Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i National Geographic Traveller (UK)

Vietnam’s cuisine has been shaped over generations by a rich tapestry of cultural influences. French colonialism introduced baguettes, leading to dishes like banh mi sandwiches; Vietnamese spring rolls are made with Chinese-style rice paper; and Indian and Thai influences are showcased via the widespread use of spices like star anise and curry powder. With its long coastline, lush deltas, fertile plains and mountains, Vietnam’s landscape has also played a pivotal role in shaping the culinary scene. Coastal regions such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City offer an abundance of seafood dishes, whereas the Mekong Delta, known as the ‘rice bowl’ of Vietnam, provides vast amounts of the grain along with fruits and vegetables. Key ingredients include fish sauce, lemongrass, garlic, shallots and chilli peppers, and the art of Vietnamese…

Kennedy Space Center, Florida The NASA-operated Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is a must for aspiring astronauts and space lovers. It’s organised into chronologically grouped attractions and tours based around mission launches from the US Space Program. Hands-on experiences range from live presentations delivered by astronauts, to the new Astronaut Training Experience Center. At the latter, children aged 10 to 17 (with an accompanying adult) can feel the sensation of spacewalking and navigating Martian terrain. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is also the closest place from which the public can view rocket launches at Cape Canaveral; check the website for the schedule. kennedyspacecenter.com Jodrell Bank, Cheshire One of Cheshire’s biggest attractions, this world-leading science research institute is centred around the Grade I-listed Lovell Telescope. Its 35acre grounds include lots…

Big Meg Famed Australian palaeontologist and explorer Tim Flannery and his scientist daughter Emma travel through time in this rollicking ‘biography’ of the largest predator ever to exist, charting shark waters from Australia to Greeland. ‘Big Meg’, or megalodon, was a species of shark that swam in our waters three million years ago, whose fossil remains fascinated early civilisations. £16.99, Doubleday. Into the Uncanny A spin-off of Danny Robins’ hit podcast Uncanny, this book delves into the stories behind some of the world’s weirdest happenings and paranormal encounters. Gathering together tales of UFO sightings, haunted houses, apparitions and poltergeist activity across the world from Rome to Enfield, Danny brings in a team of experts to try and explain the unexplainable. £22, BBC Books. Mexico If you’re planning a trip to…

How did you get started in mountaineering? I grew up hiking across the North Yorkshire Moors before getting into caving at university. In the UK, many caves still haven’t been surveyed, so I had the opportunity to explore completely unmapped terrain, which gave me the confidence to go out and find new climbing routes in the Scottish mountains. It was the punk era and I was highly influenced by the idea that you could just go out, learn three chords and release a single — it made me realise that I didn’t need anyone’s permission. After learning to climb in Scotland, I went straight to the Himalayas. I was done waiting. What has been your most challenging moment? Probably my first lead up a piece of vertical ice in the…

Travellers come from far and wide to journey through Puglia and soak up the region’s beauty and culture. With an expansive collection of biking trails and cammini (walking paths) crisscrossing Puglia’s six provinces, the region is rich in routes to discover. CICLOVIA DELL’OFANTO FOR BIKERS AFTER ADVENTURES Puglia’s province of Barletta-Andria-Trani is home to the Ciclovia dell’Ofanto. Covering 93 miles, the demanding trail descends from the medieval hamlet of Rocchetta Sant’Antonio in the Daunian Mountains to the Ofanto River Valley, ending at the Margherita di Savoia salt flats. You can find respite at agriturismos (farm-style accommodation) and vineyards producing Nero di Troia, while the Canne della Battaglia archaeological park — the site of a famous battle between the Romans and the Carthaginians — is well worth a visit. VIA MICAELICA…

THE EXPERTS I’d like to visit Chile for the first time next year. Which month should I go and what should I aim to see on a two-week trip? In November — late spring — peak-season hordes are yet to arrive and the weather is generally good in both the north and south. You can sample Chile’s remarkable geographic diversity in a fortnight if you take some internal flights. Start in the Atacama Desert: the town of San Pedro de Atacama is surrounded by otherworldly landscapes, while Lauca National Park — ahigh-altitude realm of lakes, llamas and volcanoes — offers equally impressive scenery. In central Chile, the engaging port of Valparaíso is renowned for its food and street art, while further south, the mist-shrouded Chiloé archipelago is rich in myths,…

In Pembrokeshire, cliffs nosedive to castaway fantasy coves, with tempetuous waters, ravishing sweeps of dune-fringed beach and fishing villages straight from the pages of an Enid Blyton book. Iron Age hillforts and standing stones keep watch on lonely headlands, just as they have for millennia, and offshore islands reverberate with the trill and warble of seabirds — razorbills and guillemots, puffins and shearwaters. The area’s connecting thread is the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path, which takes you through wildflower-freckled meadows and over gorse-clad cliffs. But there’s plenty more worth exploring, too. 1 TRY COASTEERING Coasteering is everything your parents told you not to do as a kid: leaping into choppy waters, swimming into caves and scrambling over boulders to stretches of the coast few get to see. An exhilarating encounter with…

Tell us about this image. This is the view from the peak of Mount Srđ at dusk, looking out across the Old Town and harbour of Dubrovnik. The city’s historical core has remained virtually untouched since it was completed in the 13th century, and I was keen to convey its distinctly ethereal atmosphere. Looking to capture the magic of the walled city, I chose to shoot the view as the streetlamps in the Old Town were flickering into life. How did you achieve the shot?  Drones have made it much easier to achieve this kind of aerial view, but I opted to use my camera, which I always find provides me with a wider range of shots. Carrying my Canon 5DS along with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens at a focal…

There are only a handful of cities in the world that make me want to go again and again and again. And New York, being one of those, always feels like it deserves an annual visit. Because once you’ve gorged on that famous skyline, marched through the five boroughs, rifled in department stores and thrift shops, filled your face with food, art, music and cocktails… you still want more. It’s the kind of city you can never get enough of and that’s, in part, because it rarely stands still. The big-ticket sights are always there — if you ever have enough time to tick the long list off — but it’s the constantly changing and growing number of attractions that make it feel like you’ll never see everything. And it’s…

THREE MORE LONG-DISTANCE ROUTES IN THE UK TRANS CAMBRIAN WAY Try linking Traws Eryri with this classic Welsh trail, which begins on the English border and concludes just south of Machynlleth. By the time you reach the market town, you’ll have travelled 108 miles, climbed 13,000ft and passed through the moody Black Mountains. visitwales.com KING ALFRED’S WAY Pedal back in time with this 217-mile circular route around historic Wessex. The trail begins and ends in Winchester, the supposed resting place of Alfred the Great, passing ancient pagan monuments and cutting through the sprawling South Downs. cyclinguk.org THE CALEDONIA WAY Stretching up to Inverness, this 234-mile route kicks off on the Kintyre Peninsula on Scotland’s west coast. From here, it heads north, taking in views of Jura and Arran before meeting…

1 TASMAJDAN CAVES Belgrade’s foundations stand above a network of prehistoric caves — some of the scattered shells found within them date back up to eight million years. These cavernous spaces have housed a Roman aqueduct system and military tunnels; more recently, they served as Second World War bunkers for Nazi occupiers. Enter the network from Tasmajdan Park and explore a section used by German soldiers escaping Belgrade’s liberation in 1944. 2 ROMAN CASTRUM Continue to the site of a secondcentury castrum (fort). During the city’s Roman era, a frontline legion was stationed here to defend the city (then known as Singidunum) against impending forces from the east. Traces of the garrison are minimal today, but you can still find evidence of the monumental gate that once stood at its…

The birthplace of tequila and mariachi music, Guadalajara plays a big part in Mexico’s cultural identity. Yet while Mexico City and Cancun pulse with visitors year-round, the capital of the west-coast state of Jalisco has retained a laid-back charm. Its streets are a mixture of grand colonial cathedrals, vendors slathering chilli sauce onto tortas ahogadas (‘drowned sandwiches’) and a sprinkling of galleries and brunch spots. And with the 11th Gay Games — an international sporting competition for LGBTQ+ athletes — being co-hosted here (along with Hong Kong) in November, there’s a fresh global focus on Guadalajara. This is a spread-out city that merits exploration. Start the day just west of the centre with breakfast at Panadería de Barrio, a bakery that offer a contemporary twist on Mexican classics, such as…

| ANIMALS| Extremely rare sperm whale birth caught on camera The last scientific record of a sperm whale birth was in 1986, without audio or video. New recordings of the whales’ behaviour will provide researchers with valuable insights. natgeo.com/animals | SCIENCE| The five ‘blue zones’ where the healthiest people live From Ikaria in Greece to Loma in Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, different cultures across the world have discovered the secrets to growing old — and staying healthy. natgeo.com/science | HISTORY| Roman swords found hidden away in pristine Dead Sea cave The new discovery in Israel of four swords that are nearly 2,000 years old evokes ancient rebellions and offers an exciting opportunity for scientific investigation. natgeo.com/history…

“Vive Saintes-Maries!” comes the rousing cry from a man in a fedora and green silk shirt, his neck strung with silver pendants depicting hedgehogs, caravans and saints. “Vive Sainte Sara!” comes the bellowed reply from the crowd that’s gathered alongside me in the sun-beaten square in the French coastal town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Call and response, music and rhythm are everywhere here at the Pèlerinage Gitan, a riotous pilgrimage that draws Romani communities from across Europe each May. I round a corner into another square to find flamenco guitarists and singers entwined in a gleeful duel. Each musical phrase is marked with handclaps and cries of “Olé!” from surrounding revellers. Saintes-Maries is at the heart of the Camargue, the delta of the Rhône — astrange land of swampy marshes wedged between…

Thick with lush, primary rainforest, Sarawak’s Niah National Park covers just under 12 square miles. The park is also home to imposing limestone rock formations, meandering rivers and dramatic cliffs, but that’s not unusual for this region in Borneo. What makes Niah National Park extra special — ajewel in Malaysia’s crown — is its caves, which include not only one of the biggest cave entrances in the world, but some important archaeological sites. Here, fragments of skull were found dating back 65,000 years, making them the earliest human remains ever discovered in Southeast Asia. The intrepid trek through Niah National Park also takes you on a journey of discovery. From conquering wide cliff shelves beneath canopies of limestone to navigating dense rainforest, the route through the park itself is a…

Britain’s original destination for a dirty weekend, Brighton has had a reputation for licentiousness since the Prince Regent (later King George IV) started bringing his mistress Maria Fitzherbert here in the late 18th century. The construction of his coastal party pad, Brighton Pavilion, sealed the deal — slowly transforming the sleepy fishing village of Brighthelmston into a fashionable destination for the Regency elite, as well as setting a deliriously high standard for subsequent society pleasure dens. Cut to 2023 and the city has cleaned up its act. It claims the UK’s only Green Party MP and its highest density of vegan restaurants, according to 2022 research by chefspencil.com. To sanitise the city too thoroughly, however, would be to rob it of its charm. This is a place synonymous with Graham…

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WHAT’S NEW • FOOD • ON THE TRAIL • WHERE TO STAY • FAMILY • INSIDE GUIDE • STAY AT HOME • BOOKS When I arrived in the Yukon in the depths of winter, all anyone was talking about was Dawson City’s infamous sourtoe cocktail, a shot of whisky garnished with a pickled human toe. I knew I had to experience this local tradition for myself — if only to get a certificate from Terry Lee, president of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club. Legend has it that the original toe belonged to a Prohibition-era rum smuggler who got caught in a snowstorm and was forced to amputate the appendage, preserving it in a jar of brine. When the frostbitten digit was found decades later and brought to the Sourdough Saloon, a…

Native Dakota The US’s Indigenous heritage predates the stars and stripes by some 12,000 years. What’s much more recent is the growing number of travel experiences where Native American communities are highlighting their cultures on their own terms. One such tour focuses on less-explored North and South Dakota. The new nine-day National Parks and Native Trails of the Dakotas itinerary, from tour company Trafalgar, takes in the weathered landscapes and bison ranges of Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and historic sites such as the memorial to the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. But at the heart of the programme, designed in partnership with Native tourism representatives, are the four Indian Reservations of the Oglala Lakota and fellow nations, some of which are welcoming tour groups for the first time.…

TIAD With its high-rise buildings and broad boulevards, Nagoya used to be best known for its industrial heritage — aplace to delve into the history of Toyota, which was founded here, or to browse museums housed in former factories. That changed late last year, when a more fantastical reason to visit sprang up just 30 minutes’ drive to the east: Ghibli Park. As the name suggests, the theme park is based around Studio Ghibli, the country’s most successful anime company, which rose to fame with titles such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. Visitors keen to spot Studio Ghibli characters like No Face, or explore settings such as the house belonging to Satsuki and Mei in My Neighbour Totoro, have a choice of new hotels to bed down in…

There’s a line in the poem Goodman’s Bay by the Bahamian poet Christian Campbell that reads, ‘God, there is too much red in the sky!’ I consider the line beautifully dramatic until I stand on the shore at dusk in Basse-Terre and find it apt. My unfamiliarity with the immensity of sky and sea on a tropical island in the Western Hemisphere makes everything seem unreal — every colour more intense, every horizon more distant. This aura of the surreal makes my arrival in Guadeloupe feel like it belongs to both fiction and reality, a liminal universe not unlike my writing, which questions the world by seeking to reimagine it from the perspective of suppressed cultures — the inverse of what we’ve come to accept as official history. It’s wondering…

Anchored by the city of Bilbao, the Basque province of Biscay in northern Spain encompasses some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes and one of Spain’s most distinctive cultures. Forest-covered mountains hide alpine cabins and religious sanctuaries where Christianity rubs shoulders with pagan Basque mythology, while the coastline is peppered with coves, caves and islands. The region is also spared the blistering heat of southern Spain and there’s just enough rain to keep the countryside a glittering emerald green. And those who prefer not to fly can reach Biscay easily via the twice-weekly ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Food is another highlight. The Cantabrian Coast delivers a rich bounty of seafood — eels, cod and anchovies are particularly celebrated — that’s put to magnificent use in the region’s many acclaimed…

With a medieval old town set against a deep-blue lake and ringed by towering peaks, Lucerne is as striking a city as you’ll find in Switzerland. Historically, this has been known as a place of art and music, but today, I’m visiting the city for a distinctly different — and arguably more delicious — reason. Lucerne is an ideal base from which to explore one of Switzerland’s fastest growing culinary destinations — the Weggis Vitznau Rigi region. This small yet geographically diverse area is swiftly earning its culinary stripes, with six Michelin stars, 134 Gault Millau points and eight Swiss Bakery Trophy medals to its name. To best experience it, base yourself in Lucerne and spend a day or two exploring the region’s more far-flung reaches, easily accessible by plane,…

As road trip destinations go, there are few better places than Australia. Nature seems to flow in through the windows in eucalyptusscented gusts as you drive, while the wonders of the great red continent unfurl beyond the windscreen. Koalas munch on gum leaves in the tall trees, while kangaroos bound carefree along the roadside. Come the evening, chirruping cicadas and croaking frogs surround you. In the morning, the birds seem to serenade the returning sun, with the fluting notes of magpies and the mischievous cackles of kookaburras. A campervan gives you the freedom to change your route and stop whenever and wherever you wish — at every farmers’ market, cellar door, viewpoint and watering hole. Along the country’s southern coast, you can trace the curves of sheer cliffs beside sapphire…

At the junction of two great rivers and overlooked by a towering basilica, few cities in Europe look like Lyon. Even fewer can offer the breadth of tastes that can be found in Lyon. Sat between the vertiginous vineyards of Beaujolais and the cattle-studded pastures of the Alps, this is a city with culinary quality at its core. Its kitchens have played host to notable names, from trailblazing female chef Eugénie Brazier — the first person to be awarded six Michelin stars — to Paul Bocuse, whose innovative dishes championed the region’s local produce. With poultry from Bresse, cow’smilk cheeses from Dauphiné, crayfish from Bugey and, of course, wines, from Beaujolais and the Rhône Valley, menus in Lyon are a true education in the local area. Lyon’s historic bouchons (bistro-style…

GET IN TOUCH Get in touch inbox@natgeotraveller.co.uk Have a query about subscriptions? Get in touch at natgeotraveller@subscription.co.uk or call 01858 438787 WIN A Gomatic backpack worth £279.99! Available in 14L and 20L, the Gomatic Backpack is an allin-one solution. Its durable, waterproof materials are designed for everyday use, with features including a laptop sleeve and magnetic water bottle compartment. A smart strap system turns it into a briefcase carry, while the expansion system and full-perimeter zipper make it a great companion for short trips. gomatic.co.uk STAR LETTER Rail away I adore the idea of travelling across Europe by rail. I’ve done it a little, but it’s largely been limited to France — once as a student and once to get to an England Women’s World Cup match. Your piece ‘London…