When gazed upon from afar, the sharp-peaked mountains of the country of Georgia are soaring and grand. Unseen within their rocky confines, however, lie isolated and amazing sights inaccessible to most outsiders. Located at the Western Asian / Eastern European frontier and bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, little-known Georgia is the site of the truly off-the-beaten-path mountainous regions of Svaneti and Tusheti, two raw, entrancing and rough-and-tumble provinces of well-established age-old traditions that give real meaning to hospitality.

By Ng Sebastian – When I was a tour guide, I used to joke with my clients that there are two things that make Indonesians different: sarung and kampung (or sarong and kampong). A sarung is a brightly coloured woven fabric worn by both men and women in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The word kampung is similar to ‘village’ in English. Most Indonesians have a kampung asal, or village of origin. Wherever they live and whatever they do, they can usually trace back to their village of origin.

Deep in the Sacred Valley and off the Inca Trail, many indigenous rural communities are literally fighting for their survival, unaware that they themselves are part of the reason for their own demise. The majority of the rural people living in the Sacred Valley cook their meals inside their homes over an open fire, and without proper ventilation. This practice is causing rapid clearing of endangered forests and the inhalation of large amounts of injurious smoke. It is estimated that more people die from this type of indoor air pollution worldwide than from malaria every year!

By Ethan Gelber, whl.travel – About 190 kilometres south of Tirana, Albania, between Dhërmi and Himara (Himarë) in the hills above the coast, the small town of Vuno isn’t on most tourist radar. Not, that is, unless they’re headed two kilometres away to two of the Albanian Riviera’s most beautiful waterside retreats: the Jal and Gjipe beaches. Although not entirely devoid of tourist services – there are a few family-run restaurants and guesthouses at Jal – they are still blissfully unspoiled by mass tourism.

“To become familiar with Parque Natural da Madeira means valuing it and conserving it better! The area of Parque Natural da Madeira, which covers approximately two-thirds of the territory of the Island of Madeira, is protected by legal mechanisms and concrete measures. It also enjoys the dedicated actions of private and public services and, in particular, counts on the determination of Madeiran citizens to preserve and hold it in high esteem.” – Manuel Antonio Rodrigues Correia, Madeira Regional Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources

(This article was first published by our friends at whl.travel, who have agreed to its republication here.) The port city of Marmaris, set in southwest Turkey, is one of many of the country’s summer hotspots. Although little remains of the quiet fishing village that survived until a building boom in the 1980s, further down the Datça Peninsula is a place that has little to do with the hubbub of the resort city, a place where the community has come together in opposition to mass-tourism gigantism and instead opted to take a more holistic approach.

(This article was first published by our friends at whl.travel, who have agreed to its republication here.) Somewhere along the line we have all heard of the Maldives, renowned for their turquoise waters and year-round idyllic weather. With over 1,000 islets and 26 atolls, the Republic of Maldives is located in the Indian Ocean about 700km southwest of Sri Lanka. Beauty through purity is one of the things that make the Maldives a premium romantic location targeted by honeymooners. However, unlike the typical visitor, why not jump at the occasion to see the country from a completely different perspective

By Len Cordiner, CEO, WHL.travel – WHL is owned and operated by a team from Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, South Africa, Switzerland, the USA and Vietnam, working with local partners who do all the things best done locally (e.g. working directly with the local accommodation providers and with travelers), and WHL does all the things best done centrally (e.g. technology, web marketing). Generally, we seek out experienced local tour operators as our local partners, although occasionally we also work with local industry associations or NGOs.