Slow travel - take your time on your trip
21.07.2023 - 08:50
/ roughguides.com
Boats have been ferrying people up and down the River Niger since 1964 and, although these days you are likely to see more goats than people on board, there is no better way to get close to Malian life as you slip past villages clinging to the cliff side and sand dunes reaching down to the water’s edge. It takes six days to drift from Koulikoro to Gao, a total of 1300km, but the benefit of taking a boat is the time spent with locals, sharing stories and exchanging views.
© Gold-Image/Shutterstock
In defiance of its old name, Marusthali (Land of Death), the Thar is the most densely populated of the world’s great deserts. Yet the only way to reach the more isolated settlements is by camel: riding out into the scrub, two metres off the ground, the last citadel town behind, you enter another kind of India – one of shimmering vistas, blue skies and profound stillness.
Rajasthan indian camel, India © Dmitry Rukhlenko/Shutterstock
A cruise up Dubai’s historic Creek can reveal the history underneath the Vegas-style attractions of the modern city. In the past Stone, Bronze and Iron Age settlements sprang up on both sides of the river, followed by the famous mud and palm-frond huts of the early pearl divers. Now, amid the towering buildings of the oil-boom, are the low-rise sprawls with their temples, markets and teahouses. Drifting past the sights, smells and sounds you can explore real Dubai.
Dubai promenade fountains © Stanislav71/Shutterstock
Flying is the quickest and cheapest way to get between the major cities of Australia, but take the train and you’ll see the wheat fields of Victoria, the dusty outback towns and kilometres of endless white-sand beaches. The Indian Pacific, from Sydney to Perth, is one of the world’s longest train journeys. It’s a three-day, 4352km trip, stopping along the way for you to spend an evening in the gold-rush town of Kalgoorlie and visit the remote outpost community of Cook on the Nullarbor Plain.
South Australia railway line © Janelle Lugge/Shutterstock
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The boat journey between Luang Prabang and the Thai border passes through some of the most unspoilt passages of the Mekong River. Evidence of civilisation is scarce amid the endless jungle that lines the steep, cloud-topped hills, and you’ll probably see little more than rice paddies, small teak plantations or isolated wooden fishing villages. Certainly speedboat or bus will get you to your destination faster but travelling on the Luangsuay, a 34m river barge, is a more peaceful, leisurely way to appreciate life on the river.
As your poler guides the traditional dugout canoe through the maze of islands and rivers, lilies and reeds, he’s also watching out for crocodiles and hippos. His vigilance means you can keep