Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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This holiday is focused on respecting and benefiting the local people, the culture, history and environment of Uzbekistan. We take our clients off the beaten track and up into the Nurata Mountains spending two nights in a tiny village here enjoying the benefits of close cultural interaction whilst bringing income to this area. Here, as part of a UN Development Program project, local families have established small private guesthouses and welcome visitors to their homes. As our hosts are ethnic Tajiks, this is a unique opportunity to hear another regional language, eat delicious home-cooked local specialties, and see the day-to-day life of the village. In Uzbekistan we only employ local leaders born and bred in the Uzbekistan, ensuring that income and training goes to the locals, rather than 'western' leaders who come out and lead for a couple of seasons.
To support our tour programme in Uzbekistan we are training our tour leaders on a variety of issues, from environmental awareness to First Aid. This not only assists in the conduct of a tour but also provides leaders with important life skills. Using local Uzbek guides help you to get 'under the skin' of the country and see it through the eyes of a local. They help ensure that you enjoy interaction with different cultural groups in a spirit of respect, understanding and mutual benefit. They are great fun and will be a great part of your holiday because of their intimate knowledge of the wildlife, sights, culture and customs, history and language of their homeland. They will help you understand the traditions of these proud people, ensuring you don’t commit any cultural ‘faux pas’. Seeing the country through the eyes of those who call it home is one of the main joys of travelling. Once you have travelled with a local leader you will understand that there is no better way!
All of our tour leaders are trained in accordance with responsible travel policies and will brief our clients about this issue at the start of the tour. This information covers aspects such as appropriate dress and behaviour, tipping customs as well as more general matters such as our littering and no smoking tour policies We also work hard to ensure our impact on the environment is minimised – training staff and business partners, providing guidelines for local businesses, maintaining our vehicle fleet and ‘leave no trace’ when camping or hiking.
In addition, throughout Uzbekistan, we use public transport or locally-owned transport and local restaurants. And we always try to buy our supplies from local operators. We prefer to give our patronage to small owner-managed hotels rather than those from international chains, as we feel these places offer quality and character and also directly benefit local people. 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. Through offering employment and steady revenue, tourism can ultimately make a real positive difference to the community.
Groups on this tour will be small – never greater than 16. Less is more: less impact on the natural environment, more chance to enjoy your surroundings. Less crowding out of places, more time spent meaningfully interacting with locals and communities.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
