Wanderlust Travel Magazine Issue 173

Wanderlust Issue 173 (February 2017) Top 50 trips for 2017 ♦ Great River Road, USA ♦ Thailand ♦ Western Australia: photo special ♦ Brazil ♦ Top destinations to go slow ♦ Pocket guides: Santiago (Chile), Moscow, Vietnam

Thailand

Take the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai for a journey to the past

T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E www.wanderlust.co.uk February 2017

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USA

Follow the Mississippi from sea to source

TOP 50 TRIPS 2017

Nepal Canada Sweden Iran Norway Tanzania Peru Thailand Mexico USA Brazil Vietnam Colombia Sri Lanka Chile Japan India & more…

PLUS

Discover the art of slow travel in Brazil A short break in Moscow, Russia The best of Western Australia

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CONTENTS

Issue 173 February 2017

360˚ – NEED TO KNOW

6 Need to know this month...

12Go now 14 Eat this...

165 minutes with… Neil Oliver 18Books & UK events 19 Know your… Sami National Day 20 Viewfinder Holi Festival fun, red deer in

the Scottish Highlands, the aurora from space Why tourist limits could be good for your travels Dig into the ancient wonders of Paphos, Europe’s new culture capital Fry up some plantain and gobble your way into Cuban culture The coastal guru talks Australia’s fringes The best new reads and happenings this month Bringing Lapland traditions to life

▲ Cover story

40 50 best trips 2017

Whether a wildlife encounter, an active adventure or an off-the-beaten-track tour, we’ve scoured the globe to find you the most exciting new trips of the next 12 months…

▲ Special feature

22Where to go when…

Your month-by-month guide to making the most of the world’s wildlife and festivals

TRAVEL MASTERCLASS

74The masterclass 77Instant expert: Mérida 80Take better travel photos Travel clinic 82Traveller’s 85kits guide to… first aid

Your iPhone is all you need to make a great travel film. Don’t believe us? Read our nifty guide to find out how...

Unearth the colonial gems found within Mexico’s new American Capital of Culture Brian Lloyd Duckett takes to the streets to give his tips on capturing the perfect ‘real life’ shot Why it pays to personalise your first aid kit – Oxo cubes anyone?

Our choice of the six best medical packs to help patch you up on your travels

WIN! A week’s island-hopping in the Bay of Naples, p56 An eight-day highlights tour of Western USA, p76 A 12-day trip for two to Burma, p72

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“With so much heartache and fighting on this stretch of the Mississippi, it’s not entirely coincidental that this is the delta where the blues was born. You can’t stop for a plate of grits and biscuits without hearing a thick baseline and a two-step beat.” Phoebe Smith

USA, p24 “Santiago is one of the safest cities in South America. This translates to its streets, where sleek malls jostle colonial buildings. And then there’s its Andes setting...” Sarah Gordon

TRAVEL PHOTO OF THE YEAR 2015’s winners return, p90

Cuba, p16 Mérida, p77

110 Paraty, p110

“The hammock swung idly in the BrazilianAtlantic breeze, proffering a view of fishing boats, wheeling frigatebirds and the turquoise waters of the Baia de Paraty, aglint in the afternoon sun.” Dan Linstead

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Santiago, p129

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NICE ICE BABY...

Snowy festivals, p77 FEATURES

FROM THE ROAD

24 Thailand 58 India 82 Western Australia 90Philippines 98

Kris Bailey

River Road, USA Journey along Beyond Sydney New South Wales

the Mississippi to sea,city isn’t just about from Oz’s source most famous tracking storied Rivercoastlines, Road to itsgreat conclusion – there’sthe a world of epic Ride the slowto train from too wilderness and wine-rich valleys explore Bangkok to Chiang Discover theMai, last uncovering great habitatlost kingdoms, ruined temples a torrid history of the Asian lion in and Gujarat PLUS: Our Join 2015’s guide to India’s other must-see species Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year Leave behind the bustle winnersof asManila they set shoot Perth, the forout thetoraw splendour of rural Aboriginal Outback, Albany and Luzon, exploring vertiginous ricebeyond… paddies, Paraty Nestled between Brazil’s cliff-hanging graves and spluttering volcanoes two biggest East – andAfrica mostisn’t frenetic – Tanzania just known cities, there’s to see Paraty: slowly for theonly Bigone Fiveway – head to the Mahale PLUS: places the globewild to linger longer Mountains for around its star attraction: chimps

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POCKET GUIDES

24 hours: 129First Santiago, Chile

Your story Reader Carol

Thomas discovers Iceland’s surprisingly green side and Valerie Shooter braves the Arctic cold to see the northern lights Readers’ pictures Your brilliant snaps, including climbing Indonesia’s Mount Rinjani, leaping at the sight of Monument Valley and gasping at Namibia’s mighty Fish River Canyon. We’re not jealous, promise...

Letters In our mailbag: Retracing an epic expedition through Greenland; following in the footsteps of Wanderlust on a trip to Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina; travelling the world the alternative way, and much more…

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Take advantage of new direct flights to explore the Chilean capital’s colonial streets and history, before exploring its dramatic Andean backdrop

131Short break: Moscow, Russia

New daily (and cheap) flights mean Russia’s thrilling capital has become more accessible than ever to weekenders

icon: Vietnam’s 133Travel pagodas

The country’s temple complexes aren’t dusty showpieces; they’re pilgrimage sites, and during festival season they come alive in a burst of colour and sound

131 Moscow, p131

“I would peer into Thailand’s historic heart, and by taking it easy I hoped to learn a lot more about the local tribes and people along the way.”

Alex Robinson

“Moscow is a city where palatial, richly decorated interiors house humble grocery stores, where you can pick up a loaf of black bread for under a Euro.” Phoebe Smith

Paphos, p14 Vietnam, p133 Thailand, p58

58 “March is the ideal time to see Bengal tigers in India. Spring provides a tolerable precursor to the summer heat, while retreating jungle greenery and shrinking water sources maximise your chances of spotting one.”

22 TALKING HEADS Neil Oliver, p18

Western Australia, p90

“At the most westerly point of the Australian mainland you can see humpbacks and their calves, loggerhead turtles, dolphins… but most people haven’t heard of it.”

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A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT Lifeblood to the Native Americans, battleground for the Civil War and Civil Rights movement, birthplace of the blues and inspiration to Mark Twain – a journey up the Mississippi from sea to source tells a multitude of stories...

WORDS PHOEBE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHS NEIL S PRICE

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Great River Road, USA

Mississippi meanders Canoeing to the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi, just outside Itasca State Park, Minnesota

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Great River Road, USA

W

hy is it that men are so concerned with the beginning and end of everything – when it’s the middle that really matters? Terry Larson’s question hung in the still, humid Minnesota air waiting for an answer.

But aside from the odd splash from our oars, and the audible hiss from the underside of our canoe as we skimmed over the long grass, all was silent.

In truth, my canoe guide’s question wasn’t directed at me. It was a query first posed to an explorer called Henry Schoolcraft by an elder of the indigenous Ojibwe tribe back in 1832. Then, after centuries of searching, the headwaters of the fourth longest river in the world – the Mississippi – were about to be revealed. But the question still felt pertinent even today, given my arrival here was the culmination of a two-week journey along the river from sea to source.

Rolling on the river

If I thought it was warm in Minnesota, it was positively oven-like where I had begun, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Famous for its annual Mardi Gras celebrations, the waterway continues the party theme and I arrived to see renovated steam paddleboats cruising the banks below the French Quarter, music blaring from their decks.

I opted to start my exploration by bicycle, meandering the city’s many neighbourhoods, from Frenchmen Street, where soft jazz riffs oozed from half-open doors, to the tree-lined Garden District, and on to Lakeview’s flower-festooned houses and the buzzy-vibed Tremé by

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Armstrong Park. But no matter where I pedalled, it seemed water was never far from people’s minds, and no more so than on the edge of the Lower Ninth Ward where the devastation from the rising levels caused

by Hurricane Katrina more than ten years ago was still being repaired.

I left the city heading south and determined to reach the outlet of the mighty Mississippi, to begin my journey proper. Along the way I stopped to take a tour of Honey Island Swamp. The community here is made up of ramshackle over-water homes that, just three months before my visit, suffered metre-high floods. “It’s just a fact of life,” said our skipper as he pointed out the bald cypress trees that rose out of the water, their peculiar roots piercing the swamp in spiked clusters all around them. “These trees grow 90ft [27m] tall, won’t rot, survive most hurricanes and actually thrive in the water – that’s why we use them to build a lot of the houses. Things adapt here, they survive.”

He wasn’t just talking about the people. The bayous and swamps in Louisiana are home to a hardy range of turtles, wild boar, deer and alligators, perfectly adapted to the conditions. The latter watched us as we floated, some following slowly in our wake, others basking in the sun on upturned logs. “They were once on the endangered species list,” our captain explained, “now they’re thriving.”

Spurred on, I continued to Venice, the official end of the Great River Road and the Mississippi, which splays out here into the Gulf of Mexico in wide channels. Unlike its Italian namesake, this is no picturesque, canal-threaded honeypot; instead it’s a collection of boatyards (this is the jumping-off point for many commercial fishing companies) and staging areas for the oil rigs offshore.

Made up of a mix of backroads, federal routes and state highways, the Great River Road is not a single stretch of tarmac, but actually runs on both sides of the Mississippi for most of the way. From Venice, I decided to stick to the west bank, heading towards Baton Rouge.

Wanderlust February 2017

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50 NEW TRIPS 2017

Stumped for ideas for your 2017 getaway? We’ve scoured the brochures and trawled the web to find the top new trips sure to give you wanderlust‌

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WILDLIFE WONDERS Unforgettable animal encounters in some of the planet’s most remarkable settings

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 2017 HOW LONG: 11 nights HOW MUCH: From £5,895 (excl intl flights)

SWEDEN

Track wolves in the icy wild

£50 Discover your inner hermit on Discover OFF the World’s Kolarbyn Eco-lodge Wildlife

Adventure, a back-to-basics wild stay in an old coal burner hut that has been dubbed ‘Sweden’s most primitive hotel’. Survive without electricity and showers, and cook your own meals over an open fire in between making trips into the frozen forests and nearby lakes to spy on beavers and moose.

Later, pitch camp in wolf country and prepare to feel your spine tingle as you listen out for their howls by night and track their paw prints through the leaf litter by day.

WHO: Discover the World (01737 214 250, discover-the-world.co.uk) WHEN: Flexible dates, Apr–Sept; wolf howling tour available on 6, 20 & 27 July, 3 & 17 Aug, 7 & 14 Sept 2017 HOW LONG: Three nights HOW MUCH: From £931 (incl flights); wolf howling tour costs £260

CANADA & GREENLAND

Explore the unspoiled Arctic Tree huggers

The Manyara lions are said to take to the trees to keep cool – and avoid the flies

Such was the difficulty in exploring the frozen expanse of Baffin Bay that the area was only able to be fully mapped relatively recently. It remains a breathtaking adventure though and a jumping off point for delving deep Wanderlust February 2017

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Top of the world

The view from the slopes of Doi Inthanon – the highest point in the country and often dubbed the ‘roof of Thailand’

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Thailand

THE RAILROAD LESS TRAVELLED Take the slow train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and unlock ‘old Thailand’: a land of misty temples, golden Buddhas and epic history…

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS ALEX ROBINSON

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TRAVEL PHOTO OF THE YEAR THE WINNERS RETURN

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA The winners of Wanderlust’s Travel Photo of the Year 2015 competition have returned from their assignment in Western Australia – capturing the state in all its wild splendour…

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Brazil

Saintly surrounds

The 18th-century chapel of Santa Rita dominates Paraty’s colonial heart, with the rainforest behind

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T H E

A R T

O F

SLOW

Some places are worth a linger – especially when they’re tucked away between Brazil’s two busiest cities. We put our feet up in historic Paraty to take in this coastal secret WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DAN LINSTEAD

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