Bhutan and North India holiday

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

This 24 day trip has minimal flights, and none within each county. You have to fly from Delhi – Paro and return to connect the two destinations, but we have focussed on a longer, slower trip within each country, with all journeys made by car or train to reduce carbon and to enable guests to spend more time appreciating the local scenery and countryside.

We will always strive to choose hotels that use renewable energy, for example the fort hotel in Ramathra in Rajasthan. The fort is located on a hill which suffered deforestation in the past. The owners reforested and use their own recycled water from the hotel for this. The forest is now thriving and animals have returned.

For two parts of the trip in Rajasthan guests will take a train, which is a faster and cleaner way to travel. This avoids congested roads, and also gives guests the chance to experience how locals travel in India.

This 24 day trip includes a lot of walking, as the scenery and landscapes lend themselves so well to this. In fact in Bhutan almost every day will involve a 1-4 hour walk. There are river boat and kayaking trips available to guests in Rajasthan, as well as a rafting day in Punakha Bhutan for guests who are up for the challenge. Many of the hotels in Bhutan offer bikes free to guests who prefer to explore with their guide by bike not always car.

The majority of the food offered by hotels in Rajasthan will be vegetarian, as this is common practise in North Indian local cuisine. There will be several vegan options too, especially in the heritage properties in the countryside, where the owners grown their own food and limit the supply being bought in from outside. The fort hotel in India owns a farm below the hotel where they grow their own organic vegetables. In Bhutan, the hotels try and source as much of their food locally, and several of the hotels have a garden for growing vegetables seasonally, so again the emphasis is put on vegetarian meals to avoid shipping in meat. In particular the Eco-farm stay in Punakha (Dhumra Farm) is a family farm standing on ancestral soil where farm-to-table organic food is a key focus.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

The trip is heavily nature and wildlife focussed. Especially in Ranthambore, where the lodge is not just about seeing Tigers, but aims to go beyond and engage visitors about the threat to these amazing creatures. The owners are involved with two non-profits NGOs (Prakratik Society and Tiger Watch) providing healthcare, employment, education monitoring the animal and sustainable livelihoods. In Chambal at the Mela Kothi property, the property runs the Chambal Conservation Foundation which is self-funded. The project is committed to protecting the pristine environment of the Chambal Valley. They focus on reforestation and regeneration, conservation, education and awareness and research.

In Deogarh, the Shri Jaswant Charitable Trust was set up to save old temples and architectural monuments. It has since evolved to people local people with drug and alcohol addiction, and supporting under-privileged children in the area.

On the tiger safari days, the safari guides and drivers are specific wildlife expert guides, trained by the park and have to accompany guests all safari drives. This ensures safety, expertise and that money paid to the guides along with the safari fees, goes directly to Ranthambore National Park, not to the hotels or outsourced guides. The park entrance fees go towards maintaining the park and protecting the vital eco-system that is needed for Tiger numbers to thrive.

In Bhutan, all guests pay a daily tourist fee of $100 per person per day, which goes directly to the government to help sustain local environmental initiatives. This fee supports the country’s high-value low impact tourist model contributing to local education and environment preservation.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

Almost all of the accommodation we have hand-picked for this 24 day tour are independent and locally owned, aside from the airport hotel in Delhi, and city hotel in Delhi and Jodphur which are based on small hotel groups (not large chains). Notable to this is Dhumra Farm Resort in Punakha Bhutan, which is a family owed farm and pioneering example of local sustainable farming. The countryside heritage properties in India, along with the wildlife lodges are all locally owned and independent.

Each guide on this 24 day tour is from the local area, trained by our local ground partners, who are themselves from the local areas. In Paro and Thimpu our trips will stop off at local artisan workshops where locals use their skills to make handicrafts which many guests enjoy buying. This money goes directly to that local person. In India, we include fascinating tours around bazaars, spice markets and workshops where cash is paid directly to the vendor/artist.

EMPLOYMENT INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

100% of the people we work with on this trip (from the office staff, to drivers to guides) are from the country, and are all paid the minimum wage for each destination.

Many of the markets and bazaars visited during the trip will offer crafts made by poorer members of the community, so we encourage guests to make local purchases where the money goes directly to the local person.