Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Trip

If you want to visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site like no other, the Puerto Princesa (sometimes Saint Paul's) Subterranean River National Park offers a unique experIence. Located in the Saint Paul Mountains 50 km (30 mi) north of the city of Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan, the Park consists of a dramatic limestone karst landscape with a full mountain-ta-sea ecosystem that includes important forests.

But the star feature is undoubtedly the navigable underground river that winds through a cave before discharging directly into an aquamarine lagoon on the South China Sea, a fact that makes the lower reaches of the river tidal. Access is from Sabang Beach – but be warned: the last part of the journey there will rattle your teeth, as the unmade road is awful. Once at Sabang, a permit to travel the river is obtainable from the National Park office. A 30-minute boat ride with great landscape views takes you to the river entrance. Alternatively, this can be a pleasant go-minute hike along the Monkey Trail that takes in a great swinuning beach along the way (no Swimming is permitted near the river mouth).

 

From there, the journey continues in an outrigger canoe, a single lamp illuminating the extraordinary geological formations of the lofty cavern within. The knowledgeable guide will be a mine of information on life within this wondrous place - including fish, bats and the swiftlets whose nests are coveted for soup - as he quietly paddles around showing you the best stalactites and stalagmites. Although 8 km (5 mi) of this hauntingly beautiful underground river has been mapped, only 4 km (2.5 mi) is deemed navigable. A special permit is required to explore the full navigable stretch, as the regular tour covers just 1.5 km (1 mi).

HOW

By boat

WHEN TO GO

Any time of year

TIME IT TAKES

Around an hour for the basic river tour. 

HIGHLIGHTS

The leisurely 20-hour ship crossing from Manila's South Harbour to Palawan - a worthwhile journey in its  own right.

Exploring the amazing forests and limestone formations to be found above ground in the National Park.

Getting up close to the extraordinary (and fearless) monitor lizards that frequent the forest and shoreline.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

If you have a picnic in the National Park don't look away for a second - the long-tailed macaque monkeys are grand masters of food-theft strategy.

Hotels in Puerto Princesa

Arkansas Highway 7

Arkansas bills itself as 'The Natural State' - and when you drive Highway 7, the first state-designated Scenic Byway, it's easy to see why. This 465-km (290-mi) journey shows you many different faces of Arkansas, starting just north of the Louisiana state line on the West Gulf Coastal Plain, where an oil boom began near El Dorado in 1921. From there, the road continues to Camden and Arkadelphia through rolling country of river valleys and dense forest. Highway 7 then enters the Ouachita Mountains, famed for producing amazing quartz crystals, and passes De Grey Lake en route to Hot Springs National Park. The road continues through Ouachita National Forest, past Lake Nimrod and enters the level terrain of the Arkansas River Valley at Russellville. But not for long - it soon climbs into the Ozark Mountains, swinging through the Ozark National Forest, the town of Jasper and on to Harrison, the end of the line. 

 

The journey can be done in a day if scenery is your thing, but Highway 7 deserves a more relaxed approach, with many worthwhile attractions (and distractions) to be found along the way. It's almost impossible not to linger in Hot Springs - the top tourist - destination in Arkansas with numerous tempting excuses to pause ... not least the US.Ns oldest National Park, pre-dating the much-touted Yellowstone by 40 years (plunging into therapeutic hot springs mandatory!). Lake Ouachita in the State Park of the same name is delightful, as is the Lake Dardanelle State Park near Russellville. Pedestal Rocks and the Great Arch at Alum Cove will encourage you to linger in the Ozark National Forest. Further north, the Buffalo River is one of the few remarrung unpolluted and free-flowing rivers in the USA, as it cuts its way through the Ozarks between massive bluffs.

 

HOW

By car

WHEN TO GO

September or October for sensational fall foliage.

TIME IT TAKES

At least a day.

HIGHLIGHTS

The terrific Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources at Smackover – 1920s scene of one of the wildest mineral booms in North American history as up through the ground came that bubbling crude.

A side-trip from Camden that takes you to poison Spring State park, site of the Battle of poison Spring in the American Civil War.

The best view in Arkansas, after a short hike to the top of Pedestal Rocks in the Ozark National Forest.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Mountain sections of Highway 7 are not for faint-hearted drivers – they have numerous steep gradients and hairpin turns.

Hotels in Arkansas

Gerlos Alpenstrasse

The main road from the old gold-mining town of Zen am Ziller in the Tirol to the lakeside town of Zell am See in the province of Salzburg is a favourite amongst cyclists and motor-bikers. It is a winding route along a panoramic stretch of road, crossing the Gerlos Pass at an altitude of 1,530 m (5,020 ft) and descending through enchanting mountain countryside, with an amazing view of the famous Krimml Falls, the longest waterfall in Europe. The history of the road goes back to the 17th century, when gold was discovered in the Ziller Valley. Rather than risk transporting the precious metal through what were then the foreign states of Bavaria and TIrol, the prospectors widened the mule track over the Gerlos Pass so that cartloads of gold could be carried into the safe territory of Salzburg for smelting. After the gold rush, the road fell into disrepair and the Salzach and Ziller Valleys were once again cut off from each other. Amidst much bureaucratic bickering, plans were finally drawn up for a proper highway in 1949 but the road was not completed until 1962.

 

The present road zigzags its way up from Zel am Ziller in the Ziller Valley to the high moorland at the top of the pass, then descends through the Salzach Valley alongside the innaccessible narrow wooded valleys and fissured gorges of the Pinzgau Mountains, along the edge of the Hohe Tauern National Park. The Krimml Ache River flows through just such a valley, making a sudden plunging drop of 380 ID (1,250 ft). Tons of water thunder down in three great cascades, sending clouds of mist into the air - a truly awesome force of nature that will impress itself on your memory.

HOW

By car or bike

WHEN TO GO

Any time

TIME IT TAKES

1-2 hours by car; 4-5 hours by mountain bike.

HIGHLIGHTS

Zell am Ziller – picturesque tourist town.

Piesendorf, Neukirchen – quaint villages.

Krimml Falls - highest waterfall in Europe, and one of the top eight in the world.

Zell am See - Scenic views of the Ziller and Pinzgau Mountains.

13th century Church of St Hippolyte

YOU SHOULD KNOW

This is a toll road, open all year round.

Hotels in Salzburg

Snow Lake Trek

Said to be the 'Most Beautiful Place in the World', Snow Lake is certainly one of the most remote. This is the land of the yeti, an icy mountain wonderland, a week's trek from the nearest human habitation - itself a far-flung outpost in the mountain wilds of Baltistan. Snow Lake belies its name - it is not a lake at all but a huge ice-basin, 16 km (10 mi) wide and thought to be around 1.6 km (1 mi) thick, enclosed by the stupendous 6000 m (20000 ft) peaks of the Karakoram Mountains. It lies at the head of the Biafo and Hispar Pass to fonn the longest glacier system outside the polar regions, a massive ice highway connecting the ancient mountain kingdoms of Baltistan and Hunza.

 

From Skardu, capital of Baltistan, a jeep takes you on a white-knuckle ride through the Braldu Gorge where hairpin bends are too tight to take in one go and the wheels constantly threaten to slip over the edge of sheer precipice. Thrilled to be alive, you reach Askole, gateway to the highest mountains in the world - a medieval village in the middle of nowhere. Over the next fortnight, you will trek 120 km (75 mi) through an enchanted land of blue ice pinnacles, deep glacial caves, gorges, crevasses and hanging glaciers - up the Biafo Glacier to Snow Lake and across the pass to descend the Hispar Glacier into Hunza. Climbing 300 m (1,000 ft) a day, camping in remote valleys, scrambling over rocky moraine and using ropes to cross crevasses, you test your stamina to the limit - to collapse, exhausted but elated, amid the terraced orchards and lush wildfiower meadows of the Hunza Valley.

HOW

On foot

WHEN TO GO

June to September

TIME IT TAKES

21 days (10-15 spent walking)

HIGHLIGHTS

Braldu Gorge drive.

Pinnacles of the Paiyu Mountains.

Ogre Mountain - sheer walled mountain in the Latok massif.

Night-time at Snow Lake.

View of sunrise from the Hispar Pass.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

This is an extremely challenging trek at high altitude in an exceptionally remote environment. You need to be in top physical condition with some previous experience of mountain trekking using rope and crampons.

 

Umbria Hill Towns

A tour around the medieval hill towns of Umbria makes for the most pleasant of journeys. Pottering along the small back roads, amidst spreading Chestnut trees and luxuriant elms on the hillsides, through valleys and beside clear sparkling streams, you are in a landscape captured by many a master painter. The popularity of nearby Tuscany has allowed Umbria to remain relatively unscathed, although Assisi and Orvieto have always drawn crowds.

 

Perugia is both beautiful and lively - home to the University for Foreigners and topped by the 16th century Rocca Paolina, Italy's largest fortress; the July Jazz Festival is colourful and exciting, thousands of people speaking hundreds of languages throng the streets and piazzas, enjoying free concerts late into the night. Assisi, reconstructed after the shocking earthquake of 1997, is crowded with pilgrims coming to visit the Basilica of St Francis. He was born here in 1181. From the magical castle of Rocco Maggiore look out across the glorious TIber Valley, which so inspired him. There are treasures to be found everywhere - countryside and town alike: Spello's ancient walls date back 2,000 years, and its 13th century church is illuminated with Pinturicchio's fabulous frescoes. The town itself is peaceful and traffic-free. 

 

Tiny Bevagna, for once not a hill town, has Roman remains, lovely churches and a marvellous 19th century theatre. The road from Todi to Orvieto is particularly scenic, including views of Lake Corbara; Orvieto itself is visible from miles away, its world famous Duomo silhouetted against the deep blue Umbrian sky. The pedestrianized ancient city centre is reached either by funicular railway, or via escalators hewn into the soft, tufa stone cliff. The Piazza del Duomo and the cathedral itself are magnificent, and Orvieto also has an extraordinary labyrinth of underground passages beneath it, begun by the Etruscans and continued during the Middle Ages.

 

HOW

By car

WHEN TO GO

March to May, September to November. High summer is usually pretty busy.

TIME IT TAKES

You should spend at least a week, but three or four would be ideal! 

HIGHLIGHTS

Todi, with its ancient city walls.

Civita - an artist's paradise, built on a pinnacle and attached to the wider world by a narrow bridge.

Collevalenza - with its unique Sanctuary, built in 1965.

The church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, outside Assisi, which encloses another tiny church that was the first Franciscan friary.

Orvieto - Tempio Belvedere, the last above-ground Estruscan temple in Italy.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Not only were both st Benedict and St Francis born in Umbria, but also the painters Raphael and Pietro Perugino had their schools here.

Hotels in Umbria