1. See the great migration
2. Track mountain gorillas
3. Amazon rainforest
4. Meet orang-utans
5. Go whale-watching
SHARE YOUR TOP FIVES!
ROUND THE WORLD PLANNER
Download our FREE round the world planner. Everything you'll ever need to sort your trip out!
Find out more >>
OUR RECOMMENDED HOSTELS...
In Oz, NZ, USA, Thailand and more. Book them here and get free beer!
Click here >> for more
ROUND THE WORLD PLANNER
Download our FREE round the world planner. Everything you'll ever need to sort your trip out!
Find out more >>
Top five natural wonders1: Mount Everest At 8,844m, Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. Located on the border of Nepal and Tibet, its Nepalese name is Sagarmatha (Forehead of the Sky) and its Tibetan name Chomolangma (Mother of the Universe).But to get close to Everest, you have to have a large beard, a fanatical gleam in your eye and equipment costing more than a small aircraft-carrier, right? Well no, not really. The Everest region of Nepal is one of the most breathtaking places to trek in the World, and anyone with a reasonably good level of fitness will find a trek to suit them. You can even trek to Everest Base Camp! To do this, get a bus from Kathmandu to Jiri or fly from Kathmandu to Lukla. Sign up with a tour company (you'll find loads in Nepal) or hire yourself a guide and / or porter. Be sure to do your research and take safety precautions, particularly as regards altitude. There are even a number of gap year placements which include a trek to Everest Base camp... Click here >> for gap year trips to Everest Base Camp Click here >> for more information about Nepal Click here >> for more information about Tibet Click here >> for advice on high-altitude trekking Feeling lazy? Click here >> for scenic flights over Everest! 2: Victoria Falls After a hot debate in the gapyear.com office (Iguazu vs Angel vs Niagara etc) we chose Victoria Falls to represent the incredible waterfalls of the World. Known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, or 'The Smoke That Thunders', the Falls are 128m high and a mile across (seriously!). This is the widest waterfall on Earth and sees the most water passing though it each day. The Falls are part of the Zambezi River, and lie between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Stay in the nearby town of Livingstone, Zambia, where you'll find plenty of hostels and backpacker facilities. There's a cliff facing the Falls which gives amazing views - walk along the well-marked path through the rainforest and cross the Knife-Edge Bridge - expect a lot of spray! In the wet season - March and April - the Falls are at their most powerful, but spray can obscure the view. The worst time to go is November or December when the Falls are a bit dribbly. Click here >> for overland trips which will take you to Victoria Falls Click here >> for more Zambia information Click here >> to include Zambia in your round the world trip 3: The Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long and - in places - more than a mile deep. We chose it not just for its vital stats, but because it’s a truly breathtaking sight, made up of brightly-coloured layers of rock and rich in wildlife. The Canyon is part of the Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, USA. You can enter the Park by car, train (get on the Grand Canyon Railway at Williams) or organised bus tour. There’s a $25 entrance fee for cars and a $12 fee for folks on foot. The South Rim is easier to get to and so more crowded. Feeling adventurous? Make for the North Rim, but note that roads there are only open during summer. There are campsites on both rims, but make sure you book ahead. Hike along the rim for extraordinary views - hikes range from short strolls to multi-day treks. Don’t attempt to hike to the bottom of the canyon and back in one day - each year, hundreds of people who try have to be rescued due to exhaustion and dehydration. White-water rafting and horse or mule trekking are also popular. Book activities from Grand Canyon Village. Click here >> for USA adventure tours with Suntrek (gapyear.com users get 10% off) Click here >> for backpacker bus tours with TrekAmerica (again, you'll get 10% off) Click here >> for more USA info 4: Lake Baikal Lake Baikal, in Siberia, Russia is 400 miles long, 50 miles wide, and more than a mile deep - the deepest lake in the World. It contains 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water; all of the rivers on Earth combined would take an entire year to fill it. So it's really quite big.Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', it's home to some weird and wonderful wildlife, including 100,000 nerpa, the World's only freshwater seals, which have had scientists scratching their heads for years. (How did they get there? The lake is hundreds of miles from any sea or ocean). It’s surrounded by mountains and forests packed with bears and elks. In winter, the lake freezes over with a metre of ice, which you can ride over on a sleigh. The most popular starting point for exploring the lake is the town of Irkutsk. You can fly there from Moscow, but that’s a bit boring. Use the Trans-Siberian Railway instead, the longest railway on Earth, which can take you all the way from Moscow to Beijing. The lake is an hour or two's drive from Irkutsk. Minibus trips leave from the town's bus station several times a day, taking you to Listvyanka on the edge of the lake. Boat trips leave from Listvyanka’s port - just don’t look down if you have a fear of heights: the lake is so clear that you can see a gut-churning 50 metres downwards! If you'd rather explore the lake’s stunning northern coast, leave the Trans-Siberian line on the Baikal Amur Mainline. Click here >> for more about the Trans-Siberian Railway Click here >> for an organised trip on the Trans-Siberian, with other backpackers and a guide Click here >> for more Russia info 5: Uluru Uluru, or Ayers Rock, rises spectacularly from the flat desert in Australia's 'Red Centre'. A striking scarlet by day, it passes through an extraordinary series of colours as the light changes. At three-and-a-half km in length and 350 metres high, it's the biggest monolith in the world. Uluru is deeply sacred to the Anangu Aboriginals, who ask that visitors don't climb the rock. Many disregard this, but show some manners and respect their wishes. You wouldn't play frisbee in the Sistine Chapel, right? To get there, you have a few options. You could hire a car and drive through the Outback - take the well-maintained Stuart Highway from Adelaide or Darwin and turn off on the Lasseter Highway. This is a loooong drive - read up and prepare well. Alternatively, you could fly to Connellan Airport, or take a bus to Alice Springs and join a tour from there. There are also several backpacker buses that will take you to Uluru. The monolith is at its most stunning at sunrise and sunset. Click here >> for backpacker buses that will take you to Uluru Click here >> for car hire in Australia Click here >> for more Australia info |
Adverts |
Favourites
Digg
Furl
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Google
Reddit
More Services >>
