Sakib Ahmed

Responsible tourism is all about making better places to live, and visit while letting nature thrive. These days, the terms responsible tourism, sustainable tourism, eco-tourism take centre stage of any discourse regarding travelling and tourism, and for good reasons. There is raising awareness, globally, about the adverse impacts travel can have on the nature, environment, places and people — especially through contributing to climate change, pollution, unsustainable pressure on wildlife and habitats, harming local economies, or even distortion of local customs, cultures and heritage.

A massive rhino rustled through the tall elephant grass and charged at us. Ears cocked, nostrils flared wide open and tail held high, the animal seemed to take up the entirety of the unique Chitwan landscape. Its distinctive one horn cut through the thick humid air of the Terai, its muscles rippled in tension under the thick armour like skin.

Every time I wander out for a walk outdoors, however short that may be, I have always returned satiated. One feels more profoundly connected to the earth and the environment when one is exploring on feet, rather than on a motorised vehicle. Your senses heightened, as you take in the sights and sounds, and the brain receives the stimuli that it craves from new experiences and exploration. And this is what treks

It was midday when our small team finally found a barely visible footpath through the damp and cold labyrinth inside

The Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuary in Rangamati, rarely visited by tourists or researchers, is beautiful with mighty garjan and civit trees and home to hundreds of Hill Mynahs and families of Hoolock Gibbons.

The sun was still far above the horizon, casting its deep copper light over the land. We walked down a narrow, dusty earthen village road with green rice fields on both sides. A farmer with his last load of the day, or a farmer's wife carrying a late lunch to her husband, who is out working on the fields. The magnificent light making those mundane images almost magical!

The torrents had just stopped and sunlight filtered through the bright green canopy above, forming columns of light spiraling down to the moist forest floor.