How we work
How we select destinations?
This is the easiest part. You can literally place a pin randomly on the map of Indian Himalaya and that place will turn out to be a ‘perfect destination’. We do however a bit more than that.
The trips are selected so as to have a perfect mix of:
- Activities: Trekking, camping, skiing, rafting, paragliding, mountain biking or just chilling-out.
- Duration: From 5 day short vacations to 12 day treks.
- Time of the year: Every month there is atleast one trip. The intention is to take advantage of the ‘best season to travel’ in a particular region.
How we decide the people/ organizations to work with?
From own experience with them and through recommendations. The criteria being:
- Nativity. We hire locals to work in their region only. What this means is that a Kumaoni porter, no matter how good he is, will be hired only for treks there and not, lets say, in Garhwal. This applies more to Organizations like a local NGO or a rural co-operative.
- Their core competency. In case of more than one organization operating in a region, we will pick the one whose core competency matches our requirement.
- Training. Obviously wherever possible we prefer trained staff. E.g. Guides trained from Mountaineering institutes.
- Any organization promoting women in the tourism industry is highly preferred. E.g. In Darma valley our trekking party had 3 girls as assistant cooks/ guides. A first in Himalayan treks.
- Their experience in the field.
How cost is calculated?
A holiday in the Himalaya is first divided into the following components:
- Transportation
- Stay and food
- Adventure activities
- Trekking equipment, guides and porters
For each of these components, quotes from all available choices are listed. E.g.
| Component | Choice 1 | Choice 2 | Choice 3 | Choice 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation | A | B | C | D |
| Stay | A | B | C | D |
| Adventure | A | B | C | D |
| Trekking | A | B | C | D |
The 'best possible' choice for each of the component is then selected based on the following:
- Prior experience with the establishment.
- Inputs from experts in Himalayan travel.
- Books and magazine articles and reviews.
- Online travel forums and blogs.
Best possible = Credentials + best service quality + Max contribution to local economy
For example:
| Component | Choice 1 | Choice 2 | Choice 3 | Choice 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation | A | B | C | D |
| Stay | A | B | C | D |
| Adventure | A | B | C | D |
| Trekking | A | B | C | D |
The final optimized plan = Transportation (B) + Stay & Food (C) + Adventure (A) + Trekking (D)
How it helps?
I spoke about vested interests earlier. The biggest advantage when you travel with CWH is that we don’t have any vested interests when it comes to going to a particular location, associating with a particular organization or staying at a particular place. The entire Himalaya is open for us. We pick and chose locations, organizations, places of stay based on a very transparent method. The idea is to work with the best in that particular location.