Brahmuputra river cruise in India

Environment

The cruise is run by a company who are pioneers in long distance river cruising in India. With an extensive knowledge of the local river conditions and together with keeping the ethos of the places, in this case many small and little known villages, they have kept the size of all the ships small.

The cruise providers are PUG Eco- rated under Tour Operators for Tigers (TOFT). and adhere to strict guidelines to protect the environment. The amount of waste going to landfill is reduced by encouraging crew and guests to separate waste for recycling. All waste on board the ship is carefully segregated and safely disposed off only at specific centres for recycling, organic waste and others. Use of biodegradable cleaning products, safe eco-friendly cleansing of waste water is encouraged.

The entire region is rich in wildlife and also endangered species of plants and orchids. During the tour our expert guides educate the guests about these aspects so that care is taken not to disturb any form of life.

During the tour, guests visit the Kaziranga National Park, which is home to the endangered one horned Rhino and around two third of the rhino population is found here. This has been the result of the conservation efforts of the park and the entrance fees to the park and the safari costs go directly towards the conservation and protection of the park from poachers. There are elephant rides into the park, which is a great way to explore the wildlife and also the safest. These elephant rides are done in groups of not more than 4- 5 people, for not more than an hour and is regulated by the Forest Department. The naturalists during this tour adhere to a number of strict guidelines not to in anyway disturb the delicate natural environments with safety of the clients being paramount.

To explore the city of Tezpur, one of the stops on the cruise, we encourage the guests to explore the city on rickshaws rather than cars.

We visit Mawlynnong in Meghalaya, which has been awarded the cleanest village in Asia title and advise our guests against any litter.

Community

During the trip, we visit many little known destinations, which do not find mention on the tourist map. Some of these places are quite remote, like the village visit of Tullugaon, an Assamese tribal village, where people weave for a livelihood. Our guests can help the community by buying hand woven scarves, shawls and other crafts here.

In Cherrapunjee, our guests are put up at Cherrapunjee Holiday Resort , a family run Nature Resort. Here the staff is employed locally and vegetables are sourced from their own farms and from nearby villages.

Our efforts are directed at developing positive attitudes between the tourists and the hosts by learning about the cultures and traditions of each other, reducing negative perceptions and stereotypes, developing pride, appreciation, understanding and respect and tolerance for each other’s culture. The locals are educated about what to expect with the arrival of tourists, while taking care that it is not at all intrusive and only where the locals agree to participate. Likewise, tourists are briefed about the people and local cultures and traditions. This in a way also helps preserve the local traditions and handicrafts, which would over a period of time be extinct.