Adventurous friends take on the world of tourism

Two graduates of the University of Sheffield decided to capitalise on their love of adventure and set up a travel company providing tours to Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Mike Griffin, 25, and Ollie Kilvert, 25, founded Be Travellers to offer trekking and cultural trips after they were inspired by an 8,000-mile charity drive from Durham to Mongolia in which they took part two years ago.

The company's packages include a journey through the ancient Silk Road cities in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, a month-long trekking tour to the Wakhan Corridor, in north-eastern Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, and an epic trip through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Pakistan along the

two highest paved roads in the world.

Groups range in size between five and 12 people and typically last for between 14 and 28 days, taking in the bazaars, ancient architecture and archaeology and rare wildlife of Central Asia.

Mr Griffin said: "Our unofficial slogan is 'Be Travellers, Not Tourists' and this is the concept behind everything we are doing. Independent travel is very rewarding, but fraught with risks and uncertainties.

"Our goal is to keep the spirit of freedom and discovery in independent travel while removing the potential problems."

Mr Griffin, who completed a PGCE in science education at Sheffield, and Mr Kilvert, a geography graduate, will also design itineraries for people who want to avoid some of the risks of independent travel.

As well as travelling widely in Central Asia, Mr Kilvert has worked for a children's burns charity based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and trekked inside the Arctic Circle.

Mr Griffin, a former South Yorkshire school teacher, has spent time in Europe, Australia, Russia and South-East Asia.