Tour Guide: Earthfoot in Asia

Here’s a tour company that offers something many don’t: profiles and biographies of each of their tour guides. Earthfoot hosts very small-scale, low-impact, personalized eco-tours around the world. We know that a tour guide can make or break a trip, and were glad to see that Ecofoot provides detailed bios of their hosts so guests know what to expect when they head out on their tour. Here are a few of our Asia picks:

For equestrian enthusiasts, you can ride retired racing thoroughbreds with the daughter of the late His Highness Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, Maharaja of Mysore on the Horse Safari near Mysore (India). You’ll travel 12-22 miles (20-35 kilometers) per day and camp in deluxe tents at night for about a week. You can also explore the Golden Triangle along the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma with Dr. Jeffrey Petry, a cultural anthropologist. With Dr. Petry as your guide, you can visit Doi Mae Salong, a mountainside village founded by the Kuomintang soldiers 50 years ago, and explore the marketplaces in Chiang Mai and Mae Sai.

Most of the tours have very small groups, so you’ll never feel you’re another head of tourist cattle. Bravo to Earthfoot for giving us a tour of their tour guides.

Photo (Wat Arun in Bangkok, Thailand): Emily Haile