Trans Siberian rail journey, Beijing to Moscow

Environment:
Travelling by train over such a vast distance allows you to both slow down and appreciate the many sights in between the main highlights as well as offer a mode of transport which of course has a lower emission level per passenger than a plane or private vehicle. We always carry our trash with us until reaching towns with appropriate waste disposal facilities. During our travels, we also educate the local population on maintaining a clean environment.

The natural landscapes we explore are some of the richest, often most challenging, yet at the same time some of the most fragile environments on earth. With education, experienced leadership and appropriate equipment and techniques, it is possible to travel responsibly through these regions. For us, it is critically important that such wilderness travel experiences do not diminish the natural values of the environment.

Our environmental sustainable principles: True sustainability is a guiding aspect in all aspects of our business planning and operations. Specifically our tour operations should be managed in a way where the natural and cultural values of the host region are undiminished in the long-term. Where possible, we engage in partnerships with local environmental groups and/or land managers to actively campaign for conservation or promote environmental protection and/or rehabilitation.

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:
This epic journey across 3-countries – from Asia to Europe – provides you with a plethora of chances to immerse yourself into local cultures and experience a genuine interaction with local people. In each country, China, Mongolia and Russia, you are hosted by a local guide who will help you understand local customs and assist you to liaise with the many people you encounter to understand their way of life. They’ll point out where to spend your money so it stays locally, advise what is culturally acceptable and also enlighten you on the regions history.

In Mongolia you will experience the traditional nomadic way of life by staying in a ger and also with a local family. In Mongolia we ensure that we bring our own provisions from Ulaanbaatar for your meals when staying with local families as food is not as easy to come by as in other parts of the world and we do not want to exhaust their own supply.

We operate in close relations with local drivers, herdsmen and families hiring them as local support guides and service providers by utilizing their horses and camels. This is one way we feel it is possible to increase the income of local people as nomads generally have financial difficulties. We provide opportunities for cultural exchange where local people can learn from visitors while they in turn learn from the local community. Our local partners also help to provide donations to local communities which provide support to area medical facilities, schools and children living in poverty. In Russia we escape the concrete of the cities to the countryside to stay at locally owned lodges which provide income for these communities and those who help supply food for your meals.

Our responsible travel principles: Our company aims to maximise the positive benefits of tourism for host communities. This includes training and employment of local staff, using local suppliers and assisting in the development of sustainable local businesses. We actively minimise the negative effects that tourism can have by ensuring that tourism does not divert resources away from local communities or drive up prices on local resources.

We provide opportunities for real cultural exchange, where locals and visitors alike can share and learn from each other in an environment of mutual respect. We contribute to the welfare of the host community. This is epitomised in our Community Project Travel program where we organise for our travellers to spend time in disadvantaged villages upgrading basic facilities such as health, education and water access. We strive to educate our travellers about the destination and its local cultures as well as providing guidelines on appropriate behaviour to minimise impact.

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.