Guest post: Gutter Pup Adventures - 7 Terribly Adventurous & Interesting People

By JP Chartier from Gutter Pup Adventures - check out his site for more interesting travel stories

Listed below are seven terribly adventurous and interesting people. Their heroic achievements stand in direct defiance of the accepted standards and behaviors of the time, which is what makes them so intriguing. They did things most only talk about or dream of. They had the courage to stare life in the eyes and demand more from it, a normal human existence would not be acceptable! Included on this list are individuals who braved through impossible conditions to conquer their dreams and ultimately inspire people like myself. 

MIKE HORN (1966- )

7 reasons why Seoul is the next shopping destination in Asia

Stunning images of Singapore at dusk

Singapore is an awe-inspiring city and is even more beautiful at night when the thousands of lights adorning buildings, the river and the marina come to life.

These shots were taken between dusk and night across the Marina and Boat Quay area

At dusk, just before the sun sets, the Marina Bay Sands and the Art Science Museum turn gold as the sun rays reflect on the mirror-like facade. Tourists glide through on board the Singapore River cruise boats or pile atop the Hotel to capture these precious moments.

Marina Bay

Indulge with those hard earned points: The best hotels from each chain

Picture this: you are sent by your company to a certain destination for the coming weeks or months and you are faced with a choice of hotels to stay. How would you decide which one is the best?

If your answer is purely linked to the comfort, beauty, service or location of the possible options you have yet to be stung by the points obsession.

6 travel clubs for exclusive hotels at over 30% off

Luxury travel for everyone is no longer just a tag line. Thanks to a variety of flash sale travel clubs you can today have access to truly luxury hotels at heavily discounted prices.

There is no trick. Hotels want to maximize occupancy and reach new markets so, occasionally, they will agree to offer a limited amount of rooms at a hefty discount to lucky guests who sometimes may have to be flexible with dates. 

10 things that may surprise you about the UAE

Living in the UAE can be a cultural shock for many. Three years after I left Dubai I still think twice about eating in public because of the Ramadan restrictions and it took me a long time to hold hands again in public again.

But there are several other things that make the UAE a peculiar place.

10 things I discovered working in Africa

I spent almost 5 years working in Africa. My work took me to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Malawi, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan and South Africa and I topped the list with holidays in a few other.

These are some reflections from my time interacting with senior executives and with laymen (taxi drivers, shop assistants, hotel staff, etc.)

That time in Uganda I took a boda-boda motorbike, in the rain, at 120kmh to get to the airport

This is, no doubt, the most memorable travel experience I have lived in my 10 years on the road. And it is not related to a high end luxury resort, a magical moment, an incredible human connection or a unique journey but about that time when I almost died on the road, in the rain, at 120km/hour at the back of an off-road boda-boda bike in Uganda.

The story goes like that.

Tonga's capital, Nuku'Alofa, photo tour

What a strange name right?

Before picking up the Tonga and Samoa travel guide from a university bookstore in Suva, Fiji, I had never heard of Nuku'alofa let alone know that it was the capital of a country, and I am a huge geography fan!

3 ways to make the Trans Siberian train journey

I have a fond passion for train travel and have taken a few of the grand train trips including the 8 day Maharaja's Express across the Rajasthan or the 24h Blue Train across South Africa.

Trains are great because they let you see the landscape and take in the local culture much better than planes. It is indeed slow travelling allowing you to make stop overs along the way and visit the main sights.

Sleep between 2000 year old walls in Barcelona

Christmas was spent back home but, as usual, over a very short and packed 6-day trip including two way 14h flights. 

Because we had very little and I wanted to show Sam everything there was to Barcelona in only 4 days, cut short because of the multiple Christmas holidays, I had prepared an itinerary with tourist sights and activities as well as good food, the best way to experience the Catalan way of life.

5 weekend getaways from Singapore beyond Bintan

Singapore can sometimes feel a little claustrophobic so for those in need of a weekend escape during their extended stay in the little red dot check out these island getaways that will make you feel like you are miles away without even boarding a plane

10 incredible places you may have never heard of

The Earth is a beautiful place but most of it is still undiscovered by the majority of us.

Some places become famous and over run with tourists because governments decide to put focus and resources into tourism, because newly published tourist guides provide an illusion of attainability or safety (yes, the Lonely Planet has a relevant impact on the fate of some less visited places) or because some action or event puts them on the map. Here I wanted to highlight some of the off-the-beaten-path destinations I have had the privilege of experiencing in the hope that they will now be on your map

Kathmandu photo tour

I will be writing a more detailed post of my travels in Kathmandu and Nepal but this is a taste for what to expect. 

The city is extremely vast and from the air, it looks like a lego built maze of structures all squared and all with the same look and feel fitting neatly aroound each other. Descend and you will find a maze of lanes and narrow streets that are sure to make you feel lost more than once.

Kathmandu from above

Street food is everywhere but a few snacks stand out. For example, street sellers offer legumes, maize or other cereals which are pan fried/toasted and spiced up with the customer's choice of spices, condiments and chilli sauce. They are colorful and beautiful to look at too!

Street snacks

One of the most famous sites in Kathmandu is Durbar Square with its multitude of temples and monuments. Taleju Temple is an ultra-sacrosanct temple which is only opened once a year for the Dashain fetival when 108 animals are offered to the Gods.

Taleju Temple

Durbar Square is the most obvious place for locals and tourists alike to chill and watch the world go by on any of the stairs that lead to the several temples that dot it.

A scene of life - Durbar Square

If you enter the Square through its ticketing office you are like to exit through the streets flanked by the palace of Kumari, the Living Goddess. Kumari is a little girl only 7 years old who is chosen at the age of 2-3 years old to become a Goddess and remains such until puberty. If you pop in to the Palace where she is and are with a local who speaks the language you can ask the guard to call her and she will sit by the balcony for a couple of minutes so you can see her. Quite intriguing.

The Palace of Kumari, the Living Goddess

The Thamel streets are packed. People of all ages dressed in traditional colorful Nepalese clothes wander, rest under the shade of buildings or walk minding their own business, monks in orange don't stand out as much as in other places, the entire area has the same color as their robes; cows moving slowly or resting by the side or at times even the middle of the road; dogs chasing each other, pigeons flapping around eating all sorts of cereals and snacks that have fallen from street vendors; vegetables tidily stacked up and exotic fruit stalls offering sliced watermelon; bright clothing of all sorts, earthy sandals and very accurate trekking wear replicas of North Face and other high end brands.

The Thamel is an assault to the senses. Strong smells, the rainbow range of colors and a cachophiny of sounds that might get to some

Street vendor

 A scene of life: monks, gurus and locals by a temple

How to enjoy the longest birthday - The funny side of the Intl. date line

In the summer of 2012 I took on a 2 month sabbatical in the Pacific. That trip changed me for life and also taught me a very interesting fact about crossing the date line: You can celebrate your birthday twice.

How is that possible?

Simple. But not easy to get to ;)

First, travel to Samoa, a lost country in the Pacific. To get there, chances are you will be flying either via Hawaii, New Zealand/Australia or Fiji as these are the only ways of getting there.

Fales, traditional accommodation in Samoa

Then, make sure that you spend the most wonderful birthday. In my case, as I was travelling solo, that meant that, the evening before, I treated myself to a wonderful Indian take-away dinner with my also Spanish dive instructor who was living in Samoa and then had a night out in town featuring lots of beer - the ones everyone was drinking - and lots of rastafari themed music and dancing in a hot steaming packed club with live music. Then, on the day, travel to Savaii, the second largest island in Samoa which is much more laid back and has lots of pretty beaches and sleeping under the stars without walls accommodation. The fale type which is communal way of living which involves houses without walls where you pretty much live in synch with nature.

After spending some relaxing time in a hut 5m from the water, I returned to the main island to a wonderfully laid lei or flower necklace by the pretty ladies at the B&B I was staying at. 

Me, touring Samoa on the days aroundmy birthday

Then, on the day after my birthday, when my birthday was officially over this side of the date line I took a flight to American Samoa, a US territory only 20min plane ride from Samoa ye an entirely different country as you technically land in the US.

But surprise surprise!

As you just crossed the date line it is AGAIN, the day before so you relive your birthday one more time. Yes, it is true, no tricks. 

Samoa and American Samoa used to be on the same side of the date line then in 2009 Samoa decided to move to the other side to be aligned with the other islands it trades more with.

The international date line topic is quite a confusing and interesting one at the same time. A quick check on wikipedia will tell you that for two hours every day there are three days being "lived" around the world.

"For the two hours between 10:00 and 11:59 (UTC) each day, three different days are observed at the same time in different places. For example, at UTC time Thursday 10:15, it is Wednesday 23:15 in American Samoa, (UTC-11), and Friday 00:15 in Kiritimati (UTC+14). For the first hour (UTC 10:00–10:59), this is true for both inhabited and uninhabited territories, but during the second hour (UTC 11:00–11:59) it is only true in an uninhabited maritime time zone twelve hours behind UTC (UTC-12)."

In practical terms:

When I took off from Samoa it was already 10am on the 15th of August and when I landed in American Samoa it was 10,30am on the 14th of August again, the flight was 30min long. Therefore, like in Groundhog Day, I relived my birthday once again.

The date line

This is particularly fun if you are planning to repeat Christmas Day, New Year's Eve or a particularly important celebration for you. For example, this Christmas I am planning to spend it in Auckland yet on the 25th evening we will travelling to French Polynesia and will land in Tahiti on the evening of the 24th ready to spend Christmas Day in the tropical island one more time. 

  

But be careful when you make bookings travelling East because you may catch up with the Date Line and mess up bookings. If you do like me above, make sure to have two bookings for Christmas Eve or you may find yourself with one reservation on the 24th evening in Auckland and no reservation on 24th evening in Tahiti! 

Have you experienced funny date line situations before? Share them with me! 

 

 

Top-3 UNESCO countries: China, Spain and Italy - but why?

Did you know that China and Italy jointly hold the top spot in the countries with most UNESCO World Heritage sites?

What makes them top the list?

Whereas the other 2 countries, Italy and Spain are there thanks to lots of cultural icons China boasts a relevant number of natural sites most of which are generally unknown to the majority of the travellers.

China's UNESCO sites

Even if, like me, you are a well travelled person chances are that you may have never heard of 90% of the listings under China. However, many of them are stunning and unique.

My favourite ones are below. 

Mount Sanqingshan National Park below inscribed in UNESCO's words because of "its exceptional scenic quality, marked by the concentration of fantastically shaped pillars and peaks: 48 granite peaks and 89 granite pillars, many of which resemble human or animal silhouettes".

The park also has numerous waterfalls reaching 60m in height. 

Another stunning site is the Cultural landscape of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces which, like Banaue in the Philippines, is a magical conglomerate of rice terraces snaking through mountains. "Over the past 1,300 years, the Hani people have developed a complex system of channels to bring water from the forested mountaintops to the terraces. They have also created an integrated farming system that involves buffaloes, cattle, ducks, fish and eel and supports the production of red rice, the area's primary crop. The inhabitants worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, forests and other natural phenomena including fire. The resilient land management system of the rice terraces demonstrates extraordinary harmony between people and their environment, both visually and ecologically, based on exceptional and long-standing social and religious structures.

Xinjiang Tianshan reminds me of the Red Tsingy in Madagascar. The red soil canyons and snow peaked glaciers lay next to deserted areas creating a very ssharp contrast.

China seems to have a bit of every country's UNESCO listings in one. The Longmen Grotoes reminds one of the Capadoccia or even of Jordan's Petra with caves carved on the side of the mountain 

What a labyrinth it must have been to live in the grottoes all perfectly carves and facing the river. The site contained the largest collection of Chinese art and was entirely devoted to Buddhism.

Fujian Tulou were earthen houses built to host up to 800 people in circular shape. Despite their very plain exterior inside they are designed for comfort. the strange shape made them easier to defend. They are considered exceptional in their communal living ideals and their integration with the environment. 

China's listing includes a variety of temples and other religious constructions such as the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the Imperial Tombs of Qing and Ming or the Temple and Cementery of Confucius and also some very well known sites such as the Tibetan Palace of Potala, the historic centre of Macau, the Giant Panda Sanctuaries or the Great Wall of China.

Italy's beauty

Everybody dreams of going to Italy once in their life. The Romans left an imprint in this beautiful peninsula which has remained till today.

Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, Venice, Siena, Naples, Ferrara, Verona and Urbino among other are all listed historic city centres. To that, add the Amalfi Coast and The Dolomites in the natural category and a few religious sites like the Cathedral in Modena or the Convent of Santa Italy Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci is a true feast to the senses. 

Siena - Wikipedia.org

Most of the sites are easily reachable thanks to their urban nature and the excellent infrastructure making it accessible on any visit to the country.

Venice canals - hdwallpapers.in

It shares the stop spot with China thanks to two new listings in 2013. China also had an additional listing in 2013 so both countries tied.

But Italy also has a few hidden gems in the UNESCO list. Have you heard of Su Nuraxi di Barumini? Neither had I but it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List because it is a unique defence structure not found anywhere else. From the remains one can imagine the shape and structure of the original city but it remains a mystery why it had such a layout.

Su Nuraxi

And Mount Etna, an active volcano that continues to serve as a major source of learnings and developments in the volcanic world thanks to its constant activity.

Mount Etna - UNESCO

Spain's magic

My beloved country has a lot to offer to any would-be visitor and UNESCO sites is just one of them. 

Almost all of the inscriptions are of cultural origins and what makes Spain so unique is that through the UNESCO sites one can understand centuries worth of history from the Paleolithic times in the Altamira Caves where cave carvings and writings represent life to the more recent Gaudi.

Poblet - UNESCO

After Altamira's Paleolithic caves you can travel through the Carthaginians times during the 3rd century BC in the city of Salamanca and then marvel yourself at the Aqueduct in Segovia built in 50 AD. Contemporary to that the City of Merida still has a preserved ampitheatre, theatre, circus and water-supply system. And the city of Tarraco, today Tarragona, only 100km south of Barcelona, has all the Roman remains intact including the city walls

From the 12th century we have the Poblet Monastery which is indeed a beautiful place. Nowadays, one can visit it on a day trip from Barcelona and enjoy a tour followed by tasting of several sweets and local delicacies being sold in a Medieval looking market in the weekends set around the entrance to the Monastery. 

Grand Mosque Cordoba

Cordoba's Grand Mosque or Granada's Alhambra both from the 13th Century during the Moor's occupation of Spain are fine examples of Muslim architecture. The gardens in la Alhambra high up the mountains are beautiful and afford a great view of the snow cappped mountains and of the Middle Eastern looking city of Granada. In the same area of Andalucia, Seville's La Giralda is the largest Gothic building in Europe. Almost at the same time these Muslim constructions were being built the Cathedral of Burgos started to take shape in another part of Spain untouched by the Emirs. 

La Alhambra at night

The Moors had a huge impact on Spain and not just in the south and until the "Marca Hispanica", as the imaginary border they reached is called, but also on other areas where battles took place. Particularly interesting and beautiful is Santiago de Compostela with its Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque buildings, the Old Town of Santiago is one of the world's most beautiful urban areas and it was re-built in the 11th century after it was destroyed in a battle to contain the Muslims. 

Santiago de Compostela http://www-d0.fnal.gov/~royon/lowx_spain/

Their influence continued in several other monuments. In the words of the UNESCO listing "Avila was founded in the 11th century to protect the Spanish territories from the Moors, this 'City of Saints and Stones', the birthplace of St Teresa and the burial place of the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, has kept its medieval austerity. This purity of form can still be seen in the Gothic cathedral and the fortifications which, with their 82 semicircular towers and nine gates, are the most complete in Spain"

Even after they were defeated through the "Reconquista" the Moors continued to influence architecture and arts in Aragon where Mudejar Art was present until the 17th century.

The 16th Century saw the construction of the Escurial Monastery, a very austere structure.

Gaudi's magic bring us to the 20th Century with Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell and other sites representing a world that only Gaudi could understand and which, through explanations, scaled reproductions and tales of forgotten dreams we can only begin to imagine. No matter how many times I visit the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, La Pedrera or the Park Guell they always seem like an old friend who is constantly growing up.

Sagrada Familia interior - hdrcreme.com

From the same time as Gaudi the Palau de la Musica is an incredibly colorful and amazing building from the outside but its true beauty can only be seen inside when the tainted glass ceiling reveals itself.

Palau de la Musica

You only have a few days in Spain but still want to experience all civilisations in one? 

In Toledo you will find 2,000 years worth of culture and civilisations. It was a Roman city, the capital of the Visigoth Kingdom, a fortress of the Emirate of Cordoba, a fighting centre against the Moors and the temporary seat of supreme power under Charles V.

Have you been to any of these three countries? Which UNESCO site amazed you th most?

My top-10 un-ordinary wildlife encounters

I love animals and nature and through my travels I always try to visit parks and wildlife sanctuaries or to participate in any sort of animal encounter. These are my run down of the best moments with nature in no specific order
 

1. Swimming with the humpback whales in Tonga

Speechless, you are in such awe you forget how scared you might be. Read more about my review here

2. Great White Wall in Fiji 

Diving after this will never be the same. See more details in my write up about the experience here 

3. The Penguin Parade on Philip Island - Australia 

 

Philip Island is off the coast of Melbourne, about 2h drive from downtown. There are a few activities available on the island but the most famous is a visit to the Penguin centre to watch the penguin parade, that is, the hundreds of penguins that every evening night come out of the water and into the beaches to feed their little ones. Penguin nests dot the island as there are more than 30,000 of them so you can imagine the chance of seeing them is 100%. 

Sadly, in order to preserve their safety, you are not allowed to take any photos. The one above is from the Sydney's Aquarium where they have all the different species of penguins. 

Phillip Island penguins are the little penguin species which is only about a foot long and they are the cutest animals.

Apart from the parade which basically involves sitting at a stadium like grade to watch them come out, there are other more personalised options like the one we chose. You can join a smaller group of maximum 10 people on what is called the Explorer eco experience to go on a remote beach sit down on the sand and watch them come out. The difference with the parade is that there are no floodlights illuminating the beach and you are in completely darkness. You get given night goggles and infrared to see them and they may walk quite close to you. On the way back to the main building you see them everywhere and only a meter away. We must have seen thousands on that one evening.

It was very endearing to see them come out the water. All of a sudden you see a wave of penguins in the water which slowly make it to the beach shore. From there, they first assess whether it is safe to get out of the water before they make a move to quickly cross the beach. If they feel that it is not safe they may return to the water to take a second chance at approaching the beach. At times, some were at the shore between water and sand and shaking their heads up and down as if discussing internally whether it was a good idea to come out or not and if threatened they plunge belly first onto the sand to hide. It was pretty hilarious to see them do that James Bond style.

Viewing platforms for the Penguin parade

4. Echidna experience at Healesville, Australia

Australia is just an extremely rich country for wildlife. At every zoo or park there is some new, fascinating animal and endemic animal to take a look at and, in some cases, you can cuddle or feed them. 

In this case, we got to feed and touch the echidnas.

Equidnas are very strange looking animals part ant eaters, part hedgehog, part dinosaur, they look very prehistorical. On our trip to Tasmania we saw them in the wild and went up to pat them. But as soon as you get near them they turn into a ball and are all spikes and no animal. 

In the zoo however they were habituated to humans and allowed us to feed and pat them without getting scared.

Together with the fascinating platypus they are the only mammals who lay eggs. They eat ants with their very long and thin tongue and curl up into a ball when threatened. However, they have very poor eyesight so if you sit down next to them and stay quiet they quickly come out of their hiding and don't even notice you are still there. We found this quite an entertaining game when we met them in the wild. 

Echidnas lay eggs directly into their pouches and the little ones suck milk from the mother's pores, they have no nipples.

Echidna encounters

5. The shark and the turtle - American Samoa

The turtle

 

"The legend says that during a time of famine a grandmother and granddaughter were rejected by their families as too much of a burden, and so they threw themselves into the ocean to cast their fates upon the whimsy of the life giving sea. Transformed through magic into a turtle and shark the grandmother and granddaughter sought out a new home. Long did they travel and many times were they turned away until they arrived on the shores of Vaitogi. Defined by high cliffs and a rough coastline, the inhospitable shores were inhabited by a compassionate and generous people, and the old woman and her granddaughter, transformed back into their human form, were welcomed, fed and offered that they should make this village their new home.

Moved by the unexpected generosity the old woman agreed, but she still heard the call of the sea as well. Unable to stay on land, she informed her hosts that she and her granddaughter must return to the sea, but that they would make the village waters their permanent home. She gave the villagers a song to sing from the rocks and a promise that when they sang the song she and her granddaughter would come"

When I was there with my new found friend from the tourism office (see here for the incredible act of generosity she had which restored my faith in humanity) she called the locals to come sing for us and, to my incredible surprise, as the song went on and on and more villagers joined in all of a sudden, the turtle and the shark came to the surface, no joke!

Imagine my face of amazement when I saw first the turtle and then the shark appear on the surface. The locals looked at me and smiled. It was quite a moment. And they did it just to show me.

6. Sipadan Jack fish tornado - Malaysia

Jack fish tornado

 

Sipadan is seen by many as one of the best dive spots in the world, yet I was quite disappointed at the experience. 

This was a combination of terrible service at the resort, a feeling of being taken advantage of and also a sense that although diving was good it was by no means better than Fiji. I felt that I had been terribly oversold the place. But perhaps I was unlucky. This is not to discourage anyone from going but to manage expectations.

The fact that the daily number of divers is limited means that even if you go there you may only, if lucky, dive Sipadan once. Mind you to get there you have already taken at least 2/3 flights so once you arrive, you expect something truly life changing and Sipadan just didn't cut it for me.

This is also partially my fault and my very high expectations. I am truly spoilt and I have seen too many white powder beaches to be blown away by yet another beautiful one. I still enjoy it very much and still can't have enough of it but I am also increasingly looking for the unexplored and new and Sipadan felt very much over exploited and too used to squeezing money out of tourists at every occasion. I did not enjoy the poor accommodation (our room did not even have shower curtain and we were paying USD1,500 for 4 days / 3 nights 3 people sharing), terrible & repetitive food consisting of cabbage, carrots and some random meat, the extra charging for everything and the underwhelming dive masters that looked like they were bored of taking tourists and no longer passionate about their job or the incredible waters of Sipadan. 

I had read a lot of bad and mediocre reviews about the accommodation but I chose to ignore them. 

Not to make this a negative review it is in this list because diving also had a couple of magical moments. The dives are more to see big fish and lots of them rather than for beautiful corals, or at least that was the case for us. That being said, there are hundreds of diving sites in the area so there must be something for everyone.

One of our finest moments which made the entire trip, the effort, the long journey (despite we live nearby in Singapore) and putting up with bad service worth it was the jack fish tornado at barracuda point. We did not see the barracuda tornado which made the dive spot famous but we had the jack fish instead and that was also quite incredible. I could have stayed there surrounded by thousands of jack fish forever. They were calm, slowly moving in circles and not scared at all or minding us entering the eye of the tornado or staying inside. It was very humbling to see so many fish allowing us to be a part of their show.

The video below was shot by another diver in our group and although it only shows it from outside we got to get in and stand there until we ran out of air. 

Go to Sipadan if only to experience this moment of peace.

7. Tarsier monkeys in Bohol, Philippines

Sleepy Tarsier monkey

Tarsiers are very cute yet very funny looking animals. They are tiny measuring only 15cm with very large eyes (1.5 cm) as big as their brains. They also have extremely long hind limbs twice as long as their bodies made for clinging onto tree branches and jumping up and down. They need them to hold their disproportionately large heads which host their large eyes, get it?

I had spent a long time in the Philippines for work but it was only at the end of my time there that I finally made it to see the Tarsiers. 

They are mostly found in and around the Bohol area making it a nice weekend trip combining a visit to see them with the Chocolate Hills, an extremely pretty almost surreal mountain range that is perfectly round and looks like someone planted it there. Tarsiers are nocturnal animals and so when you visit the parks to see them you are going to find them attached to a branch and asleep. They have very good hearing so from time to time they might open their eyes to check out what happens around them. 

You are not allowed to touch them and you only get to about 1m from them but this sanctuary in Bohol is apparently the only place that has managed to reproduce them in captivity and may be one of their few chances of survival as the species is endangered.

8. Koalas and kangaroos in Australia

 

My friend the wallaby

Australia is by all standards, the place for wildlife fanatics. Everywhere you go there is a park or similar where you can get up and close. In this case, I was in Adelaide where you can pat and feed kangaroos and where, more importantly, you can hold and hug a koala. Amazingly furry, soft and nice. So exciting!

Where can this be done? At Cleland park

 

At first, feeding the large kangaroos can be a bit daunting, they are quite big animals after all, but after a while and after seeing the little kids doing it I felt too ashamed to be scared. Apart from the larger kangaroos I enjoyed feeding the wallabies more they are smaller and much cuter.  

You can buy ice cream cones full of food or even simple cookies which almost all the animals in the park eat. It may not seem like the most balanced diet but it surely gets them interested to get close to you, although you may have chase a few of them because with so many visitors they are pretty well fed!

And the star of the park? the koalas which, as opposed to most other parks, you can actually not only pat but also hold and cuddle at Cleland. That was truly the highlight of my visit. The queue was not even long and you didn't have to pay extra. At certain times the koalas come out, they are placed on a small tree branch and then you get a couple of minutes to hold them and take photos. It was so cool!

Cuddling a koala

9. Elephant polo in India

It is indeed a weird sport. As weird as it looks.

Elephant polo is played in Rajasthan, Nepal and Sri Lanka and two people ride the elephant, the "driver" and the player, who tells the driver sitting on the elephant's neck, where to go. 

Because elephants are slow animals the field is smaller than that of regular polo. 

Elephants are important in Rajasthan and Jaipur in particular so it was only natural that the sport of the kings incorporated the animals. No festival or celebration in Jaipur happens without elephants nicely and colourfully decorated with all sorts of paraphernalia.

The referee

Being able to partake in a game of elephant polo is rare. The games are played throughout the year in Jaipur yet usually guests can only be spectators. I was very lucky to visit India on the Maharajah's Express train journey which included an afternoon of lunch and playing elephant polo. We could take as many turns as we wanted riding them and playing and it all carried on until we all had had our dose of regal sporting. 

I must say it is quite hard to hit the ball because the bamboo stick is very long so having control of it requires strength and then the animal doesn't always move the way you wanted him to and you are already focusing all your energy on not falling down but it was an incredibly fun experience.

10. Gorillas in Uganda

It is a pity that I have lost all the original high res photos of that experience and I am now only left with facebook's update but that doesn't change the fact that it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. 

If you want to read all about it get on the post here. 

 What are your un-ordianry wildlife encounters?