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51st state
12-03-2007, 05:44 PM
Anyone out there crazy enough to be interested in a trip to the Himalayas?

no real fixed plans but just as a suggestion...

fly in/out of Calcutta India and head up to Sikkim,Nepal,Bhutan maybe Assam Nagaland and Aranachal Pradesh.

I have been to the western himalayas before in 2004

must be over 18, I'm in UK, but guess anyone who can get to Calcutta could go. suggested date Sept 2008 maybe?

anyone interested please PM me and we'll talk.

by the way... I am not a travel agent, or a nutter. its just an idea.

Tropicallvr
12-17-2007, 02:28 AM
Have you gotten any takers? Sounds like a well needed plan for us northern growers. I'd reccomend a import permit before you go(for seeds and plants). Lots of film, 35mm/digital/video.
I've wanted to explored eastern India for quite a while. I hope you are able to go again, and I wouldn't doubt if you found a new species or two. These fringe plants like Musa are more undiscovered than you think.
Just right on the Mexican rivera(near Puerto Vallarta) I discovered at least one new species of bamboo, and with all those tourists just a few miles away.
I Emailed the athourity on S.american bamboos, and she couldn't figure it out, so I named it Chusquea escensi, which means climber.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/Tropicallvr/spiderbamboo5.jpg
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/Tropicallvr/spiderbamboo3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/Tropicallvr/spiderbamboo4.jpg
HOPE THESE WORK, AND HOPE YOU GET SOME GREAT PICTURES IN THE HIMILAYAS.

dablo93
12-17-2007, 12:18 PM
very cool that you discovered a new plant!!:D
much luck there in the Himalaya if yu go:)

Basjoofriend
12-18-2007, 10:25 AM
Hi,

very interesting. You should look for bananas in the coldest and highest areas, we need new banana species which are as hardy as Musa basjoo or even hardier.

This will update my German banana book in the future.

Best wishes
Joachim

51st state
12-18-2007, 11:50 AM
thanks Joachim

hows the book coming along by the way? I have loads of seed photos I need to put up on the site. I tend to photograph all species next to a ruler so we can all identify the seeds.

I really need to get to Bhutan to see if I can find the Musa Griersonii which are there and yes I agree there will almost certainly be other new species present both there and in N E India. There are new hardy species in Yunnan and Burma, so there must be more in India & Bhutan.

frohe weihnachten und ein gutes neues jahre!!

magicgreen
12-18-2007, 03:27 PM
I want to go. Let me see if i can work out some of the details for the trip. Gotta do some research! Magicgreen:nanarobot:

Basjoofriend
12-18-2007, 05:42 PM
Hi 51st state,

yesterday I'm ready with the banana book, uploaded the manuscript file and the cover file to the publish house in the internet (BoD Verlag, http://www.bod.de). And I also ordered one reference copy to check the pic quality. And my lector Chris will examine the book, then I will correct the errors in the book, and at least then I will publish my book on the book market.

Ich wünsche Dir auch ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und ein glückliches neues Jahr 2008. Happy Christmas and happy New Year 2008 to you!

Gruß
Joachim

AnnaJW
12-19-2007, 03:46 AM
I wish I could get over my fear of flying! That woud be a truly great trip!

mskitty38583
12-19-2007, 08:53 AM
would love to go , but dont have the money to go. and then there is school.:2761:

51st state
12-19-2007, 03:31 PM
A bit late to start recommending xmas presents but you could do worse that to check out...

Himalayan Journals - notes of a naturalist Vol 1 and vol 2 by J D Hooker (yes thats as in M. Hookerii) its available on amazon. ISBN-10: 8185019827
ISBN-13: 978-8185019826

failing that read it online, the descriptions of Dorjiling and Sikkim are delicious

http://www.harvestfields.ca/HerbBooks/01/001/00.htm

MediaHound
12-19-2007, 04:11 PM
Congrats on your discovery Tropicallvr!

This trip sounds fun! We once thought about a Bananas.org trip to Hawaii to search for wild bananas.

magicgreen
12-19-2007, 05:14 PM
Jarred, that sounds like another great adventure! Have you all given that any more consideration?

MediaHound
12-20-2007, 11:54 AM
We had a member in Hawaii that was going to help out with it but he has not been online in a bit.
He's out in the jungle probably tracking down the 30 or so kinds of Hawaiian bananas thats still left to rediscover from his checklist of 80 or so.

Tropicallvr
12-26-2007, 05:44 PM
Found this article about Musa wild and cultivated in India at various elevations. Would be good to find the author.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0327e/a0327e01.pdf
This page also mentions(at the bottom)- a few edible bananas that aren't very available unless in India, and should be cold hardy.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/publications/pubs/garden0502/bananas.asp

51st state
12-26-2007, 09:08 PM
Hi Tropical, thanks for that.

I'll add it to my file.

I'm not compktely convinced by the accoracy of the RHS article (though it is very good) and sums up the Banana plant market in the UK... Musa Malbhog, Dhussray and Hahare are all new to me. has anyone come accross these? or have any info on them?

Also the article states that Musella Lasiocarpa is now beinmg classified as Musa Lasiocarpa, is this corect?

the plant finder is brilliant. Why cant we have a world Plantfinder? it would make life so much easier...

tony palmer
12-27-2007, 02:59 AM
Hi Kev,
have you thought about Myanmar you would find hardy types of Bananas Aroids gingers and palms in northern Burma, it borders Yunnan Tibet and India, plant collectors are reluctant to go there, because most of it is inaccessible by road and the old trading roots are often blocked by land slips, its the largest sub-tropical forest in the world were many of the plants i have mentioned grow at altitude and are not named yet.

Tropicallvr
12-27-2007, 11:09 AM
:nanertank:
How dangerous is it there on the Burma border? I saw an awesome show about farmers from the Burma border with Thailand that still practiced acient martial arts, because of the long tradition of Burmese aggression. Trebrown is selling a few seeds from that area, maybe he'd let you hook up with his wholesalers?

51st state
12-27-2007, 11:57 AM
Yes, I mean c'mon. ..I dont mind going well off the beaten track but Burma is risky the tribal areas of India will be unruly enough. but I agree, it is tempting.

microfarmer
12-30-2007, 10:46 PM
You just gotta post a photo journal on this site so we who can not come get a peek...

klemmthamm
12-30-2007, 11:46 PM
If only I had some extra time and money :D

Zac in NC
01-08-2008, 06:39 PM
I would If I had the extra dough laying around. Its hard enough just getting the time to hit Mexico.

Zac

mrbungalow
01-09-2008, 06:40 AM
51st State, I have been watching this thread closely. Maybe this would be something for me. I love bananas, and a good adventure! Also, the same areas are home to some trachycarpus species wich would also be great to collect seeds of. Living in England, do you by any chance know anyone of indian heritage who might speak indian? That would definately be a big help on such a trip.

Erlend

51st state
01-09-2008, 04:16 PM
Hi Erlend

I thought you might be interested.

The best thing about having an empire is that we made everyone speak English.
I travelled extensively in the western Himalaya in 2004 and had no language problems.
The only area where there is likely to be any dificulty is Arunachal Pradesh as the border with China (Tibet) is disputed, but permits can be obtained. This is the least explored area, which also borders Myanmar (Burma)

I will PM you at the weekend with a bit more detail.

Kev

Zac in NC
01-12-2008, 02:54 PM
51st State, I have been watching this thread closely. Maybe this would be something for me. I love bananas, and a good adventure! Also, the same areas are home to some trachycarpus species wich would also be great to collect seeds of. Living in England, do you by any chance know anyone of indian heritage who might speak indian? That would definately be a big help on such a trip.

Erlend


I too thought about this. I know Joe K in New Jersey had talked a year or so ago about this same general idea. Iknow there are lots of plants I'd love to see, and not just bananas and palms, but aroids and Rhododendrons and Oaks. I'm a huge plant nerd......

Zac

tony palmer
07-19-2008, 03:21 AM
Hi Kev,
I thought I would give this thread a kick start again have you made any plans to go to North East India.?

marksbananas
07-19-2008, 06:30 AM
I would love to go but i cant this year i would be up for it if something ws happening next year, it would be wicked finding new bananas and also would be brilliant to see them growing in there natural habitat.

51st state
07-20-2008, 02:26 PM
Hi tony
no firm plans, but still well up for it. have a few species on my menu

Tropicallvr
07-20-2008, 02:33 PM
Would the fall be the best time to see them in bloom, after summer rains? Maybe even get to collect some seeds.

51st state
07-21-2008, 01:12 AM
i think so. i went in early september last time. after the monsoon (which is just miserable) and before it gets too cold (and belive me it does at higher elevations)
Its a big country, but top of my list is Sikkim (Bhutan) Aranachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa and the Khasia Hills (a big list I know)

tony palmer
07-21-2008, 04:08 AM
Hi Kev,
I’m home alone at the mo my wife is working in Andra pradesh Hyderabad for two weeks, that got me thinking about your post on North east India, but to be honest I don’t know to much about that area you are interested in, but I have wanted to visit Yunnan particularly the Kunming institute of botany, they have a excellent botanical garden and that can save you a lot of leg work when looking for hardy bananas, the areas I’m looking at in Yunnan are Gaoligongshan that borders Myanmar and Xishuangbanna that borders northern Laos, there both about 12 hours drive from Kunming, you can get a cheap return flight from London to Kunming for around £500 so that’s not to bad but then there’s the 3-4 week stay there and car hire, I’m looking into it and if the total cost isn’t to high I’m going to go next September, that’s when the fruit of hardy bananas ripen there, if it’s a go I’ll give you a bell to see if your interested! here is a bit about Gaoligongshan, The Reserve lies in the central subtropical zone. Due to its location in southwest monsoon zone of the Indian Ocean, wind often blows from the west. The high peaks and deep valleys of the Mountains have created in this mountain area three different climate zones, namely, subtropical, temperate and cold temperate. From the foot of the mountain to its top there are concretely 6 different types namely south subtropical, mid subtropical, north subtropical, warm temperate, mid temperate, and cold temperate zones. The precipitation increases gradually from 736.7 millimeters on the east slope with an elevation of 755 meters, 1,763 millimeters on the west slope with an elevation of 1,440 meters to 3,904.4 millimeters at the top with an elevation of 3,210 meters. This constitutes a unique multi-level climate and an entire subtropical ecosystem resulting in its strikingly splendid landscape of biological and climate vertical belts, which leaves people an impression, that different section of the mountains is in different season even on the same day.


Tony