https://www.scmp.com/rss/316843/feed Paul is an Austrian born explorer, speaker and entrepreneur. He has climbed the highest mountains on each continent, including Mount Everest and successfully lead organised over 15 expeditions to the remotest corners of the world. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Known the world over as the most vertical urban centre on Earth, Hong Kong has a surprisingly wild countryside. Off the trail in the Sai Kung Country Park, my machete can barely hack through the vines and thorny underbrush. My wife, Esther, and I have been hiking for more than four hours along an overgrown riverbed on our way to climb the rocky west cliff of the famed Nam She Tsim, or Sharp Peak. Although only 468 metres high, its spiky silhouette dominates the park’s clear winter skyline. We... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3074904/hart-rescue-squad-specialises-saving-people-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3074904/hart-rescue-squad-specialises-saving-people-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2020 01:45:11 +0000 We were rushing down a sinuous mountain road in rural Kerala, southern India. The problem was that our vehicle was rather unsuited to this kind of terrain – a tiny motor rickshaw, powered by a three-horsepower engine. I was sitting on the back seat, my friend Tom desperately trying to keep the vehicle on the road, when suddenly I felt the wheels steering off to one side. The next instant, we were flying off the road into a small rock wall and I was making a very swift exit through the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3047395/three-essentials-safe-adventure-holidays-veterans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3047395/three-essentials-safe-adventure-holidays-veterans?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2020 07:00:08 +0000 Rain shoots into our eyes as our small fibreglass boat fights the rough sea. Thick grey clouds cover the horizon. Being thrown around from one wave to the next doesn’t feel like the idyllic pacific family holiday we had set out on. But then again, perhaps it’s not surprising that travelling to the mystical Tetepare Island – one of the most remote in the vast chain of Solomon Islands – does not always go according to plan. The towering local Melanesian boatman, who directs our boat through the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3012897/solomon-islands-wild-getaway-south-pacifics-largest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3012897/solomon-islands-wild-getaway-south-pacifics-largest?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:00:05 +0000 New York is a long flight from Hong Kong, especially when it is only for the weekend, but this trip proved to be a special one. Heralded as the “Oscars of Exploration”, the Explorers Club Annual Dinner is the foremost gathering of scientists and adventurers from all over the world. I had the honour to attend as a member of the Explorers Club Hong Kong chapter, more than 20 of whose members were there to receive the Citation of Merit for a recent expedition into the Gobi desert. A look at the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3002812/hong-kong-scientists-and-adventurers-honoured-explorers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3002812/hong-kong-scientists-and-adventurers-honoured-explorers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Mar 2019 11:00:05 +0000 Thousands of years ago, the spirits of a beautiful mountain towering over a deserted island created three male demi-gods. These holy men spotted a ship approaching the island while climbing the mountain. On it were three princesses sent by a master of a foreign kingdom. They married the three demigods and founded their own empire at the bottom of the mountain widely known as Mount Hallasan. This is how legend describes the origins of Jeju, an island off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2189064/hiking-south-koreas-highest-mountain-idyllic-trek-top-mount?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2189064/hiking-south-koreas-highest-mountain-idyllic-trek-top-mount?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Mar 2019 03:16:48 +0000 The turbulence does not dampen our excitement as we peer out of the aeroplane window. Below us, like an emerald in the deep blue sea, the small and windswept island of Yonaguni appears. My wife and I have picked this unusual spot on the westernmost edge of Japan – a mere three hours flight from Hong Kong – for a last minute weekend family trip. Going off piste: why ski touring is so popular, and the gear you need While it is also known for hiking and birdwatching, Yonaguni is most famous for its... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2174663/dive-hammerhead-sharks-crystal-clear-waters-yonaguni-japans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2174663/dive-hammerhead-sharks-crystal-clear-waters-yonaguni-japans?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Nov 2018 05:15:30 +0000 I scrutinise the small pebbles, mud and shards of fossilised bone strewn over the desert floor in Bugiin Tsav, in southern Mongolia. A few metres higher up the cliff site, Chinzorig Tsogtbaatar is doing the same. Dressed in sturdy boots and khakis, Chinzo, for short, is a PhD fellow at the Institute of Palaeontology and Geology at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, in the capital Ulan Bator. He is examining the windswept slopes for traces of ancient fauna. We are part of an inter­national team... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2155162/hong-kong-dinosaur-hunters-make-amazing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2155162/hong-kong-dinosaur-hunters-make-amazing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Jul 2018 08:30:30 +0000 I find myself wondering how many tones of red there are as I sit on a rock watching the steep cliffs of Wadi Rum, a sandstone valley in the desert of southern Jordan, change colours as the sun sets. Starting with a brownish earthy tone, the cliffs slowly change to a glowing red followed by deep ruby, before darkness falls in the valley. Vast, echoing, God-like – these are the words that T.E. Lawrence, the adventurer and writer better known as Lawrence of Arabia, used to describe this place.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2152565/desert-hiking-jordan-explore-bedouin-trails-climb-wadi-rum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2152565/desert-hiking-jordan-explore-bedouin-trails-climb-wadi-rum?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Jun 2018 13:00:00 +0000 “Welcome to Kashmir,” says local ski guide Anees Bhat as he greets us with a bright smile just outside the airport. Still sleepy, we have landed on the morning flight from Delhi to Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state. Better known for its political turmoil than its skiing, Kashmir has been contested since the 1940s by Pakistan and India, and the region still has a strong military presence. In fact, from July to October last year, tourism in Kashmir practically ground... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2122777/skiing-kashmir-gulmarg-resort-radar-paradise-untouched?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2122777/skiing-kashmir-gulmarg-resort-radar-paradise-untouched?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2017 10:04:04 +0000 “What a pretty baby,” exclaims the elderly woman, dressed in a sari, her fragile hands squeezing the cheeks of our one-year-old daughter. My wife Esther and I have taken our little one, Zaya, on a last-minute adventure to Sri Lanka, and she’s attracting unexpected attention at the Sri Maha Bodhi temple in Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of the island nation’s North Central Province. The temple encompasses the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree, said to be oldest human-planted tree in the world,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2108252/northern-sri-lankas-hidden-treasures-beautiful-land-scarred?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2108252/northern-sri-lankas-hidden-treasures-beautiful-land-scarred?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Aug 2017 09:04:25 +0000 “Five, six .... jump!” I’m shouting out over the rolling waves. Between my feet I can see the drop, in front of me a giant boulder of sandstone too steep to be climbed. The only way on is through the water. Like Steve McQueen in the classic 1970s film Papillon, I’ve been counting the waves before jumping off the cliff. As one wave after the other rolls in, I’m desperately waiting for the optimal moment. My wife, Esther, and I have been trekking, climbing and swimming along Hong Kong’s rugged... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2024883/coasteering-hong-kong-all-you-need-know-about-combo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2024883/coasteering-hong-kong-all-you-need-know-about-combo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Oct 2016 04:45:15 +0000 With careful steps, Simon, my climbing partner walks towards the looming precipice, an overhanging snow cone with an abyss of frozen ice below it. This is supposed to be our way to the main summit of an unclimbed Chinese peak deep in remote western Sichuan, but deep down I know it: this is the end of the road. We are stood in front of a large overhanging drop-off that is blocking our path. Even if we manage to get down, how will we ever get back up? SEE ALSO: Paul Niel’s account of his first... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1902303/no-porters-no-maps-hong-kong-adventurer-first-climb-remote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1902303/no-porters-no-maps-hong-kong-adventurer-first-climb-remote?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Jan 2016 08:00:30 +0000 "Just five minutes, sir!" It isn't the first time I've heard those words and I know it means my wait will not be a short one. I am in a remote Indian village with my teammates Tom, Phil, Clare and Sofia, and one of the two auto-rickshaws we have been driving has decided to stop working. Luckily, Ahmad, a friendly mechanic, has appeared from seemingly nowhere to come to our rescue. With a big smile and the typical Indian head wobble, he listens to the strange noises emanating from the vehicle's... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1760179/tuk-tuk-road-trip-across-india-aid-charity-educate-girls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1760179/tuk-tuk-road-trip-across-india-aid-charity-educate-girls?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2015 11:26:24 +0000 Uncharted regions have fascinated explorers and adventurers for as long as humans have been blessed with curiosity. However, in the age of Google Earth, and as mapping abilities and global communications systems have improved, blank areas on the map have become few and far between. In September, a team of six mountaineers embarked on a mission to explore one of these last frontiers: a mountain range in northwestern Sichuan province - the Gangga massif, which, due to political restrictions and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1644450/massif-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1644450/massif-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Nov 2014 14:00:15 +0000