Nepal family vacation

Environment

Most travelers visit Nepal in order to enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery, often on a trek. Unfortunately many of the trekking areas are now very over-developed and tourism has had a negative effect on the environment. For example you can find toilet paper littering some routes as well as discarded plastic bottles and other detritus from trekkers. We arrange all of our trips in conjunction with a local partner in Kathmandu that we have selected partly because of their strong responsible travel commitment. Together we provide detailed advice to trekkers on how to behave responsibly when on a trek, for example giving simple suggestions such as taking a supply of small plastic bags (nappy bags are ideal) in which to bag up toilet tissue so that it can be taken back to the camp at the end of the day and burnt. We also advise trekkers in remote areas that they must be careful not to use soaps or detergents in or near water courses in order to minimise the effect on both the aquatic life within the river but also to prevent problems with people living downstream.

Community

As mentioned above, we have selected our partners in Nepal partly due to their responsible travel ethos. This extends to social as well as environmental concerns and our partners have been instrumental in trying to pioneer a 'better' way of trekking in the Himalayas. Essentially many of the main trekking routes have become very busy which does not provide a great experience for travelers and also means that tourist revenue is concentrated in a couple of specific villages, leaving surrounding areas very poor. Our partners have assisted in the development of a number of tea houses in more remote villages thereby helping to 'spread the wealth' whilst also having the great knock on benefit of providing a unique experience for trekkers.
All of our treks are guided by an experienced local mountain guide who will provide travelers with an insight into local village life and also give advice on appropriate behaviour such as taking shoes off when entering local houses.
When porters are used we have strict restrictions on the amount that each porter can carry, in accordance with advice issued by the International Porter Protection Group.