{"id":3116,"date":"2008-08-16T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-16T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/?p=3116"},"modified":"2008-08-16T11:59:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-16T11:59:00","slug":"geckos-gets-off-the-beaten-track-in-asia-to-where-theres-no-track-at-all-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2008\/08\/geckos-gets-off-the-beaten-track-in-asia-to-where-theres-no-track-at-all-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gecko\u2019s Gets Off the Beaten Track in Asia \u2013 To Where There\u2019s No Track At All!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"\">From yak trekking with nomadic herdsmen in Mongolia to hill tribe trekking in Thailand, Gecko&#8217;s has introduced a range of Asian adventures that go beyond the beaten track to where there&#8217;s often no track at all in the <b>2008-10 South East Asia and China<\/b> brochure. <\/p>\n<div> \u00a0<\/div>\n<div>The 14-day <b>Mongolian Yak Safari<\/b> is a wander across the un-tracked steppe, with yaks as &#8216;support vehicles&#8217; and includes staying in the traditional felt &#8216;gers&#8217; (tents) of the nomadic herdsmen. Eschewing the long driving days of typical Mongolian tours, the safari takes a more leisurely, low-impact approach.<\/div>\n<div>The trip begins in Ulaanbaaatar with a one-day train trip along the Trans Mongolian route to the Ilk Nart Nature Reserve in the Gobi Desert, a protected community reserve rarely visited by tourists, where the group stays for several days in a low-impact ger camp as guests of the local Dalanjargal community. <\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div>Three quarters of the Mongolian population still lives in gers year-round and the trip is a chance to experience the traditional nomadic lifestyle, accompanied by local herdsmen. From a second base, the group undertakes a four-day trek skirting the southern fringes of Khan Khentii, a wilderness area three times the size of Yellowstone National Park. In the spirit of the nomads, the group will be self-sufficient, with all equipment \u2013 including &#8216;regular&#8217; tents and a communal dining ger \u2013 carried on yak carts, and following no particular route; trekking no more than 20km per day; meeting local people, and seeking the most idyllic campsite each evening.\u00a0 <\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div>The trip concludes in the capital, Ulaanbaaatar. The 14-day trip has six departures between May and August, 2009 and costs $1395 per person, twin share, plus a US$200 local payment. <\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div> In Thailand, Gecko&#8217;s has introduced the 15-day <b>Inside Thailand<\/b> adventure, a cocktail of all the best things to do and see in northern Thailand: hill tribe trekking; getting up close to the elephants at the Elephant Conservation Centre; a visit to Sukhothai and shopping in Chiang Mai&#8217;s night markets. There&#8217;s a night in a local homestay, and transport ranges from tuk-tuk and boat to train and bicycle. After all that action, there&#8217;s time chilling out on the perfect beaches of two of Thailand&#8217;s least-visited islands, Koh Chang and Koh Samet \u2013 both National Parks &#8211; where the only other tourists are locals. There&#8217;s diving and snorkelling in the surrounding protected waters or exploring hidden coves and lush rainforest &#8211; \u00a0if hanging out in a hammock isn&#8217;t energetic enough.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div><b>Inside Thailand<\/b> starts in Bangkok with departures year-round. The trip costs $995 per person, twin share, land only, plus a US$200 local payment.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div>For further information, visit your travel agent or call 1300 854 500 or visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.geckosadventures.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.geckosadventures.com<\/a> to download a copy of the new <b>Gecko&#8217;s South East Asia and China 2008-2010<\/b> brochure.  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From yak trekking with nomadic herdsmen in Mongolia to hill tribe trekking in Thailand, Gecko&#8217;s has introduced a range of Asian adventures that go beyond the beaten track to where there&#8217;s often no track at all in the 2008-10 South East Asia and China brochure. \u00a0 The 14-day Mongolian Yak Safari is a wander across [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}