Wanderlust 157 June/July 2015 Sampler

Wanderlust Issue 157 (June/July 2015) Secret Japan ♦ Western Australia ♦ Welsh in Patagonia ♦ Offbeat Thailand ♦ 10 Best Travel Phenomena ♦ Pocket guides: Denver CO, Venice, Athens

W i n!

T R AV E L M AG A Z I N E

Trips for two Jordan and to G plus Osprey reece gea See page 4 r

www.wanderlust.co.uk June/July 2015

SECRET JAPAN

Follow in the footsteps of the samurai on ancient pilgrim paths

Off beat THAILAND From city treehouses to island homestays

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♦ Patagonia ♦ Australia ♦ Kenya ♦ Denver ♦ Venice ♦ Athens

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Contents

Issue 157 June/July 2015

360˚ – Need to Know

Travel Masterclass

6 Viewfinder to know this month...

12GoNeed 14 Eatnow this...

165 minutes with... Brian May 18 Know your...

Matterhorn 20Go with the flow 22

70The masterclass 73Instant expert: Magna Carta 76Take better travel photos Travel clinic 78Traveller’s to... short81 sleeve baseguide layers

Polar bears, Parisian noire and why Jordan needs you...

Lights, camera, action! Expert advice on how to capture your travel adventures on film

Super rapid rail travel hits Japan Spot icebergs, whales and seabirds in rugged Newfoundland Try golden guotie dumplings, a tantalising taste of Taiwan

The Great Charter of Liberties turns 800 – here’s where you can celebrate How to keep it real, gain your subject’s trust and tell a story with your snaps Dr Jane tackles health phenomena, from red tides to bee swarms

The rock star talks star-gazing

Celebrate the dramatic first ascent Nine river cruises guaranteed to float your boat

▲ Cover story

54 Secret Japan

Follow in the footsteps of the samurai on ancient pilgrim paths to find temples, shrines, mountains, forests and geisha in training

▲ Special feature

118

10 Best Travel Phenomena

From singing sand to northern lights, midnight sun and Great Migrations, we tell you where to add some natural magic to your trip

We test 12 of the best travel T-shirts on the market

WIN! A 5-star trip to Jordan p52 £400 of Osprey travel gear p80 A seven-day walking trip in Greece p98

“On Newfoundland you can see a holy trinity of wandering nature: icebergs, whales and seabirds.”

Newfoundland, p14

137

Denver, p137

Cuba, p112 “On hearing Denver’s ‘Mile High City’ sobriquet, you might picture a place perched precariously on mountain terrain – the reality may surprise you.”

Phoebe Smith

“I had to force myself to imagine the Golfo Nuevo as anything but a convivial corner of Argentine Patagonia. But it was here, on 28 July 1865, that 153 Welsh settlers disembarked to face calamities untold.” Chris Moss

4|

24

Welsh Patagonia, p24

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STATUTE OF LIBERTIES...

Magna Carta, p73

Getty

FEATURES

24Patagonia 40Offbeat Thailand 54Japan 84Western Australia 100Kenya

Travel the Andes in the footsteps of the Welsh pioneers Eco-initiatives abound in the Land of Smiles: journey from urban treehouses to island homestays Arrive in a hi-tech city, then take the train to discover wild mountains and ancient post towns on a tour of the old and new Hit Oz’s newest whale-watch hotspot and find wine, walking trails and wildlife on land too Explore little-visited Tsavo National Park – where the future of its famed tusker elephants is under threat

FROM THE ROAD

112Your Story

As it looks like all change in Cuba, reader David Ross reflects on his trip in 1994, which was also billed as ‘the last chance to see’ the ‘real’ country Letters In our mailbag: Wanderlust rides the waves; facing down Komodo dragons; watching the skies in Jasper National Park; exploring Kyrgyzstan; jumping the queue at Barcelona’s Sagrada Família

116

24 Hours: 137 First Denver, USA

The Mile High City is the perfect base from which to explore wild Colorado, but its lively atmosphere might make you want to linger

139Travel Icon: Venice, Italy

We marvel at art and architecture in the ‘Jewel of the Adriatic’ and find out how this floating city keeps its head above water

117This Month You Have Been... 141 Short Break: Athens Gorilla watching in Rwanda; spotting baboons in the Simien Mountains; walking the walls of Dubrovnik; exploring Guizhou; reminiscing about Antarctica; and much more...

Times might be hard in Greece but there’s nothing austere about the capital’s food scene. Chow down on marvellous meze with a side order of culture and classical history

118

“Cautiously they drew closer, the big bull in the lead, ears spread wide and trunk held high as if already vaguely aware of our presence, until he was looming over us, six tons of unimaginable power.” Brian Jackman

Matterhorn, p20

POCKET GUIDES

“From flashing plankton to singing sand, the world is full of weird and wonderful things.”

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Venice, p139 Benidorm, p144

Athens, p141

Japan, p54 Taiwan, p16

Thailand, p40 “We were making our way down to a gloriously empty beach, where the white sand squeaked underfoot. The only other sounds were the crashing of waves and the keening of gulls.

“Leave me here,” I half-joked, completely beguiled.” Lyn Hughes

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Western Australia, p84

TALKING HEADS Brian May, p18 “That’s the nice thing about travelling to see eclipses or stars – it takes you to places you would not normally get to.”

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Patagonia

e b e r e h

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s n o g a r d

ars e y 0 5 des? 1 ived in n A e in th s arr r n e e l t d t E e s ey in s h n s c l i r t e l u e o W j C r A ei rst tale h t fi r e e e e c h t n a since nia, we retr les and pio a o Patag of Wales, wh Moss is search otographs Chr s Word

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& ph

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Thailand

EASY BEING

GREEN 40 |

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Thailand

A Karst classic

The inimitable karst towers climb out of the waters at Phang Nga Marine National Park

From city treehouses to island homestays and hope for gibbons, Thailand is awash with eco-initiatives that not only help local communities but provide extra insight into the Land of Smiles Words & photographs Sarah Gilbert Wanderlust June/July 2015

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Wanderlust Issue 157 (June/July 2015) Secret Japan ♦ Western Australia ♦ Welsh in Patagonia ♦ Offbeat Thailand ♦ 10 Best Travel Phenomena ♦ Pocket guides: Denver CO, Venice, Athens

Patagonia

Retrace the journey of the Welsh pioneers

t r av e l m ag a z i n e www.wanderlust.co.uk June/July 2015

Australia

Head west for whales, wine and walking trails

secret japan Follow in the footsteps of the samurai on ancient pilgrim paths

10

best travel Phenomena

FeAtURinG: Midnight sun, Great Migration, ice caves, northern Lights, singing sands, polar night and more...

Offbeat thailand

W i n!

Trips for tw Jordan and o to Gr plus Osprey eece gear See page 4

From city treehouses to island homestays

+

Kenya ♦ USA ♦ Venice ♦ Greece

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Try six months of Wanderlust magazine for only £5 Details online at: www.wanderlustoffer.co.uk/WL157 Call us on: 01753 620426 and quote WL157 * TERMS & CONDITIONS: This offer is not available in conjunction with any other promotion. Offer only available by Direct Debit. To pay by Direct Debit both the billing and postal address must be in the UK. Subscriptions are continuous; after the first payment of £5, a payment of £15.00 will be collected every six months unless cancelled. No minimum term. Please allow up to four weeks for delivery of travel voucher.

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k c a b the e o t tur u f

pan a J like ths, e t i qu im pa t... w e d n r pilgr e pas n a h e e old discov s into t h t ixes ains to impse Price m S re rn tr e h d gl phs Neil e n w d a o N e mo ks hotogra a e s – u less p Smith p e tim s Phoebe rd Wo

Crossing paths

The frenetic street crossing in Tokyo’s Shibuya district contrasts spectacularly with the serenity found a train ride away

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Japan

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DEEP DOWN UNDER A marine marvel has just been discovered in the waters off Western Australia – though things are pretty special on land, too...

WORDS LYN HUGHES

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Australia

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Kenya

The

tower

Tsavo was supposed to be a safe haven for Kenya’s elephants, but with poaching on the rise, can this national park keep its mighty tuskers safe?

WORDS BRIAN JACKMAN

Heading for safety

Seemingly aware of what has put it under a death sentence, a Tsavo tusker tries to hide its ivory in the bushes

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Kenya

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Night lights

The setting midnight sun lights icicles hanging from massive iceberg near Petermann Island, Antarctica

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PHENOMENA WORTH TRAVELLING FOR From flashing plankton to singing sand, the world is full of weird and wonderful things.

So why not include some of these brilliantly bizarre spectacles into your next trip?

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