Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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This tour is designed to take our travellers right into the heart of Nepal, introducing them to its people, cultures and spectacular scenery, and not cocooning them from it. This is helped by spending little time in Kathmandu and most of it trekking in the countryside, by keeping our group sizes small (max 12, normally 5-8) and also running the tour privately for families, couples or groups of friends.
We take responsible travel very seriously, and have given some details below of how this is implemented on this tour.
Local people:
- Our local operations in Nepal are run by a former employee whom we have supported over the years as we have worked and grown together, and who now has his own professional family run agency.
- We use fully-trained local Nepalis as our trekking guides and reps, rather than flying in Western leaders whose knowledge and love of the country will never be as full or passionate. We’re proud that the friendly family-run nature of our Nepalese tours really comes across to our travellers.
- We use locally family owned and operated hotels and lodges wherever possible, and one of the highlights of the tour is finding and enjoying a wide range of small local restaurants and traditional Nepalese food.
- We support and follow the guidelines set up by the IPPG (International Porter Protection Group) for all our trekking porters.
- We give information and advice to our travellers on how to respect local customs and religious practices, giving them a greater understanding of the local people and culture.
Environment:
- While we do include internal flights in and out of the Everest region, almost the whole of the rest of the tour is done on foot, reducing pollution and energy use.
- Explanations are given while trekking of how to conserve scarce fuel resources, as well as reducing litter & waste production (for example by not ordering numerous different items from trekking lodge menus, and by treating water rather than buying numerous mineral water bottles).
- We have a recycling policy in our UK and local offices and re-use or recycle the information booklets we provide to every client on arrival wherever possible.
- We do not produce a glossy brochure, concentrating on a comprehensive website, and providing as much information to our travellers as possible electronically, reducing the use of paper and inks.
Local projects & charity support:
- We donate £2 for every person travelling on this tour towards local projects – one supporting a small school in rural Nepal, as well as supporting the International Porter Protection Group, the Kathmandu Environmental Protection Project, and the Himalayan Rescue Association.
- Our travellers are welcome to visit these projects and support them personally if they wish.
- The company also supports further projects and charities internationally. Responsible tourism: We send all our travellers a copy of our responsible tourism policy before their holiday, and encourage them to read it and join us in following the ideas and suggestions contained within it.
A little local knowledge goes a long way. It turns a good holiday into a truly memorable one. We choose tour operators with a deep connection with special places - people who live and work in the destination and who have fallen in love with it.
So travelling with them is not just a brief stay somewhere, it's a real connection with the people, the landscape, the culture and the environment. It's like really living somewhere and enjoying the peace and quiet or the pace and excitement of the place as much as the people who live there do.
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!
