The world's most adventurous cruise excursions - according to you
This week's winning letter
Icy Antarctic adventure
An announcement at 6.30am told us where we were – sheet ice was all around. It looked unbelievably cold. We had reached the fast ice at Admiralty Sound in the Antarctic Peninsula and realised we could go no further.
Zodiac craft reconnoitred the area before proclaiming landings were possible on the fast ice for a short walk followed by a zodiac cruise. Reaching 64 degrees south this early in the season was a first for our ship and expedition crew. Walking on the fast ice was beyond our wildest dreams. The ice, however, was cracking, so we stuck to the markers. Expedition leaders were equipped with life rings, ropes and poles in case the ice should break.
The walk was short, the wind fierce. Snow blowing off the ice made standing difficult. At 28F (-2C) the wind made it feel even colder. Inquisitive crabeater seals got closer. What an experience – and one of the highlights of our lives.
Jenny Sugg, from Buckinghamshire, wins a £500 voucher with kudu travel
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A Nagasaki city walk full of surprises
I didn’t think of the Japanese city of Nagasaki as an immediate choice for an uplifting visit, given its sad history of destruction. Nor did I expect it to have pre-1945 areas of historic interest that had escaped the lethal atomic blast. So I was in for a memorable and moving experience on a cruise to Southeast Asia when I opted for the Nagasaki city walk.
Nagasaki today is an ordinary, bustling place. In fact, it’s the very ordinariness that makes it so remarkable. You can’t see the city without visiting the museum documenting the impact and aftermath of the “Fat Man”, as the bomb was code-named. And although the mental images of the melted glass bottle and charred remains of a lunch box are hard to shift, they are supplanted by the normality of everyday modern life in Nagasaki.
As we reboarded the ship and prepared to leave, a choir and band of local schoolchildren serenaded us from the dockside and presented us with origami cranes to symbolise peace and luck.
So the lasting image I have in my head is of a city of smiling, peace-loving and forgiving people.
Gill Whitelegg, London
Magic and mysticism on the road to Mandalay
We spent seven days on the glorious “Road to Mandalay” boat on the Ayeyarwady river in Myanmar. The guided excursions gave a glimpse into everyday life, ancient traditions and the most beautiful sights, including the thousands of spectacular temples and stupas of Bagan. It is a sight that can barely be believed.
For shore excursions, we experienced various modes of local transport (the only way to get around), from trucks and trains to simply walking. Our visit to the Kandawgyi Hill House was by horse and cart.
An early morning walk from our boat to a local village gave me a chance to photograph the ship’s crew providing breakfast for the monks who live close by. Later that day, we were invited to join a celebration of young children who were becoming novice monks and nuns. The families provided delicious food they wanted to share with us.
From the age of seven, children are expected to enter monasteries and nunneries for a short period, but are free to leave at any time. It was a week full of hospitality, magic and awe.
Maureen Morgan, Suffolk
‘Valley of Death’ brought to life by our Russian guide
It was to become the highlight of the voyage: an excursion to the “Valley of Death” – the site of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade.
On a warm morning in October, our ship docked at Sevastopol in the Crimea, where we were met by a young Russian guide. She took us into the hills above Balaclava and placed us on the same spot where Lord Raglan had stood in October 1854, surveying his troops on the valley floor below. Our morning had become hot and the series of low hills faded into a hazy distance.
She explained how several misunderstandings had occurred and why, like us, the generals were unable to see what lay beyond the hidden ridges that fatal morning.
Although her account of the tragedy was graphic, she delighted us all by ending with a recitation of Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade in almost faultless English.
Jill Simmons, Buckinghamshire
A passage from Petra into a world of hidden treasures
Our ship docked in Aqaba at sunrise, and waiting for us was our overland transport. After a two-hour drive we arrived in Petra, then descended on foot through the half-mile-long passage, with high rock walls rising on both sides. The path meandered through the gorge and nothing could prepare us for our first glimpse of the Khazneh (Treasury) framed by the rock walls. A little further and the gorge opened out to reveal it in all its wonder. We explored the many other temples and elaborate royal tombs before returning through the gorge.
From Petra we travelled on to the Dead Sea and, after a night’s rest and early morning float in the sea, went on to Mount Nebo and Madaba – here the mosaics are a must. Then it was back to the ship for our next port of call. Unforgettable.
Sally Roberts, Yorkshire
Our great escape into the ancient city of Benghazi
Back in 2007, Libyan officialdom was a persistent feature of our cruise along the country’s coastline on MS Island Sky to see the renowned Greek and Roman archaeological sites. But in a brief respite from the red tape in Benghazi, a couple of us were allowed to escape the normal group visa entry to the various sites and cities – giving us the chance to explore the place at will. Wandering the streets and markets and chatting to a doctor in a local hospital was a thoroughly enlightening and revealing addition to the cruise.
Charles Radford, Northumberland
Armadillos and crocodiles – my brush with jungle cuisine
The most bizarre shore excursion I have been on was at the noisy, chaotic port of Belén in the Peruvian Amazon. On a tour of the city’s food market, myself and the other 30 passengers from our river ship were accompanied by the entire crew, as well as local police, such was the risk of being mugged.
The fish market displayed rows of mota (freshwater catfish), paiche (huge river fish), snails and freshwater crabs; on the “meat” stalls were live turtles turned on their backs to stop them escaping, peccaries (like wild boar), a whole cayman leg on a grill, and armadillos being prepared for the spit roast. One woman was making “jungle spaghetti” – long strips of palm heart, cut by hand from the tree’s core – while another grilled the larvae of tree beetles over coals, to be eaten with a slice of green banana!
It was a lurid but fascinating insight into jungle cuisine, and in retrospect one of the highlights of my trip.
Barney Penrose, Birmingham
Party time with the crew on our private Caribbean island
My most memorable cruise excursion was to a private island off Nassau, Bahamas. We had use of it for an afternoon and the ship’s crew made a barbecue and set up ball games.
We had the best party in the world. All the crew joined in and it was just a colourful riot of fun. The three-day cruise was run from Fort Lauderdale, and I have never experienced a holiday like it.
Helen Whitter, Bedfordshire
