Wanderlust Issue 188 (July/August 2018) Polar Trip Planner ♦ 20 UNESCO cultural classics ♦ Namibia ♦ Papua New Guinea ♦ Oman ♦ Pocket guides: Edinburgh, Antwerp, Pisa
UNESCO’s cultural classics
20 Heritage greats, from Kyoto to Old Havana
T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E www.wanderlust.co.uk July/August 2018
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Cruising Papua New Guinea
Discover a little-visited country within a country
g to Hong Kon & Macao S ee p 4
POLAR ADVENTURES Arctic or Antarctic? Our pick of the coolest adventures on the planet
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Walking Oman’s wild side Belgium’s weird north Festival fun in Edinburgh Secret Europe
Namibia’s last great wilderness
Explore the north-west on a mobile safari trip
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Spitsbergen, Norway
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Arctic cruisers look out for icebergs near Liefdefjorden in the Norwegian archipelago
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“Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” Pat Conroy
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360˚ Viewfinder
ELEPHANT REVIVAL Zakouma NP, Chad
Photographer: Michael K Nichols Stories of nature in peril often fills column inches. Increasingly, though, tales of heartening successes are getting louder. The new book, National Geographic: Around the World in 125 Years: Africa, crucially captures one of the more remarkable conservation efforts on camera. In the early 2000s, wars with neighbouring countries and unchecked poaching meant elephant numbers in Chad’s Zakouma NP plummetted from 4,000 in 2002 to just 400 in 2010. But with help from NGO African Parks, poaching was soon under control. Today, numbers are growing again (to over 500) and it is safe enough to reintroduce other rare species, including six black rhinos that arrived in May. A true feat of conservation. National Geographic: Around the World In 125 Years: Africa (TASCHEN; £50) is out now. www.taschen.com
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Papua New Guinea
Open wide…
The Sepik River plunges 1,126km into Papua New Guinea’s gullet, with 250 local languages spoken along its banks
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Into the mouth of the
CROCODILE Papua New Guinea’s Sepik River winds through unchanged villages, with new trips opening up this country within a country WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS MARK STRATTON
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UNESCO CULTURAL GREATS From rock-hewn cities to Welsh castles; mountaintop temples to island prisons, we celebrate the UNESCO-listed wonders that make the world a more cultured place WORDS SARAH BAXTER
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he United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was born out of the horrors of the Second World War, with the remit of spreading peace. The idea of designating and conserving World Heritage sites – places deemed of great import for their cultural, historical or scientific value – was ratified in 1972. Just six years later, the first 12 were
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announced, ranging from Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands to Germany’s Aachen Cathedral. Today, 1,073 sites have been listed and protected for posterity, with a new batch due to be added this July. The variety is staggering. But the idea is that each one makes the world a more enriching, more fascinating, more united place. Here are just some of the more remarkable from around the globe…
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Top UNESCO sites
KYOTO, JAPAN 1 ANCIENT WHY? Revel in the country’s former capital It was 150 years ago that Japan’s capital began to shift to Edo (modern-day Tokyo), but Kyoto – its imperial capital for over 1,000 years – remains the country’s cultural and spiritual heart. Some 17 elements make up UNESCO’s Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto site, spanning the evolution of Japanese wooden architecture and landscape gardens from the tenth to the 17th centuries. This collection includes the golden tiers of Kinkaku-ji, the Zen garden of Ryoan-ji and the towering pagoda of To-ji, Japan’s tallest. Spring visitors should head for the serene Ninna-ji, renowned for its late-blooming cherry trees, while the autumn colours are especially spectacular at the mountain-tucked Tenryu-ji. GET THERE: Kyoto is around 2.5 hours by train from Tokyo. ⊲
Wanderlust July/August 2018
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THE ULTIMATE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E www.wanderlust.co.uk February 2018
Foodie Greece
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Aegean island-hopping without the crowds
Alternative
THAILANDBEST
TRIPS 2018
Leaving the tourist trail for the kingdom’s secret spots
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Featuring: Patagonia Japan Mongolia Cambodia Russia Silk Road Chile Namibia Madagascar Sri Lanka Alaska & more...
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Great Barrier Reef, Australia Boston, USA Wild Africa Guide Awards
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T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E
29/09/2017 11:11
Kate Humble in the Congo Sail away to St Kilda, Scotland Travel Icon: Havana, Cuba
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India
Win!ria A trip to Aust
h over £2,000
Your expert guide towort See p4 exploring the Golden Triangle and beyond
www.wanderlust.co.uk May 2018
World’s best-kept
TRAVEL SECRETS
Win!
A tailormade trip worth £5,000! See p4
25 tips for dodging crowds and discovering gems
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Easy cycling adventures
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Two-wheel journeys that won’t leave you saddle-sore
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Safaris in Abu Dhabi?
Orient Express or Interrail?
Discover the United Arab Emirates’ wild side
We pit the budget against the best
T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E
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Win! ian trip to the Canad
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Revisiting Zimbabwe Taking a short break in Serbia Wandering the Cotswold Way Exploring Auckland in 24 hours
Rockies worth £2,500! See p4
www.wanderlust.co.uk March 2018
Wanderlust Issue 182 (December 2017/January 2018) Travel Hot List 2018 ♦ Christmas Island ♦ Sweden’s wolves ♦ Buenos Aires ♦ Indonesia’s islands ♦ Pocket guides: Taipei (Taiwan), La Rochelle, San Francisco
Cross the continent in his revolutionary footsteps
Rafting, walking and wildlife watching… without the crowds
Wanderlust Issue 183 (March 2018) Best train journeys ♦ Orient Express vs Interrail ♦ Australia by rail ♦ Sri Lanka's national parks ♦ Japan by train ♦ Pocket guides: Gdańsk (Poland), Formentera (Spain), Valletta (Malta)
www.wanderlust.co.uk November 2017
Wanderlust Issue 186 (May 2018) Travel secrets ♦ 11 Easy cycling adventures ♦ Argentina ♦ The Cotswold Way ♦ Abu Dhabi ♦ Zimbabwe ♦ Pocket guides: Auckland, Belgrade, Cape Town
Wanderlust Issue 183 (February 2018) Top 53 Trips for 2018 ♦ Costa Rica ♦ India ♦ Kate Humble in the Congo ♦ St Kilda, Scotland ♦ Pocket guides: Salta (Argentina), County Cork (Ireland), Havana (Cuba)
Wanderlust Issue 181 (November 2017) Alternative Thailand ♦ Che’s Latin America ♦ Foodie Greece ♦ Wild Africa ♦ Great Barrier Reef ♦ World Guide Awards – Results ♦ Pocket guides: Brussels, Hull and Boston
T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E Win!
Devil’s deserts and floating volcanoes
Costa Rica
Che Guevara’s Latin America
n to A photo commissio £3,000 Costa Rica, writing in cash or a to Thailand assignment See p4
Hitting highs in Argentina
Christmas Island
Discover wild wonders with new easy flights
Offbeat Cuba
Meeting the locals without the crowds
T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E
Sweden
Howling with wolves – just two hours from Stockholm
BEST TRAIN TRAVEL JOURNEYS IN HOT LIST 2018 THE WORLD
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Featuring: Norway ● New Zealand ● Russia ● Canada ● USA ● Mexico ● Peru ● India ● Morocco ● Vietnam & more...
www.wanderlust.co.uk December 2017/January 2018
Win!
to A hiking trip Norway worth! over £1,700 See p4
Featuring: Patagonia, Chile South Africa Russia Morocco Western Australia Colorado, USA Peru Tanzania The Baltics New Zealand and more...
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Indonesia’s islands San Francisco Taiwan La Rochelle, France
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Crossing Japan on the rails Sri Lanka’s best national parks Australia – from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific
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Time to Tango
Hot-foot it to Buenos Aires to join the dancing
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MORE THAN A BACK COVER. IT IS AN ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME.
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Walking tour of Trinidad + museum
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