Lonely Planet

94 Lonely Planet Traveller October 2017PHOTOGRAPHS: KALYPSO WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY, SIVAROCK/GETTY, GABE ROGEL/GETTYSECRET MARVELSSWING AT THE END OF THE WORLDHigh up in the Ecuadorian jungle, a treehouse percheson the edge of a canyon. The Casa de Arbol is actuallya seismic observation station built to keep an eye onTungurahua, the active volcano. Yet it’s the crudeswing, a plank suspended by two ropes hanging froma tree branch, that attracts daredevil visitors. Thereare no safety features – no harness, no net – so thosewho choose to push off over the canyon take their livesinto their own hands. The reward? A head-spinningview of the canyon floor and perhaps a glimpse ofan erupting volcano as you swing over its lip.OThe swing is 6½ miles up a steep, winding mountain road from the nearby town of Baños.My secret marvelHAW PAR VILLAWhen Hercules made hisjourney to the underworld,he had to wrestle ghosts andmonsters. Visiting the underworld inSingapore is a little easier. All I had todo was jump off a Mass Rapid Transporttrain, stroll across Pasir Panjang Road,and step into the bowels of hell...Haw Par Villa, a sculpture gardencreated by eccentric brothers Aw BoonHaw and Aw Boon Par (best known forinventing Tiger Balm), ranks as one ofthe world’s most surreal tourist sites.Sprawling over prime Singapore realestate are more than a thousandstatues of demons and deities fromChinese and Buddhist mythology.Many are arranged in gruesomedioramas of torture as a warning toanyone thinking of carrying out evildeeds in this lifetime.I was unprepared for the nightmarishwhimsy that was on display. What wasthat? A crab with a man’s head. Andthere? A girl with a snail’s body. Thelack of attendants and general scarcityof visitors only added to the sense ofbeing transported into a freakishparallel universe.In fact, it’s not all doom and gloomhere. For every sawing demon, there’san uplifting scene of meditation ora magnificent dragon as large as asubway train. For the lay person, it’sa mesmerising introduction tothe rainbow world of Chineseand Buddhist mythology.By Joe BindlossO The sculpture park is open daily. MRT trainsrun to Haw Par Villa station.