Laos holiday, highlights of Laos

A low-key, small group, grassroots approach to travel means lower impact and greater understanding. On this trip, you learn to cook traditional Laotian food with friends of the operator, visit various local craft villages, supporting the community and centuries-old local industries. Laos is often overlooked by first time visitors to South East Asia so tourist dollars spent responsibly can make a big difference to the local economy. You travel with a local leader, stay in locally owned accommodation and eat in authentic Laotian restaurants which means your money goes directly into the pockets of local people rather than the bank account of a big international conglomerate.

This trip is focused on respecting and benefiting the local people and the environment of this country. On this trip you will be lead by an experienced local leader passionate about their country's history, heritage and natural beauty that will help you to get 'under the skin' of their country and see it through the eyes of a local. This trip stays at locally run accommodation; we eat at local restaurants and travel on local transport. This ensures the financial return to the local economy opens up training and employment opportunities - and allows for informal and meaningful interaction between our travellers and local people.

In 2009, we aim to neutralise all major emissions created by our trips, so that they can be offered as the best green alternative available. This means all greenhouse gases emitted by transport and accommodation during all of our trips will be balanced by an Australian-based ‘profit for purpose’ company that invests all funds into renewable energy and will invest in projects aimed at ‘neutralising’ your contribution to greenhouse gases.

The maximum group size on all of our adventures is 16 passengers – with exception of some African trips (24 max) and in the Polar Regions, where our ship carries a maximum of 110 passengers. Travelling in small groups ensures we make significantly less impact on the natural environment, as well as breaking down many of the communication barriers presented by a larger group.