Posted Monday, March 31, 2008, 9:59 AM by Lonely Planet
Think hula is all grass skirts and coconut bras? Think again. Starting yesterday, the Big Island of Hawai'i hosts the 45th Annual Merry Monarch Festival, which offers opportunities to witness some serious hula and authentic Hawaiian dance. If you've seen only hotel or lu'au hula shows, be prepared for these dancers' skill and seriousness to give you a whole new perspective in this Olympics of hula.
The world-famous three-day hula competition, held in Hilo, begins on Thursday 3 April with ten young women vying for the title of Miss Aloha Hula 2008. On Friday the 4th, the top kane (men) and wahine (women) troupes from across the Hawaiian Islands dance the kahiko, traditional dance. The festival culminates on Saturday the 5th, when the groups perform their 'auana (modern) dances and the awards ceremony is held.
Not fortunate enough to be on Hawaii's Big Island this week? Watch the festival live on KITV/TheHawaiiChannel.com, which also offers heaps of hula and festival info.
Established in 1964, Hilo's premier attraction honors King David Kalakaua (1836-91), who almost singlehandedly revived Hawaiian culture and arts, including hula, which had been forbidden by missionaries for almost 70 years.
Aloha!
Emily K Wolman, Commissioning Editor - Canada, Alaska & Hawaii
Labels: Festivals and events, Hawaii, USA
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Posted Sunday, March 30, 2008, 3:42 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author Brendan Sainsbury is currently running the daunting Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile (240 km) ultra marathon across Morocco's Sahara Desert.
Brendan reports:
"The race started with a fanfare of loud rock music as 801 nervous participants lined up for what the organisers had promised would be the hardest first stage in the event's 23 year history; They weren't joking. Within 1km of the start we were running through the starkly beautiful, but brutally punishing, Erg Chebbi dune field, a sandy rollercoaster that went on for 14km and quickly reduced my legs to quivering pieces of spaghetti.
Dune running is a frustrating business - rather like trying to eat soup with a fork - you take two steps up and slide back at least one as the sand saps your energy. The second half of the run was slightly easier as we tackled a flat, rocky plateau that trapped the heat like a microwave oven and led to more dunes and a killer finish. Throughout the stage I stuck to my simple game plan of 'Don't stop' and stumbled in at 90th place with minor cramps and a sore back. My body suggests I may have taken it a little too fast. Time will tell."
Labels: Africa, Marathon des Sables
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Posted Wednesday, March 26, 2008, 4:54 PM by Lonely Planet
Next Sunday, Lonely Planet author Brendan Sainsbury will embark on what is generally considered to be the toughest foot race on earth - the daunting Marathon des Sables. Billed as a 150 mile (240 km) ultra marathon across Morocco's Sahara Desert, this notorious endurance event is more an exercise in survival than a conventional running race.
Brendan reports:
"Daytime temperatures hover at around 40 degrees Celsius, debilitating sandstorms are painfully common, and the terrain is an unrelenting mix of dried up salt lakes, arid mountains and spirit-crushing sand dunes. Adding cruelty to an already brutal cocktail, you must also carry all of your own supplies, including food, in a hefty pack on your back. All the organisers provide are open-sided sack cloth tents (to sleep in), a daily ration of nine litres of water, and a flare in the not unlikely event that you become lost, disorientated or too exhausted to continue.
Perhaps surprisingly, over 700 lunatics, masochists and soul-searchers sign up for this annual pain-fest in the desert. This year the roll-call includes a 71 year old Japanese lady, an ex-Real Madrid footballer, an Asian film star and me, a 41 year old, married, Lonely Planet writer at a loose end in between guidebook assignments.
If I survive the sandstorms, scorpions (yes, scorpions) and deadpan 'gallows' humour supplied by the other 200 plus British entrants, I will attempt to bring you a unique insider's view. "
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Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008, 10:02 AM by Lonely Planet
Austin has South by Southwest. Tennessee has Bonnaroo. Now San Francisco gets a piece of the action with the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, which will take place in Golden Gate Park, August 22-24, 2008.
Sure to give the old guard festivals a run for their money, Outside Lands has confirmed their initial lineup, and it's stellar: Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Jack Johnson, Beck and Wilco, among others. And there are more to come - they're gearing up for over sixty acts on five stages over the three days.
Tickets go on sale this Sunday, March 30, at 10am Pacific time, so set your alarm clock! You'll also need to set aside a good chunk of change, since this three-day party in the park ain't cheap - tickets for the whole shebang will run you $225.50 plus charges. (One-day tickets are pending availability, meaning the fest folks are seeing how much they rake in with the three-day-ticket sales before they release any single-day ones.)
Jennye Garibaldi, Commissioning Editor, USA
Labels: Festivals and events, San Francisco, USA
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Posted Thursday, March 20, 2008, 6:16 AM by Lonely Planet
Looks like there's lots of fun in store for the Easter weekend.
In the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, a tradition of spanking or whipping is carried out on Easter Monday. In the morning, men throw water at women and spank them with a special handmade whip called pomlázka (in Czech) or korbáč (in Slovak)... A legend says that women should be spanked in order to keep their health and beauty during whole next year.
We did not make that up! Honest.
All spanking aside, you might be interested in the Armenian celebrations. As the oldest Christian nation in Europe, the Holy See of Echmiadzin (Armenia's equivalent of the Vatican) holds a week-long series of events.
In Austria the Berliner Philharmoniker decamps to Salzburg for an Easter extravaganza of orchestral events and opera. While the town of Arles (home of Van Gogh and Gaugin and all that gang), kicks off the celebrations with a bullfight in the Roman amphitheatre.
Leading the charge though are Spain and Italy with huge festivities hosted in Lorca, Seville, Trapani, Taranto and, of course, the traditional candlelit procession along Via Crucis in Rome.
Failing all that you could always pop down to Kew Gardens for the annual egg hunt.
Buona pasqua a te!
Labels: Easter, Festivals and events
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Posted Monday, March 17, 2008, 8:03 PM by Lonely Planet
Want to know where to feast on organic blueberries or find a luxurious tree-house to lay your head next time you're in New Zealand? Well check out Organic Explorer a fantastic resource drawing together the country's best responsible travel experiences. This local travel guide covers everything from 'green' accommodation and organic eateries to farmer's markets and Maori cultural experiences.
Labels: Sustainable and responsible tourism
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Posted Friday, March 14, 2008, 5:06 AM by Lonely Planet
In a move that should catch the attention of larger, richer and purportedly greener countries, Macedonia took a day off work on March 12 to plant some trees.
No, it's not because they've suddenly discovered their green karma. The aim of the project was to restore the countries forests which suffered over 600 fires during the summer of 2007 - fires that also swept through swathes of forest in Greece and Italy.
For such a small and usually headline shy nation, it is a commendable and newsworthy piece of action. Especially as Macedonia has long been regarded as one of the greenest and wildest parts of Europe. Just take a look at gorgeous, tree-fringed Lake Ohrid - Europe's oldest lake renowned for its botanical diversity and overlooked by the ridiculously charming Church of St John of Kaneo.
The event was the idea of Boris Trajanov, one of Macedonia's leading opera singers, and a UNESCO ambassador.
More than 200,000 people planted over 2 million trees - a nice piece of civic symmetry that makes for one tree for every Macedonian. Participants included government ministers, policemen, celebrities and members of the general public (we've heard that even border guards from neighbouring Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania joined in with their shovels in an encouraging show of cross-border co-operation).
Go forth and plant, we say!
Will Gourlay, Commissioning Editor, Eastern Europe
Labels: Macedonia, Sustainable and responsible tourism
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Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008, 8:00 AM by Lonely Planet
If schnapps and Jazz seem like a good combo to you, you'll want to head over to Grenoble between now and the end of March to catch the Grenoble Jazz Festival. Going strong for the last 35 years, it attracts an impressive bevvy of international performers including the likes of Fugimundi and pianist Uri Caine. Performances are in assorted venues around town, although the biggest gigs are held at the MC2/Maison de la Culture. A pass for 3-5 evenings costs between 42-65 euros.
Wondering what to do when you're not working out the difference between cool jazz and free jazz? Never fear, Grenoble is considered the capital of the Alps and nestles neatly between Chartreuse, Vercors and the Belledonne mountain range. That means free time can be taken up with skiing, ice climbing, hiking and mountain biking, all easily organised at the Maison de la Montagne. Alternatively, you can just give your spats a rest with a glass of the local schnapps.
Labels: France, Grenoble, Music
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Posted Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 7:37 AM by Lonely Planet
We all know that St Patrick's Day (17th March) has long been popular beyond its traditional Irish homeland. And yet while everyone knows about the parades in Dublin and New York, one place it never really caught on was London. Until recently. Surprisingly for a city that has seen massive Irish immigration over the centuries (12% of the population claimed Irish ancestry in the most recent census) it wasn't until 2002 that London had its first official St Patrick's Day Parade when 50,000 people showed up for the celebrations in Trafalgar Square. This year's festivities aim to build on previous successes and along with the parade (on Sunday 16th) there's a fortnight long festival from the 6th (with many events at the Irish Centre in Hammersmith), and the Mayor's Irish Dinner on Saturday 15th.
Clifton Wilkinson, Commissioning Editor, Great Britain & Ireland
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Posted Wednesday, March 05, 2008, 6:41 AM by Lonely Planet
So Carnival season has drawn to a close but you can still catch one last big party this weekend in Greece. Starting way back in January the Patra Carnival is the largest event of its kind in Europe and runs through a whole series of parades, balls, treasure hunts and firework displays before culminating in Sunday's float parade in Patra harbour. If fireworks and frivolity seem a little tame to those hard-core Carnival goers among you then maybe you should opt for the more bizarre antics of the Skyros Carnival. All you need to join in is a nice hair jacket and a fetching belt of large, clanking copper goat bells. Way to party...
The hangover cure? On Shrove Monday (otherwise known as Clean Monday) take to the hills with the rest of Greece for a day of picnics and kite flying.
Sally Schafer, Commissioning Editor, Greece
Labels: Carnival, Greece
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Terminal Five at London's Heathrow Airport opens for business on March 27 and we were jolly chuffed to be invited along for a sneak preview yesterday. After all, the next best thing after going travelling is going on a day out of the office to an airport for a behind-the-scenes nose around.
Terminal Five has been designed by Richard Rodgers and will be used exclusively by British Airways, though a small percentage of their flights will depart from T3.
Travellers using T5 are in for a few treats. As well as a Gordon Ramsay restaurant (cunningly named Plane Food) and views of Windsor Castle, Heathrow promises a ten-minute 'journey' through check in, bag drop and security. Regular users of the airport will know what a welcome change this will be if they can make it work. And like any airport worth it's salt, a monorail is being constructed to add some futuristic zip.
T5 may not be the answer to all of Heathrow's problems - after all, last week a group of protesters scaled a British Airways jet to air their opposition to a third runway at the airport - but it is a leap forward from anything else London's airports have to offer. It also, along with St Pancras International, provides first moments in Britain to be proud of.
Take a look for yourself at Terminal Five here.
Tom Hall
Labels: Airports, Britain, London
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Posted Tuesday, March 04, 2008, 4:10 AM by Lonely Planet
The annual gay-and-lesbian mardi gras in Sydney Australia may have largely wrapped up now, but we at LP are rather pleased with ourselves at having scored a bit of a marketing coup via Lonely Planet-branded condoms handed out on an Air New Zealand Pink Flight to the festivities. If LP condoms catch on, great! If they were nothing but a terrible disappointment, well, it's never happened to us before...
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Posted Monday, March 03, 2008, 9:05 PM by Lonely Planet
Think you know your African geography? Try this quiz and see if you really know your Botswanas from your Burundis.
Even the lower levels are fiendishly tricky and addictive and the upper levels are positively mindwrenching. Let us know how you went, and see if you can beat our Africa guidebook commissioning editor : 47 out of 53 on level seven (no, you don't get her job if you beat her).
Or if Africa is too difficult, you can try US states, European countries, the Middle East, Oceania ...
Labels: Africa, geography, quiz
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Those smoldering Spaniards, that's what. This month, Valencia celebrates Las Fallas de San Jose (March 3-19th). The city spends the entire month rekindling its party mood with daily displays of booming fireworks and a heavy dose of street celebrations, parades, paella competitions and the occasional bullfight. It all leads up the 15th, when hundreds of artists work throughout the night to create enormous cardboard monuments and statues. A wander through the streets the next morning will reveal around 700 of these ninots, representing current events, celebrities and the odd politician, and some towering 20m high. A winning ninot is chosen to go into the hall of fame (aka Fallero Museum) and you can say adios to the rest of the fallas (failures) when they're torched on the night of the 19th, to the clamoring of crowds, street music and more fireworks. Eat your heart out Guy Fawkes.
Korina Miller, Commissioning Editor, Iberia & Portugal
Labels: Festivals and events, Spain, Valencia
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