Wild Frontiers

Jonny's Travel News

May 2012

Sitting on the plane, heading back to Delhi, offers me the ideal opportunity to bash out my May travel news. In it I’ll be elegizing about my upcoming trip to India and Kashmir, pontificating on recent travel trends and ruminating on the best upcoming trips. I hope you enjoy it.

Kashmir, where my travels began.

A friend asked me a couple of days ago if I was excited about going away, but the truth is as usual I’ve been too busy running Wild Frontiers to contemplated this journey… I put it together a couple of months ago and then pretty much forgot all about it – until now. Travelling to India is always a buzz, especially as I have an interesting recce to do on a circuit from Varanasi, through Khajaraho, Orrcha and Gwalior first.  However,  it’s returning to Kashmir that I’m really excited about. It was here in 1989 that my travels really began, with events setting in motion an inexorable journey that led to Wild Frontiers and all that has happened since. And it is simply one of my favourite places in the world.   

As soon as I could find the time to return I did, in 2004.  Back then region was immerging from a decade of independence-driven violence and civil strife had left a generation lost, scarred by militant agendas, military aggression and foreign medaling. What I found on my return was a region tired by war and keen to move on. As such we started running trips there the following year, linking the Kashmir Valley with another of our most popular Indian destinations, Buddhist Ladakh – in our High Road to Kashmir itinerary – and we have been running a full programme of tours and tailor-made holidays every year since. We have now added Garden of the Moghul Kings tour, which takes in a wonderful water trek, an iconic walking tour in our Wild Walk in Kashmir, and we’ve also introduced Kashmir into two of our most popular touring trips, Passage to India and Karakoram Adventure.

Although the path through the last seven years in Kashmir has not been entirely smooth, neither has it been that bumpy and we believe if this year runs as well as last – with no civil unrest or violence disturbing the valley – the FCO will come under increasing pressure to change the current travel advice and open the way to a new tourism boom. So my advice is get their soon, before it opens up. 

Keep up with all my news from the road on my blog.

Romania – loved the book, now doing the holiday

In summer on 2010 I was asked to judge travel book of the year. For me there was no doubt about the best book, Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker about his extraordinary decade-long odyssey through remote parts of Romania. Sadly it didn’t win, but that didn’t stop me asking William to help us set up a new Wild Frontiers trip under the same name, including some stunning walks and fascinating cultural sites and experiences. And this year, in July, I am going to do it – so why not join me?

Facebook Poll - Vote for 2013 Recce Trips

With the wonders of social media it’s great that we can now canvass your opinion (thank you to all who have voted so far) on where we should be going and what we should be doing. Of course with an office full of travellers we’re never short of inspirational ideas, but your input goes a long way towards focusing our attention. Although the poll is ongoing, I can tell you that Off Beat Burma is number on the list, with Off Beat Peru and an East African multi-country trip through the Congo, Rwanda & Burundi, pushing hard for second. Great news as we’ve been working on these itineraries for a while. Have your say on our Facebook page.

Short Haul – Big Adventure

With the continuing problems in the Middle East, it has been interesting to see new short-haul destinations becoming more popular. In Georgia we are seeing a keen interest in walking trips – both in Svaneti and the Caucasus – and cultural tours in a Land of Myths & Mountains. Uzbekistan is emgering as a stand alone country with our first trip of the year heading out this month. Your next chance to   Journey to the Aral Sea will be September. And for any keen horse riders we have a few places left on the Albania horse trek, In the Footsteps of Lord Byron in June.

Argentina – Men Only!

Just as I thought, our new Gaucho Christmas riding trip to Argentina is proving very popular, with 9 of the 12 places already sold; Given the nature of this trip – playing the cowboy, learning polo and trying tango – we thought it would be good if we could get the sexes more or less balanced so would love to lure a few more men on board… we can’t guarantee to make a dancer out of you, but we can ensure one hell of a ride! Ideally it would be great tohave 2 more men and 1 lady join me in Argentina.

New Trips Released

With the current furor over Burma (Myanmar), and all previous trips sold out, we have added a Road to Mandalay departure in November this year. With interest also extreme in Oman following an article in the Guardian 'Flaming Dune: An Epic 10-day Tour of Oman' about our February trip, we have also added another Oman Desert Adventure autumn trip. And heading into 2013 we have put on two exciting new recce trips - the Hidden Charms of Bangladesh and Wild Walk in Palestine, both of which are capturing the imagination of our intrepid clients.