Wanderlust issue 124

Wanderlust Issue 124 (Dec 2011/Jan 2012) 50 best new trips for 2012 • Australia’s Northern Territory • Burma • Colombia • Colorado • Albania • Pocket guides: Prague, Lhasa, Cairngorms, Montréal

TRAVEL I ADVENTURE I CULTURE The travel magazine that takes you further

Dec 2011/Jan 2012 www.wanderlust.co.uk

£3.60

50

BEST NEW TRIPS FOR 2012 Featuring Peru • Iceland Papua New Guinea Italy • China • Namibia Scotland • Kerala • Haiti

Burma

Why it’s finally time to visit

Outback Australia

On assignment with our winning photographers

000_Cover_Wanderlust_spot.indd 1

Plus Prague in winter

Oslo for free The Cairngorms Dervla Murphy at 80 11/11/11 15:42:47

Contents DEC 2011/JAN 2012 • ISSUE 124

Cover feature

360°

Navigator

6 | World in pictures Kenyan camel-herders,

88 | How to... wear a sarong, battle chills, tackle

Tibetan train-riders & chilly Chukchi nomads 12 | Shortcuts Global happenings 14 | Go now! Four trips that’ll have you reaching for your passport 16 | 10 things to do for free in... Oslo.

Ice skate then meet a nobel laureate. For nowt 18 | Hilary Bradt talks... Risk assessment, and why taking the road less travelled is a whole lot more rewarding, even if it is a bit scarier at first

an African buffalo (don’t) and tango in Argentina

89 | Gear What to pack to take care of your feet 90 | Health What goes on tour stays on tour?

Not always it doesn’t – here’s how to avoid bringing home any sexually transmitted diseases 92 | Phototips The marketplace is perfect for capturing a bargain – compositionally speaking 94 | Q&A Questions on huskies in Sweden, biking in India and cherry blossoms in Japan

98

50 BEST NEW TRIPS FOR 2012

Cairngorms p137

© Montreál p135

©

42

Colorado

Features 20 | Northern Territory, Australia

©

The winners of Wanderlust’s 2011 Photo of the Year competition head Down Under to put their talents to the test

42 | Colorado, USA

Author Sara Wheeler follows the footsteps of Victorian adventurer Isabella Bird into the Front Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains

50 | Burma

Wanderlust founder Lyn Hughes travels to the beautiful, beleaguered South-East Asian country on the cusp of change

64 | Dervla Murphy interview

Hilary Bradt meets the brilliant, flinty and newly octogenarian travel writer

76

Colombia

68 | Albania

Phoebe Smith treks the Albanian Alps, home to unspoilt vistas and historic blood feuds

76 | Colombia

Graeme Greene unearths ancient ruins, colonial towns and a kind-of-desert in south Colombia

98 | 50 best new trips for 2012

Wine touring by rail, kayaking Scotland, roaming Papua New Guinea – 12 months of temptation

WIeN-in! -a-

A onc e trip to n lifetim inica m o the D public.

Re 9 age 11 See p

THE FUTURE Like this map?

MAPPING To buy a similar wall map, COMPANY visit www.futuremaps.co.uk

©

From The Road 35 | Ripping yarn Meet the couple who sold

up shop to spend the rest of their lives travelling

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

40 | Just Back From… The well-journeyed myWanderlust forum-dwellers share their experiences and top travel tips from recent adventures. This issue: Sri Lanka, Russia, Croatia, Australia and New Zealand

POCKE T GUID ES

Arrivals

The bits

of the guide book you

131 LHASA

really need

Pocket Guides 133

120 | Books Has age blunted PJ O’Rourke’s razor-sharp tongue?

124 | World music Vietnamese-born jazz-pop chanteuse Huong Thanh returns to her roots

125 | What’s on: events The Wanderlust team hit the road for Destinations 2012: the road hits them back a lot harder 126 | What’s on: screen Charley Boorman chats to us about Canada’s Extreme Frontiers

131 | Lhasa, Tibet Tibet’s iconic city highlighted, including the Potala Palace

P 131 Trave PRAGUE P 133 Short l Icon Lhasa The P 135 First Break Prague majestic Tibeta n capita Enjoy the l will leave P 137 Great24 hours Mon Christmas you tréal Say market British bonjour amid Gothi short of breath Escape to this chic The Cairn c Canadian splendour gorms metropolis Answer the call of the wild in Scotla nd

See29

137 CAIRNGO 135 MONTRÉA

p1

RMS

L

133 | Prague, Czech Rep. The best way to spend a short break in the historic and happening Czech capital 135 | Montréal, Canada 24 hours in a city famous for festivals, food and Frenchness 137 | The Cairngorms, Scotland The UK’s biggest national park, and whisky tours

Oslo p16

68Albania

© ©

50

©

Burma

Prague p133

©

©

98

Lhasa p131

Papua New Guinea

© ©

20

Northern Territory

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NT, Australia 1

1

I I I

Aboriginal art, ancient I Wildlife, 1 landscapes I 1 – NT is a travel snapper’s dream

I

Fly UK-Darwin, a 21-hour flight including a stopover 1 1

Tropical climate year-round

On assignment

NORTHERN TERRITORY Our 2011 Travel Photo Of The Year winners earned themselves a trip to Australia’s wild northern reaches. Their mission? To capture a region of immense natural beauty, Aboriginal art and hungry wildlife Pictures by Mark Davies, Andrew Deer, Nori Jemil & Jan Kostal

Shadows on Kings Canyon As the sun arcs over the canyon’s red-hot rocks, bold silhouettes reveal the magnitude of the landscape – and some authentic Aussie hats.

(JK)

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Northern Territory Inspired by the photos? Plan your own trip to the Top End and Red Centre with our guide, including the best places to stay and two top NT drives

The Northern Territory has a year-round tropical climate.

■ Winter (Apr-Oct) is the dry season with warm, sunny days and cool nights ■ Summer (Nov-Mar) is hot and humid.

Health & safety Saltwater crocodiles inhabit the beaches, rivers and billabongs of the Top End and are potentially dangerous. Do not swim in the waterways unless there is a safeswimming sign and avoid the water’s edge where possible. Swimming at beaches is not recommended due to the presence of box jellyfish. The sun is dangerous. Try to stay in the shade 11am-3pm, use high-factor sun cream and drink lots of water.

Further reading & information Central Australia – Adelaide to Darwin (Lonely Planet, 2009) Explore Australia’s Outback (Hardie Grant Books, 2010) www.australiasoutback.com – Tourism NT site; you can download a free iPhone app (available on Android too). Follow NT on Facebook or watch the latest videos on www.youtube.com/user/Australiasoutback.

More online Visit www.wanderlust.co.uk/124 for on-the-road blogs by Nori Jemil and Mark Davies, plus fantastic galleries of images from all of the photographers.

Archive articles

Exploring Arnhem Land – issue 93, Feb 08 Travel icon: Uluru – issue 90, Oct 07 Aboriginal encounters near Uluru – issue 81, Aug/Sept 06

Qantas (www.qantas.com.au) and Jetstar (www.jetstar.com) combine to fly daily from Heathrow to Darwin via Singapore.

Flights start from around £800 return; flight time is around 16 hours, excluding stopover.

Qantas and Jetstar offer a domestic service between Darwin and Alice (2.5 hours) and on to Uluru (1 hour). AirNorth (www.airnorth. com.au) connects places around the Top End. An excellent way to see NT is The Ghan (www.gsr.com.au), an epic rail journey from Darwin to Alice Springs, and on to Adelaide. Coach travel is a low-cost way to see the country – try Greyhound Australia (www.greyhound.com.au). Self-drive, whether in a 2WD, 4WD or camper, is a flexible way to explore the Outback.

Accommodation Wildman Wilderness Lodge (Mary River Wetlands; wildmanwildernesslodge. com.au) has luxury cabins (A$285 [£188] pppn) and safari tents (from A$215 [£142] pppn).

Davidson’s Arnhemland Safari Camp (Mount Borradaile; www.arnhemlandsafaris.com) is a sacred Aboriginal site with tents and cabins; tents from A$700 (£450) pppn including meals, touring and permits.

Glen Helen Resort (West MacDonnell Ranges, Red Centre; www.glenhelen.com. au) is an oasis in the mountainous desert.

Powered campsite from A$30 (£19) for two.

Kings Creek Station (Kings Canyon; www.kingscreekstation.com.au) is a working cattle/camel station. Camping from A$20 (£13) pppn for a powered site; safari cabins A$77.50 (£50) pppn night incl breakfast.

Ayers Rock Resort (www.ayersrockresort. com.au) runs a plethora of places – from campsites to luxury hotels – to lay your head within a kangaroo's hop of Uluru. ■

Timor Sea

Arafura Sea

Darwin Joseph Bonaparte Gulf

300km

0

Mt Borradaile ABORIGINAL LAND Mary Jabiru River Kakadu ARNHEM LAND NP NP Edith East Alligator Falls River Katherine Mataranka

Gulf of Carpentaria

ABORIGINAL LAND

QUEENSLAND

Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Getting there & around

A4

The Ghan

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Our winners travelled with Territory Discoveries (territorydiscoveries.com), who promote more than 2,500 authentic Outback experiences: from guided day tours to extended journeys throughout the Top End and Central Australia. Territory Discoveries offers a range of photographic adventures including a six-day Kakadu Discovery from A$765 (£495) and a six-day Red Centre Adventure from A$661 (£436).

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

When to go

The trip

Tanami Desert

We

West

s t M MacDonnell Glen acD o n n e NP Helen ll Rang es

Kings Watarrka Canyon Finke Gorge NP NP Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP Mt Conner Kata Tjuta Uluru

Alice Springs East

Ma

cD

n on

el

a l R

ng

es

ABORIGINAL LAND

The Ghan

Vital Statistics

Population: 228,000 Language: English; many indigenous dialects are also spoken Time: GMT+9.5 International dialling code: +61 8 Visas: Required by UK nationals. Free visas must be obtained before travel; see www.immi.gov.au.

Money: Australian dollar (A$), currently around A$1.55 to the UK£

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Tackle the Territory: 2 self-drive itineraries The Top End Day 1: Start in Darwin and admire Aboriginal art at the Museum & Art Gallery of the NT. Feed bread to schools of fish at Aquascene and relax on a sunset harbour cruise.

Day 2: Enjoy the scenic 250km drive to Kakadu NP, stopping at the Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve. Take a jumping crocodile cruise down the Adelaide River.

Days 3 & 4: Explore Kakadu’s Aboriginal rock art sites, escarpments and waterfalls.

Enjoy a helicopter ride and billabong cruise.

Day 5: Cross the East Alligator River into the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve.

Day 6: Continue to Davidson’s Arnhemland Safari Camp in the foothills of Mt Borradaile.

Day 7: Try barramundi fishing, then jump on the one-hour light aircraft flight to Darwin.

The Red Centre Day 1: Hire a campervan or 4WD in Alice Springs and drive the 130km to Glen Helen, passing through the MacDonnell Ranges.

Day 2: Continue via the Mereenie Loop to Kings Canyon. Walk along the gorge admiring the 300m-high sheer cliff faces.

Day 3: Enjoy a sunrise walk through the canyon for views of the red landscape.

Drive 300km to Uluru (Ayers Rock).

Day 4: Watch the sun rise over Uluru from camel back. Take a helicopter flight and travel to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) for sunset.

Day 5: Take an Aborigine-guided Uluru tour.

Return to Alice via Rainbow Valley, a massive sandstone formation of coloured bands.

32 | Wanderlust December 2011/January 2012

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Northern Territory

ARNHEM LAND Ancient art

>

Encompassing the eastern half of the Top End, Arnhem Land is an Aboriginal Reserve owned by Australia’s indigenous clans. The remote townships dotted across the landscape showcase a way of life that has existed for more than 40,000 years. Barramundi fishing off the tropical coast is fun, but it is the wealth of Aboriginal rock art concealed in deep sandstone gorges that attracts international acclaim. Access is strictly limited (permits are necessary) to ensure that the land remains unspoilt, with an exclusive charm.

Don’t miss: Aboriginal artists at work in the town of Gunbalanya, painting bark, carving didgeridoos and weaving baskets.

A kookabura at camp, Arnhem Land (above) “I tracked down this female blue-winged kookaburra as she perched in a tree and scanned the ground for insects for her breakfast.”

(MD)

Mount Borradaile caves “There are some spectacular Aboriginal rock art sites adorning Arnhem’s ancient landscape. Here, our guide Amanda explains that this 5m Rainbow Serpent could be as much as 8,000 years old.”

(MD)

Mount Borradaile billabong “The still waters at Mount Borradaile were covered in a blanket of flowering lilies – disguising the presence of any number of saltwater crocodiles...”

(AD)

Ripping yarn | Letters etc | Experiences | Just Back From…

From The Road Letters, tips, photos & exploits from you, our endlessly adventurous readers

Ripping yarn

“We sold everything to travel the world” Americans Warren and Betsy Talbot saved for years, sold everything they owned and have been travelling the world together ever since. Warren tells us all about their adventures “Since quitting our jobs to travel the world we’ve scored a free ride on a cruiseship from Antarctica, bent immigration rules while crossing borders and spent two terrifying weeks in the shadow of a spewing, ground-shaking volcano.

“After two people very close to us came down with life-threatening illnesses, we realised that life is too short. We saved money, sold everything we owned, and hit the open road: travelling through South America, Antarctica, Europe and, now, heading into Asia. We have the budget for four more years of travel and the motivation to pick up enough freelance work along the way to make it a permanent lifestyle.

“We’re one year into our journey and the only downside to all these new experiences is that we never want to go back to conventional work again!

Even though it was scary to embark on such a great journey, it was the very best thing we’ve ever done.

“Our favourite places so far? For me it has to be Antarctica; Betsy’s was Scotland. But there’s still so much out there left to discover.”

Follow Warren and Betsy’s story on www.marriedwithluggage.com. Their e-book about how to amass the cash to live your dream is available from www.dreamsavedo.com Got a Ripping Yarn of your own?

Email fromtheroad@wanderlust.co.uk.

Wanderlust December 2011/January 2012 | 35

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So this is what they mean by glamping...

On a trip to Pembrokeshire Fiona Trowbridge discovered the joys – and limits – of posh camping

I

love camping, but this was something very different – this was posh camping, or what people call ‘glamping’.

There was a dome tent – not the ‘two-man squash yourself, your rucksack, your partner and his smelly shoes into a portable shelter made of cloth’ kind of tent. No, this was a 20ft geodesic dome tent with raised wooden flooring, a double bed with down duvet, a wooden row of coat pegs and storage box by the entrance for the aforementioned shoes, and a wood-burning stove – all inside.

Close by the tent stood a small wooden kitchen, raised and open on all sides except for the roof.

When it got dark, I sat in a chair and read by the firelight, while enjoying a piping hot mug of tea. In bed, I listened to the night: tawny owls screeching, a hedgehog rummaging and acorns falling from overhanging branches.

I could see why they called it posh camping.

All the good bits of camping without the crawling about on your hands and knees, squatting over a tiny gas cooker and looking for somewhere level to place your mug.

However, there is one thing I hate about camping. You can put all the home comforts in a giant-windowed dome tent and wrap it up in whatever term you like, but there is still nothing glam about glamping when you are forced to leave your warm bed and do the moonlight toilet trek.

Write up your own travel tales at www.wanderlust.co.uk/mywanderlust. Those printed win a travel book reviewed in this issue

38 | Wanderlust December 2011/January 2012

>

Experiences

“How about ‘Can I get money out of this cash machine?’ or ‘Is Spanish the same as Portuguese?’ or ‘Do Journey Latin America run trips to Asia?’” JLA guide

Peter Selman on the stupid questions guides get asked

Europeans seem to visit Kiev.

We’d certainly recommend it – perhaps a Wanderlust feature would be a good idea?

Jill Vincent, Cardiff



Ticked off...

Your recent magazine featuring the ‘100 Greatest Travel Experiences’ (Aug/Sept 2011) has caused a few issues – I now have a prominent check-list in my house, but I recently amended travel plans

to ‘tick’ off one of the places: Cappadocia, Turkey. The inspiration to visit a new part of a country I visit fairly often was driven by your article.

Staying in a cave hotel is worth the hype, but the real gems of this place are found in two experiences – watching the balloons take flight at dawn (pictured below); and hiring a car or scooter to explore the valleys and surrounding mountains.

Both of these provide a sense of how vast the landscape is.

Thank you for the inspiration, but now I fear all my travel plans may be affected by the check-list in my kitchen.

Claire Manning, by email



There’s more than ten!

I enjoyed the October edition of Wanderlust, particularly ‘10 Things To Do For Free In Singapore’, as it brought back memories of my visit last year.

However, your top ten missed the place I would rate as my number one: the Buddha Tooth

1

1

I I I

Burma

I Superb temples, unspoilt landscapes, 1 Buddhist I 1 culture – and brutal political history

I

Fly UK-Yangon, via Bangkok (14 hrs, not incl 1 stopover); use local guides for insight 1

Go Oct-March: the dry, cool high season

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A golden future?

With moves towards democracy and the end of a decadelong tourism boycott, Burma is 2012’s most talked-about destination. Lyn Hughes found a country in waiting

‘Buddhism here is a living, breathing religion that underpins everyday life’

Burma

One heel drive Rowers on Inle Lake use a unique form of leg-rowing

< muddy and churned up, and thronged with

gridlocked vehicles of all shapes and sizes, as pilgrims headed to the monastery or away.

Meeting a jam, we opted to divert to a nearby hotel instead, leaving the mayhem behind.

From the terrace of the lovely Popa Mountain Resort, we could see all the way to Bagan and the Ayeyarwady River. Behind the hotel, we caught tantalising glimpses of the volcanic peak of Popa itself. Below us was the focal point of the pilgrims; the iconic rocky outcrop of Taung Kalat, the monastery and shrines atop it, glinting like a beacon despite the overcast day. We later walked to its base, past abandoned vehicles that had got stuck in the mud or the traffic.

A shrine at the base contained images of some of the nats. Nearby a charismatic holy man had set up camp in a lean-to. “It takes a long time to reach Nirvana,” he smiled.

Peter Adams/Getty Images

Life on the lake I found my own personal nirvana at Inle Lake. Arriving after dark, it had been a joy to open the shutters the next morning to be faced with a tranquil view of water and reed beds. A boat picked me up from the hotel jetty, and I immediately got to see some of the famed local ‘leg-rowing’ in action. The fishermen have long practiced a unique rowing style that involves standing at the stern of their boat on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. Standing allows them to see beyond the lake’s reeds and floating market gardens, although why they

use a leg rather than an arm was not clear.

Although I was in a motor launch, the crew used the old-fashioned method to approach and leave the hotel, so as not to disturb the guests. We quietly passed through narrow channels until we reached a spot where the engine could be switched on. Children in smart uniforms rowed their way to school, and women were busy cultivating floating gardens, pulling themselves along on small boats. This was a true water world: the houses, schools, even whole villages perched on stilts.

Everywhere was a hive of activity. Out on the open lake, fishermen were casting and pulling nets, leg-rowing between spots.

In the stilt villages, open doors revealed craftspeople weaving or working with silver or wood. We disembarked at a market, hawkers having rowed in alongside us, pestering us while we browsed the souvenir stalls. This was perhaps the most touristy place I was to visit, but the attention was good-natured and the shopping worthwhile.

It was sunny for the first time in days, catching me out, and I appreciated why so many of the women had faces covered in thanaka, a paste that is derived from the ground bark of a type of acacia. Part cosmetic, it also acts as a sunscreen and a protective barrier. It helped explain the good skin of so many of the women.

Back out on the lake, we stopped for welcome refreshments at a sanctuary for Burmese cats, a café in a beautiful colonial

house helping to support the cats in their large run and separate sleeping island.

Felines featured too at Nga Hpe Kyaung, or Jumping Cat Monastery as it is colloquially known. Here, the monks have trained the resident cats to leap through hoops.

The particular monk responsible for this was away for a few hours, so we never saw the moggies in action. Instead, we studied the formerly neglected shrines and images that the monks take in from different parts of the country and restore.

Monks are an integral and important part of life throughout Burma. In one monastery in Mandalay, we came upon a monk teaching a class of children too poor to go to school (schooling is free but the uniform, books and materials are not), while toddlers sat around at the back as if at a crèche. At a monastery in Bagan, a dozen small children were setting off in a line for the daily collection of alms; they were refugees from Karen state, still in conflict with the government.

However, the biggest congregation of monks was to come. Over 1,200 of them are based at Mahagandayon Monastery near Mandalay, and queue each day at 11am for their lunch. Some tourists had gathered too to watch the spectacle, but the monks seemed relaxed about the cameras clicking as they filed past. One kindly looking monk stood amongst the small throng of visitors, answering any questions.

“Don’t you get fed up with the tourists taking the photos?” I asked. “No, for we hope > Wanderlust December 2011/January 2012 | 59

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latin quarter

Colonial towns, haunting deserts and mysterious pre-Inca sites â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Colombiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south is a distinctive and surprising slice of Latin America Words & Pictures Graeme Green

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Colombia < admitted. “This is the land of the mystery,

Meeting the desert princess From San Agustín, Alex and I headed for the Tatacoa Desert. Approaching the town of Villa Vieja, the scenery became hillier, with strange reddish rock formations, spires and mounds, and 6m-high candelabra cacti.

“Everyone calls Tatacoa a desert, but actually it’s a dry forest,” Alex told me. Cows and goats grazed freely across the open ground.

From a ridge, we looked out at the Tower, one of the desert’s most striking features, then hiked down into the Cusco Labyrinth, a range of ‘dunes’ similar to Death Valley.

Tatacoa’s not quite a match for the red-rock formations of the south-west USA, but it’s peaceful and there are interesting

Spiky survivors The ‘dry forest’ just outside Villa de Leyva

‘As the sun rose over the Tatacoa Desert, we ate fruit from the top of a cacti’ characters living here. I’d hoped to meet the ‘Queen of the Desert’, a local legend who helped create and populate the villages of Tatacoa, but we discovered that she’d died last year, aged 97. Many of her 13 children and 50 grandchildren still live in the area.

I tracked down Paula, the Queen’s 15-year-old granddaughter, who was tending goats on her family’s farm. She described her grandmother as “really honest – she’d look people in the eye and tell them the truth.

She was very famous. People came from all over the world to talk to her.”

Paula shares her grandmother’s affinity with the desert. “I love the tranquility,” she told me.

If her grandmother was Queen, Paula must be a Princess of the Desert. “Yes,” she said, “definitely.” And a future Queen? “It would be good to be Queen. I’d be able to meet people from all over the world too.”

After dark, when the last of the goats had been called in, we headed to the observatory.

Tatacoa’s known for its night skies. “There are other observatories in Colombia with bigger telescopes, but they don’t have the location,” local astronomer Javier told me, as we climbed to the observation platform.

“There’s no light contamination here. Also, we are close to the equator and we can see the whole sky, both hemispheres.”

We stood on the observatory roof, the desert peaceful except for the hum of cicadas, the corners of the landscape flashing with lightning. Through the telescope, I studied a remarkably clear

image of Saturn and the crispest image of the moon I’ve ever seen, despite being about 384,000km away. Javier looked at his watch and told us to concentrate on the horizon as the International Space Station flew across the sky.

Breakfast the next morning out in the desert was one of my strangest. As the sun rose we ate fruit – small, lurid-pink and shaped like chilli peppers – straight from the top of cacti. They had a crisp, sweet taste, like strawberry. We washed them down with milk, frothy, warm and squeezed fresh from a goat on the Gonzalez family’s farm.

Brother and sister Miguel and Lilia are the fourth generation of Gonzalezes to live on the farm. With them was a small boy called John Jailer, the son of their sister. After Lilia squeezed several tankards of milk from a goat’s udders, John started to help his uncle and aunt separate the animals, lifting the smaller ones into a pen. “Sometimes,” Miguel smiled, “the goats see he’s small and try to take him on, but he’s strong and wins.

He’s very helpful. He already knows everything about the farm.”

John stepped forward to demonstrate his abilities. He missed with his first lasso shot, laughing and chasing to collect the rope.

Once retrieved, he tried again and successfully snared a little goat.

Miguel looked satisfied, happy even – perhaps those surveys have it right. “We love to live here,” Miguel confirmed. “We feel rich – not with money, but with tranquility, the sound of birds, the calm of the desert.” ■

Opening spread and this page: Getty

the enigma, the question mark.”

Each sculpture is unique, but there are recurring characteristics: large heads, no necks, short or no legs. In their details are clues to the culture. A chief has a skull around his neck, possibly a war trophy.

Some have visibly swollen cheeks from chewing coca leaves. The sculptors frequently combined human with animal or bird features; many of the mouths are filled with jaguar teeth. Together, the statues make a pretty freaky bunch. Some archaeologists believe they were created under the influence of coca, ayahuasca or other narcotics.

We walked past statues of monkeys and snakes copulating. There are more phallic shapes here too, and male figures with erect penises tied to their waists. “Sex and death are two universals. All cultures cover these themes,” Marino said.

Our gang of three rode out the next morning on horseback, through coffee and sugarcane farms, to explore other sites on the hillsides. Several statues showed signs of their original colours: red, yellow, white and black. Marino pointed out the plants and trees in the vicinity that produced the dyes and paints. Later, we tied the horses and climbed down a mountainside to see Chaquira, a figure carved into the rock, facing east to where the sun rises.

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New frontiers, original itineraries and once-in-a-lifetime events – read on for our pick of the very best trips for the year ahead £50 off

Subscribers can use their £50 voucher where you see this sign – see www.wanderlustvoucher.co.uk

FESTIVALS & EVENTS PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Get down with the locals

£50 off

Rarely featured by UK-based tour operators, Papua New Guinea remains a thrillingly raw and colourful destination. Now you can be among the handful who have visited its remote villages, fascinating festivals and spectacular volcanoes on Explore’s brand new Papua New Guinea Revealed trip. Paddle dug-out canoes along the Sepik River, hike around the steaming craters of Rabaul and cruise into Simpson Harbour, before heading up to the highlands to take a ringside seat at the Mt Hagen Show, an annual riot of colour, courtship ceremonies, exuberant dancing and tribal traditions.

Who: Explore (0845 868 6473, www.explore.co.uk) When: 29 Jul 2012 How long: 14 days How much: £3,325 (excl flights)

50 best new trips for 2012 India

Party in the desert

£50 off

Camel racing, fire dancing, folk music and even a moustache contest: all come to the fairytale desert city of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan every February – and they form the centrepiece of On the Go Tours’ Jaisalmer’s Desert Festival trip. But that’s just day nine: either side, you’ll enjoy the full north Indian experience: the bustle of Delhi, the monumental Taj Mahal, the transcendent cities of Jaipur and Udaipur, and the towns of the semi-desert Shekhawati region.

Who: On the Go Tours (207 371 1113, www.onthegotours.com) When: 28 Jan 2012 How long: 14 nights How much: £1,099 (excl flights)

North Korea

Mark a centenary

£50 off

Alex Robinson

There’s cause for celebration in North Korea in 2012 as the country marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Kim Il-Sung (still head honcho despite having passed away in 1994). Regent Holidays’ North Korea Kim Il Sung Centenary Tour visits the dramatic mountains at Kumgang, the port city of Wonsan, the chilling DMZ and the country’s second city of Hamhung – all places rarely seen by travellers – as well as joining in the epic birthday bash.

Who: Regent Holidays (0117 921 1711, www.regent-holidays.co.uk) When: 12 Apr 2012 How long: 16 days How much: £2,095 (excl flights)

Next total sola–r eclipse 14 Nov 2012

Australia

Eclipse-watch on the Reef In late 2012, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will be destination of choice for amateur astronomers everywhere – it’s going to be one of the best places to watch the next total solar eclipse (14 Nov 2012).

Bridge & Wickers’ Solar Eclipse Cruise sets sail from swish Port Douglas and spends four nights out amid the azure waters and tropical islands of the reef – an idyllic spot for sky-gazing.

Tag on a few days to explore

Queensland, from its whitesand beaches to its lush interior.

Who: Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555, www. bridgeandwickers.co.uk) When: Nov 2012 (actual cruise departs 13 Nov) How long: 10 nights How much: £3,095 (incl flights)

cape verde

Swing in the Atlantic Colonial Portuguese buildings crumble under the tropical heat on the island of Santiago, once the principal slaving port between Africa and the Americas – and now home each April to the Kriol Jazz Festival. Visiting musicians from Africa and Brazil mix with local stars, and lead revellers dancing through the streets. After the festival, Songlines Music Travel’s trip winds down in remote Tarrafal, with its two crescent bays, one black, one white.

Who: Songlines Music Travel (020 8505 2582, www. songlinesmusictravel.com) When: 10 April How long: 7 nights How much: £929 (excl flights) >

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Books | Guides | Music | What’s On

Arrivals

“I was beaten up by kids. It hurt” Charley Boorman comes back from Canada with a lot of bruises, p126

The new books, music, events and travel gizmos giving us itchy feet this month

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Guess who’s back? wo decades ago P J O’Rourke turned the genre of travel writing on its head. His book, Holidays in Hell, was an irreverent romp through the sort of countries most people avoided – Lebanon, El Salvador and The Holy Land.

These were all written with a serious journalist’s eye for a story and commitment to detail, but laden with enough pithy bon mots to ensure he has more citations in the Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations than any other living writer. His line that Korea is a nation of the kind of people who do their homework on Friday night is as true today as it was 20 years ago.

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In Holidays in Heck, O’Rourke embarks on supposedly more comfortable and allegedly lessdangerous travels, often with his family in tow. A visit to the National Mall in Washington leaves him wishing he was under artillery fire again. His daughter’s pre-teen disdain wins admiration among the shopkeepers of Hong Kong.

Thankfully O’Rourke hasn’t been totally domesticated. Holidays in Heck sees him horse riding across the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, touring the Galápagos Islands (above) and enduring a 72-hour trip to Afghanistan. Nor has he lost his insight. “I actually came out of

there with knowledge subtracted. If you had asked me anything about Afghan policy, Afghan society, Afghan politically before I went you would have got a more detailed, more thorough answer from me than if you ask me now.”

That’s the thing with P J O’Rourke.

Behind the cigar-chewing, Republican shtick and the cheap laughs is a thoughtful, thorough journalist looking to understand our chaotic, unpredictable and absurd world. Albeit, one capable of skewering pretention on either side of the political divide with a single killer line.

In Holidays in Heck, the journeys may be more subdued and gentle, but thankfully the barbed observations are as sharp as ever. Peter Moore

Dreamstime

The world’s most notorious travel writer returns – but has P J O’Rourke lost his edge?

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Arrivals Guides

All aboard the crazy bus to Nowhere New Bradt guides take alternative views of Britain

From the forum

Top 5

bridges Bridges come in all shapes and sizes: single-span, suspension, viaduct, aqueduct, arch-truss – we could go on – so myWanderlust member Alan Taylor posed the question, ‘Where’s the world’s best bridge?’

Responses range from our very own Severn Bridge to the iconic bridge over the river Neretva at Mostar (pictured). Here’s our pick of your suggestions: 1 Mostar Bridge, Croatia – this UNESCO-listed span was rebuilt after being destroyed by war 2 Pont de Normandie, France – at one time the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world 3 Tsing Ma Bridge, Hong Kong – the largest span rail bridge in the world 4 Long Bien Bridge, Vietnam – Hanoi’s iconic bridge was heavily bombed in the Vietnam War 5 Forth Bridge, Scotland – at a length of 14km, the Forth Rail Bridge is a British railway icon Got a burning question? Need inspiration? Or just fancy a travel-related chinwag? Get yourself to www.wanderlust.co.uk/mywanderlust

If you’re looking for a little localised light relief from the usual formal guidebook, publishers Bradt offer alternative perspectives on some of Britain’s most popular destinations.

Full of the fascinating, curious and downright barmy, Eccentric Britain (£16.99) is packed with anecdotes to help you navigate well away from the mainstream. If you think Cheshire’s World Worm-Charming Championships sounds odd, spare a thought for the giant Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race, Nottinghamshire’s Vacuum Cleaner Museum or the Pub With No Name in Hampshire (perhaps a cousin of the Nowhere Inn, Plymouth). Also try the equally quirky little siblings, Eccentric Cambridge and Eccentric Oxford (both £9.99).

On a more serious note comes Sacred Britain (£16.99), with a look at our soul-stirring

sites. The usual suspects such as Stonehenge and Westminster Abbey are here; but author Martin Symington also travels ancient pilgrims’ routes to the Holy Isles and uncovers some of Britain’s most intriguing sacred prehistory on Land’s End Peninsula.

And finally, one of our favourites: Bus-Pass Britain (£15.99); a guide to 50 of the best bus journeys.

Inspired by the extension of the free bus pass scheme for pensioners, Britain’s best-loved routes are chosen and written by avid members of the public. All aboard for a chug around the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland, along Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle to Hexham, through the remote hills of rural Wales and down to the white cliffs of Dover. If you have time left to spare, board the double-decker to Penzance for a well-deserved Cornish cream tea. (www.bradtguides.com)

Selected new guidebooks Africa

Publisher

Edition Price

South Africa

Frommer’s

7

£16.99

Asia and Oceania Lebanon

Bradt

1

£15.99

Bali & Lombok

DK Eyewitness

1

£13.99

Southwest China

Rough Guides

1

£11.99

Central America and the Caribbean Bermuda

New Holland

3

£8. 99

Europe Montenegro

Bradt

4

£14.99

Slovenia

DK Eyewitness

1

£15.99

The Swiss Alps

Cicerone

1

£25.00

Happy: Secrets to Happiness… Lonely Planet

1

£9.99

Camping: Favourite Sites in Britain Time Out

2

£12.99

General and Specialist

Dreamstime

Two new guidebook series that are a world away in both destination and style are now on shelves.

Firstly, the ‘Enchanting’ series, whose Enchanting Philippines and Enchanting Thailand (www. johnbeaufoy.com, £9.99) are light of weight and heavy of fluff though the images are rich and vibrant – ultimately, these are last-minute gift-shop grabs at best.

City-Pick New York, on the other hand, has its roots firmly planted in the literary – a street-by-street collection of Big Apple writings from Jan Morris to F Scott Fitzgerald to Alan Bennett that gives readers as much social and historical insight as it does a geographical one. The quality balance sometimes shifts, but overall the tone works well and the start of a new chapter is a welcome glimpse into another part of this eternally energising city’s soul.

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