Responsible Travel

This is not a values statement. It is a list of things we do, which you can hold us to.

People are paid directly, at agreed rates

Guides, drivers, houseboat families, homestay hosts, camp crew and porters are paid by us directly, at rates agreed with them before the season — not squeezed at the bottom of a subcontracting chain. Pony and sledge rates at Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg are taken from the local union rate card, so that neither you nor the pony-wallah is haggling on a mountainside.

Tips are yours to decide and are never added automatically.

Small groups

Eight people on cultural itineraries. Twelve on treks. This costs us margin and it is the single biggest thing that determines whether a village visit is an exchange or an intrusion.

Buy from the maker

We take you to working ateliers — the naqash painter's bench, the khatamband workshop, the pashmina loom, a saffron grower's drying room. We take no commission on anything you buy there, which is why we can tell you honestly what is worth buying and what is mill-made. If a guide ever pressures you into a shop, tell us and we will act on it.

Where we do not go

We do not run itineraries into the high meadows during the weeks the shepherd communities ask us not to. We do not take groups into Gurez and Tulail villages without the village's agreement. We do not photograph people, homes or interiors without asking first, and we would ask you not to either.

The mountain

We carry out what we carry in, including from camps. We use established campsites and existing latrine arrangements rather than making new ones. We do not light fires above the treeline. Waste from trek kitchens comes down with the crew.

Water and the lakes

The Dal is under real pressure from sewage, encroachment and weed. We use houseboats with functioning waste arrangements and we will not book ones without. We ask guests not to put anything in the lake, including food.

Photography and dignity

Ask before photographing people, and accept no as an answer. Do not photograph inside shrines during prayer. Do not photograph military installations, personnel or checkpoints anywhere in the region — this is a legal matter with real consequences, not a courtesy.

What we cannot fix

Tourism brings money and it brings pressure, and we are part of both. Aviation to get here has a carbon cost we cannot offset away. Saffron land is being lost to construction faster than visitor interest can slow it. We would rather say that plainly than sell you a clean conscience along with the trip.

Tell us when we fall short

salaam@yarbal.me. We would genuinely rather know.