Kathmandu to Kolkata overland tour
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
- Vehicles are serviced in established workshops, where the local people have a responsible attitude to the disposal of waste products
- Products such as oils and tyres are often reused several times after we have finished with them; we pass them on to local people
- Each vehicle is regularly serviced and maintained to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible
- Passengers and crew are encouraged to use rechargeable batteries for items such as cameras, personal music systems etc. These can be charged on our vehicles as we travel
- Our crew encourage travellers to minimise plastic drinks bottle consumption and all of our trucks carry sufficient drinking water (approx 200lts) for the group, reducing travellers need to purchase plastic bottles of drinking water. We use steripens for water sterilisation; batteries used in steripens are recharged on our trucks.
Community
We employ Nepali guides to accompany us while in the National Parks of Nepal. We also employ the services of a local Indian and Bhutanese guide to accompany us for our duration in India and Bhutan, in fact the only non local person employed by us is the leader/driver; thus we are able to support the families of all of our local guides.
Passengers also enjoy a home stay on the Makaibari Tea Estate located in Kurseong in the Darjeeling district. In 2005 the local estate workers, decided to open up their homes to accommodate the constant flow of visitors to Makaibari, bringing in valuable extra cash flow to these families.
We also donate a portion of our gross earnings to a worthy local cause in Nepal called Just One. This NGO is involved with street kids in Kathmandu, and getting them back in the ‘system’ with a common sense approach. The success rate of this organisation is an outstanding 80%. We are also making a monthly donation to the HECAC children’s home. HECAC – Himalayan Environmental Cultural Awareness Centre.
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