I am visiting Australia in January with my husband. We are doing a big tour round this time, including flying to Alice Springs and going to see Ayers Rock, or Uluru as it is now called.

Apart from it being dangerous, can you tell me whether I should climb it or not, as I understand the Aborigines prefer people not to? - Janice Brewer, Leeds

Answer: The big red rock in the middle of Australia sees almost a half a million tourists a year, and until recently, almost half made the arduous hour-long climb up the step rock, holding a hand chain pegged into the stone as they went, to the 1,142ft summit.

These days it's estimated that less than a third of all visitors attempt the climb, thanks largely to the greater sensitivity towards the local Aboriginals, for whom this is a sacred site. The Anangu, the local Aboriginal people, were recognised as the traditional owners of Uluru 23 years ago, and they don't want visitors to climb the rock.

They request that visitors not climb the rock because the path crosses a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors to their land. Signs put it as follows - "Our traditional Law teaches us the proper way to behave. We ask you to respect our Law by not climbing Uluru.

"What visitors call 'the climb' is the traditional route taken by ancestral Mala man upon their arrival at Uluru in the creation time. It has great spiritual significance. We have a responsibility to teach and safeguard visitors to our land. 'The climb' is dangerous and too many people have died while attempting to climb Uluru.

"Many others have been injured while climbing. We feel great sadness when a person dies or is hurt on our land."

In fact, more than 35 people have died climbing the rock, with many more being injured. At the top of the rock there can be strong gusty winds, and of course the surface is very smooth and steep, with fearsomely high summer temperatures too.

Tourists are no longer allowed to clamber over the Pyramids, or Chechen Itza, or the Acropolis, but unless and until it is similarly outlawed, to climb or not to climb Uluru remains a very personal decision.

For more information, visit the Australian Government's Department of the Environment site at www.environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/index.html , and the Northern Territories tourism at http://en.travelnt.com.

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