The Middle East isn’t particularly known for its celebration of minority groups, so it’s a bit of a surprise to find that one of the world’s biggest Pride parades takes place in Tel Aviv during June each year.
More than 100,000 outlandishly dressed – perhaps that should be under-dressed – slaves to the rhythm arrive on the Mediterranean coast each year to wave the rainbow flag for equality, peace and the right to party with their same-sex peers and partners.
The bars, clubs and hotels of Tel Aviv open to welcome the LGBQTI community during the week, hosting enough parties to send you home exhausted, but make sure you keep something in reserve. By far the biggest event comes at the end of the week, with a huge parade that starts in Meir Park and weaves down the main drag. Join the cavalcades of motorbikes, take a sip at a moving bar and shake what your mamma gave you in the sea of rainbow-clad revellers as they march down the street.
Unlike most parades, this one has a ‘no barricades’ approach, so anyone and everyone can dance between the floats, follow them for a distance, drop back to others and generally become one with the shifting sea of humanity.
Eventually the whole shebang ends up on Gordon Beach at about 3pm where a huge dance party rages right through till sunset. Best of all, it’s a free event, so anyone who wants to celebrate the spirit of gay pride can join right in.
If you think a walking tour is the best way to explore Iceland’s capital city, think again. Slip into a wetsuit, fasten your leash and get your blood pumping on a stand-up paddleboarding tour around Reykjavík. Dip your paddle into the glassy waters of Reykjavík Harbour and glide beside skyscrapers and snow-capped buildings as you trace the frosty coastline. While you float along the city shores, your guide will point out the best sights and give you tips on the must-see attractions during your visit.
Whether it’s your first time or you’re a seasoned SUPer, this aquatic adventure will put your balance to the test as you gawp at your surroundings on this unique city tour. Once you’re familiar with the city, head out on a trip to another location – the country is full of paddleboarding opportunities.
Brace yourself for the stomach-churning, adrenaline-pumping drop of a lifetime on the Insano waterslide at Brazil’s Beach Park in Fortaleza. With big red lettering running down the slide, Insano should have you running away. Topping out at 41 metres, it was, until recently, the world’s highest waterslide. Despite having lost that honour, it will have you falling for five seconds at speeds up to 105 kilometres an hour.
Rio gets all the kudos when it comes to Carnival, but the biggest party of them all engulfs Bahia.
Different reports will tell you that between one and four million people flood the city, but all you really need to know is that it’s lots. And most of them are Brazilian.
Taking place during the week before Ash Wednesday, it’s the magnificent, hedonistic storm before the calm of Lent (carnelevare translated means ‘to remove meat’).
The first parades take place on Thursday, working their way to a crescendo that lasts from Saturday night right through till Tuesday. There are two parade routes with trio elétrico – brashly decorated, gigantic trucks carrying bands – blasting out waves of music, and a third that harbours a quieter, more traditional parade.
For maximum thrillage, you’ll want to buy yourself an abadá (t-shirt) that acts as a ticket to parade with a specific trio (also called a bloco). There are other options. You can purchase a t-shirt that guarantees you entry into a camorote, the grandstands lining the parade routes. From their heights you’ll get a great view, plus they have bars and toilets.
Otherwise, try your luck in the crowd as one of the pipoca (popcorn), so named because that’s what a whole load of people bouncing to the beat looks like.
It’s not marketing hyperbole. The Cliffhanger roller-coaster at Glenwood Springs literally dangles on the edge of a two-kilometre-high mountain face. The rollercoaster was relocated from Branson, Missouri, and now you can feel the adrenaline rush through you as you flip and turn on this white-knuckle fun park ride.
There are seven beaches across the globe that have pink sand – caused by a cocktail of white and red sand, with Ma Nature acting as mixologist – but Komodo is definitely the only place where you’ll find pink sand and dragons. Giant goat-munching beasts aside, Komodo, in Indonesia, is a tropical wonderland where time is an abstract concept and all you really have to worry about is whether to stay lying on the surreal beach or go for a snorkel in the azure ocean.
Test your Christian faith with the ultimate three-day pilgrimage to the island sanctuary of St Patrick.
Located on a small lake in Ireland’s County Donegal, Lough Derg has been attracting worshippers for more than 1000 years. Immerse yourself in this time-honoured tradition of Celtic spirituality, but be prepared to get tired, hungry and cold. When you arrive on the island bid farewell to your shoes in exchange for a frugal existence and prayer.
For the next three days you will walk barefoot, fast and engage in ritual worship, including silent prayer and kneeling on hallowed beds. Participate in an all-night, 24-hour vigil and fast for the duration of your stay, with the exception of one daily meal of dry toast and black tea or coffee.
Some find the pilgrimage an energising and enlightening experience. Others would concur with its other name – Saint Patrick’s Purgatory.
Chile’s Valle Nevado has some of the best powder conditions in the southern hemisphere and, although small when compared with their Euro counterparts, there are a couple of good reasons to head to the Andes. First of all, there are 9000 hectares of skiable terrain. Tick. But this is also where most of the Olympic ski teams from out of town train during August and September, so, when the day is done, there are plenty of very fit (mostly male) athletes looking for a good night out.
It all starts in the gigantic hot tub at the Puerta del Sol Hotel, with a DJ on the decks and drinks aplenty. After dark everyone heads out – and as there are only four bars in town, if you spotted someone on the slopes during the day you’re likely to eyeball them downing shots later in the evening. Cheers.
Love the idea of a remote liveaboard dive adventure where you can truly get away from it all, but don’t quite have the sea legs? Avillion Layang Layang is an isolated diver’s paradise unlike any other. Laying Layang Island was used by the Malaysian military as a naval base back in the 1980s and has since been transformed into a dive resort, spectacularly positioned on 13 coral reefs that rise two kilometres from the floor of the South China Sea.
The 20-metre-deep lagoon – 300 kilometres northwest of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah – is teeming with seahorses, dolphins, hammerheads and manta rays, and even attracts the occasional whale shark and orca. The airstrip dominates the island and the time you’re on it is the only period during which you’re likely to be dry (aside from when you’re sleeping).
Join the Red Army for a day at the Pilsen air base and test your nerve in the cockpit of a Czech Aero L-39 Albatros with MiGFlug. This is not a simulated flight for wimpy air-force wannabes and you better have a stomach of steel. You take the controls as an instructor leads you through terrifying dogfight manoeuvres, including rolls, dives, loops and extremely low passes just a few metres from the ground.
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