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December 15, 2010November 27, 2010

top 10 hiking towns worldwide

Lets say you want to plan a hiking holiday.

You might need to base yourself close to major trailheads. In a community with a good gear shop. Large enough to supply last minute provisions.

You’ll need a memorable place to stay. A place that will store your bag while you’re gone out on the trail.

The best hiking towns have a hiking culture. They appreciate and respect those on foot with a backpack.

And you’ll want a memorable restaurant to celebrate on your return.

Starting tomorrow we’ll be announcing our top 10 hiking towns with #10. And posting one each day until #1 … Christmas morning.

• our top 10 hikes in the world
• our top 10 hiking regions in the world

December 3, 2010

you must climb Angel Falls

KAMADAC is a German – Venezuelan run travel agency based out of nearby Santa Elena.

Their guides speak Spanish, German and English.

How can you resist?

The prices are really good value. Click through to see for yourself – kamadac.de

December 3, 2010November 26, 2023

Jeju Olle hike, Korea day 5

#Jeju #JejuOlle

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

Day 4 had been long long, over 30km. In the dark I lucked into finding a perfect tent site, hidden away in a rock niche high above the coast.

It had previously been used as a meditation retreat.

Dawn is the most peaceful time of the day. They are not early risers on Jeju.

Locals live by the “Sam Mu” (“Three Nothings”) – no beggars, no thieves, no gates.

Here is (by far) my favourite restaurant over 100km – the Two Weeks Coffee Shop.

The owner retired from Seoul. Because he and his wife love coffee, they purchased the property to set up a retirement job.

Every Korean can guess why it’s named Two Weeks. … You’ll have to go yourself and ask if you want to know. Bring a book and a laptop. They have free WiFi. You can hang out in their lovely garden.

Check the vista from atop the nearby cinder cone.

Known as an “oreum” (lateral volcano grown over as a hill or small mountain), the Jeju Olle never bypasses one without making you climb to the top.

That’s the second largest “city” on Jeju, Seogwipo.

They have the same huge, colourful web spiders I’ve bumped into many times in Hong Kong.

I imagine these small, timid feral cats eat the spiders, when they can.

I finished at the official Jeju Olle office in Seogwipo, a bit disappointed that I ran out of time to do route 7. Some feel that’s the best of all.

Read more about route 6 on the official website.

See the rest of my route 5-6 photos on flickr.

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

_____

Resources if you want to plan a trip for yourself:

Visit Korea – Jeju Olle (also available in many other languages)

JejuOlle.org (also in Japanese, Chinese and Korean)

Wild Junket – Hiking in Korea: Jeju Olle Trail

Though I did not use it, there is a guidebook in English. Look for it on the island or check it out as a PDF linked from this Visit Korea page.

Questions? Suggestions? … Leave a comment.

November 29, 2010

The Way Back: best hiking movie yet?

The Way Back is an upcoming drama film about a group of prisoners who escaped from a Siberian gulag during World War II.

… directed by Peter Weir from a screenplay also by Weir based on the memoir by Sławomir Rawicz. It stars Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris …

The film is based on a memoir titled The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz, depicting his escape from a Siberian gulag and subsequent 4000 mile walk to freedom in India. Incredibly popular, it sold over 500,000 copies and is credited with inspiring many explorers.

In 2006 the BBC unearthed records (including some written by Rawicz himself) that showed he had been released by the USSR in 1942 and the book was based on the story of other Polish soldier, Witold Glinski. …

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

They are already talking Oscar nominations.

(via The Outside Blog posting on three men who repeated the walk to raise awareness that the real hero real hero of the Great Escape was a Polish man named Witold Gliński.)

November 26, 2010November 25, 2010

10 best treks in the world

… according to Lonely Planet:

1. GR20, France
2. Inca Trail, Peru
3. Pays Dogon, Mali
4. Everest Base Camp, Nepal
5. Indian Himalayas, India
6. Overland Track, Australia
7. Routeburn Track, New Zealand
8. The Narrows, USA
9. The Haute Route, France-Switzerland
10. Baltoro Glacier & K2, Pakistan

The two in bold are on our top 10 list.

I like the list, though “Indian Himalayas” is a region, not a trek.

Certainly there are better hikes in Peru than the Inca Trail, including Choquequirao to Machu Picchu.

November 23, 2010

Triple Crown hikes, Waterton 2011

I tried and failed in 2010.

But summer 2011 in Waterton National Park, Canada, I guarantee I’ll be getting on the Glory Board, the list of those who complete 3 best hikes, ideally in one calendar year: Akamina Ridge | Alderson Carthew | Crypt Lake

details – ExperienceWaterton.com – Triple Crown

November 23, 2010November 23, 2010

introducing the Overland Track, Tasmania

Famed in Australia, but not so well known around the rest of the world, The Overland is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Frank was just there, updating his excellent eBook – How to Hike the Overland Track.

His latest post has a nice overview of highlights for those who don’t know it:

• a great “beginner’ bushwalking trip
• regularly spaced huts
• track is well marked and in good condition
• in season there are rangers
• scenery is spectacular and varied
• side trips
• the weather

… OK, he must have been joking mentioning the weather.

read more – Our Hiking Blog – Why hike the Overland Track in Tasmania?

Check our Overland Track information page, too.

November 20, 2010November 21, 2010

World Trails Conference, Korea

#Jeju #JejuOlle

by site editor Rick McCharles

Regarding the World Trails Conference held recently in Jeju, Korea.

We heard presentations from:

• John Muir Trail, California
• The Way of St. James (Camiño de Santiago), Spain
• Cotswold Way, England
• Bruce Trail, Canada
• The Great Ocean Walk, Australia

We listened to speakers from the Shikoku island in Japan, Swiss tourism and the China Volkssport Association.

The representative of the French Rambling Association (Féderation Française de la Randonnée Pédestre) taught me a lot.

I was personally very keen on learning of the Hong Kong Great Outdoors initiative, including free guided tours of the MacLehose Trail (100km), one I’ve not yet done there. (I’m thinking of hiking Japan in Oct. 2011, followed by Hong Kong and Jeju in November. An Asian tour.)

Hong Kong is a surprisingly excellent hiking destination:

By the end of the 3-day conference our host, Jeju Olle Trail, had struck partnership agreements with The Bruce and Cotswold. Nice.

There was much discussion regarding a possible World Trails Network.

My main take away from the World Trails Conference was that construction and management of trails worldwide varies wildly. But they all rely on a lot of volunteer labour. Labour of love.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be posting specifically on some of the walks presented.

November 19, 2010November 23, 2010

vote Jeju – 7 Wonders of Nature

#Jeju #JejuOlle

I spent 4 days hiking the lovely Jeju Olle Trail in Korea. At the very start of the intended 339km (and growing) walking path is Sunrise Peak (Seongsan Ilchulbong).

Very weird. Unique in the world. I found it fascinating. See more interesting photos tagged Seongsan.

Jeju is a small, rural island. And a popular tourist destination in Asia. Yet it’s not well known outside Asia.

Let’s correct that by voting Jeju Island to the new list of 7 Wonders of Nature. The island is already listed a World Heritage Site: Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.

Here’s an instructional video explaining how to vote for your top 7. (You need choose your 7 wonders first, before registering.)

related: Visit Korea – Jeju Olle