The people who carry your bag

Porter welfare is the part of Nepali trekking most easily hidden from the traveller, so here is our position in plain terms. Porters carry a limit we do not exceed. They are insured, paid at or above the rates set by the industry body, and equipped for the altitude they are working at, including footwear, jacket, gloves and eye protection.

If you see a porter on our trip who is underdressed for the conditions, tell your guide, and tell us. That is a failure we want to know about rather than one we want to explain away.

Rubbish, fuel and water

• All non-biodegradable waste generated by the group comes back down with us. That includes batteries, which are the worst thing to leave in a village with no disposal route.
• We ask trekkers to carry a bottle and use treatment rather than buying bottled water on the trail. Above Namche a plastic bottle has no way off the mountain except on somebody’s back.
• On camping routes we cook on kerosene or gas rather than firewood.

Money that stays in the valley

We are a Nepali company employing Nepali staff, and we use village-owned teahouses rather than routing groups through a small number of large lodges. The wages, the permits and the taxes stay in the country, which is a low bar that a surprising amount of trekking revenue does not clear.

Culture

Your guide will tell you when to walk clockwise around a mani wall, when to ask before photographing somebody, and where not to go inside. None of it is complicated and all of it matters to the people who live there.

Where we are not perfect

Flying to Lukla burns fuel. Helicopters burn a lot more. We are not going to pretend a Himalayan trek is carbon-neutral, and we would rather say that than sell an offset badge.

⚠ If the company supports a specific school, clinic or community fund, name it here with the amount or the mechanism. A vague claim is worse than nothing.