Indice dei contenuti per February 2017 in Wanderlust

While we try and ensure that all of the issues of Wanderlust will give you itchy feet, this is the one that is guaranteed to, as it is crammed with ideas for the new year. Shortlisting the Top 50 trips from the hundreds that are put forward was both a joy and a frustration for us, owing to the sheer wealth of destinations and being able to pick so few, but I hope it inspires you as much as it has us here in the office (p40). But if you are feeling frazzled after the Christmas season, then don’t despair. We’re also featuring a number of trips that require a bit of slow travel, from meandering along the Mississippi (p24) to taking the train through Thailand (p58), to chilling on…

HOLI SMOKES! Barsana, India Photographer: Shankar Subramanian A plume of yellow powder (known as gulal) blankets the crowd, as magenta-stained men beat a thunderous rhythm and, all around, the lemon-coloured fog slowly envelops everything. The colour and chaos of the Holi Festival has long lured fascinated travellers and photographers, who can greedily feast on its imagery. This shot was taken in Barsana, India, by Shankar Subramanian, just one of thousands of amazing images entered into our 2016 Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition. To see the full collection of our finalists’ entries, visit our 2016 Travel Photo of the Year gallery at the Destinations Show ( see p19 for full details). STAG PARTY Highlands, Scotland Photographer: Danny Green It would be worth dealing with the weather to spot a red…

‘Around 20 indigenous species were driven to extinction, another 80-odd put on the endangered list’ I hear you’ve been in Western Australia recently. What have you been up to? Well, I was part of the Dirk Hartog Island renovation. It’s a conservation project called ‘Return to 1616’, with this being the date the Dutchman Dirk Hartog bumped into Western Australia – probably inadvertently. There’s a major conservation project there because for more than 100 years the island has been used for rearing sheep, which has devastated the ecosystem – as have the cats the settlers brought with them. Its native marsupials – the western-barred bandicoot, the woylie, the dibbler, the bilby – were all driven to extinction. Now there’s a project to remove the invasive species and reintroduce the missing…

YES Nandini Chakraborty Wanderlust reader “I’d draw the line at Syria, but to Egypt or the rest of the Middle East? Sure. I’d be in safe hands! Sadly, the world is unsafe in places, but we had a great guide in Egypt, who I met again recently. He said that, after a number of incidents, guides and their families were struggling with the lack of visitors. To think of these people suffering is more distressing than going somewhere ‘risky’.” NO Julia Hammond Wanderlust reader “I’m taking fewer risks the older I get – perhaps a sense that my luck may run out? I found a guide handy when in Haiti last year, but I also followed a local guidebook author who was posting stuff on Twitter. So it was easy…

NEW ZEALAND Stroll the best of New Zealand ‘The land of the long white cloud’ is home to some of the finest short treks around, including the Tongariro Alpine Crossing – regularly voted the world’s top day walk. Silver Fern Holidays’ self-drive Easy Walks in New Zealand sees you not only padding the Tongariro but also the option of trying its new rival: the Pouakai Crossing in nearby Egmont National Park. You'll also trek glow-worm caves, explore the forest-fringed bays of Abel Tasman Park before heading to the South Island; there you'll explore gold-rush villages in the shadow of Mount Cook and hike to the top of Christchurch’s Port Hills, as the Canterbury Plains sweeps languidly below. WHO: Silver Fern Holidays (01636 813 544, silverfernholidays.com ) WHEN:…

‘Oxo cubes (or other stock brands) make a pleasant hot-but-light savoury drink, which can be very welcome if your appetite is poor’ While medical kits include the basics, you really should also customise them for your needs. Depending on the climate and the risks of where you are going, you might want to swap some items for others or add new ones altogether. And of course, remember to take your usual prescribed meds with you, too. SORT YOUR MEDS First up: medication. Few kits will contain anything beyond antiseptic wipes, plasters and bandages. So you might want to consider taking soluble paracetamol – great for gargling if you have a sore throat, but also good for reducing fever, aches and pains. If you plan to travel with stronger painkillers, especially…

Natural phenomena are common in Iceland, a landscape sculpted as much by fire as frost. But it’s not always the explosive geological features that leave a lasting impression, as I quickly found out on its lush, bouncy lava fields. Driving south from Reykjavik on Route One, dipping along the coast and past fjords and waterfalls, Iceland established its own wow factor with every mile covered. On some of the rougher roads there was much to feel uncomfortable about, but the scenery was doing its best to divert us. But we needed a break, so we hopped out of our rickety van to stretch our legs and snack on some local produce supplied by our guide. I had imagined lava fields to be ashen affairs; I’d pictured shades of blackened rock…

STAR LETTER Stunning Serbia What an interesting article you published on Serbia [Oct 2016, issue 170]. I just returned from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, where I travelled solo. My guide, Miroslav, took me to quirky cafés and flea markets selling absolutely everything. We walked cobbled streets, looked in little shops full of crafts and visited lots of towns, including Topola. The sun was shining, people were friendly and the scenery amazing. Go now before the country becomes too crowded. And yes, it’s perfectly safe! Lorraine Ludman, Dubai Greenland joy How nice to see Greenland mentioned in a couple of issues recently – first in the ‘Your Photos’ section [Nov 2016, issue 171] and then in the ‘Travel Hot List’ [Dec 2016/Jan 2017, issue 172]. We visited this wonderful territory…

Luang Prabang, Laos WHY GO SLOW? Drifting into port on a Mekong River slow-boat sets the tone for any visit to Luang Prabang. Here, cobbled streets twist lazily under the auspices of colonial facades, interrupted only by the gleam of gold-topped temples. The pace rarely rises above the easy gait of its saffron-robed monks, while there are plenty of Buddhist temples and villages to explore. WHAT TO SEE: Stroll the morning market for ingredients, perhaps taking in a local cookery class, then cycle out to the cascading waterfalls and sapphire pools of Kuang Si, soaking in their iridescent blue. Decelerate further on a cruise downriver to explore the Buddhist caves of Pak Ou or a Fair Trek (trekking-in-laos.com) to the Akha communities scattered in the valley’s hinterlands. Queen Charlotte Sound,…

1 Shoving a tampon up your nostril may not be the most glamorous look, but it’s an effective method of soaking up nosebleeds; p82 2 Modern-day Bangkok (and Thailand) is less than 250 years old – formed when Taksin the Great took back what was then Siam from the invading Burmese armies; p58 3 Be careful when booking a flight to Mérida – there are at least four cities of the same name in Mexico; p77 4 Paraty’s wonky roof tiles have a shady history: they were made by wrapping clay around the thigh of a slave girl; p110 5 A raindrop takes around 90 days to travel along the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to New Orleans; p24…

‘We need to preserve the natural and cultural resources that exist there’ Sardines. Sadly, this is exactly what we feel like when visiting some of the world’s most in-demand destinations. We head to Barcelona, for example, with the intention of soaking up the aura of the Sagrada Familia. Instead, we’re suffocated by thousands of others, all there for the same reason, taking the shine off the trip. But increasingly more authorities are taking action by restricting numbers to some of the world’s most popular sites. Destinations such as Venice – and even Iceland, which was still considered ‘up-andcoming’ until very recently – have announced that they’re looking into ways to limit visitor numbers. And Torres del Paine National Park in Chile has now gone one step further, stamping a cap…

That Spanish influences feature strongly in Cuban cooking is of little wonder. The island remained a part of Spain’s empire for nearly a century after its fellow Latin American colonies began declaring independence, only breaking its shackles in 1902. But visitors to Cuba will discover that its defining flavours arguably owe just as much to West Africa. This African influence – a legacy of the slave trade that drove Cuba’s plantations until 1886 – takes the form of one food in particular: the plantain. This banana-like crop is found across the Americas, having been imported from West and Central Africa. But Cuba has adopted it as if it were its own. In its simplest form, plantains come fried (see recipe), but even this has its subtleties: use greener fruit for…

DESTINATIONS 2017 Manchester, 19–22 Jan; London, 2–5 Feb www.destinationsshow.com EventCity, Manchester/Olympia, London. From £8 (under-16s free). Wanderlust subscribers receive two free tickets with this issue; non-subscribers will get a discount. The biggest travel show in the UK gives you the chance to mingle with tour operators, and gasp at the stunning shots in the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition gallery. Find out who you voted as the winners of travel in our 2017 Reader Travel Awards (Thurs 2 Feb) and we’re also hosting an Australia-themed photography talk, too (see p90 for more info). Your ticket also includes entry into the Stanfords Travel Writers Festival, where you’ll be cast into far-flung corners of the world with talks from Michael Palin, Simon Reeve, Levison Wood, Robson Green and more. ADVENTURE…

VITAL STATISTICS Headwaters: Itasca State Park, Minnesota End of the road: Venice, Louisiana River Length: 2,350miles/3,734km (approx) Road Length: 2,159miles/3,474km States: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana Visas: UK nationals require an ESTA ($14; valid for two years). Apply at least 72 hours before travel at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta Money: US Dollar (USD), currently $1.25 to the UK£ When to go Best for a road trip – cooler in the Deep South, with milder climes up north. Note: hurricane season is Aug–Sep. Summer – the bottom four states will be hot and humid, but expect long sunny days perfect for walks as you head north. Winter – south is cooler Mardi Gras Feb-Mar, but itcan be cold up north and road and attraction closures are a risk. Spring…

AVOID THE CROWDS: Lots of people travel to Kanchanaburi to see the bridge over the River Kwai, but not that many venture on to see Erawan Falls. This forested escape contains seven different waterfall tiers, each with its own clear swimming pool. After working up an appetite, seek out the night market back in Kanchanaburi for its street-food stalls – the fresh papaya salad here is incredible but fiery. BEST FOOD: Jump in a tuk-tuk in Bangkok and set off for Yaowarat (Chinatown) after dark. With its neon signs, sea of red plastic chairs and stalls balancing sizzling barbecues and smoking cauldrons of stock, Bangkok’s Chinatown comes into its own at night. Bite your way through classics such as kha moo grob (crispy fried pork with rice), ba mee Hong…

PACKAGING You’ll need a tough pack to withstand the rigours of travel, so robust and ripstop (resistant to tearing and ripping) materials are best. If using it when heading outdoors (hiking, cycling, canoeing, etc), look for waterproof – or at least water resistant – packaging with coated zips. Also think about ease of use. Some have internal organisers, so finding what you need is fuss-free, but others that focus on reducing weight may compromise on handy, easy-to-find compartments. DRESSINGS Let’s be honest, the most common injury you get when travelling is a small cut or scrape, so plasters, butterfly closures (to hold together larger cuts), sterile gauzes and medical tape are all vital. These will help stop bleeding as well as prevent dirt from getting into any wounds. If hiking,…

TONY COWBURN Landscape category winner “I loved Torndirrup NP, near Albany, and especially Salmon Hole Bay for its great sunrises. I got there at about 5am one morning and took some shots of a dark and dramatic sky at dawn. In fact, I liked all the coastal scenery and was particularly surprised by Perth – the view of the city from Kings Park was exceptional, particularly at night. This really was the trip of a lifetime for me.” VITTORIO RICCI Wildlife category winner “Every day I spent in Western Australia, I became more impressed by its natural wonders. I’ll never forget seeing beautiful spring wildflowers blooming or scouring the waters offshore for breaching humpback whales. Then there was peaceful Yanchep NP and the insulation from the world I found on…

My must-see list has always included the northern lights, and despite having travelled overland to Prudhoe Bay through the Northwest Passage, and sailed in the high Arctic, I’d never seen them. So when I began a cruise from Iceland to Norway’s Lofoten Islands, I didn’t have high expectations. But this would soon change at our first stop. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Arctic cruises, it’s that if place names have lots of Qs and double letters (especially vowels), there’s a good chance you’re in Greenland. So it was that I found myself in the waters off the world’s largest island, as the MS Fram, our 240-passenger ship, pulled into port in Ittoqqortoormiit (‘place with the big houses’). We weren’t going ashore until the following morning, but as darkness…

Norway Wanderlust forum user Nigel Branscombe spends ten days in the midnight sun The highlight: Watching a polar bear scavenging a carcass under the freezing midnight sun. Must see: Polar bears – if you can. The impressive Svalbard Museum at Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen is worth a look, too. Top tip: Norway’s National Gallery in Oslo is also impressive, but Scandinavian artists aren’t known for their joie de vivre – make sure to bring the antidepressants. Cautionary tale: Oslo is obscenely expensive and, even though it was daylight until 10pm when I visited, a lot of the attractions close at 5pm, so plan carefully. I wish I’d known... There was some messing about at Tromsø airport because Norway isn’t in the EU, so bring a good book. Alcohol is also cheaper…

On our travels, our attention is just as easily grabbed by epic human feats of engineering as the natural wonders we encounter. Certainly when peering up at South Dakota’s Black Hills, it’s hard not to be awestruck at huge faces of presidents Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Washington blasted out of the rock of Mount Rushmore over 75 years ago. Its dangling craftsmen used chisels, jackhammers and dynamite to sculpt it over a period of 14 years. Few shots depict their dangerous task better than this one, taken in the 1930s by Charles D’Emery and reproduced in TASCHEN’s rather-splendid new book, The United States of America (£250, out now), charting the evolution of the nation using National Geographic’s 125-year-old archives. These fearless men, captured here etching Lincoln’s face, are a potent…

NEIL OLIVER Archaeologist and historian Well known on our TV screens as the long-locked and silky-voiced presenter of Coast, Neil Oliver has always loved places where the land meets the sea. He chats to us about his favourite shorelines in the world and the new series of Coast down under (p18) Mountain, desert, ocean or jungle… which are you? Ocean (obviously). First great travel experience? Visiting the battlefields of France and Belgium – the Somme, Ypres, Albert – with my dad. It wasn’t epic but it was memorable. Favourite journey? Being part of the crew on a 50-foot yacht sailing from the Falklands to Antarctica in a month. We got to know each other terribly well, and there was the slight smouldering fear of death because of where we were!…

New year, new journeys, and 2017’s books kick off with practically a calendar’s worth. The January›Man (Doubleday, £15) is Christopher Somerville’s lyrical pursuit of his father’s spirit, covering a mix of personal journeys and some of Britain’s choicest stretches over 12 months. It’s a goldmine of historical nuggets and walking inspiration. Also wandering her past to strong effect is Bulgarian-born Kapka Kassabova in Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe (Granta, £15). The densely forested hinterland between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece was one of The Cold War’s hottest corners and remains a slightly traumatised treasure trove of myth and monsters – some sadly very real. Reza Pakravan has a more epic adventure in mind as he and a pal reject their city lives in favour of a 18,000km cycle…

TANZANIA Walk a safari in peace Feel the Serengeti under your feet rather than eyeing it from the back of a 4WD on Mountain Kingdoms’ Serengeti Walking Safari in Style tour. Warm up first with game drives out to Ngorongoro Crater – where you can walk to a Maasai village – and Arusha National Park, where you can clamber the slopes of Mount Meru. Also pay a visit to Manyara NP, famed for its tree-climbing lions, before spending three days in a private wilderness area in the Serengeti, wandering its acacia-strewn wild tracks in the company of guides, negotiating grassy plains and enjoying its wildlife – all without the usual convoys of 4WDs. WHO: Mountain Kingdoms (01453 844 400, mountainkingdoms.com ) WHEN: 12 Mar & 10 Sept…

VITAL STATISTICS Capital: Bangkok Population: 67,959,359 Languages: Thai; various tribal dialects Time: GMT+7 International dialling code: +66 Visas: Not required by UK nationals for stays of up to 30 days Money: Thai Baht (THB), currently THB44 to the UK£. ATMs are found across the country; credit cards widely accepted. When to go High season: These are the driest months, and far cooler than the rest of the year. Temperatures can drop to the low 20s (ºC) in Bangkok and mid-teens in Chiang Mai. Shoulder-month November sees fewer tourists and cheaper air fares. Peak heat: The hottest months. As temperatures hit the mid 30s (ºC) in Bangkok and higher in Chiang Mai, Songkran water festival (13–16 Apr 2017) kicks in. Everyone gets a soaking. Low season: The monsoon bursts across central…

Had you made a travel film before? I’d tried. When I’d travel, I’d use the video function on a DSLR or bring a video camera to get footage, but I never got round to actually editing it. I would record too much, then it would take an age to download onto my computer. After all that, it was tricky to work out how to do simple things like add music. So I never saw it through. How was it different on your phone? It was so much easier and quicker. Because my phone has limited memory, I couldn’t overshoot, so I actually thought about what I wanted to record first. The iMovie app is also very intuitive to use; shortening clips by touch seems like second nature now, and having…

1 Harbin Snow & Ice Festival, China (5 Jan–25 Feb) The daddy of all snow festivals! The northern Chinese outpost has utilised its bitter winters to great effect, forging life-sized ice palaces and towering snow buildings, as the ambitions of its sculptors reach ever loftier heights. And after dark, light shows see the ice come alive. 2 Kiruna Snow Festival, Sweden (25–28 Jan 2017) Deep in Swedish Lapland, local Sami traditions are mixed with the modern (and bizarre), as ice sculptors flock to create weird and wild glacial masterpieces amid the tundra. Ride on a sled pulled by huskies for the classic Sami experience. Delightful. 3 Carnaval de Québec, Canada (27 Jan–12 Feb) A staple in the Quebecois diary, the city’s snowscapes boast frozen sculptures aplenty, light shows, a giant…

1 Go unseen  You don’t want to be recognised as a photographer; once people see that you’re about to take a picture of them, their behaviour will change and the scene you originally witnessed will not be the one that you capture. Leave your flash and tripod at home and take minimal amounts of kit. You need to be invisible, so walk slowly, wear anonymous clothing and avoid eye contact (sunglasses are a great help here). 2 Shoot from the hip  ‘Shooting from the hip’ (without looking through the lens) is a trick used by street photographers to take pictures covertly. You can get great shots – even while looking in a different direction. Cameras that have articulated (flip) LCD screens are great for this, but you can do it…

ADVENTURE MEDICAL KITS Ultralight/Watertight .3 £11 THE TEST: The smallest and cheapest of all the kits here, this one hits the scales at just 56g. It’s made for a single person to take with them on a multitude of activities as a small ‘just in case’ option, rather than an all-singing, all-dancing fix-any-injury bag. On the outside is a lightweight water-resistant ripstop fabric, which is closed with a zip (coated). However, inside – containing all the contents – is a tough, fully waterproof press-shut plastic pouch that ensures it packs down small. Tiny and light it may be, but it still contains an impressive array of items as standard: two butterfly closures, a roll of medical tape, eight plasters (three specifically for knuckles), four sterile gauze dressings, two safety pins,…

VITAL STATISTICS State capital: Perth State population: 2.6 million Language: English Time: GMT+8 International dialling code: +61 Visas: Required by UK nationals. British citizens can apply for a free eVisitor visa from the Department of Immigration (www.immi.gov.au). Money: Australian dollar (A$), currently around A$1.67 to the UK£ When to go High season – along with Easter, most popular (and hottest) period for Perth and the south-west. Roads impassable in the Kimberley (Nov-Feb). Shoulder season – warm and dry. Peak whale-watching at Bremer Canyon (Feb–Mar); blue whales can be seen in Nov. Milder temperatures – southern right and humpback whales May-Oct. Whale sharks at Ningaloo until July. Bloom time – best for wildflowers. Health & safety The region is remarkably safe. Tap water is drinkable. Wear sunscreen. Further reading & information…

Taking a flight for the first time. I’ll never forget the first time I went on a plane, to Sharjah in the UAE. Nazish Celebrating your birthday. Congrats to @wanderlustmag and @Wanderlust_Lyn on 23 years. What a great achievement. @just_retiring Going on a watery adventure in Africa. I’m looking forward to a canoe trip on the Zambezi River. Sharon Jenkins Carter Enjoying what Serbia has to offer. They have warm people, varied scenery, lots of fascinating history and wonderful music events. Plus, a great network of roads make it a cycling gem. Thierry Joubert Dreaming of visiting Uganda soon. I’m hoping to go there in February to go gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable NP and spot chimps in Kibale NP. @jetsetninja Dreaming of visiting Jordan’s signature sight. The ancient city…