By Patricia Mukhim
This article means no offence to anyone since every tour operator/operators and village tourism societies are trying their best to hard-sell their destination. The idea of course is to make a quick buck. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that objective except that people in the tourism business are so busy they don’t have time to take stock of what’s really happening and don’t also get feedback from tourists that visit the places. Since I am an avid traveller chasing every destination I possibly can, I cannot help but write down my observations. With malice to none it is important to state some wry facts upfront so that those that wish to survive in the tourism “business” take heed and take corrective action.
Who will explain the selling point of a destination?
This week I visited a destination that offers a tough bamboo trek of 1.5 hours duration each way adding to a full 3 hours trek that few can fully attempt. The problem with Indian tourists is that they want to reach every corner of this country where the exotic beckons but they don’t know the first thing about appropriate gear for every trek. One could see people coming in fancy slippers and stylish footwear to a trek made largely of bamboo and quite slippery during the monsoons. It’s dangerous by all accounts because if you lose your footing there are only hard rocks all around to take your weight and embrace you and that is if you don’t topple headlong into the gorge below which is several hundred feet deep.
Now when I reached the trekking spot with my two travel companions, the first thing that I asked was if there was a ‘guide.’ The answer from the guy hanging around to help tourists was unclear. After a while he came to me and asked, “Phi kwah kait?” In Khasi this translates to – “Do you want bananas?” I thought the area being in the War region of Meghalaya might be having special bananas so I told the guy that I would buy the bananas on my return from the trek. Only much later did I realise that he was actually asking me if I wanted a “guide.” So we left for the trek without a guide. But 30 minutes later we saw the somewhat middle-aged gentleman who was collecting the ticket fees from each trekker, coming and offering to be our guide. He also officiated as our photographer and took pictures of us in the most exotic places such as when we were precariously perched on the bamboo bridges that were just about two feet wide. He egged us on and said we could do it and we did reach the final destination which he called the “viewpoint” from where we looked down to the sheer precipice below which could well have been several hundred feet of sheer drop. It tested the human spirit to the core but it was worth the trek.
Managing garbage: A monumental challenge
All along the way, it is now customary to see the Khasi khoh (basket) being hung to accommodate all the plastic junk that tourists bring with them. Every tourist destination today has to deal with huge numbers of plastic water bottles, chips packets and all kinds of trash. With no scientific waste management system in place the only way to tackle the waste is to burn it. We know that burning plastics is toxic but the villagers are hardly aware of this. Do we wonder then why so many people suffer from serious respiratory ailments today. It’s time to get some statistics, especially from hospitals and health centres. It is evident that villages can no longer tackle the humongous amount of waste. At a certain point in the trek one could see a whole mound of bottles lying there. They will obviously be picked up at some point and burnt but at what cost?
Putting the cart before the horse: Half ready tourism sites
A number of these tourist destinations have been promoted before they are ready to sell their services professionally. There will be shops selling all manner of chips and Maggi noodles. None of the shops will even experiment with the local cuisine and the variety of rice-based snacks that we have. All the shops are trying to make a quick buck without the quality that marks out tourist destinations elsewhere. On my visit to Kerala and to the backwaters of Kochi I couldn’t see a single plastic wrecking the beauty of the place because at every destination there are gates where visitors have to hand over all plastic materials they carry – snacks packed in plastics, water bottles et al. After they have completed their walks or boating or sightseeing and are on their way out they would take back what they had left at the gate and be told that they cannot leave anything behind anywhere near the tourist venue. In Meghalaya we are too indulgent of tourists almost as if we are afraid that they might not return if we are strict with their behaviour. The Indian tourist is bad news. They are loud, boisterous and don’t know how to respect silence. People coming from foreign countries are more respectful of the local cultures and will ask questions about our songs, dances, cultures and try to learn at least a few local words. Such is not the attribute of the uncouth Indian tourist.
Do’s and Don’t’ for tourists
On a particular Sunday when some of us had gone to a tourist destination to plant some trees since the place was turning bald, we came across a number of tourist vehicles already on their way out at 11 am. They had evidently camped at the place the previous night. A tourist vehicle came to a halt and a young man who was sozzled out of his wits got out to relieve himself in full public view even as he swayed to the right and to the left. It was a sorry sight for those of us just entering the place. But those guys couldn’t be bothered. It means the local village tourism society had not made clear the do’s and don’ts for tourists. Getting so drunk on a trek is potentially dangerous because the person could slip and topple down several feet below and break his bones. But it would seem that the village tourism societies are only interested in collecting the entry and parking fees. Other than that the tourist could actually do whatever he/she wants. They are left to their own devices as there are not too many guides that can speak English and Hindi at every tourist place.
Tourist Guides an imperative
There is a dire need for tourist guides that know the art of story-telling including spinning yarns about the rocks and caves, rivers and forests, flowers and birds and beasts. I am not sure whether the colleges and universities are churning out tourist guides or turning all the students into tourism entrepreneurs who will set up their tourism enterprises. I have yet to come across a single learned and educated tourist guide who can entertain tourists and give them some stimulating stories to take back home with them.
Online portals for pre-booking
What makes tourism in Meghalaya different from what we see outside? Well, every tourist destination has an online portal where tourists who wish to visit have to book online. They just cannot decide to come to Meghalaya on a particular day and go to Destination A or B. Without an online booking a tourist cannot just arrive at a place. Period. As stated earlier the tourist destinations have been promoted far too quickly with the intention of making hay while the sun shines, never mind the overall impact on the environment.
Carrying Capacity
Much has been written and spoken about the carrying capacity of a tourist destination but we are losing this battle. Every place is literally over-crowded. Try going to Laitlum or any other place on Saturdays and Sundays and you would wish the place was never discovered. The local communities seem to be consumed by greed and don’t realise they are killing the tourism goose that is laying the golden eggs.
I really don’t know who to blame for this gold rush but I know for sure that this tourism boom is not going to last if the village tourism societies do not sit and think and plan for a better tourism experience for tourists – an immersive experience that they will carry back home and remain embedded in their hearts. Today everywhere you go there’s only noise – including inside the Mawphlang sacred grove because people have not been told the meaning of “sacred” and what makes it so.
So there you are – these are first hand views from a local tourist who means well – take it or leave it!