Wanderlust 190 sample

Wanderlust Issue 190 (October 2018) Snow & Ice: The Best Frozen Adventures ♦ Peru ♦ Wales ♦ Hong Kong & Macao: Trip Planner ♦ Chimp-spotting in Uganda ♦ Pocket guides: Provence, Portland (Oregon), Stockholm

Peru’s other Inca Trail

Meet the locals on a walk through history

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

WA selfi-dnriv!e

www.wanderlust.co.uk October 2018

Lights, camera, action, Wales!

Why its south coast is now a small-screen icon

trip in Eastern Canada See p 4

SNOW & ICE

From dog-sledding the Yukon to wild skating in Sweden, we round up the best frozen adventures

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Hong Kong & Macao trip planner Pedalling across Provence Portland’s hipster heaven A flying visit to Durban

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Meet Uganda’s wild chimps

Spend a day with the troupe on a new ape trek 23/08/2018 18:22

CONTENTS

Issue 190 October 2018

360˚ – NEED TO KNOW

TRAVEL MASTERCLASS

nder 6Viewfi Need to know this month...

12Go 14Eat now this...

17 5 minutes with... Sheila Hancock 18 Know your…

Takayama Festival 20Seasonal escapes 22

72The masterclass 76Take better travel photos 78Travel clinic Instant expert: cenotes 80Travellers’ 81clothing guide to... thermal

Great images from an aqua dome in Isfahan to the epic Himalaya Would you sign up for the latest trend: mystery trips?

Buzzy streets and colonial relics make Durban South Africa’s hidden gem The simple seafood of Shetland belies the risks its fishermen used to take

How to get back in the saddle for a bikepacking escape, and what to bring with you so you’re not left in the dust Why capturing the neon charms of old America requires the right light and a few tricks We’ve got chills, they’re multiplying… but the health consequences are not always what you expect in colder climes Why these hidden holes are worth the effort to find

Why she’d climb a mountain for a good role

It’s not all about the spring, you know…

Ring in Xmas and New Year with an adventure to remember

▲ Cover story

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WIN!

117 Lands of Snow and Ice

From wild-skating your way across the frozen lakes of Sweden, to ice hotels, snow festivals and aurora-spotting, we round up the best icy adventures the world has to offer…

An amazing trip for two to Canada, p54 A writing commission for Wanderlust to Thailand, p98

Special feature

Kong & Macao: 40 Hong Trip Planner

Keep snug and warm on a frozen adventure with these cosy thermals

Beyond the glistening towers and casinos lie two very different regions, but are both rich in culture, trails, incredible food and a fascinating history – and soon to be linked by a brand-new bridge

“It was then that I realised that the rumours were true. This once slightly unsavoury harbour town now really was a hipster haven where cyclists have the right of way.” Phoebe Smith

Portland, p153

155

“I pedalled my way through small hamlets, living out every traveller’s dream of rocking up along a cobbled lane.” Phoebe Smith

TALKING HEADS Sheila Hancock, p18

Peru, p24

“You’d have a difficult bit to climb and think: ‘Oh good, I’m glad I achieved that, but then you’d have to do it all over again for close ups’.”

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“I soaked weary limbs in a bubbling outdoor hot-tub beneath the stars alongside grazing llamas tethered nearby.” Paul Bloomfield

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SEND US YOUR TOP TRAVEL SNAPS Win a magical photo commission, p144 FEATURES

FROM THE ROAD

24Peru

The trails of the Lares Valley are just the tip of the 30,000km of Incan roads that span the region, but they also offer a unique chance to explore little-seen ruins and a culture that has survived here for generations Uganda How a rare opportunity for visitors to spend a whole day tracking and meeting the unhabituated chimps of Budongo Forest may offer the key to protecting their futures PLUS Africa’s best places to go chimp-spotting Wales With the southern coast of Wales finding small-screen fame in a recent TV series, we head deep into ‘Dylan Thomas country’ to explore a land with natural drama to spare

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Getty

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TRAVEL PHOTO OF THE YEAR 2018

106Your tips

From chatting to strangers and looking like you belong, to the essentials for keeping safe when on your travels, these are your secrets for solo adventuring Readers’ pictures The best snaps from your travels, including a giant Shiva statue in Tamil Nadu, zip-lining through the forests of Costa Rica and wandering among shipwrecks in Kazakhstan Letters In our mailbag: recalling an amazing experience in Chad, falling in love with guidebooks all over again, getting the most out of Canada and Alaska, your 10-second tales of weather mishaps and much, much more...

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POCKET GUIDES

24 hours: 153First Portland, USA

The USA’s hipster capital serves up its requisite lashings of artisanal coffee, craft ales and street delicacies, but it’s also a pedalling paradise with a surprising amount of adventure on its doorstep

155Short break: Provence, France

Once the escape de jour for workdrained Brits, the region’s artistic past and sweetsmelling lavender fields make for a cyclist’s dream

icon: Vasa Museum, 157 Travel Stockholm

The ‘Swedish Titanic’ is now a Scandi museum must-see, just 390 years after it sank to the bottom of the icy Baltic Sea

40 Stockholm, p157

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Shetland, p17 Wales, p86 Provence, p155

“Craig waded into rock pools and showed me how to look under rocks and shelves to find hiding life, from prawns to crabs.”

Graeme Green

“Like twins separated at birth and raised in wildly different ways, Hong Kong and Macao each has its own way of charming you.” Mark Eveleigh

Takayama, p20 Hong Kong & Macao, p40

Uganda, p56

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Durban, p14

“Durban’s shoreline, known as the Golden Mile, is what drew visitors 50 years ago and is still the city’s star.”

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“A chimp’s pant-hoot is impossible to ignore – louder than a fire alarm and as urgent as a WhatsApp alert.”

Emma Gregg

Wanderlust October 2018

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360˚ Viewfinder

PURRING OVER PERSIA Isfahan, Iran

Photographer: Martijn Doolaard The benefits of off-the-beatentrack cycling are well documented, not least in our bikepacking guide this month (p72). But one of the lesser-sung advantages is simply being able to stop off wherever you choose.

Adventurer Martijn Doolaard did just that on his worldwide cycling tour, as this remarkable image shows, when he paused for a few days among the glorious Persian architecture of Iran and its brightly coloured domes.

One Year on a Bike: From Amsterdam to Singapore (Gestalten, £40) by Martijn Doolaard is out now. Photo © Gestalten 2017. www.gestalten.com

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24/08/2018 10:49

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24/08/2018 10:47

360˚ Viewfinder

Dreamstime

LUSH LIFE Krabi, Thailand

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This jungle view in Krabi is a classic Thai scene: huge green swathes wherever you turn, with piercing sunlight illuminating the forest floor. While it inspires, it’s equally important to preserve scenes like this, so they don’t become a thing of the past. The Responsible Thailand Awards were set up to honour those who do just that. Previous winner Trash Hero, for example, organises weekly beach clean-ups around the Krabi town of Ao Nang. Now, in partnership with the Responsible Thailand Awards, we want to hear your tales of responsible travel, and in return, we’ll whisk the winning writer off to Thailand to witness its green initiatives up close and report back to us. Get writing...

For more details on how to win a dream writing commission to Thailand, see p98.

24/08/2018 10:46

Peru

Trail gear

Visits to the rural community of Viacha (left) and the ruins of Pisac (right) show how the past is still very much alive in the Lares Valley

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22/08/2018 14:02

THE HIGH ROAD

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The ancient roads across the Lares Valley are just part of a vast Incan web stretching 30,000km, offering not just wild views and rarely seen ruins but thrilling close-ups of local life

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS PAUL BLOOMFIELD

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Peru

Land of slopes & glory The barnacle-like chambers that pock the inclines of Ancasmarca are some of the region’s lesser-seen ruins

26 |

Wanderlust October 2018

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22/08/2018 14:01

Peru

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ncasmarca is not your average service station. Downy cacti pimple a rocky ridge. A lonely caracara falcon soars high overhead, hungry eyes keenly scanning the scrub for prey.

Hundreds of round chambers barnacle the slopes like the cells of a monstrous beehive.

Silence reigns, bar the crunch of my boots, the whisper of mountain breezes tickling violet lupins and my rasping breath as I hoover scant oxygen.

No, Watford Gap Services this is not. But though it’s hardly a British motorway – traffic is sparse on the road snaking towards the 4,440m Lares Pass, and there’s nary a flat white to be had – it’s not an entirely spurious comparison. Six centuries ago, Ancasmarca was a major Incan caravanserai on one of the trading routes bringing gold, silver and coca leaves from the Amazon region to Cusco. This was a key section of the Qhapaq Ñan, the ancient road system stretching 30,000km through the Andes – the Incan M1.

What’s astonishing is that this mesmerising site, once bustling with merchants and soldiers en route to and from the Incan capital, is virtually forgotten today. Perhaps it’s a casualty – or a beneficiary – of the tight focus on Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. Yet that blinkered picture ignores the fact there’s not merely one Inca trail in Peru but many, spidering out from Cusco across the four corners of Tawantinsuyu, the vast empire that in its heyday stretched from what’s now southern Colombia into Chile. Many such routes still offer chances to hike through landscapes and villages where pre-Columbian traditions are alive and well.

My visit to Ancasmarca was the highlight of an alternative Inca trail.

Rather than joining a conga line trekking towards the Sun Gate, I’d embarked on a seven-day odyssey looping through the little-visited Lares Valley north of Cusco. Accompanied by expert guide Leo, whose mestizo (mixed) ancestry – typical of the area – includes both indigenous and Spanish forebears, I set out to sample not just scenic views but cultural and culinary wonders little sampled by travellers.

The right blend

Fusion: that’s the buzzword here. Not just in the country’s recent renowned culinary revolution; more fundamentally, it’s the nature of Peruvian history – layering and overlapping, synthesis and syncretism. The powerful but short-lived Incan Empire had absorbed traditions and technology prevalent in the Andes for hundreds of ⊲ Wanderlust October 2018

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Top of the world

The Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island (Hong Kong) can be reached via a 5.7km cable car ride – and the views en route are amazing

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HONG KONG & MACAO T R I P

P L A N N E R

Beneath the high-rises and casinos, these two very different Chinese regions hide a wealth of culture, tradition, food and history – and a new bridge is set to connect them both…

WORDS MARK EVELEIGH

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22/08/2018 12:21

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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Win!

to Austria IndiaA triph 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

15/12/2017 19:18

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 Withen! www.wanderlust.co.uk March 2018 Canadian

A trip to worth Rockies £2,500!

See p4

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Revisiting Zimbabwe Taking a short break in Serbia Wandering the Cotswold Way Exploring Auckland in 24 hours

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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25/01/2018 17:44

05/04/2018 13:32

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20/08/2018 10:26

WIN!CANADA

A SELF-DRIVE TRIP TO

Hit the road with Trailfinders and Fairmont Hotels for the wonders of Eastern Canada

TORONTO & OTTAWA

Your first stop could be the melting pot of Toronto – Canada’s largest city. More than 140 languages are murmured on its streets, and it’s home to a Little

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Italy, Chinatown (more than one), Little Portugal and Greek Town, among others. Walking around the area is like crossing a living map. Combine glass towers with a fine waterfront and friendly locals, and you have a city with a small-town feel.

Staying at the gothic-revival Fairmont Royal York hotel, you’ll never be far from its wedge of sights, either. The city’s focal point, the 553m-high CN Tower, serves up fine panoramas across the city and Lake Ontario, while Toronto’s horde of museums is impressive, too – the Royal Ontario Museum bursts with artefacts and the Bata Shoe Museum is home to an oddly compelling array of footwear. For something different, the gothic Casa Loma is the only ‘castle’ in North America and the rebuilt Fort York reimagines Toronto’s beginnings as a stockade garrisoned by Redcoats.

Having your own car is the best way to explore further around the area. It would be crazy not to take a two-hour crawl around Lake Ontario to one of the planet’s finest wonders, the thundering Niagara Falls. Next – if you have the time – loop up

through the wide-ranging leafy maple woods of Algonquin Provincial Park to Canada’s capital, Ottawa. Here, the teal roofs of the gothic government buildings dominate the city as they perch atop Parliament Hill, their Victorian grandeur sitting proudly among newer, shinier architecture.

At the foot of the hill lies the Fairmont Château Laurier, a replica of a French château. It’s also a convenient gateway to Ottawa’s clutch of museums, especially Bytown Museum, Ottawa’s oldest building, and its beautiful, UNESCO-listed Rideau Canal.

QUÉBEC & MONTREAL

Cross the provincial border into Québec, pit-stopping at the Fairmont Tremblant hotel.

Grab the cable car up Mont Tremblant for a classic alpine view of the surrounding Laurentian Mountains and Taureau Reservoir, before heading for the waterfront metropolis of Québec City.

Overlooking the St Lawrence River, this city is the beating heart of French Canada and one of the oldest communities left on the continent. It was

Voyageur Quest; Fairmont; ©OTMPC; Alan Brutenic

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astern Canada is a whirlwind of epic landscapes, wonderful wildlife and bundles of coastal charm. But the sheer variety of cities the area offers, from the old-world French allure of Québec City to the cloud-baiting skyscrapers of Toronto, gives travellers plenty of reasons to keep returning – or to just link them all together on one wild road trip.

Tour operator Trailfinders is offering the chance to win a self-drive trip across Eastern Canada, pieced together from their five decades of creating authentic tailor-made travel experiences. To add a splash of luxury, they’ve partnered with Fairmont Hotels’, staying in a number of its hotels – combining fine architecture, a convenient location and indulgence – along the way. So get that motor running…

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