Wanderlust May 2016 Sampler

Wanderlust Issue 166 (May 2016) Travel Icons …by the back door ♦ Thailand ♦ Canada ♦ Germany Road Trip ♦ The Marquesas Islands (Polynesia) ♦ Pocket guides: Bergen (Norway), San Sebastián & Prague

Orcas in Canada

Kayak your way to a unique encounter

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

Thailand

– the eco-friendly way

www.wanderlust.co.uk May 2016

TRAVEL ICONS ...by the back door

Including: Bagan · Petra · The Amazon · Masai Mara Grand Canyon · Great Wall of China · Machu Picchu Uluru · Angkor Wat · Taj Mahal & more...

P l us !

ve – Palin, Bryson, Reeellers av your favourite tr that reveal the books der. an inspired them to w 0 2 p1 e Se

ROAD TRIP: German style Discover castles, kings and a touch of magic

£3.99

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Polynesia, 24 hours in Bergen, San Sebastián, Prague 7/4/16 13:23:44

CONTENTS

Issue 166 May 2016

360˚ – NEED TO KNOW

TRAVEL MASTERCLASS

nder 6 Viewfi to know this month...

12GoNeed 14 Eatnow this...

165 minutes with... Ed Stafford 18 Know your... iguana 20Go through thebluegears 24

Aurora borealis, leopardspotting in the Serengeti and Uluru lights up...

Amenity kits are going green See and munch on godly delights in Peru’s trendy capital Lima Transport yourself to ‘Spice Island’ with a fiery Sri Lankan curry We chat to the (fully-clothed) adventurer Meet the Caymans’ famous resident Cycling trips to send you to pedalling paradise

72The masterclass 75Instant expert: Guyana better travel photos 78Take 80Travel clinic guide to... traditional 83 Traveller’s luggage

Think you can’t be an adventurer? Think again. We reveal how anyone can be an adventurer – yes even you!

Absorb the carnival vibes as Guyana celebrates 50 years since its independence How to get the most from water reflections Dr Jane wrestles with the perceived and unseen risks of some of the world’s most popular destinations We test six top travel cases to sort the take-aways from the leave-behinds

▲ Cover story

26Travel Icons ...by the back door

“The local donostiarra seem as keen on cycling, swimming and coastal walks as lazy lunches washed down with rioja.” Thomas Rees

Tired of battling the crowds at the planet’s most popular sites? Leave queues and touts in your dust with our expert tips

▲ Special feature

222016 World Guide Awards

Nominations have arrived in their thousands, and we’ve managed to whittle them down to the final eight – now it’s your turn...

“Repeatedly its great black body arced slowly and gracefully up and over, the late sun glistening on its back.” Martin Fletcher

137 40

Vancouver Island, p40

Guyana, p75

14

Lima, p14

“Lima’s new faith is food. Its dining scene has fans flocking to its street stalls and restaurants.”

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BRYSON, PALIN, MURPHY...

18 defining travel books, p120 FEATURES

FROM THE ROAD

Discovery Channel; Paddy Barker/The Irish Examiner

40Orcas in Canada

Paddle with orcas in British Columbia’s famed Johnstone Strait; PLUS seven alternative destinations to get close to these oft-misunderstood sea mammals Eco Thailand Swap Thailand’s tourist-packed beaches for Trat Province, where green tourism is helping its villages to preserve a way of life under threat Germany Move over Route 66!

Follow in the tyre tracks of a female pioneer as we recreate the ‘original’ road trip Polynesia Visitors have tried to mould the Marquesas Islands in their own image, but you can’t beat reality…

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86 102

POCKET GUIDES

114Your story

break: 137 Short San Sebastián

Reader Katie Grayson rides into Chernobyl’s dead zone and Caroline Nye is charmed by the locals more than the scenery in Vietnam Letters In our mailbag: Putting the case forward for the future UNESCOprotection for Bagan; issuing a rallying call for storm-hit Dominica; and weighing up the travel pros and cons of Brexit

Visit the Czech capital as it comes alive this May to celebrate its favourite son, King Charles IV

Enjoying a mammoth train journey through Burma; laying eyes on snow for the first time; treating yourself to a Danish birthday break; making Moroccan tea; and much more...

It’s not just the gateway to the fjords – discover Bergen’s infectious mix of maritime history, arty vibes and fantastic mountain walks

118

One of Europe’s capitals of culture for 2016, the Basque capital’s beaches and tapas bars have never looked better – you won’t want to leave

icon: 139Travel Prague, Czech Republic

24 hours: 119This month you have been... 141 First Bergen, Norway

54 Bergen, p141

86

“Its towers, topped with ornamental blue turrets, resembled upturned ice-cream cones, while the facing wall was adorned with an elaborately large balcony, the likes of which could easily stage the closing scene of a children’s cartoon.” Phoebe Smith “There, children frolicked in twirling eddies while local women taught us how to sieve pebbles and silt while keeping our eyes peeled for the red glint of a Siamese ruby.”

Martin Symington

Germany, p86 San Sebastián, p137

Thailand, p54

102

Sri Lanka, p16 “Tattoos were banned for over a century in the Marquesas Islands. Today, they are a good example of how the archipelago is slowly reclaiming its culture from the whims of foreigners.” Emma Thomson

TALKING HEADS Ed Stafford, p18 “We all live in a world where it’s easy to distract yourself with your phone or Facebook.

If you’re isolated, you can’t really do that.”

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Out of breach

Over 200 resident orcas return to the Johnstone Strait every year for the annual salmon run

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Canada

Waiting for

orcas The Johnstone Strait, off the coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island, is one of the best places in the world for spotting orcas – all it takes is a kayak and a little patience…

Words martin fletcher Photographs Ken spence

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THAILAND’S NEW DAWN For the villages of eastern Thailand, sustainable tourism is helping to preserve a way of life under threat, proving that ethical travel is good for travellers and locals WORDS MARTIN SYMINGTON

Trat’s the way to do it...

Mu Koh Chang National Park is just one example of Trat Province’s exemplary green credentials

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Thailand Green living

(clockwise from this) The pristine beaches of Koh Chang; Khlong Prao temple; Chu displays his catch; a Salenger in action; Woranit talks rubber

56 |

So it was that I came to be wandering the forest with Woranit. As we walked on, he continued the long, tragic history of gemstone mining in Trat Province while I listened, engrossed as much by the tale as the way he told it. An ambassador for a way of life that many still cling to, even as Thailand changes all around them.

A ruby in the rough

Upon my arrival back at the village, I received an altogether more hands-on form of local hospitality – a regional variation on the kind of vigorous massages you’ll find all over Thailand. This required being aromatically steamed in a ‘chicken coop’ cage made from bamboo and palm leaves before a strenuous pummelling that was administered by a short, strong-armed lady equipped with mysterious potions concocted from herbs that had been foraged in the forest.

I emerged from the bamboo bed renewed and with a ravenous hunger, all the better to enjoy servings of banana stalk curry and skewers of spiced river fish. Their fiery flavours were duly tamed by a bowl of rambutans, a local fruit with a thick hairy skin that tasted not unlike charred pears.

After lunch, we hopped aboard a Salenger, a kind of motorbike with a crate-like sidecar attached that are used hereabouts as both taxis and delivery vehicles. A bone-rattling ride later, we reached the tea-coloured Khlong Eng river. There, children frolicked in twirling eddies while local women taught us how to sieve pebbles and silt while keeping our eyes peeled for the red glint of a Siamese ruby. ⊲

‘I was steamed in a “chicken coop” cage made out of bamboo and palm leaves before a strenuous pummelling was administered’

Previous spread Corbis This spread Dreamstime; Martin Symington

D

eep in the forests of Thailand’s Trat Province, I found myself discussing rubber and rubies with the headman of Chang Tune village, the charismatic Woranit (“Call me Warren”) Kayaras.

We had just paused at a clearing when he pointed to a gash in a tree trunk that oozed a sticky white goo. “Rubber tapping is one of our traditional ways,” he announced with a gravitas that made me reconsider all thoughts of nicknames, before narrating the tale of the region’s gem trade – a sad history indeed.

I had come to eastern Thailand to experience what the country offered in ‘green travel’. Chang Tune is now one of several settlements in Trat Province that practice Community Based Tourism (CBT), allowing visitors to share in culturally sustainable activities and learn traditional skills. I travelled with Bangkok-based agency Local Alike – winner of the Thailand Green Awards 2015, who have pioneered this kind of small-scale venture across the area.

My guide Bow Pongnin was quick to explain the merits of the concept: “Visitors gain an awareness of local lifestyles and ancient traditions through first-hand experiences,” she enthused. “The projects are owned and managed by the communities. This then generates an income stream that is used to improve quality of life and help to preserve traditions.”

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Thailand

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Wanderlust Issue 163 (February 2016) 57 Best Trips 2016 ♦ East Iceland ♦ Secret Chile ♦ Mozambique ♦ Sri Lanka ♦ Pocket guides: St John’s (Canada), Palma (Mallorca) & Notre Dame (Paris)

orcas in Canada

Kayak your way to a unique encounter

t r av e l m ag a z i n e

Thailand

– the eco-friendly way

www.wanderlust.co.uk May 2016

Travel icons ...by the backdoor

Including: Bagan · Petra · The Amazon · Masai Mara Grand Canyon · Great Wall of China · Machu Picchu Uluru · Angkor Wat · Taj Mahal and more...

P l us !

eve – Palin, Bryson, Re l celebs your favourite traves that reveal the book vel. insipred them to tra See p120

+

Road TRip: German style Discover castles, kings and a touch of magic

Marquesas, 24 hours in Bergen, San Sebastian, Prague

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5/4/16 16:33:36

Wanderlust Issue 165 (April 2016) xxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxx ♦ xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Patagonia

Your guide to wild Argentina and Chile

T R AV E L M AG A Z I N E www.wanderlust.co.uk April 2016

South-East

ASIA

17 WORLD HERITAGE WONDERS FEATURING:

Cambodia ∙ Thailand ∙ Indonesia Laos ∙ Malaysia ∙ Borneo ∙ Vietnam Burma & Singapore...

Bulgaria

Trekking through over 2,500 years of history

Best country in the world?

The results of our reader travel awards – revealed!

Win!

A trip for two to Cambodia people worth over £2,000!

See page 4

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♦ New Zealand ♦ Lake District ♦ Hungary ♦ Sulawesi

5/4/16 16:58:24

*Special offer*

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Fairy storeys

Neuschwanstein Castle famously inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle

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Germany

Road to Neverland

Think ‘road trip’ and the USA springs to mind, but the first ever long-distance car journey happened in Germany.

Inspired, we hit the tarmac to discover castles, eccentric kings and a little touch of magic… words phoebe Smith photographs Neil S Price

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MAKING A MARK

For centuries, visitors to French Polynesia’s Marquesas Islands have tried to make them fit their own ideas of what a paradise should be – but the reality is so much better WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS EMMA THOMSON

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Marquesas Islands Bay watching

The good ship Aranui V lies moored off Tahuata, the smallest of the inhabited Marquesas Islands

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