Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
Dehradun based adventure travel company, Wanderland Adventures, aims to offer ‘unforgettable memories’ to its clientele through customised tours ranging from trekking to meditation camps to company off-sites and team building activities. An interesting development in recent times has been the increasing number of families who have been going for treks. “Most of the families are from major metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with few individuals joining in from Tier II cities. Trekking initially was restricted to age groups of 20 to 35, but most of the trips we did this summer was for families, who go on these treks with rafting and camping,” said Rishi Murdeshwar, founder and partner, Wanderland Adventures.
Trekking holidays, in fact, has witnessed much more growth compared to other adventure activities, informed Murdeshwar. For families now Har-ki-dun in Uttarakhand is a popular destination. This place is in Govind National Park. “These are seven days trek – 25 km each way. It is not a demanding trek – it takes three days to go up and three down – about 50 km over five days. Even 10 to 11 year old kids join in,” he added.
Recently the company has started doing a lot of inbound, mainly from European markets. Wanderland Adventures also organises meditation and wellness camps, along with treks. “We do treks to Tungnath temple, which is the highest Shiva temple in the world. Those places are conducive to healing and wellness and includes partly meditation,” he mentioned. The company has tied up with Divya Aakruti, an institution focused on healing through art. In winters, the popular adventure activity is undoubtedly skiing. “While Gulmarg in Kashmir is a popular skiing destination, Auli is picking up. Auli is like the skiing capital of India. Earlier it was mostly confined to foreigners and very few Indians, but a lot of resorts are coming up in Auli,” he stated.
All the guides engaged by the company have passed out from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Some of them are also specialised in search and rescue operation. Alpine tents are used for accommodation during the treks. “We charge a premium but the quality of tent is excellent – we import the tents, sleeping bags, kitchen tents and dining tent,” said Murdeshwar.