Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
women but on the other hand, if there are more than two of you, you might have trouble
persuading a driver to stop.
If you are going to try it, make sure you know the basics. There are two useful websites:
Motorbike tours
If you're a keen biker and want to include your bike in gap travel plans, there aren't many
places you couldn't go. There's an excellent website by UK couple Kevin and Julia Saun-
ders who are double Guinness Book of Records winners for their bike expeditions around
the planet. The site offers plenty of advice as well as the opportunity to join expeditions
with guides and team leaders:
www.globebusters.com
Bicycles
If you're feeling hyper-energetic, you could use your pedal-pushing power to get you
around town and country. This is really popular in north Europe, especially Holland, where
the ground tends to be flatter. Most travel agents would be able to point you in the right
direction, or you can just rely on hiring bikes while you are out there - make sure you un-
derstand the rules of the road.
With a globally growing 'green awareness', there's been a real surge in promoting cycling
in the UK and abroad. Weather and terrain permitting it's a wonderful way of seeing a city,
or touring a region, be it Portugal, Sweden, Provence, Tuscany…
But why confine it to Europe? There are many places where bicycles can be hired and it's
a great way of getting around. For example, you can hire bikes and a guide in Cambodia
to visit the Angkor Wat Temple, you will see much more of the temples and surrounding
forests and can pick your time to visit, thus avoiding the crowds.
You can also participate in some amazing gap-year programmes, such as cycling to raise
sponsorship for worthwhile charities and community projects worldwide. But charities
aside, just get on your bike and enjoy a closer contact with nature and its vast range of spec-
tacular scenery - getting ever fitter - for example, the USA's Pacific West Coast, Guatem-
ala to Honduras, the Andes to the glaciers of Patagonia, Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Chiang
Mai to Bangkok, the South Island mountains of New Zealand…
Take a look at:
www.responsibletravel.com
for cycling and mountain biking holidays; also:
www.imba.com
(the International Mountain Biking Association)
