Enriching the experience of travel: it's all about context

I have a secret: despite writing and contributing to some 25 Lonely Planet guidebooks, I have to admit I've always preferred Rough Guides - primarily for their fantastic Contexts chapters at the back of the books. While many guidebook publishers have been cutting back on word counts in the history, politics and culture chapters of their guides over recent years (yes, I'm talking about you, Lonely Planet!), Rough Guides have maintained their compelling Contexts chapters. These comprehensive sections sometimes stretch to 50 pages or more, demonstrating an appreciation that this is the kind of fascinating stuff that really enriches a traveller's experience of a place, helping us to understand a culture and get beneath the skin of a destination. Context is therefore a fitting name for the first-rate organization with whom we recently did a number of very cool workshops and walking tours in Rome. More on Context and context soon!

When guided tours are close to spiritual experiences: I've been converted

I'm converted. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. I can now reveal I'm addicted to cool guided tours. My definition? Enriching, focused, well thought-out, specialized tours to compelling places with small groups (so miniscule you can remember everyone's names), led by super qualified and highly specialized guides who are as fascinating as the places you're visiting. (Read this post for my criteria for selecting guides.) I am now so hooked on these things that we've not long finished a series of walking tours in Rome with Context that I'm already begging them for more and finding out where I can score my next walk - Venice next month! But can I make it until then?! The cause of this change in heart, taste and opinion? Two superb organizations, Context and Viator, with whom we did a series of exceptional walking tours, private visits and bespoke tours in Rome recently. Now, because you know how much I've disliked my experience of guided tours in the past (read my post: Good guides, bad guides: the bad guides), you're probably thinking these must have been rather extraordinary experiences to change my mind. They were. But I'm in Milan now, and it's aperitivi hour and time for pre-dinner drinks so I'll get back to you tomorrow to tell you more about the walks, and Calabria, and Milan. Ciao!

Pictured? The Vatican Museums after hours. Yes, that's right - when everyone else has gone home. There were just eight of us on Viator's private tour and everyone agreed it was worth every cent for the sublime experience of enjoying the Sistine Chapel in silence.

Top 5 indigenous cultural tours in Western Australia

Some of the best guided walks I've ever done have been with Australian guides. The Aussie guides tend to be obsessive when it comes to developing specialist knowledge, which they intersperse with fascinating facts and trivia and sprinkle it with humor. They're often self-effacing and nearly always gregarious and easy-going. And the Australian guides I've done walks with have had a special connection to the place they're introducing visitors to. No more so than Australia's Aboriginal guides. Here's my pick of Western Australia's best indigenous Australian cultural tours:
1) On Wula Guda Nyinda tours, at Monkey Mia in the Shark Bay World Heritage area, Darren 'Capes' Capewell (pictured) teaches you 'how to let the bush talk to you', tracking, bush tucker, bush medicine, and bush survival skills, along with some basics in the local Mulgana language.
2) Kujurta Buru tours, in the far north-west at Broome, take groups wading through the mangroves of azure-coloured Roebuck Bay to learn the art of fishing the traditional way, hunting in the local area with traditional implements, and essential bush survival techniques.
3) Yamatji Cultural Trails, on the central coast at Geraldton, take groups on overnight walks to important indigenous sites. There you get to camp out under the stars and gather around the campfire to learn about the history of the traditional owners of the land and discuss issues of contemporary significance to indigenous people.
4) At Kodja Place Interpretive Centre, at Kojonup in WA’s south, an elder from the Nyoongar tribe teaches visitors some of his people's traditional practices then sits them down around a fire and tells magical stories from the Dreaming over cups of good old-fashioned Aussie billy tea.
5) At Yanchep National Park, not far from Perth, the local Nyoongar people performance traditional dances and give didgeridoo lessons to travellers.
For more information on indigenous cultural tourism take a look at the website of WAITOC, the Western Australian Indigenous Tour Operators Committee.

Guides: a model guide from the Mulgana mob at Monkey Mia

For all my criticism of guides, there have been a few that have impressed us, and there has been one that changed our lives. Darren ‘Capes’ Capewell, an indigenous Australian from the Mulgana tribe, runs cultural walks through the bushland and along the shores of Monkey Mia in the Shark Bay World Heritage area on the north-west coast of Western Australia. Capes' father is from the Mulgana mob (tribe) and his mother from the Nardi mob, so he’s an expert on aboriginal country. We did a couple of walks with Capes while researching our Lonely Planet Perth and Western Australia guidebook. His walks are called ‘Wula Guda Nyinda’, which means ‘you come this way’, and after telling us that we were Mulgana mob for the day, he said: “Take soft steps. Today you’re going to learn how to respect country.” And he had us from that moment. After a few hours of stepping softly through the sandy scrub-land we learnt that what appeared to be arid country was in fact a "bush supermarket" and that the vegetation was a smorgasbord. Capes broke twigs from branches and picked berries from trees and we learnt to identify and taste bush tucker. We learnt how to find water and how to create it if we couldn't. We learnt that the supermarket was also a pharmacy. A plant Capes called ‘pigface’ could be applied to skin to soothe sunburn, and coastal myrtle, like Vic’s Vapour Rub, could be rubbed under the nose if you had a cold. So while we were 'shopping' and food-tasting, we were also learning valuable survival skills. Capes taught us "how to let the bush talk to you” by listening to the birdsong and rustles in the grass. We learnt how to identify animals by their tracks in the sand and how to tell the size of a kangaroo by the size of his poo! And along the way Capes taught us some of the Mulgana language. Keen for more, we joined Capes for a second walk to an aboriginal campsite where he told us dreamtime stories under the stars. As Terry said the next day "We walked a few kilometres in just a few hours yet we dipped our toes into thousands of years of Aboriginal knowledge of the land." We learnt about bush tucker, medicine and survival, but most of all we experienced firsthand that special connection indigenous Australians have to the land, to country. To me, it's the ability to share that special connection that makes a guide great and a walk or tour a memorable, if not life-changing, experience.

Guides: how to pick them

If you must hire a guide (well, you know how I feel about guides), whether it's simply to show you around a city you're a first-time visitor to, escort you on a day-trip, or lead you on a longer trek or journey, here are a few tips:
1) do your research: start with the guide, agency or tour company's website. Are the services, options and prices described? Is there a bio? Are there testimonials? Compare the offerings with that of other guides and companies.
2) go with a recommended guide: nothing beats a recommendation based on first-hand experience. Read testimonials - and read between the lines. Google the guide's name. Consult traveller forums.
3) opt for a specialist: look at the guide's bio. Does the guide have relevant qualifications, skills, experience? If you're looking at art, architecture or archaeological sites you want an archaeologist, artist, teacher, curator, gallery owner, architect, or masters or PhD student. Not just someone who has an interest. If you're doing a cooking or wine course, opt for a chef, caterer, sommelier or wine-maker over a foodie or wine-lover. If it's a bush-walk or trek, has the guide had years of experience in the area and survival and first-aid skills? Are language skills required?
4) go for a local: was the guide born in the place, was his/her family/tribe from the area, or is the guide a long-term resident? You want someone with a connection to the place and is passionate about the destination. For me, the guide's first-hand experience, personal insight, and opinions and feelings can really make the experience special.
5) look for imagination: are any itineraries for walks, day-trips and excursions offered well thought-out, themed and focused? Has some creativity gone into their creation? Are they inspired and unique? If they're the same as other offerings and just like the one in your guidebook, give it a miss. You want to have a reason to pay for something that you could otherwise manage yourself.
6) consider the fee: remember, cheaper isn't necessarily better (you get what you pay for) while expensive doesn't necessarily mean 'best' (some guides over-charge because they know some travellers won't quibble over the price). Look for guides who charge a fee that seems fair for what's offered.
7) meet the guide beforehand: this isn't always possible, but try to meet before you agree to use the guide's services. You want someone who has personality, confidence, social skills, and can communicate well. Does the guide speak your language as well as you'd like? Does the person listen to what you want rather than simply telling you what they think you should do? Does the guide seem like a genuinely nice person? Is this someone you want to spend a day (or longer) with?
A guide can make or break an experience of a place, so make sure you choose well.

Good guides, bad guides: the good guides

While most of our experiences with guides have been terrible (see my last post), we've had a few great guides who've restored our faith in the human guide (sorry!). One worked for the same tour company our socially inept hill tribe guide did (last post again), but this guy was affable, full of energy, obviously loved his job, and his enthusiasm was infectious. His English wasn't great and we didn't leave his biking tour of local market towns feeling enlightened. But we did pick up a few interesting tidbits, got to try some tasty food, and his social skills and good relationships with the market stall-holders meant we were well-received wherever we went. And we had fun. As we were reviewing a few Four Seasons properties as part of our Thailand research (and paying media rates, I might add), we did the activities available to all guests, including a tour taking in the Mekong River, a local village, market and temple from the Four Seasons Golden Triangle Tented Camp, and in preparation for a Thai cooking course, a trip to the market from the Four Seasons Chiang Mai. Both guides were brilliant, which says a lot about training. They were friendly, charming, knowledgeable, smart, and sociable, and once again, had excellent relationships with the locals, opening doors for us in so many ways. Our first guide went in for the touristic experiences a tad too much for our liking, setting up cheesy photo ops, including an uncomfortable performance by a group of local kids in colorful costumes in front of a Mekong River vista, and - worse - corny ops where she could point the camera at us. She did this with such sweetness of spirit and charm, and with such good intentions - most people would love these souvenirs we imagined - that we forgave her. We also came away learning something about the local cuisine, culture and spirituality of the people. The Chiang Mai guide was even better, with a deeper knowledge of ingredients, dishes and eating habits of the locals, and she even revealed a few secrets we'd always been curious about. As our trip was partly in preparation for a cooking course, it was also knowledge that would soon be put to use. Better again. Although we couldn't help but feel we might have enjoyed the tour even more had it have been led by a chef or culinary expert. Still, we got to try lots more tasty stuff, and you can't go wrong with that.

Good guides, bad guides: the bad guides

There are good guides and there are bad guides. We've had varying degrees of experience with guides we've used (see this post), but on the most part they've been bad. So bad, I've sworn never to use a guide again. Until the next time, when we've had no choice, and a positive experience has made me re-think my policy. In Thailand last year we used several guides. One was particularly dreadful and all the more disappointing because he worked for an award-winning company that's acclaimed for its culturally sensitive hill tribe treks. Our guide was late to meet us, tripped over at the market, and took way longer than necessary to shop for a few things (and coming from me that's saying something). Not good signs. He turned out to be socially inept, continually behind schedule (largely due to his need to change his clothes three times a day) and spoke disparagingly and condescendingly about the villagers. The only stories he told us about the hill tribes related to their greed or laziness and the human trafficking, prostitution and drug dealing they resorted to over hard work. We were poorly received at villages despite the company claiming their guides were from the area, knew the tribes, and we'd be welcomed with open arms. Instead, the reception was hostile and we only ever communicated with villagers when we made the effort ourselves. Our walks through the jungle involved our guide telling us little other than pointing out poisonous mushrooms, plants and insects, none of which he could name. So when a red stain suddenly appeared on my wrist after I'd inadvertently brushed against something poisonous - and with it came piercing pain, followed by throbbing, then aching for 24 hours - our guide panicked, not knowing the cause or what to do. When he calmed down, he consoled me with: "at least it isn't close to your heart". He did give me his tiger balm, which soothed the pain, yet despite telling us we were an hour away from our destination, he continued to dawdle, muttering that we had plenty of time - as the sun rapidly sunk behind the hills. We arrived in the dark. It turned out our guide was from the south, not from the area at all, and years before had attempted to 'rescue' a young village girl from prostitution. She subsequently ran off to work as a prostitute in Bangkok anyway. That could explain the poor reception.

Top 5 destination essentials

So, you're going away and you're going it alone? I've convinced you to forget about the guide. You're definitely not doing a tour, because they're no good for you either. Okay, well, highly specialized tours are excepted. So let me dream for a moment: a musical journey through South America with David Byrne, a Middle East trip with Robert Fisk, a round-the-world-in-80-meals tour* with Anthony Bourdain, a global surfing safari with Kelly Slater (that last one is Terry's choice). Dream on.** So, how do you cope once you get to the destination? How do you find your way around, order meals, quickly get acquainted with a place? What are the destination essentials you need to take to guide you when you're there? And note that you should buy them before you leave home because they won't always be available when you arrive. Let's go for a top 5:
1) a phrase book - never, and I mean NEVER, go anywhere where English isn't the official language without a phrase book. Even if your guidebook tells you everyone speaks English. Think about it: how would you feel if someone came up to you in your hometown and started speaking another language? My guess is you probably wouldn't like it. If they at least began with a mis-pronounced and stilted "hello - how- are - you? - do - you - speak - Swahili? - No? - Ok.." you'd be more patient when they started miming. There's no excuse for not learning the ten travel language basics*** on the plane. And if you're travelling with a loved-one, the drinks are free and it's a long flight, it's even fun.
2) a dictionary - a phrase book is never enough. They're generally not very well thought-out and never, and I do mean NEVER, include the right phrases for the right moments, especially in emergencies. Like when you need to say to the Turkish-speaking vet: "The stray cat we've adopted has worms" and "Will the four kittens she has had on our terrace also get worms?"*
3) a good map - don't expect that the airport/hotel/tourist office/book stores at the destination you're visiting will have good maps. They almost always don't. Try to get a map that's as detailed as possible (compare it with maps available online) and one that has place names in English and in the language of the country you're heading to. If you're planning on hiring a car and driving at all, you'll need it.
4) a guidebook - even if you've booked all your accommodation online and organized transport, a guidebook still comes in handy. Don't treat it like your bible though; it's a guide, that's all it is. Leave it in the hotel room sometimes. But guidebooks make a great starting point. (More on choosing guidebooks and what to look for in a future post.)
5) a spare mobile phone - make sure it allows you to pop a local SIM card in and make that one of the first things you buy when you arrive. Load it up with lots of credit. So, who are you going to call? For starters, instead of heading to the first touristy restaurant you see on the square, you're going to do what the locals do and call a good restaurant ahead of time to make a booking... but let's save that - doing what the locals do - for another post.

* Only to casual beach-side places where you can eat with sand between your toes of course.
** More on our dream trips in another post.
*** Let's save these for another post too.
**** I'll save that post for another time also. Or maybe you don't need to know that story.

Dead Cities: reading the signs

In case you needed further evidence as to why you need to visit the spooky Dead Cities in Syria alone and not in the company of a guide (see my Doing it alone at the Dead Cities post), it's because it could take you some time to read the signs at the site. And the task will require all your concentration. Or you could skip the signs and follow my earlier suggestion to just take in the atmosphere instead. Who needs guides when you have great signage like this?

5 good reasons not to use a guide

I've been getting asked for recommendations for guides recently, not guidebooks but guides tourists can hire to show them around a place. Other than specialist guides, I don't recommend them, because I believe guides get in the way of a good travel experience and here are 5 reasons why:
1) guides lessen the impact of culture shock: and a little culture shock is not such a bad thing. Cities like Shanghai, Cairo and Mumbai can be a crazy, chaotic and confusing for first-time visitors, but that's what travel is about - putting yourself in unfamiliar circumstances and embracing the exoticism. You don't want someone setting right your wonderful sense of disorientation.
2) guides get in the way of those assault-on-your-senses experiences: one of the coolest things about travel is visiting places where you're blown away by the sights, sounds, feels, and smells of the place, like a Middle Eastern souq and bazaar, especially a spice souq or fish market. These are places where you want to take it all in, listen to the strange sounds, inhale the fragrant aromas, touch the textiles, enjoy the play of color and light.
3) guides give you their perspective on the state of things: whether it's a destination's history, society or politics, unless your guide was born in the place, is a long-term resident or holds a research degree, the guide's take on things is rarely that of an insider and not necessarily one that you want. You don't know the source of their information. Unless you can be sure you're getting a local perspective or that of an expert, you're better off reading books, talking to locals, and deciding for yourself.
4) guides ruin your chances of interacting with locals: because you're with a guide it's obvious you're a tourist for starters. Guides have their rehearsed lectures and schedules, and chatting to locals, accepting spontaneous invitations to a meal or into people's homes is generally not on their agenda. You also don't know the relationship the guide might have with locals; it may not be a good one.
5) guides make everything too easy: part of the fun (and frustration) of travel is figuring stuff out - deciphering signs, reading labels on packaging, learning how to buy a bus ticket or SIM card. There's a sense of accomplishment when you learn something for yourself and can do things that locals in that destination do everyday - there's a sense that you're fitting in. And you don't want anyone getting in the way of that.

Doing it alone at the Dead Cities

If there's one destination above all else in the world where you want to explore alone, and don't want to be tagging along behind a blathering guide – or want a guide trailing along behind you (read this post for an explanation) – it's the Dead Cities of Syria. Serjilla, Al Bara, Jerada, and Ruweiha for starters, but there are more - up to 700 sites in total. The ruins of these ghost towns are sprawled about barren rocky hills not far from Aleppo. And they are spooky. We've visited them three times over ten years and the first time it was winter and they were especially eerie shrouded in mist. While many of the buildings have crumbled away – at first glance you’ll easily mistake their grey bricks for the natural limestone rocks that peek through the low grass – many are intact, which is what makes the place so mysterious. And it’s the fact that you can wander through these towns and villages, scattered over craggy moors, among olive groves, and set among fruit orchards, that makes the experience so moving. (Note that the cherries and apricots grown here are especially delicious.) It’s a bit like visiting Pompeii. As you clamber over the rocks and overgrown paths, wander between simple houses and grand villas, around barns, mills, grape and olive presses, taverns and hammams, it’s easy to imagine people going about their business and leisure, working in the fields, squashing their grapes, and having an ale of some kind in the tavern after work. While the ruins are intriguing and their history compelling – they are Byzantine villages which flourished especially during the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, and they were part of the hinterland of the great city of Antioch – I don’t need a guide to tell me that as I wander around the site. I can read up on the history in a book on my way, sit on a rock and read about it while I’m there, and, with my curiosity sparked by the visit, I can do some more research later. But while I’m there I just want to take in the atmosphere, use my imagination, and connect with the place. Don't you find a guide gets in the way of that?

Guides: getting in the way of a good travel experience

Guides, as I wondered in my last post, who uses them? My aversion to hiring guides is largely due to the distance they put between me and my travel experience. I mean, think back to the last time you had a truly memorable travel moment. The first time you saw the Giza Pyramids, Palmyra, Baalbek or Uluru for instance. A museum you visited that was overwhelming (the Louvre perhaps?) or a view that was breathtaking (Iguazu Falls?). Think back. I don't know about you, but I like to savour those special experiences on my own. In silence. Or share them with someone dear to me. I want to take it all in slowly and imprint it in my mind forever. I don't want some tour guide blathering in my ear. The first time I saw Petra was ruined by a guide. (A-ha! I hear you say.) It was a visit that wasn't planned. We'd been on a Royal Jordanian flight from Casablanca to Abu Dhabi with a connection in Amman, when along with some other passengers we were bumped off the flight. We had 24 hours to kill before the next one and because we didn't have visas our only options were to take an escorted tour for the day or spend the time getting to know the drab Soviet-style hotel they'd put us up in. We took the private tour to Petra with a lovely Irish couple, just the four of us in the car. Then there was the guide. The guide was one of the most irritating people on earth. He talked incessantly, asked trivial questions he wanted us to guess the answers to, and told silly riddles. He drove me insane. So insane that as we approached the siq - the narrow gorge you walk through for a kilometre or so until you arrive at the opening to the Treasury and the magnificence of Petra is revealed (an act which in itself only adds to the sense of anticipation, thereby intensifying the experience) - I knew I had to do something rather than have my experience spoiled. My options were to either tell him to shut up, which would inevitably result in an ugly scene, ruining it for everybody. Or to wander off, quicken my pace, and leave the group behind. I chose the latter. Rude perhaps, but definitely the least damaging for all involved. As I arrived at the entrance and began to contemplate the beauty of the sight, I could still hear his distance chatter in the background. It was then that I vowed to never use a guide again.

The image isn't Petra of course. It's Palmyra. And don't let anyone tell you it's possible to experience the place alone. While there might not be another traveller around, there'll be several touts on foot and motorbike hawking postcards and 'ancient coins', guys on camels trying to sell you a ride, cheeky little kids asking for baksheesh, and of course a guide or two. Don't give in to any. Say "(k)halas" ('enough' in Arabic) as sternly as you can, and walk the other way so you can enjoy what must be the world's most sublime archaeological site.

Guides: who needs them?

Guides. How many people use them I wonder. Do you? And I don't mean travel guidebooks. Nor the guides who take package tour groups around. And not the specialist guides who lead treks through mountains, jungles, glaciers and other hard-to-get places we might not otherwise have access to. I mean the specialized personal guides who people hire to escort them around a city for a few days, walk them around a museum or archaeological site, and take them on walking tours, culinary tours, and so on. I'd never given the subject much thought, until recently. We've only ever used guides a handful of times and on all but two occasions they ruined the experience for me and I swore I'd never use them again. I keep reading and hearing about people hiring guides: the owner of a travel website we were consulting on was creating itineraries that inevitably involved using a guide in each destination and sometimes several specialist guides in one place; in a travel magazine I read the other day a reader asked the expert to suggest guides she could hire in a popular European city; and a trip planner recently asked if there was a guide in Dubai I could recommend. Dubai is the last place on earth anyone needs a guide. The city is easy to get around, people are friendly, and everyone speaks English. And surely they're the main reasons you'd consider hiring a guide: accessibility challenges, hostile 'natives' and language barriers? I've occasionally felt while researching a guidebook in a place where we only speak the basics that we could have benefited from a translator. And when we trekked the hill tribe villages in Thailand, we certainly would have had a warmer welcome if we would have had a guide from the area - as promised! A visit to an art gallery or archaeological museum can be enriched by a guide familiar with the work on display. But it baffles me when I see a guide bringing a tourist into a café in Damascus and I overhear an explanation which seems to come straight out of our guidebook (the one we wrote!) or I see a guide walking a couple around an easily-navigable city such as Paris, Milan or Madrid. Part of the fun of visiting a place for the first time is getting lost.

Pictured? The last place I'd want a guide - no way would I want anyone to get between me and the wonderful assault on all senses that is Aleppo souq.

The Joys of Travel: Food Markets, part 2 (a case for hiring guides)

We generally don't like guides - mainly, it's their bad jokes, the tedious history lessons, the time-keeping mentality, and a certain arrogance, plus we've had a few bad experiences (one of which involved our first visit to one of the world's great wonders, Petra, being ruined by the guide). However, we visited several food markets in Thailand with guides and they were all excellent - knowledgeable, enthusiastic, charming, and had excellent relationships with the stallholders. Once we made it clear to the guides that we'd been to food markets in Thailand many times before, we knew our food, and were familiar with Thai food, it took the whole experience to another level. We got to ask lots of questions, to find out what all those icky unidentifiable things actually were, to learn their Thai names, how they're cooked and eaten, and so on. And by doing so, we learnt an extraordinary amount about the Thai people, their cuisine, and their culinary habits. And we tried lots of food! Admittedly, we weren't as brave as Bourdain. We didn't need to try deep friend crickets or whitchetty grub-like worms, but we tasted a lot of food, a lot more than we'd try if we were by ourselves. We're hooked. From now on, we're going to hire a guide-translator to visit every food market in each new place we visit. And maybe some of the markets we're familiar with too. Who knows what we might discover? And who we might meet. We probably wouldn't have met this friendly fishmonger and had a lesson on Thai fish-scaling if we had have been on our own!

The Joys of Travel: Food Markets, part 1

Food markets are one of the ultimate joys of travel, aren't they? Whenever we visit a new place one of the first things we do is visit a local fresh food market. They're a microcosm of the society. Markets give you a sensoral introduction to the culture, an insight into its everyday life, a taste of the 'personality' of the place, and some local flavour - quite literally. For us one of the real pleasures is the food itself. And while we like being able to identify the familiar (Oh, they have that here?!), we love nothing more than discovering some unusual ingredient or exotic fruit - and Thailand has plenty of those. And in Thailand, there's the added delight - or horror depending on how you look at it - of seeing slimy creatures swimming around in big bowls of water, ugly frogs that give the cane toad a run for its money, big dishes of deep fried insects, and other icky unidentifiable things bouncing about in plastic bags. The more markets assault your senses the better. Colours so bold they bowl you over, sounds so raucous you're covering your ears, aromas so heady you have to hold your nose... bring it on!