Most travellers are familiar with the idea of hiring a knowledgeable guide or renting an audio tour for castles, museums and historic sites. While guides vary in quality and language skills but can answer questions, audio tours are typically well spoken and cost around US$10 for headsets and the recording.
Dr Benedict Davies, an Egyptologist, approached me for a review of his new business, Iconic Guides, an online organisation that offers specialist detailed audio tours of historic sites around the world. Dr Davies hit upon the idea after a frustrating tour of China unable to find good guides for some of the major Chinese sights.
Guides for various significant locations can be purchased for £2.99 (around US$4.75) each via Paypal and downloaded to the traveller’s personal iPod or MP3 player.
At present, selections are available for Egypt, Greece and Japan with plans for an expanded Greece, Italy, Turkey, Mexico and China as knowledgeable specialists for these countries produce suitable guides.
Having travelled to Egypt a couple of years ago, Iconic Guides offered me two sample audio tours (that normally cost £2.99 each) of locations I am familiar with – the 4500 year old Step Pyramid near Cairo and the Temple of Hatshepsut or Deir el-Bahari (temple to the first great female Egyptian ruler) in Luxor.
With a link (active for 72 hours) obtained on payment through the Paypal system after registration with Iconic Guides, each guide is downloaded (several MB in size) as a zip file containing a simple one page printable PDF map of the site with numbered locations corresponding to a recorded segment detailing between one and five minutes of information about the specific location. The guides start with more general information placing the site in context with the relevant history of the time.
The audio guides are spoken by a professional, high-quality, well spoken female UK English voiceover artist making the descriptions easy to absorb and easy to listen to and understand. The information is reasonably detailed covering cultural, artistic and architectural heritage without veering into areas beyond the interest levels of most informed visitors. A sample of the audio content is available on the website’s home page. The Step Pyramid commentary runs to around 19 minutes in eight parts while the larger and more complex Temple of Hatshepsut guide is around 26 minutes in 16 parts.
The audio guides are factual, detailed and informational in style but lack the flair that good on-site human guides can offer, interspersing factual details with entertaining anecdotes to keep a lighter more entertaining feel.
As travellers typically visit several sites in one major location, several packages of audio guides are available. Examples include the temples of Kyoto (seven guides) for £13.99 (around US$22) and the temples of Luxor (five guides) for £11.99 (around US$19).
In my view, Iconic Guides are best suited to those organised and informed independent travellers who typically hire the handheld recordings or hire guides for a more in-depth experience and understanding of a site. Spoken in clear easy-to-understand English, there are also no battles with accents or the frustration of limited or poorly written English signage. It will also suit those travelling in groups on a pre-defined itinerary that may wish to escape the tour group at a specific location or hear more about a location than the accompanying tour leader may be able to offer.
While presently limited in locations, Iconic Guides will become more prevalent as further guides are added.
At little more than the cost of a coffee, the price of an individual recording compares more than favourably with the price of renting an audio guide on location. Related bundles reduce the cost of individual guides but start to mount for countries with wide numbers of historic sites (such as Egypt). One attractive bundling option that Iconic Guides could consider for countries like Egypt and Japan is a “highlights” bundle that groups the temples and sights more typically visited by travellers on touring a country, accompanied with a general quick overview of the ancient history of the country.
Photo Credit: Girl
Monday, August 9, 2010
Review: Iconic Guides
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Inspired by Iceland
There is possibly no country on Earth where nature has had such a significant influence on the lives and culture of a population. Iceland continues to have a love-hate relationship with its nature, a country where a visitor can stand astride two continental plates and experience a nation being geologically created. Of course, recent Icelandic news was dominated by financial issues and the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the ash cloud affecting people all over the world with the closing of much of the European airspace.
In an exceptional display of co-ordinated national pride, in a campaign called Inspired by Iceland, the population of a little over 300,000 went online during a nominated hour today (the Iceland hour) and sent e-cards around the world about their remarkable island nation. The messages contain an open invitation for people to visit this inspiring country of such staggering natural beauty. A wonderful video of Iceland went to air in that same hour (introduced by the President) showing superb visuals of this extraordinary natural wonderland.
So far it is clearly having some effect as over 500,000 people have viewed the video and two million have checked out their Twitter (@icelandinspired).
People who love Iceland (I have written my memories of visiting Iceland) can go to the Inspired by Iceland website and leave their favourite stories, photos or videos. People considering an overseas vacation this northern summer should seriously consider visiting Iceland. With a favourable exchange rate and an opportunity to have a truly unique experience of nature on such an immense scale, it is a great time to go to Iceland.
Though I have no heritage ties to Iceland or to this initiative, the country offered some of best travel experiences I've ever had. My memories of visiting Iceland are numerous - sitting in naturally warmed rock pools overlooking a glacier in the evening twilight, viewing tortured rock formations, standing on the edge of untamed waterfalls, trekking along immense glaciers, cruising a lake full of graceful icebergs, dining on wild salmon, watching a geyser erupt every few minutes, walking the colourful streets of the tiny capital city, standing on the location of the world's first parliament and listening to rich Icelandic sagas (some written about on this blog). But my abiding memory is of the friendly reserved people, so proud and accepting of the wild and unpredictable nature of their terrain - as one put it "it is what makes us Icelandic".
Do you want to be inspired by Iceland?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Free Travel Secrets eBooks for a Great Cause
Initiated by the folks at Tripbase.com, over 200 travel bloggers (including several of the most popular and well-known ones) have written up three travel secrets on their blogs over the past six months. Some wrote of special places in their home city (Travel Wonders wrote about the travel secrets of Sydney), some contributed general travel tips and others introduced secrets to great food or drink delights. 
These have been published in seven excellent and free travel secrets e-books covering different aspects of travel. The seven topics are beaches, food, family travel, general travel tips and three destination books covering Italy, USA and the rest of the world. Learn how to avoid queueing for entry to the art galleries of Florence or St Marks in Venice. Find some great places to volunteer or some secret outstanding hotels, museums or camping spots. Everyone should learn something about travel from this excellent series.
Even better is that each e-book downloaded results in Tripbase donating $1 to the outstanding cause Charity: Water. The target of this campaign is to provide four freshwater wells for a school ensuring a long-term supply of healthy safe drinking water. Just $1 gives a source of clean water for one person for one year. So please download the travel secrets e-books to learn some great secrets about travelling and helping those less fortunate than ourselves.
So get some travel hints while benefitting a great cause.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Travel Website with a Difference - Hitchhiking Around the World
In 2003, Frenchman Ludovic Hubler commenced a five year journey hitchhiking around the world spending nothing on transport between towns, countries or continents over the entire journey. Hubler refused all rides involving payment. In that time, Hubler travelled through 59 different countries covering around 170,000 kilometres in 10 ships (working on the ship) and 1,300 different cars and trucks.
His daily budget (described in detail in French) was US$10, including around 180 presentations to schools, clubs and universities. Hubler's somewhat chaotic site celebrates an extraordinary modern travel journey complete with superb cartoons of his adventures and numerous photos.
Hubler claims to have spent 20,000 hours (or 833 full days or 2.25 years) waiting for his next trip with a maximum wait of 28 hours. One single car drove him for five and a half days across the Sahara while another took him 1,700 kilometres down the east coast of South America. In India, Hubler got to meet the Dalai Lama who he deeply admires.
Hubler is penning a blog detailing his journey in reverse.
Hubler must have some fantastic stories to tell and surely goes down as the greatest hitchhiking traveller and a truly hardcore adventurer.
Other Travel Websites with a Difference
Heinz Stucke (cycling around the world)
Matt Harding (dancing around the world)
Photo and cartoon courtesy of Ludovic Hubler.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Travel Website with a Difference - Travel Blog Exchange
Around the start of the year, a new website called Travel Blog Exchange was created as a central collaboration point for ideas, experiences, blog sharing, photos, videos and travel knowledge. With a wide variety of travel blogs spread around the internet, along with travel industry sites, agencies, travel forums, online version of travel guides and more, Travel Blog Exchange provides a virtual meeting place for this eclectic group.
Formed by Kim Mance of Go Galavanting and Debbie Dubrow of Deliciousbaby, it is seen as beneficial with over 400 members already registered and numerous interest groups as wide ranging as wine lovers, travelling with disabilities and travel writing having formed.
While I know that many of my readers are not travel bloggers, those who are should join this excellent initiative and participate in the group discussions.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Travel Website with a Difference - Passports with a Purpose
In this festive season of giving, Beth Whitman at Wanderlust and Lipstick along with a group of fellow travel bloggers to raise money to assist reducing world poverty. Working with the charitable organisation Heifer International, they are encouraging people to spend $10 each on raffle tickets for an impressive list of donated prizes, including three nights in Hawaii, baseball tickets, numerous gift vouchers, luggage and books.
Having travelled in a number of countries suffering from famine, war, drought or hardship, the sight of poverty first-hand has a profound effect. The web, television and newspapers often cover stories of the shocking and sad conditions that many of our fellow man are caught up in around the world and highlight the extreme difficulty that many people find themselves, in situations that are out of their control. At times, it is difficult to know what to do about it.
Well here is a way that you can make a difference.
Travel bloggers around the world are helping spread the word through their blogs about Passports with a Purpose. Help make a difference and buy one or more raffle tickets and do your part in improving someone's life. Also email your friends to help promote this most impressive cause. Let's make this initiative a huge success for such a worthwhile cause.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Travel Website with a Difference - Visa Sponsors Where the Hell is Matt?
A few months ago I wrote about Matt Harding and his website
Where the Hell is Matt. It is a kind of travel blog which took on a life of its own when Matt recorded brief jigs in front of many of the world's greatest travel wonders. Visa sponsored him to travel across Asia for two weeks recording his unique dance in the various countries to make up a new advertisment.
His newest video has attracted over 13 million hits and includes visits to locations as wide spread as Bhutan, Kuwait, Christmas Island, Iceland, Zanzibar, the DMZ in Korea, the iconic Timbuktu, Paris and my home town of Sydney with the Opera House in the background.
I suspect Matt can hardly believe what started out as a bit of fun has resulted in this dramatic change of life.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Travel Website with a Difference - Heinz Stucke
Over the last forty-five years, Heinz Stucke has been cycling the world. He has covered around 550,000 kilometres (340,000 miles) across almost 200 countries, circling the globe at least ten times. This has consumed 20 passports. For nearly the entire time, he has ridden on the same trusty old three-speed bicycle. His story is simple which makes it more remarkable.
Stucke supports himself by selling some of the 100,000 photos he has taken along with a booklet with his story. His various scrapes include being arrested, shot at, accidents, illnesses and having his bike stolen (and recovered). An interview given in 2000 reveals a little of his unassuming nature and his passion for the world. It is an adventure story like no other.
More photos of his ventures are available.
Photo source: Wikipedia
Other Websites with a Difference
Where the Hell is Matt?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Travel Website with a Difference - Where the Hell is Matt?
Where the Hell is Matt is a travel quasi-blog which has taken on a life of its own. In simple terms, Matt Harding has traveled the world recording a strange jig-like dance in front of some of the great travel wonders of the world. Indeed, there are recordings of Matt dancing in places as diverse as the Pyramids, Kuwait and Petra in the Middle East, Machu Picchu in the Americas and Iceland in northern Europe.
Matt Harding was interviewed on a leading Australian program called Enough Rope last night. A short video clip and the full transcript are available on the internet, which gives a view into the accidental nature of the whole creation and shows some of the down-to-Earth character of Matt.
