Experience Adventure Travel with a Vacation to Bhutan

Thimphu is the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan and has a population of around 100,000, making it the countries largest city. Ker and Downey’s Kingdom in the Clouds itinerary takes you through Thimphu and Paro in Bhutan and Delhi in India.

Although the valley in which Thimphu is located has supported villages for nearly eight centuries, there was no sustained habitation for much of the time and the city didn’t grow until the king declared Thimphu the new capital in 1961. Amazingly, It wasn’t until a year later that automobiles first appeared on the streets. The city center is small enough to negotiate by foot so the most adventurous tourists can take in the many cultural heritage sites of the city by means of walking.

The city’s main street is, undeniably, one of the foremost culture and natural tourism destinations in the world. The Tashichoedzong hosts a colorful masked-dance festival at the end of summer, which is very popular with travelers. Most interestingly, Thimphu is one of two national Capitals in Asia that does not have traffic lights. Instead, the local traffic police direct the oncoming automobiles.

Thimphu is home to dozens of religious structures, museums, and landmarks. Most notably, Changangkha Lhakhang - a temple constructed in the 15th century - is one of the oldest structures in the Thimphu Valley. It is by far the oldest temple in Thimphu and hovers over a ridge above the city near Motithang.



Phajo Drugom Shigpo, one of the principles of the Drukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, is acknowledged as the primary catalyst in the building of the temple. During the building of the shrine, he dedicated the temple to Avalokiteshvara - the Buddhist emanation of compassion. Because of its unique location atop the city, the dzong has wonderful views across the entire valley.

In a recent New York Times Article, Seth Mydans writes of the tranquil setting he found in Bhutan saying:

If the rest of the world cannot get it right in these unhappy times, this tiny Buddhist kingdom high in the Himalayan mountains says it is working on an answer.



No more than 700,000 people live in the kingdom, squeezed between the world’s two most populous nations, India and China, and its task now is to control and manage the inevitable changes to its way of life.

 

It is a country where cigarettes are banned and television was introduced just 10 years ago, where traditional clothing and architecture are enforced by law and where the capital city has no stoplight and just one traffic officer on duty.



“How does a small country like Bhutan handle globalization? Survive by being distinct, by being different.”

Ker Downey, specialists in custom designed travel, will work with you to arrange the best adventure travel destination that will surpass your every expectation. Contact us to find out how.

Customize Your Travel Experience in the Himalayas

The Himalayas are, quite deservedly, the most famous peaks in the world. The name, short in sanskrit for ‘abode of snow’ aptly describe these natural wonders. The Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest and home to the world's highest peaks, the Eight-thousanders, which include Mount Everest and K2. The result of massive subterrainean collisons, these mountains are so gargantuan they completely control the weather on the Indian subcontinent.

Notably, the Himalayas are the youngest mountain ranges on the planet, and consist mostly of loose sedimentary material. Due to the continuing collision of the continental plates beneath the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent, the Himalayas are continuing to shift upward, growing ever larger and more formidable.

If you are looking for the premier custom designed travel experience, consider contacting us to design the perfect adventure travel excursion for you. We look forward to fielding any questions you might have and providing you with the most unique luxury travel experience on earth.

Suprisingly, nearly 40 million people inhabit the Himalayas. generally, they are Hindus of Indian heritage, dominant in the Sub-Himalayas and the Middle Himalayan valleys from eastern Kashmir to Nepal. To the north Tibetan Buddhists inhabit the Great Himalayas from Ladakh to northeast India. In central Nepal, the Indian and Tibetan cultures have intermingled, producing a combination of Indian and Tibetan traits. This is where we find the major urban centers (as well as popular tourist destinations) of Kathmandu, Simla and Srinagar. The settlement patterns in the Himalayan region is greatly influenced by the topography, economic pattern and the climatic condition. The climate condition is one of the main factors for the population settlements since extreme wind and cold imposes a restriction on the living conditions and tends to inhibit movement and communication. But the ethnic groups living in remote valleys of the Himalayan region have generally conserved their traditional cultural identities.

The Himalayas are most important to would be backpackers and bespoke adventurers because of Mount Everest the significance in the climbing community. The highest mountain in the world attracts climbers of all levels, from well experienced mountaineers to novice climbers seeking to hire professional mountain guides and sherpas to complete a successful climb and experience the foremost in luxury adventure travel. Amazingly, Everest has claimed 210 lives, including eight who perished during a 1996 storm high on the mountain. Conditions are so difficult in the death zone that most corpses have been left where they fell. Some of them are even visible from the standard climbing routes.

Of great importance is Sir Edmund Hillary, world famous for being the first human being to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest. In his obituary he is praised as one of mankinds most notable heroes with his biographers noting:

By the time Sir Edmund attempted his ascent, seven previous expeditions to the top of the world's highest mountain had failed. Sir Edmund recalled: "We didn't know if it was humanly possible to reach the top."



Despite this general trepidation, the determined New Zealander joined a trip led by British climber, Sir John Hunt.



After a gruelling climb up the southern face, battling the effects of high altitude and bad weather, Sir Edmund and Tenzing Norgay managed to reach the peak at 1130 local time on 29 May.



'All this - and Everest too!'



When they finally reached the top Sir Edmund, who lost four stone on the expedition, reported his first sensation as one of relief.



He took the famous photo of his Sherpa companion posing with his ice-axe, but refused Tenzing's offer to take one of him, so his ascent went unrecorded.



On the morning of Queen Elizabeth's coronation in May 1953, her subjects were told that Sir Edmund had made it to the summit.



As he was a New Zealander and therefore a citizen of the Commonwealth, British subjects celebrated his achievement as their own.



On the day the Queen was crowned, one newspaper headline crowed "All this - and Everest too!"



Sir Edmund was knighted for his efforts, and Tenzing given a medal.



The pair initially reported the ascent as one made in unison. Only after the Sherpa's death in 1986, did Sir Edmund reveal that he had been about 10 feet ahead at the final ridge.

New Zealand is the Perfect Place for an Adventure Travel Vacation

New Zealand is an island country in the Southwest Pacific comprising two main land-masses commonly referred to as the North Island and South Island as well as several smaller islands (the most notable of which is the Chatham islands, a set of remote islands 500 miles to the southeast of the rest of New Zealand). The country is most notable for its geographic isolation, it is situated more than 1250 miles southeast of Australia on the other side of the Tasman Sea. During its history of isolation, they island of New Zealand developed a distinct fauna most distinguished by the several species of birds found only on these islands.

During its long isolation, New Zealand served as the final refuge for several species of wildlife descended from the great breeds of Gondwanan, the worlds first and last supercontinent. About 80% of New Zealands fauna is endemic, found nowhere else but this island country. New Zealand has suffered a high rate of extinctions, including the moa, the huia, laughing owl and flightless wrens, which occupied the roles elsewhere occupied by mice. This is due to human activities such as hunting, and pressure from introduced feral animals, such as weasels, stoats, cats, goats, and deer. Five indigenous vascular plant species are now believed to be extinct as well, including Adam's mistletoe and a species of forget-me-not.

Notably, New Zealand has led the world in island restoration projects, where offshore islands are cleared of introduced mammalian pests and native species are reintroduced. Several islands located very near to the three main islands are wildlife reserves where common pests such as possums and rodents have been eradicated to allow the reintroduction of endangered species to the islands. This allows for the natural food chain and wildlife cycle to return to an island long deprived of it’s native species.

New Zealand’s wildlife is not the only thing unique to the islands, while much of the country’s culture is derived from its british roots, it also includes significant influences from American, Australian and Māori cultures. Notably, the world's largest Polynesian festival, Pasifika, is an annual event in Auckland. Pasifika is a Pacific Islands themed festival which attracts more than 225,000 visitors a year.

Much like New Zealand's wildlife, the culture of the islands natives, the Maori, has been affected by the arrival of Europeans. As in traditional times, The Māori habitually perform karakia to ensure the favorable outcome of their most important undertakings, but today the prayers used are generally Christian. Māori still regard their allegiance to tribal groups as the most vital part of their personal identity, and Māori kinship roles resemble those of other Polynesian peoples. However, Māori culture has undergone considerable change since the arrival of Europeans; in particular the introduction of Christianity in the early 19th century brought about a fundamental change in everyday life as the peoples shifted from animism to a more western prayer variety.

In a travel journal for the New Zealand Board of Tourism, Australian TV personality Zoe Naylor said of her adventures in the country:

After arriving into Auckland with Air New Zealand one of my favourite ways to begin any visit to the ‘City of Sails’ is to head to High Street to get lost in the cobbled alleys and peruse the myriad of local designer shops. I always find fabulous and unique fashion that I can’t buy anywhere else in the world.



The next day I hopped on the ferry to Waiheke Island, just thirty minutes from the city. If you’ve never been there, it is like a little touch of paradise. After a tour of the stunning Cable Bay vineyard, I sat down in their restaurant and sampled some great local produce looking back at the view over Auckland city.



The following day I took a Potiki Adventure tour which provided me with an opportunity to meet some of the local Maori and experience their contemporary lifestyle. It was wonderfully insightful.



That afternoon I had the opportunity to participate as crew on an America’s Cup yacht. With the sun shining, I had a crash course in sailing one of these grand prix racing vessels. It was one of the most stimulating things I’ve ever done and a fantastic way to see Auckland city.



To top off my perfect day I treated myself to dinner at Clooney’s in Sale Street. New Zealand is perfect - it’s hip, funky and incredibly cool.

If you seek a unique bespoke adventure, consider contacting us to customize the perfect luxury adventure travel itinerary for you. We look forward to fielding any questions you might have and providing you with a travel experience unparalleled.

Enjoy a Customized Travel Experience in Paro

Paro, a region in Bhutan, has had years of isolation and a severely limited relationship with it’s neighbors providing for a bespoke adventure unlike any other. Notably, Lonely Planet published a Bhutan Guidebook for backpackers to travel the region.

The small township of Paro as the gateway to the kingdom of Bhutan. In the city alone, however, there are many points of engagement that make Paro a destination in it’s own right. Along the main street you will find the best and most complex sampling of traditional archictecture in the country: two lines of richly decorated buildings house small shops, institutions and restaurants. However, the most interesting place in the kingdom is the Paro Dzong, a beautiful fortress and monastery overlooking the valley above which it was built.

Paro Dzong serves as both a civil administrative center and a monastic home for a community of monks. The Paro dzong was started in 1644 on the order of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, known as the unifier of modern day Bhutan. Like most dzongs, it was built to protect the inhabited valleys from invasion by Tibet. It is, easily, one of the most beautiful sites in all of Bhutan as evidenced by it’s alternative name of Rinpung Dzong or the, “Fortress that sits on a heap of jewels.”

Further, the Paro Tsechu festival - the biggest and most spectacular of all buddhist festivals - is celebrated at Paro Dzong every year. People, dressed in their traditional finery, flock to Paro Dzong to bear witness to their staunch Buddhist beliefs and receive blessings. They also watch masked dancers parade around the plaza and perform colorful allegorical dramas in the courtyard of the temple-fortress. Bhutan is one of the world’s most religious countries, buddhism having been introduced there in AD 800 by the revered Guru Padmasambhava or, “He who was born of a lotus flower." It is in his honor that the festival is held every year.

In an article on Paro Tsechu the adventure travel site WhatsOnWhen describes Paro Tsechu saying:

The festival consists of three parts: the "Pre-festival" on the first day, ceremonies inside the Paro Dzong on the second day, and the main festivities on the festival ground on the remaining three days. For the devout, the highlight undoubtedly occurs on the final day when a huge religious picture (thongdrel) is unfurled at dawn. To witness this event is to gain great merit.

Both monks and lay people perform in the festival dances and dramatizations as an act of meditation in an effort to personify the deity which they are tasked to portray. Wearing masks and dressed in elaborate costumes of silk brocade dancers demonstrate the triumph over good and evil and the power of compassion to the moving sounds of instruments tuned to their rhythms. The performances are naturally spaced with folksongs and clowning, while copious amounts of butter tea and potent barley alcohol are consumed by the crowd and performers.

The history of Paro is undeniably rich as the dances, masks and the costumes of the performers have remained unchanged for nearly 1000 years. Each dance is said to be an exact re-staging of visions seen by the country’s greatest Buddhist saints, and thus any changes made to them would be sacrilegious. Even today this beautiful and sacred festival remains a wonderful manifestation of a religious faith that is still a crucial part of Bhutanese daily life.



If you are looking for a custom designed travel experience, consider contacting us

to customize the perfect adventure travel destination for you. We look forward to fielding any questions you might have and providing you with the most unique travel experience on earth. Further, consider our Kingdom in the Clouds itinerary for a luxury vacation like no other.

Journey to the Great Barrier Reef for a Luxury Vacation

The Great Barrier Reef is a maze of nearly 3,000 individual reefs, 900 islands and stretches 133,000 square miles. It is located in the Coral Sea, just off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The majority of Barrier Reef islands lie north of the tropic of Capricorn and have a distinctly monsoonal climate, the heavy rains cause destructive flooding from April to September and leave thousands of people homeless each year.

For years, the Great Barrier Reef was known as Australia’s, “Blue Outback.” Established as a collective haven for thousands of species of sea life, the Great Barrier Reef was designated a World Heritage Site in 1981 and remains a top choice as a luxury travel destination.

Many visits to the Reef combine time on an island with time in Quensland’s towns and parks. Traveling for a week in the area you can stay at a southern coral cay, mountainous northern villa or Whitsundays’ Resort. The best way to fully experience the Great Barrier Reef is to travel via a live-aboard running from Port Douglas to Lizard Island. From these luxurious cruisers, divers can snorkel off of Fitzroy Island, scuba in Shute Harbour and swim in the pristine waters of Daydream Island.

If you must cut your visit short, consider touring Lady Elliot Island, one of the points on the reef with fringing coral. In a description of the island, the official website catalogues the area’s attractions saying:

At Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef, you can step off the beach and snorkel, swim or dive in an underwater holiday world of brilliantly colored species of marine life, or just simply relax and soak in the natural island atmosphere. The lagoon protects and nurtures the curiosity of the beginners while a little further out experienced snorklers and divers descend to see the coral sea.

Lady Elliot Island is one of only six island resorts on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and one of only three with direct flight access to the island airstrip. The island is located within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in the highest possible classification of Marine National Park Zone by GBRMPA. Lady Elliot is an island teeming with life and live corals, famous for a resident population of 40 Manta Rays which form the iconic logo of the island.

Tour the reef in a glass bottomed boat, learn to scuba dive, feed the fish, take a guided reef walk or stroll to a deserted beach and live the dream. With exceptionally clear water year round, you may encounter turtles, dolphins and a large variety of coral, fish and giant manta rays. If you are there for the right season you may see birds nesting, turtle hatchlings emerging from the sand or migrating humpback whales blow and breech.

Of course there are potential dangers to be found when visiting the reef. Notably, the Irukandji jellyfish, no bigger than a thumb tack, can cause: severe pain, vomiting, and soaring blood pressure. All of which may be life-threatening to people with already high blood pressure or diabetes.

If you are looking for a custom designed travel experience, consider contacting us

to design the perfect luxury travel vacation for you. We look forward to fielding any questions you might have and providing you with the most unique travel experience on earth.

The Siwa Oasis - An Adventure Travel Destination Like No Other

With a population of 23,000, Siwa was, for a long time, the most inaccessible of all Egypt’s Oasis until very recently. It became an adventure travel destination once its notoriety began to rise. The region which lays some 60 feet below sea-level includes a rich history. Notably, Alexander the Great visited to consult the Oracle of Amun in 331 BC. Accomplished archaeologists, such as Liana Souvaltsis, have implied that the great general was buried here, but no factual evidence exists of this. Legends abound of mystical protections which cover the oasis.

The King of Persia is said to have led a 50,000 man army to destroy the oracle and then to have been witness to the destruction of his entire army at the hands of the blazing desert. Jimmy Dunn, in a History of the Siwa Oasis, described the regions early history saying:

Siwa, like the other  Western Oasis, has had a number of different names over the millenniums. It was called Santariya by the ancient Arabs, as well as the Oasis of Jupiter-Amun, Marmaricus Hammon, the Field of Palm Trees and Santar by the ancient Egyptians..

We believe it was occupied as early as Paleolithic and Neolithic times, and some believe it was the capital of an ancient kingdom that may have included Qara, Arashieh and Bahrein.  During Egypt's Old Kingdom, it was a part of Tehenu, the Olive Land that may have extended as for east as Mareotis.

In many respects, the Siwa Oasis has little in common with the other Western Oasis. The Siwan people are mostly Berbers, the true Western Desert indigenous people, who once roamed the North African coast between Tunisia and Morocco. They inhabited the area as early as 10,000 BC, first moving towards the coast, but later inland as other conquering invaders arrived. Hence, Siwa is more North African sometimes then Egyptian and their language, traditions, rites, dress, decorations and tools differ from those of the other Western Oasis.

In fact, there is almost nothing known of the Siwa Oasis during Egypt's ancient history. There have been no monuments discovered dating from the Old,  Middle or  New Kingdoms. It may have been colonized during the reign of  Ramesses III, but evidence only exists beginning with the  26th Dynasty that it was part of the Egyptian empire. It was then that the Gebel el-Mawta Necropolis was established, which was in use through the Roman Period. In fact, some sources maintain that it remained an independed Sheikhdom ruled by a Libyan tribal chief until Roman times. The two temples that we know of, both dedicated to Amun, were established by Ahmose II and Nectanebo II.

The area has an agreeable climate: chilly in winter, hot in the summer and moderate in the spring and autumn. To the west of the town built here is a large saltwater lake, Lake Siwa. The town, famous for it’s dates and olives, is one of the most beautiful landscapes  in all of Egypt. Olive Oil is still made in the ancient way of crushing the olives from the 70,000 olive trees in the area with stones. The dates are gathered by stick-bearers, known as zaggala, who are required to remain celibate until the age of forty. They care for the regions nearly 300,000 date trees.

Located on an ancient Berber caravan passage, the Oasis received few other visitors and retained much of its heritage. In fact, until the battles which took place around the oasis in World War II, it was hardly governed by Egypt, and remained mostly a Berber (Zenatiya) community for the prior thirteen centuries. Siwans, the people who populate the oasis, continue to have their own culture and customs and they speak a local language rather than Arabic. Each October there is a three-day festival during which Siwans must settle all of their past year's disputes.

Though relaxing and far off the beaten path, the Shiwa Oasis is most certainly a part of the tourist community in Egypt. It is very traditional and visitors must keep this in mind when traveling to the area. Girls here are often married by the age of 14 and afterward are required to remain completely covered in clothing while in public. Most older women wear traditional costumes and sliver jewelry like that which is displayed in the Traditional Siwan House museum in the town center.

If you are looking for a custom designed travel experience, consider contacting us

so we can arrange a luxury adventure travel vacation like no other. We look forward to fielding any questions you might have and providing you with the most unique travel experience on earth.

Experience Cappodocia with a Luxury Vacation

Cappadocia is an area in central Turkey known for it’s unique moon-like landscape. For millions of years, the volcanoes of the Central Anatolian Plateau spewed their contents across the lands that would later become the cradle of civilization. Blessed with a moderate climate and fertile volcanic soul, one of the world’s earliest communities was founded 10,000 years ago at Catalhoyuk along the river banks of the Casambasuyu near Konya. Mankind’s first nature painting, found here, portrays the most recent eruption of Hasan Dagi nearly 9000 years ago. Now, It’s snow capped peaks dominate the Konya plain.

Here, in the shadow of another great volcano - once called Mt. Argeus and known as the “Abode of the Gods”- rise the “Fairy Chimneys”, cones and strange rock formations sculpted by the wind. Into these chimneys, the local peoples carved subterranean towns, seeking shelter from the conquerors. Assyrians, Hittites, Mongols, Persians, Syrians, Arabs, Romans and Western Europeans have all passed through the region leaving behind some of their traditions as well as their genes and rendering Cappadocians as exotic as their surreal surroundings.

The greek-era kingdom of Cappadocia once encompassed a far greater area than the current region. Guide books and tour buses focus on the underground cities of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, ignoring the opportunities for a unique travel experience in the hills. For those looking for a custom travel experience, Cappadocia is a land of discovery. Away from the major tourist centers there are partially explored churches, Hittite town centers and even more cave dwellings to be discovered.

The two largest of Cappadocia’s underground communities are located at Kaymakli and Derinkuyu. Both are believed to be temporary refuges for the Hittites as they sought to escape the Phrygians as they came under attack around 1200 BC. Some archaelogists, however, believe the oldest caves are substantially older. These rooms were later expanded into an extensive complex, used by Christians escaping Arab persecution in the 7th and 8th centuries.

The discrete entrances of the tunnels give way to elaborate subterranean systems with air shafts, wells, chimneys and connecting passageways. The upper levels became living quarters while the lower levels were used for storage, wine making, and worship. There is a connecting tunnel between Kaymakli and Derinkuyu that allowed multiple people to walk through at the same time. Just to the east of Kaymakli is another cavetown at Mazikoy that may be connected with Derinkuyu. This community was built within the walls of a cliff. Notably, this community is not nearly as complex as those of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu. Mazikoy is often bypassed because a certain amount of agility is required to fully appreciate its features as there are no stairs between levels. Instead, there are carved footholds in the walls of the shafts. However, for those looking for bespoke adventures, the caves at Mazikoy may be the best place to go.

Many of the newer settlements at Cappadocia were established as monastic communities. It was here that St. Basil the great wrote the rules for monastic life that are still followed today by monks and nuns of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Tokali Kilise or the "Buckle Church", near Goreme, is easily the loveliest of all the churches with graceful arches and beautiful frescoes.

An impressive monastery, Eskigumus Monastery, lies close to the route taken by the invading Arabs in the south of the region. The entrance, while nondescript, was designed to shield the monastery complex from passing invaders. It was so successful that the monastery was not discovered until 1963. The large inner courtyard is surrounded by storage chambers and monastic rooms. The main church boasts well-preserved frescoes considered to be the best example of Byzantine art in all of Cappadocia.

If you are looking for a custom designed travel experience, consider contacting us

to design the perfect luxury travel excursion for you. We look forward to fielding any questions you might have and providing you with the most unique travel experience on earth.