Ladakh lodge trekking vacation

Planet

Carbon reduction
The trip involves 5 days trekking out of 13 days.
Hotels in Leh and home stays use some solar and electric is from hydro power.
The food in the home stays is vegetarian with vegan always available. The vegetables are grown in the garden of the homestay and all locally sourced. The food is often local style food in the home stays.
The restaurants the group are taken to by the guides are locally owned and seve vegan and vegetarian food. All the vegetables are locally sourced.

Environment and wildlife
The trek takes part in the mountains of Ladakh. Snow leopards, ibex, wolves, foxes, marmots, woolly hares, blue sheep and pikka are commonly seen on the trek. Wildlife is protected in the area and well supported by the locals. Our guides often work as wildlife guides in winter and brief clients on the wildlife.
The home stays we use are all locally owned with the money going direct to the family. The home stays are part local Ladakh traditional houses. The family cook the food and look after the guests in their family dining room.
Clients are briefed by the guides not to buy water in plastic bottles. There is safe filtered drinking water available in every homestay and in the hotel in Leh. Guides will also take clients to the dzomza in Leh which sells high pressurised safe boiled water.
Ladakh is a fragile mountainous environment and clients are briefed how to preserve it. No bottled water is sold in the home stays.

People

Local economy
The hotel we use in Leh and all the home stays are locally owned by Ladakhis. The home stays are run by the women of the family.
The jeeps we use in Ladakh are all owned by their Ladakhis driver.
All our guides are Ladakhis as are the trekking staff. The cook might come from another part of India but all are from India.
We support the local womens groups in felted handicrafts and encourage clients to buy these.
Our guides show clients tree planting projects in Temisgam run by SankalpTaru, an Indian NGO that supports tree planting.

Employment, inclusivity and diversity
96% of the staff are Ladakhis and the rest are from other parts of India or Nepal. All the Ladakhis staff are local and most are subsistent farmers from villages who work with trekkers in the summer months to supplement their income.
The homestays are run by women.
We use a small Ladakhis company for on the ground arrangements in Ladakh.
We support the local womens groups by encouraging clients to buy locally made felted handicrafts.
Staff are paid straight after the trip and are paid over the minimum wage.
Homestays in Ladakh are a fixed price set by the locals which we pay direct.