Head to the Incredible Journeys Theatre for talks from experienced travel writers, operators and adventurers as they reveal hidden destinations and off the beaten track excursions from across the world. Enjoy insights into travelling through Korea, Russia, Lebanon, Patagonia, Mongolia, Nepal, India, Greenland and Europe…
Time: 9:45 – 10:15
Speaker: Simon Cockerell (Koryo Tours)
An introduction to what is involved in travelling to North Korea; a place everyone has heard of, but few have ever visited. How tourism works there in terms of the rule, regulations, and restrictions, and advice on how to maximise the time spent there and make as much contact with real-life as possible from someone who has been there 180+ times in the last 18 years.
Time: 10:30 – 11:00
Speaker: Ann Foulkes (trekMountains)
• Tips for what to take, and what you really don’t need to pack
• Why hut-to-hut trekking offers so much more than doing day walks from a hotel
• What makes the Italian Dolomites the best hut-to-hut trekking experience we know of
• Your questions answered
Time: 11:15 – 11:45
Speaker: Sam McManus (YellowWood Adventures)
Where Europe meets the Middle East; where mosque stands beside church beside synagogue; where the turquoise of the Mediterranean laps at the feet of snow-laden mountain ranges; where cedar forest leads from desert to sun-drenched vineyard. Sam McManus talks of his experiences living in Beirut and travelling around this incredible country amidst historic changes.
Time: 12:00 – 12:30
Speaker: Ian McClelland (Turn Wild)
An insight why Western Greenland is a must for the adventure traveller. An introduction to its incredible history, culture, wildlife and its delicate environment. Understand the importance of the huge Icecap but take away that Greenland is so much more than just the ice!
Time: 12:45 – 13:15
Speaker: Rhiannon Batten & Laura Rowe (Olive Magazine)
Time: 13:30 – 14:00
Speaker: Mike Wells (Cicerone)
Regarded as one of the most remote and scenic parts of Britain, the far north of Scotland has been opened up to tourists by a 500mile touring route known as the North Coast 500 (NC500). Designed principally for motorised visitors, this route does not take into account the different needs of cyclists. Mike Wells has devised an alternative cycle route that avoids some of the busiest main roads and the steepest hills, yet still stays true to the idea of opening up Scotland’s scenic beauty to visitors. He will outline how cycle tourists can experience everything northern Scotland has to offer without having to dodge speeding traffic or drag their bikes up 20% gradients.
Time: 14:15 – 14:45
Speaker: Charlie Hopkinson (Dragoman Overseas Travel)
Dragoman Director Charlie Hopkinson talks about how Overlanding is the natural solution to over-tourism. He has been in the business for nearly 40 years and his lively talk will describe how Dragoman’s ethos is all about the journey and taking the time to really experience a country and not just the final destination. Their off-the-beaten-track adventures through the Americas, Asia and Africa take you away from the tourism honey-pots and are active, immersive and quite often life-changing.
Time: 15:00 – 15:30
Speaker: Jessica Brooks (Eternal Landscapes Mongolia)
An interactive introduction to the culture of Mongolia. Mongolia is firmly embracing the 21st Century. However, there are many customs that remain an inherent part of Mongolian culture but they are integrated into everyday life so can be hard for visitors to tell that they exist. This talk is for those considering travelling to Mongolia to learn a little more about the way of life and what to expect as a visitor. A visitor to 21st Century Mongolia.
Time: 15:45 – 16:15
Speaker: Paddy Dillon (Cicerone)
The Azores archipelago is remarkably remote, yet easy to visit. Nine volcanic islands straddle three continental plates, featuring astounding landscapes and vivid colours. Rugged lava flows contrast with indicate stone-walled fields grazed by dairy herds. Huge volcanic craters contain lakes and there are active geothermal areas and spas. Mountains can be climbed, waterfalls can be admired and there are opportunities to explore underground in lava tubes and old magma chambers. A splendid network of signposted and waymarked trails has been established, opening up the islands to grateful walkers.
Time: 16:30 – 17:00
Speaker: Javier Solis (Australis Expeditions Cruises)
Hear about how in 1520, Magellan took time out of his busy schedule sailing around the world and explored for the first time what it is now Patagonia, a mysterious land of incredible contrasts and amazing encounters.
Time: 10:00 – 10:30
Speaker: Paddy Dillon (Cicerone)
Sit back and enjoy a whistle-stop tour of the Canary Islands – a month-long, 563km trekking route from Lanzarote to El Hierro across each of the 7 Canary Islands, a sub-tropical winter walking paradise. The GR131 is an ambitious trail that strives to make high-level coast to coast traverses across all seven Canary Islands. Two decades in the making, the trail passes through a variety of landscapes. Expect to find sandy deserts, rugged lava flows, deep canyons, arid scrub, laurisilva ‘cloud forest’, extensive pine forests and awesome, rugged mountains that catch snow in the winter months. The highest mountain on Spanish territory, El Teide, can be climbed as an ‘extra’. The trail runs from Órzola in Lanzarote to the original ‘zero meridian’ art the edge of the world… before Columbus discovered America.
Time: 10:40 – 11:10
Speaker: Alan Palmer (Yak Travel)
Nestling at the eastern end of the Himalayas, the remote Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh offers a breath-taking fusion of traditional cultures. Alan heads through isolated tribal villages to reach the world’s largest Buddhist monastery outside Tibet, before finally taking time out to visit Cherrapunji, the wettest place on earth, and Meghalaya’s spectacular living root bridges.
Time: 11:20 – 11:50
Speaker: Daniel McCrohan (Trailblazer)
Board the train in Moscow for a 6-day journey to Beijing or a 7-day journey to Vladivostok. Daniel McCrohan, author of the new edition of Trailblazer’s Trans-Siberian Handbook, has the latest information on taking the train across Russia and Siberia to Mongolia and China. How to organise the trip yourself, the best places to stop off, what to take and other vital tips on this, the greatest of all train journeys. As Eric Newby said: ‘The Trans-Siberian is the big train ride. All the rest are peanuts’.
Time: 12:00 – 12:30
Speaker: Addi Mann (Team AA)
August 2019 found TeamAA paddling and wild-camping the notorious Great-Glen on another epic pirate adventure. Travelling in a homemade canoe they made from recycled wood, the choppy waters tested their strength of character, including the Scottish summer weather, headwinds, ticks and midges. Addi shares their love for adventure, endurance, nature and togetherness.
Time: 12:40 – 13:10
Speaker: Som Tamang (Take on Nepal)
Take on Nepal are one of the only trekking companies training and hiring a team of women in Nepal, In the mountain villages of Nepal, opportunities for women are few. Many young girls have little or no education, and marriage at an early age is still common. Take on Nepal and FHC have been working to change this for many years. As Take on Nepal has grown, we’ve begun hiring young women and girls from Batase — first to work as porters and then as guides, roles that up to now have been seen as exclusively male. For young village girls, early exposure to paid work as porters and the experience of interacting with Western women is an eye-opener. It provides them with a glimpse of other possible futures, futures far different from the lives their mothers lived and to the lives they may have thought they were going to live.
Time: 13:20 – 13:50
Speaker: Mike Wells (Cicerone)
The 2772km Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, flowing from Germany’s Black Forest to the Black Sea coast of Romania. Mike Wells cycled the Danube Cycleway twice when writing his two-volume guide to the route, experiencing the cultures of ten different countries and learning how to order a beer in seven different languages. The total ride takes about five weeks, but it can be ridden in two or three trips by breaking the journey in Budapest or Vienna and Belgrade. Mike will describe the preparation needed for such a journey and his experiences following Europe’s most iconic river.
Time: 14:00 – 14:30
Speaker: James Wilcox (Untamed Borders)
James Willcox talks about organising the world’s first organised ski tour to Iraq and how this led to helping organise Iraq’s only ski race, arranging sports activities for refugees and IDPs that escaped persecution by ISIS and helping revive a winter festival that had been stopped under the Saddam Hussein regime.
Time: 14:40 – 15:10
Speaker: Hakkim Al Tamimi (Visit Jordan)
‘Step on Rock or Roll’ – New ways to immerse in Jordan’s exhilarating adventure experiences.
Time: 15:20 – 15:50
Speaker: Puran Bhardwaj (Expedition Leaders)
A slideshow to take you to the foothills of Shimla, the British Raj capital and interesting stories from rural villages of India. Puran will take you through a 14-day trip. How you can cover the best parts as well as learn about quick ways to have e-visa for India.
Time: 16:00 – 16:30
Speaker: Tom Gore (Kaya Travel)
We are all looking for ways to be more ethical and responsible when we travel, but what can we actually do? Hear how volunteering abroad allows you to travel more responsibly and give back to the communities you visit. Find out how you can become a responsible traveller!
See more inspirational talks included in the price of your show entry ticket at our other theatre here: World of Adventure Theatre and Discover Africa Theatre.
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