Cambodia Adventure Travel & Tours

Grading definition

To show the relative difficulty of our Trekking, Biking, Family and Other Adventure holidays, we give each of them a grade.

In addition to reading this information and the individual holiday description, it is IMPORTANT that before booking any holiday you should read the associated trip dossier.

Clearly, there are many different factors that contribute to the difficulty of a particular trip, including, length of day, terrain, altitude and weather conditions. Since some of these factors are necessarily changeable, any system of grades can only provide a general indication. Although we have tried to make our grading system as clear as possible, it cannot take into account your personal interests, abilities or experience. If you have any questions about the nature of a particular trip or its suitability for you, please contact Active Travel Cambodia for an explanation.

Trekking Grades

All of our tours which include a significant element of walking are considered to be treks. These range from extended trips into remote mountainous areas, with a full trek crew and porter support, to short hotel-based holidays involving a series of day-hikes. The following grades should be considered in conjunction with each individual holiday description.

Introductory
Involves trekking for up to four to five hours a day at a slow but steady pace and less than a week in duration. These treks are predominately on good paths and tracks and might include some easy pass crossings. You will need a reasonable level of fitness (remember there is no such thing as an easy trek).
* Suggested preparation: 30 minutes of aerobic type exercise, (either cycling or jogging) three times a week for the three months leading up to your trek.

Moderate
Involves trekking for up to seven hours a day at a steady pace and are usually between 8 to 12 days in duration. These treks are suitable for most hillwalkers and generally involving some trekking at moderate altitude, on fairly difficult terrain. A reasonable level of fitness is required as these treks can involve considerable amounts of ascent and descent and the occasional difficult day.
* Suggested preparation: 45 minutes of aerobic type exercise, three to five times a week for the three months leading up to your trek. Hill walking with a pack in variable weather conditions is also recommended.

Challenging
Involves trekking in remote areas and at higher altitude (there is no extreme altitude in Vietnam and Indochina. The highest mountain peak is 3143m) for up to eight hours a day. These treks might be over two weeks in duration and might include difficult pass crossings and/or river crossings. A high level of fitness and previous trekking experience is essential.
* Suggested preparation: One hour of aerobic type exercise, three to five times a week for three to five months before your trek. Hill walking with a pack in variable weather conditions is also recommended.

Biking Grades

Our mountain biking holidays are vehicle-supported wherever practicable. As well as enabling you to ride with only your usual day-ride kit, this also means that you can hitch a ride if you find the going too tough. Some of the tougher trips do, however, include sections of unsupported riding, with the group meeting their crew and back-up vehicles at the next overnight spot.

Introductory
Involves biking for up to four to five hours a day at easy pace and usually, less than 5 days in duration. There are likely to be no steep and sustained descents as well as demand for technical riding. We will normally ride on a mixture of quiet paved roads, forestry tracks and easy doubletracks. We will need a reasonable level of fitness. Suitable for bikers who enjoy occasional weekend riding on trails at home.
* Suggested preparation: 30 minutes of aerobic type exercise, (either cycling or jogging) three times a week for the three months leading up to your trip.

Moderate
Involves biking for up to six hours a day at a steady pace and are usually between five to seven days in duration and in remote locations. There are steeper and more sustained climbs which demand a reasonable amount of effort. More technical riding might include some rocky doubletracks and narrow singletrack. The support vehicle will not always be available. We will need a good level of fitness. Good fun challenge for the regular weekend bike
* Suggested preparation: 45 minutes of aerobic type exercise (either cycling or jogging), three to five times a week for the three months leading up to your trip.

Challenging
Involves biking in remote areas with big climbs and in variable weather conditions for up to eight hours a day and usually more than a week in duration. There will be steep and sustained ascents and descents on doubletracks. The support vehicle will not always be available. These trips will provide a real sustained workout even for fit and experienced mountain bikers.
* Suggested preparation: One and a half hour of aerobic type exercise, four to five times a week for three to six months before your bike. Hill biking with a pack in variable weather conditions is also recommended.

Family and other Active Travel Cambodia adventures

The remainder of our adventure products includes our finest collection of Family Adventures, together with great Motorcycling Trips and active Overland Travels to Laos and Cambodia, which range from leisurely touring trips to quite physically demanding trips. To provide an indication of the overall difficulty of these very varied trips, each has been given a trekking grade and it is this grade which is shown on their grade symbol.

See also: Our Equipments