Slowly down the Ganges

In visiting the communities living in the rural plains, arid desert and spiritual cities of India, you will have a more meaningful experience when you have the opportunity to understand their backgrounds and cultural practices. By using boats, rickshaws, camels and trains, our leaders weave you through some of these environments so as to bring you into personal contact with the fascinating locals.

While camping on the banks of the Ganges or under the desert sky on your camel safari in Pushkar, care is taken to leave little trace of our campsite when we leave, so as to preserve these precious environments for others. This is achieved with a set of Responsible Travel guidelines that include burning paper rubbish when we leave, burying human waste and leaving no cigarette butts or plastic.

While staying in Roopangarh Fort, there is the opportunity to buy hand-crafted items from the local village such as bangles and shoes, which directly supports the community in this rural village.

We constantly monitor the manner in which the elephants at Amber Palace in Jaipur are treated. With the help of a local organisation, Help in Suffering, and the information gathered from our leaders and passengers, we have decided to not include the elephant ride up to the palace due to the inhumane manner in which these animals are maintained. On the Agra-Jaipur highway, there are numerous sloth bears being used to entertain tourists and they are badly abused and beaten. Through our Foundation, we support the efforts of an organisation called Wildlife SOS in their setting up a sanctuary to care for these tortured bears. In voluntarily giving up the bears to the project, the owners are re-educated and re-skilled and are compensated with motorized rickshaws or welding tools.

At the end of our journey, travellers may donate any unwanted clothing, medicines and bandages, which are distributed to a group called Goonj. This organisation is a nationwide movement that provides help to remote villages in Assam, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttaranchal and wherever the demand arises or disaster forces people to look for support.