India to Sri Lanka 26 day tour

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION:

Transport: As you move from place to place, you’ll use public buses and series of trains, an effective way to help lower your carbon footprint, mingle with the locals and soak up the scenic views as you make your way to the next location.

There will also be a lot of walking in each location to discover them. These walking trips will provide you with light exercise - looking after your well being, while also reducing the carbon footprint on the planet - looking after the planet's well being!

We also recommend packing as light as possible, to help keep your carbon footprint low.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

Accommodation: All of the places we stay in are locally run and passionate about doing their part when it comes to the environment. Most of the hostels we stay at offer free water refills to minimise plastic bottle usage, utilise solar panels for electricity, and have water-saving stickers in the washrooms. Also, we use electric tuk-tuks for our Foodie tour and Monkey Temple visit in Jaipur.

Wildlife: We visit a Monkey Temple and Udawalawe National Park on this trip. Just before we visit the parks we have our Adventure Leader speak to you to emphasise that there should be no flash photography, that you should not try to touch the animals during the visit, or try to disturb them in anyway. We want our travellers to see the amazing animals as there is much we can learn from them but at the same time we want to make sure everyone is respectful of them so that the animals do not feel threatened in any way.

We suggest packing a reusable water bottle to ensure you have water on hand at all times and help minimise the trail of plastic left behind as much as possible. We do not advise to drink tap water but if there are refill points we highly encourage our travellers use this.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY:

We provide employment opportunities by using local tour guides.

Our tour leaders are always pleased to provide recommendations for traditional and locally owned restaurants.

This tour allows our travellers to interact with many local people such as during the Ganga aarti ritual in Varanasi, and learn about their way of life. Other examples including learning about Sri Lanka's tea-making process during a visit to a tea plantation, or Sri Lanka's ancient civilisations and colonial history. There are chances to learn further about Sri Lankan food with a local cooking class available.

As a sign of respect, we think that it is important for travellers to learn a few key words or phrases in the native language, so we offer classes to learn Hindi and about the local culture. We promote integration between travellers and local people through our included activities and our optional activities, and opportunities for authentic cultural immersion. Our tour leaders are trained in ensuring that customers are aware of local customs and traditions, educating them on when it is appropriate to take photos and/or videos.

On this tour, we stay in hostels and spend one night camping in the desert and one night camping at a national park, which is a great way to immerse yourself in the local Indian and Sri Lankan traditions. Whilst you're staying in each of these places, we encourage you to use local services on offer, this way your money goes straight into the local community and economy.