Wanderlust issue 123

Wanderlust Issue 123 (November 2011) WINTER SPECIAL: Northern lights, ski touring & winter activities • Mt Toubkal, Morocco • Great Wall of China • North-east Brazil • Madagascar • Maria Is, Tasmania

travel I adventure I CULTURE The travel magazine that takes you further

November 2011 www.wanderlust.co.uk

£3.60

Winter Special

Northern lights

21

spellbinding winter escapes, from aurora hunting to wolf watching

Brazil’s secret coast

Sand dunes & street parties

Morocco

Snow-trekking in the Atlas

Plus

Great Wall of China

Plan your perfect trip

Madagascar | Hong Kong | Cycling Denmark | Paris for free

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Contents November 2011 • issue 123

360°

Navigator

6 | World in pictures Climbing, dancing and,

79 | How to... Drive abroad. They’re not all

er, whale tickling from Chad, Cuba and Mexico 12 | Shortcuts What’s going on globally 14 | Go now! Four trips to get you out there 16 | 10 things to do for free in... Paris.

Glittering freebies from the City of Light 18 | Hilary Bradt talks... Hitchhiking, and why she’s still giving it a thumbs up after all these years

quite as polite as us on the roads, you know

82 | Health Getting sick overseas can be a

frightening, bewildering and costly experience.

Here’s how best to prepare yourself 84 | Phototips Light isn’t the only thing you should be sensitive to when photographing worshippers and religious environments 86 | Gear What you’ll need to tackle the peaks 88 | Q&A Your queries on: San Francisco, the Road to Santiago and birdwatching

Cover feature

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North Cornwall p135

40 Active winter…

21 great ideas

Morocco p44

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Features 20 | Maranhão, Brazil

Including the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, with its mountainous dunes, bone-white beaches and fun-loving locals

40 | 21 Winter Adventures

© WIN a trip to Colombia p120

Get mushy with a team of huskies, learn how to use crampons on Morocco’s highest mountain, and try skiing uphill. Just three of 21 ideas to help you make the most of the white stuff this winter

70 | Madagascar

This substantial island is not short on mindboggling natural wonders. Among them are the karst rocks of Tsingy NP. And lemurs, of course

92 | Guide Awards winners

Champagne at the ready as Wanderlust reveals the winners of the Best Guide awards

98 | Maria Island

Just as Tasmania orbits Australia, so Maria Island orbits Tasmania. And a four-day trek reveals it’s got plenty of its big brothers’ charms too

! e Win see th

©

20 Brazil

to s A trip ern Light h land.

Nortin Fin . age 69 p e e S

106 | The Great Wall, China

The only way to appreciate the true scale of the Great Wall is to start walking it. We suggest some of the best treks along this epic construction

THE FUTURE Like this map?

MAPPING To buy a similar wall map, COMPANY visit www.futuremaps.co.uk 004-005 Contents_SO.indd 4

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From The Road

POCKE T GUID ES

Arrivals

131 HONG

The bits

KONG

of the guide book you

really need

Pocket Guides 133

33 | Ripping yarn Meet the men who rode

a tandem bicycle from Surrey to Kenya

34 | Letters etc Emails, blogs, photos and chat from YOU from around the world – send in your contribution for a chance to WIN Keen gear!

38 | Just Back From… In our new feature from our myWanderlust forum, readers share their top travel tips from recent trips. This issue: Norfolk, western Canada and Alaska, Congo and Central African Republic and Ghent in Belgium

122 | Books Two whopping travel anthologies go head to head, while Billy Connolly chats us through his adventures on Route 66

125 | World music Raise a glass to Pink Martini, an American orchestra at its most eccentric 126 | World diary A camel fair, a Viking funeral and a barbeque to end all barbeques…

127 | What’s on The new BBC wildlife doc Frozen Planet has finally arrived

P 131 First COPENHA P 133 Short24 hours Hong GEN Kong P 135 Great Break Copenhag Phooey! This is one fast-m en Do as P 137 Trave British Escap the Dane oving city. s do l Icon Lamu e North Corn Hang on wall Rugg – get on your tight Island, bike ed Kenya Experience hikes and qualit and explore y cuisin a traditi e onal Swah ili way of life

131 | Hong Kong, China The best way to spend 24 hours in this 24-7 Anglo-Asian city 133 | The Danish Riviera Nothing rotten in Denmark on a cycle ride from Hamlet’s castle to Copenhagen 135 | North Cornwall Hike the cliffs, soak up a few Arthurian myths and enjoy great seafood 137 | Lamu, Kenya Get a taste of vintage Swahili culture on this idyllic island 135 NORTH

CORNWA

137 LAMU

See29 p1

ISLAND

LL

Cycling in Denmark p133

106

©

© ©

Great Wall of China Paris p14

© ©

Hong Kong p131

© ©

Lamu, Kenya p137

Fly to Vietnam p119

© Maria Island, Tasmania

70 Madagascar

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98

©

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chad

Rock stars Photographer Jimmy Chin “Having a passion for climbing and photography has taken me across the world – but never to a place quite like the Ennedi Desert in north-eastern Chad, Africa. I joined Mark Synnott, Alex Honnold and James Pearson, three climbers who all hoped to make first ascents of the huge sandstone towers that protrude from the landscape. Mark led the expedition, having based it on nothing more than rumours and a few photographs.

We travelled for days across empty, dusty terrain and covered around 800km before we even caught a glimpse of what we came for. Finally, I was able to climb alongside the team and capture their ascents on film.

In this photo James, belayed by Mark, makes his first ascent of the Arch of Bashikele.”

Jimmy’s film Towers of the Ennedi is being shown as part of the Canada’s West Adventure Film Festival 2011, from 24 October.

For dates and cinemas visit www.adventurefest.co.uk

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World in pictures | News | Go now | Things to do for free | Departures

360 1

I I I

Places jostling for our attention this month

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the dune coast Far from Rio, the wind-whipped sands and steamy deltas of Brazil’s north-east make for an unforgettable off-road trip Words & Pictures Alex Robinson

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Brazil Long and winding way A houseboat chugs past dunes and mangroves on the Parnaíba River Left: Seahorses, including a bright orange variety, are commonplace

“Fique ai!” he ordered, “Stay put!”

He grabbed a vase and dived overboard’ < on foot beside them. The bleakness was

broken by our arrival at the beer-can urbanity of Tutóia, which thankfully soon faded from view as a speedboat whisked us away into a contrasting wilderness – that of the Parnaíba River delta.

Horse fishing The Parnaíba cuts 1,700km through the arid interior of the country before fanning into one of the largest deltas in South America.

Our boat rushed through an increasingly exuberant labyrinth of tropical green: mangrove swamps rose into forest. Mud islands were cut by creeks whose banks were busy with vermillion crabs, and whose shallow waters boiled with four-eyed fish.

We took a late lunch on another dune, with a view out over the delta. A houseboat chugged past below, followed by fishermen in saveiros. There was an untidy village of stilt houses, an iguana sitting as still as a rock, an osprey pulling a fish from the water. And then suddenly an identical Hilux was waiting for us on a concrete port as we

arrived, dusty and tired, in the hamlet of Barra Grande, and the thin state of Piauí.

Barra Grande felt Bounty bar tropical: long and silky sand was backed by swaying coconut palms. The area’s famous locally for its bright-orange seahorses. We searched for them, steered by a sun-wizened fisherman in a wooden canoe so small I feared it would sink under my weight into the emerald green water.“Fique ai!” he ordered, “Stay put!” He grabbed a glass vase and dived overboard, emerging seconds later with two seahorses.

On the beach he found a baby Hawksbill turtle, washed-up and bewildered on the

LOCAL VIEW

Mizuho Kai, Aid agency worker from Ibaraki, Japan (lives in Bahia) “The São Luís Bumba Meu Boi is unnerving and spellbinding. The music penetrates you, you feel it reverberating in your heart.”

sand, which he cajoled gently back into the sea. Then we climbed back into the Hilux, crossed another river on a rickety car-sized ferry and entered another new state, Ceará.

A long beach served as the highway to our final destination, Jericoacoara.

Beach buggies Jeri is a mere village, but its rushing beach buggies and flocks of tourists make it a city after tiny Barra Grande. Clustered between a long, sweeping crescent beach and miles of drifting sand, its streets are lined with strings of hippie-chic shops and boho boutique resorts. Bossa Nova played from thatchedroof beach bars – as out of place here in Ceará as a ceilidh in a Cockney pub. That night, I saw my first European faces of the journey – sipping caipirinhas by candlelight in intimate restaurants, dancing fervidly in the town’s two shack-like discos.

By day Jeri is empty: I woke at dawn to the angry buzz of beach buggies leaving the town in trails of dust for the wilds beyond. I resolved to join them and hired a guide from >

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Letters etc *

Online at www.wanderlust.co.uk/mywanderlust

8 Email letters & photos to fromtheroad@wanderlust.co.uk * Mail Wanderlust, 1 Leworth Place, Windsor SL4 1EB Twitter #wanderlustmag Facebook www.facebook.com/wanderlusttravelmagazine

Top 100 travel experiences

In regards to experience No 3.

Arriving in Timbuktu, Mali (Wanderlust, Issue 121); what a pity you chose to illustrate this with a picture of the Grand Mosque in Djenné! Djenné is a goodly way from Timbuktu – 829km in fact. I’m sure you have good shots of the Sankore and Djinguarey-ber mosques in Timbuktu, which are older than the one in Djenné; if not I can help! In 2007 a friend and I organised a trip to Mali. We wanted to go to see the Islamic manuscripts of Mali’s Golden Age, as well as to see Djenné and the Dogon country.

The set routes of European travel agencies didn’t allow us to do what we wanted, so we arranged our own itinerary and found a Malian agency that could arrange it. We recruited five other mad women and set forth on a three-week adventure.

One highlight was canoeing up the Niger from Mopti to Kabara/Timbuktu (700+ km) for two and a half days and

my Wanderlust:

“Loved it!

Not so much for the destinations, but for DJ’s everchanging head gear: sunglasses, hats, hair cuts, facial hair… and never-changing expression”

Liz Cleere's response to DJ''s literal Around the World and Back in Time for Tea video

Win Keen gear!

We want you tales and letterr photos, s– fromtheroad email wanderlust.c @ o.

See page 37 fouk r prize details

A recent expedition from Kathmandu to Lhasa on a 1950s style Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Best of all – great weather, no mechanical issues and no Delhi belly – Richard Brundage camping on shore at night.

In Djenné the local curator of the museum was somewhat bemused when we had an animated discussion – all good natured – with him about some of the claims made about the slave trade and finding gold at Wangara. It’s a shame that the FCO still feels it wise to avoid Djenné, Timbuktu, et al, as Mali is such a great place to visit.

Sheila Petersen, Cumbria

*

An addition to your Perth Pocket Guide I would like to recommend a trip to Rottnest Island to add to the excellent Perth Pocket Guide (Wanderlust, Issue 122).

It is a great place for white sandy beaches and unusual wildlife, and only a short ferry trip from Fremantle.

It was used as an Aboriginal prison until 1920 but since then it has been a favourite holiday destination for the residents of Perth and more recently as a popular day trip.

Rottnest Island gets its name from the native marsupials called quokkas.

To the first European explorers they looked like giant rats and so they unfairly named the island Rottnest (Dutch for ‘rats’ nest’).

There are very few quokkas left on the mainland of Australia now due to predation by feral cats and foxes, but it is believed

there are over 8,000 quokkas on Rottnest Island and since it’s only 11km (7 miles) long and 4.5km (3 miles) at its widest, there’s a very good chance you will see some.

Fiona Trowbridge, Isle of Wight

*

Kyoto a-go-go

We were so excited to read your excellent article on Kyoto because in a few weeks my husband and I and our two young children will be heading for Japan and this fine city.

It has taken us ten years to save up (we were not counting on having two little-uns to take with us, when we started saving!) and Ruaridh (4) and Flora (22 months) have already

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From The Road in association with From the forum

been tucking into the noodles to get in the mood.

While they mastered the chopsticks, we visited a wonderful Japanese garden tucked away in the little village of Eastby, near Skipton in Yorkshire. The star attraction is the tea garden that has been built by the couple, complete with a ladies' secret haven to allow the females a bit of peace.

Rebecca Hay, by email

What goes on tour stays on tour...

When Wanderlust's associate web editor Peter Moore asked myWanderlust members what they'd done on their travels that they wouldn't do at home, he got quite a few surprises...



After reading the Top 100 travel experiences (Wanderlust, Issue 121), my fiancée and I felt inspired to make a visit to the Yucatan peninsula (number 71), to swim in the cenotes.

As your article suggested, these stunning freshwater lakes and caves offer amazing scenery and a vast array of natural wildlife. While staying in the area, we also visited the Sian Ka’an biosphere south of Tulum, a Unesco World Heritage site.

It’s a model for sustainable development, with income from tourism used to fund conservation and educational programmes in the reserve.

The reef was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen and I would highly recommend a visit to this part of Mexico.

Richard Holmes, by email

“I remember once taking my wife out for dinner, a Tuesday I think it was...” KDBR “Sitting in the Sahara with a stoned Frenchman playing air guitar to Hendrix.”

LaurenAmelia “I think the most radical thing for me is 'camping'.

I don't know what possessed me to entertain the idea. I've now promised myself I wont do it again.” ttbko “Staying in rooms with cockroaches. Taking 23-hour train journeys. Oh, and wearing a bikini as underwear because I've been travelling too much to get any laundry done.” louiseheal “Fire an AK-47 in Yemen alongside 50-odd Yemeni men doing the same.”

Nick Ledger “What I do that I don’t do at home is to feel 'free'.

Free of work, home and responsibilities. I enjoy myself and take a few risks that I would not normally do.” Smakh



Want to comment? Fire away at wanderlust.co.uk/mywanderlust

istockphoto

Winning Entry

One of my top 100

How about 101?

Reading how you compiled the top 100 ultimate travel experiences list it struck me that travellers to areas not frequently visited would be

Only 90 minutes drive south of Cancun but this may as well be a different country! Tulum, Mexico – Nick Ledger

“In Disney World, a guest complained that they missed the three o'clock parade because no one told them what time it started”

@SteveCokkinias adds to our online 20 most astonishing complaints feature

unable to get their favourites onto the list for lack of support.

For instance, while in northern Pakistan I visited the Polo Festival in Shandur. Every year in early July, the three-day festival is held on a high mountain pass (over 3,500m)

between Gilgit and Chitral, where teams from the two towns play ‘no rules’ polo.

Everyone was very friendly and helpful and we were invited by different groups to go dancing in the evening – men only on the dance floor though.

I can assure you that this was an ‘ultimate’ travel experience shared by few but well worth the effort of getting there.

One tip – don’t go if you like your home comforts, as the facilities are very basic!

Diana Nurcombe, by email



Kids are alright

In response to the debate about travelling with children, we found solace and awe-inspiring scenery from the rooftop terrace of our >

Catherine Hill is the winner of our Via Rail writing competition, launched earlier this year (Issue 119). She’s won two Canrailpasses, flights for two, £2,000 spending money and a Flip Ultra HD camera. Here's her winning entry…

The man from Brisbane sitting in the row behind us doesn’t say much, but his wife makes up for that. He’s just had a big birthday, and this trip on The Ghan has been one of his lifetime’s ambitions.

He’s probably enjoying it.

We, however, are openly delighted to be on this train,

following in the steps of the pioneer Afghan cameleers.

Never mind that we’re only travelling lowly tourist Red Service, or that the DayNighter reclining seats are a touch uncomfortable – we have, after all, come 9,000 miles to use them.

Australian icons move into view and recede as we travel into the red heart – old

rusting wind pumps gently turning, occasional kangaroos emerging to keep pace with us before slipping back into the bush. No less iconic, fellow passengers crack open the tinnies: “Didja see them camels? Didja?”

As evening comes the heat breaks down into lightning storms – no rain but a vivid electric panorama. We

drowse rather than sleep; images from the journey come and go – the gorge at Katherine, sunset colour flooding the MacDonnell hills. The white gum trees: oh, mustn’t forget to take that ghost gum painting with us when we get off the train...

Don’t forget… To take all your memories with you when you leave the train.

Australia vanishes as I grab my briefcase and struggle to my feet, joining the stream of early commuters stumbling towards the grey towers of Euston Road and the dank November drizzle.

To plan your own VIA Rail adventure visit www.viarail.com

Wanderlust November 2011 | 35

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21

perfect winter adventures Mush a husky team, marvel at the northern lights, scale north Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest peak, track wolves or sleep on an ice-bound schooner â&#x20AC;&#x201C; welcome to the greatest travel experiences below zero

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4

Sleep on an ice-bound ship, Spitsbergen

It’s like something out of a Boys’ Own adventure or a Hollywood film: an elegant, two-masted schooner locked into the ice in the middle of nowhere. Such is the annual fate of the Noorderlicht, which is deliberately frozen into Spitsbergen’s sparkling Tempelfjord each winter to become one of the world’s most dramatic hotels. The best way to reach this ship-stay is by husky-sled – skim across the snow behind a pack of dogs and watch as the boat appears on the horizon. Then cosy up in your cabin or head up on deck to scan the land for the local polar bears.

When to go: Departures between 22 Feb and 7 May 2012 Getting started: Activities Abroad’s four-night Husky Safari to the Ship Frozen in the Ice trip costs from £1,965 including accommodation (two nights on the Noorderlicht, two in a hotel), some meals, husky-sledding and guides; flights excluded.

01670 789991, www.activitiesabroad.com >

Shiver me timbers The Noorderlicht going nowhere fast on the Tempelfjord

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Madagascar 11

11

II II II

breakaway island, unique for II Africa’s 11 its playful lemurs and striking landscapes 11 II

II

Fly UK-Antananarivo via Paris or Jo’burg (15 1 1 hrs); explore by taxi-brousse and boat 11

Go Apr-Oct, the dry season

finding neverland Most come to Madagascar for its wildlife, but in the island’s wild west the highlight is a strange limestone forest the locals call ‘tip-toe’.

And the best way in is by canoe…

Words & Pictures Nick Middleton

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Madagascar Footnotes

How to squeeze the most out of your experience on this fantasy island – and why you really should pack a pair of gardening gloves

When to go Jan

Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Jul

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

■ Apr-Oct – The dry months are the time to make the Manambolo River trip and to visit the Parc National des Tsingy de Bemaraha. June and July are best for the river trip: the water should be clear and temperatures not too high.

■ Nov-Mar – During the wet season, the river is too rough for canoes and the road connecting the park to the outside world is impassable. Tropical cyclones are most likely in February and March but have occurred as late as May.

Health & safety Consult your GP, but courses or boosters usually advised are diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis A and typhoid. Malaria precautions are essential.

Political unrest since 2009 has led to an increase in crime in the capital and some National Parks. Travel with others, avoid crowds, and safeguard your valuables.

Further reading & information Madagascar (Bradt, 2011) Madagascar & Comoros (Lonely Planet, 2008) Madagascar Wildlife (Bradt, 2008) www.madagascar-tourisme.com Tourist board site with extensive info

More online Visit www.wanderlust.co.uk/123 for links to more content: Archive articles

Madagascar Festival of Wildlife – issue 44, Feb/Mar 01 10 great snorkelling destinations – online, Jan 11

Planning guides

Madagascar travel guide

The trip l ne

Antsiranana (Diego)

2

Mo za m

Maromokotro Maromok Maromokotr otro

Anjajavy

8 6

5 Tsingy NP Tsingy

ANTANANARIVO Toamasina ANT

4 Anja Reserve

There are no direct flights from the UK; connections can be made through Paris or some African cities (primarily Jo’burg or Nairobi). Returns cost from around £640; flight time is around 15 hours, including connections. Road quality in Madagascar is variable but generally bad. Taxi-brousses (minibuses usually) serve most routes.

6

AndasibeMantadia NP

3 Morondava Morondava

Getting there & around

1 INDIAN OCEAN

Ifaty

7

Fort Dauphin Fo 0

400km

MADAGASCAR HIGHLIGHTS

Cost of travel Madagascar has something for all budgets, from five-star luxury resorts to good value budget hotels. Allow 5,000Ar per day for a guide, more for a good one.

Tipping 10% in a restaurant is fine.

1. Parc National de Ranomafana A lush montane rainforest where you can spot up to 12 species of lemur.

2. Nosy Be Probably Madagascar’s number one beach destination.

Accommodation

3. Antananarivo

In Antananarivo, Le Pavillon de l’Emyrne (www.pavillondelemyrne.com) is a lovingly restored 1930s house in a central location; doubles from €75 (£65) per night.

Camp Croco (www.madcameleon.com) in Bekopaka is a good base for the tsingy with large permanent tents, shared showers and toilets; tents for two cost £13.

Madagascar’s relaxed, attractive and unavoidable capital.

4. Avenue du Baobab A dirt road lined with the bottle-shaped trees create a peculiar landscape.

5. Parc National des Tsingy de Bemaraha The big scratchy mountains.

6. Anjajavy

Food & drink

Luxury seaside resort surrounded by dry deciduous forest with great wildlife.

Malagasy cuisine is a delight. The national dish, romazava, is a meat and veg stew spiced with ginger. Zebu steaks are often succulent while coastal locations offer excellent seafood.

7. Mandrare River Camp, near Fort Dauphin Experience the bizarre octopus-like trees of the spiny forest.

What to pack Dome tents are provided on the river trip, but take a lightweight sleeping bag.

Gardening gloves will protect your hands from both the sun while paddling and against the tsingy while clambering. ■

e

an Ch

bi q

u

The author travelled with Abercrombie & Kent (0845 618 2202, www. abercrombiekent.co.uk). A 12-day tailormade itinerary including the Manambolo River trip, visit to the tsingy, a night at a beach hotel at Morondava and two nights in Antananarivo costs £2,945pp based on two sharing, including international flights via Paris, all domestic travel and private transfers, most meals and guides. This itinerary also includes a two-day hike to Ankavandra, where the river trip starts.

8. Parc National de Marojejy Dreamstime

VITAL STATISTICS

Capital: Antananarivo (‘Tana’) Population: 22 million Languages: Malagasy, French Time: GMT+3 International dialling code: +261 Visas: UK nationals can obtain a visa (currently free) on arrival at the airport.

Money: Ariary (Ar), currently around 3,200Ar to the UK£. ATMs are found in major towns.

Wild rainforest, home to various endangered species.

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Walking the waves The kaleidoscopic hues of the Painted Cliffs on the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northwestern shore

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Maria Island 1

1

I I I

off an island off an island, I An island 1 it’s right scale for a few days hiking 1 Ijust the

I

Fly to Hobart via Melbourne from the UK, 1 then take a 40-minute ferry ride 1

Go from mid-October to the end of April

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT

MARIA A stroll across a small island off Tasmania offers the perfect apéritif to Australia Words & Pictures Chris Moss

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Travel icon

THE GREAT WALL

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast barricade is mind-boggling: up to 2,300 years old and 5,000km long. We help you get your head round its best bits, from top hikes to a secret southern section...

Words Simon Lewis

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The Great Wall

Hiking the wall

Stepping into the past Jinshanling is the starting point for a hike that takes in some old, wonderfully dilapidated parts of the wall

From idle stroll to tough hike, here are some of the best routes to make the most of the Wall. Plus tips on how to get there and where to stay <

1. The wall adventure

Route: Jinshanling to Simatai Distance: 11km Time: A long day trip from Beijing Why: A spectacular, mildly adventurous hike along a ruined section, with magnificent views

>

This is a deservedly popular section to trek, yet it never feels busy or mobbed.

After being dropped at Jinshanling – many hostels and travel companies run trips here – tramp up to the wall (or take the cablecar) and turn right to head east. You can walk along the rugged and unreconstructed wall here for about three hours, and it’s a mighty impressive stretch: there are jutting obstacle walls (built to split up big groups of invaders) and sturdy oval watchtowers.

Most of the walking is straightforward but in places you’re scrambling up and down steep, crumbly inclines – you need to be sure of foot. Watch, too, for loose rocks dislodged by your companions.

The walk ends at Simatai. This is a lovely, dramatic-looking section, but it’s being renovated, so you’re not allowed to continue (though some do).

2. The easy day trip

Route: Around Mutianyu Distance: 3km Time: A short day trip from Beijing Why: An easily navigable stroll along one of the reconstructed sections of the wall

>

This stretch, about 90km north of Beijing, is a popular day trip with tour groups now that the main section near the capital, Badaling, is overcrowded and overdeveloped. It’s fiercely touristy at the

base, but you quickly leave that behind when you get moving. It’s been heavily reconstructed, with stairs and paving slabs for easy walking, so this is the place for the less sure-footed.

It’s a pleasant stroll along a ridge through forested hills, and you’ll pass through 20 guard towers. Like much of the wall, it dates from the 14th century, but the first ramparts were laid in the sixth century. There’s a cablecar that takes you up; you can get a toboggan ride down.

Alamy; Dreamstime

Getting started: Jinshanling and Simatai are around 110km north of Beijing. Many hotels run unguided day trips, depositing you at one end and picking you up from the other. It’s a long day out, but you can turn it into two by staying at Jinshanling – locals rent out rooms, and there’s a guesthouse near the ticket office. Spend the second day walking west to Gubeikou Great Wall, about 12km away (see opposite). The guesthouse can arrange transport back to the capital from there.

While you’re there… Explore Beijing: visit the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square, walk among the remaining hutongs (traditional old streets) and have a beer at a bar around Houhai Lake – see our guide to the city in issue 90, or at www.wanderlust.co.uk.

expert view

Kevin Albin, Wanderlust World Guide Awards runner-up ‘Learn some simple but useful words (please, I, you, thank-you, hello) plus some verbs (to have, to go) and plenty of expressive hand signals. Your efforts will be met with smiles.’

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