National Day on October 1st is one of China’s seven official public holidays. It’s a fabulous time to take part in the cultural celebrations and dramatic displays of national pride, but as Intrepid traveller Laura Carroll discovered, it can also be a time when getting around Beijing can be a bit tricky…
“Sometimes the best nights out are the ones that are completely unplanned. One fateful night in Beijing, a friend and I went out for dinner and a few drinks, then decided to head back to our hotel for a relatively early night. We knew, of course, that rehearsals for China’s National Day celebration were underway and that a few streets would be closed, but we didn’t think that it would affect us that much. We couldn’t have been more wrong.
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Ready for A Taste of Russia at a time when locals celebrate Christmas, New Year, another Christmas, Old New Year and an Epiphany? Intrepid’s Anna Mikhailova explains why you should take this top trip in winter…
“In his novel The real life of Sebastian Knight, Nabokov, one of Russia’s finest authors, gave this description of a winter’s day in his home city:
“…the morning of 31st December was a fine windless one, with twelve degrees below zero. This dry account cannot convey to the untravelled reader the implied delights of a winter day such as this in St Petersburg; the pure luxury of a cloudless sky designed not to warm the flesh, but solely to please the eye, the soft curve of a cupola, its gold dimmed by the bloom of powdery frost; the birch trees in the public gardens, every tiniest twig outlined in white; the rasp and tinkle of winter traffic.”
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In Nepal you can take your pick of three New Year celebrations. Lhosar is the New Year of the Sherpas and Tibetans celebrated on 5 March next year, Navavarsha is observed as the official Nepali New Year, which falls on 4 April in 2011, and as Intrepid Express reader Christine Ireland discovered, 31 December is also a wonderful time to be in Nepal…
“The New Year’s Eve street festival held lakeside in Pokhara is a time I will always remember. The street is alive with coloured lights, crisscrossing amid the tangle of electricity wires. Smells of hot curry, momos and sweet spices waft and mingle through the evening air, tempting one to sit and watch and drink in the festive atmosphere.
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What better way to beat the blues than join in a celebration where you wash away your woes and watch them sail into the night? On 21 November this year Thailand will light up for Loy Krathong, the festival that pays respect to Mae Khongkha (Mother of Waters) by floating candles and incense sticks in banana leaf boats, or in some regions makes an offering to Lord Buddha by sending lanterns into the sky.
Whether it’s religious beliefs or the want to start afresh with renewed good luck that draws people to the events around the country, as Intrepid Express reader Molly Skoog discovered, it’s one of Thailand’s most magical nights…
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What a thrill it is to arrive in the right place at the right time. It feels like a travel gift when on that very day a colourful Semana Santa street procession is starting up in Seville, or Aussie locals are licking their lips at the Broome Mango Festival and camel caravans are pulling into Pushkar for one of India’s most amazing fairs. Rather than leaving these incredible real life experiences to chance, planning your trip around a festival can be part of the fun.
It’s not easy to narrow it down, but here are our 5 best festivals for October and November…
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For three days around the March full moon you can experience the welcoming of spring in northern India and Nepal. This exuberant and rowdy festival is awash with all colours of the rainbow and Intrepid Express reader Mellita Ilich found herself covered in the celebrations…
“My husband and I arrived in Nepal for a four week holiday. We were rather naive travellers back then and had read up on customs, food and drink, dangers, highlights etc, but had not thought about special events or festivals.
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There are few festivals in Italy that don’t feature delicious local cuisine in their celebrations, and where there is food alongside fun, you can expect to find Intrepid’s Tamara Palinkas…
“I was really lucky, when in the small town of Maiori on the Amalfi Coast I got to celebrate Ferragosto with an Italian family. This is one of the most important Italian holidays, when on 15 August the country shuts down for a mid-summer feast celebrated with music and fireworks.
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There are so many great traditions connected with Easter celebrations around the world, but Intrepid’s Petra Palkovicova sheds some light on an unusual ancient ritual that has girls on the run in the Czech Republic…
“Easter is one of our most important feasts in the Czech Republic. We send cards to our friends and relatives, decorate eggs and eat lots of chocolate. Almost everything is the same as you probably know it in your country… except one thing… there is the Easter whipping.
On Easter Monday, Czech men and boys give women and girls so called ‘Easter birching’. Some people say it’s only a gentle slap on the bottom with a bunch of birch sticks. But if you ask me, it’s not that gentle!
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Being stuck below ground is our worst nightmare, but imagine if you were forced to look the devil in the eye every morning as you headed into the subterranean world. Intrepid traveller Jacqueline Donaldson discovered what it was like for the underground workers of Bolivia…
“If God is in the sky then the devil must be in the ground” was what a Potosi miner told me when I was surprised by an effigy of the devil on entering the dark entrance to a mine in the intriguing city of Potosi. As I watched, miners filed past giving small offerings to the devil to keep them safe for the working day.
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