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Our treks currently cover Himachal, Uttarakhand and Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas all of them are specifically designed to promote business opportunities by generating income and jobs. All our cooks, porters, camping assistant, horses and horsemen are sourced from local communities of the particular regions we are running our treks in. They are paid above average wages that go directly to them without any middlemen making cuts. Over the years this has ensured that we have formed strong bonds with local communities. In turn, the extended interaction with travelers from other parts of the world has also spread the awareness among locals about the importance of sustaining their environment.
In line with our strong stance on responsible tourism, all guides on this trip are locals, picked for their excellent indigenous knowledge of the area and high degree of training. Their understanding of the Himalayan flora, fauna and local culture will ensure a true insight into Himalayan life. All our groceries and other perishables are sourced from local farmers only. On our treks we follow the Leave No Traces standards. We do not use wood for any of our cooking; we always carry kerosene or butane stoves. We use locally owned and run hotels in Manali. In Ladakh, keeping in mind the water and electricity shortage, we specifically promote guesthouses that use solar lighting and water heating, CFL lighting, rain water harvesting etc, like Harmony Guest House in Leh.
We always take extra packhorses to carry back the garbage both biodegradable as well as non-biodegradable (not just ours, but what has been left behind by other groups as well) from trips. We always hire only registered porters through the local Porters Union. This ensures that they are not underaged or underpayed. We insure all porters and other staff members for all trips. This is an added initiative. Porters are never overloaded; we stick to the limit of 20 kgs per porter. We also pay the horsemen extra if they have been good with the horses and have worked well. This ensures that there is added motivation to treat their animals well. In Ladakh and Spiti where grass is a scarce commodity we pay extra to our horsemen to carry enough food on the trail for the horses.
On all trekking trips, we use only eco toilets or pit toilets. We also discourage use of toilet papers as far as possible and use water as an alternative. In colder areas, we give them warm water and brief our customers on washing at least 200 m from water sources.
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!
