Brighton

Brighton Pier pic courtesy visitbritian.com

Even while nursing quite a high fever in the rainy grey weather today, it feels good to be back in Brighton, one of my favourite places in Europe. To have one of my best friends living in here is just another treat! Can't be any better.

Check the Daily Photos of Brighton from Dean Harvey . Will give you an idea of the place.

For those venturing into Brighton, Tourist Tracks MP3 audio walking tour is a good alternative to regular guided tours. It comes with a down loadable MP3 file and a map of the tour area. Forget the tour guide and large groups, just move around in your own pace. Check it out below



In Brighton © GP 2007

RTD2

logo for the 2nd RTD - Kerala 2007

The title sounds like a Bollywood movie or as V suggested, a title from a sci-fi movie.
But this is the theme of the Second International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations to be held in Kerala during September 2007.

Organised by ICRT India, ICRT Leeds Met and Kerala Tourism, it was announced during the "Better Together" - Workshop on Responsible Tourism in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in the beginning of this month.

Within 24 hours of sending the invitation to our database, I have received 19 registrations from countries as different as USA, France, Germany, UK, Canada, Iran and India! Probably a good start?

Wonder how regular the postings are going to be considering the amount of travel that is coming in the following weeks.

In Colombo © GP 2007

Spreading RT

"three years before when we went to explore the backwaters of central kerala"

"Without a doubt, The Blue Yonder is committed to fostering tourism that is environmentally and socially responsible. Although their tour operation clearly benefits the local people with a focus on preserving the environment, the most powerful impact of our experience at the Blue Yonder was how it shaped our own understanding of responsible tourism. "

"As frequent travelers, The Blue Yonder helped us to understand how tourism (when responsibly managed) can be a powerful agent for environmental protection and local economic growth. We value all the work that The Blue Yonder is doing within the communities along the River Nila, but we also believe their impact is more than on the local level."

"Now that we have seen how powerful an experience traveling can be when it is organized in a way that benefits the environment and the local people, we will search out more experiences like this in our future trips abroad! "

"The Blue Yonder certainly deserve the accolades that have recently received for their commitment to responsible tourism. "

The above is a feedback from one of our guests Allison after her trip through Kerala with us!

There were not many takers when I started talking about "Taking Responsibility" for many things that is actually possible for -very normal- individuals like us.

Those working with The Blue Yonder are people you see in your daily lives. Nothing special about them, except that they believe they they are change makers! They believe that they can be part of a process (and even to drive that process) that can make changes in a world that is growing sceptical about every single thing that we see around.

We have been practising "responsibility in travel business" even before the term, "Responsible Tourism" became popular in a cliche market in India. Those who thought that I was out of my mind to set up a business based on transparency and accountability, probably all the feedback from our guests this month itself might be an eye-opener.

Like our friend and activity partner Lukose once said in Wayanad, "If I can bring in a smile on to another person's face, that make my day!" This is all what we have been doing in the last three years as a business enterprise.

But, for me what is more striking about the above feedback from Allison is her statement "we will search out more experiences like this in our future trips abroad! "

This definitely brings in a big smile on our faces today! Irrespective of the constant struggles we had to go through until now, this mail from Allison makes a world of difference to us.

More guest feedback available here

© GP 2007

Images of Bylakuppe

picture courtesey lotte gout

Images that stayed back in my mind after two days in Bylakuppe?

• Peace and tranquility in Thashi Lhunpo Monastery


• The "always smiling" faces of the monks and the thought that every Tibetan monk could be best placed for toothpaste adverts.


• How "The Monk" laughed when he introduced me to his teacher! (and I commented that I wouldn't want to be his Guru, if this is how he will introduce me as his Guru :), to which he mentioned, "He he, we are Buddhists, we laugh all the time ;))!


• Liveliness of the monks in Thashi Lhunpo compared to the callous looks of the monks at the Golden Temple. ( Hazards of living in a large monastery frequently visited by tourists?)


• The disgusting stink from drainage overflow all along the prayer wheels at the Golden Temple. (Finally I felt "India" there! Sorry to say this, leaking drainage and unprocessed Solid Waste is a reality in this country!)


• Monks sipping Pepsi and Coke ! That too while they were offering prayers!


• Pepsi and Coke as offerings by devotees inside prayer halls!


• Diversity of this country and the will power and guts of the politicians to provide settlements across the country for the tortured Tibetans much against the anger of China


• Four hours of horrible bus journey that took me from Kushal Nagar to Mysore!


• The naughty smile of the Suisse intern ;)


• The prayer flags in the backdrop of an impressive sunset
  

Riot of Colours

Tirur

The prayers started at around 2 am, but Martin, Lotte and I got ready only around 8am. Martin already had a fan following amongst children and was clicking away and shooting in frenzy. Monks dressed as masked dancers came in from the temple and offered their prayers to the Gods through elaborate ritualistic movements under the huge Shamiana erected in front of the temple.

The day long dances (Cham as it is called in Tibetan) that was part of the ritualistic Gutor had a meditative and calming effect on me, though 'The Monk' thought that I was bored to death! Probably it was the grim face I kept throughout(not purposely, but out of the pain that erupts from the joints when I try to sit in funny positions!) .

Though I am normally keen on looking into the details, this time I was just giving myself into the the "whole experience". The riot of colours, occasional rhymes, the cymbals and long horns. I was almost in a dream.

After the sumptuous lunch and more dances which eventually concluded by burning the effigy outside the temple, we went to visit the Golden Temple and Seray Jey Monastery. Compared to the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Seray was a huge complex where more than 6000 monks were living and learning. They included Tibetans, Bhutanese and Mongolians along with Indians from North Eastern states. If I had just woken up in that place, I wouldn't have believed that we were in "India".

The drive from Thashi Lhunpo to Seray Jey was interesting because of the landscape and the buildings that replicated the ambiance of Tibet along with several camps that had come up here since late 50's.

I wonder how the youngest generation of the Tibetans living outside the monasteries of Bylakuppe feel about their culture and identities compared to their parents who fled from Tibet in order to protect and preserve their culture from Chinese Repression. Walking around with long hairs wearing American base ball caps and playing around with funky mobile phones that resonated "gyrating" Bollywood songs and latest bikes "in town" it is definitely a world of "difference" I presume!.

© GP 2007

Tashi Lhunpo

© picture courtesey lotte gout

Tashi Lhumpo Monastery - Bailakupe

The Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Shigatse, Tibet was one of the largest monastery with around 5,000 monks in residence before the Chinese invasion of 1959. Following harassment from the Chinese authorities, three hundred monks travelled to India following the footpaths of Dalai Lama and re-established the Tashi Lhunpo in rural Bylakuppe in Karnataka.

When "The Monk" invited me to come over for the Mask Dance Festival, I didn't think twice and agreed to be in the monastery today. I am sure he didn't really believe me when I told two weeks before itself that I am blocking this day to ensure that I visit him. Even the back breaking 8 hours by car from Bangalore hasn't killed my spirit.

Very happy that I came.

This place is truly amazing. What struck me first was the peaceful atmosphere and the happy faces. The people moving around and the environment they live in seems to have struck a beautiful balance. Even the star filled sky and the cool breeze seemed to be telling the same story. To see monks reading and reciting scriptures aloud under street lights and walking across the campus memorising their spiritual text was quite surreal, considering the fact that I was in dirty Bangalore this morning!

May be I should come over at the least once in a month for a weekend escapade from Bangalore!

© GP 2007

Irresponsible Travellers

Bangalore

I have seen all sorts of websites where travellers write about their experiences (good and bad) of holidays. Personally, I consider this as a wonderful way to share experiences. Since the holiday business is based on references, this is something that we have been encouraging a lot in terms of generating business through discerning travellers. Though our website has not been great in terms of uploading all the feedback from our guests, this is an area we would like to develop slowly.

While all this sound quite wonderful, sometimes we come across TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE TRAVELLERS who maintain hardly any sort of decency when they engage us in business. Over the period of three years, we had some of these experiences, and had to accommodate these people considering the small size of the organisation and desperate need to ensure that we have regular flow of guests!

Who would believe that a traveller coming from a “good background “and many years of travelling experience would try to cheat the travel operator by not paying money even after the trip is over? Who would think about a traveller abusing our interpreters and guides? The latest being the day before.

A woman called from Trivandrum on a Sunday (I was in office working!) asking for details about our houseboats in Alleppey. It seems she had seen our websites and was thoroughly impressed about the content and want to experience the Blue Yonder holidays (Already flattered). Even if I don’t handle enquiries directly anymore (something I miss so much), I managed to quote the prices and connected her to Vinod who now handles all our enquiries. She agreed for the prices and we took the risk of not taking the advance.

We haven’t taken any walk-in guests so far except in one or two rare cases, and most of our trips are finalized several weeks and in most cases even several months in advance. So we normally receive all payments before the trip starts. In the above mentioned cases, there is hardly any way to have collected this. So we told her to pay to our representative in Alleppey and start the trip. We arranged a cab to pick her up from the railway station and then on arrival she refused to pay the money upfront. Since the boat has been blocked for the day the local guys went ahead with the trip. When it came to payment, she says, “Sorry, I have only 6000 with me, can’t pay the rest!”

What a %^^$!!

Do you guys have any idea of any websites where we can post details of these kind of irresponsible travellers?

I have heard about some companies publishing “black lists”. But haven’t seen it at all!
To some extend we need to ensure that none of our partners in the industry needs to go through this experience at all! There are some mechanisms that I have seen working efficiently between some operators in Karnataka and North Kerala. Since they fall in tourist circuits, they keep track of the guests and let the accommodation providers in advance about the nasty behaviour (consuming everything in the mini bar and not paying up for e.g) earlier so that the host can be well prepared.

Still, since the whole objective is to make the guests happy, they bent down their spine to the lowest level that is humanly possible and keep up their smile on their face. Even if you get thousand appreciations for your work, you just need one B^^^&&$ like the above to screw up all that by some bad mouthing!

Another moment of OTS ! :)

© GP 2007

Better Together photos

Venue: Kanakakkunnu Palace Thiruvananthapuram



Dr Venu IAS Tourism Secretary,
MrKodiyeri Balakrishnan Minister for tourism,
Dr. Harold Goodwin and Cherian Philip Chairman of KTDC


Lotte and Vinod from TBY signing up

Photos from Ravisankar Tourism India

Better Together

Bangalore
So relieved now that the workshop on RT is over in Trivandrum. Back in Bangalore and back in office. Just the load of work that needs to be attended is mind boggling. Flying out on the 26th to Europe only to be back by mid March doesn't make life any easier. But well, occupational hazards and I am not complaining :)

What happened in Trivandrum?
More than hundred and fifty people turned up from the Industry, NGOs, Civil Societies, Panchayats, Government, Media and Academicians. Industry participants were probably the lowest of all. Various reasons were pointed to this poor turn out from the industry

1) Last minute invitation
2) Most of the invitees being from the medium segment of the business, they were busy with their guests and couldn't move out. For e.g Raheems Residency and Philipkutty's farm
3) Lack of clarity regarding the role of Equations along with the Kerala Tourism Department. Not many were clear about why Kerala tourism decided to rope in Equations especially after the campaign against the department when Kerala was nominated for the Destinations for Tomorrow awards from WTTC, London

What impressed me the most?t
1) To see the active and enthusiastic participation of the Panchayat members.
2) Demands from the Panchayats to have more tourism projects in their area
3) Industry members unanimously suggesting that they will work together with the Panchayats, Self Help Groups of women (similar to Kudumbashree units) and local community members.
4) Industry suggesting that if the quality of the products and services can be assured, they will be keen on procuring materials and skills locally which will definitely increase the positive economic linkages.

Did we lose focus on the first day?
The way the event was organised and structured, we didn't give enough time for all the sectoral subgroups to raise their concerns, discuss it and address it. Especially since it was after long time any sort of consultation with various stake holders were happening, most of the participants used this as an opportunity to raise their concerns about many things that were out of the focus of the workshop (defining responsibility of stake holders in tourism!).

I think it would have more successful if we had kept exclusive days for various stake holders. Even on the second day, the industry group sounded very cautious in terms of their participation. I guess with members from the media and even from NGOs that constantly criticise them being present there, not many of the industry felt comfortable enough to talk.

The way forward?
A committee of around 40 members from various stake holding groups have been identified to function as a working group. Once the documentation and transcription is done, the working group will be meeting together to work on the action plan.

Being part of this workshop was the most emotionally draining experience in recent times for me for various reasons. Intellectually, it was not that stimulating; but the challenge was to work with various kinds of people with that many different agenda in their mind!

Well, I hope I will be responsible (or brave?) enough to write about those experiences in the coming days!

© GP 2007