Blog - The best travel insights and top travel tips
Welcome to the Mountain Kingdoms blog. We have been walking and trekking the world for over 36 years and here we share our holiday recommendations, travel pointers and favourite mountain views.
2014 Photo of the Year Competition
A big thank you to everyone who sent in photos for this year’s Photo of the Year Competition. It was a near impossible decision to choose just five from the many we received but, after much discussion and debate, we’ve come up with our finalists. Here they are, together with a little bit of explanation about where they were taken.... Read more
2013 Photo of the Year Competition
Wow, what an amazing selection of images you’ve sent us from your holidays around the world. As you can see from our final five photos, we’ve got temples in Burma, Italian peaks, Venezuelan falls and stunning Himalayan scenery – a positive cornucopia of travel experiences. As you can imagine, it was incredibly difficult choosing just five finalists and led to a great deal of heated debate in the office but, we hope you’ll agree, our final shortlist is pretty special. Now it’s over to you to vote for your favourite from those featured below.... Read more
Easter Island - the Mystery of the Moai
Easter Island must surely be one of the greatest mysteries of human civilisation. Many theories have been formed over the years about where the original inhabitants came from, why they built hundreds of monumental statues called Moai, how they transported them and why the people who made them eventually died out. Despite much scientific research and investigation over recent years there’s still a lot we don’t know. But here’s what we do know about one of the most remote and intriguing communities in the world.... Read more
Prince Harry and the Gurkhas - a brief history
The visit of Prince Harry to Nepal will no doubt bring worldwide attention to the Gurkha people - particularly when he goes trekking in the Annapurnas and spends a night at the home of a Gurkha family in a small village in the foothills near Pokhara. The Prince’s connections with the famous regiment goes back several years to when he served with the 1st Battalion the Gurkha Rifles during his tour of Afghanistan in 2007-8. ... Read more
Yeti prints on world's highest unclimbed mountain
Tracks have recently been found next to the highest mountain in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan and they may prove that the Yeti still exists. They were spotted by a Bhutanese guide accompanying mountaineer, explorer and Mountain Kingdoms’ Managing Director, Steve Berry, whose photos of the mysterious tracks are shown here.... Read more
An interview with John: Walking in the mid hills of Nepal
In 2015, Mountain Kingdoms General Manager, John, was the lucky member of the team to travel to Nepal to try out a brand new walking holiday in the lesser-visited mid hills region west of Kathmandu. ... Read more
Why William and Kate will find Bhutan such a special place - the royal visit
Following the exciting news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will pay a debut visit to Bhutan this spring, we thought we’d offer them an insight into what makes the Thunder Dragon Kingdom such a unique and special place to travel to - whether on a royal visit or simply on holiday.... Read more
Trekking the Omani Hajar
Many people think that the Arabian Peninsula is just desert and more desert but, while there is admittedly a lot of desert, there are also dramatic mountains, wadis and coastlines. Oman, despite being 75% desert, also has... Read more
An interview with Harry: Tour of Vietnam
It’s that time at Mountain Kingdoms when those in the office get to grab their backpacks and leave their desks behind in search of exciting new trips and destinations to feature in our next brochure. Over the coming months many of us will be on recces to find new treks, walks and tours to offer you.... Read more
2014 Photo of the Year - the winner's story
We asked Mr Green, the winner of our 2014 Photo of the Year competition, to share with us the story of how he captured the winning image of his Yak of the Year perfectly positioned in front of Ama Dablam. ... Read more