Niagara eat your heart out. Kaieteur Falls in central Guyana is the largest single-drop waterfall in the world and five times higher than its North American cousin. The falls plunge 251 metres over a sandstone cliff (the biggest drop is 226 metres), with an Olympic swimming pool-sized torrent thundering over the precipice every four seconds.
Fly over these world-class cascades for a spectacular bird’s-eye perspective, then explore the falls, Potaro River and the surrounding rainforest on foot, keeping a lookout for golden frogs hiding in giant bromeliads, and colourful cock-of-the-rock birds.
Set in a former factory in the trendy Friedrichshain district, the Michelberger Hotel embodies Berlin’s eccentric personality. Quirky objects unearthed in the city decorate the interior, hand-built furniture features in suites and there are even graphic designers holed up in room 132 working their creative magic.
Voyeurs will love the Cosy rooms with showers overlooking the bed, but if the thought of bathing with your loved one looking on sets your skin crawling, opt for a Loft instead. Feed your inner nerd within the book-lined walls of the The Clever One pad or chill in the hotel’s library. There’s free wi-fi, a DJ in the courtyard and live music at the bar.
While the reunification of Germany in 1989–90 is generally regarded as an all-round awesome occurrence – not least because at one stage it featured David Hasselhoff standing atop the partially demolished Berlin Wall thundering out a rendition of ‘Looking for Freedom’ – not all neighbouring suburbs of the nation’s capital city were able to kiss and make up after their 30-year divorce. The districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, for example, still meet annually on the Oberbaumbrücke (Upper Tree Bridge) to lob water bombs, eggs and rotten fruit and veg at each other.
As everyone knows, a food fight is the most logical way to prove who is best, and the victor is the side that forces the other completely off the bridge. The battle takes place in September, and if you’re keen to get amongst it, then it’s probably worth knowing that the Friedrichshain fruit-throwers are the usual champs, while Kreuzberg’s carrot-lobbing record sucks. Join the underdog – pelt a potato at those uppity Friedrichshainians!
Airports suck, right? Well, yes, but it’s not all bad, especially when you land in Munich.
After hours cooped up in a confined space, how about some physical exertion to get the blood pumping and ward off the dreaded DVT? Start your holiday early with a hit out at the airport’s beach volleyball court, or enjoy a round of mini golf on an 18-hole course at the on-site visitor park.
Afterwards, step into the cockpit of a Boeing 737 flight simulator and test your mettle behind the controls. You can also join a tour where you’ll explore the airport’s nerve centre, taking in the maintenance hangars and engine-testing facility, as well as some of the quirkier items seized by customs.
Delve into the heart of the high Pyrenees, making your way through a network of canyons and waterways. After a crash course in rope skills, you’ll start in the French mountains, laced with rivers roaring with the run-off from melted snowcaps.
Abseil vertical canyons and hurtle down water chutes and waterfalls, then dry out in a sunlit gully beyond the Spanish border. Here you can dive into warm, blue swimming holes, scale rock faces and unwind with a bottle of local wine or two. Feel your heart in your mouth with a final, 150-metre free-hanging abseil down the Foratata Canyon.
A comet is about to strike Finland and will wipe out humankind. But you know how to stop it. Be the hero in your very own movie with The Hollywood Experience and create the ultimate travelogue of your Nordic adventures. High-end Finnish tour company Luxury Action has teamed up with Studio Jones to offer film-lovers the chance to star in a personal blockbuster.
Car chase? Can do. Journey to Narnia? Check. Sole survivor of a zombie apocalypse? Tick. Share your action dreams with the team and they’ll twist and tweak a storyboard to your liking. Once the narrative is complete, zip to location and work your magic in front of the camera. The catch? Holidaying like a movie star requires an income to match – the cost of scriptwriting alone starts at about US$11,500. That’s before the camera even starts rolling.
Quaffing champagne with hot dogs is akin to serving foie gras with Fanta; they’re not exactly culinary cronies. But a London eatery has sent convention to the dogs, teaming the fast food staple with boutique bubbles. Bubbledogs is capitalising on London’s new-found fascination with gourmet fast food, serving up delectable hot dogs with grower champagne.
It’s no meal for mutts. The house-made pork, beef and vegetable hot dogs are made with 100 per cent British produce, freshly baked buns and a lick of condiments and spices. The Trishna Dog – with mint, mango chutney and coriander – has been running out the door. Then there’s the K-Dawg – a mean mongrel of kimchi, fermented red bean paste and lettuce – a mix not to be messed with.
You might think that getting punched repeatedly in the face by an opponent would be detrimental to your concentration levels and overall cerebral fitness – and generally speaking you’d be correct – but chessboxing gives participants the chance to show off both brains and brawn. The hybrid sport sees appropriately weight-matched opponents swinging haymakers in the boxing ring then glaring across a chessboard at each other in alternating rounds. A knockout or checkmate move decides the contest. The concept was conceived 35 years ago, and was once seen as part novelty sport, part joke – we dare you, however, to laugh in the face of Nikolay Sazhin, a world champion in two heavyweight divisions, or Ruthie Wright, a school teacher who became the women’s flyweight champ.
The burgeoning sport now attracts big crowds at venues in London’s Kings Cross, Berlin and Kolkata in India. We’d like to see Kasparov go toe to toe with Deep Blue in the ring, or watch as Tyson chews over the intricacies of the Ruy Lopez strategy. Intrigued? You can try out a class yourself at the Islington Boxing Club or get along to the Chess Boxing Championship in London.
Forget bungie lines and safety ropes as you drop unencumbered towards the ground at Tivoli Friheden, a theme park in Aarhus that operates Europe’s only SCAD (suspended catch air device) tower. Strapped into a padded harness and helmet, you might feel secure as you take in the gorgeous sight of the bay, but all bravado will leach away as you dangle at the mercy of an operator and a distant net. Basically, you’ll be dropped to plunge 30 metres to your bouncing lifesaver below in just three seconds. If hitting 4G forces while falling at 90 kilometres an hour doesn’t sound terrifying, learning that researchers use these structures to simulate near-death experiences should be enough to shake you.
If you thought that electric ear cleaner you found in Aunt Vera’s knickers drawer all those years ago was a frightful gizmo, Prague’s Sex Machine museum will blow your, er, mind. Get your rocks off exploring the museum’s three floors bursting with more than 200 erotic mechanical appliances. There’s a contraption to titillate every taste and sordid fantasy. How about a brass vibrator circa 1869, an electric anti-masturbation machine from gay Paris (1915), or an 1880 voyeuristic chamber pot, complete with mini peep mirror?
If voyeurism is your thing, bypass the pleasure contraptions and head straight to the cinema for your fill of old erotic films, then saunter through the art gallery. It’s one of the few galleries in the world where you don’t have to hide the fact you’re staring at the nudie bits.
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