The Most Amazing Kayaking Experiences With Culture Trip

Our 11-day retreat in Southern Thailand is full of water-based activities across the regions lakes, bays, beaches and islands. That starts when we reach Khao Sok Lake, where you’ll be spending the night in a charming floating raft house. You’ll have a little porch to yourself that offers easy access to the lake’s waters and, if you don’t fancy swimming, you’ll have free access to a kayak of your own, so you can head out to explore epic limestone karsts up close. On day four there’ll be more kayaking time, as we head to Bor Thor mangrove forest, where you’ll hop into a kayak and paddle gentle through the overgrown water forest, discovering caves along the way that feature drawings dating back at least 3,000 years.

Egypt doesn’t jump out to most people as an obvious kayaking destination. You come here more for the ancient wonders and bustling city bazaars, right? Well, don’t forget that this North African nation is also home to one of our greatest natural wonders, the Nile, which most of this country and its most famous sights were originally built around. Now paddling down the world’s largest river sounds daunting but, trust us, it isn’t. It’s actually the main activity on the last full day of our nine-day Ultimate Egypt tour, when you and the group will hop into a kayak and go exploring the waters around Aswan, getting up close to some of the islands here, which include Elephantine and Philae.

Guatemala is most notable for three things – a rich Mayan history, the gorgeous town of Antigua and the epic sight of Atitlan volcano. We’ll explore all three on this five-day trip, which ends with an exploration of the serene crater lake formed by its namesake volcano, high in the Sierra Madre mountain range. We’ll take kayaks out onto the lake to enjoy stunning vistas of the surrounding mountains, dominated by Atitlan itself. It’s a truly majestic spectacle, made even more surreal by the fact you’re floating atop Central Americas deepest lake – maybe don’t think about that too much, but there will be around 340m (1,120ft) of water below you, so try not to capsize!

You’ll have to wait a little while before getting into a kayak on our two-week Rail Trip extravaganza from Thailand to Laos. Before that you’ll be using trains, bamboo rafts and a river cruiser to explore ancient ruins, elephant sanctuaries and rural Mekong villages. Having discovered Chiang Mai, the jungles of Northern Thailand, the winding streams of the Mekong and the spectacular Kuang Si Falls, you’ll hop on a high-speed train to Vang Vieng. On day 11 you’ll finally have the chance to go kayaking on the Nam Song. The river flows through the centre of town and passes through a landscape characterised by towering limestone karsts cloaked in dense foliage. You’ll pass green-carpeted crop fields, locals doing their laundry on the rocky banks and shack-like bars that have opened up and down the river to serve cold beers to sun-kissed day-trippers – now that’s quite the angle to see rural Laos life first-hand.