wanderlust.co.uk October 2019 63linger for at least 24 hours: haggle
for oud and incense in the souks
of Bur Dubai, explore the Arabic
art galleries and tea houses of
Bastakiya, and catch an abra (boat)
along the Creek – rubbing shoulders
with traders and workers from all
over the world. For dinner, tuck
into Emirati cuisine at the Sheikh
Mohammed Centre for Cultural
Understanding (cultures.ae) or try
a Middle Eastern food ‘marathon’
with Frying Pan Adventures
(fryingpanadventures.com) –
sampling Arabic and Iranian dishes.
55
OrderNihonshu
inNara,Japan
Olivia Lee, commerical
editor,Wanderlust
IntheWest,weoftenuse
thewordsaketoreferto
Japan’sfermentedricewine.Butin
Japansakeistheuniversalword
foralcohol,soifyou’relookingfor
thisubiquitousdrink,you’llneed
toaskfornihonshu.Andifyou
wanttodrinkitintheplaceit
wasirstbrewedbackinthe8th
century,headtoNarainKansai.
IrecommendstayingatNipponia
Nara(naramachistay.com),
atraditionalbrewerythat’sbeen
turnedintoaboutiquehotel.
56
Overnightina
traditionalAfrican
villageinGhana
Nancy Chuang, author,
Bradt Guide to Ghana
The charms of staying
in a Ghanaian village
are under-appreciated. Travellers
open to loor mattresses, bucket
showers, and uncharged batteries
are rewarded with starry views from
mud huts in national park-adjacent
Mognori, rowboat beers in the stilt
village Nzulezo, dawn chats with
shrimp catchers in Atsiekpoe, or
lessons in making kente cloth in Tai
Abuife. Community tourism is well-
established for inexpensive daytime
visits, but immersing in the evening
thump of fufu (Ghanaian staple)
pounding or the morning clucks
of guinea fowl is an unmissable
experience.
The updated Bradt Guide to Ghana
is out now.
57
Discoverstreetart
inJordan
ZaraSekhavati,
RoughGuideseditor
Underneathallofits
history,Jordanoers
a perhapsunexpectedstreetart
scene.Ammanistheplacetobefor
vibrantcoloursthatthriveagainstthe
city’s soaring,crumblingbackdrops.
The BaladkStreetArtFestivalin
SeptemberbringsJordanianstreet
and graitiartiststogether,withthe
objectiveofmakingexposuretoart
a rightforeveryone,regardlessof
theirbackground.
TheupdatedRoughGuideto
JordanisoutinNovember.58
Danceaceilidhin
NovaScotia
SiobhanWarwicker,
RoughGuideseditor
Aceilidhdancehappens
somewhere,everyday,on Cape Breton Island in Nova
Scotia; pop into any grocery shop
or church hall and the locals will
ill you in. Trace the Ceilidh Trail for
100km along the sunset side of
this wild Atlantic island, for music
galore in the characterful coastal
villages. Stop at Mabou, where the
Red Shoe Pub provides Canadian-
Celtic hospitality in the form of
nightly folk music and steaming
seafood chowder.
The updated Rough Guide to
Canada is out in November.59
EatpiciatRistorante
Ottavius,Italy
Gillian Price, author of
Cicerone’s Walking in
Umbria guide
I always reserve a page or
two at the end of my notebooks for
stand-out meals and where
I had them. One October, after
a glorious day walking between the
walled, twin towns of Montefalco
and Bevagna (central Umbria, south
of Perugia), we were directed by our
accommodation host at dinnertime
to a low-key local eatery called
Ristorante Ottavius (ottavius.it). Here
we enjoyed a meal of luscious thick
pici pasta with fresh fava beans and
melted cacio cheese, grilled liver
smothered with herbs and lard, and
bitter wild chicory. Just remembering
it is making mehungry.
The updated Walkingin Umbria
guide is out now.Unexpected art
(above) The textile
souk in Bur Dubai;
(below) Amman in
Jordan has an
unexpected street
art scene