Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Travelling on local public buses, sleeper trains, trains, boats and minibuses, this tour gives you plenty of opportunities to get to know the local people of South East Asia while using public transport. This also minimises our impact on the local environment and provides income to local businesses.
All our travellers are encouraged to learn a few words and phrases of the language and interact with the locals as much as possible to enhance their social experiences on tour. In addition to the phrase books which are available for purchase, our tour leaders are able to teach you useful words and phrases on the road. Be courageous enough to test out your language skills on public transport, in restaurants and during local homestays, start a friendly conversation and you'll learn more about the culture than you could from any travel book.
Your tour leader will brief you on etiquette such as the clothing required and behaviour expected by visitors to temples and other sacred places. There are different guidelines for different cultures, so please bear that in mind so that as we travel we can avoid offense wherever possible.
Your tour leader will introduce you to many local restaurants and bars throughout the tour, helping you discover the authentic local cuisine. Local guides will also lend their expertise to the journey, explaining the historical background and cultural significance of the places we visit. They will help you to appreciate the importance of respecting the environment of these heritage sites and understand the conservation efforts undertaken at various parks.
We will visit many local shopping districts and markets along the way, giving you plenty of opportunity to support local merchants. We would encourage you to purchase traditional handicrafts from local artisans rather than mass produced goods from chain stores, as you will learn more about the skill involved in the production, while also support the craft.
Responsible travel policy
We have a full responsible travel policy available on our website, which our reservations team will tell you a link to when you book. It's packed with information about how travellers can reduce their impact as they travel, and details all the measures our company has put in place in the office and on the road to reduce our impact.
Carbon Offset Scheme:
Working in partnership with international conservation charity World Land Trust in our continuing quest to establish and maintain our position as a leader in responsible travel, we are offering a new way for our travellers to make a real contribution to the health of the planet - the Carbon Offset Scheme.
World Land Trust is a not-for-profit, international conservation organisation that takes direct action to save rainforest and other biologically important lands. Since it was founded in 1989, it has helped local conservation organisations to purchase and protect over 375,000 acres of threatened habitats in Asia, Europe and Central and South America. There are many organisations offering carbon offsetting services, however we believe that World Land Trust has the most scientifically sound approach and socially responsible philosophy.
When you book your tour with us you will be able to offset a portion of your share of the carbon emissions created while you are on your tour. We will calculate what clients have donated, and donate an additional 10% of the total to World Land Trust. So the more you contribute, the more we can give! We will also absorb all processing fees associated with these payments, so there’s no administration cost to World Land Trust and they can spend the money donated where it counts - protecting threatened habitats worldwide.
What Will Happen to the Contributions?
World Land Trust will fund projects on your behalf through their Carbon Balanced programme, which reduces the amount of damage carbon emissions are doing to the environment. We will not profit from your carbon offsetting donations. Your contributions will be made directly to World Land Trust and we will not receive any direct financial benefit or commission from these donations.
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!
