Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
We visit several Unesco World Heritage sites: Halong Bay, Hoi An and My Son Cham Towers. The entrance fees that we pay contribute to the upkeep of these special places. We use two overnights trains to travel the length of the country, both to experience the joys of rail travel in Vietnam and because train travel is far more environmentally friendly than air travel.
We use an entirely local crew, i.e tour leader, drivers and guides. The hotels we use are locally owned. We only include breakfast on this tour so that passengers eat out at a variety of small restaurants and street stalls, thus spreading their spending wealth and also getting to sample the best of the fantastic local cuisine. On our journey to Halong Bay we visit the Huong Ngoc Humanities Centre. This is a project where disabled people are trained in various crafts such as embroidery and painting. Their works are on sale with profits going to support the centre.
By far the most rewarding experiences come from the independent experiences and encounters our travellers have during their free time on tour. We do not believe in shepherding our groups and our tour leaders actively encourage independent exploration during the unstructured periods we have built in for personal exploration.
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.
This small group operator is just celebrating its 30th year and was originally set up to enrich people’s lives through adventure travel. The directors have roots in overland trucking and are determined to keep a pioneering spirit alive. They believe what sets them apart is the strong relationships they’ve developed with local suppliers and tour guides over the years. A tour leader who thinks creatively can turn a good experience into a fantastic one and open up a place so that travellers gain insight into a completely different way of life. They operate in many different countries and try to avoid a blanket approach – their aim is to get customers involved in the projects they visit and to forge lifelong friendships.
Listen to the podcast below:
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!
