Indochina overland tour, Saigon to Angkor

Environment

In keeping with all our tours we take small groups (max 12) to rarely visited locations.

We encourage homestays and visits to local community craft and cottage industry – the brick works is a revelation… We also visit a plant nursery, a family rice paper business, and blacksmiths workshops.

Our use of local guides and homestays enable us to get a real understanding of the people and places visited and bring tales of the war torn past century of Vietnamese history to life (along with ample rice whiskey).

In Cambodia, too, through our regular visits to sites (and if present souvenir shops) we help sustain local businesses and enterprises, such as the handicraft school for handicapped persons in Siem Reap, to the ‘land-mine museum’ in Siem Reap where we help support the organizer’s mine clearance operations through donations.

The Overland crossing (by boat) from Vietnam into Cambodia is only recently opening up so tourists are being introduced to many small towns and communities new to Western tourism.

Information: Providing suitable, relevant information for our customers; to help them to gain a wider understanding of our style of tourism that focuses on learning, genuine interaction with the local communities, reciprocity and cultural exchange processes. To be aware of the potential impact of tourism on the local society, culture and environment, and to behave and dress appropriately with a respect and appreciation for local customs, mores and traditions and a respect for the ecology of areas visited. Our guides and leaders thus facilitate communication of our values to both travellers and local communities, educating them in sustainable tourism practices

Group sizes: By limiting groups to small sizes we aim to reduce the impact on both local communities and the environment whilst allowing for greater genuine interaction with said communities. It also results in a higher guide/customer ratio thus greater facility for supervision and individual assistance and allows us to use smaller hotels and restaurants and employ the services of more genuinely ‘local’ operators perhaps not otherwise well equipped for larger groups.

Destinations: We combine the well known tourist sites with many off-the-beaten-track, rarely visited destinations thus diverting tourist revenue and contact with responsible tourism into areas not usually benefiting as well as providing a more authentic view of the region visited.

Community

Local products: As much as possible we aim to employ local personnel, (guides, drivers, agents etc), use local restaurants and smaller privately owned accommodation. Customers are also encouraged to buy and use local products and services as much as possible in order to support and stimulate the local economy.

Instruction: By explaining our methods and the reasons behind them local agents, guides and hotels are encouraged by us to adopt further responsible tourism practices themselves and guides and drivers are provided with additional training in this respect.