Our commitments
Responsible travel in Nepal isn't a badge we put on the website. It's the set of constraints we designed every itinerary around. Here's what that actually means in practice.
Every guide, cook, porter and hotel liaison is local to the region — not from a Kathmandu agency. Guides on the Everest route are from the Khumbu. Guides in Chitwan are Tharu. Guides in Mustang are Lobas. This is non-negotiable.
We follow the International Porter Protection Group standards on every trek. Porters carry no more than 25kg, receive appropriate clothing for the altitude, sleep in the same accommodation as trekkers and are covered by our group insurance.
No elephant rides, ever. No captive animal encounters. In Chitwan we observe wildlife on foot and by jeep — never from the back of a working elephant. We support the Gharial conservation project and the community anti-poaching units.
Volunteers are only placed where organisations have made a specific request for the skills being offered. We do not place volunteers to create work for local staff or to fill beds in volunteer houses.
All waste — including non-biodegradable waste — is carried out of every remote zone. We work with the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee on Everest routes and the Annapurna Conservation Area Project in the Annapurna region.