Deep Culture Travel

Plan Now for Fall Fiestas in San Miguel de Allende

During a couple of decades of visits to San Miguel de Allende, my husband and I have witnessed so many festivals and parades, from the flower-hatted Catrina skeletons who stalk the streets on Day of the Dead in November to the neighborhood posadas during the Christmas holidays.

The Spanish colonial-era, UNESCO World Heritage city of San Miguel de Allende (SMA), in the mountains a few hours northeast of Mexico City, is known for spectacular, multi-day festivals that take place in September and early October, when long weekends are full of fireworks, parades, mounted riders, costumed children, Indian dancers, patriotic tableaus, religious ceremonies, horseback processions, music and fireworks at all hours--no kidding, it's a good thing that we're no longer buying film for our cameras or we'd be in serious debt. 

El Grito and Independence Day

As SMA is one of the birthplaces of Mexican independence, the El Grito de la Independencia commemoration in September is a very big deal here. SMA residents Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldama, and others, kick-started the 1810 revolt against the Spanish that ultimately resulted in booting out the overlords. Elaborate banners with images of the conspirators arch over the main streets of SMA and a parade and other events occur around the Ignacio Allende House museum, the central plaza (el jardin) and the cathedral.  

September 16 is Mexican Independence Day, a national holiday, which is celebrated throughout the country and over three days in SMA with pyrotechnics from dark through the early hours of the mornings, and by military parades and ceremonies, band concerts and thousands of locals and visitors dancing in the streets, waving flags and even wearing them.

Fiestas de San Miguel de Allende 

My all-time fav events are the "Fiestas de San Miguel de Allende" in honor of the Arcangel St. Michael, who vanquished the devil when he dared to defy God. Days in advance of the saint's feast day, September 29, Indian dance troupes begin streaming into town from around the country, carrying stupendous, hand-made,
indigenous costumes, and sleeping mats and personal gear; the town feeds them and puts them up in the schoolhouses. At midnight before the feast day, they begin their slow alborada (dawn) procession, dancing and drumming all the way, heading up the streets to el jardin and the iconic, soaring, pink- and coral-hued neo-Gothic cathedral, El Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel. 

During the night, the hundreds of dancers in their befeathered headdresses, masks, and painted bodies, and people carrying estrellas (stars), arrive at the cathedral, whereupon a mighty explosion of castillo fireworks and rockets is set off, and St. Michael gets his Las Mañanitas happy birthday song; as dawn rises, the dancers and the crowds wander off for a few hours, until they mass again for the main event--a procession through town, back to the cathedral.

Based on ancient legends and traditions, the dance troupes represent tribes of semi-nomadic
Chichimecas who inhabited the area long before the Spanish conquest. One of their centuries-old traditions is to construct elaborate xuchiles ––huge wooden structures decorated with reeds and cucharilla cactus fiber, corn paste, marigolds and other flowers. Interspersed with the dance troupes, the xuchiles are carried from the outskirts of town to el jardin, where they are hoisted upright and fastened to the fence in front of the cathedral.

Outfitted, ironically, in Spanish-style armor, helmets and swords, images of St. Michael are portrayed on floats in the parade by young girls who are accompanied by gangs of sweet angels in pastel clouds. Adding a carnival atmosphere, 10-foot-tall mojigangas––papier mâché puppets that are created here––totter along between with the dancers.  

A special mass is held for St. Michael, and the famous "Voladores of Papantal" fly, head first, from the top of a dizzying 30 meter-tall pole. Firecrackers, bottle rockets and more whirling, smoking, popping fireworks blow off from time to time, and the amazing Indian dancers, who continue their rhythmic gyrations around and around el jardin, are by this time in an emotional frenzy. And, so are we spectators! 

For visitors, one of the most enjoyable aspects of these cultural spectacles is sharing the sidewalks and the park benches with the families who have come in from outlying ranches and villages. We're all in awe of the color, the sound and the spirit of fiesta in San Miguel.

Day of the Dead––now, that's another story.

Book a Walking Tour of San Miguel de Allende 

One of the most popular tour companies, Helene Kahn Tours, offers small group walking and shopping tours around town, and takes guests by Jeep Cherokee and Suburbans to Guanajuato, Pozos, Dolores Hidalgo and surrounding towns and village. 

For a general intro to the historic district of SMA, for which you do not need to reserve in advance, you can just show up for the daily Patronato Pro Ninos walking tours conducted by experienced English-speaking local guides; proceeds go to the Children's Health Program.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

 

 

 

200th Birthday of Pride and Prejudice Merits a Tour of Jane Austen's Hampshire

The luminous Greer Garson and sexy, arrogant Laurence Olivier portrayed Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in the 1940 version of the movie, Pride and Prejudice, based on Jane Austen’s novel that she wrote in the early 1800s.

In 1995, the BBC’s 6-part TV series of the story starred Jennifer Ehle and the breathtakingly handsome and haughty Colin Firth (after the filming, the two continued their real-life romance for a year or so). Also in that year, Emma Thompson won an Academy Award in Ang Lee’s film of Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility.

Nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, Kiera Knightley co-starred with Matthew Macfadyen.

As popular as ever, the book came in second in the BBC’s 2003 survey of Nation’s Best-loved Novels, and this year, Austen fans are flocking to the village where she lived and wrote when Pride and Prejudice was published, 200 years ago. A wide variety of celebrations, dances, workshops and other events are being held to commemorate the anniversary.

Exploring Jane Austen’s Hampshire

Jane Austen lived in the village of Chawton from 1809 until just before her death in 1817. While there, she wrote and revised a number of books including Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, which she had written some years earlier; she then wrote Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion.

Austen fans are lining up this year for "Jane Austen: The Dancing Years Tour" led by Phil Howe, the lively and charming proprietor of Hidden Britain Tours. For the day-long tour, guests take the train from London Waterloo to Basingstoke where "Hampshire Ambassador" Phil Howe meets them at the railway station at around 10 a.m.

The small group leisurely explores the villages where Austen trod, her birthplace and her father's church at Steventon. Howe leads his guests on the easy walk past country houses wherein Austen danced and fell in and out of love. An expert on the social and cultural life of the time, he spins gossipy tales that Austen told, in Pride and Prejudice, of her real-life neighbors. Elizabeth’s father, Mr. Bennet, says, “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”  

After lunch in a two-century-old inn, the group tours Jane Austen House Museum at Chawton. In the unadorned, two-story brick edifice, they wander the rooms where she spent her last years revising and writing the novels; also here are the graves of her sister and mother.

From a fan: "(Howe’s) . .  knowledge of the sites and his explanations of the role they played in Jane Austen's life made her come alive for me in a new and exciting way. It really does take your breath away when you realize you are standing where she once stood. Phil drew information found in Jane Austen's letters and the biographies written about her to enlighten as well as entertain us."

Click here to read an article in the Telegraph by Sophie Campbell, who took Howe’s tour.

Customized itineraries and private, evening presentations can be arranged by Hidden Britain Tours.

Austen on Your Own

You can also visit the museum and the separate Chawton House Library on your own. In an imposing Elizabethan manor house, the library was owned by the Knight family for more than 400 years, and once belonged to Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight (who was adopted by the Knight family). The building houses more than 9,000+ titles focused on women’s writing from 1600 to 1830, portraits of women writers, and some of Austen’s favorite books.

In Pride and Prejudice, Caroline Bingley says: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”   

Visitors wander the 18^th century parkland estate that surrounds the library, watching the shire horses at work and peeking into an organic, walled kitchen garden designed by Edward.

Avid Austen fans also make a point to stop in at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, which schedules readings, writers’ workshops and other events throughout the year. In elaborate period costumes, Austenophiles will be dancing at the Netherfield Ball, just one of the merriments planned for the annual Jane Austen Festival (this year September 13-21).

Firth, Wet

And now, to whet your appetite for your Jane Austen: The Dancing Years Tour, a short clip of Colin Firth in the lake scene from the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice (The arts correspondent for The Guardian called it  “ . . . one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history: Mr. Darcy emerging dripping from the lake  . . .  his wet shirt clinging to his manly chest. . . . Had the screenwriter had his way, Colin Firth, who played the hunk in Jane Austen's classic, would have been wearing neither shirt nor breeches. Firth vetoed the idea, preferring to keep his shirt and trousers on.”

As the author William Deresiewicz writes in his article for The New Yorker, “Two hundred years—the bicentennial. Send in the tall ships. Set off the fireworks. Darcy and Elizabeth forever.”

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

 

 

Albania & Kosovo From Mountains to Sea with Richard Bangs

Albania may not be on your bucket list, yet when you read about the spectacular itinerary for Richard Bangs’ trip in the Albanian Alps this July, as a true culture vulture, you may change your mind.

“An Exploration of Albania and Kosovo from Mountains to Sea” is truly pioneering cultural tourism. Smaller than the state of Maryland, Eastern Europe’s Albania is vast in culture and ancient history, with a stunning alpine landscape little known by today’s travelers.

Operated by Mountain Travel Sobek and led by the world-famous adventure travel guru and film documentarian, Richard Bangs, the 9-day tour winds through the dramatic Albanian Alps to 14^th century UNESCO World Heritage-designated towns and villages to National Parks and the wild Osumi River, and into Kosovo, the youngest old country in Europe. Against backdrops of jagged mountain ranges and massive gorges and river valleys are Roman ruins, Ottoman bridges and forts, castles and monasteries; the tour is warmed by frequent encounters with locals.

A few details of the extensive itinerary for An Exploration of Albania and Kosovo from Mountains to Sea:

• The ancient cultural center of Shkodra and Rozafa Fortress
• Valbona Valley and the Accursed Mountains
• Visoki Deçan Monastery, World Heritage town of Berat
• Karaburun Peninsula, Llogora National Park
• Ali Pasha of Tepelena Butrint Archaeological Park
• Gjirokaster,  Tirana, Et’hem Bej Mosque

For more than three decades an explorer and media communicator, Richard Bangs is often called the “father of modern adventure travel” and a pioneer in travel with a purpose. He founded Sobek Expeditions, which merged with Mountain Travel to become Mountain Travel Sobek; and, he also produced the first Internet travel site (mtsobek.com), the first travel CD ROM (The Adventure Disc), and the first virtual expeditions (terra-quest.com).

Bangs is currently producing and hosting the new PBS series, “Richard Bangs’ Adventures with Purpose”. Among his latest books are Adventures with Purpose: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Earth; Quest for the Sublime, Mystery of the Nile, and Quest for the Kashah. Bang’s awards for TV, print and other media are legendary.

The occasional opportunities to travel with Richard Bangs are known to be life-changing. He writes: “For so long Albania has been a book sealed, a storied kingdom lost to the misty swirls of empires, a vastness in which 70% of the land is ruggedly mountainous and often inaccessible from the outside. Yet it has its soft sides, secret beaches on the Ionian Sea; wild, clear, clean rivers that few have rafted; air as crisp and clean as the Dinaric Alps, of which it is the last sigh.”

More here about Richard Bangs' adventures.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

 

 

 

Cultural Tour of Viking Sites in Scotland, August-Sept 2013

Just 16 travelers will take the Viking Treasure tour, August 23 - September 1, 2013, offered by Celtic Journeys, an acclaimed cultural tour company that specializes in independent vacations and special interest small-group tours in Scotland and Ireland.

Beginning and ending in Edinburgh, on the rich Viking Treasure itinerary are the architectural, archeological and historic wonders of Orkney and Shetland, as related to Viking heritage.

Highlights on the Shetland Islands: Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village. On Orkney, Skara Brae, a Stone-Age settlement hit by a massive storm that buried it in sand for about 4,000 years; the Ring of Brodgar, with 36 of the original 60 still standing, some etched with Viking Runes; and Maeshowe, the finest chambered tomb in Western Europe.

Dunrobin Castle and much more on the agenda, guided by one of top professional guides in the country, with lodgings at such as the Culloden House Hotel, one of the top 50 country historic manor houses in the world.

The Viking Treasure tour includes:

• Deluxe motorcoach transportation
• Ensuite accommodations in 4-star properties
• Premium tickets to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
• Full Scottish breakfasts
• Four 3-course dinners, including gourmet dinner at Culloden House Hotel
• An evening with a Jacobite soldier
• Private tour of Culloden Battlefield
• Ferry transportation throughout with stateroom accommodations to Shetland
• Professional Blue Badge Guide throughout
• Entrance fees into all sites listed
• From $4,595.00 pp, dble

Testimonial here from a guest on a previous Viking Treasure tour.

More here about cultural and historic tours of Scotland, and Homecoming Scotland 2014

Click here for great photos and a lively story about Vikings in Norway.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Rick Steves in Egypt: Touring After the Revolution

In preparation for a TV special, Rick Steves has wondered beyond his usual balliwick of Europe and is now blogging and Facebooking from Egypt. His posts, videos and photos are enlightening looks at what it's really like for a tourist in Cairo, at the pyramids and (once) popular tourist sites. "In my first week in Egypt, touring nearly all its top ancient sites, I saw tourists, but I never saw an American. Giza parking lots, once filled with big tour buses, are now empty."

As you likely know, Steves' company, Europe through the Backdoor, specializes in affordable, guided and unguided itineraries throughout Europe. Of note are the money-saving "My Way" itineraries that include city-to-city private bus transportation, central hotels, a "trip escort" on hand, breakfasts, guidebooks and your days free to roam on your own--just my kind of travel--stress-free and flexible. Steve's tours are wildly popular, so you may wish to check them out ASAP.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

 

Insider Cultural Tour of Thailand with Off the Path Travel

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better guide for a personalized, authentic cultural tour in Thailand than Alex Martin, owner of Off the Path Travel. After years of working, teaching and kicking around in that country and throughout Asia, he said, “I realized so many companies were claiming to run local, cultural, off the beaten path tours. The truth was, they weren’t. I realized there was a need for an authentic tour company that allowed people to get the deep cultural experience that it took me years to develop. I decided to start that company.”

 A Cultural Adventure in Thailand
Specializing in small-group, culturally-authentic travel itineraries throughout Asia, Off the Path Travel is this summer offering a 2-week "Thailand Connection Tour.” Among the in-depth adventures:

• stay on organic farms & in picturesque villages
• cook with the locals
• swim in idyllic jungle lagoons
• explore waterfalls never seen in guidebooks
• visit hill tribes in Mae Hong Son province
• talk about spirituality and culture with village leaders
• lounge in hot springs
• experience elephant conservation
• explore Buddhist temples & ancient ruins

An optional third week is focused on secluded beaches in southern Thailand. Tour Dates: June 28 – July 12, 2013 (custom tours are also available)

Feedback from an Off the Path Travel Guest
"I traveled with Alex Martin in Thailand; he took a few others and me to places we could not have dreamed of, such as schools to visit, families to stay with overnight, and numerous temples where he gave us all the information we needed to really appreciate all that Thailand has to offer. He took us on waterfall hikes and scooter rides around town and through the country side. It truly was an experience that you could not get anywhere else.

"His knowledge of Thai culture was astonishing and very comforting. He led us through Northern Thailand as if it were his home. He always had interesting facts about the town we were in, as well as the history, and of course food! I would recommend Alex to anyone as a tour guide as his knowledge and passion for travel is truly inspiring!"

Learn About Thailand
On the company's blog: tips for understanding Thai culture:

Off the Path Travel also offers these and custom tours in Asia:

• Villages of Chiang Mai Motorbike Tours
• Kanchanaburi Home Stay Tours
• Thailand Tonight Tour

Your Trip to Thailand
Even if you have been to Thailand before, The Connection Tour (quite affordable, by the way) will be one of the most rewarding trips of your life.

Can you recommend a company that specializes in cultural tours in Thailand? We’d love to hear about your experience.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Learn Quechua from G Adventures' Guide to Machu Picchu

You might know enough conversational Spanish to get by in Peru, but out on the Inca Trail, Quechua is the language of choice. Don’t know any Quechua? The adventure tour company, G Adventrues, helps us out with a video starring one of their veteran Inca Trail guides. Sit back, “chillax” and say “Allillanchu” to Rivelino!

G Adventures has been offering small group and customized cultural and active tours for two decades, specializing in authentic lodging, local transportation and cultural connections. Awards have been heaped upon them, including the World Savers Award from Condé Nast Traveler and many more.

Here is an inspiring story by a couple who took the "Amazon to the Andes" tour

The company offers a choice of several trips that include the Inca Trail; some also include Lake Titicaca by kayak, Sacred Valley marketplaces, a Women's Weaving Co-op, homestays and more. You can hike the Inca Trail - - - or, take the train.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

4 Seasons Maldives Resorts Win Eco Awards

Besides being two of the most spectacular resorts on the planet, and a major destinations for scuba divers,  Four Seasons Resorts Maldives are among the most environmentally and culturally responsible.

The resorts have won the Doing It All and Wildlife Conservation categories for large resorts in the Condé Nast Traveler (US) World Savers Awards 2012, which were created to honor the travel companies that are doing the most to help protect the planet and give back to their local communities. The resorts also received the runner-up award for the Education category in recognition dedication to Four Seasons Hospitality Apprenticeship Program.

Four Seasons Resorts Maldives environmental efforts began with the coral reef regeneration project, now known as Reefscapers, one of the most successful of such projects in the world. More than 2,400 coral frames have been propagated in the lagoons of Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru, strengthening the islands' house reefs and providing new habitats for wildlife. The resorts have also adopted additional projects, from fish breeding to turtle conservation.

More than 265 young Maldivian students have graduated from the Four Seasons Hospitality Apprenticeship Programme to date. The resorts also host the annual Four Seasons Saqaafee Vaadha (Four Seasons Youth Culture Competition) and have opened two pioneering Marine Discovery Centers of research and education for guests and locals. Other efforts include water-bottling plants, plant nurseries, local education and awareness programs, health initiatives in support of local islands, support for local artisans, teachers, and the Manta Trust charity.

The team at Four Seasons Resort Landaa Giraavaru is working closely with local communities to ensure that the Baa Atoll World Biosphere Reserve becomes a world-class example of its kind, while at Kuda Huraa, the focus is on continuing to develop the Maldivian Sea Turtle Conservation Program.

Click here for more about the Maldives.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and the newly released 8th edition of Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

 

Abercrombie & Kent Interview with Founder/CEO Geoffrey Kent

On the HuffingtonPost.com, I loved the recent interview with Abercrombie & Kent founder/CEO, Geoffrey Kent, who was inducted into the British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame; A&K is celebrating its 50^th anniversary.

A&K is the world’s largest luxury tour operator, offering safaris and trips in more than 100 countries. Kent contends that his clients are now opting for more multigenerational trips and high-end experiential holidays; and Americans are interested in learning about culture and the environment.

Click here for the fascinating Q&A interview.

A tour company pioneer, Geoffrey Kent will accompany passengers on the company’s Nov 27-Dec 10, 2012 Antarctica cruise.

Connections is A&K’s new portfolio of value-priced itineraries.

Stay tuned here for more cultural tour company news and interviews!

 Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and the newly released 8th edition of Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Shopping for Antiques and Curios on the Canal in Milano

If your stopover in Milano includes the last Sunday of the month, amble down to the Bohemian Navigli district for the Mercatone dell'Antiquariato del Naviglio Grande--one of the largest outdoor antiques markets in Italy.

Strung along both sides of the canal, more than 400 vendors set up booths to sell artifacts and bric-a-brac, furniture, books, toys, jewelry, clothes and more collectibles. On market day, the line-up of shops, cafes and art studios in the neighborhood are open for browsing and for taking gelato, lunch and refreshment breaks.

Art deco collectors, and lovers of vintage posters and vintage clothing make great finds at this market. i bought wonderful, still brightly colored, early 1900 magazine advertising pages for about $20 each, which I gave for gifts and framed when I got home (see the fabulous Art Deco print below). Murano glass chandeliers, old kitchen and wood-working tools, jade, putti, old silver--you could wander all day.
   
Tips: the market was fully open by 10:30 a.m. My advice is to cruise through in the cool morning,  and return to your favorite vendors to bargain in the afternoon when they are open to reducing inventory. I had good luck w/this strategy, except when I went back to bargain for a gorgeous amethyst bracelet which was long gone!

Lonely Planet has one of the best sites for info and resources related to Milan.

 Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and the newly released 8th edition of Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Kipling Stayed at the Strand: History and Romance in Burma's Old Capitol, Rangoon

Now that Burma’s ruling military junta has softened its chokehold on its citizens––and in particular, on Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi––it’s ethically OK to visit that country.

Burma, which the government renamed Myanmar, is now buzzing with tourism, and the capital city of Yangon (Rangoon), hotels, and the main attractions are crowded with foreigners anxious to see the spectacular pagodas and the untouched, exotic landscape and take river cruises.

Travel journalist and photographer, Lee Daley, made a recent trip to Burma, and she will soon be writing about her meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi (I’ll keep you posted). In the meantime, she has published two charming articles about the iconic Rangoon hotel, The Strand, along with her gorgeous photos. An excerpt from Daley's article, “Rangoon Renaissance: Staying at the Strand”, in Epicurean-Traveler.com:

“From its beginnings, The Strand has been regaled as the finest hostelry east of Suez; at least that is how it was reviewed in the 1911 edition of Murray’s Handbook for Travelers in India, Burma and Ceylon.

With your check-in at the Strand, you will share the guest registry with adventurous luminaries of 
the past and present: Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, Somerset Maugham, Sir Noel Coward, Sir Mick Jagger, and His Royal Highness King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga. Rudyard Kipling supposedly penned much of the Jungle Book series in his room at the hotel. 

By the time 1960 rolled around, the golden days of travel had come to an end and the once stately structure, a languishing relic of a forgotten era, fell into disrepair until the early 1990’s, when an extensive renovation enabled the grand dame to once again welcome weary travelers to her doorstep.

Today the hotel’s 32 suites come with all the extras you would expect: polished teak floors, high ceilings, air conditioning and ceiling fans, a separate sitting area and spacious bathrooms. Two restaurants, The Strand Café and The Grill complement the Bar, colloquially called the Writer’s Bar.”

See also Daley’s piece in her examiner.com column.

Here is a very personal look, “Burma on the Mend”, written by Gregg Butensky for EthicalTraveler.org.

In partnership with Global Exchange Reality Tours, Ethical Traveler will lead a cultural tour to Burma in early 2013.

Geographic Expeditions offers 10-day touring and river cruising trips in Burma, October-April.

Backyard Travel specializes in custom and group tours guided by locally-connected experts who live in Myanmar.

The Lonely Planet site is a good resource for basic information about Burma, including tours.

 Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and the newly released 8th edition of Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

The World of Slow Food, in Turin in October, 2012 Salone del Gusto

One of the reasons we travel is to experience the grand diversity of food from different cultures, and while enjoying the pasta in Italy, the cheeses from Denmark, lamb in New Zealand, tapas in Spain, meze in the Middle East and curries in India, we come to appreciate what it takes to produce these fabulous foods.

The international Slow Food movement is all about preserving cultural cuisine, and in doing so preserving local foods, farming and ways of life. Slow Food is the antithesis of large-scale commercial food production and today’s fast-food culture, as it encourages us to learn more about the realities of food production and to connect with people from around the world over the foods they produce.

If you’re planning to be in Europe this October, you won’t want to miss a Slow Food-sponsored mega-event, Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, a world meeting of food communities, to take place in Turin, October 25-29, 2012. On display and available to taste will be an extraordinary diversity of foods presented by small-scale farmers, artisans and chefs from around the world.

Usually open only to the media and to food professionals, this year Salone del Gusto will be open to the public, and you will be choosing from over 100 Taste Workshops and Meet the Maker events. 1,000 exhibitors from 100 countries will be on hand and over 350 Presidia, offering cheeses, cured meats, fish, breads, sweets, grains, honeys, wines, fruits and vegetables.

Travel With Richard Bangs to Find the Unicorn Rhino in Assam

I am always mesmerized by the unmistakable, soft tones of Richard Bangs’ voice, as he describes his magical adventures in films that reveal some of the world’s most isolated, most culturally-rich places and most endangered creatures. In most cases, even though his expeditions are unique, you can replicate them.

As I watched and listened to him in the film “Assam India: Quest for the One-Horned Rhinoceros”, I knew you would want to find out more about this film and the rest of the Emmy-winning “Adventures With Purpose” series on PBS.

Bangs and his film crew explore the remote, lush Shangri-la-like region of India known for tea plantations and wildlife. They paddle, sail and fish the Brahmaputra River, attend a spectacular harvest festival, meet some fabulous, heart-breaking characters, and visit Majuli Island, a center for worship of the god Vishnu and home to 20 monasteries.

His quest to find the unicorn rhino is fulfilled in Kazairanga National Park, where he and his guides ride elephants in a foggy veil through tall, dense grasses, looking for the rhinos–––while keeping their eyes peeled for tigers.

“Somewhere in the far, far reaches of India, in the shadow of the Himalayas, along the misty banks of the Brahmaputra River glides a grey blur that almost became a ghost—the one-horned rhinoceros. It’s a rare species that a hundred years ago nearly vanished from the face of the earth.”

More prehistoric-looking than African rhinos, the massive “Rhinoceros unicornis” has thick armor panels, a small head and just one horn. By the early 20th century, only about a dozen of the animals remained after relentless hunting throughout the 19th century. In 1910, the hunting was outlawed and there are now about 2,000 (in Kaziranga National Park in Assam and Chitwan National Park in Nepal), protected by wardens, some of whom are former poachers.

You can go on an elephant-back tour to see the rhinos (this is the only way you can see them) by booking through Kaziranga National Park. For wildlife and culture tours in India, including the rhino tour, a highly recommended, long-established company is Amber Tours.

Melbourne Battles Climate Change With Typical Aussie Panache

In the April issue of Conde Nast Traveler, Melbourne's Lord Mayor is interviewed about the challenges of climate change in his city. He has joined a group of nearly 60 mayors around the world––the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative--who are forging ahead, in spite of disappointing progress made by governments since the Copenhagen Climate Conference in 2010.

Underway in Melbourne is the eco-oriented Our Docklands project and many other sustainable projects around the city.

Will this month's Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development yield better results? we'll be watching . . .

Get the real dope on what happens at Rio+20 by subscribing to the blog from the Earth Summit 2012 "Stakeholder Forum".

And, stay tuned here for more on climate change as it affects travelers.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and the newly released 8th edition of Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Come Back to Cinque Terre! the News is Good

If you love Italy, you will recall that on October 25, 2011, two of the five ancient little towns of Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera were hit hard by mud slides and floods caused by torrential rains. Gloriously post-card-perfect with their vibrantly-colored buildings, sunny terraces and open-air cafes along the rugged, rocky seafront, Vernazza and Monterosso were devastated by mud and water that damaged much of their timeless charm. Travel guru Rick Steves, who has written extensively about the destination and regularly sends his tour groups there, vowed to focus attention on his beloved Cinque Terre.

In January of this year, I linked you to his latest news of the tragedy, and now Steves has published an in-depth report of his recent visit--and it's encouraging.

You will enjoy the photos and stories of his visits with some of his close friends from Cinque Terre, and his update on exactly what to expect when you get there--it remains one of those places that you must experience, at least once in your life.

Here is one of my short articles about Cinque Terre.

Click here for some preliminary info about what happened.

Here is Rick Steves' news about his recent visit, six months after the disaster, including a tear-jerker of a video.

Karen Misuraca is the author of several guidebooks, including Backroads of the California Wine Country; Backroads of the California Coast, and the newly released 8th edition of Fun with the Family Northern California. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.