Vancouver's 'seamless forested coast' could suit adventure holidays abroad

People looking for adventure holidays abroad could turn to Vancouver's 'seamless forested coast'.

Vancouver could be ideal for people looking for adventure holidays abroad as it has a "seamless forested coast".

That is according to John Owrid, writing on the Daily Telegraph's travel website, who described his experience of kayaking around the edge of the world's largest ocean.

He mentioned the "breathtaking inlets and gullies" that awaited him as he made his way Spring Island, while exploring "enchanted temperate rainforests and glassy waters teaming with sea otters".

While the excursion was a tiresome one, it was the memory of what he has seen that will stay with him.

"While our limbs felt thoroughly exercised at the end of each day, the abiding memory wasn't the effort of getting about, but the shapes, sounds and colours of the world seen from our flotation tanks," he told the news provider.

Vancouver hosted the 21st Olympic Winter Games last February after being announced as the host city in 2003.

Cruising the Mediterranean

Cruising the Mediterranean should conjure up imagines of deep turquoise and blue waters, yachts, drinks at sunset and fresh grilled fish. Add in a few Italians, a cadre of Australians, some itsy bitsy man bikini’s and lots and lots of ice cream and you’ve got our cruise along the Med.

Needless to say the four days on the cruise weren’t exactly the hardest days on the “road.” Joined by our friend Baris, we sailed from Fethiye to Olympos, stopping at nearly ever beautiful blue, turquoise lagoon along the way. Our boat was crowded, the temperature was hot and no matter how many times we swam in a single day, usually around four, we couldn’t get enough. We lingered in the water until the meal bell rang, ate traditional Turkish food, and jumped right back in.

From blue lagoon to blue lagoon we went, exploring little inlets along the way, cold spring fed lagoons, a sunken city, small fishing villages and finally arriving like refugees at the treehouse village of Olympos. We slept under the stars, the waves rocking us in to a blissful sleep.

It’s hard to describe the pure relaxation on the cruise. The only concerns we had were to apply sufficient sunscreen, swim back to the boat before the Australian water polo team finished our lunch and whether the Italian in his little white calvin klein’s would catch a fish. For the record our Turkish friend Baris caught the biggest tuna on the boat.

Despite all the rest and relaxation, four days was about all I could take of bobbing in the Mediterranean. Although we looked somewhat like an overcrowded refugee boat with all our luggage piled on the dingy, we were glad to be back onshore.

If You Go: Turkish “blue cruises” go from Fethiye to Olympos or in reverse. Go prepared for a lot of sun, even with the sunshades there isn’t much shade on deck. We went with V-Go Cruises. Our boat was slightly overcrowded with little room to sleep on deck, but overall it was a good experience. Check with your company to see if beverages are included in your package price- usually they are not. After four days even water adds up, so ask if you can bring your own on board. The practice was discouraged on our boat but some people did anyway.

Climb every mountain - Ford every Stream

Heaving as I reached the top of the pass,

I was glad the hard part was over. At 4750m (about 15,500 feet) doing anything can be a challenge, let alone hiking uphill.

Resting at Punto Union pass early Friday morning I could hardly believe my eyes. What had taken us less than 24 hours to climb, despite the altitude, had given us the most spectacular views of the Cordillera Blanca. Surounding mountain peaks covered with snow, blue lagoons too icy to even put a toe in, the surrounding wilderness was incredible and well worth the effort of the climb.

But how did I find myself on the top of a very cold (I wore every piece of warm clothing I have with me!), very high mountain Friday morning? After obtaining our

very necessary, but only slightly pain in the butt Bolivian visas, we left Lima for a “vacation” from our travel. Busing to the mountain city of Huaraz on Wednesday night, I expected to be mountain biking all weekend. Unfortunately the only place in town that would arrange a decent mountain bike tour wanted $300 per person for three days and well, that was not happening. Since we could not bike the mountains we decided to do the next best thing, and booked a group trek through the moutains. There I was at 4750m Friday before lunch…

Early Thursday morning we piled into a van on a dark street corning in Huaraz. Not yet dawn, we shook hands with the rest of the group and

stared out the window. As the van climbed the valley into the mountains, the clay hut villages became fewer and fewer until finally we reached the park entrance. A steep 65 sole ($22) entrance fee later, we were all awake, with our eras popping, as the van climbed slowly up and over the mountains. Arriving at the trail head, we scarfed down a packed lunch and headed down the path with the mules in quick pursuit. Thats right, this was no ordinary backpacking trip- we had the luxury of mules to carry our things, a helper to cook for us, and arrived at camp every night to tents already set up! Now I know some of you are jealous…

Although it sounds plush, and granted

not having to actually “backpack” was a luxury, the trek was anything but a walk in the park. Crossing through valleys and small villages on the first day, we saw the snow covered mountains in the distance. Not yet used to my humor, the group stared at me in shock when I jokingly pointed to the highest mountain in sight and proclaimed it to be the pass we would climb through the following day. If only we knew…

Arriving at our first campsite just before dark we were greeted with hot tea, mate (cocoa leaves), instant coffee and cookies. This was really my kind of camping! After dinner of rice and

chicken we proclaimed it bedtime and scurried out of the dining tent. Before us however, looming in the dark, were enormous snow covered mountains, which in the moonlight appeared to float in the sky. With the temperature dropping (supposedly it was -5 degrees Celsius), we admired the illusion as long as we could before hopping into our down sleeping bags. (Seriously, the alpaca hat was necessary, don’t laugh!) I slept with four layers on my top, two pairs of pants, the alpaca hat, an alpaca scarf, a pair of hiking socks and a pair of knee high alpaca socks. Trust me, it was cold.

Waking up the next morning, we exchanged cold night miseries and hit the

trail. Although the first day was relatively easy, the second day was much more of a challenge. I felt like the Von Trap family, climbing through the Alps to escape the Nazi’s. Ok so no one was chasing us, but believe me it felt like we were going to “climb every mountain.” Hiking 1000m in altitude the first five hours, we summited Punto Union pass around lunch time, collapsing in a heaving pile at the top. As we caught our breath (some of us taking longer than others) we took in the scenery around us. Undoubtably it was what brought all of us on the trek, and as we admired in silence our guide Eric began to play his flute. Like the Andean music sold around the world on busy street corners, the native tunes Eric played symbolized the time and place. Before we could get too sentimental though, he changed to a medly of Beatles tunes and we were off down the mountain.

Settling into our somewhat warmer dinner

tent that night, I felt lucky that we had climbed the mountain without serious incident. Cases of altitude sickness are very common on these treks, in fact almost everyone we passed offered cocoa leaves to anyone looking slightly ill. One group of British teens we passed on the way down had two girls suffering from altitude sickness, one of whom our guide thought had high altitude pulmonary edema, a life threatening condition where your lungs fill with fluid. Lacking serious altitude aliments, just a few minor headaches solved with a little tylenol, our group thawed over hot tea, mate and instant coffee before dinner.

With the hard part over, the next morning we took it easy and left camp around 9am. Splintering in three directions, part of our group climbed to a viewpoint overlooking Alpamayo glaciar, while others,

either because of the cold or a flight home, headed for a long hike to end the trek early. With no where to be, Danny and I lounged in the sun waiting for the others to come down from Alpamayo. Spotting them at the top of the mountain, at the beginning of their decent, the guide sent us ahead with his nephew. With only one snow capped mountain in site, we easily followed a stream through the valley to our third campsite. On the edge of a small river, the spot was incredible, and again over hot tea and instant coffee we marveled at the landscape with the rest of the group.

Managing our way out of the valley the next day I was sad that the trek was over.

Easily feasible in fewer days, I enjoyed our slow pace which for once allowed me to really enjoy the landscape around me. Although Llanganuco to Santa Cruz is the most popular trek from Huaraz the trail was not overly crowded and we were able to really stop, enjoy and soak in the mountains around us. It was freezing at night and the second day it was tough to breathe, but the trek was enjoyable and even shall we say relaxing. Well, for some of us. Wait until you hear Danny’s side of the story…

Photo: High Altitude Hiking

What’s it like to hike at 15,000 feet? Well the oxygen saturation is at 80%, normal lung function is at 87-97% saturation. At this altitude flight attendants are required to offer passengers oxygen, if the cabin depressurizes. Few hikers have supplemental oxygen though, so yes, it’s hard to breathe.

It feels like you are sucking in air (because you are), but that very little is getting into your lungs. Each step you take requires real effort and you feel as though you’re moving in slow motion, which frankly stinks since you still have a mountain to climb.

The first time we hiked at high altitude was in Peru’s Cordellia Blanca range. This photograph is of our crew picking their way down the mountain after the summit. The steep descent is almost as bad as the ascent given that it’s all you can do not to run down!

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: High altitude hiking in Peru is easily accessible. We completed a four day hike from Huaraz, but there are plenty of multi-day hiking options. You should be prepared with gear if you’re going without a group. Beware of low priced tours from Huaraz, especially if you are going to be using their equipment. Nights in the mountains are extremely cold, so be prepared with proper layers, including hats and gloves. We were there in August and spent our second night wearing absolutely every piece of clothing we brought with us. It was freezing!! When we came down we definitely needed some hot stew, preferably something Eastern European that would have stuck to our ribs and filled our bellies…

Place Holidays Abroad Beijing

It’s official, we’ve made it around the world; or at least in my opinion. Beijing is just about as far east as we could go overland from Istanbul. Although Xi’an was technically the end of the silk road, Beijing was always the end in my head, so when we arrived I was elated.

There’s so much to do in Beijing, more than we had the time or desire for, but you have to start somewhere. Arriving into the station at 4am, we caught the raising of the flag in Tienanmen Square at dawn.

Quite literally we were the only westerner’s there, but the Chinese tourists were going crazy with excitement when the color guard showed up, waving their flags and shoving their camera’s into the air. We were tempted to wave an American flag in that crowd…just to see what the response might have been. Didn’t have one with us though, and with the show over at 6:30am we were left with nothing to do for a few hours. This didn’t bother the crowd of Chinese tour groups, they promptly walked across the square to stand in line for two hours to view the preserved body of Chairman Mao.

Not interesting in standing in line for two hours to see the Chairman, we walked down to the Temple of Heaven, an ancient site for imperial worship and low and behold we found the place abuzz with activity. The park was full of Chinese participating in Tai Chi classes, music classes, aerobics classes, dance classes, playing cards, bands and even a few practicing martial arts with swords and sticks. It might have been 7am?

We stumbled into a group tango lesson practicing to a tango version of happy birthday- in English, and a few harmonica players, one who was practicing Yankee Doodle and My Darlin’ Clemantine over and over again. Our experience in the park was one of numerous moments that left us thinking “what?”

Standing in the shadow of the one of the holiest sites for the Chinese Royal family, watching dance classes, listening to traditional Chinese music and an old man attempt ‘scarf’ dancing to the enjoyment of his friends, was a travel memory I’ll never forget.

Besides sightseeing we did do some rather “Chinese” things that hadn’t yet been attempted on our trip. Although moto-bikes and cars are more common than they used to be, the bicycle is still a main mode of transportation; and often with passengers hanging on the back as well. A true Chinese experience, we got the opportunity to try it our first night in Beijing. I rode on the back rack of our couchsurfing host’s bike to dinner. Jostling around in the back on her rickety second hand Chinese bike I thought I was going to die, fall off, or at best end up with a broken bone or two. My legs were too long to straddle the bike properly but sitting side-saddle left the bike precariously unbalanced, so I resorted to straddling the rack and awkwardly lifting my legs at weird angles to keep them off the ground.

It was a work-out just trying to stay balanced, keep my legs up off the ground and close enough to the bike not to knock into something all while riding down a pot holed alley. Our couchsurfing host knew the road however, and as we bounced along the worst injuries I got were bruises to my butt and pride. Dinner was delicious and tucked into a small Sichuan restaurant in a huotong, or alley, surrounded by a mix of young Chinese and expats. Although I was just happy to have made it to Beijing, don’t expect me to willingly ride on the back of a bicycle again. I’m going to leave that one to the Chinese.

Istanbul, Constantinople

Istanbul is the only city in the world that straddles two continents. Seriously, you take the ferry from Europe to Asia in less than 20 minutes. Naturally it was the best place to start our final continent, Asia. Our plan is to travel generally east along the old silk road to China.

Besides being the crossroads of the world, the Ottoman’s ruled quite an empire from here, and it’s no wonder that at times we feel like we’re at the center of the world. Huge container ships run in and out of the cargo ports while cruise ships drop hundreds of passengers off for day trips in Istanbul. It’s a flurry of activity here, but also surprising orderly and quiet. Lost in the Grand Bazaar, well not lost but 1000 souvenir and carpet shops pretty much look the same, we ducked into a small alley. Seconds later we were transported to a tiny courtyard, silent except for the clicking and clacking of backgammon pieces. A table of older men looked up at me, smiled and went back to sipping their tea and playing their game. I melted back into the bazaar appreciating the seemingly intimate moment I had just had with Istanbul.

Istanbul it seems, is like that. Standing on the street trying to buy a ‘simit’, a bagel like bread covered with toasted sesame seeds, I was having difficulty understanding the vendor. Stepping right in, a man assisted us with the purchase and began to chit chat. Less than two minutes later we were invited into his carpet shop for tea. Expecting a hard sale inside, I was surprised to find myself sitting on a cushioned bench sipping black Turkish tea without the salesman in sight. Instead the owner, himself enjoying a tea began to discuss philosophy with us, the meaning of life and so on. Two hours later we walked out of the shop. That’s just the way things are.

Turkey is a secular Muslim country. Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it. Although being secular and Muslim at the same time can be a bit of a political challenge, Istanbul at least seems to be a city that walks the entire spectrum. In front of me in the ice cream line is a woman completely covered head to toe including a modesty veil on her face with a designer handbag slung over one shoulder. Only a small slit over her eyes belies the fact that there is a person inside all that fabric. Purchasing a cone is a woman in a tight, colorful outfit her hair covered in a designer silk scarf

and sunglasses. Behind me is a Turkish woman in a rather revealing tank top, mini-skirt and high heels. Like I said, it spans the entire spectrum. This is a dynamic, welcoming city where everyone on either end of the spectrum and everywhere in between can feel welcome and comfortable.

Walking into a bar the other night we heard the evening call to prayer across the city. The mosques are not synchronized so at times it’s a cacophony of melodious Arabic. Never in any Muslim country to date have I been so aware of the irony of my surroundings and situation (alcohol is forbidden in Islam). Not to sound cliché, but it’s a juxtaposition between continents and worlds here.

Machu Picchu

Make it Aguas Calientes…check.
Eat hot yummy food…check.
Go to bed early…check.

Wake up the morning following 4 hard days of hiking at 3am…WHAT?

Yeah, that’s right. Not only that, but the volume on the alarm wasn’t high enough so we almost slept in. Getting up really really early after treking all the way to Machu Picchu is practically a right of passage for those who hike to the ‘old’ mountain. One needs to get up that early to hike up an additional 400 meters, straight uphill, to be in line at the entrance BEFORE the buses taking the ‘normal’ people even depart. All this so that you can get one of the coveted tickets to hike straight up Wayna Picchu, (young mountain) an additional 200 meters into the air, to view Machu Picchu from above.

And that’s exactly what we did.

We were nearly late meeting the group on account of that alarm clock but we made it out anyhow. Back out of Aguas Calientes we walked, practically sprinting, to get ahead of the other hikers. At the foot of the hill we started walking up the steps. More than three thousand in all I was told. Three thousand steps straight uphill, with sore legs, so that we could walk even more once we got up there. Crazy right? Welcome to our world.

Only the first 400 people in line get the coveted tickets to Wayna Picchu,

and getting up so early we were within the first 100. We went up so fast that, despite the rather cold air, I was covered in so much sweat it looked as though I’d gone for a midnight swim. (And for all those racers out there, we passed waaaayyy more people than passed us….yeehaaaw!!)

With tickets in hand, into one of the world’s newest seven wonders we went. (Who decides these things anyhow?) Our tour guide showed how the mountain was divided

into living and farming and brought us to the temple and the king’s house. We watched as alpacas grazed on their ancestral land and as one traveler got down on one knee and offered his hand in marriage to another. We learned how the Inca’s split rocks to build the historic mount and also got a chance to visit the king’s bathroom and take a seat on his “throne.”

The ‘Lost City of the Incas’ was only used for about 100 years, just before the Spanish Conquest of the Incan Empire. It wasn’t ‘discovered’ until 1911 when a Yale professor stumbled upon the find and excavations began. As with all great things,

the actual date of discovery is still disputed, along with the purpose of the city, along with the reasons for its decline, along with wheather or not it should even be opened for tourism.

Despite of how little is known or agreed upon, or perhaps because of it, we were not disappointed. We’ve seen many ruins now: Tikal, Monte Alban, Copan, and others. These ruins were out of another world though, truly magnificent. So what next, we got up well before the crack of dawn for the right to walk up that ‘other’ hill so that’s exactly what we did.

Whatever you do though, when talking about Macchu (old) and Wayna (young) Picchu (mountain) be sure you’re saying the word Picchu correctly. Note that if you see a group of indigenous men laughing at you while you’re talking about summiting the ‘Picchu’ it’s because you didn’t say “mountain” but are instead referring to a man’s…yeah.

I’m not sure whose idea it was to get up that early, or if I would have been upset if I hadn’t gotten the opportunity, but hiking up this time, already having been up nearly 7 hours and with the sun now beating very, very, very hard on us, I just kept stopping and asking myself why. Eventually we reached the top and I received my answer. Three-sixty views over the valley we walked the day prior and one of the 7 ‘new’ wonders of the world and I knew why.

Only 11am though and what an incredible day. Only three things left to do. Share a pizza (OK, maybe I ate one myself), a couple of beers, and wait for that train to take us back to Cuzco.

Back on the Gringo Trail

The center of all tourism for Peru, Cusco

is the heart of Peru’s Gringo Trail so it was no surprise that we found Cusco to be the busiest place in Peru. No one seems to come to Peru without going to Cusco, seriously. We´ve bumped into several people here that we met in other parts of the country.

Walking through the Plaza de Armas is like walking through a shopping mall. Touts selling everything from massages to jewelry, paintings and sunglasses see your tourist signs and attack! For a few soles you can even get an indigenous woman, dressed in her traditional attire to pose for photographs with her llama, great living for her, great photographs for tourists (and no we did not do this!).

The jumping off point for Machu Picchu treks and tours, it wasn’t too hard to convince our friend Leah to join us in

Cusco. Excited to have our first South American visitor we picked her up from the airport early the next morning and spent the rest of the day touring the city. All the sights in and around Cusco are combined on a 140 sole ticket (half price with ISIC card), which we thought was rather expensive. Hoping we could just pay individual entrances to the two places we wanted to go, we hiked up the hill over looking Cusco to the Incan fortress of Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sexaywhoman!).

A decent uphill, especially at 3800m, we were thwarted at the entrance when neither our command of Spanish nor Jill’s attempts to cajole the ticket seller resulted in our entrance to the site without the expensive all sites ticket. Satisfied with the ruins and llamas we could see outside the ticketed area, we hiked up an ajoining hill to overlook Saqsaywaman and Cusco.

Of course Machu Picchu is the most famous thing do to from Cusco, and trek’s to the site along the Inca Trail book almost a half a year in advance. With no itinerary or set travel plans we couldn’t commit to a date that far in advance so we opted to trek the Salkantay Trail, also an old Inca trail, just not “the” Inca trail. Checking in with our tour operator, we got our last minute instructions and supply list and rented our sleeping bags.

Preparing for the next day, we decided to introduce Leah to Peruvian cuisine.

After Danny´s problems in Huaraz, we avoid the 3 sole set lunch menu (about a dollar!) and thankfully found a good looking place in Cusco to settle in for lunch. Worried about eating something on her first day that would (ahem) affect the trek, Leah played it safe with chicken noodle soup and chicken breast. Danny on the other hand figured he´d throw caution to the wind and ordered fish soup. I think the photo explains it all, and yes those are fish eggs! Needless to say, the flavor was good, but in the end the waiter took a significant amount of soup back to the kitchen.