare relic of the human spirit here! Discover Dhankhar, the erstwhile capital of Spiti and one of the most picturesque villages in the region. Visit a unique temple, rest in homestays and interact with the warm and diligent mountain community.

Day 8  Komic / Langza:
Ride atop yaks through Trans-Himalayan deserts. Visit grazing pastures of local livestock and the hunting grounds for the Himalayan wolf and snow leopard. Enjoy another homestay in a local village.

Day 9  Kaza:
Return to Kaza by jeep, relax or wander the local markets for local souvenirs.

Days 10 - 12  Return to Delhi (via Manali):
Retrace our earlier route to India’s capital city, Delhi.

Making a difference

With a clearly defined mandate of developing Spiti as a responsible eco-travel destination, Ecosphere have carefully designed this itinerary to incorporate aspects that directly and indirectly contribute to nature and culture conservation and to bring economic benefits to the local community.

Ecosphere generates and maintains a development & conservation fund which is derived from the earnings from its travel initiatives. This fund is diverted towards development and conservation activities and capacity enhancement of the locals in the entire valley. Local service providers (homestay providers, pack animal providers, porters, etc) also set aside a percentage of their earnings towards a village conservation fund, which is utilised in their respective villages towards activities pertaining to nature and culture conservation and other socio-economic issues.

Moreover all our travel experiences have an inbuilt conservation cost charged to the visitor and all revenues generated are utilised for furthering our objectives of linking livelihoods to conservation. Hence at every level – the Local community, Visitor and Ecosphere – we ensure participation by the stakeholders towards conservation and responsible travel. We ensure that your travels have minimum impacts and contribute maximum benefits to the region.

Economic Benefits:

Ecosphere’s mandate is to provide the local community with additional sources of income through diverse livelihoods that are linked to conservation. We believe that economics is an important medium of involving people in conservation. In order to achieve our objective we ensure maximum economic benefits to local people from all our products. The homestay providers, field experts, interpreters, guides, porters, chefs, pack animals, cultural troupes, musicians and other contingency staff are all hired from amongst the local populace. All our travel experiences are designed to ensure that maximum economic benefits are accrued to the local community.

Homestay accommodation is an easy and sure shot way of ensuring that the locals gain from the benefits that accrue from tourism. Homestays have been developed in the Spiti valley with the aim of ensuring culture conservation on the one hand and economic returns for locals on the other (www.himalayan-homestays.com/spiti) . These homestays function on a rotation basis and instead of villagers competing with each other they work in a mutually complimentary and collaborative manner. Families that are not providing homestay accommodation either provide the field experts, guides, chefs, porters, pack animals or other related services, thus ensuring equitable benefits from tourism to the entire village.  A village co-ordinator is assigned the task of ensuring the rotation in the homestays and maintaining their standards. He earns a portion of the homestay cost for his services. Our attempt is towards ensuring that every possible family in a village benefits from tourism and understands the importance of working in collaboration.

Accommodation facilities used by Ecosphere other than homestays also provide incomes to hotels and guest houses run by local entrepreneurs or Monastic Institutions.

Some of the indirect economic benefits accrued to the community pertain to their capacity building. Ecosphere organises various trainings for the members of the local community in collaboration with various experts and its partner organisations on aspects such as language and communication skills, nature and culture guiding, mountaineering, hospitality, guest management, cookery, etc.

As has already been mentioned, all other earnings of Ecosphere are contributed towards conservation and developmental activities within the region. 

Nature & Culture Conservation:

Nature and culture conservation form the basis of Ecospheres initiatives in the region and all travel experiences incorporate aspects that ensure the same. Separate funds at the village level as well as at a central level with Ecosphere are kept for undertaking a plethora of activities pertaining to nature and culture conservation.

Garbage is one of the major evils that follows tourism development in any destination. Spiti has also witnessed the impacts of unplanned tourism and subsequent garbage management issues. Garbage management and its proper disposal has been an important area of intervention, for the purpose of which Ecosphere is partnering with the Public Welfare Society, Kaza (PWS, a local body working on garbage management). Ecosphere supports PWS in establishing a network with other organisations working on similar issues in other parts of the country, besides assisting their capacity building. All garbage generated during the treks and trips is brought back to Kaza and handed over to PWS for its disposal. Ecosphere also works with villagers in managing garbage at the village level, besides involving the guests in cleaning drives in villages and wetlands.

In the highland village of Langza, activities pertaining to garbage management and maintenance of camp sites within the village area have been undertaken. Garbage pits have been dug and specific sites have been designated as camping areas. Other villages are also following the example of Langza and are contributing towards a common village conservation fund which is then being used in the villages as per the discretion of the villagers and the needs of the area. A participatory planning approach has been adopted for the same.

Spiti is regarded as a geological paradise and its geology dates back over 500 million years. Various fossils from the time whence Spiti was submerged under the Tethys Sea are found spread across the entire valley and serve as important tourist attraction. Their conservation forms an important aspect of Ecospheres travel initiatives in the region. In Langza village which has an abundance of fossils (ammonites and trilobites), a natural fossil centre has been marked where tourists are taken on a guided tours by the locals. This has been done to prevent the depletion of these fossils by locals and tourists alike. Ecosphere along with the locals are trying to develop mechanisms to conserve this rich natural heritage. Panchayat (village level government body) resolutions banning the sale and purchase of these fossils along with designating the fossil centre area has been a humble beginning of the local community and Ecosphere towards their conservation. Part of the earnings from the visits of travelers is set aside for management of the fossil centre.

Pack animals and safari animals are another important source of incomes for the locals. The use of donkeys, yaks and horses is an integral part of our travel experiences and treks and part of the earnings from the pack animals is ploughed back into a village conservation fund which will then be used for undertaking activities such as livestock insurance schemes, employing permanent shepherds, construction of proper enclosures for livestock, etc, primarily as a means to reduce livestock depredation and to prevent retaliatory wildlife depredation by the local community.

The Yak is an animal with a truly unique character and is indigenous to the high altitude regions of this part of the world. The yak safaris offered help promote the Yaks which are the lifeline of the highland villages and are used primarily for milk, ploughing and threshing. However, in the past few years there has been a rapid decline in the number of Yaks that are being used by the locals, especially in the low lying areas of the Spiti valley due to mechanization of agriculture and the advent of tractors. As a result of this there has been a decline in the sale of the yaks which has deprived the locals from the highland villages a valuable source of income. The Yak safaris provide an opportunity to use this unique animal, thereby providing the locals with an additional source of income and an incentive to preserve the animal and promote its numbers in the region.

Musicians form an integral part of Spitian culture. However their numbers are dwindling rapidly due to various reasons. The promotion of cultural performances during the trip is a way of ensuring that the tradition of local dances, dresses and musicians flourishes in the region. Since the number of local musicians is fast dwindling in the valley, your appreciation towards their art form is a great incentive for its continuity and conservation. Ecosphere is also attempting to organise trainings in music and dance for the local youth in collaboration with other local organisations. Likewise, the Bhuchen performance is another way of contributing towards the conservation and continuity of this unique sect of minstrel lamas and also providing them with an additional source of income. The Bhuchens who were flourishing in the Western Tibetan area are now found only in the Spiti valley.

One important initiative pertaining to the conservation of cultural heritage is the ‘Dhankhar Initiative’. Ecosphere is involved in the restoration and conservation of this ancient heritage as part of its larger objective and mandate of linking livelihoods to conservation. Part of the costs of the trips in Spiti are diverted towards the Dhankhar Initiative (for more details visit www.dhangkar.com). Ecosphere is partnering with the Monastery for not only the restoration of the Dhankhar Monastery but also in establishing systems for the management of the lake and garbage within the village.

Ecosphere is continuously evolving better and more contextual conservation based activities to ensure that tourism becomes a tool for sustainable development for the region and has minimum impacts on the nature and culture of the valley.