Start-up stories are beautiful. One such start-up based out of Guwahati is here to tell a story through their beautiful sojourns.

Chalo Hoppo, a Northeast-based travel company, was founded by a few youngsters who left their jobs to start a life filled with travel. They say their main focus is to bridge the gap between Northeast India and the outside world. They claim they explore and discover places that even the locals would not know of..!

Their trips are curated, very carefully, to fit the needs of all kinds of travellers. They organise various weekend trips, night camps, treks, customised travels, group tours, etc.

How it all began?

Every time you meet someone from the Northeast India either on a football field or in some music gig, yes all the clichéd places you expect to find them, you tell them how awesome their land is and how you would love to visit it someday, while subtly slipping in a comment about their great hair and smooth skin.

You do. You know it.

And if you happen to be the Northeastern friend, be you from Nagaland or Manipur, you also want them to come visit, because the truth is that Northeast India is beautiful. But there’s more, much more to Northeast India than the clichés. For example there are a lot of people who have curly hair, don’t watch football and can’t hold an instrument but they are as much a part of Northeast India as others. A lot of them are vegetarians too…!

Most of us have limited knowledge about the region in general.

Being at the helm of this situation one such boy from Assam realized that maybe it is time to help solve this rhetoric and the next time somebody says “I want to visit your hometown!”, you hand them a map with an itinerary and ask them about the dates that they are free to come by!

This boy decided to leave his job (working with Coupon Duniya, Mumbai at the time) and jump full time into building this idea with the core thought focused around “bridging the gap between mainland India and the exotic northeast.”

A few calls from Guwahati to Mumbai and within a week two like-minded guys, one from Tripura and one from Kerala were on board because they connected to the vision. The first few meetings were conducted remotely over Google hangouts and the fourth and final ChaloHoppo guy from Jorhat (Assam) joined the team, over Google hangouts.

  • Boy from Assam: Chetan Jalan, business development, sales and finance (previously at Coupon Duniya)
  • Boy from Tripura: Nishant Sinha, communication and branding (previously digital marketing manager, Ketto)
  • Boy from Kerala: John Rapheal, operations and sales (previously senior content strategist Foxymoron media solutions)
  • Boy who Jorhat: Devraj Barooah, camping and experience curator (previously working at a sports marketing firm)

The essence of Chalo Hoppo

The idea is not just to show people beautiful locations and feed scrumptious food. The fact is there are 8 states in the region and each with its unique history, culture, landscapes, and people.

“At Chalo Hoppo we want to bring the two Indias closer and tourism seemed to be the best way to do it. We promote two key things – responsible tourism and limitless fun,” they said.

Indeed, a story unfolding…

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About Jayanta Deka

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Jayanta Deka is a Guwahati-based journalist with over a decade of experience in journalism. Tracking new media, technology, startups and politics interest him. He can be reached through [email protected]