Following years, I was travelling in a similar way. In 1987 I was associated with a trekking company and done 4 treks in Garhwal Himalaya with students from Heidelberg University. Nothing was prebooked, something very difficult at those times. Despite problems and hard work the tour was a success. It was a success to the extent that I had to do it again for two consecutive years.
During these years I was also working for two years with Centre for technology & development assistance in Dehradun. During the period my ideas of “the good trekking” took shape. I was very much critical to Travel trade by that time. Unfortunately, that attitude has only been strengthened during the 36 years I have been working with tourism.
Why travel, how to go about, everything was clear in my mind. I decided I wanted to try my ideas by starting a small company. My aim was to create an alternative to both what is offered by the organized travel trade and to travelling by young people, at that time called hippies, today backpackers. A better, more rewarding way of travelling where people could learn something and experience by what happens when trekking/travelling in remote areas and, most important, by interacting with people.”
