NIMAS cycling expedition connects people across 6 ASEAN countries

A four-member team of cyclists completed 53,000 kilometres across six ASEAN countries in over a month as part of an expedition undertaken to commemorate 75 years of India's Independence and celebrate the country's G20 Presidency.

India formally assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1.

The expedition from the Defence Ministry's National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) led by Col Ranveer Singh Jamwal completed its journey across six ASEAN countries has completed 53,000 km in 37 days across six ASEAN countries building strong people-to-people connections and tracking the Indian National Army route of the 1940s.

The six ASEAN countries included Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos and Singapore.

 

We started from Vietnam and culminated our expedition at the Indian National Army Monument marker at Singapore's Esplanade Park which is one of the eleven World War II markers erected in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II,"Col Jamwal told PTI on Sunday.

The experience has been great. We met a lot of Indian National Army (INA) veterans. We also visited monumental places which are related to INA and also visited Vietnam's biggest war cemetery and the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia, he said.

Visiting Angkor Wat was a historic learning experience for the team. The age-old temple in Cambodia has been historically linked to Lord Vishnu, said Col Jamwal.

The toughest part of the expedition included cycling up the 3,383m peak of Fansipan mountain in northern Vietnam, according to Capt Pankaj Singh, 28, a medical officer and cyclist of the expedition.

Heat and humidity were major climate challenges in Laos. The dehydrated cyclists used to consume up to 10 litres of water within three hours, said Capt Pankaj Singh.

The people of Laos were friendly. On learning the difficulties of consuming their mostly non-vegetarian food, some Laotian families allowed us to cook our meals in their kitchens, said Naik Himat Singh, 29, sharing his experiences of having met people of different cultures, lifestyles and simplicity.

This was very touching and compassionate on their part, Himat Singh said of his interaction with the Laotian communities.

He fondly recalled the elaborate New Year celebration in Vietnam. The Vietnamese were proud to celebrate their New Year, locally called Tet for the lunar new year, for seven days with cultural performances, which itself was a different experience for us.

Visit to Thailand brought the cyclists closer to the tradition and culture of India through the 7-11 mini-marts that was most of the time a source for their daily meals.

Visiting Thai cities such as Hua Hin, a seaside resort on the Gulf of Thailand, was a pleasant experience for it is known to have the world's best Golf Courses and a 29-km cycling track.

The people of Thailand had respected us very well as they learned about our adventure of the seven nations on cycles, said a satisfied Col Jamwal.

Moving on to Malaysia was like getting home. We met many INA veterans, he added.

Upon reaching Singapore, the team noted the city-state's environmental protection efforts, electric vehicles operating across the city-state and the ever-growing number of cycling tracks.

The team members cycled across the islands and visited a number of monuments related to India's struggle for independence, especially Singapore being the starting point of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's calls for independence during the Japanese occupation of the now prosperous island city-state.

The expedition team will take flight back to New Delhi on Monday, with Col Jamwal reporting to NIMAS on reaching out to people of Southeast Asia and delivering clean and green messages from India.