Darjeeling, India, Dec. 23, 2003 (IPS/GIN) -- "At first they thought I was crazy to try to get tourists to come to Pedong," explains Sebastian Pradhan, a guide. "But now that they are coming, now everyone wants to turn their homes into guesthouses."
Twenty-one kilometres from Kalimpong in Darjeeling district, at an elevation of 4,500 feet, Pedong is a little hamlet in the northern corner of India's West Bengal state where it borders on the former Himalayan principality of Sikkim, now absorbed into India, and the kingdom of Bhutan, and just about 30 km from the Tibet border, as the crow flies.
Originally called "Pay-doh", the name of the town signifies "a welcome accorded to someone by the burning of incense sticks."
Pradhan, who is an ethnic Nepali Christian, is respected by all communities and also goes by the Hindu name of Satya Prakash and Buddhist name of Sangay Chogyal. He recently took two foreign tourists to the ruins of a Bhutanese fort, Damsang Dzong, built in 1690 but destroyed by the British during the Anglo-Bhutanese war after which the fort was destroyed, and Kalimpong ceded to the British.
The Bhutanese government still maintains an informal presence in Kalimpong in its Bhutan House where the Queen Mother sometimes resides, and there is also a Bhutanese monastery, Sangchen Dorjee Gumpa, nearby which attracts thousands of Bhutanese pilgrims annually.
Unlike Sikkim, which requires foreigners to register, or Bhutan which discourages backpacker tourists by imposing a hefty minimum expense of 200 U.S. dollars per diem, backpackers can visit Pedong on a shoestring budget without any hassle.
"With tourists— both foreign and domestic— starting to visit Pedong this season, local householders are asking me to help them turn their homes into hotels and guest houses," said Pradhan, director of the Damsang Environment Conservation Ecotourism Organisation, a body that works for the promotion of tourism in the Pedong area.
Pradhan is also head of the Pedong Drivers' Welfare Association and coordinates transport to make sure that drivers of taxis — actually jeeps here in the rugged hills — do not overcharge outsiders, as is sometimes the case in Kalimpong — which sees much fewer tourists than more popular Darjeeling.
Kalimpong used to be a prosperous trading post on the Tibet-India route up until the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles fled the Chinese occupation in 1959 after an abortive uprising and the border was closed. But now with Sino-Indian relations thawing and the re-opening of Nathu-la pass in Sikkim, local residents are hoping for prosperity once again and are gearing up for the expected tourists.
Being situated on the old Indo-Tibetan trade route, Pedong stands to get more visitors.
"Around five houses have already been converted into paying guesthouses this year, and one of the lodges is on the verge of completion. More and more people want to convert their homes into
hotels and are coming to me seeking suggestions," says Pradhan. One Pedong lodge-owner, Jangi Maya Rai, who recently converted her residence into the Damsang Guest House in October, proudly told a reporter: "Throughout the month, all our rooms are packed and we have
bookings for next month too."
The lodge, staffed by family members and two hired help, gives Jangi Maya and her husband, a retired army officer, extra household income. Other locals also benefit, such as the shopkeeper who says that "right from the local merchants to the local youths who act as guides, to the public telephone stalls to the taxi drivers, all of us are gaining due to the inflow of tourists".
The emphasis, though, is on ecotourism. "We want to attract only those tourists who are eco-friendly and respect the environment," cautioned Pradhan, who also heads the local Fish and Environment Protection Committee.
Also a tourist guide and naturalist, Pradhan recently took two foreigners on a nature walk through thick forests up to the summit where the ruins of Damsang Fort still lie, offering a panoramic view of the Eastern Himalayas.
Carol Sleight, an English nurse on her first visit to India, effused that it was the "highlight" of her trip to Darjeeling, and said she "really enjoyed" Pradhan's homecooked dishes back at the Damsang Guest House, which she said was the most delicious meal she has had in Darjeeling.
The next day, Sleight and her U.S. companion visited the old Bhutanese monastery with its store of relics, some of which had been rescued from the Damsang Fort.
They were informed about its annual mela (festival) in April in which monks dress up in costume for a masked dance in honor of Padma Sambhava or Guru Rinpoche, the legendary saint who is said to have visited the area on his way to promulgating Buddhism in Tibet, and there will also be a traditional archery competition. "I definitely want to come back in April," said Sleight's friend.
True to its name, Pedong seems to be literally waiting with incense, garlands and khadas or Tibetan ceremonial scarves to welcome all those who come to visit this picturesque little town.
