Nepal treks for Over 55s, Annapurna Dhaulagiri

The Annapurna region is a very popular area for trekking with its stunning mountain vistas and traditional villages. Road constructions in some parts of the region have not hindered our opportunity to seek out the best walking trails away from these thoroughfares.

We pioneered the concept of private eco campsites in the Everest region in 2013 and due to their great success, have replicated this in specific sites across the Annapurna region. While most companies offer lodge trekking where sustainable practice is not well patrolled and which takes away employment from the alternative camping option, our private eco campsites deliver a small environmental footprint but are big on comforts. Each site comprises of a permanent dining room which is heated, two-person stand-high tents with stretcher beds, mattresses and pillows, composting sit toilets and many of our private eco campsites also have hot showers. We cook with kerosene or gas only, while our dining rooms are heated by a pot belly stove that is fuelled by yak dung and not wood (yak dung is a sustainable and renewable fuel source that has been widely used as a traditional practice in the Himalaya for centuries).

We are one of the founding partners of a simple but effective litter collection initiative called 10 Pieces. The aim of 10 Pieces, which is available on all our treks in Nepal, is to harness the collective power of travellers to keep wilderness trails free of litter (namely plastic and paper). Your guide will tell you more about 10 Pieces at the initial group briefing in Kathmandu. The initiative is completely voluntary, but if you choose to partake it will only take 5 minutes each trek day. We will provide you with our reusable rubbish collection bags and we will dispose of the litter responsibly, so you can leave a positive footprint in Nepal.

Our Waste Management Policy encourages our travellers to take their own reusable water bottles and reusable stuff sacks to avoid single-use plastics. We follow this same philosophy in our London office as well as on the trail: we have banned single use coffee cups and water bottles; we use recycled paper and are working towards reducing the overall amount of paper we use; and we recycle all our of plastic and paper waste.

Already in 2000 we developed the award winning Responsible Travel Guidebook, which presented our Travel Group’s comprehensive policies on sustainable travel. Over the years, our Responsible Travel Guidebook has evolved to meet the ever-changing landscape of sustainable travel. In March 2018, The Thoughtful Traveller booklet was launched, which is an easy-to-read document that empowers travellers with suggestions about how they can be part of the solution and collectively make the world a better place when they travel. Everyone is encouraged to read the Thoughtful Traveller ebook before departure.