Nepal trekking small group holiday

Planet

Our Discover Nepal itinerary has a heavy focus on development through sustainable travel. Nepal is an incredible country with numerous infrastructural challenges especially in regards to the environment. We work with local partners that have an eye toward eco conservation and protection of the landscape, especially in regards to the trekking portion of our trip. It is incredibly difficult to ensure sourcing of organic produce in Nepal; however, we are able to prioritize locally produced foods, especially fruits and vegetables.

Any time we buy snacks for the road, we look for fresh and local bites; in Nepal this might be fresh fruits, nuts and seeds as well as local curries and lentils.

On all of our trips, we focus on reduction of plastic and make sure that water jugs are available for refilling personal reusable water bottles. In the event of waste, recycle and composting, we direct client to the appropriate bins and disposal method. In Nepal, drinking clean water is an absolute must and we provide guests with a special discount code for a Grayl water filter if they'd like to reduce plastic waste even more by drinking filtered tap water.

While we recognize that the included domestic flights are not the most environmentally friendly way to travel, we included them with intention. The infrastructure and roads in Nepal are very rough and often affected by mudslides, traffic and construction. A seemingly short distance of a couple hundred km can take all day. We wanted to be able to showcase different parts of Nepal on this itinerary, not just Kathmandu, while also not wearing everyone out with wearisome road travel. This allows you as a traveller to experience the diversity of Nepal while being able to promote development in several communities on this trip through economic impact.

People

Our Discover Nepal itinerary prioritizes locally owned suppliers including our boutique hotels, trekking tea house, local guides, transportation providers, and restaurants. Our accommodations are locally owned and many have incredible stories, such as our family-run hotel in Pokhara founded by a former trekking guide and our yoga retreat portion founded by a local with an incredible story.

We work with the same local tour guide each trip, and he has keep knowledge of the achievements & challenges, history and culture of Nepal and provides in-depth perspective and context as we learn about the unique place we're visiting. We're also visiting numerous community development programs such as the thangka art workshop. We believe that a sound understanding of the local culture and community is essential to a transformative travel experience.

We also engage in a community partner activity to learn about social challenges in Nepal. We'll have a presentation with time to engage, ask questions, and see first-hand the impact that they've had. 5% of trip sales are donated to the NGO partner.