Slovenia & Croatia food vacation

Planet

Environment
The vast majority of food on this tour is locally produced, so the food miles for included meals are very low. In addition to this, we visit and support many small scale, artisanal producers, farmers and cooks. The way the food is sourced and produced uses many traditional methods, this low intensity production protects and in many cases support the natural environment.
Our group sizes are small, with a maximum of 12 passengers, so the group uses few resources compared to a larger group. This small group size means we are able to travel using a smaller vehicle, as well as public transport, including buses and ferries.
We encourage our travelers to minimise their use of water whilst in Vietnam and ensure they preserve and do not contaminate the local water supply. All travel on this itinerary which is completed by private vehicle includes a large tank of drinking water. Travelers are encouraged to bring their own re-usable water bottle so that they can re-fill it from this tank. This reduces the number of single-use plastic water bottles disposed of by our travelers.

We also visit and spend time in the less visited Cat Ba islands, rather than Halong Bay, to reduce the environmental damage that is happening due to Overtourism.


Transport

A unique and important part of our company is that we use local transport where safe, reliable and feasible, and when this is not feasible, use private, locally owned transport instead. We ensure our vehicles/fleets are well maintained and fuel-efficient. This trip also includes three overnight train journeys, giving travelers an opportunity to travel like the locals do. Whilst it’s an efficient way to maximize time and sightseeing in Vietnam, we also like to include trains as a way to reduce the carbon produced by our passengers. For the carbon we can’t avoid producing, we have carbon off-setting projects in place, which we’ve been supporting since 2010.

When suitable and where possible we also like to reduce flights as often as possible, and when it is not a great discomfort for our travelers we will always choose to travel by road or train, which can be seen in our choice to take public transport from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap to Bangkok.

People

Community
This tour in centralised around providing our travelers with meaningful interactions with local people and experiencing their culture through food. In Piran, the group enjoy a home-made lunch at a family run restaurant. All food provided is grown and prepared on the property by the people who work there. The group head to the Piran Salt pan, where salt is still manually harvested with traditional tools in a centuries' old process, the group can buy some of the produce here, supporting this low impact agricultural method and the community residing there. In Plitvice NP the group stay at a local guesthouse. The group visit Pag island, a less visited island of the Adriatic coast due to the barren, rocky landscape. Here the group visit a local cheese-maker who still produces sheeps cheese in the traditional way. All accommodation and transport is locally owned and the group are guided by an amazing local tour leader.
Supporting local suppliers is a major part of our philosophy. We aim to use small, family-run hotels as opposed to big, well-known chains. Moreover, our amazing leaders will always suggest local eateries or smaller restaurants, and their strong local relationships mean they have the inside scoop on where to grab the best local delicacies.

We’ve seen Halong Bay become increasingly popular with tourists in recent years and the subsequent side effects of that popularity. This trip visits Cat Ba Island instead of Halong Bay in an effort to reduce the strain on Halong Bay’s environment and services. Cat Ba Island is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Halong Bay area with the same beautiful scenery for travelers to enjoy. Our local suppliers on Cat Ba Island are looking forward to welcoming more travelers to their island.

Our local leaders provide travelers with a survival Vietnamese and Khmer language sheet when they join this trip. Words and phrases are listed phonetically as well as in English, Khmer, and Vietnamese. The leader runs through this list to help travelers become more confident with commonly used words and phrases. Travelers are able to be polite and friendly in their interactions with locals, using greetings like please and thank you to show their respect.

Friends & Neighbours
Visiting local communities is an important factor to our trips, as we believes it spreads the income where it is most needed, while at the same time gives our travelers a truly authentic look into a region. This trip features an incredible homestay in the village of Chambok. This is a chance or us to support a small community that sees less tourists than many of the more well known areas of Cambodia, and it teaches our travelers of the day to day life of the Khmer people.