Tour Guide
Tour Rating System
Each of our Epic Tours, DreamTours, and individual tour sections (or short tours) are given three ratings:
All our tours and sections are open to anyone, age 18 to 75. While we do not place restrictions on participation except in extreme situations, we do encourage people to consider their fitness and comfort levels carefully before undertaking these tours.
Whether a tour is rated as easy, moderate, challenging, hard, comfortable or exotic does not reflect the quality of this tour or section by any means. These ratings serve as a general guide and are meant to help in your decision making. All the tours and sections are great and adventurous in their own way and these ratings only give a small taste of what they are truly like. Often the most exotic and least comfortable are also the most memorable tours. We try as much as possible to immerse ourselves and the tour into the local environment.
We highly encourage people to gather information about the tours and the areas they travel through other means as well. Read country profiles, and current news on the region. Ask former riders, ask us, read the tour descriptions, and research the areas we will be traveling through online.
If you are ready to jump on board, you can register now. We look forward to seeing on the road!
- Difficulty
- Exotic Factor
- Comfort
All our tours and sections are open to anyone, age 18 to 75. While we do not place restrictions on participation except in extreme situations, we do encourage people to consider their fitness and comfort levels carefully before undertaking these tours.
Difficulty
This rating system is meant to help you have a sense of how difficult a tour is compared to other tours and sections we offer, but remember a tour’s rating is only a guideline, and things do change.
Factors that affect our rating include:- difficulty of terrain and road surfaces to be ridden on
- climate including winds, altitude, heat, cold, etc
- amount and difficulty of the climbs
- comfort of the accommodations
- access to basic amenities (showers, laundry, restaurants, shops, hospitals, internet, etc)
Easy
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The terrain is not challenging, there is likely no significant climbing, and you generally don’t need to be in shape to complete this. |
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Moderate
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Light climbing, generally lesser distances per day on reasonably good road surfaces, usually short weeks in between rest days. |
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Average
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The terrain is varied, the conditions and opportunity for unexpected problems and delays is there, and participants should have mentally and physically prepared for this. Temperatures and the environment begin to be bigger factors, adding to the difficulty of tours with this rating. |
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Challenging
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This level will make you sweat. You will definitely have some longer days in the saddle, and in the elements. This could also mean that the daily distances are quite long, or that the terrain is particularly tough – corrugated dirt roads, long climbs in baking heat or rain – for example. |
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Hard
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As tough as riding gets. Expect lots of climbing and bad roads. Expect the unexpected. Train with days like these in mind and come prepared to suffer. |
Exotic Factor
Each section and tour is also rated for how exotic or "far out" we sense it is. The most exotic and off the beaten track locales are given the highest rating. Destinations where the lifestyle and amenities are "closest to home" receive the lowest rating. For many travellers the more exotic a locale, the more memorable their experience will be. For many others the more familiar or "westernized" a destination is, the more enjoyable they will find it.
Habitual
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The ways of life and culture are generally similar to those of other western nations – namely North America, Europe, and Australasia. There are no language barriers and traveling and cycling in these areas is similar in experience to what you are probably used to. |
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Familiar
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Different
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This means that you should expect that things will not operate the way you are used to. The culture will be noticeably different, the language will likely be challenging, and the ease at which you order food, ask directions, and communicate will be reduced significantly. |
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Unusual
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Exotic
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A mysterious part of the world far removed from the beaten path where few tourists go. The language is difficult to understand, the culture and way of life make even the simplest tasks much more challenging. |
Comfort
Roughing It
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All rough camping in the bush or desert with limited to no facilities or access to amenities other than what is provided on the support vehicles. |
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All Camping
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Half proper campsites, and half rough camps with no facilities. Campsites will often be close to civilization and access to amenities and showers is increased. |
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Mixed
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The odd night of rough camping, with more proper campsites and some basic indoor accommodations as well (hostels, guesthouses, etc). |
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Comfortable
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Some campsites, but also many nice hotels, hostels, or guesthouses. Good access to amenities, many nights with hot showers and clean rooms, and generally good access to amenities and restaurants on-site or nearby. |
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Relaxing
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All hotels, hostels, or guesthouses. Access to running water, and mostly hot showers. Easy access to amenities including quality restaurants. |
Whether a tour is rated as easy, moderate, challenging, hard, comfortable or exotic does not reflect the quality of this tour or section by any means. These ratings serve as a general guide and are meant to help in your decision making. All the tours and sections are great and adventurous in their own way and these ratings only give a small taste of what they are truly like. Often the most exotic and least comfortable are also the most memorable tours. We try as much as possible to immerse ourselves and the tour into the local environment.
We highly encourage people to gather information about the tours and the areas they travel through other means as well. Read country profiles, and current news on the region. Ask former riders, ask us, read the tour descriptions, and research the areas we will be traveling through online.
If you are ready to jump on board, you can register now. We look forward to seeing on the road!
