Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan overland tour

Planet

Waste: at the point of booking a tour with us, all our travellers receive detailed pre-departure information which contains a large section on travelling responsibly. This includes advice on minimising the amount of waste they create on the trip. This informs travellers on what they can do before they go, for example removing toiletries from unnecessary packaging and taking a reusable water bottle and gives advice on what they should do whilst on the tour, for example, disposing of litter appropriately.

All of this information on waste reduction is re-iterated at the pre-departure meeting at the start of the tour, with specific advice for the areas we visit on the tour. As a company we have a big commitment to reducing, reusing and recycling in our UK office. We are very aware of the environmental impact of our office in the UK, so we recycle and compost as much of our waste as possible. We try to reduce paper usage ,but when necessary we use recycled paper and stationery. Our brochure is available to view or download online and the paper version is printed on stock produced from sustainable sources and vegetable based inks.

Accommodation: Approximately 90% of the nights on this trip are spent, sleeping in tents or yurts. This obviously involves minimal use of electricity and if we're out in the bush we can only use the water that we carry-no chance to leave taps running, the air conditioning or heating or lights on! Filling up and carrying jerry cans of water helps concentrate the mind on how much water you consume!

People

Friends and Neighbours: On all of our trips we try to ensure that as much of the trip costs as possible are spent locally and at a grass roots level-helping to sustain local communities. On this trip we do a Home Stay with a family in Kochkor and then spend a few nights, in a yurt, alongside a family at Lake Song Kal. We also organise horse riding with the local community at Lake Song Kal. There are very little other employment options for the community here so this helps them sustain their traditional way of life. We generally do most of our food shopping in local markets and encourage visits to local restaurants and craft centres-including a woman's felt co-operative in Kochkor.

Travelling with Respect: In our detailed pre-departure information travellers are advised on travelling with respect and what they can do before they travel, to help achieve this and what they can do while they are travelling. We recommend for example, that they learn some of the local Kyrgyz language before they travel, to help them interact with the local people and read up on it's history and culture; that they do not take photos of local people without asking for permission first and are respectful in terms of their behaviour and dress during their trip.

This is a fairly new trip for us and we look forward, as we do with all our trips, in building relationships with local suppliers and providers. On our more established trips we also have a number of social projects that we support, including a school for refugee children, Children's Homes and a community led child-care facility for working parents. We hope that as we build relationships with communities on this tour we will be able to support specific projects in this region also.