Much like Kashmir or Iran, the Golan Heights have the dubious honor of appearing more often on newspapers’ front pages than in their travel sections. Since Israel captured the Golan during the Six Day War in 1967, this region, which stretches from the Sea of Galilee in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, has been one of the world’s most contested pieces of political real estate.

It’s also one of the Earth’s hidden gems. The Golan’s 1,200 square kilometers harbor a treasure trove of lush farmland and sky-scraping volcanic terrain, the fate of which forms the crux of one of the world’s most notorious geopolitical disputes. A visit to the Golan Heights grants travelers access to the natural and human worlds behind the headlines, challenging minds with a ground-level perspective of the machinery of conflict and resolution. (more…)

Tags: access, Annan, Anti, array, Avital, background, basalt, Beginners, Bental, bit, border, bottom, buildup, bunker, Cabernet, cabernet sauvignons, Café, capital, center, challenge, challenging minds, cities of refuge, coffee, collection, conflict, conflict and resolution, Council, country, crux, Day, Defense, difficulty, disposal, distraction, dormant volcanoes, dozen, dubious honor, Earth, equipment, estate, extreme, farm, farmland, fate, fertile farmland, firing, flock, frigid, Galilee, gamut, Gilabun River, Golan Heights, greenery, grip, guest, gun, heat, Hermon, hidden gems, hike, history, honor, hotspot, IDF, intersection, Iran, Israel, Israeli, Jordan River, Kashmir, land, Lebanon, level perspective, limestone, line, lookout, lug, lush farmland, luxury, machinery, Merlots, Middle East, Minefields, Mount Hermon, mountainside, mountaintop, name, nature, New England, newspapers front pages, north, northern extreme, northern Golan, notoriety, number, option, park, peace, peak, perspective, planet, plateau, pool, range, ravine, reconnaissance, recreation, refuge, region, Regional, Reserve, resolution, resort, rhythm, safety, Sauvignons, school, sea, sea of galilee, seasonal stream, side, signpost, Six, ski, skiing, south, spot, square kilometers, Stream, swimming, Syria, terrain, Today, Tours, Trails, Travel, travel sections, treasure, treasure trove, trek, trove, turn, UN-administered, underbrush, versatile, view, visit, visitor, volcanic highlands, volcanic terrain, War, warning, water, waterfall, way, wind, wine, winter, world, zone

Admittedly, it takes some will power to peel off your sleeping bag and get out of a car when mist still creeps across the fjells – the mountain plains in Norway – at 45°F on a chilly summer morning. However, traveling by car is the best option to explore this country, which would reach from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to Bristol Bay in the south-west of Alaska, if you transferred it from Europe to the American continent – or, in other words, it would stretch from Maine to Alabama.

The Norwegian Automobile Federation offers 268 camp sites and additionally there are about one thousand other camp and cabin sites as well as parking lots for caravans and recreation vehicles throughout the country and its fifteen national parks. Due to the Norwegian allemannsretten (everybody’s right), you may also park your car somewhere beside the road for just one night, which makes it easy to follow Norway’s national roads and enjoy the quiet lakes, dense woods, gentle hills, steep mountains, roaring waterfalls, sparkling glaciers and narrow fjords alongside. (more…)

Tags: Alabama, Alaska, allemannsretten, altitude, american continent, art, Artists, August, Automobile, bag, Baltic Sea, Blessed, boat, Bristol Bay, building, cabin, camp, canal, car, Caribbean Sea, century, chilly summer, church, cliff, coast, Columbus, cone, continent, Copenhagen, country, cradle, cycling, Dalen, difference, Eighth, eighth wonder of the world, end, energy, entrance, Europe, everybody, exaggeration, fall, farm, Federation, festival, fifteen, fjellveien, foot, Gaustatoppen, gentle hills, geology, gulf stream north, Hardangervidda, Heddal, hiking, history, home, hotel, house, hydroelectric power stations, interior, isn, itinerary, Jens Esmark, king, Kjerag, Krokan, Lake Bandak, Lake Norsjoe, level, longships, lot, Lysebotn, Lysefjord, Mackenzie River, Maine, masterpiece, Meandering, medieval, middle, mist, morning, mountain, mouth, Museum, narrow fjords, national roads, Newfoundland, night, north, North Sea, north sea oil, Norway, Norwegian, Notodden, offer, oil, option, Oslo, paddle, parish, parking, path, peel, place, plenty, power, Preikestolen, professor, pulpit, quiet lakes, raft, raft wood, recreation, region, resort, right, Rjukan, road, roaring, rock, sail, Sauland, scenery, sea, season, sentence, Skagerrak, Skien, skiing, south, southern neighbors, steel, steep mountains, Stream, summer, summit, Telemark Canal, Textiles, the Gulf, Tinn, Today, tourism, tourist, town, trip, troll, Tuddal, vacation, valley, Vemork, Vestfjorddalen, Via, view, visitor, waterfall, waterway, west, Wonder, wood, world, year

Watch out! Here comes another one. We’re walking down the boardwalk in Oludeniz, Turkey which also doubles as a paragliding landing zone. It’s no wonder people leap from the surrounding mountains and glide down to a soft beach landing, into this bay that’s one of the most photographed areas of the Mediterranean coastline.

Oludeniz means “dead sea” in Turkish. The actual town is named Belcekiz, but if you walk a couple hundred meters down the beach, you reach a peninsula of sand which creates a sheltered lagoon. The still, deep blue water behind this spit of land is the “dead” calm sea.
(more…)

Tags: amphitheater, Antalya, bathroom, bay, beach, beautiful beach, bedroom, Belcekiz, boardwalk, breakfast, Bring, bungalow, Butterfly Valley, camper, camper trailer, Campgrounds, caravan, Chimaera, coast, coastline, Comfort, commute, comparison, contour, conversation, country, couple, couple hundred, dead calm sea, deep blue water, destination, dinner, down, electricity, energy, environment, Ephesus, experience, faint of heart, fall, family, Faralya, flag, foot, garden, George House, Hasan, heart, hike, hiking, Hippy, home, host, inn, jockeying, kind, kitchen, lagoon, land, landing, landing zone, Letoon, life, Likya, list, lot, Lycian Way, man, meal, Mediterranean, mediterranean coast, mediterranean coastline, mind, mini, mix, month, Mount Olympos, Muslim, night, olive, Oludeniz, oludeniz turkey, organic foods, owner, pantomime, part, peninsula, picture, place, plateau, position, possibility, private bathroom, quiet places, range, reason, road, Roman, run, sand, sea, section, side, side trip, sight, son, southern Turkey, spit, spring, Start, steep trail, stranger, tent, tile, town, trail, trailer, tree, trek, trip, Turkey, USD, valley, version, Vertical, vertical cliffs, village, Walden, walk, Watch, water, way, world, Xanthos, Yolu, zone

Have you got six months off? Do you fancy a long walk? If so, World Expeditions may have just the holiday for you. They have become the only trekking outfit to offer a guided trip along the first completed section of the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT).

Stretching for 1,700km along the length of Nepal, the GHT will take you a mere 157 days to complete. You’ll see eight of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000m, including Everest, and cross passes reaching up to 6,000m, climbing a total of 150,000m. That’s a Snowdon every day for half a year. Oh, and it will set you back £20,500. (more…)

Tags: account, Adrian, adventure, agency, aid, animist, Annapurna, annapurna regions, arc, asian countries, Barwa, Bhutan, Canada, Centre, challenge, China, completion, completion date, Continental, continental divide trail, country, cross, date, Day, Development, difference, district, elevation, Everest, Expeditions, focus, Food, footpath, GHT, government, GPS, Great, ground, guidebook, helicopter, Himalaya, Himalayan Trail, holiday, idea, India, Integrated, International, Kathmandu, leisure, length, lot, man, map, money spinner, mountain, Mugu, Namche, Nanga, Nepal, Nicholas Crane, outfit, outlier, Pakistan, Parbat, peak, Pennine Way, presenter, price, Programme, project, region, research, Richard, Robin Boustead, route, section, Snowdon, SNV, source, steroidal, television, thing, Tibet, Tibetan, time, total, tourism, trail, Trans, trans canada, trek, trekker, treks, trip, undertaking, US, version, walk, War, water, week, western Nepal, westernmost, work, world, world expeditions, world food, year

Switzerland is a country of picturesque mountain ranges and quaint little alpine villages. I had always wanted to visit this beautiful country and now I was finally getting my chance. However, having spent the whole day on a train, I was starting to wear down and my excitement was dwindling to say the least.

A bus ride was in order before we would arrive at our final destination, but as the bus approached, I fel sense of dread boiling up within. It was getting late in the evening and I hadn’t booked accommodations, so we would have to search in the rain for a bed. (more…)

Tags: adventure, age, air, alpine, alpine lake, alpine villages, Alps, architecture, assortment, backyard, base, basement, beautiful country, bed, biking, book, Brienz, brighten, bungee, bus, bus ride, cabin, cake, calm, calm waters, center, central Switzerland, chance, city, cliff, climbing mountain, couldn, country, couple, Day, delay, destination, distance, door, doorbell, dread, due, eagerness, edge, energy, evening, Everyone, excitement, exhaustion, extreme sports, exuberance, eye, fact, fel, final destination, floor, forefront, front, Gimmelwald, glacier, gondola, guide, hadn, halt, help, hiking, hill, home, homemade, hop, house, ice, Interlaken, Jungfrau, jungfrau region, Lake, landscape, Lauterbrunnen, lawn, life, location, look, lunch, man, medium, mist, months of the year, mountain, mountain ranges, multiple companies, name, nature, night, office, order, outcrop, panorama, pasture, path, picturesque, picturesque mountain, plenty, porch, railing, rain, rainbow, region, ride, river, river rafting, roadway, rock, room, sce, scene, scenery, school, sense, shop, shopping, simplicity, skiing, sky, sky diving, snow, Snow-capped, snowy, spot, stage, state, station, stomach, stone, stop, store, street, summer, sun, Swiss, swiss alps, Switzerland, Thun, time, tourist, town, trail, train, trip, valley, variety, view, village, wall, wasn, water, way, window, world, year