Trains, Trails and Travels

Having completed the first of our 2012 walks, through the Rhine Gorge (Wandering Down the Rhine), we set forth on what was expected to be a relatively simple but longer walk in the Loire and Cher River area – relatively flat and easy walking, or so we thought. Flat it may have been, but we still got a few surprises along the way.

After the Rhine Gorge and the relatively flat Loire and Cher River walks we set off for a navigationally immaculate stroll along Voie Verte (Green Track – a Rail Trail) from Cluny. This walk sounded like a shoe-in, but it had its moments of make it up as you go.

In March 2000 I had the opportunity to take part in a three week visit to Nepal, the major part of which was a trek around the western and southern side of the Annapurna region. Getting to Nepal and the days before and after the actual expedition were an experience in their own right.

In mid 2004, towards the end of our first European tour, we realised that we had a few days where the Walking in France pair (my sister and her partner) starting their time in Europe overlapped. What better way to spend those few days that a joint walk through a portion of the Premier Cru region of Burgundy. From our point of view it had interesting consequences – albeit it wasn’t until 2012 until we got into some serious walking holidays.

In late 2003 I did an extended trek in Nepal. The trek was 36 days out on the hoof, most of which was camping, even in snow and ice, covering 240 km horizontally but also nearly 16,500 metres (54,000 ft) vertically.

Having enjoyed a four day walk through Burgundy back in 2004, we made the brave decision to go for something rather more demanding, although still largely a make it up as you go type walk, in 2012. The first of these was a week-long adventure through the Rhine Gorge, which also happened to be our first venture into Germany.