The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
STROLL WITH SHEPHERDS INDIA
Big, chaotic India can be an intimidating place in which to find meaningful local encounters. For more than a decade, responsible tour operator Village Ways has been making it easier, via its excellent community-based walking trips that fully immerse travellers in local life and help provide the villagers with job opportunities and income.
The company’s special journeys with the last remaining migrating shepherds in the Himalaya are no different. You’ll have a chance to meet and then walk with the Anwals as they begin to move their flocks to the high Himalayan pasture, just as they have for generations. Watch their preparations, hear their stories and camp out with them, surrounded by mountains and stars.
Village Ways (01223 750049; villageways.com) offers a range of community walking trips; its In the Footsteps of Anwals departures, which will run April 15-May 15 2021, cost from £1,467pp, excluding flights.
JOIN THE FESTIVITIES GREECE
Easter is the time to be in Athens – the capital is a-twinkle with candlelit processions, choral song, devotional rituals and culinary treats. While Easter 2020 was pretty much cancelled, it’s a safe bet that next year will be doubly exuberant.
“These departures are always special,” says tour operator Peter Sommer, who runs Easter in Athens trips. “They combine the experience of being in Athens – gazing up at the ever-changing light on the Acropolis, rounding every corner and seeing something exceptional – with the unique, spine-tingling atmosphere as Athenians come together in great celebration. It’s always wonderful, but next year’s Easter will surely be the most exceptional the city – freed from coronavirus – will have seen in a long time.”
Peter Sommer Travels (01600 888220; petersommer.com) specialises in holidays to the eastern Mediterranean; an eight-day Easter in Athens tour (departs April 26 2021) costs from around £2,925pp, excluding flights.
EMBRACE VILLAGE LIFE ECUADOR
While many people flock to the Galapagos Islands for their world-class wildlife, lesser-sung mainland
Ecuador offers some excellent human encounters. For instance, in the mountain village of Guamote, where 95 per cent of the population are indigenous Andeans, you will find the Inti Sisa Art Guesthouse project.
Travellers staying at this homestay can get hands-on experience in the community. There are opportunities to see ponchos being made, visits to the school and agricultural college, tours of the food market to buy ingredients for making your own empanadas (filled pastries), and time to spend with a family – chatting, cooking and playing games.
What’s more, all the proceeds from your stay are fed back into the community to support the education of underprivileged locals (especially women and girls) in skills such as computing, sewing and English.
Inti Sisa Art Guesthouse (00593 3 291 6529; intisisa.com) is halfway between Quito and Cuenca; B&B doubles from $65 (£53) per night.