Beijing to St Petersburg overland winter tour, 18-35

Planet

We are committed to positive environmental impacts through our Responsible Travel Policy. As an overland company we have extremely low carbon emissions throughout all our journeys. This departure operates exclusively on the 8,515km of rail network spanning the Trans-Mongolian railway from Beijing to St Petersburg and we also use local buses in Mongolia when transferring to Terelj National Park and public transport in both Russia and China, avoiding air travel wherever possible. We aim to ensure the clients do as much walking as possible during sightseeing and city tours, reducing our negative impact on the environment.

We use Local Partners in Mongolia who we work with closely to ensure they mirror our Responsible Travel Policy to ‘protect our planet’ and reduce the consumption of one time plastics. We have worked with the same Local Partner for several years now basing our working relationship on trust and equality and always ensure that on visits to National Parks, we brief our clients on environmental responsibility asking them to use re-usable water bottles during their stay and refrain from using single use carrier bags, which are becoming an serious issue in areas such as the Gobi desert.

People

We have a very clear mandate to support the local community and without these Local Partners our on ground experiences wouldn’t be the same. We have been operating journeys throughout Asia for over 50 years and strive to build on our long established reputation for having the utmost respect for the places and communities that we visit.

We contract the services of Local Guides and City Ambassadors through our Local Partners. We use Aiur, a Local Guide in Russia for many of our tours including this departure. Aiur specialises in translation, teaching and of course guiding, and his mantra is, 'Helping people to discover this world.' His favourite place to visit is Mongolia citing its, ‘unusual mix of nomadic culture, communist past and modern life.’

In addition, we partner with local families in Terelj National Park, which we find not only enriches the overall experience but allows us to understand local traditions and create sound relationships between clients and locals.

In China we visit the local Hutongs and markets again helping to serve as an authentic and cultural experience and one, which maintains a closer bond between client and local. We always encourage our group to buy locally and encourage local trade and artistry.