CHAPTER-7 TOURISM FACILITIES IN LADAKH 7.1 TOURISM FACILITIES Accommodation and transportation is the backbone of a tourist industry. Every tourist requires facilities though the degree of comfort and the standard of amenities required by him varies. It largely depends upon the type of tourist and type of tourism undertaken. ~he visitors who travel mainly for pleasure and relaxation give a lot of emphasis to the quality of amenities available at a particular tourist resort, They want to get the best out of the money they have spent. On the other ou hand tourist who selects a place like Ladakh as jts'destination is not too much particular about the standard of amenities available. Such a tourist aims to experience the unique culture, religion and landscape in a rugged mountainous, remote and primitive region. This destination does not sell tourism as a product. However for tourism to be sustained in such a regioqj certain minimum amount of facilities are very -maefi essential. ) It has already been mentioned that mainly three types of tourists visit Ladakh. First, the mass Q- tourists who go there in groups as part of conducted tours. Such tourists generally prefer^fairly good standard of facilities. Second type of tourists are those who plan their trip themselves and are Tkitij called individual tourists. These- are mixed in terms of their expectations. Within this group there could be the ones who have similar expectations as mass tourists and those who accommodate easily to the local norms in housing, food and lifestyle. The third type are adventure tourists. They go to their destination well prepared to rough ^out and their expectation of facilities is not too high. In a gist it can be said that though tourists go prepared to visit a backward area and hence do -fiucd*^*-**3 not expect very sophisticated.resort-and amenities however they do require certain basic facilities CL which can make their stay comfortable to^ertain degree. These facilities are needed more in certain selected places which are generally preferred by mass tourists and some individual tourists. 151
LADAKH ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES 1994 3 4 33--I ------------------------ - f4 2 < LU O CE < >~ o kf\ cr : INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY I I! I i >- xr < o z E m u oc in o V SOURCE : PREPARED BY THE RESEARCHER. FIG, 7.1 TYPE OF ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES UJ h- O X GUEST HOUSE REST HOUSE TOURIST BANGIOW CAMPSITE ** \ 3
Adventure tourists generally do not prefer these facilities and moreover they visit- -tittle- more isolated places. In the light of abov^, a description of the available infrastructure and superstructure for tourists in Ladakh has been given below; 7.2 ACCOMMODATION In Ladakh the lodging facilities are managed largely by the private sector and to some extent dr by the public sector. The classification and fixation of the lodging tariffs is done by the district cx- Administration. Mainly four types of accommodation facilities are available in this region. (See fig. 7.1). The private hotel sector consists of alljpe" hotels. These hotels are owned and run by private -p fom entrepreneurs who make their annual income exclusively or almost exclusively.on- tourism.? olnju Jhe- private guest housej sootor-is- another type of accommodation which is quite popular e rvusr»v>-j amongst the ^tourists. These guest houses are mainly run by the local famile^, in their own houses. This is generally a part time business as one or more family members make their income on agriculture, government jobs or jobs provided by the Indian Army. The income through boarding is considered as supplement Most of the time this income exceeds the basic income. There are various campsites owned and run by different travel agencies. Some campsites are set up with tents and wrtff other basic facilitiesaby the travel agencies only. They charge for all the facilities provided by them. Other campsites are used for setting up tents by groups travelling to \ places other than Lel^ mainly to visit the surrounding monastries and for trekking. The public 'lodging sector provides mainly three types of accommodations such as Tourist Bungalows or Dak Bungalows, Rest Houses and Forest Rest Houses Theae are tun by the 152
TOURIST FACILITIES AVAILABLE IN LEH TOWN SOURCE ITOURIST OFFICE LEH
r^to accommodate government officers. At times when bed capacity is not fully utilize^ these accommodations are also used by fhe tourists. 7.2.1 ACCOMMODATION IN LEH. Leh town is the centre of tourism in Ladakh. This is so because it is the more developed town of Ladakh and has better infrastructure than any other part of this region. In addition to thi%j Leh is situated in the vicinity of some of the most popular monasteries of Ladakh. Leaving aside a small t proportion of trekkers who go to Zanskar all the tourists make Leh as their base and then visit other places. It is possible for tourists to cover places of tourist interest during the day and return to Leh in the evening. Therefore the tourists prefer to avail of accommodation facilities in Leh only. This is the main reason behind the concentration of accommodation facilities in Leh town and less diversification of these facilities to other sites of tourist interest. (See fig. 7.2). The hotels in Leh have been classified into four classes and guest houses into three classes, (see Table 7.1 and 7.2 of Appendix-IV). In 1994 there were eleven A 'class hotels. These hotels provide facilities like attached bathrooms with running hot and cold water and shower. Rooms are fully furnished. These hotels have restaurantf- parking space and lawn. Nine hotels fell under the category of B-Class hotels. These provide rooms with attached bathrooms with running cold water, shower facilities, fully furnished rooms, restauranjjf parking space and lawn. In the same year there were only two 'C' class hotels in Leh. These provide simply furnished rooms. Bathrooms are attached with running cold water. A restaurant is also attached to the hotel. Ten hotels constituted the category of category of D class hotels. These provide simply furnished room with attached baths and running cold water. Restaurant facilities are absent. The Upper Class guest houses provide attached baths. In 1994 there were eight such guest houses. Two guest houses fell under the category of Medium Class and twenty nine under Economy Class respectively. These two types of guest houses have common baths. The guest houses of all 153
the three categories have a common kitchen which in-feet is a big attraction for the tourists. In many of these guest houses the owners and tourists have the meals together and most of the time local food is served which tourists really cherish. The State Tourism Department also provides inexpensive accommodation in the Tourist Bungalow. This public sector accommodation has suites and rooms at a nominal tarrif of Rs. 50/- and Rs. 25/- respectively per day. The accommodation in the Tourist Bungalow is provided to the The bed capacity available in Leh town in 1994 was 2132 beds of these 2,080 beds were provided by the private sector. Private hotels and guest houses with attached baths constituted 1,304 bed%> accounting for 62.7 per cent of total bed capacity of the private sector. Rest of the bed capacity was available at the private guest houses with common baths. These places are relatively cheap. It shows that a greater emphasis is on higher income tourist who prefer accommodations with facilities like attached baths. 7.2.2 ACCOMMODATION IN TRANSIT AREAS. Kargil town was an important transit town for the tourists travelling by road from Zojila. The road journey from Srinagar to Leh requires a night's halt at Kargil. Hence the visitors travelling to Leh spend an obligatory overnight here. The only tourists who spend mce than a night are the trekkers heading towards Suru valley, Zanskar, or the mountaineers going for different expeditions. They spend a few days at Kargil to get porters or to make arrangements for the provisions etc. This town does not offer any special attraction for the tourists. The hotel and guest house classification is similar to that of Leh towr^ the only exception being that the guest houses are not subdivided. Table 7.3 of Appendix-IV shows that there were Five A class, two B class two C class and three D class hotels in 1989. The total number of guest 154
FACILITIES AVAILABLE IN KARGIL TOWN 1 Government Handicrafts 18 Crown Hotel 2 Hotel Caravan Sara! 19 Government Handicrafts 3 Tourist Office 20 International Hotel 4 Tourist Bungalow 21 Tourist Bungalow 5 Hospitoi 22 Ncktui View Hotel 6 Hotel Scons it Restaurant 7 Argofi Hotel 23 Hotel Broadway Suru Vtew 8 Defuie Hotel It Restaurant 24 Evergreen Hotel 9 New light Hotel 25 Greenland Hotel 10 Post Office, 26 Hotel Slochen 11 Bonk 27 Toil Stond 12 Bobu Restouront 28 Trekking Food Store 13 Cho Cha Hotel ft Restaurant 29 Chemist 14 Moryno Hotel 30 Punjabi Jon to 15 Police Post Hotel k Restouront 1$ Bus / Tronsport Office Jc 31 Hotel Scone 17 Filling Station Telephone Eichonge 32 Hotel D'ZoJio SOURCE : SCHETTLER M. (1989} FIG. 7.3
houses was six. There were few unregistered guest houses^alsc^ run by the locals in their home premises. By and large the organized groups occupied the A class and B class hotels. C class and D class depended primarily on individual tourists. The guest houses are demanded by Jhe' individual tourists as well as trekkers. Even though the tourists sperjf a short time in Kargil town still the hotels <b and guest houses used to run at their full capacity. The total bed capacity of registered accommodation being 450 units in the same year. Since 199Qjj most of the tourists travelling by road have been approaching Ladakh by the Manaii-Leh Highway. Consequently the importance of Kargil as a transit town has reduced significantly. Now most of the tourists travelling by road from Manali halt at Sarchqp located in the district omj»~ of Lahaul and Spiti^of Himachal Pradesh. Sarchu is a tented colony run by the Himachal Tourism. Many private travel agencies have also set up their camps here. The tourists who travel directly from Delhi for Leh by road* mainly use Kyelong (district headquarter of Lahaul and Spiti) for overnight iutjujc*') halt. Most of the tourists who trek down to Padan^Zanska^J make Darcha town of the same district as their overnight stop. Darcha is the road-head from where their trek commences. At present the tourists who visit Kargil are the ome- who have to go to Zanskar by road. They have to stop over for the night at Kargil since it is a two day journey from Leh. Second category of tourists who go to Kargil town are those who trek from Darcha to Padam and go to Leh by road. tom there- The tourists who go for trekking to Suru valley and other routes around Kargil and Zanskar also visit Kargil. Mountaineers going towards Nun-Kun area invariably spend a couple of days at Kargil in order to make arrangements for their expeditions. As the flow of tourists to Kargil has reduced^ the demand for the accommodation has also come down substantially. In 1992 there were three A-Class and one C-Class hotel which were functioning. Six registered guest houses were also running though at a low occupancy. The demand for facilities in Kargil town is expected to stay low till the political conditions is Kashmir valley do not improve. 155
7.2.3 ACCOMMODATION IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. Accommodation is also available to the visitors in the countryside (see fig. 7.1) though on a small scal%> with modest facilities. The amenities provided are at best comparable to the simple guest houses in Leh town. Tourist Bungalows run by government occasionally provide a somewhat better service since these are frequented by higher ranked government employees. In most of these places there is no water supply and -these serve only vegetarian food. Dras offers a total bed capacity of 22 units in two Rest Houses run by government. Mulbekh consists of a tourist bungalow with six double beds and Bodh Kharboo has a Rest House with bed capacity of 12 units. Lamayuru has 3 guest houses with 22 beds of not a very good standard. Monastery gives a part of its building on contract which consists of one hall and two double rooms. o~ Three Kilometres before approach a very good meadow is converted to -the' camping site. Khaltse forms the transit place between Kargil and Leh. Though most tourists stop here for a few hours a few spend a night also. On the whole this settlement is frequented by the trekkers from Lamayuru and other places. The available accommodation consists of a Tourist Bungalow (with 6 double rooms) which is mostly used by officials on tour. A newly constructed Rest House with two double bed rooms and a Guest house with five double bed rooms-are also available. Next to khaltse is a small settlement of Nuria where there is a Guest Hous% with a total bed capacity of 6 bed^ and a camping site. A popular campsite is located at Uletokpo which is run by arrangement with Sita Travel agency. This is used by group tourists. Sita brings 80 groups per oursl season^rest of the accommodation is used by other% It-consists of 30 double tents. Two kilometres from this campsite is a meadow along the highway which is also used as a campsite by the individual tourists and hikers. Five kilometres from Uletokpo is the monastery named Rhizong Gompa which is a major attraction for the tourists. It has a guest house with a bed capacity of 10 beds. 156
Uih-iCK Saspol has a tourist bungak>\%4t- provides four double bed rooms with attached bath but no water supply. Besides there are two guest houses with a bed capacity of 12 units. Main attraction for the tourists who stop here is Alchi gomp% situated at a distance of about 4 kms. Alchi village also provides some accommodation such as a guest house with 6 double bed rooms. In addition there is a campsite run by Kai with 30 double tents used only for their package tours. other Some places around Leh town offer accommodation facilities One hotel is present in Stok with too a total bed capacity of 30 beds. Choglamsar has one A class hotel. Thiksey has a guest house and a Forest Rest House with total number of 20 beds. One Guest House is present in Hemis. A Tourist Bungalow with 8 bed% is available at Sakti. Padam in Zanskar has three guest houses and a Tourist Bungalow with total bed capacity of 68 beds. A campsite is also available. Panikhar consists of a Tourist Bungalow with 6 double bed rooms. These countryside lodgings do not come upto sanitary and hygienic minimum requirement^ Therefore^ they do not meet the demand of organized groups who prefer to set up tents instead. The guest houses are mainly used by individual travellers and trekkers. 7.2.4 ACCOMMODATION IN NEWLY OPENED AREAS In 1994 some parts of Nubra, Changthang and Drokpa area of Khalsia sub-division were ouv/i. declared open for-the* tourists. The decision to open these areas was very abrupt^,^.without any prior announcement. Therefore the tourist facilities in these areas in genera^ and accommodation facilities in particular are quite inadequate. Though a number of Guest Houses and Hotels are being planned but it will take a couple of years for adequate accommodation facilities to be available. (a) NUBRA : Disket is the sub-divisional Head Quarter of the Nubra Region. It has one P.W.D. Rest House with four double bed roorr\g of which two are for the V.l. Ps. Tourists 157
can avail the facility of the Rest House at nominal rate if it is not occupied by -the government officials. The other villages with JUid Rest Houses are Khardong, Khalsar, Sumoor and Panamik. There is eo* registered guest house in this area at present. However some locals accommodate visitors in their houses as paying guests. Some others have made minor alterations in their houses and have converted them into guest houses. Therefore- Unregistered private guest houses and camping sites are available in the villages of Khalsar, Khardong, Disket, Hunder, Tirit, Sumoor, Tegar, Tirisha and Panamik. There are no tents available at the campsites so the tourists have to pitch their own tents. Some hotels will be constructed at Disket, Hunder, Tegar and Panamik in the near future. (b) CHANGTHANG : The main attractions of the changthang area are the brackish lakes J>, such as Tsomo Riri and Pangong Tso. In the Tsomo Riri area facility of P.W.^. rest of house is available in the villages namely Tangtse^ Chunathang and Korzok. There is one Tourist Bungalow at Rumtse also. Tented camps are available at Chumathang and Korzok. Campsites have been demarcated as Kidmang, Tsokar and Himaya. a- t In the Pangong $rea, public sector accommodation facility is not available at present. There is a Hisker's Hut available at village Tangtse. Camping sites are available at 5 Durbuk, Tangtse, Muglab, Lukhung and ^panmik villages. At present there is no other accommodation facility available in this area. (c) DROKPA AREA : Like the Changthang area, Dropka area also lacks adequate infrastructure for the tourists. There is one P.W.D. Rest House at Baima Village. This aparffj there are some unregistered private guest houses and identified -eeming sites at Dhomkarl, Skurbuchar, Achinathang, Hanu Do. Biama and Dah villages. 158
7.3 TRANSPORTATION Access to Ladakh is possible throughout the year by air and from end of May to early October by road. It is believed that the best way of visiting Ladakh is to approach it by road and depart a_ by air. Reason beinc% that ^sudden gain in altitude by the aircraft over a short time can lead to acclimatization problems.. 7.3.1 AIR SERVICES Indian Airlines connects Leh town to Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar and Jammu. It runs flights from Delhi to Leh on four days in a wee% the days being Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. a. b On two of these day (Wednesday and Saturday) it sends,air jbus as the aircraft, (see Table 7.4). There is a marked improvement in the air services on this sector over the previous four to five years. In 1989, it offered only a bi-weekly service on this sector. The frequency between the Leh-Srinagar sector has reduced substantially. While in 198% this sector was connected on five days presently there is only one-flight in a week. This is primarily due to negligible tourist flow to Srinagar. Srinagar-Leh flight is mainly used by the Ladakhi locals and Kashmirijfe these days. Chandigarh and Jammu are connected on one day each in a week. TABLE 7.4 AIR ROUTES CONNECTING LEH SECTOR FREQUENCY AIR-CRAFT 1. Delhi - Leh - Delhi Every Wednesday Air Bus A 320 2. Delhi - Lei Delhi Leh - Chandigarh Chandigarh - Leh Friday Boeing 737 3. Delhi - Leh - Jammu Leh - Delhi Saturday Air Bus A 320 4. Delhi - Leh, Leh - Srinagar. Sri nagar - Leh Leh - Delhi Sunday Boeing 737 SOURCE: TOURIST OFFICE, LEH 159
These flights save a tot of time for the tourists. A road journey from Delhi to Leh which takes about four days by road is covered by air in just 50 to 60 minutes. Since most of the tourists going jpvttssexl to Ladakh are international tourists and are hard present-for times these flights are quite beneficial. About 28 per cent of all foreign tourists go to Leh by air (1989 figures). During winters all tourists fly in. Most of the conducted tours are organized in such a way that tourists arrive by bus and depart by air. About 800 to 1000 tourists leave Ladakh by air per week while 13C0 fly ir^j within the same period (1989 figures.) Leh airport is situated in a basin shaped valley wi'.h surrounding mountains upto more than 6,000m and the steady high winds do not allow the deoarture of a fully loaded aircraft. Therefore the outgoing flights from Srinagar and Chandigarh into Ladakh are workable fully locatec^ whereas the take-off weight of the same plane leaving Leh has to be restricted to approximately two-third of rt's capacity. Though air travel can be very convenient for the tourists visiting a remote area like Ladakf^ -+Hi, however -these flights are not very reliable. Very often the flights are cancelled due to bad weather conditions or scarcity of aircraft. Therefore flying in and out of Leh is always subject to chance. The main complaint of tourists is that they are not informed about these problems before they arrive in Leh. Tourists make their bookings before hand and come with confirmed seats. If one flight is cancelled their name is shifted to the waiting list of the next flight which means an extended stay. As the flights are heavily booked, passengers on the waiting list are seldom accommodated. Therefore most of the visitor^, whose flights are cancelled have to depart by road only. Many tourists have international air linkages as follow-ons and a delayed flight can disrupt their entire schedule. The employes of the administration and the Indian Army have priority on these civil flights, therefore a fixed number of seats in each flight are always reserved for them. Henc% during the peak season especially in July and Augus^ capacity problem arises. Howeve^with the increase in the number of flights on the Delhi-Leh sectors greater number of tourists can avail this facility. 160
During winter month^ Ladakh is connected to the outside regions only by airc hence the demand for air-travel rises greatly. Though the proportion of tourists is negligibly still the locals have problems in getting tickets. Intact^ each person has to make three to four bookings on different days much in advance. This is done becausy the weather is invariably not favourable for the flights to land or take-off. Therefore a large number of flights get cancelled. In case of cancellation the airlines does not issue a confirmed ticket for the next available flight for Leh sector as it is done in other places. 7.3.2 BUS SERVICE From the end of May until Mid-October^ the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transportation operates a daily bus service between Srinagar and Leh and between Leh and Manali on alternate days. The distance of 434 kilometres and 473 kilometres on respective routes is covered in two days with obligatory night halts. Road travel helps the tourists to acclimatize as there is a gradual ascent. Though locals still ply on the Srinagar-Leh highway presently tourists enter Ladakh primarily by the Manali-Leh route. This is a newly developed road and was rarely used by the tourists prior to 1990 when Kashmir problem arose. TABLE 7.5 LOCAL BUS TIME TABLE A. JKSRTC SERVICES DAY AND TIME 1. Diskit (Nubra) Every Friday 2. Panamik (Nubra) Every Monday 3. Kargil Alternately 4. Alchi Alternately 5. Manali (H.P.) Alternately 6. Tangtse (Durbuk) Every Thursday 7. Matho, Stok One Bus each.at 8 A.M. - 5 P.M. Every Day 8. Saboo Every Day at 8 A M. - 9 A.M., 2 P.M. - 5 P.M. 9. Leh - Srinagar Every Day two buses at 6 A.M. SOURCE: TOURIST OFFICE, LEH 161
Himachal Tourism runs a deluxe coach on alternate days. These Coaches provide more space, comfort and wide windows. They are booked on demanc^so the frequency is increased if required. The fare on this coach is Rs. 1000/- per persons which also includes the boarding and -Jeadtfig charges at Sarchu tented colony. This apart a number of travel agencies also run private buses on Manali-Leh route on demand basis. Though they charge less (Rs. 700/- per person).however their rates are excluding the enroute boarding and lodging changes. The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transportation (JKSRT) does not run any deluxe coaches. Their B-Class Coach plies on the route on alternate days. This facility is mainly for the locals. The number of buses is sometimes raised in case of a higher demand. Till 1989, there was a normal service of one B-Class bus with 33 seats and two to three A- Class coaches with 27 seats per day on the Srinagar-Leh route, run by JKSRTC.The number was increased as per the demand. During the peak season and prior to the Hemis festival the number cl of coaches used to go upto eight per day. There was also a weekly ^elux coach service available. Presently these buses cater to the demand of mainly the locals. Therefor^ these days one A-Class and one B-ClassAgoes on this route on daily -basis and number is very rarely increased. Most of the delux and A-Class coaches are in good condition and fulfil the technical requirements of the high mountains. However^ some of the B-Class local buses are not very well maintained due to which the passengers have to face inconvenience in case of a break down. The JKSRTCService has 23 buses providing linkages to short distance and eut-laying villages. 18 daily services cover local routes (round trip 118 kms), 6 services run 3 times a week and 16 run twice a week. 12 services run on alternate days (overnight stops) and 6 service* run four times a month. Local bus time table of some of the JKSRTC services is shown in Table 7.5. These services link Leh with most of the areas of tourist interest. There are 3 services per day linking most e of the monasteries surrounding Leh. Tourists can avail the first two services as third is reserved for the locals. For some destinations which are at a greater distance from Leh like Alchi^only alternate day services are available. These buses are very economical and convenient if a tourist has enough
time on hand. Though all the surrounding monastpes are linked with Leh towr^ hewever very few Hencemonastries are linked to each other. Therefore a tourist can visit one monasjry at a time unless these villages are located on the main arterial roads such as Upshi-Leh road and Leh-Khalsie road. Consequently, the tourists need a lot more tim% than they would take in a cab. The areas which are recently declared open are not^connected jwett with the bus service. Two ordinary buses go to Nubra valley in a week. One goes to Diskit and the other terminates at u. PanamjiZ. Both these buses connect all the villages that fall enroute. These buses go back to Leh f>c-r uocje-k.. on the next day. Changthang area is also connected to Leh by two buse% en-week basis. One bus goes to Tangtse (Durbuk) near Pangong Lake and the other goes to Korzog which falls on the way 5 ol to Tsomo Riri. Dah Baima area of Khalsie 'pub-division is connected by only one bus in a week which goes to Daf^ while stopping at all the villages that fall along the road. All the local buses are Jbd' B-Class buses with a seating capacity of 34 seats. This bus service A S barely manages to cater to the demand of the locals. Sinee-ihe frequency is so lov\fe most of the time the buses are over crowded by locals. Hence it is very difficult for the tourists to avail these services especially to the newly opened areas. A number of private buses ply on the local routes especially to the Leh town and surrounding villages. They have a relatively good frequency as private buses leave^ after every two hours to most^he surrounding villages from Leh. However the newly opened areas are not covered by the private buses at present. Most of the individual tourists face a lot of problem in travelling to these Isrokikfh^tUj areas as_4h private cab service is very expensive. 7.2.3 TAXI SERVICE The third means of conveyance available for the tourists is the private taxi service. Though the number of cabs used by the tourists to travel from Manali or Srinagar to Leh is less, taxis are of importance for internal tourist^ transport. There is a Taxi Union in Leh towrij, which has fixed the 163
TABLE 7.6 RATES OF TAXI ROUTES (Rs.) S. N. NAME OF ROUTE RATE (Rs.) 1. Leh - Airport - Leh 115 2. Leh - Saboo Gompa 175 3. Leh - Stakna - Mat ho 710 4. Leh - Shey - Thiksey Matho 1,136 5. Leh - Chemrey 700 6. Leh - Gya 1,050 (LOWER LADAKH SECTOR) 7. Leh - Chilling - Sumdo 1,135 8. Leh - Lamayuru 2,024 9. Leh - Kargil 3,099 10. Leh - Srinagar 434 11. Leh - Lamayura - Heniskot 2,568 (NUBRA VALLEY SECTOR) 12. Leh - Disket 3,300 13. Leh - Pananik 3,700 14. Leh - Kardungla 1,150 (UPER LADAKH - CHANG THANG) 15. Leh - Pangong Tso 5,000 16. Leh -Tsomo Riri 6,500 17. Leh - Tsomo Riri - Tsoker 8,100 18. Leh - Manali 14,145 SOURCE: TOURIST OFFICE, LEH routes and charges. The Union has charted out certain travel circuits around Leh town and some going as far as Lamayuru, Nubra, Changthang etc. The most popular are the full day and half day e, sight-seeing circuits to the monasteries in the vicinity of Leh town. Primary tourist- attractions are within three hour driving distance of Lel^, hence many tourists find it more convenient to hire a cab, as this fiejps^them to visit more places in relatively short time. 164
The Taxi Union has fixed rates however the rates are on the higher side. [See the table 7.6], Even the international tourists find the cabs expensive. Howeve^ some of the taxi owners who were interviewed said that the rates were kept high because the tourist season in Ladakh is short and whatever is earned in four months is the income for the whole year. Secondly, due to rough terrain the running cost and depreciation of the vehicle is quite high. On an average for a distance of 130 kilometre^, 50 iitere-of fuel is consumed and that costs around Rs. 800The charges of repairs and maintenance are also high in a region like Ladakh. Thirdly, since the proportion of foreign tourists is very higf^ the locals feel that these tourists have a higher purchasing power since they come from advanced countries and they will be able to pay high price as there is no other comfortable mode of conveyance available. The tourists who avail the taxi service are mainly the- group tourists and a small percentage of individual tourists. Domestic tourists rarely hire cabs especially on popular routes where private and public buses ply. Many times individual tourists collectively take cabs as each taxi accommodates 4-5 persons. y The type of vehicle that is used as a cab is Ambassador, Gypsiff and other Jeeps on the travel circuits around Leh and Jeeps and Jongas on the Leh-Manali and Leh-Srinagar Highways. These taxis do business mainly from June to September. During winter^ they remain in Leh or Kargil and only few provide local services as the demand by the locals is quite low. Many taxis are sent to Manali and Srinagar before the passes close down. This period is mainly used for maintenance and repairs. The number of cabs have increased rapidly in the last few years. It is because of incentives and loans given by the government. These cabs are generally owned by the locals and some outsiders who come to Ladakh during the season. There are many operators who run a number of taxis and pay salary and daily allowances to the drivers. 165
At present the newly opened areas can be visited only by hiring taxis by the tourists. This is because tourists cannot be accommodated on already overcrowded local buses which run at a low frequency. Since the rates of taxis are very high, (For example for Leh-Pangong Lake a distance of 150 kilometres, the charges are Rs. 7,000/-) a number of tourists are unable to visit these places. The survey shows that a high percentage of the tourists who come as individual tourists and organize their trip themselves are quite dissatisfied with the transportation facilities. They very well understand the constraints under which these facilities are provided and do not mind compromising on discomfort. However their main objection is on not being given full information. For example, the tourists are not made aware of the irregularity and uncertainly of flights 4Jw connecting Leh. Most of these tourists come from developed nations and do not have much experience with uncertainty in flights. As many tourists get their bookings for international flight connected with their domestic flight dates, many times they do not keep the provision for the delay and end up missing the international flights. There is however an improvement in the response given by the tourists over last five years. UikJLat Earlier tourists had to face a lot of problems whist- travelling to Leh from Srinagar. Their main complaint was regarding the undesirable behaviour of certain people in this trade. Firstly the tourists were discouraged to go to Leh and all attempts were made to prolong their stay at Srinagar. Secondly a lot of problems were created for them at the booking counters of bus stands. Many tourists were charged for A-Class coaches on Srinagar-Leh highway and were provided with tickets for ordinary B-Class buses. On the contrary the tourists who were surveyed recently did not complain of any such problem while travelling from Manali, Five tourists dic^ however^ relate their bitter experience. They were made to believe by the tourism department in Delhi that conditions in Kashmir valley has normalized and there would be no problems for the tourists. The tourists agreed and decided to travel to Leh via Srinagar. When they finally arrived in Srinagar they had to face a lot of problems. 166
On the whole the travel services have improved. Even the number of flights connecting Leh and Delhi have been increased to four flights a week as compared to two flights earlier. Now on two days the aircraft used is an Airbus with a greater capacity. In the internal travel main problem lies with lack of the public transport facilities connecting newly opened areas and the high taxi rates. If these problems can be looked intc^the travel will become much more convenient for the tourists. 7.3 INFORMATION SERVICE Tourist Reception Centres are located in Leh, Kargil and Padam. The Tourist Reception Centre in Leh is manned by Assistant Director, Tourism, a Tourist Officer and two junior assistants. The centre provides necessary information regarding transportation, accommodation, places of tourists interest, trekking routes etc. It provides brochures on Ladakh and maps ot Leh and surroundings, free of charge to the tourists. In addition its job > to provide guide facilities and give detailed information on attractions, timings, tariffs and entry fee etc. In case of a serious ailment, accident or injury to the tourist, the tourist office has to make arrangement of rescu^ as the staff has an access to the helicopter service in case of an emergency. This is very much essential since the altitude and climatic conditions of Ladakh are such that anyone can get prone to serious ailment such as Pulmonary oedema, high altitude sickness etc. Large number of tourists go for adventure tourism like trekking, mountaineering, rafting and any accident can take place during the process. It is the duty of the tourist officer to take care of such a situation and provide all the possible help. The survey shows that most individual tourists are quite dissatisfied with the Information it. services. Their first complaint fir that the Tourist Reception Centre is not ccnveniently located. It is at the furthest end of the towr^ near the airport. Therefore it is not easily accessible to majority of the tourists who come in by bu% since their getting off point in the centrally located Tourist Bungalow. (Where the information services were located prior to the commissioning of the new building.) Even the tourists who fly inq take a taxi for the town directly from the airport and do not visit the Tourist Reception Centre. Once they reach the centre of the town they are surrounded by 167
9 k. a k the children of Sliest )4ouse owners showing them the cards with the details of J&uest Houses. Tourists find themselves totally confused and tost. There is one office in tie Tourist Bungalow where assistant Tourist Officer sits. Howeve^ very often he is not availably instead a peon jn-found who cannot interact with tourists due to lack of knowledge of any foreign language. The only way they get some information is from the other touristy who have already spend a few days and are better acquainted with the place. Most individual tourists feel that the information is inadequate and not satisfactory and guide services are also not upto the required standard. Recently some educated unemployed youth have been given a two week course but their standards have not been ascertained. The Tourist Officer is really functioning as the protocol officer of the hospitality department of the government. He has no time to devote to his own work other than maintaining a count of tourist arrivals which is fed to him by the tourist control points from the ^irpor^and Dras. The vehicle of his department is also 3 er on duty for the V.I.P.'s and other (government ^Officials who occupy most of the accommodation at the Tourist Bungalow (bed capacity 22 units). They also generally visit the place at the height of the tourist season as the weather conditions are good. Another Tourists Information Centre is situated in Kargil town. This centre is a part of the Tourist Bungalow. The Tourist Reception Centre is centrally located and is accessible to the tourists. Since-most tourists spend only one night ther%,they do not need much help from the information department. All they need is the details of lodging facilities. Also most buses from Srinagar reach Kargil in the evening when the Information department is closed and they leave for Leh early in the morning. They do not get an opportunity to interact with the Tourist Officer. 7.4 TRAVEL AGENCY Travel agencies are considered another criterion of tourism infrastructure. In Ladakh, travel agencies have not yet attained any significant importance. There is not a s.ngle travel agency which 168
TABLE 7.7 NAME OF THE TRAVEL AGENT IN LEH S. N. Name of the Travel Agent in Leh S. N. Name of the Travel Agent in Leh 1. M/s. Silk Route Travels 18. M/s. Kangla Tours & Travels 2. M/s. Sandy Tours & Travels 19. M/s. Extra-Ordinary Tours & Travels 3. M/s. Yak Tail Travels 20. M/s. Adventure North Tours & Travels 4. M/s. Trans Himalaya Exp. Ltd. 21. M/s. Dragon Tours & Travels 5. M/s. Explore the Himalaya Travels 22. M/s. SECMOL Tours & Travels 6. M/s. Yeti Bereau Tours & Travels 23. M/s. Indus Himalaya Explorers 7. M/s. Wandchok & Co. Tours & Travels 24. M/s. Gypsys World Treks & Tours 8. M/s. Yungdung Tours & Travels 9. M/s. Changthang Tours & Travels 25. M/s. Holiday Tours & Travels 10. M/s. Kara Koram Tours & Travels 26. M/s. Mamoshong High Adventure 1l'. M/s. Yak Travels 27. M/s. Voyages Explotra Travels 12. Ms/. Great Himalaya Adventure 28. M/s. Ri-Mo Exp. 13. M/s. Himalaya Adventure Tours & Travels 29. M/s. Shayok Tours & Travels 14. M/s. Kang-Chen Treaks. 30. M/s. Palie Travels 15. M/s. High Land Adventure 31. M/s. Ladakh Adventure 16. M/s. Antilop Tours & Travels 32. M/s. T. S. Adventure Ladakh 17. M/s. Kartha Tours & Travels 33. M/s. Summer Adventure SOURCE: TOURIST OFFICE, LEH in fully self reliant. They merely serve as handling offices for national and international tour operators, headquarters being in Srinagar, Manali, Delhi and few other cities of Europe and America. Their main job is to check the reservation of hotel bookings and flights; to take care of the planning and organization of local cultural trips. Most agencies recruit guides outside Ladakh, however in certain cases local guides are arranged by the branch office in Leh. Porters are generally recruited from Ladakh itself. At present there are 33 local travel agents in Ladakh, (see Table 7.7). 7.5 SHOPPING FACILITIES Shopping facilities are available for tourists only in Leh and Kargil towns. There were 76 souvenir shops in 1990 in Leh town. This apart, there were 34 market stands offering souvenirs and 169
antiques and 15 handicraft shops selling handicraft items alongwith other goods. There are other shops too supplying a general range of goods which are not oriented specifically to tourists. One can find a few wayside stands offering antiques at the entrance of some popular monastries like Lamayuru, Alchie etc. The souvenir demand focuses particularly on Tibetan jewellery, religious scroll paintings (thankasb religious ritual instruments, traditional carpets and antiques. Tourists are very much fascinated by these items and are willing to pay high prices to own them. Therefore there is a lot of potential in marketing of souvenirs. However the local Ladakhis have not commercialized their skills and have not entered the souvenir industry in a big way yet. They still prefer to supply their handicraft items to the monastries and to local people. Most of the souvenirs which come to Ladakh are produced in Kashmir, Nepal, Dharmsala, Delhi and Punjab. Even the souvenir shops are controlled mainly by the Kashmiris and Tibetans. The survey shows that Kashmiris hold 65 per cent of all souvenir shops. Tibetal vendors who come from Himachal Pradesh and various other Tibetan settlements run 15 per cent of shops and market stands. Local Ladakhis control the rest. 90 per cent of tourists who were interviewed had complaints against the behaviour of Kashmiri shop keepers. They almost force the tourists to purchase their items and that loo at high rates. Most of them sell fake items and claim them to be locally made. Though some Kashmiries sell exquisite handicraft items made in Kashmir Valley, however their behavious is not liked by the tourists. Tourists are however, very happy with the attitude to most local and Tibetan shopkeepers. The researcher however observed that a lot more commercialization has come into the minds of the local Ladakhis as well, over the previous five years. 98 per cent of respondents who were repeat tourist felt that the attitude of local shopkeepers had changed mainly in the Leh town, over the previous years. It can be concluded that for most of the tourists going to a region like Ladakh, the quality of the infrastructure and tourist facilities in not the main priority. However, the basic infracture is a 170
necessity. This is the reason of concentration of most of the tourists in and around Leh town, as other areas lack the minimal facilities. Again due to absence of basic tourist infrastructure in newly opened areas, not many tourists can pay a visit inspite of a longing to visit them. 171