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2017 Photo of the Year winner announced
Our 2017 Photo of the Year competition received a fantastic selection of photo entries, but there could only be five finalists and one winner.
After collecting hundreds of votes between the five photos, which you can see here, we are thrilled announce our winner.
And the winner is...
... Mr A Harrison, with his stunning sunset river scene in Bagan.
Mr Harrison captured his winning photo on a tailor made holiday to Burma. As the winner of our photo competition he has won £150 off a future holiday with Mountain Kingdoms, congratulations Mr Harrison!
We asked Mr Harrison to tell us about the moment he caught his prize-winning image on camera, here's what he had to say:
"After a few days visiting the stunning sights of Mandalay we left our hotel at 6am (not our favourite time of day!) for a short drive to the boat which was due to take us down the Irrawaddy River to Bagan. Unfortunately the river was shrouded in fog so we sat on the boat for well over an hour waiting for it to clear, eating our packed breakfasts to pass the time. Visibility gradually improved so we set off but before long the fog closed in again so we moored alongside a dilapidated barge for another hour or two. Another false start saw us spend yet another hour tied up to a rather depressing mud-bank until the sun finally burned off the mist and we could get under way.
The actual cruise past riverside temples was lovely and relaxing, huge golden Buddhas watching us pass, but the earlier delays meant it was sunset by the time we reached Bagan. Just as we were turning towards the chaotic and rather decrepit jetty to disembark a small barge chugged past us, heading towards a temple that was partly obscured by some smoke which was drifting in the wind. It was then just a case of waiting for everything to line up before pressing the shutter and capturing the photo. It had been a long but memorable day which set us up nicely for the remainder of what turned out to be an excellent trek and sightseeing holiday."
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Sign up here to receive our next enews and be kept up to date with all the latest new and destination information. We promise not to bombard you and we will never share your details.
Farewell to Wilderness Lectures
One summer’s day in 1987 Steve Berry (our MD) and fellow adventurer, Steve Marriott, were standing at the foot of the cliffs in Avon gorge. Having agreed that it was too hot to climb, they had been killing time in a ‘Wouldn’t it be great if…’ competition. This was when the fantasy of listening to the epic stories of their favourite heroes became a solid plan…
Since then, the two Steves and their caving friend Dick Willis, have organised more than 400 lectures whose general theme has been ‘Worldwide Adventure’. These epic stories have taken the audiences from the deepest point of the deepest ocean to the summit of Mount Everest, and from darkest, dankest inner spaces of our planet to even darker journeys in Outer Space. There have been mountaineers, sailors, cyclists, divers, balloonists, and even a man who cycled around the world on a penny farthing, and another who flew his car from Europe over the Straights of Gibraltar to Africa. There have been world famous explorers, record breakers, and people who have headed out into the remote unknown just for the hell of it.
Having run Wilderness for 36 years the three friends have decided to step back and retire so there will be no series this winter. However, they would be really happy if a younger individual, or a group of friends, would step forward to take over Wilderness and pick up where they are leaving off. If anyone is interested contact Wilderness Lectures here.
NEW Naar Phu Circuit Trek
We've just launched new tea house trek in the heart of the Annapurna Mountains in Nepal. An exhilarating, 18-day trekking trip, the Naar Phu Circuit takes you away from the popular trails of the Annapurnas, into a genuinely remote and truly spectacular region where access remains restricted.
Take a look at the full trip details here or speak to Harry in the Mountain Kingdoms office who completed the Naar Phu Circuit Trek earlier this year and rates it as the best he's ever done.