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20 years of Wanderlust, 1993-2013

October 2013 | www.wanderlust.co.uk

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A S ou t r i p t o worth Afr t ic Turh £4,00 a n pag to 0 e now130 !

Mysteries worth travelling for

24 of the world’s most mysterious places – from the Easter Island heads, to Peru’s Nazca Lines, Turkey’s Gobekli Tepe, mysterious Britain & more...

Madagascar

In search of the incredible but elusive aye-aye

Japan

Dare you journey beneath the waves to find Atlantis?

Cambodia

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Pocket Guides Sydney ✱ Fairytale Germany ✱ Jakarta

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A p to ho Jo to rd gr Se an o aph ep r£ ya ag 3,0 ssig e 8 00 nm 8 cas en h! t

Explore its newly discovered lost city

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Wanderlust Issue 140 (October 2013) Mysteries worth travelling for • Madagascar • Japan • Cambodia • Peru’s Nazca Lines • Turkey • Mysterious Britain • Pocket guides: Sydney, Fairytale Germany, Jakarta

Celebrating 20 years in travel

3/9/13 10:57:50

Contents october 2013 • issue 140

360°

From the road

6 | World in pictures Thought-provoking and sensational images to fuel your wanderlust 12 | Shortcuts This month’s global headlines 14 | Go now! Planning a quick get away? We’ve got you covered with four quick trips 16 | World Diary Leap off a bridge in West Virginia, get freaky at a spooky zombie walk in Australia and feast on fish in Spain 18 | Departures Trips for the festive season 20 | Follow the boat Wanderlust-er Liz Cleere enjoys the thrill of the journey to Malaysia

37 | Snapshots You’ve been mountain-biking in

Moab, sleeping in the Moroccan Sahara and enjoying tuk-tuks rides in Cambodia. You lucky lot!

38 | Letters etc... Your chance to get in touch

with the team – your letters, emails and tweets, we find out where your Wanderlust has taken you, plus news fresh from the myWanderlust forum

42 | Just Back From… Great advice straight from myWanderlust: cruising around the Arctic and exploring the European gem of Malta

©

Canada p14

madagascar

©

©

60 Britain West Virginia p16

22 Features 22 | Madagascar

Spectacular beaches, phenomenal biodiversity and one incredibly ugly lemur. Mark Stratton goes in search of the elusive aye-aye

44 | Nazca Lines, Peru

60 | Mysterious Britain

Lyn Hughes dusts off her dowsing rods and visits the Neolithic circles, mounds and barrows of Avebury

©

Are they alien landing strips or an astronomical calendar? Sarah Gilbert heads to Peru’s ancient desert etchings and mulls their meaning

78 | Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

Winding his way on Abraham’s Path, Jeremy Seal walks an ancient route to the oldest man-made site

88 | enter now! Travel Photo of the Year The biggest and best travel photo comp is still open – enter to win a trip to Jordan or £3,000!

91 | Mysteries worth travelling for...

Your guide to the most baffling, beguiling and down-right bizarre places in the world

96 | Japan: Atlantis of the East

Graeme Green investigates the enigmatic underwater ruins on Japan’s westernmost point

116 | Cambodia: the lost city

Angkor Wat this is not. Go deep into the jungle with Lara Dunston and find Cambodia newest lost city

Peru

44

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ri h a to S ut ca Afrveir £4,000 o ! worth n to p130 r Tu

THE FUTURE Like this map?

MAPPING To buy a similar wall map, COMPANY visit www.futuremaps.co.uk 004-005_Contents_SO.indd 4

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Navigator

Arrivals

69 | How to... Tie a turban, plan a horseriding trip and go trail running in Edinburgh

world’s most mysterious medical maladies

74 | Photo tips Entering our Photo of the Year comp? Steve Davey shares some helpful tips 76 | Q&A Sightseeing advice in Japan, how to set up a travel blog and insect repellent clothing

124 | Books Ray Mears explains his passion for 127 | What future for the guide book?

With redundancies at one major guide publishers, Wanderlust ponders the future of print 128 | What’s on UK events, exhibitions and more 129 | TV, Cinema & DVD All the best armchair travel from the little screen and the big one too.

Plus we take a look at the top five cult movie locations worth visiting in the UK

of the guide book you

133 sydn

133 | Sydney, Australia Surfer cool and city chic clash, all backdropped by the iconic Sydney Opera House

ey

really need

See31

P 133 Trave P 135 Short l Icon Sydney Break Fairy Celebrate 40 P 137 24 years of tale Germ hours in... the Opera any Head Jakarta House in to Kasse How to this iconic l survive city Indonesia’s & Marburg for a Grimm thrill-a-minu walk te capita l city

137 jakarTa

135

FairyTal e

p1

germany

135 | Fairytale Germany Spooky forests and fairytale castles – head to the towns that inspired the Brothers Grimm 137 | Jakarta, Indonesia How to spend your first 24 hrs in the gateway to Indonesia – just make sure you embrace the traffic

78 Turkey © ©

88 travel photo of the year

2013 jordan

Jakarta p137

Will you be the winner of this year’s competition? See how to submit your snaps on p88

mysteries

special

©

©

©

©

Germany p135

The bits

Pocket Guides

travel, while Tony Wheeler explores ‘bad’ places

71 | Gear Be prepared! What to pack just in case 72 | Health Dr Jane takes a look at some of the

POCKE T GUID ES

Sydney p133

From massive megaliths to fabled tigers, shadowy 91 mountain creatures to spooky

ghost lights – we chart the mysteries worth travelling to see, tell you how to get there and delve deep into the meanings behind them....

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360 World in pictures

kenya

Tusk force Photographer Nick Brandt “This ranger is holding the tusks of an elephant that was killed in around 2007,” says photographer Nick Brandt. “The poachers were unable to escape with the ivory, so it was stored in Kenya Wildlife Service’s strongroom.

“Each tusk weighs around 55kg; in today’s market, these two tusks would fetch in excess of US$500,000. A creature walking across Africa with half a million dollars sticking out of its skull?

It’s no surprise that all the elephants with tusks this size are now gone, poached to satisfy escalating demands for animal parts from the Far East.

“An estimated 35,000 elephants a year are being killed for their ivory – that’s 10% of the remaining population lost every year. At this rate, wild elephants will be gone in ten years.

“This ranger is one of over 300 that work for Big Life Foundation, which I co-founded in 2010 to help protect critical ecosystems in East Africa. In the areas the anti-poaching teams operate, there has been a dramatic reduction in poaching. For more, see www.biglife.org.”

‘Ranger with tusks killed at the hands of man, Amboseli, Kenya 2011’ © Nick Brandt Courtesy of Atlas Gallery, London, appears in Nick’s new book Across the Ravaged Land (Abrams, £40), the final in his trilogy that documents the disappearing natural world in East Africa.

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Madagascar 1

1

I I I

wildlife across a wide range of I Unique 1 habitats, I 1 with fascinating local culture too

I

Fly UK-Antananarivo via Paris (from 15hrs).

Hire a car and driver or take internal flights 1 1

Apr-Dec – milder, drier

Š

Nocturnal by nature The endangered aye-aye lemur are often killed by local villagers as a harbinger of doom and hung up to ward away bad spirits

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Eye to aye

Madagascar is a wonderfully strange biodiversity bonanza. It is home to 105 lemur species, but it’s the incredible – and ugly – aye-aye that proves most mysterious of all Words & Photographs Mark Stratton

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Stairway to heaven The muddy rice terraces en route to Ambalavao; (left) sugar cane sellers at work; (right) a bamboo lemur clings to a tree; (inset) guide Theo and his father

‘Bamboo lemurs have a digestive system

able to handle a daily dose of cyanide-rich bamboo strong enough to kill an elephant’ < conservation. Since 2009, this sector has

slumped due to a 30-something DJ unconstitutionally seizing power; political chaos has created corruption and allowed illegal Chinese-funded logging. But Madagascan travel remains a biodiversity bonanza, and thoroughly safe. Utter a few words in Malagasy and you’ll receive smiles broader than the channel those lemurs navigated to get here.

Call of the wild But back to my search. I was travelling the country with guide Diary Andrianompoina, whose surname was as long as the silk scarf he wore to ward off evil spirits. We’d driven for 3.5 hours from the capital, Antananarivo, into the Eastern Highlands to reach Andasibe-Mantadia, where folds of

mountainous rainforest host thousands of endemic plants, insects and birds as well as 14 lemur species.

Most visitors come here to see indri, Madagascar’s largest, noisiest lemur. Along with local guide Marie, we’d spent a fruitless hour searching for them before, suddenly, the rainforest had erupted. The ear-splitting concerto of wailing was so loud I hadn’t been able to hear Marie tell me that the indri were directly above.

Indris spend much of their day hugging tree trunks like vertiginous firemen who are terrified of sliding down the pole; when they move they do so powerfully, with turbocharged leaps, pinballing between the trees. They are woolly and black-and-white like pandas although slimmer and with the sort of hairy ears men acquire in old age.

The local Betsimisaraka tribe calls them babakoto, the benign forest spirits.

“Why are they so loud,” I yelled?

“To let other indri know not to intrude on their territory,” Marie shouted back. Their call carries 2km but, with habitat loss isolating them to just a few national parks, how many other indri would be listening in the future?

Such is the extent of human impact here that, after my aye-aye-free night walk in Andasibe-Mantadia, an eight-hour drive south was required to reach the next intact rainforest, in the Eastern Highlands at Ranomafana. Madagascar’s interior has been reduced to gullied hills of maroon-red laterite soil: slash-and-burned for shifting agriculture, overgrazed by zebu, carved into hillside rice-terraces. Planted eucalyptus

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Madagascar

supplies roadside charcoal sacks while clay bricks bake in pyramidal kilns.

Yet learning about the cultural overlay of Afro-Asian beliefs makes for compelling journeys. For example, as we drove, Diary told me about famadihana (‘turning of the bones’), a funerary ritual during which deceased ancestors are removed from their tombs and re-wrapped in shrouds during drunken parties. He also told me about his baby’s ‘first haircut’ ceremony, at which guests ate his daughter’s hair mixed with honey. It’s also common (permission to gag) to fry-up foreskins for consumption after circumcision ceremonies.

On the brink I’m not sure Ranomafana’s bamboo lemurs would’ve enjoyed a slice of deep-fried prepuce but they certainly relish their cyanide bamboo. On a sunny morning walk within this World Heritage-listed rainforest with local guide, Theo, we saw five of Ranomafana’s seven diurnal lemurs. This included golden bamboo lemurs, only discovered in 1987. They took us only five minutes to locate, which begged the question as to why scientists took so long?

Particularly as they scent-mark their territory with pee as pungent as local rum.

With golden hoodies framing their dark faces, they’ve developed a digestive system able to handle a daily dose of cyanide-rich bamboo strong enough to kill an elephant.

And surprisingly, given their recent discovery, their numbers have since doubled – creating a baffling conundrum as Ranomafana’s greater bamboo lemur is fast disappearing.

As we watched the golden bamboo lemurs, Theo’s mobile rang. “My brother has found the greater bamboos deeper in the forest – shall we go?”

“Yes, but keep it quiet,” I whispered, hoping to sneak away from an Italian tour party whose gesticulating hands kept appearing in my photos.

Greater bamboo lemurs share the same deadly dinners as goldens yet Ranomafana’s population has recently declined from a dozen-or-so to just two.

It took several hours of clambering over buttress roots to find them, but we finally

did: two shipwrecked survivors of eons of evolutionary tomfoolery, gnawing shoots within the tangled chopstick forest.

Their glassy orange eyes shone from within a fluff of chestnut-brown and grey fur. They seemed content. And why not, with so much food around? But actually, they’re doomed – as father and daughter, they will never breed. I felt emotional watching the youngster follow her pa everywhere, before they huddled to share >

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The aliens have landed

...Or maybe not. Many theories have been purported about the Nazca Lines – extraterrestrial airfield being just one – but just what is the meaning of Peru’s ancient desert etchings?

Words Sarah Gilbert

Monkey business The Nazca monkey with its distinctive spiral tail is one of the most famous shapes

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A

s the small plane banked steeply, I looked down on the bug-eyed figure of a man pointing enigmatically at the sky. It could have been a cartoon character from a contemporary TV show but the 35m-high geoglyph, known as the Astronaut, was created around 2,000 years ago and, after more than 80 years of research, we can still only guess why.

Around 400km south of Lima, the Nazca Lines are huge, intricate drawings etched on to the barren landscape of Peru’s coastal desert. They have perplexed archaeologists, anthropologists, scientists and enthusiastic

amateurs since they were discovered in the 1920s. Over the years they’ve been identified as everything from an astrological calendar to sacred pathways, a map of water sources to alien landing strips, but their exact purpose and meaning still remain unknown.

It’s believed that the Nazca people, who predate the Incas by as much as 2,000 years, created the lines. Skilled agriculturists, they settled along fertile river valleys fed by water from the Andes around 200 BC. Here, they built complex irrigation systems and aqueducts, created sophisticated pottery and elaborate textiles and, despite the harsh conditions, flourished for eight centuries.

During that time they treated the desert as an enormous canvas. Using their hands and rudimentary wooden tools they dug shallow trenches, removing the dark stones and top soil to reveal the lighter coloured earth underneath, creating literally hundreds of enormous lines, geometric shapes and recognisable zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures.

That they’re still visible today is thanks to Nazca’s extreme environment. It’s one of the driest places on the planet, with as little as 2mm of rain a year. The sun-hardened surface has set the stones in the soil, a rich mixture of clay and gypsum; the harsh wind

known as the paracas (‘sand rain’ in Quechua) is deflected by the heat rising from the stones, minimising erosion and helping to preserve them intact.

Flight of fancy The lines are spread across a 500 sq km desert plateau and their sheer size – some of the largest are 200m across – means that they can only be properly seen from the air.

As I flew north from the city of Nazca, over the vast, arid pampa of Palpa, flanked by the long spine of the Andean foothills, stark white lines began to appear. Straight at first, they criss-crossed the ochre and rust-red earth of the desert floor. They soon began to form simple geometric shapes – rectangles, triangles, trapeziums – until I caught sight of the first of the most legendary lines, the menagerie of elaborate birds and animals.

“Coming up on your left, the Ballena,” said the voice in my headphones over the roar of the engine. I scanned the ground trying to pick out the faint form of a killer whale from the muddle. The plane tipped and dipped, left and right.

“Perro [dog],” the voice said, moments later, and then, “Mono”, as the distinctive Nazca monkey with its spiral tail came into view. I was enthralled by the figures – the >

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20 years of Wanderlust, 1993-2013

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a souttrip to Wo W rth af a h £4,riCa Turn 00 To 0 pag T e 130 noW! W!

Mysteries worth travelling for

24 of the world’s most mysterious places – from the Easter Island heads, to Peru’s Nazca Lines, Turkey’s Gobekli Tepe, mysterious Britain & more...

Madagascar

In search of the incredible but elusive aye-aye

Japan

Dare you journey beneath the waves to find Atlantis?

Cambodia

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PockET GuIdEs Sydney ✱ Fairytale Germany ✱ Jakarta

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Wanderlust Issue 140 (October 2013) Mysteries worth travelling for • Madagascar • Japan • Cambodia • Peru’s Nazca Lines • Turkey • Mysterious Britain • Pocket guides: Sydney, Fairytale Germany, Jakarta

Celebrating 20 years in travel

3/9/13 11:02:40

5 issues of Wanderlust for only £5*

Receive a FREE £50 travel voucher towards your next trip. For more details visit www.wanderlustvoucher.co.uk

Call us on: 01753 620426 and quote WL140 * TERMS & CONDITIONS: This offer is not available in conjunction with any other promotion. Not available to previous Direct Debit subscribers. 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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STUMPED BY

You don’t have to travel far for a good mystery – take your dowsing rods 060-067_Avebury_SO.indd 60

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Avebury, UK 1

1

I I I

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; without the tourists: walk I Stonehenge 1 amid stones and landscapes 1 I 5,000-year-old

Š

I

Avebury is 10km west of Marlborough; nearest train stations are Pewsey and Swindon 1 1

Year-round; Avebury Manor is closed Weds

THE STONES to the Neolithic circles, mounds and barrows of Avebury

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Words Lyn Hughes

2/9/13 12:56:36

Avebury, UK

< also built around this time. In short, this huge, complex site was a

true wonder of the world.

Over the centuries, it fell into disuse, although the Romans visited as tourists. In medieval times a village grew up within the site; some of the stones were used as building material. Other stones were toppled by god-fearing locals who were superstitious of the site’s pagan heritage. Luckily, in the 1920s, marmalade heir Alexander Keiller became fascinated by Avebury and spent his fortune undertaking archaeological excavations and restoring what he could.

We featured Avebury in the first ever issue of Wanderlust. When I first visited more than 20 years ago, Avebury was relatively unknown, despite being larger and older than Stonehenge.

Back then, you could walk up to the top of Silbury Hill to gaze over the stone circles, a little over a mile away; you could park in the small village car park or along the main street. Today, there is a purpose-built car park outside the village, and several

coaches were lined up as I pulled in, having disgorged parties of French and German visitors.

Fortunately, there is a large area to soak them up. There’s the pretty village, an Anglo-Saxon church, the manor house, two small but interesting museum galleries, a couple of shops – and that’s before you start strolling around the stones themselves.

Another mystery Venture a little further at Avebury, and you can soon have a Neolithic view to yourself. For, like Stonehenge, 40km away, this is more than a stone circle, but a whole landscape of monuments. As well as the remains of the circles and Silbury Hill, you can visit West Kennet Long Barrow – one of the most impressive burial chambers in Britain – and the Sanctuary, a site that had its own double stone circle 4,000 years ago.

I strolled down West Kennet Avenue, a broad trail marked by pairs of stones, some missing but denoted by markers. My visit coincided with

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The stones at sunrise The early dawn bathes the arcane Avebury stone circle in a suitably atmospheric light

English Heritage

‘What was the purpose of these 5,000 year-old stones? Were they used for ceremonies? Or fertility rites?’ a three-week archaeological dig at a spot Keiller had identified back in the 30s as a Neolithic rubbish dump. While the results of this latest dig will take months to analyse, archaeologists have already concluded that people were living on this spot before they built the Avenue.

Back in the village, I popped into The Henge Shop to buy a pair of dowsing rods, my last pair having been purloined by some overseas guests. On that first visit, 20 years ago, a lady in the museum had suggested we borrow her rods – simple L-shaped pieces of metal.

From then on I’d become hooked on this ancient method of locating ley lines, even taking a course here.

The strongest reaction from the rods occurs in the area known as The Cove. Today just two of the original three stones remain. No one knows the purpose of these Neolithic coves, which are found in other stone circles too. Were they used for ceremonies? Or fertility rites?

Certainly, it is tempting to think of the two stones as male and female, one being tall and slim, the other broad across the hips.

The ‘female’ stone, which is over 4m high, has been found to be at least 2-3m below the ground too, making it the largest stone here. It is also believed to have been erected around 3030BC, making it the site’s oldest stone. Whenever I dowse here, the rods, instead of swinging together, swing violently backwards. Another mystery.

Before I left Avebury, I wanted to hang out around the female stone for a while. But as I approached, a man advanced, a look of awe on his face. He stopped in his tracks, his face animated as he stared at The Cove in wonder. He approached ‘my’ stone and sat at its base.

Initially disappointed at not having the place to myself, I then had to smile at his reaction. After all, this is what Avebury is about: it’s an accessible, living window into the past, producing more questions than answers. You can stroke the stones, sleep at their bases, have a picnic in their shade or just sit in wonder.

I went to the other side of the female stone and gave it a pat and an > au revoir. After all, I’d be back. ■ Wanderlust October 2013 | 65

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How to | Skills | Gear | Health | Photo tips | Q&A

Navigator

“Victims become increasingly apathetic, confused and stumble about...” Dr Jane looks at some of the world’s stranger symptoms, p72

Travel need-to-knows, from treating a Huntsman spider bite to tying a turban...

Take my advice

How to... plan a horseriding trip Former jockey, pro photographer and Wild Frontiers’ horseriding guide Richard Dunwoody gives his expert advice

1

Consider your destination Africa and Latin America are good for experienced riders, as they use thoroughbred horses. In Central Asia you’re likely to have a strong, stocky horse; in the Middle East, a light, fast horse. Consider what type of riding you want.

2

Use a reputable company Horse welfare is crucial so travel with a company that cares about it. Also, ask about group size – large groups diminish local interaction; for example, Wild Frontiers’ horseriding tours are limited to a maximum of just ten.

3

Forget the bravado Be honest about your riding experience so you’re given a horse suited to your ability. It’ll making the trip much more relaxing.

4

Break in your kit Wear in your riding trousers and boots before travel to avoid chafing. Take a few pairs of different trousers: one pair may cause more problems than another. Seat savers and cycling shorts are worth considering; at the very least, pack Vaseline!

5

Pack the essentials Take a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and a neckerchief to protect you from the sun, wind and dust. Also, take a tough, soft bag that can be easily tied onto a pack horse. Your riding boots should have a decent tread on the sole in case you need to lead your horse up a slippery path.

Stay comfortable On a long riding day, alter your stirrups a little at lunchtime, so the strain affects different parts of your body in the morning and afternoon sessions. Take every opportunity to change the pace, as this gets you out of the saddle and into a different position.

Richard Dunwoody regularly leads horse-riding trips for adventure tour operator Wild Frontiers (020 7736 3968, www.wildfrontierstravel.com). Wild Frontiers offer riding holidays to a number of destinations, from Mongolia to Cuba, Botswana to Romania.

Lyn Hughes/Paul Morrison

6

Saddle up!

Preparation is essential for a successful horseriding trip

Did you know? Horses were first domesticated in Central Asia, about 5,000 years ago, although horses have been found in prehistoric cave paintings that date back around 30,000 years.

Wanderlust October 2013 | 69

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Navigator Skills

How to... tie a turban

THE LOCAL’S GUIDE TO… TRAIL RUNNING IN EDINBURGH

India experts at Audley Travel give their handy hints on tying the traditional Sikh headgear

1

3 2

Fit your fifty Tie a small band of cloth (a ‘fifty’) around your forehead before tying the turban. This helps the turban stay firm.

Get started Take one corner of the cloth between your teeth while bringing the other end behind and diagonally over the top of your head.

4

Do the twist Carefully twist the fabric on one side, bringing it down from the forehead and around, creating a ridge.

5

Repeat This twist should be repeated on every other turn so that the fabric crosses in the front, working its way up.

6

Tuck in it After several turns (about six or seven times for an adult), tuck the end in under the top of the turban; secure with pins.

Audl ey Tr

Know your enemy...

Arthur’s Seat Almost opposite Holyrood Palace, a road ascends gently NE before becoming a track that eventually takes you to the summit of Arthur’s Seat (pictured).

From here, head NW following the crags to descend back to the palace.

The Pentland Hills From the A702 at Hillend, follow the track by the golf course past the thatched cottages at Swanston.

Then head straight up towards the skyline.

A lower route, with panoramic views, is on the path a third of the way up.

Braid Hills These hills offer some good, short trail routes with great views just a mile south of the city centre.

The entrance to the observatory makes a good starting point for first-timers in the city

01

www 993 838 avel .a 0 offer udleytra 00 tailor s a huge r vel.com ange mad tours e and gr of ou world wide ps

Caroline Williams fell in love with Edinburgh when she took up trail running. Now she’s a Tripbod, ‘your friend at the other end’, she offers guided jogs around the city.

Here are her three faves:

7

Voila! You have a perfect peaked turban.

See www.tripbod.com to arrange a bespoke run

Illustration: Luke Webb Images: Dreamstime

Get your turban cloth The minimum length you need for tying a turban varies from 5m to 7m.

Huntsman spider

Danger rating: None. While these spiders are big and hairy – and can kill insects – they are not dangerous to humans. The most they inflict is a bite that may swell up but should go down in 48 hours.

Identification: Huntsmans are large, often reaching a whopping 15cm from leg to leg. They’re generally brown, with eight very hairy legs, and eight eyes.

They move in a crab-like fashion, very fast.

Where found: Tropical locations, including Australasia, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Likelihood of encountering: Huntsman spiders tend to inhabit woody places – anything from forests to garden sheds. Huntsmans don’t build webs, so (rather unnervingly) you’ll see them when they creep out of corners.

What to do if bitten: Relax! While localised pain and swelling may occur, this can generally be relieved with an ice pack.

Suggestion: It’s probably more afraid of you, than you are of it – if you see one, just leave it be.

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20

Mysteries worth travelling for

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What really lies beneath...

Raf Jah, Tanzania-based writer and diver, managed to get underwater at Iseki Point “Most of the diving in Yonaguni has cliff-like walls and huge boulders perched on rocks, with swim-throughs and caves. The water’s clear and full of jack, trevally and nudibranch. The walls are covered in waving, brightly coloured soft coral with small reef fish swarming all over them.

The exception to this is the ruins at Iseki Point.

I dived the ruins in January 2013. It was exhilarating. We descended from a large metal boat and shot down to 18m. The sea wasn’t cold, but it was choppy. We swam up and down passages, around what looked like solid buildings. The largest stones looked like Mayan pyramids. The current swept us along.

In contrast to the rest of Yonaguni, the walls were smooth and barely covered with algae. As we made our progress, I twisted to look at the structures. They had sheer walls, steps with 90° angles and cut terraces.

The pathways between the stones looked distinct. We climbed back up to the shallows to what the locals call the upper terraces. These are the most interesting parts; they looked like they’d been hewn and look down on the large ‘boulevard’ to the other stones opposite.

I think the right angles are a little too precise to be natural. In my opinion, the stones are man-modified. Also, there’s stone at the ruins that comes from the other end of Yonaguni, which suggests they’re not natural.

The dive was fascinating. My greatest regret is not spending a week diving the ruins to fully grasp the layout of the area.”

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14

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Standing stones, Laos The Stonehenge of South-East Asia?

While many people have heard of Laos’ Plain of Jars, in Xieng Khouang province, there’s an equally cryptic site in neighbouring Hua Phan. Protruding from the ground like giant sets of jagged teeth, the standing stones of Hintang Archaeological Park are scattered across 72 different locations in the remote, mountainous jungle.

French archaeologist Madeleine Colani first documented the 1,546 stones – likened to England’s Stonehenge – in the 1930s.

They are believed to be around 1,500 years old, and scientists think they were created by the ancestors of those behind the Plain of Jars: the stone used is the same and, among

Yeti, Himalaya

Does the abominable snowman exist?

High up in the Himalaya, one of the most famous mythological creatures is said to roam. Supposedly ape-like in stature, over 2m tall, with yellow skin and matted hair, the yeti only caught Western attention in the early 1920s when intrepid climbers raced to conquer Everest.

The name ‘abominable snowman’ was coined in 1921 when Charles Howard-Bury, leading a Mount Everest expedition, saw large tracks in the snow, which his sherpa described as belonging to the metch kangmi – ‘filthy snowman’. It was mistranslated by the press – possibly for dramatic effect.

Since then there have been thousands of reported sightings of the man-beast – even as recently as this February, when three boys filmed a shadowy object moving behind the trees in western Siberia. Also, a purported yeti scalp is on display at Khumjung Monastery, eastern Nepal. However, scientists put suspected encounters down to misidentification of large mammals.

Get there: Khumjung is near Namche Bazaar, on the Everest Base Camp trek.

Namche is a two-day walk from Lukla, where flights connect to Kathmandu (30mins).

Like that? Try this... North America where Bigfoot – a similar beast – is said to roam.

the upright rocks, there are 153 large stone discs, which scientists have likened to the lids at the Plain.

Although the stones’ meaning remains unexplained, archaeologists believe the discs were used as grave markers. Local animists have a different explanation, however: they think the discs once stood on top of the menhirs to form dining tables for a sky-spirit named Jahn Hahn.

Get there: Hua Phan is in north-east Laos.

There are regular flights from Vientiane to Xam Neua, the province capital. Xam Neua-Luang Prabang by bus takes 15 hours.

Hintang is 36km west of Xam Neua.

Like that? Try this... Carnac, France – one of the world’s most extensive menhir sites: around 10,000 standing stones dot the Brittany countryside.

Stoney similarities The origin of the stones is unknown, but they are presumed to be related to burial rituals; (above left) Everest

Alamy; Dreamstime

Yeti or not?

The supposed yeti scalp from Khumjung Monastery was sent for testing by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1960, where it was reported to be animal skin

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20

Mysteries worth travelling for

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Angkor Wat, Cambodia

How did they shift all that stone?

Deep in the jungle of north-west Cambodia sits one of the largest religious monuments ever created – Angkor Wat. Built in the 12th century by the Khmer Empire, this imposing 2 sq km complex, constructed from around five million tons of sandstone,

was somehow built in just a few decades.

How they transported the bricks (from a quarry 50km away) and how they then constructed the temple – with its five towers soaring up to 65m high and 200m-wide moat – is also baffling. The scale of the achievement has prompted some to speculate that either gods or extra-terrestrials must have lent a helping hand in its creation.

Get there: Angkor Wat is 6km north of Siem Reap – take a tuk-tuk or hire a bike.

Siem Reap is served by flights from Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

Like that? Try this... Teotihuacan, Mexico – 50km north-east of Mexico City and completed in around 100 BC, it was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas with a 224m central pyramid, yet no one knows who built it or why they disappeared. ■ Wanderlust October 2013 | 123

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Short break

fairy tale route germany Romantic rousings Löwenburg Castle is just one of the fairy- tale buildings of Kassel that inspired the Brothers Grimm (pictured below)

Where? Central Germany Why? For a Brothers Grimm fairytale feel, ancient forest, timbered villages and beer When? Year round; fewer tourists in spring/autumn; May-Oct for fountains

nce upon a time (well, 200 years ago), in a land far, far less difficult to get to than it used to be (Germany), there lived two brothers. Those brothers, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, wrote a famed collection of fairytales, which were first published in December 1812.

Last December kicked off a year-long celebration of their works.

However, the best way to pay homage is to follow the 600km Fairy Tale Route, which starts in Hanau, near Frankfurt, and wends north to Bremen.

Along the way it takes in Germany’s timber-framed, dark-forested heartland – the no-man’s land between the traditional Bavarian south and industrial Prussian north. Here, in this cauldron of religious, philosophical and political ideas, the Grimms developed a passion for myth and language.

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Shutterstock; Kassel Marketing GmbH

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It’s 200 years since the Brothers Grimm penned their infamous fairytales – so no better time, then, to explore the spooky forests and atmospheric old towns that inspired them, says Tom Hawker

The university town of Marburg and stately Kassel were both home to the Grimms at one point. Both brothers studied at the former, sharing digs, then spent much of their adolescence and early careers in Kassel, where they were delighted by its magnificent Wilhelmshöhe Park (newly UNESCOlisted). For today’s travellers, both towns are also conveniently linked to Frankfurt airport, by road and train.

Once there, prepare to walk in Marburg. ‘I believe there are more steps in the streets than in the houses’, Jacob once complained of Marburg’s steep, winding alleys and stairwells.

These popped up directly in their books – some of the town’s details were incorporated by the book’s illustrator.

Along the pretty medieval and Baroque streets, you can follow a trail of Grimm breadcrumbs in the form of little statues: the Frog Prince sits on a water fountain, awaiting a kiss; a series

of seven hats and noses hi-ho their way along the cobbled path up to the huge castle; a lonely ruby slipper awaits its (presumably huge) owner.

Further north, Kassel is much wider and grander than Marburg, as befits the one-time powerbase of the local rulers. The Second World War levelled 75% of the residential buildings, which explains the drab concrete blocks, but much of the former romance remains.

There’s also contemporary appeal: every five years, Kassel hosts the Documenta modern arts exhibition, and works pop up to baffle visitors.

Kassel is also the gateway to the Grimmsteig walking trail. This 87km loop takes you around the villages and towns east of Kassel, and is a great way to acquaint yourself with the imposing forests that posed a problem to so many of the brothers’ characters. You can either tackle a section, or tramp the whole lot, overnighting in the villages.

However, don’t leave town before visiting its hillside Wilhelmshöhe Park and Hercules monument (currently under scaffolding for an anniversary facelift). At 2.30pm every Wednesday and Sunday from May to October, a cascade of water is released, setting off a series of waterfalls and fountains that has entertained visitors since 1714.

Within the rolling, 2.4 sq km park there are also two astonishing palaces, art galleries and a café. Once Big Herc has finished performing, it’s the perfect place to wander, to picnic and to dream of living happily ever after… >

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Wanderlust Pocket Guides

fairy tale route day by day

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Medieval streets, magical forests, Grimm sites and a date with Hercules  Day 1

Essential info

Amble around Marburg

In Kassel, Hotel Schweizer Hof (hotel-schweizerhof-kassel.de) is close to Wilhelmshöhe station; doubles from €109.

What to eat: Wurst sausages, schnitzel and schweinshaxe (roasted ham hock) are all recommended, along with a stein of beer or a nice wine.

For traditional food In Marburg, try the Ratsschänke am Marktplatz (Markt 3; www.ratsschaenkemarburg.de). In Kassel, a cake-break at Café Nenniger’s is essential (www.cafe-nenninger.de).

Kassel

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 Day 2

Getting on the Grimmsteig

Dreamstime; Tom Hawker; Kassel Marketing GmbH

Transfer to Kassel (1hr by train/90min drive from Marburg). Then head straight out to Wellerode, a 30-minute drive south-east or reachable on Bus 37. Here you can pick up the Grimmsteig, Stage 5 of which runs between Wellerode (Söhrewald) and Nieste, to the north.

The first half of this 13km-or-so trail is suitably Grimm, and clearly marked.

While walking amid the forest’s oak, fur, beech and cherry, keep an eye out for wild deer, boar and even (if you’re very lucky) European wildcat.

You break out of the forest at the small town of Kaufungen, which is full of fairytale medieval housing.

Here you can take a peek inside the 1,000-year-old Stiftskirche, where renovators are slowly uncovering the original murals that subsequent moreconservative generations painted over. You can grab snacks here, too.

The rest of the leg leads though forests and farmland towards Nieste.

Here, on a hill overlooking the town, the Bavarian-style Königs-Alm Restaurant is ideal for a celebratory stein and some traditional south German cuisine. Return to Kassel by Bus 34 (or to your car in Wellerode via the Grimmsteig shuttlebus: €15; book in advance with the Grimmsteig tourist office).

Don’t be dismayed by the concrete building site outside Marburg station.

A five-minute stroll over the Lahn River brings you to the historic old town and the 80m-high twin towers of Elisabethkirche (elisabethkirche.de), 800 years’ worth of gothic opulence, headlined by the golden shrine to the church’s patron saint.

From there, head up towards the Old Town, an eclectic parade of crooked Tudor and baroque timber houses (above). Hang a right at Schlosssteig to peer into the excavated remains of the medieval

synagogue before proceeding along steep Landgraf-Philipp-Strasse, specially cobbled at an angle to give horses (and tired humans) something to grip. Stop at Bückingsgarten (bueckingsgarten-marburg.de) for a beer break, and then go through the gate towards Landgrave Castle, now home to the University Museum Of Cultural History (www.uni-marburg. de/uni-museum).

The route back leads down the Ludwig-Bickell steps to Ritterstrasse; no 15 is where the Grimm’s favourite professor fired their imaginations.

A spiral staircase drops you down another level, towards the main drag of Barfüsserstrasse and its medieval market place, where the town hall announces each hour with a baleful hornblast and the emergence of a mechanical rooster. Before heading to a local restaurant for dinner, wander past no 35, once a commune where the Grimms lodged as students.

They’re not the building’s only famous residents though: Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie hid here after the Second World War.

 Day 3

Discover Kassel

Assuming it’s a Wednesday or a Sunday, today’s focus is making sure you’re at Wilhelmshöhe Park’s Hercules statue (below) at 2.30pm to watch the cascade show. Thankfully Kassel has plenty to keep you occupied in the meantime.

Begin in the town centre, in Brüder Grimm-Platz (the pair lived in the gatehouse) before heading south onto the Baroque Schöne Aussicht Strasse to be first at the Brothers Grimm Museum (open 10am; €3; www.grimms.de); it contains the brothers’ annotated copy of their Fairy Tales (insured for €50 million).

Next, wander into pretty Karlsaue Park to take in its Orangery and the Fulda River. Circle back towards the huge Friedrichsplatz and have lunch at Café Nenninger, purveyors of great cake for over 100 years.

By now you should be thinking about heading west for your appointment with Hercules. Tram 1 (every 15 mins) takes you to the foot of the

hill. If you’ve got time, detour to Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, where the Picture Gallery of the Old Masters contains an impressive collection of Rembrandt and Rubens. Then either walk or jump on a bus up the hill.

Wait here until the water starts to flow, then follow it down through the assorted cascades until you reach the bottom for the big 52m Grand Fountain show (above).

After that, there’s just time to join the last guided tour (4pm) of fairytale Löwenburg Castle.

Finally, picnic in the park or head back into town for stein and schnitzel at a local tavern. n

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When to go: Spring and autumn, to miss peak season. May-October, to see the Hercules cascade.

Getting there: Luthansa flies from UK airports (www.luthansa.com) to Frankfurt from around £100 return.

S-Bahn trains to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof take 14 mins (€4.25; www.rmv.de).

Flights to Frankfurt-Hahn are cheaper (£23 return from Ryanair) but land 120km east of the city; a direct bus to Frankfurt takes 1hr 45mins (€14; www.bohr.de).

Getting around: Trains are comfy, efficient and practical. MarburgKassel-Frankfurt costs around £105; you need to buy individual tickets (see raileurope.co.uk or rmv.de).

Alternatively, car rental is available at Frankfurt Airport (about £100 for three days, excluding insurance).

Kassel has an easy-to-use tram system; Line 1 links the city centre with Wilhelmshöhe Park. Marburg is mostly pedestrianised.

Where to stay: Marburg’s luxurious VILA VITA RosenPark (www. rosenPark.com/en) has doubles from €128.

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