Physical comfort 3/10, culture shock 9/10 – a great homestay experience in an Akha Village
Brilliantly colourful clothes, remote rural lifestyle, a proud history-The Akha people are one of the many hill tribes who live in the northern mountains , bordering Burma and Laos.
Our tour leaders have personal links with one family, who welcomed all eight of us into their home for two nights. I was so relieved to actually arrive there, that the rustic simplicity of our accommodation did not hit me at first.
This stay was a wonderful opportunity included in our Green Mindful Tour with Roots of Asia who specialise in Tours for Women in northern Thailand.
Over a period of 25 years Lyn Baker has taken over 1000 women on small group tours in India with her company Tiger Travel. She has just launched a new business Senoritas in the Sun – small groups of women enjoying the South of Spain. Women Travel caught Lyn between trips and interviewed her about her passion for India and more recently for Andalucia Spain Read more
In the network of Women Owned Travel businesses around the world, Gayle Lawrence’s Journeys of Discovery have always been out there and visible with a great range of trips that touch the soul.
I have just updated the Tour Calendar at Women Travel the World with her latest tours and what a choice there is:
- Meditation and service in Bhutan
- encounters with Humpback Whales in the Dominican Republic (get in early for 2011 these sell out very fast!)
- Women’s Quest to Avalon in Britain
- A writing retreat in Mexico Read more
Julie of Venus Adventures for women reports that that Emirates has released a special deal for those who live Down Under and who yearn for a trip to Morocco…
“Emirates have released an early bird special for sales in NZ until the 17th of December 2009. For your Morocco trip, a fare ex Auckland would be $2310 including taxes.” Read more
Julie Paterson takes women where they have not been before…. She has steadily added new destinations to the Venus Adventures adventure trips for women, but her particular passion is northern Africa. She has added Mali as a new destination to the Calendar after her exploration there. Over New Year join Julie on a challenging African adventure to Timbuktu infamous Festival au Desert, the highlight of our journey. This trip is definitely for the more adventurous – African travel is not always convenient and not always as planned – but very real, very different and very rewarding.
Check out her other trips to Vietnam, Egypt and Ethiopia later this year
Venus Adventures women
Julie Paterson director of Venus Adventures Women’s Travel talks about women’s tours to exotic places. There is even a photo of me and the rest of my Moroccan travel friends dressed up in turbans and lying on carpets….
View the four minute clip here
Danielle, Rosemary and Ceridwyn in Florence
I have been travelling for six weeks with good friends from New Zealand Ceridwyn Parr and Danielle Melton. We have spent the time in Spain, Portugal and Italy. It has been a fantastic opportunity to explore these places which I would not have seen in such depth without them. Each of us fell into particular roles on the trip – Ceridwyn was the tour leader/planner, Danielle was the driver (we hired a car in Spain) and I was the personal chef when we had an apartment we could cook in. We formed a great team which enabled us to each have a great travel experience but within the security of companionship along the way.
It is why Women’s Tours are popular and growing – a small group of women, with an experienced guide – exploring a country, its a great way for women on their own to travel.
We reluctantly leave the desert – and head for two days of sightseeing and more relaxing afternoons. This is well timed by our guide Julie of Venus Adventures, as we are getting tired, stomachs are being nursed along, and we have washing and personal things to attend to.
First stop Todra Gorge – where we stay in a hotel under these extraordinary cliffs. Read more
Marian Marbury started this women’s travel company in 1999 – and they are still going strong. i have known of them for some years, so am excited that they have just joined the Women Travel the World website. Much of their philosophy resonates with me, especially the bit about “We love eating good food and laughing lots!”
I am two days into my own four month travel adventure, and am so glad to be looking forward to travelling with other women on tours such as these – sharing the stories and the journey and the good food with kindred spirits and other locals we meet along the way.
My new website has just flown off into cyberspace – Women Travel the World – www.womentravel.info Its a smart site (but I would say that!) – it uses google maps so you can find your way to a women’s hotel in Berlin or a B&B in Florence or Krete. And it has a Tour Calendar so that you can see when and where tours are across dozens of tour operators. Check out a safari in Africa, two weeks in New Zealand or Trekking in Nepal.
The site is offering free listings for the first year to any women owned and run accommodation and tour companies around the world.
After years of planning and working with local web designer Jan Malone it is out there flying on its own. I can hardly believe it.
Read the press release here
