Rajasthan cycling holiday, Rajasthani Trails

Our aim for much of this holiday is to spend our time in rural Rajasthan, well away from the major urban centres that are the traditional beneficiaries of tourism derived wealth. The income generated from our visit to the regions’ smaller towns and villages is thus a particularly welcome addition to their inhabitants who rely on agriculture or small businesses for their main livelihood. Off the beaten track we stay in family owned and operated small hotels. Several of these are heritage properties that have been handed down through the generations and whose preservation would be very difficult for their modern day owners, without the income from travellers like us.

Our ethos whilst riding the back roads is to gain an insight into Indian life that stretches beyond the tourist façade, thus our tour leaders will encourage and facilitate two-way cultural interaction en route; for example breaking our journey for a cup of chai (tea) at the village square, time planned into the day for exploration of the local bazaar and when practical, a visit to a village school or home.

Cycling is recognised as one of the greenest forms of travel producing zero carbon emissions and noise pollution so by choosing this holiday you are therefore helping to ensure that your visit to rural Rajasthan has only the smallest of impacts on the environment. We also travel in small groups of 12 to 16 participants, to help minimise the disturbance our visit may cause. Our company policy is always to observe and respect the local customs and culture with advice supplied in our pre-tour literature before you travel and by our knowledgeable tour leaders who are on hand to brief you on tour. For example, we would encourage all travellers to dress modestly and remove their shoes and leather items before visiting the spectacular Jain temples at Ranakpur, in an Indian home one also removes shoes and would never enter the kitchen unless invited..

Our suppliers in India are local, from our ground agents to transport providers, hotels and support staff such as drivers, guides and camp crew. Whilst, due to fact that cycling is still a more specialist activity in India, this tour is currently led by a UK based tour leader, over 50% of our Indian tours are now locally led and we are working together with our ground operator, through the provision of training courses and sharing of our specialist knowledge to increase this each year.

Following the 2004 tsunami which had a devastating impact on India’s south east coast of, we started to work together with Hope Worldwide, an International charity, to fund the construction of fishing boats to support communities close to Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. Two years on we are now sponsoring a school in the area and our donation has supplied a teacher for the year.

As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost.