The Folk Tales

How the minimum criteria of the responsible travel standard was met...

Economic responsibility

Environmental responsibility

The vehicles we use in remote village regions use BS-III emission norms. Vehicles used in cities are BS-IV or CNG powered

The drivers of vehicles are locals and trained. Therefore the vehicles are driven safely and with optimum usage of fuel in mountain terrains

Recyclable carry bags are used on all outdoor activities to collect the trash generated by guests

We don’t use plastic water bottles. Guests are advised to bring their own refillable bottle

The invoices, receipts and internal documentation we generate are electronic. We don’t use print outs. Only contracts are done in print

Guests are advised not to purchase food in plastic packaging while they are at village locations. Eg. Chips and biscuits

On outdoor activities, we advise guests not to pluck flowers or throw stones at animals 8. Water heating in mountains is primarily done by solar power.

Bathing is encouraged rather than taking showers to conserve water

LED lighting is used rather than CFL, tubelights or tungsten bulbs. Handheld lanterns used are powered by solar power and run on LED 10. Guests are given an overview of local medicinal plants to enhance their knowledge and to encourage use of Indian indigenous medicine

We do not do elephant tourism where animals are subjected to cruelty. For leopard sighting tours, we observe them in their natural habitat. We do not provide them bait

Social responsibility

All homestays that we offer to guests are first personally reviewed by our team. Our visits to homestays are anonymous

We ensure that local SHG/ NGO managing group of homestays is contributing towards sustainable development. Eg. The homestay program in Sikkim directly invests 10% of customer fee towards implementing best policies and practices

Our homestays are run by families (with few staff members if needed). The homestays we offer are never run by front desk staff or similar

We also look at how the family is involved in development of local community. Eg. The homestay families in Uttarakhand are involved in lending loans mutually to support development of new homestays

Our village experiences are based on ‘storytelling’ rather than sightseeing. This is to ensure that guests understand local life, their beliefs and history

We encourage participation of women in decision making. Our local guides in Uttarakhand are from a women SHG

We discourage visit to orphanages. Our school visits by guests are limited to volunteering for an activity. We do not encourage building of emotional connection between children and guests

We visit local craft and handloom centers run by SHGs. We facilitate interaction between guests and artisans involved in agrarian businesses to create better cross cultural understanding. We also advise guests to buy products from these centers if they choose to