Holiday ideas please!

The_blue

The_blue

The_blue

Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Derbyshire
I'm starting to panic! :eek:

By now I've normally got next years holidays all sorted...


I'm looking for adventure and exploration, 3 weeks of. :D

Previous trips include

Climbing a live volcano to see lava (stromboli)

Ecuador - Amazon trekking, Andes, cloud forest etc

India by trains - Delhi, Rajasthan, tigers etc..

South Africa by car..

Norway scuba diving

Estonia

Indonesia diving

China - amazing!

New for 2015:-

Azores - shark diving and whale watching.

Irelands wild Atlantic way.

Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles

etc...




I'm not into booked tours, beaches, all inclusive. My trips are normally just booked flights and 1st night accommodation plus and major trips (amazon was one example). Hotels are for sleeping and washing in, anything else is a waste.

Do like:- Culture, adventure, Nature, walking, scenery etc..

Did start looking at Madagascar but my heart isn't set on it.

Do like the idea of Indonesia, this could include my other holiday topic - Scuba! EDIT- done now! :)

Australia looks nice but i feel it's one to do when i'm older/less able.

So... Any ideas?
 
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Really? I was thinking the easy travelling, same language and 1st world styling meant an easy trip.

A guy a work did it at 60 no issues.
 
the reef and the tropical north area.

stuff like this. this is in babinda.

38555226834133321296218.jpg
 
We absolutely love the Far East, and I can't recommend highly enough Indonesia, especially Bali. Just make sure you visit places off the tourist trail to really see what it is like out there, phenomenal place.
 
Massive bump time but its the same question from the same thread starter. :)

Ready for a new idea/project or 2.

One diving, one adventure.

Any good idea for something different? None tour or group based but not too proud to steal their ideas :)
 
We recently did Vietnam and Cambodia which was fantastic. Do a trek in Patagonia, such a variety of things to see and so beautiful. One on my list to do soon is to tour Bhutan and finish off trekking up to see the eagles nest monastery. Trek the Silk Road get to see so much.
 
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A bit of a different climate (which is partly why I'm suggesting it), but have you perhaps considered the Nordic countries? I've never been but I'd absolutely love to do some wild camping up there, just going from A to B via foot and canoe. Last time I was looking their shooting laws are much more relaxed so if it's your thing you could hire a guide and go game shooting, or just stick to fishing, but either way I personally like the idea of spending part of it being 'self reliant'.

I mean just look at this:

zyGYGcU.jpg.png
 
cm1179 said:
the reef and the tropical north area.

stuff like this. this is in babinda.

38555226834133321296218.jpg
Click to expand...

That's not something you need to do when you're young. My parents just did something similar and turned 60...

Australia isn't really somewhere you need to go when you're young. Conversely being young does mean it'll probably be cheaper (you'll be more willing to rough it in a leaking tent or a cheap car).

The_blue said:
No, but do steal their ideas! :D

Bales is my fave.

http://www.balesworldwide.com/
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Never heard of them, usually use G Adventures. Out of interest, did you do the volcano and Ecuador on your own? How did organise it/did you go just yourself?

As for ideas. We did two weeks in the Philippines at christmas (mentioned this a few times in different threads now...) and it wasn't quite long enough. 3 weeks would allow you to go north and visit the rice terraces, go south and climb up a couple of volcanoes/rainforests (Mt Isarog National Park for one) and spend a week kayaking round bunch of tropical islands (not sure if they would insist on you having a guide if you aren't kayaking with another person, the two of us did it on our own but have kayak experience). There is loads of diving around there and you can also swim with whale sharks and Manta rays. We hired our kayaks from http://www.tribaladventures.com. They do tours but also hire out the kayaks on their own. We basically just camped on beaches in the evening and after leaving the main town behind saw no tourists for the entire week, it's pretty off the map compared to Palawan to the south.

Alternatively Indonesia as you mentioned. There are a couple of places to kayak, including Papua (Indonesian side) and loads of diving spots. Head down south to Komodo and see the dragons. There's also Borneo. The Indonesian part of the island isn't really visited as everyone does the touristy Malaysian part.

I was/am looking into a 3 week trip involving a weeks kayaking either in Komodo or Papua then two weeks on Indonesian Borneo, one week hiking and one week in a couple of national parks looking for wild Orang-utans and other wildlife.

I'm also looking into Madagascar for next easter possibly but not sure whether we will be able to do 3 weeks or only 2, if the latter then probably not. I see Indonesia as the Asian version of Madagascar so either would be good!

Alternatively Sierra Leone, although it does look like the Ebola virus is getting worse there. There seems like lots to do and 3 weeks would be a good amount of time. I was thinking of going this christmas but couldn't get a reply from the national park I wanted to visit (multi day hiking trips) which you have to organise before you get there. It's early days for tourism there (really early! Very few western hotels outside Freetown and basically no decent road infrastructure) but lots of stunning, empty beaches to explore and areas of beauty, culture is obviously right up there too.

Did a Western Australia road trip over easter and it was good but I think unless you head up the Gibbs River Road you may find it a bit restrictive. We hired a 4x4 camper and went to a load of national parks but there are very few places to actually go out and walk. All the parks are set up for driving. You drive to the sight, do an hours walk to and from it (if you're lucky) and get back in the car and drive to the next one. Stunning scenery but ruined by the car centric nature of it. I'd like to do the east and central and miss most of the national parks but will probably do it when i'm older just for that reason (unless I move over there).

Maybe we should get an adventure travel thread up, there have been a few threads like this recently and I'm always interested in seeing where others are thinking of going.

EDIT: Just saw you did Indonesia...
 
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Amp34 said:
Australia isn't really somewhere you need to go when you're young. Conversely being young does mean it'll probably be cheaper (you'll be more willing to rough it in a leaking tent or a cheap car).
Click to expand...

i was there for over 7 weeks start of this year.
 
Amp34 said:
That's not something you need to do when you're young. My parents just did something similar and turned 60...

Australia isn't really somewhere you need to go when you're young.
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You are going to have to expand on that. I don't really see why it's the case? You don't NEED to go, obviously, nobody does, but it's very nice.
 
You could 'do' Australia at any age but it would be different - same as anywhere else really.

I did the standard east coast tour when I was 22 - transport included on the bus but nothing else. Nights spent in crappy hostels and in parks / beaches with strangers i met 10 minutes before etc.

The experience would be different in nice hotels but you could still see everything I did. Fraser island and Whitsundays were amazing
 
Guest2 said:
You could 'do' Australia at any age but it would be different - same as anywhere else really.

I did the standard east coast tour when I was 22 - transport included on the bus but nothing else. Nights spent in crappy hostels and in parks / beaches with strangers i met 10 minutes before etc.

The experience would be different in nice hotels but you could still see everything I did. Fraser island and Whitsundays were amazing
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Exactly. The point I was making was in reply to the guy that said he thought he was getting too old to do it at 33.

Australia isn't a place that's particularly rough, it's not like you need to be young and fit to do most of the things people do (other than the drinking and hosteling bit, which isn't really Australia, more type of holiday that just so happens to be in Australia).

Compare that to say Indonesia or out of the way Africa, where you may have to spend 10 hours stuck on a crowded boiling bus, wade through mud up a mountain or hike across a dozen volcanoes in NE Russia. The roads in Australia are graded and almost all of the places you can walk are "beautifully" graded paths. - Even the so called "rough as hell" (direct quote) roads are lovely and smooth compared to even a green lane in the UK, let alone ones in Africa.

The most "extreme" place most people will do is something like the Gibbs River Road which is 7 days of "proper" outback experience. Most people doing it are 40+ because they are the ones that can afford the land cruisers, two spare tyres and generator running the fridge to keep their tinnies cold... (not taking anything away from it - I really want to do it - just pointing out it's not something you have to be young to do.)

EDIT:

cm1179 said:
i was there for over 7 weeks start of this year.
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And did you feel too old/did age hold you back doing actual Australian things (as opposed to drinking all night with the gap year crew on the bus :p)?
 
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