Transparent lakes, deserts, snow-capped mountains, and waterfalls: Where are the world's five most beautiful hiking tracks?

 

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu says that every journey begins with a small step. But some journeys require many more steps.

Author and global trekker Colin Salter says the most important treks are those that take us to other worlds, places unfamiliar to us.

Colin discovered the joys of hiking in his youth when he and his friends ventured out of boarding school to explore the Scottish mountains. He says hiking is a way to discover new seasons, new terrains, new heights, and new cultures. It presents physical challenges but also rewards all your senses. On these trails, with fellow trekkers, you encounter wildlife, flora, the grandeur of nature, the music of birds, ancient stories, and new colors of life.

In his new book, "Remarkable Treks," Salter lists details of more than 50 of the best treks in the world.

From the Inca Trail (Peru) to the John Muir Trail (USA), the West Highland Way (Scotland) to the Milford Track (New Zealand), these famous walking routes invite hikers to test their skills and enjoy the most stunning and awe-inspiring natural landscapes on our planet.

In addition to these, there are lesser-known trails that offer opportunities to explore different countries and cultures. Here are five of Salter's favorite treks:

1) Laugavegur Trail (Iceland)
Length: 55 km
Duration: 3-4 days
Starting Point: Landmannalaugar
End: Thorsmork

The Laugavegur Trail introduces hikers to the wild terrain of fire and ice. At the trailhead, Landmannalaugar (180 km from Reykjavik), there are hot springs for bathing. But the trail is not easy, as it takes you through desolate deserts, mirror-like clear lakes, flowing waterfalls, uneven valleys, and the peaks of Thorsmork.

Salter says crossing Iceland's raw landscape, which is still being shaped by fire and ice, gives you a sense of how the world was formed.

If you're not tired from Thorsmork, the Fimmvörðuháls Trail takes you another 26 km south to Skógafoss Waterfall and the coast.

2) Mount Roraima (Venezuela)
Length: 64 km
Duration: 6 days
Starting/Ending Point: Paraitepuy

The famous Mount Roraima is the highest peak in Venezuela’s Pakaraima mountain range. According to local Pemón and Kapón cultures, the 15 km long and 5 km wide massif is the root of a great tree that once provided fruit and vegetables for the entire world.

Here, water cascades from the high cliffs into the forests below, giving life to unique plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, like the Roraima bush toad.

Salter says there is no place in the world like Mount Roraima’s summit and its flat top. This triangular rock holds a lost world above it.

About 90 km from Santa Elena de Uairén, a trail begins where trekkers can start their journey. The ascent can be done in two or three days, but Salter suggests spending six to nine days to explore the high plateau.

According to him, trekkers will find pools in the 'Jacuzzis' at the highest point (2810 meters) of Roraima in Crystal Valley, where the borders of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil meet.

3) Gokyo Lakes and Cho La (Nepal)
Length: 130 km
Duration: 17 days
Starting/Ending Point: Lukla

Salter describes the Gokyo Lakes trek as a "cracker." “This route shows the walker a landscape of spirituality, glaciers, and people living in the shadows of the world’s highest peaks in the farthest corners of the world.”

Climbing Mount Everest is not for everyone — many people’s legs, lungs, and finances won’t allow it. But this trek to Everest Base Camp offers an opportunity to pass through the magnificent range of the Himalayan mountains.