To reach Giri Camp near Solan, Himachal Pradesh, from where the paved road ends, you drive down 10 km of dirt track, cross the Giri Ganga river, and walk a kilometre along its bank to reach the campsite. Hardly extreme adventure, you would say. Yes, it’s quite common, and that’s the point—sites like Giri Camp are now dime a dozen. Owner Anurag Sharma is amazed by the clients he’s getting from places not known to have a history of adventure sports—Kaithal in Haryana, for instance. Sharma, who quit a media job in Delhi to start Giri Camp, says, “With due respect to these cities, I never thought I’d get people from Kaithal or Kapurthala!” Adventure sport is no longer the preserve of the metros; through the media and the internet, it has filtered down to small towns and the young there are flocking to places off the radar with a new relish.
Adventure tourism, though still a small part of the tourism industry, is rapidly gaining in numbers through new converts, mostly young professionals. Sharma...
