For the last three days we have been in Dandeli National Park deep in the Western Ghat mountains of Karnataka State.

The Bison River Resort is quite simple in all respects.  The staff is friendly, but not to organized and their English is not very good. The food is basic but ample and tasty, if you like Indian food.  The most distinctive natural quality of the place is the larger population of hornbills, including the JOURNEYS logo bird the Giant Hornbill and similar  Malabar Pied Hornbills.  They are eating the ripening figs in the trees near the lodge and make course honking noises as they gobble the fruit and fly around.

The first night here we all got in a coracle and floated on the river.  The original coracle is a animal hide, circular boat used for fishing.  Our itinerary suggested that we would all pile into a buffalo hide coracle for this part of the trip. In fact, the Bison River Resort coracle is something like a 12′ in diameter steel wash tub.  Or, you might think of it as a round hot tub with the water on the outside and dry seats in a ring around the inside.  We all got in and two resort staff paddled us up the river in the late afternoon.  We saw lots of birds including more than 100 hornbills. Those of us with telephoto lenses took good pictures.  Avi was thrilled to see a Lesser Fish Eagle, a rare species intros area. I was personally thrilled to see more “Onlys” than our newsletter has awards.

Malabar Pied Hornbills

On the train

Lesser Fish Eagle

Ben A. arrived yesterday in good spirits.  It is good to have another member of the group. We have done two harbor cruises. One at sunset was great to take pictures of the Chinese fishing nets against the setting sun.

The enormous Queen Mary Two sailed into the harbor this morning disgorging 2500 tourists into the town so our options for evening sightseeing are being challenged.

Tomorrow we leave for Dandeli by overnight train.

Avi is doing a great job and keeps talking up the Great Cats tour and now the India Great Literature tour. He also gave us a complete account and slide show of his wedding which was quite amazing.

I have internet for the next 20 hours, but expect to be without for the following three days until we get to Goa. Best to all.

Islands off the southernmost tip of India

Drummers at Gajamela

Fishermen at sunset near Allepey

Chinese fishing nets at Cochi

Our houseboat crew

Waterways near Allepey

National Geographic, publisher of Adventure Travel magazine awarded JOURNEYS International top honors for a second year in a row in the prestigious “Do-It-All Adventure Travel” category.

National Geographic Adventure surveyed clients of more than 240 adventure travel companies around the world and ranked them according to education, sustainability, quality of service, spirit of adventure and client satisfaction. Ranking in the top ten in all categories, JOURNEYS scored 100% for client satisfaction.

“We are honored by National Geographic Adventure and our clients for awarding us one of the highest recognitions in the adventure travel industry,” states Joan Weber. “We are dedicated to continuing to provide travelers with ecologically responsible trips that will delight the senses and renew the spirit.”

In 1978, before the terms eco-travel, sustainable travel, or responsible travel became popular, Will and Joan Weber, the founders and directors of JOURNEYS International, took a small group of open minded travelers on a journey to discover Nepal. Their hope for this trip was to provide their travelers with an emotional and spiritual experience as well as a physical one .  The tour involved learning about the local culture and the natural environment through direct, respectful interaction and contributing to the preservation of the Nepalese culture.  Since then, the JOURNEYS staff has continually searched for new destinations and new ways for clients to experience them. “At JOURNEYS, adventure travel means more than just a physical experience – it should be emotional, intellectual and spiritual too,” according to the editors of National Geographic Adventure. “Clients explore these inner realms during tours that might include a mediation session with Buddhist monks in Ladakh or hang time with local healers in the volcanic highlands of Guatemala”

For more information on JOURNEYS family trips, community based tours or other types of adventure travel go to www.journeys.travel or call 1-800-255-8735.

About JOURNEYS International:
JOURNEYS International of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was recently chosen by National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of the Ten “Best Outfitters on Earth.” JOURNEYS International has specialized in ecotourism since 1978. They offer the best nature tours, safaris, treks, adventure travel, family and cultural trips on earth. Whether it is called an eco-vacation, adventure travel, eco-travel, eco-tour, sustainable travel or responsible travel, for 30 years they have been creating ecologically sensitive and culturally responsible travel to exotic destinations around the world. Specialty eco-trips include women’s tours, Kilimanjaro climbs, exploration cruises, festival trips, student group trips and cross cultural and wildlife safaris. For more information about this trip or other JOURNEYS trips visit www.journeys.travel or contact JOURNEYS at 800-255-8735.

Lhasa, Tibet is accessible by road, air and rail, provided you can get the permits, reservations or vehicles to make the journey.  I had been to Tibet on three previous occasions since 1986 using some combination of air and road travel, but the train trip sounded like a good way to see a great deal of the Tibetan Plateau than the road or air routes.

 

I had just led a group to witness the Total Solar Eclipse of Aug 1, 2008, near Hami in Western China. Four of us from that group flew to Lanzhou where we caught the train to Xining station and began our 27 hour journey to Lhasa. While the rail line exists for many reasons, catering to foreign tourists does not seem to be high on the list. On the day we traveled, there were only 10 foreigners all confined to one car in which none of the conductors or other staff spoke any English. While there were promotional videos, they had little to do with the train and the sound track was in Mandarin. The electronic text crawl sign in the corridor of our  ”soft  sleeper” car in which we traveled consistently mis-named the stops and the expected time between stations.  It was often not clear how long the train would be stopped between stations and whether it was possible or advisable to get off. While the cars and the bedding where clean, there was very little luggage storage space within the small four-berth cabins, and none at all outside of the cabin. This meant that two of the people in our cabin with large luggage had to share the microberths with large bags. Upper berths had no visibility out of the one window in the compartment.  Sleeping car was adjacent to a dining car which had large windows. It was a much more pleasant place to sit than either our sleeper or the non-sleeper coach.  The several hundred Chinese passengers on the train included a very high percentage of smokers and outside of our non-smoking sleeper, the air was blue with smoke. This smoke seemed to permeate all areas of the train via the ventilation system. The dining car served relatively expensive, but mediocre food.  My first meal was breakfast which consisted almost entirely of thin gruel and cold, pickled and fermented vegetables. There was no menu in English.  If you travel this train, bring your own food.  Lunch and dinner were only marginally better and the beer was warm.  The cost and quality of the food meant that not many people actually ate in the dining car, but during dining hours table reservations were still required. During other hours we kept getting chased out of the dining car because there were “staff meetings”.  These seemed better described as staff naps. The train ride was very smooth and quiet and the views were fantastic. We saw numerous herds of chiru or Tibetan Antelope. Herds of yak, high lakes, eagles, ravens and hundreds of snow covered peaks provided an evolving panorama of beauty.  We passed through several long tunnels and the train gained altitude to (supposedly) over 16,600′ at Tangulla Pass, the highest rail point in the world, though we passed this point unceremoniously and without acknowledgement. 

 

  Before we departed the station in Xining, we were required to complete a medical form which seemed oriented at identifying passengers who might find difficulty with the altitude. We were asked detailed questions about heart and blood pressure, diseases and medications we were taking. This all seemed quite responsible  except that no one could speak or read the English answers we provided.  We had been told that oxygen was provided as a courtesy in all the sleepers and this was reassuring, but there were no masks or fittings for the oxygen valves.  Several of us developed headaches and the altitude served to make the bad food even less attractive, but we did not suffer greatly or have serious problems  from the altitude. We arrived into the Lhasa station about 10:30 PM. I was surprised by how many hundreds of people disembarked. There was nothing friendly or welcoming about Lhasa station. There were scores of uniformed and armed security people who formed a gauntlet through which passengers dragged their luggage. There was no porterage assistance available an no baggage carts.  A curfew was in effect and we were told that it was necessary to travel directly to our hotel.  The city was very quiet and the streets eerily empty. On balance it was an interesting trip which offered a view of Tibet with no opportunity to interact.  The train was operated safely and capably, but with no evident effort to demonstrate personal passenger service. Every one was doing their job, and not a bit more. Given the choice of taking the train or having an flown to Lhasa and taking an extra day to travel in the Tibetan countryside by private taxi, I think I would have chosen the plane and taxi. ww

JOURNEYS International is proud to announce that Condé Nast has chosen Directors Will and Joan Weber for 2 Top Travel Specialist Awards

For the 6^th year running, Joan Weber, Director and Co-Founder of JOURNEYS International has won the Top Travel Specialist Award for Family Travel:  International Adventure and Eco-travel.  Joan, a former teacher in the United States and Nepal, has an extensive history in planning family travel.  Since the time her children were toddlers, about 20 years ago, Joan and her husband, Will, have been trekking their children across the world to learn about new destinations, cultures and adventures.  She has taken this knowledge and has help plan over 300 annual family trips.

“The one of the many reasons we have won this award for the last 6 years is that we have learned from our own family travel experiences and have applied these ideas to our trips.  We have learned that good planning does not mean over-scheduling. There need to be spaces of time for discovery and serendipity. We know that parents enjoy our trips when their kids are happy, and we know that kids are happy when they rest, eat well, and participate in engaging activities, which stimulate their curiosity,” States Joan Weber.

For the 5th year running, Will Weber, Director and Co-Founder of JOURNEYS International has won at Top Travel Specialist.  This year he received the Top Travel Specialist for Community Based Tourism.  As a former Peace Corps volunteer and ecotourism pioneer, Will has developed programs through out the world where travelers can stay in private quarters adjacent to a village family’s home, accompany them to market, learn their craft, join them for meals and more. 

“Through JOURNEYS I have been instrumental in helping local communities in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Latin America develop a capacity for hosting American tourists. I have served as a consultant to US/AID in this capacity in the Pacific and Guyana. Our company offers high quality community-based tourism in 20 countries. We support financially, through our charitable, non-profit Earth Preservation Fund, numerous incipient programs around the world with an expectation they may grow in capability to host high end travelers in acceptable standards.  Most of our trips throughout the world feature opportunities to add extensions or create whole FIT itineraries based in community-hosted environments, if the main trip utilizes more conventional accommodations. This is not just a matter of responding to growing market for such travel opportunities but a long-term philosophical commitment to building cross cultural strategies for sustaining local communities, cultures and environments.” States Will Weber

For more information on JOURNEYS family, Community Based or other types of adventure travel go to www.journeys.travel