LONELY PLANET’ S

Hankering to tackle a long-distance trek, or an icy mountain peak? 1000 Ultimate Adventures brings together activities and challenges to captivate and inspire gung-ho adventurers and armchair travellers alike. From the epic to the local, on land, sea or even in mid air, the offer- ings here will encourage you to dream, plan and set off on your own adventure.

Enjoy panoramic views of Cape Town after scrambling to the top of Table Mountain Pedal your way across Vietnam from the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta to the highlands Swim between continents in the Bosphorus swim, Istanbul Rumble across the dunes on a camel safari in Rajasthan Take in sublime vistas on a circuit of Mont Blanc

ISBN 978-1-74321-719-1 1ST EDITION 99225

USA $22.99 9 781743 217191 UK £15.99 FROM THE WORLD’S LEADING TRAVEL AUTHORITY

1000 Ultimate Adventures-final.indd 1 17/04/2013 2:41:37 PM LONELY PLANET’ S

FROM THE WORLD’S LEADING TRAVEL AUTHORITY

00a-frontmatter-title-ula1.indd 1 11/04/2013 11:45:00 AM CONTENTS

10 ICONS OF TRAVEL 70 BEST TREKS 124 EPIC RIDES WITH KILLER VIEWS 14 BEST SPOTS TO CATCH 128 BEST URBAN CLIMBING A BIG WAVE 74 ROCK STARS: WORLD’S ADVENTURES BEST BOULDERING 18 ULTIMATE DESERT 132 HAIR-RAISING ROAD DARES 78 BEST OFF-SEASON TRIPS ADVENTURES 22 MOUNTAIN QUESTS 136 SECOND-HIGHEST (NOT 82 MOST SECOND BEST) 26 BEST STEEP, DEEP BACK- SPIRITED HIKING & COUNTRY SKIING BIKING 138 MOUNTAIN BIKING’S MECCAS 30 WILDEST FLIGHTS 84 HOTTEST VOLCANIC VENTURES 142 GOING TO EXTREMES 32 GREATEST AIRBORNE ADVENTURES 88 FOR PROS ONLY – 146 MONKEY MAGIC: BEST THE MOST DANGEROUS ADVENTURES IN TREES 36 MOST ELECTRIFYING ADVENTURES TRIBAL ENCOUNTERS 150 WILD AT HEART: BEST 92 BEST HIDDEN HUTS ANIMAL ADVENTURES 40 MOST DANGEROUS AND SHELTERS PLACES TO TRAVEL 152 EPIC 94 ICONIC AMERICAS SEA-KAYAK PADDLES 42 COLDEST ADVENTURES ADVENTURES 156 EYE-CATCHING 46 SCARIEST ANIMAL 98 ULTIMATE ATMOSPHERIC ENCOUNTERS TRAIN RIDES EXTRAVAGANZAS 50 MOST SPECTACULAR 102 RETRO ACTIVE: OLD- 160 BEST CITY HIKES ROCK CLIMBS SCHOOL ADVENTURES 164 ENDANGERED 54 MOST STELLAR STAR-LIT 104 WILDEST SWIMS IN THE ENCOUNTERS ADVENTURES WORLD 166 SAIL OR BUST 56 MOST THRILLING 108 CRAZIEST CAVES CANYONING 170 BEST ADVENTURES 112 MIND-BLOWING FOUR-LEGGED ADVENTURES 60 MOST EXCELLENT EQUINE ESCAPADES 114 MOST 174 TALL ORDERS! – BEST ACTION-PACKED TOWER- 64 ICONIC ASIAN JUNGLES RACES ADVENTURES 118 DOWNHILL DASHES 176 CLASSIC RIDES FOR 68 GOTTA BE IN CASUAL CYCLISTS IT TO WIN IT: BEST 122 BEST ADVENTURE RACES FESTIVALS

00b-frontmatter-contents-ula1.indd 2 12/04/2013 3:22:48 PM 180 ULTIMATE MOTORBIKE 248 ULTIMATE BORDER 308 GET YOUR ADVENTURES CROSSINGS THRILLS INDOORS 184 BEST ADVENTURE FILMS 250 LONGEST TREKS 312 ROUSING READS FOR ARMCHAIR 186 TOP 10 254 BEST POWDER IN THE ADVENTURERS ADVENTURE NATIONS WORLD 314 THE TWO OF US: 190 GET ON BOARD! 258 ESSENTIAL AFRICAN ADVENTURES ADVENTURES IN TANDEM 194 INTREPID TREASURE-HUNTING 262 MOST EXCITING 318 GREAT MOUNTAIN TRIPS MODERN CYCLES ADVENTURERS 198 BEST POOCH PURSUITS 322 BOY’S (AND GIRL’S) 264 BEST BIRDING IN OWN ADVENTURES 200 ICONIC EUROPEAN HIGHLANDS AND ADVENTURES ISLANDS 324 LEGENDARY ODYSSEYS 204 BEST WAYS TO BLOW 268 BEST MARINE 328 BEST SURF BREAKS FOR THE KIDS’ INHERITANCE ENCOUNTERS BEGINNERS 208 BEST ULTRA RUNS 272 SENSATIONAL 332 CLASSIC SOLO SORTIES SNOWSHOE ESCAPADES 210 ULTIMATE PILGRIMAGES 334 FAMILY-FRIENDLY 274 SPORTIVES FOR ADVENTURES 214 WORLD’S SERIOUS CYCLISTS HIGHEST TREKS 338 TOP DIVING 278 BEST UNDISCOVERED ADVENTURES 218 FAMOUS FOOTSTEPS US PARKS 342 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF 220 ZIP IT UP: GREATEST 282 BEST ADVENTURES IN FILM HEROES ZIP-LINE EXPERIENCES THE BUFF 344 MOST SPECTACULAR 224 ICONIC MIDDLE EAST 284 SWEETEST SNORKEL HONEYMOON ADVENTURES SPOTS ADVENTURES 228 THE PLANET’S 288 BEST 348 ADVENTURE OFF THE FREAKIEST FOOTRACES HUT-TO-HUT TOURS PAGE 230 TRULY WILD 292 ADVENTURE 350 INDEX WATERWAYS INSTITUTIONS 234 FAMOUSLY 294 MOST VERTIGINOUS ADVENTUROUS VENTURES DESTINATIONS 298 BEST ‘PHOENIX’ 238 GIRLS-ONLY DESTINATIONS ADVENTURES 302 TOP ADVENTURE 240 BEST RAFTING RIVERS SKILLS 244 MOST MAGNIFICENT 304 BEST BEGINNERS’ COAST-TO-COAST CLIMBS MISSIONS

00b-frontmatter-contents-ula1.indd 3 12/04/2013 3:23:25 PM FOREWORD

I sweat in the silence. All around me the sands chance to attempt an adventure large or small, stretch far away. Nothing moves. The crisp and to discover ourselves capable of more than curves and shadows of the dunes cut up into we realised. This book is a brilliant stepping stone the cloudless sky. There is no sign of life, no sign to our own adventures either epic or local. that anyone has ever been here before. I fi rst began plotting my adventures through Despite the heat, despite the struggle, I smile. stories of the great explorers. They inspired Perhaps I smile because of these things? Because me to dream big. I’ve been to the beach where adventures are not supposed to be easy, are they? Captain Cook was killed and I’ve followed Marco I’m walking across the Arabian Peninsula’s Polo across the Taklamakan desert (p326). But Empty Quarter desert (p21) – the Rub’ al Burke and Wills’ pioneering trek reminds me of a Khali – and the responsibility for my progress glaring omission on my own travelling CV: I have and safety is entirely in my hands. It is an never adventured in Australia. The world is so exhilarating feeling. But I am not the fi rst person big that I will never reach the bottom of my wish here. My quest is to retrace the great journeys list. There’s so much to do, as this book makes Wilfred Thesiger made here seventy years ago. deliciously plain. All the more reason to get Refl ecting the very diff erent worlds that dreaming and planning, and get out there! Thesiger and I pursue our adventures in, the My fi rst adventure was cycling the stunning end of my trek will be the peak of Dubai’s Burj high-altitude Karakoram Highway (p318) from Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building. Pakistan to China. I’d been planning on cycling Thesiger would have been horrifi ed. But there’s in Tuscany when a friend cajoled me into no point living in the past. The world has thinking bigger. Not only was the ride cheaper changed enormously since Thesiger set out and more epic than Italy, it was also a catalyst. I across these plains. But the thrill of discovering was addicted. I haven’t looked back. new places remains. I love going to places I’ve Don’t make the mistake of reading this book never been, and seeing glorious sights that I fi rst without also making the adventures of your read about in books such as this one. choice actually happen. Flicking through these We live in fortunate times. The world is more pages I have noted several adventures that fi red accessible than ever before. These days we my imagination, mountain biking the San Juan have opportunities not only to be armchair huts (p291) and paddling the Queen Charlotte adventurers, dipping into the delicious Islands (p153) being just two. I’m sure you will do 4 photographs and ideas in this book, but to the same. There’s a wonderful world out there commit to an adventure of our own. We have the and this book is a fantastic appetiser. Let’s go!

Alastair Humphreys Scotland, April 2013

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The Empty Quarter, a seemingly endless expanse of wind-sculpted dunes – and limitless adventure

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ANIMAL ARCHETYPAL ENCOUNTERS AFRICA They may not be kings of the Zanzibar, mixing spice plantations, jungle, but spying a tiger from the pristine beaches and Swahili back of an elephant counts as a culture, hovers like an African majestic experience. p164 jewel in the Indian Ocean. p236

Great white sharks are best viewed The rolling dunes of Namibia are from a steel cage in the waters off perfect slopes for ... Port Lincoln, South Australia. p47 and soft when you crash. p19

An epic bike journey from Cape Town to Cairo puts you in touch with the sights, sounds and scents of this mighty continent. p10

Migration on an epic scale: 1.5 million wildebeest and zebra move through the Maasai Mara every year. p260

Sea turtles can live to a ripe old age. Be a witness to their hatching in the Padre Ramos Estuary, Nicaragua. p54

It’s a dog’s life, so why not come along for the ride, over an Alaskan glacier on a dog-sled tour. p172 In Ghana’s Kakum National Park How better to experience the guides lead night safaris through 6 vastness of the Mongolian steppes pristine African tropic rainforest. than as Genghis Khan and his p55 horde did: on horseback. p62

00d-frontmatter-ultimate-itineraries-ula1.indd 6 12/04/2013 9:46:47 AM MOUNTAIN NO-SWEAT ACTIVE HIGHS ADVENTURES AMERICAS The W Trek across the Torres del After travelling all the way to In the vastness of Big Bend, Texas, Paine National Park in Chilean Iceland, the warm waters of the you can raft down the Rio Grande, Patagonia wows with luminescent Blue Lagoon, near Reykjavík, or hike or horse-ride into the glacial lakes and awe-inspiring make for a relaxing and Chisos Mountains. p280 granite peaks. p73 rejuvenating dip. p345 Sentinel over Rio de Janeiro, Setting out in Scotland to conquer Glide like a swan or get your Mt Sugarloaf off ers a climbing the Munros take a certain amount of groove on along the boardwalk of challenge that is only rivalled by the pluck – there are 282 of them, all at Venice Beach, California, the self- views of Guanbara Bay. p128 above 900m. p23 proclaimed ‘roller-skate capital of the world’. p102 Linking Newfoundland with Come at the world’s highest Vancouver Island, the mighty Trans mountain, fl oating face fi rst. You Start your day by fl oating silently Canada Trail is the world’s longest don’t necessarily need to climb over other-worldly landscapes and network of walking trails. p252 it, you can skydive over Everest villages of Cappadocia, Turkey, in instead. p296 a hot-air balloon fl ight. p32 Dashing horsemen, gauchos are the perfect guides to lead you on Experience the world’s most active a horse trek exploring the rugged volcano at close quarters. Lava mountains and lakes of Chilean fl ows so slowly down Kilauea, in Patagonia. p171 Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park, that it’s safe to watch. p86

Skimming across the Indian Ocean with dolphins in your wake, a schooner trip between the islands of the Seychelles is an idyll come true. p168 The sandstone outcrops around Moab, Utah, have a reputation for Glacier-topped Mt Kilimanjaro Cycling in tandem as part of a bike world-class mountain-bike routes. rises majestically out of Tanzania’s and barge tour of Amsterdam is the Come here for pedal-powered thrills sun-bleached savannah. It’s the ultimate team-building experience. and spills. p96 highest peak in Africa and siren’s p315 call to serious trekkers. p215

00d-frontmatter-ultimate-itineraries-ula1.indd 7 12/04/2013 9:46:50 AM INTREPID VENTURES EXHILARATING ANTIPODES BY FOOT EUROPE Competitors in the Antarctic With more than 1200 islands The Blue Mountains are full of Ice take on sub-zero in the opalescent Adriatic geological oddities – waterfalls, temperatures and freezing winds, Sea, Croatia off ers idylls and gullies, crevices – that can be but are rewarded by crossing challenges aplenty for sea explored full tilt on a canyoning through pristine wilderness. p113 kayakers. p153 trip. p56 A 4300km journey across rugged Follow in the footsteps of the Emerging from the Victorian mountain ranges, the Pacifi c Crest fi rst great literary traveller, countryside like a craggy fortress, Trail crosses three US states and Odysseus, around the ports, Mt Arapiles is one of Australia’s seven national parks. p252 bays and islands of the best rock climbs for beginners . Mediterranean. p324 p306 Pine trees scent the air along the Greenways web of walking trails in Every morning for a week in June, the Czech Republic, and at every crowds run frantically down wayside village pubs serve up cobbled streets in Pamplona home-brewed beers! p82 pursued by bulls. What could be more fun than that? Traversing Spitsbergen from the p202 Barents to the Greenland sea means spending each star-spangled night Cast your gaze skyward in in a mountain tent on the ice. p247 Tromsø, Norway, at the Northern Lights. According to legend, it’s The Milford Track is New Zealand’s the refl ected glow of the mythic most famous tramping (hiking) Valkyries’ armour. p158 route, a four-day odyssey through awesome terrain. p285

Surfers and wandering souls make the journey to Byron Bay, in northern New South Wales, for consistent, and consistently great, surf breaks. p328 The Camino de Santiago, converging on the reputed remains Running 150km near the southern of St James in Galicia, must be tip of New Zealand, the Central contemporary Christianity’s most The West Highland Way across Otago Rail Trail off ers spectacular famous, and popular, modern Scotland traverses diverse and autumn scenery every April. p176 pilgrimage. p211 breathtaking scenery, from desolate moor to mirror-like Loch Lomond. p70

00d-frontmatter-ultimate-itineraries-ula1.indd 8 12/04/2013 9:46:51 AM AQUATIC AWESOME ESCAPADES ASIA Floating on your back is never so Sprinkled across the lush highlands exciting as it is in the Devil’s Pool, of northern Vietnam, the villages on the edge of Victoria Falls. p107 of the hill tribes feature colourful market days. p37 Drift languidly amid 10 million jellyfi sh as the follow the sun as it The Annapurna Circuit takes in passes overhead atOngeim’l Tketau, breathtaking highs and the Kali Palau’s jellyfi sh lake. p271 Gandaki, the deepest gorge in the world. p318 Swimming with giant rays in the translucent waters of the Cayman islands is an electrifying experience. p339

After plunging over Victoria Falls, the Zambezi River rushes through basalt-lined Batoka Gorge bringing rafters along for the ride. p241

China’s Great Wall stretches over 8000km, with hikeable sections passing through Hebei Province near Beijing. p65

The world’s highest motorable road, the Leh–Manali Highway, linking Ladakh with Himachal Pradesh, has an average elevation of over Whale sharks, the gentle giants 4000m. p135 of the sea at up to 10m long, drift through sun-dappled waters in Get a bird’s eye – or monkey’s Ningaloo Marine Park in Western eye – view of the rainforest around Australia. p269 Chiang Mai on 5km of zip-lines at Flight of the Gibbons. p221

9 ULTIMATE ITINERARIES

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