Black Meringue

Beware suspicious packages

Is your idea of a honeymoon paradise an empty lagoon you stumbled upon by chance, rather than a guarded hotel beach jammed full of sun loungers? Would your perfect meal abroad involve local fishermen inviting you to share their freshly grilled sardines at sunset because tourists are a novelty and they’re really happy to see you? If your answer’s yes, Dave Wise suggests adding a set of backpacks to your wedding list

There’s a lot to be said for two-week package tours. Unfortunately, for those of us who like to do something other than lie in the sun, much of it isn’t complimentary. Travelling a great distance to visit a foreign country should be a great experience, but how does a package tour usually turn out in reality? A few sanitised day trips; moans that the only locals you get to mix with are either paid to smile at you as they serve dinner or annoy the hell out of you on the beach by constantly wailing, “U wan massaaage?”; that awful over-friendly couple who just won’t leave you alone; and don’t forget the ‘stumbling drunk around the buffet table every night’ scenario, where you’re stuffed but can’t say no to an extra helping because it’s nice, it’s there and you’ve already paid for it.

The reason millions of people put up with these package-tour shortfalls for so long was the security they offered. You left Britain knowing that at the end of your flight you’d have a decent hotel and an English-speaking rep who would take the strain out of your experience. It didn’t seem to matter that the destination often didn’t live up to the hype or that opportunities for engaging with new experiences and people were limited. Many wouldn’t have thought of backpacking simply because the idea of getting off a bus, boat or train in a strange country without knowing the local language or having accommodation sorted was terrifying. But things have changed.

The sense of insecurity that used to accompany slinging on a rucksack and going wherever you fancied has been blown away by the advent of the internet. With most guesthouses around the globe contactable by email and many employing at least one English or French speaker, there’s never been an easier time to tour the world. You can change your plans frequently, knowing there’ll be a bed waiting for you at the end of the day. And if when you wake up you find the place you’ve arrived in doesn’t live up to your idea of perfection, you’re not stuck with it for a fortnight but can ship out immediately and find somewhere else that does.

Here are a few ideas of possible honeymoon backpacking circuits, just to get you started. If nothing appeals then simply connect to Google, type in a phrase that describes your own idea of paradise and see where in the world the links lead you…

Far East

Glittering Buddhist temples; warm seas; shopping bargains; fascinating historic sights; tasty street food that costs next to nothing; an extensive and cheap transport network; elephant riding; jungle trekking and some of the world’s best scuba-diving are just some of the reasons why more than 10 million tourists make the trip to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Cambodia every year. Sri Lanka, known as ‘the pearl of the Indian Ocean’, has the added attraction of being home to some of the world’s friendliest people, while Thailand, the most westernised of the three countries, is less genuinely welcoming but is a place where anything you might want – and I mean anything – is available.

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is well known for its 1,000 miles of unpolluted palm-fringed beaches – but there’s much more to the place than that. Inland are mountains and rainforests to trek in, wild rivers to kayak, colonies of monks living in jungles to visit and seven UNESCO-declared World Heritage Sites, including the 2,000-year-old Buddhist cave paintings of Dambulla and the incredible mountain fortress of Sigiyria. There are also elephant orphanages where you can feed the babies and watch the elders splashing around in rivers (or even volunteer to take care of the animals for up to three months) and highland tea plantations where you can stay with estate managers and get to taste real tea fresh from the production plant. A favourite hideaway of mine is the ruggedly beautiful jungle area around the Bambarakanda Falls which, with a sheer drop of 241m, are the country’s highest. You might expect such a scenic place to be crowded with tourists, or at least served with a row of souvenir stalls, but if you make the trip you’re likely to be the only people there, lying on your backs in the pool at the base of the falls, listening to monkeys and parrots and watching butterflies fluttering through the rainbows above your heads.

LSR, a local travel company specialising in activity holidays, can arrange tours and volunteer placements. Check out more at www.lsr-srilanka.com – it even has a special honeymoon package if you don’t want to tailor your own journey. For good-value flights from England to Sri Lanka and on to Bangkok visit www.srilankan.aero.

Ko Lanta Yai
Most of Thailand’s islands disappoint. They’re overdeveloped, overpriced, unfriendly and full of sunburnt Europeans getting drunk and rowdy. An exception is Ko Lanta Yai off Thailand’s west coast, reached by boat from neighbouring islands or bus/ferry from Krabi and Bangkok. Most of the people who visit this large, lush island are older, independent travellers more interested in watching the sun set from the beach than having a full moon rave on it. Saying that, there are still plenty of bars to choose from and, better still, several off-licences, so following your skinny dip with a moonlit vodka on a deserted beach is a distinct possibility. Some travellers reserve their hotels in advance but the times I’ve visited I’ve just caught the boat from Krabi and taken my pick from the brochures offered by hotel touts who approach during the voyage. The beaches (there are nine of them) get sandier and less built-up the further you go along the south west coast. A 20-minute ride from the port (the touts will arrange and pay for the transport if you’ve promised to stay at their place) will bring you to my favourite, Klong Nin beach – a two-mile stretch of sand backed by quiet family-run hotels of varying prices from £3 a night upwards. Inland you can try trekking with elephants, or if you’ve got a bit of pent-up aggression there’s a Thai Boxing gym where you can learn the basics. The great attraction of Ko Lanta Yai is that it lives up to the hype surrounding Thai Islands – it’s beautiful, laid-back, friendly and good-value.

Bangkok
It’s got to be said that Thailand, and Bangkok in particular, isn’t the paradise it once was, and if meeting decent local people is what you’re after then perhaps this country isn’t the place for you. Hustlers and thieves are very common and you’ve got to be on your guard at all times to avoid being cheated, or worse. Having said that, there’s nowhere in the world quite like Bangkok. It’s a place you should experience at least once (if only to see how mad life gets when nobody tells the truth and money is God). Also, it’s the best gateway to other, more friendly destinations in the region, such as Cambodia or Laos.

A perfect day in Bangkok might start with heading down to the river – grabbing a breakfast of freshly sliced pineapple for 30p on the way – and taking a water taxi to the glittering Royal Palace. Having visited that, wander up to China Town for a street-food lunch; bus on to Siam Square for a look around one of the many huge shopping centres (even if you hate shopping, you’ll be glad of the air-con); then take another water taxi back to Khao San district, where you’ll find all the budget hotels (the Four Sons Inn on Rambutti Road is the best; it’s £7 a night for an air-conditioned double en suite), backpacker bars and tailors – who’ll take your measurements and knock you up a first-rate outfit in a matter of days – before heading out at night for whatever sex or bar scene that takes your fancy. Worthwhile day trips from the capital include Kanchanaburi by train, where you’ll find the famous Bridge over the River Kwai and several museums devoted to World War II, and to Ayuthuya, the ancient Siamese capital city (the ruins of which are set in a pleasant park) and home to an elephant sanctuary where you can ride the adults and feed the babies.

Cambodia and Angkor
Forget the Pyramids, Machu Pichu and the temples of Mexico and Zimbabwe, Angkor is without doubt the world’s most astounding historical site. Built by the Kymer kings between the ninth and 12th centuries, the hundreds of temples here are spread over a huge area of land, most of which is still swathed in jungle. The sites are joined by a network of roads and tracks, which are easily passed by pushbike or tuk tuk taxi (rent them in nearby Siem Reap), or by elephant (available to hire inside the archaeological park). While some of the more renowned temples such as Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm are often uncomfortably crowded, there are plenty of opportunities to head off the beaten track into the jungle and explore ruins that are empty apart from the odd meditating monk and flocks of squawking parrots (the best are Ta Nei and Preah Palilay). The nearby town of Siem Reap is where’ll you’ll be staying, and though expensive by Cambodian standards it’s incredibly cheap by ours. For instance, my guesthouse cost £3 a night for a clean en-suite room, and that included a free breakfast and bicycle to get round the ruins. The town is full of bars and restaurants and getting a taxi or bus back to Thailand or on to the Cambodian south, with its miles of unspoilt beaches, is easily arranged.

Europe and North Africa

With budget airlines such as Easyjet or Ryanair offering great deals and a vast network of routes, it’s a simple matter to organise a multi-stop European trip. You could fly into Portugal, taking a bus through to Spain and then a ferry to Morocco before flying from Marrakech to Milan and catching the overnight train back to London – or plan something wildly different. Italy is stylish, relaxed and packed full of historic sights, Portugal and Spain still have a remarkable number of unspoilt sandy beaches and Morocco is a hive of markets, exotic smells and huge landscapes.

Portugal’s Algarve
West of the city of Lagos, the ugly high-rise hotels and beaches crowded with sun-umbrellas that the Algarve is mainly known for disappear, replaced by surfers’ campsites and deserted golden sand beaches. The coastal walking here is windy but gentle; two favourite day hikes are from Sagres to the very end of Portugal at Cabo Vincente along a near-unbroken six miles of cliff, and a similar-length stroll from sleepy Salima to Burgau, passing a string of beaches and small fishing villages. Lagos itself has a good campsite, several beaches, a fleet running fishing and dolphin watching trips and a whitewashed historic centre – the site of Europe’s first slave market – so it’s worth a day or two of wandering. Just inland by train is Silves, the old capital of the region and now a sleepy town sheltering below a vast red-walled fortress. For more lively nightlife head over to Albufeira, where it’s all drinks promos, Irish pubs and fish and chip shops, before discovering the Rio Formosa national park around Tavira. Tavira town itself is pretty, with good nightlife, while the sandy offshore island is car-free and has been voted one of Europe’s top 10 beaches (it’s also got a great campsite). An added attraction of Portugal (and Spain) is that its tourist trade is currently trying to win back customers from destinations such as Turkey and Egypt, meaning that it’s now extremely good value. For example, an average three-course meal here is £11, while in Turkey it’s around £15.

The Spanish west coast
The Algarve bus offers frequent bus connections to Spain and its little-visited west coast, where more empty beaches await (the area hasn’t been developed as it’s prone to strong winds). From Seville, the home of Carmen, Don Juan, Figaro and one of the largest historical centres in Europe, you can bus to Donana National Park, Europe’s most important wetland reserve and a major site for migrating birds, before heading down to Cádiz, a pleasant walled coastal city whose lively inhabitants consider going to bed before 3am a criminal offence. A possible next stop is Conil, one hour south of Cádiz – a whitewashed town tumbling downhill to a stunning seascape. You could walk from here to Cape Trafalgar along the wide sand beach without seeing a soul in two hours and then continue further south for a few more days (sleep out on the beach – it’s free and it’s ok in Spain to camp wild wherever you want), finishing at the characterful town of Tarifa – a favourite with windsurfers and just an hour by bus from Gibraltar and the port of Algeciras, where you can catch a ferry on to Morocco.

Marrakech
Reached by train from Tangier, with a possible stop-off in the old imperial city of Fez – stay at the Riad Norma here if you want classy luxury (www.riadnorma.com) – Marrakech is colourful, vibrant and wonderfully real. Europe meets Africa in its shady souks, and although it’s sometimes hard to see past the scramble for tourist dollar there’s always the refuge of the riad to help recharge you after a hard day fighting off the snake charmers. Riads are old merchants’ houses converted into unique hotels and moving from the dusty, manic medina alleys into the lush, peaceful courtyards that typify these hotels is like stepping through a magic wardrobe. For creative types the Riad Sahara Nour (www.riadsaharanour-marrakech.com) is a good choice, while for romance either the Riad Noga (www.riadnoga.com) or Riad Leila (www.riadomaroc.com) deserve a look. If the city gets too hectic for you, consider escaping west to the coast at Essaouria, where you can stay in the riad that Jimi Hendrix once slept in (www.hotelriadalmedina.com), swim from the wide sandy beach and eat seafood fresh from the boat. Alternatively, head east and experience the largely unspoilt High Atlas Mountains, which some say are reminiscent of the Swiss Alps 100 years ago. Mohammed Atzat (www.guidedtrek.com) is a competent guide here who can tailor-make good-value hiking trips over several days on which mules carry your luggage and your cook goes ahead to make camp while you amble through friendly villages and lush valleys.

Lake Como
If somebody asked me to name the most romantic place in Europe I’d say Bellagio, on the shore of Italy’s Lake Como. This relaxed, friendly village is reached by train and ferry from Milan Malpensa airport in about three hours. When you arrive check into the Hotel Bellagio (room 425 if you can, with its 180° views of the lake and the snowy Swiss mountains in the far distance) before heading down to a waterside restaurant and settling in under the wisteria for a long lunch, washed down with a few bottles of Prosecco. Spend your days visiting the nearby villas, such as the Villa Melzi, a 15-minute walk south through colourful gardens and so beautiful that it inspired Liszt to create a sonata, Stendhal to write a book and Fox Talbot to invent photography in order to capture it forever. Quiet candlelit dinners at one of the numerous taverns hidden away up the steep alleyways are the rule in Bellagio rather than the exception, as is walking off the wine by the lake while counting the thousands of stars reflecting in the placid water. If this all sounds too exclusive and expensive, think again; a decent two-course meal for two with wine can be as cheap as £20 in Bellagio. And if after all the peace and tranquillity you fancy your sightseeing a little more full-on, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Venice and Rome are an easy train ride away.

Malawi

Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa, and you’ll see why when you meet the friendly, relaxed people who call this landlocked country home. Malawi offers an unrivalled combination of lake, landscape and wildlife. It’s like no other African country: small, yet with an immense diversity of scenery and a vast inland sea, big open skies, unspoilt hiking and countless opportunities to experience the ‘Real’ Africa, thanks to the fact that even in the smallest villages most people speak English.

Kenya Airways offers flights to Malawi: email ukres@kenya-airways.com or go to www.kenya-airways.com. The Malawi Tourism and Marketing Consortium can provide details of attractions, tour operators and hotels for all budgets. For further info email enquiries@malawitourism.com or go to www.malawitourism.com. I recommend Art Safari, which offers safari plus painting tuition, as a decent tour company with a difference. You can contact them at info@artsafari.co.uk or on 01394 382235.

Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi is a constant 28° all year round and contains more species of fish than the whole of North America and Europe combined (about 800, almost all of which are indigenous). There are lodges all the way down the 360-mile shoreline, most of which have access to a sandy beach and watersports facilities (the diving is great and the country among the world’s cheapest places to get yourself a diving licence). The area around Cape McClear is perhaps the best place to head for as you have a range of accommodation, from the backpackers in the village itself to the nearby private islands of Domwe and Mumbo. The village is the place for a party, with a choice of bars, while the islands offer a tranquil experience you’d be hard pushed to find elsewhere. Domwe is a national park and the accommodation there, managed by Kayak Africa (www.kayakafrica.net), is in fixed luxury tents overlooking the lake. Each tent is fully furnished with its own shady view-deck and private hammock. Food and kayaks are included in the price; drinks are paid for by an honesty system; there are a few interesting inland hiking trails offering up amazing lake views and the friendly staff are very discreet, only appearing when you need something (like hot water for your open-air shower).

Mt Mulanje
Stretching over 3,000m into the clouds, Mt Mulanje is the highest point in Central Africa. A short hike or longer climb of its forested flanks from your base in one of the colonial-style houses among the lower tea estates is a must for any visitor to Malawi. Lujeri Lodge is one such place; you can rent the whole house with its swimming pool and staff for about £60 per night and use it as a base to hike up the nearby Ruo trail, which leads from here up past the Ruo Falls (three hours) onto the highest plateau (from five hours to three days, depending on your circuit and pace). Guides cost £5 a day and can be hired either by asking staff at the house or at the tea estate office just up the track. Or, if you want to organise everything in advance, InfoMulanje can organise guides and porters (as well as book your accommodation) and give trail advice for walks and treks up the mountain. Visit www.mountmulanje.org.mw. If you’re on a budget you can stay in one of the log huts up on the mountain for a pittance or even camp up there for free. The view from the plateau is beautiful patchwork green, stretching as far as Mozambique on one side and to one of Malawi’s other mountain ranges, Zomba, on the other

Liwonde National Park
On my first day in Liwonde we set out by boat, planning to journey high up the Shire River to visit Livingston’s Tree, under which the great explorer had camped in the 1850s. It wasn’t long, though, before progress was hindered by a herd of 60 or more elephants wading deep in reedy water, purple flowers at their knees and white egrets on their backs. We nosed the boat ever closer until I could hear the herd’s ears rustling and bellies grumbling. The sight of two boisterous youngsters sparring right next to us and a wise elder wading in to place a gentle trunk between them is one I’ll never forget. Apart from elephants, of which there are estimated to be 900 in the park, you can expect to see much bird, monkey and antelope life on your safaris here and, if you’re lucky, lions, leopards and rhinos. Mvuu Camp is a mid-range accommodation option offering either cabins, walk-in tents or the possibility of camping and is set on the banks of the Shire, one of Africa’s most densely populated waterways for hippo and crocodile. The camp guards can arrange safaris by foot, jeep or boat. Buffet lunches are taken in the open-sided thatched restaurant while dinners are served on candlelit tables under the baobab trees by the river’s edge. A guard is provided for guests heading back from the bar after dark as Horace the resident hippo may well be making use of the swimming pool at that time and doesn’t like being crept up on.

Zomba
To escape the heat of Liwonde head on to Zomba Forest Lodge, over 1,000m up the mountainside. Owner Ronald will invite you for sundowners in the garden overlooking the Shire Valley before leading you inside for dinner. He’s justly proud of his cook, who rustles up ingenious dishes using ingredients such as fillet steak, local beans, okra and pumpkin leaves. A favourite of mine during my stay was lemon butter chicken – delicious. The villages around the lodge are welcoming and fun to visit, or you can hire a guide from outside the Ku Chawe Inn for about £10 a day and hike or drive up through forests onto the mountain plateau, which is criss-crossed with streams, tumbling waterfalls and still lakes. There are also far-reaching views, so beautiful that they were described in colonial times as ‘the best in the British Empire.’ The forests themselves harbour leopards (although sightings are rare), Samango monkeys, giant butterflies and, on the lower slopes, baboons. In the evening it’s possible to see, as I did, a local band playing, their guitars fashioned from cooking oil tins and pallet wood, their drums from oil drums and car parts and their drumsticks from branches which disintegrate regularly as the beats get more frantic. The only bad thing about witnessing such a performance is that afterwards every gig you see back in Britain will seem phoney by comparison.

BM