India Himalaya trekking holiday
| country: | India |
| location: | Indian Himalayas |
| trip type: | Moderate walking holidays |
| departures: | 2010: 15 May, 11 Sep, 18 Sep |
| price: | From £1395 (21 days) excluding flights. See below for price inclusions. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Although the Kuari Pass (3640m) is not high by Himalayan standards, the views from the Pass rival some of the finest in the entire Himalayan range. To the north the peaks stretch to the Tibetan Plateau while to the east Nanda Devi (7816m) – the highest mountain in India - is ringed by a host of 7000m peaks.
This is one of the many highlights of this exceptional trek that follows trails through luxuriant forest of bamboo, conifer and oak and many traditional Hindu villages. At higher elevations the meadows are carpeted with wildflowers while the serene lakes and the shepherd encampments beneath the sacred peaks add to the beauty of the area.
Combine this with no shortage of magnificent campsites, an incomparable trekking service and many opportunities to wander to the high ridges and you have the essence of this fulfilling trek.
Inclusions:20 breakfasts, 18 lunches and 18 dinners Airport transfers on Day 1 and Day 21 Expert bilingual guide Group medical kit Good quality accommodation in Delhi & Naini Tal Gear package for use during the trip including kit bag Sleeping bag Down or fibre filled jacket and insulated sleeping mat Private transportation All park entrance fees and trekking permits Mules to carry all personal and group equipment.
This is one of the many highlights of this exceptional trek that follows trails through luxuriant forest of bamboo, conifer and oak and many traditional Hindu villages. At higher elevations the meadows are carpeted with wildflowers while the serene lakes and the shepherd encampments beneath the sacred peaks add to the beauty of the area.
Combine this with no shortage of magnificent campsites, an incomparable trekking service and many opportunities to wander to the high ridges and you have the essence of this fulfilling trek.
Inclusions:
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Join Delhi |
| Day 2: | Train to Haridwar, drive through foothills |
| Day 3: | Complete drive Auli, commence trek |
| Day 4-6: | Trek across alpine pastures to the Kuari Pass gaining spectacular views of the Himalaya including Nanda Devi (7816m) |
| Day 7-12: | Cross forested ridges to traditional Hindu settlements |
| Day 13-16: | Follow ancient pilgrim trail to the sacred lake of Rup Kund beneath the soaring peak of Trisul |
| Day 17: | Complete trek at Loharjang |
| Day 18: | Drive to Naini Tal |
| Day 19: | In Naini Tal |
| Day 20: | Train to Delhi |
| Day 21: | In Delhi, trip concludes |
highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society. Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
On this trip we invite you to experience the essence of this amazing destination with its staggering diversity of cultures, flora, fauna and breathtaking landscapes whilst simultaneously minimising the negative effects such tourism can have. Our Responsible Travel Guidebook Our philosophy since 1975 has been to leave only footprints and take only photographs. To reiterate this, every customer who travels with us receives a copy of our award-winning Responsible Travel guidebook. This detailed book outlines our environmentally sustainable principles, and outlines how each customer can minimize their impact while travelling. Global Warming and Carbon Balancing The root cause of Global Warming is society's dependence on emission creating fossil fuel. Planting trees is not going to reverse this trend or cancel our carbon emissions very quickly or effectively. We believe the way to reduce these dependencies is to create clean energy production. Therefore, we support renewable energy projects like wind and solar power, and we are aligned with Climate Friendly, the gold standard setter in effective, meaningful action addressing climate change. So, while we believe that tree planting can play a small role in greenhouse gas abatement, we have gone the extra mile in promoting a longer term solution. Is this cheap? No. Is it responsible? Absolutely. Community With the help of our locally employed guides we endeavour to create the necessary circumstances to ensure we have a positive effect on the communities who welcome us warmly into their villages and most wonderfully often into their homes. By using local accommodation we are privileged to enjoy a special relationship and mutual understanding with our hosts and their environs. In India we use private buses to ensure we do not take away seats and inflate the costs of these seats to locals as service providers realise they gain more by selling seats to tourists than to local people. Wherever possible we contribute actively and financially to local community projects whether it be to extend the longevity of traditional customs, to preserve traditional ways of life, supporting education schemes or helping to develop environmental initiatives. Local Staff Welfare As well as paying our guides out of season, and an above-average take-home wage, our porter welfare supplement includes insurance, all meals on trek, appropriate clothing and accommodation for ALL our porters on all our treks. Their safety and comfort is as important to us as our customers. No local payments policy Local cash payments are becoming increasingly popular with many operators in the adventure travel industry. This policy seems to benefit the tour operators more than the local economies or the travellers, as it avoids local taxes and transfers the costs and risks of cash handling onto the travellers. In accordance with our Responsible Travel practices, we have chosen a policy of not asking for such payments. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |