Walking and Trekking Holidays
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”
Walking holidays - or even just walking whilst on holiday – might be some people’s idea of a nightmare. After all, holidays are supposed to be relaxing! Why on earth would you want to don heavy boots and those odd-looking gaiter things to huff and puff up a hill, (probably in the rain) only to immediately come back down again?! Hiking or trekking? Backpacks or rucksacks? It can all get very confusing, intimidating and off-putting.
But look at it this way - an awful lots of incredible scenery, wildlife and special sites around the world can only be accessed on two feet. Often the best way to really experience a country is by getting out into the heart of it, walking alongside the locals, staying in rural accommodation en route and enjoying spectacular views far, far removed from the busy highways and main tourist hubs. Not every day need be spent actually walking either. On a lot of our itineraries there is often only a day or two trekking but it still gives you that same authentic experience – and it’s good for the soul! Plus of course it creates that wonderful balance – go walking on holiday and for once you might not come back feeling a little ‘lardy’ after all that good food and drink!
Our resident trekking ‘guru’, Helene Cooper, discovered a love for walking while on her first Round the World trip. So if you want to read more about trekking the Inca Trail, hiking to Everest Base Camp and climbing Kilimanjaro as well as treking through rainforests, up volcanoes, in search of wildlife, with hill tribes, in the desert and even mountaineering, then read on . . .
- Trekking holidays in Latin America
- Trekking holidays in South East Asia
- Trekking in the Himalayas
- Trekking Kilimanjaro
“When I set off around the world on my ‘backpacking’ trip I had no intention of getting involved in any trekking. I just wanted to see the world!
Trekking holidays in Latin America
I was talked into doing the Inca Trail in Peru, by the group I was travelling with. Nothing like jumping in at the deep end! You can easily take a train to access Machu Picchu (and now there is even talk of a cable car) but a truly exhilarating way to arrive at this mysterious hilltop Incan citadel is to walk the 4-day trail through the Andean Mountains as per many of our Peruvian itineraries including our Andean Trails tour. And it’s tough. The trouble with mountains is that to get over them, you have to cross passes. Which involves inevitable ascents . . . followed by equally inevitable descents. To my surprise I actually found the ‘downs’ harder than the ‘ups’! A lot of my companions had trouble with the altitude (the highest point reaches 4200m at the aptly named ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’) which can slow you down to a mere shuffle where you have to count 20 paces then stop for a breath. People also had issues with the incline of the path, the uneven height of the ancient Incan steps (very slippery when wet too) and we even had tears over a split water bottle! However, the scenery was so utterly magnificent that it did tend to take your mind off any aches and pains – you might wake up pretty chilly inside your tent but once you poked your head outside and witness the soaring Andean mountains and gorgeous lush forests of the Urubamba River valley, you were soon raring to go! We ALL felt it was worth it when we emerged at the Sun Gate as the sun was breaking through the early morning mist and there before us, probably the most iconic sight of South America presented itself – magnificent Machu Picchu.
Trekking holidays in South East Asia
After New Zealand (surely the best place in the world for sheer variety of ‘tramping’, as the Kiwis call trekking), I then headed to South East Asia for some hill tribe trekking in Thailand, as per our Northern Hill Tribe Trek. This was a fantastic experience as not only did I actually travel like a local (there are no roads in these tribal areas), I got to interact with the villagers, stay in their stilt houses, hop on an elephant and also bamboo raft down the river! Not bad for a few days away from the hustle and bustle of the cities and sightseeing. And the village children loved seeing themselves on my digital video camera!
From the depths of South East Asia I travelled to the heights of the Himalayas - surely the ultimate mecca for any trekker. I was fortunate to experience both the Nepalese and Indian Himalayas. The latter are often overlooked in the race to get to Kathmandu but their value is that you actually get to see the mountains stretched out far along the horizon without getting any of the altitude-related worries or slightly blocked views simply from being too close to the peaks themselves. The scenes from the charming colonial town of Darjeeling are simply superb – and you won’t be sharing them with many other people either. See our Himalayan Kingdoms tour to experience the Himalayas from Nepal, the Indian state of Sikkim as well as Bhutan.
Trekking in the Himalayas
The ultimate Himalayan trek though has to be Everest Base Camp. Justifiably popular, this trek is the classic example of having to get out on two feet to experience the area. Walking is the only way to get around in Nepal and thus you will witness all facets of local life on trek – the smoky teahouses, the yak trains barging you off the path, daunting swing-bridges decorated with colourful prayer flags, overladen yet smiling locals, white stupas with the all-seeing painted eye, mani prayer walls plus of course the highest mountains in the world. We offer numerous types of treks here from gentle day walks to challenging mountaineering expeditions but EBC is definitely the one that books up first. Seeing Everest and actually visiting Base Camp had long been a goal of mine, as it is to many who are slightly Everest obsessed. I found the trek surprisingly manageable – in fact at times it seemed that we spent more time sipping chai tea and lounging about at teahouses than actually trekking. The path rises very gradually between the various villages en route and there are only really two hills along the way that provide a challenge. The scenery gets progressively barren as you go higher though it is still surprisingly colourful with the prayer flags greeting you at every turn, the dazzling snow-capped peaks, turquoise sky and beaming smiles from the locals. The temperatures inevitably drop the higher you get as well and it was at night that I learnt you need to stuff any electronic or battery driven equipment (as well as any water bottles) in your sleeping-bag – in order to keep them from freezing. Depending on the amount of equipment you have this can feel like you are sleeping in a giant tool box . . . Yes, the trail to Base Camp can be busy but finding myself looking up at the infamous Khumbu Icefall, at the base of the world’s highest mountain, surrounded by so much history, was a truly spine-tingling moment. If you have any interest in mountains then this is the one trek you simply HAVE to do.
Trekking Kilimanjaro
I then arrived in Africa. The talk in the lodge in Nairobi was all about climbing this mountain called Kilimanjaro which I have to confess I was not too familiar with at the time. It sounded pretty exciting and ‘ the cool thing to do’ so I joined a small group who were travelling down to Tanzania and Moshi, the base town for the most popular route up Africa’s highest peak, the Marangu Route. And here I learnt a valuable lesson. Don’t go with cowboy operators who offer the cheapest price. I had a pretty awful time – there was no organisation, no advice whilst on the mountain, the food was barely edible and never enough and because I was a speedy walker, the so-called ‘guide’ gave me the job of securing spaces in the huts each day as I tended to arrive first! I had no knowledge of altitude sickness at the time and wondered why other, more professional, guides were advising their clients ‘pole, pole’ or ‘slowly, slowly’. Imaginative Traveller build in extra rest time on both the Marangu Route and the little-used but very beautiful Rongai Route to aid acclimatisation - this is supposed to aid summit success by 20% and it certainly gives you a much needed break! Oddly enough though, after all the moans and groans, Kili was still an amazing experience. Strangely, you seem to spend most of the so-called ascent actually walking on relatively flat ground – apart from summit day of course which is a tough few hours of slogging up a steep scree slope in the dark before the sun rises. Looking out over the plains of Africa at nearly 6000m is a sight I will never forget. But it was being above the clouds that really stuck in my mind. At Horombo Hut (the second on the mountain), you literally felt like you could walk out on to this incredible carpet of white. And it gave me my first high altitude experience, which was soon to become a lifelong passion.
Since that first big trip most of my holidays have featured some sort of trekking in them and I have experienced a variety of conditions and scenery along the way.
