EXTREME SNORKELLING • When the Thrill is Not So Deep •• Eye to Eye with the Big Barracuda
TEAM OUTPOST
ADVENTURE
RANDOM CAMPING AND SOLO HIKING ON
TURKEY’S REPORT LYCIAN WAY From Trekking to Kayaking Kayaking to
Scaling the Highest Peak
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When our roving correspondent gets bit by that bug of travel! From Frame to Sensor to Megapixel—Decode the Camera this Holiday Season From Snamping to Cold Yoga, Winter Sports are Back! Sewage Diving in Mexico City
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A Canadian writer on the Laidback Life of one of Europe’s great cities
15/10/2013 5:47:24 PM
ISSUE
96
6 Mailstop
atar Airways Flight of a Lifetime Contest—and the Winner is…?
9 Tripping 10 On The Fringe
We Are All Connected
More under-reported, quirky-human, natural-world stories: when pigs and wasps get wasted and dogs and cats share blood, where the smartest phones have the coolest eyes, and what s with sewer diving in Me ico City
Knowledge 13 Local ot t e e er o
au
a
And lived to tell the tale hen our special correspondent goes in search of the great gorilla he has a nasty little encounter with the tiniest of pests
17 Thrillseeker ut a out arra u as
t t e
he not so way down A novice snorkeller goes swimming with the fishes and finds they don t care if you re new to the sport
Notes 21 Field to t e or e
28 MEC’s The Traveller’s Edge New!
rom snowtrekking to snamping to cold yoga it s almost that time again
Backpacker Buzz e s fro oste ter at o a
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Outpost Traveller Connecting you to your next adventure
he ig log change In its th installment of , the winners of HI s best blogging contest swap countries and tell us how it went
48My Budapest tor
sa a
Con uered for centuries by marauding tribes and wandering empires but rising through its history like a phoeni from the land, udapest sparkles in the heart of Central urope liced by the anube, dotted by parks and glorious landmarks, energized by caf s and underground bars, this modern travel pearl is one of the continent s most mysterious destinations
65
A Team Outpost Adventure Report rom rugged tundra to raging rivers to Arctic wildlife and the orngat Mountains hether you trek, climb, kayak, raft, fish, camp or wildlife view, there s no disputing that in Nunavik, uebec, adventure sets the pace
o e
Meanwhile, when a diving career is cut une pectedly short, one geoscientist learns the advantage of rising to the surface
34
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74The Lycian Way tor
are
o
inding along urkey s southern tur uoise coast, where pastoral life unfolds across oss ancient lands and bucolic villages and rustic shoreline cliffs, is a -kilometre trail even novice trekkers can tackle
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uying a camera this holiday season rom point-and-shoot to L , sensor size to pi els, here s what you need to know
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FOR THE LOVE
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FINA SCROPP O PHOTOGRAPHY
WIN
OF FOOD AND
EASY,
AUTHENTIC DISHES MADE HEALTHY
BY MICHAEL
RAO
Adventure of a Lifetime to
the
Andrew Querner
Thailand
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Enter for a Chance to WIN www.outpostmagazine.com
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Experience is powerful.
Experience can motivate, inspire, fascinate.
It can inform important life decisions, help people reflect on themselves, entertain, challenge and change. But first, it must be shared. In 2013 we live in a connected world, a world where experience can be transmitted across the globe in mere seconds. Shared thoughts, perceptions, imagination, memories and emotions are now instantly accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Every second, 9,100 tweets are sent. Every minute, the equivalent of 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. Every day, Facebook users share 2.5 billion pieces of content. This is hyper connectivity, and it reflects an intrinsic human characteristic: the desire to share our experience. We now have the ability to experience countless destinations, cultures, languages, cuisines, monuments and landmarks across our planet, to accumulate, capture and convey our travel experiences like never before. Experience is no longer limited by proximity, and with the Internet, its dissemination is almost Outpost Online Editor infinite. What used to be stored only by the mind can now be captured for eternity, what used to be shared only by the voice can now echo to the outer edges of the world—to friends, to family, to complete strangers. Why does this matter? Because the ability to share experiences so easily means the borders of experience are decreasing and shifting. Once upon a time, the place where you were born defined most of the experiences you would have. Now, you can sample millions of pieces of shared experience at the stroke of a key, and every shared experience adds a new thread to the ever-expanding mosaic of humanity’s legacy. In these countless shared experiences are slivers of empathy, humour, knowledge and insight, waiting to be discovered. This, to me, is inspiring. The notion that my experiences, shared digitally, will somehow remain eternal for someone to discover some day. The idea that my experiences may inspire someone to travel, to seek out a similar perception, to feel empathy in a similar thought or emotion, to reflect on a similar memory, to feel comforted by my words or photographs. As travellers, we are driven to explore the world; as humans, it is in our nature to share our experience of it: the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, all contribute their own piece to the story. No experience is ever wasted when it has been shared. In these pages, we share our travel experiences with you.
To Share is Human. To Connect, Divine By Daniel Puiatti
www.outpostmagazine.com
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F
o e, r.
M
I Got the Fever
KNOWLEDGE
Story and Photos by Simon Vaughan
What happened when our special gorilla-tracking correspondent got bit by the big travel bug Long before Tweeting travellers lay awake at night dreaming up ways to go viral, I was regularly going viral without the help of the Internet. Alas, my success was of the IV and rubber-snapping, latex-glove variety; but success it was nevertheless, and I quickly became a legend...if only in my doctor’s waiting room or local Emergency department. There’s nothing particularly humorous about an exotic ailment, especially for those across the planet whose lives www.outpostmagazine.com
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are constantly at risk from mosquitoes or unclean water. But as a true adventurer, a modicum of fully-cured malaria or dash of dengue fever can earn you a free drink at most explorers’ bars. I’d never ever advocate going out of your way to contract a contagion (just to be uber clear); but saying you’ve missed the office Christmas party because of trypanosomiasis or schistosomiasis sure beats feigning an in-grown toenail. I am a huge advocate of travel insur-
ance and have had more needles than a clumsy masseuse at a porcupine parlour. I can speak of the veritable merits of chloroquine, mefloquine and Gin’n’Tonic’o’quine better than most pharmacists, and have on several occasions been told by local ER physicians that I likely know more about malaria than they do. Strangely though, they demur at the suggestion of paying me a consulting fee as they huddle around their notepads when I am self-diagnosing.
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Malaria in the Western Lowland Gorilla is thought to have been the precursor for malaria in humans (though Simon's photos here depict mountain gorillas, the lowland's nearby cousin!).
hile most travellers know the difference between an P and an P sunscreen, I somewhat sadly know that malaria is transmitted by the Anopheles mos uito not the Cule , Haemagogus, Aedes or Culiseta, duh and that like uentin arantino characters they prefer to sup from dusk to dawn I also know that the word malaria originates from the Italian for evil air and that some believe its fever was the cause of the decline of the oman mpire but not the reat Pasta trike of In the ungles of uriname, a local guide once gave me a piece of bark to chew on before curling up with laughter as my face spiralled into itself like a kaleidoscopic image he core ingredient of the bark is the puckeringly
bitter uinine, and has been used by indigenous tribes forever In th-century India, ritish officers made uinine more palatable by mi ing it with water and sugar as a tonic for their fevers then threw in some gin for good measure hough today s tonic no longer contains enough uinine to fend off a bout of malaria, I prefer to err on the side of caution and down a few anyway, ust to be safe hort of being bitten by a engal tiger, malaria must be the ultimate badge of honour for most tropical travellers espite it being amongst the most appalling of diseases in the world today, for would-be Hemingways it tends to be a must-have or centuries, the blight once known as marsh fever or ague was lent a certain romanticism by
e plorers, adventurers and writers who luridly scribed about their night sweats, violent shakes and hallucinations, before donning be-tassled fezzes and retiring to the opium lounge for a recreational top-up It s that infamy that for many makes malaria top-of-the-chart when adventurers gather over a few aming sugar cubes and some wormwood spirit and do the old I ll see your giardia and tarantula bite, and raise you to oplasmosis and a Pamplona impaling kind of bragfest Perhaps absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, but once fully recovered, a dalliance with disease, or visitation with venom, can sometimes be recalled like a favourite e otic delicacy ometimes though, for all your knowledge and care, no matter how
WHAT’S IN YOUR PACK?
Innovation and Quality in Packs Since 1974
ospreypacks.com fall-winter 2013/2014
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NEW PORTAL SERIES
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www.outpostmagazine.com
9/10/13 10:45 AM
11/10/2013 12:45:59 PM
Story by
Jaclyn Truss
OUT AND ABOUT WITH THE
Barracudas In the waters of Jardines del Rey, Cuba, a novice snorkeller
learns that animals don’t care if you’re new to the sport
Photos: this page, Sergio D. Spadavecchia; inset photo, Anthony Fascione
D
ay has broken on the coast of Cayo Guillermo, a small island paradise off mainland Cuba, connected only by a single man-made causeway and a divinely-made crystal clear ocean. Here we have come for a week of renewal, rejuvenation, and of course, adventure. On this morning, David, his father Michael, myself, daughter ae and our friends Josh, Talia and Anthony, are heading out for a day of deep-sea fishing. With high hopes of stringing out a few fishermen’s tales of our own, we embark aboard a sturdy fishing vessel and set sail. Skippered by El Duro (“the tough one”), our trip has barely begun when we are offered the option of a freshly caught lobster lunch. After a resounding yes’ by all, El Duro dives down to a set of strategically sunken car tires that are covered by wooden boards. Lobsters www.outpostmagazine.com
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hide in these rubber shanties because there are few places of shelter in the otherwise open ocean floor. Without hesitation David dives in after him. A few minutes later, El Duro surfaces with a large lobster, and shortly after David pops up too, victorious with a lobster in each bare hand—one as big as El Duro’s, and the other bigger than any fisherman ever dare lie about. Our lobster catchers reboard, and we drop our bait lines and speed to deeper waters. And then they appear—as if not to be outdone by a pod of arthropods, the barracudas make a fast and furious debut. Living primarily in oceans, barracudas are commonly found in Cuba, and though there are 26 species of the fish worldwide, many have the classic silver/grey top with white underbelly. Extremely opportunistic predators, they
are built like sleek torpedoes with steel trap jaws, and rely on their excellent vision, short bursts of speed (they can go over 40 kilometres an hour), and the element of surprise to catch smaller fish. Although barracudas sport unfavourable reputations, the reality is that unprovoked attacks on humans are rare, and are often attributed to cases of mistaken identity where people have been confused for prey. And yet these highly adaptive predators find themselves falling prey to us—in no time at all we reeled in three, each larger than the last. A contagious excitement fills our boat when we do, and we snap pictures of our champion haul of fitfor-king lobsters and ferocious fishes. We fish most of the morning, before El Duro takes us to a coral reef where we will snorkel and he will prepare our lobster lunch.
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bling upon a barracuda is stumbling upon a battery of them, because while adult barracudas prefer a solitary hunt, younger ones tend to hang out in schools. And now, as it comes fully formed out of the shadow and we find ourselves face to face—as I am staring him straight in the eye—I don’t know if he’s hungry, full, swimming solo or packing a posse. The only thing I am certain of is that I’m the smallest of the three of us, and if anyone is to be confused for prey it will likely be me. David, Anthony and I cluster together, eyeing the predator as it slowly encircles us. Diving directly beneath us, it suddenly seems to see me for the first time and begins to swim toward me. I immediately fear he may be deciding whether I’d make a tasty afternoon repast, when I notice the sun glinting off the ring on my finger. To my dismay, I realize I’ve just given him every reason to believe I am, indeed, an option. Because of its plausible likeness to the reflection of fish scales, causing you to seem “fishy” to potential predators, wearing shiny jewellery while snorkelling is a no-no. Should you prefer to not heed this, please remember that a diamond is forever only if it doesn’t get eaten by a barracuda.
A n t h o n y, witnessing what looks like a purposeful advance, quickly puts himself between me and the contemplating carnivore. As self-sufficient as I normally like to be, I’m grateful for the
chivalry. The idea of losing a few fingers to a misguided fish, while my horrified daughter looks on, simply because my ring surrendered me to the likeness of a yellowtail snapper, is not exactly how I envisioned this trip ending. Seemingly daunted by Anthony’s unmistakably larger stature, the barracuda swims off, with David (clearly free from any sense of self-preservation) and his camera in hot pursuit. “I’m impressed, you totally kept your cool!” Anthony says to me as we surface. “Well, for all you know, I peed myself, I reply. “Touché.” Exhilarated as we are relieved, Anthony hops aboard the boat to adjust his snorkel while I stay in the water to wait for David.
I notice then that the fair visibility at this depth only extends a few metres before it completely obscures anything beyond that. And I suddenly grasp that we would never see a shark coming until it was too late. Considering the schools of fish that had remained in the area after the barracuda made its appearance, it seemed to me their perception of a flashing neon warning sign must be more innate or intuitive. I figured as long as the little fishes were sticking around I likely had little to worry about. I had barely finished the thought when suddenly my fish-danger meter scattered beneath me, fleeing some commotion behind us. Wheeling around in panic, my heart raced as I saw Anthony recovering from what looked like a sloppy dive back in the water. “You scared the heck out of me!”
Photos: this page spread and bottom two inset, Sergio D. Spadavecchia; top two inset, Anthony Fascione
With about 3,735 kilometres of coastline, Cuba is a haven for underwater adventurers, attracting divers and snorkellers from across the globe. Jardines del Rey specifically treasures more than 30 pristine dive sites, which along a 32-kilometre coastal stretch just north of Cayo Guillermo are host to a stunning array of subaqueous flora and fauna. Once we set anchor, David, Anthony and I opt to dive in with our snorkels, but only after El Duro’s express assurances that we would not find barracudas gliding silently and otherwise undetectedly in this particular stretch of reef. Schools of colourful fish mill beneath us, conducting whatever non-urgent business fishes attend to throughout the day. I am enjoying this underwater sanctuary when suddenly I hear David’s bubbled cry through the water: “Barracuda!” I know David, our relentless photographer who is armed with an underwater camera, quite intuitively—he would totally scream that just to get a shot of our reaction. He’s taught me a few good lessons over time, and one is to never trust a photographer. He appears adamant however, and I eventually follow his gaze just in time to see a shadow, unnerving in size and increasing in threat, emerge from the murk. The outline (literally half the size of me) slowly fills in, and I see a silver, clenched, jagged, piranha-like maw and wide unmerciful eyes. It looks exactly as the frightful but helpless fish that hung from my hook not an hour ago did—only now we are in its environment and the ones on the metaphorical hook. Having never before encountered a barracuda but been plenty warned in the event of it, I assume that like many wild creatures it would adhere unerringly to one of its two major forms of existence: hungry and not hungry. Unfortunately, with no convenient neon sign flashing which state it was currently experiencing, our existence feels as if it’s suddenly being defined by three distinct options: prepare to be bitten, pray you won’t be, pray harder it’s alone. The only thing more frightening than stum-
www.outpostmagazine.com
11/10/2013 1:03:49 PM
By Susan R. Eaton
INTO THE
SNORKEL ZONE I heard the deep thumping sound of the rotor blades long before the two combat-green CH-146 Griffon helicopters crested the hill and landed beside our group huddled around a makeshift Inuit hunting shed on the northern tip of Baffin Island. Ma or Martin Pesant, a pilot with the actical Helicopter uadron from t Hubert, uebec, strode up to me, immaculate in his ight suit, helmet and aviator glasses, and shook my hand
ou must be very happy to see us, Madame, he said I m very happy indeed, Monsieur or the past sleepless hours, our group of eight ecotourists and guides, including four Inuit, had been living life on the edge the ice-fl e edge, to be e act here s no doubt that our intrepid group of e treme snorkellers from Australia, Canada, ngland, rance, apan, ordan and the nited tates
F ie l d N ote s N96-Outpost_205.indd 21
How one Canadian scientist investigates the not-so-deep of the planet’s seas and oceans had anticipated a grand adventure in Nunavut e d travelled to the land of the midnight sun, to snorkel and kayak among belugas and narwhals as they congregate along the ice-fl e edge prior to their annual migration through the Northwest Passage arly in the e pedition, we e perienced a storm with heavy rains and high winds that buffeted our sturdy safari he storm, combined with the summer solstice super moon
Susan R. Eaton (right) of Calgary, Canada, wearing a "critter cam" dive mask, and Dr. Karen Richardson (left) of Sydney, Australia, prepare for extreme snorkelling in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Emory Kristof, USA
15/10/2013 10:56:53 AM
F ie l d N ote s
and its associated high tides , caused the ice sheet we were camped on to break free of the ad acent land And so, set adrift on a fl ating ice island, we embarked upon a very different type of grand adventure than we had originally thought to rapped on a moving sheet of sea ice measuring about nine s uare kilometres and some metres thick we drifted kilometres to the north-northeast up Admiralty Inlet he water-fl oded ice island picked up speed, travelling up to kilometres per hour, as we oated toward the open Arctic waters of Lancaster ound, the gateway to the Northwest Passage A lumbering CCHercules had arrived from innipeg, si hours after
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the distress call was placed Circling overhead, the huge grey aircraft ew at low altitude over our ice island, its black contrails streaming across the Arctic sky, and dropped survival e uipment, including three -person life rafts and a satellite phone ut when a corner of the waterfl oded ice island grazed the headlands of the orden Peninsula on affin Island, we saw an opportunity to escape the ever-shrinking ice island uickly mobilizing snowmobiles, sledges, iglootuks wooden Inuit shelters carried on sledges and kayaks, we scrambled over the rafting ice to terra firma, where we were eventually rescued by the uadron known as the ildcats Later that same day, the ildcats
retrieved Inuit hunters and a young boy their odyssey on a separate fl ating ice island, where their adventure so to speak had begun similarly ust a day prior to ours hat group also reached safety elsewhere on affin Island before being rescued uffice it to say that my life as an e treme snorkeller has never been dull or predictable rom Antarctica to Nunavut, I ve e perienced many life-defining moments of e ploration and discovery in the snorkel zone, a uni ue water-air-land interface where charismatic mega-fauna congregate and interact with humans norkelling in a gin-and-tonic mi of brash ice in Antarctica I ve come faceto-mask with a , -pound leopard
www.outpostmagazine.com
17/10/2013 10:54:54 AM
From
By S. David Spadavecchia
Point-and-shoot
DSLR
to
Buying a camera this holiday season? From sensors to pixels to how big do you go, here's all the details you need to know!
Dashing through the Snow, with a Compact or Full-frame, O’er the Fields We Go, Snapping all the Way It s Christmastime soon, and let s face it, many of you are going to be spending money on a new camera I know that buying a camera is e citing, but before opening your wallet to dish for that shiny pink and purple point-and-shoot, or a -pound contraption that looks closer to a space shuttle, let s go through all your options to ensure you get the best bang for your buck he most important thing to know when buying a camera is that it should be tailored like a finely crafted Italian suit It has to fit all your needs specifically not necessarily more than you need, but definitely not less or e ample, a L camera which stands for digital singlelens refl , is too big to fit into a small purse or sit comfortably in your pocket it s also more technically delicate than a compact camera and needs more of your fall-winter 2013/2014
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attention when taking a photo n the other hand, when used at its ma imum capability, a L offers better control and fl ibility on light and depth of colour, and a wider range of optics that overall result in higher uality photos In this issue, I want to give you the tools and knowledge you need to choose a camera that is right for you or the person you re buying for he first thing to keep in mind when it comes to photography is that size does matter irstly, it s about the size of the camera s most important component, its internal sensor because whether the camera s body is big or small, it is sensor size that determines image uality And yet it s also true the size of the camera s body, and the lenses you use, decide whether it can be transported without having to hire a caddy
The Sensor o, to understand what s inside that e pensive bo you are going to purchase, start with the sensor ear not, those of you less technically inclined this is more user-friendly than you think he sensor is the part of the camera that captures light and analyzes its intensity through what s known as the filter the basic ed- reen- lue spectrum y reading the light, the sensor constructs an image comprised of millions of small coloured s uares known as pi els Multiplying the number of pi els along the length and the width of an image nets the amount of megapi els that create a photo the more pi els and megapi els a camera can create, the higher uality the photo will be his is otherwise known as a picture s resolution www.outpostmagazine.com
11/10/2013 10:03:54 AM
roof pentaprism
Sensor Size Chart
Highest Level Professional Cameras
Medium Format 50.7x39 mm Professional Cameras Full Frame 36x24 mm Semi-Professional Cameras APS-H 28.7x19.1 mm
sensor
Motion Picture Film Format Super 35 24.89x18.66 mm
focal-plane shutter
www.outpostmagazine.com
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hile this is prudent, you also want to determine if your budget is fl ible, because when you start shopping around you soon realize that for a few e tra bucks you can often get a camera with much better options a bigger sensor, for e ample A bigger sensor means a physically bigger and more e pensive camera that produces larger-sized photo files yes, it s bulkier to pack and carry when travelling, but the uality of image is incomparable hus, if picking out a camera this upcoming holiday season, evaluate sensor sizes and keep this in mind when comparing cameras In the end, the uestion you may be asking is do you really need all those megapi els to take a great photo If you re not in the fashion or print business, you definitely don t need photos that are M s in size tay tuned for a later column where I ll discuss how to select photo size
Entry Level DSLR DX 23.6x15.5 mm Phones - Compact Cameras - Bridge
A camera with a -megapi el sensor which is very good produces photos with very fine resolution megapi els break down to , , pi els A -megapi el camera however, generates a photo file size of , , pi els If these numbers are confusing ust do the math you ll get it It s likely obvious that larger sensors have more capacity to capture light and deeper colours, to add more contrast and resolution, compared to smaller ones And while the opposite is also true that for each step down from more to less megapi els, the less better, so to speak, is the uality of a photo the upside is, cameras with smaller sensors are simply less e pensive And price is typically one of the most important factors when choosing a camera so what is your budget, because budget is always the starting point
Entry Level DSLR APS-C 22.2x14.8 mm 4/3” 17.8x10 mm 2/3” 8.8x6.6 mm 1/2” 6.4x4.8 mm 1/3” 4.8x3.6 mm
The size of the boxes here are the actual sensor sizes. Megapixels are not indicated here, as it's also true that sensors of the same size can produce different resolution, depending on the model of the sensor itself
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2013/2014 fall-winter
17/10/2013 11:21:43 AM
MyBudapest
After a stint living in one of Central Europe’s most elegant cities, and penning a novel about its darker tensions, one Canadian writer revisits the city she has come to know and love
Story by Ailsa Kay
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10/10/2013 12:35:26 PM
Hung ary
I’ve
never been one to visit the sites of a city. I joke that I make a lousy tourist—I can’t visit, I can only stay. But with one Hungarian friend who loved his country’s history, I did visit a great many of Budapest’s sites. I went with Gabor to Szent István’s Basilica and I duly marvelled at its high dome, its statues that represent the story of Szent István, or St. Stephen, Hungary’s first Christian king. I don’t mean to say I wasn’t impressed; I was. The space of the basilica is designed for awe, after all. But maybe I wasn’t awed enough. At my friend’s suggestion, we went into the small chapel off to the side of the sanctuary, known as the Chapel of the Holy Right Hand. Beside the entry, a grey-haired woman wearing multiple cardigans over her dress sat in a short chair against the wall. At the end of the room, on a table behind a red-velvet rope stood a glass case that looked to me like a terrarium. Beside the case was a red-handled lever and a coin slot. “What is it?” I whispered to my friend. “You will have to deposit the money to find out,” Gabor shot back.
The magnifi ent St. Matthias Church in Budapest
www.outpostmagazine.com
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Across the incredibly vast territory of northern QuĂŠbec lies Nunavik, ancient land of the Inuit, home to national parks, rugged tundra, raging rivers, Arctic wildlife and the Torngat Mountains. Whether you come to trek, climb, camp, kayak, raft, fish or wildlife view, there's no disputing this is a land where adventure reigns!
ada
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15/10/2013 10:28:21 AM
ur beautiful big blue planet is decorated with wild spaces from pole to pole hose who live on the edges of these wildernesses are hardy souls who invariably have made their peace with nature, and live not at odds with the testing conditions, but in harmony hen there are those visitors who seek out these wild spots to test their resilience to purge the inertia of routine, or to see how they stand up against nature or against their forebearers, or perhaps, most of all, against themselves Canada is blessed to be in abundance with such testing grounds so when o e t o s set out for some serious domestic peregrinations, we needed look no further than Nunavik the vast and unspoiled wilds of northern u bec u a is one of the world s last truly wild places ccupying the northernmost
third of the province, the area is a wonderland of the untamed, with Arctic and sub-Arctic virginal vistas, taiga, tundra, forests, cliffs, mountains, rivers, ocean and unforgettable challenges ich with history, boasting a uni ue culture and some of the most spectacular photographic opportunities in the world, ea ut ost was at its most e peditionary in ust picking a launching point and route Having pawed over topographical maps and consulting with Nunavik Parks, eam utpost found it was utterly spoiled for choice but eventually carved out an e pedition to e plore the , -s uarekilometre uurur ua at o a ar that is situated near the northern tip of the u bec-Labrador Peninsula eam utpost uurur ua tested its mettle along the mighty oroc iver that runs through
this land, and on the precipitous slopes of u bec s highest peak, Mont Iberville An e pedition of a lifetime, with whispers of other wonders and challenges that beckon adventurers to this stunning Canadian outpost tretching from Labrador and the towering or at ou ta s in the east, to Hudson ay in the west and north to the Hudson trait, there are barely , inhabitants known as Nunavimmiut spread across , s uare kilometres, making Nunavik one of the most sparsely populated places on arth et for all its magnificent solitude and isolation, it is a remarkably accessible place Although not connected by roads or even rail and only brie y by water during the ice-free summer months Nunavik is ust a few hours from Montreal by air r u t, an
An Inuit couple hosting Team Outpost. The Inuit have inhabited this land for centuries
Nunavik plays host to part of the Torngat Mountains. Travellers to the area can climb a number of peaks
Dozens of local Inuit outfit ers are available for guiding across Nunavik
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15/10/2013 10:31:22 AM
TURKE The
Lycian Way
Along the spectacular southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey
is a 500-plus kilometre trail that even novice trekkers can tackle
Story by Karen McColl
The glittering view over Olu Deniz and Sugar Beach
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Photos: spread and right page/top three, D. McGillis; bottom two, A.R. Waxham Blackwell
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I am
soa
et e fr e oree o s o t e oor of a so tar ouse at t e to of a stee tra rura sout est ur e o a t o es a a e e es ear a ea s arf a s ers t e oor e re lost oreen bursts out Lykia olu nerede I pipe up in pigeon urkish here s the Lycian ay he woman stares blankly at us for a moment before gesturing inside with her hand ay she offers, smiling warmly Moments later we are seated on fl or mats in the modest home of etin and her husband irol, warming ourselves beside their electric space heater etin serves tea in traditional tulip-shaped glasses, and retreats to the kitchen with her two young sons I hear grease sizzling, and when I peak around the corner a little later she is s uatting in front of a wood-fire oven, kneading dough oreen and I get out our map and with the help of irol and much handgesturing, discover we are in the village of kcuoldugo, not aradere it would help if we could pronounce the name of the place we were trying to get to etin reappears, carrying a platter of fried bread, along with fresh olives, goat cheese and honey e feast together while oreen and I stretch our limited urkish vocabulary Harika ery good, we e claim gratefully, and it truly is An hour later, with full bellies and a new sense of direction, we shake hands with our generous hosts and try to communicate our intention to send photos of our visit e shoulder our heavy packs and walk away with a little more bounce in our step hat ust made my trip, oreen says, looking at me with shining eyes he moment I saw photos of the Lycian ay on the trail s official website and read that ritain s unday imes called it one of the world s best walks, I wanted to do it all kilometres Adventure check Nature check Culture check, check Plus, it seemed reasonable enough to do alone, even as a female hen, to my delight, oreen Mc illis, a friend and former colleague, decided to oin me a few weeks before the trip Like me, she was wooed by the idea of e ploring urkey on foot
A goat checks out the sunset from Cape Seven Noses near Gey Father and sons take advantage of calm weather in KaĹ&#x; harbour
Enjoying tea and the best view of Kabak Beach from Momma’s rooftop patio
Scrubby vegetation near the summit of Tahtali, Mount Olympos
Village house in Yayla Kuzdere
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A Canadian writer on the Laidback Life of one of Europe’s great cities
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