APRIL 2009 ISSUE

Report from the Road: Indochina

Private Journey: Mt. Kilimanjaro

Upcoming Tour: Expedition Cruise to the High Arctic

Polar Bears of Churchill

Chile and Easter Island

News: Spring 2009 Series

Lewie Gonsalves has just returned from leading our President’s Tour to Indochina. This fascinating three-country trip started in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang in Laos, and ended in the temple complex at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Here’s his report:

I’m just back from leading my tour to Indochina. There’s hustle and bustle to be sure, but also many moments of quiet in some of our out of the way stops. The trip started in the still unscratched little gem of Luang Prabang (City of the Buddha of Peace). More than 600 saffron clad monks inhabit the over thirty pagodas in the city and monks receiving alms as dawn breaks is one of the Luang Prabang’s biggest draws. Yes, there are tourists here but something sacred survives the hype.



We spent a wonderful night on board the Emeraude cruising the incredible landscape of Halong Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin, where thousands of sculpted limestone islands rise from the waves like dragon’s teeth. It’s a dramatic setting that everyone really enjoyed. We carried on to Hoi An, the Venice of Vietnam, a magically preserved ‘Sleepy Hollow’ of coexisting Asian cultures. I remember a wonderful moment watching school teachers in ao dais and children in white shirts standing in front of the red Vietnamese flag in the schoolyard. There is so much pride and energy in this country.



The trip finished up in Angkor Wat – and no matter how often I’m there, the site still thrills me. I’m hit with the same astonishment French botanist Henri Mahout must have felt when he stumbled on this site deep in the Cambodian jungle in 1860. The huge trees that have grown up around the temples and 578 foot moat surrounding the complex all add to the mystery and remoteness of the place. Believe me, there are still places in Indochina that will thrill you as they do me. Please give me a call and let me arrange a wonderful trip to Indochina for you, including all my favourite spots.

Lewie Gonsalves

Why climb the mountain? Our travellers have done it for a number of reasons; some to raise funds for a favourite charity, one wonderful couple to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and yet others for the classic ‘because it’s there’. At 5,891.8 metres, Mt. Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak.

There are several routes by which to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and we’ll help you select the most suitable. The Rongai Route is an exhilarating option for trekkers who are comfortable in variable mountain conditions. The slow eight day itinerary allows for maximum acclimatization and the chance to enjoy the magnificent mountain scenery. Other routes will suit less technical climbers. Lewie tells us it’s the coldest he’s ever been. But nothing can take away from making this a truly exalting experience.

Here at WQ, we travel to some pretty remote parts of the world. Ambitious? Perhaps. Adventuresome? There’s a bit of that. Curious? Definitely. In fact, it’s our overriding curiosity about the world around us that pushes us to venture out and bring you to the remote places you’ve dreamed about.

This month, we’d like to share some of our more ‘out of the way’ destinations.

We’ve returned to the High Arctic every one of the last 15 years with our group of Quest Expeditioners. What takes us back? We’re drawn to the dramatic glaciers, the rare and spectacular wildlife and the people we meet in the remote communities of the north. This year we again offer what we immodestly consider to be our very best expedition to the High Arctic. In August our ‘High Arctic: Canada & Greenland’ on board the R/V Akademik Ioffe travels out of Resolute Bay into the heart of the pristine Arctic wilderness of pack ice, towering mountains and enormous glaciers. This expedition is made up in equal parts of culture and nature and will appeal to anyone with a curiosity about the people and wildlife at the top of the world.

Another annual favourite for our intrepid explorers. This trip takes you up to the shore of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba. Why is Churchill the best place to view polar bears? The Churchill Northern Studies Centre, where we are guests for our five day trip, tells us that the area lies near the southern limit of where polar bears are able to live year-round. It’s also one of the biggest polar bear denning areas in the world. Since the ice throughout Hudson Bay melts completely by early August and doesn’t refreeze till early November, we can observe the bears in October as they come ashore and congregate within easy viewing access. Join Quest naturalist Dave Euler this October to observe these magnificent animals in their natural habitat.

More than just a land of contrasts, this is a land of extremes. This outrageously skinny country boasts a coastline of over 4300km around the foot of South America (about the same distance as from Edinburgh to Baghdad!). From the world’s driest desert in Atacama to the icy glaciers of Patagonia, Chile offers the extremes of hot and cold, sand and water.

And 3700km off the coast lies Easter Island, the world’s most isolated inhabited area. It is also one of the most mystifying areas of the world. The island’s native name, Rapa Nui, suggests that the original settlers were probably Polynesian. Isolated for centuries, the people of Rapa Nui developed their own distinctive culture, best known for the moai; monolithic figures carved of volcanic rock. Why these figures were built remains uncertain and little is definitively known about this enigmatic and evocative culture. Join our Marguerite Low as she returns to visit Chile’s remote extremes in January, 2010.

Our spring series of get-togethers continues. Please join us at our King Street East office for a slide show and some informative chat about our upcoming trips. Save the date! Mark your calendars for these evenings and please RSVP to us to let us know you’re coming: kerry@worldwidequest.com

Tuesday, April 28: Chile: Magnificent Landscapes

Join tour leader Marguerite Low to learn about the fantastic landscapes of Chile from the Atacama Desert to Patagonia and Easter Island and get ready to travel in January 2010.

Tuesday, May 12: Persia

WQ President Lewie Gonsalves will be just back from Iran and ready to tell us all about it. He’ll be taking a small group back in April 2010. This trip is sure to fill up fast...

Monday, May 25: GastroNomad India

Cookbook author Linda Stephen will share her tips on creating the perfect samosas. She’s getting ready to take our group to North India in February, 2010.