On the trail of the Knights Templar in Portugal

On the trail of the Knights Templar in Portugal

Few organisations are as shrouded in myth and mystery as the Knights Templar. Popular culture holds them variously to be keepers of the Holy Grail, the inventors of modern finance, or devil-worshipping heretics whose shadowy practices live on behind the locked doors of modern Masonic lodges. The truth, as ever, is even more intriguing. The…

Shamans & Shysters: Unpicking the Witchcraft Industry in Catemaco, Mexico

Strung out along the photogenic shores of Lake Catemaco, circled by looming hills born of long-extinct volcanoes, and fringed by one of Mexico’s last remaining tracts of rainforest, the sleepy backwater town of Catemaco feels like its own little corner of the earth. Emerging from the air-conditioned cocoon of an ADO coach into what must…

A first-timer’s guide to Patan-Lalitpur, Nepal

While the frenetic chaos of Kathmandu sprawls and teems across the Bagmati River to the north, Patan – or Lalitpur as it’s also known – abides in the ways it always has: more peacefully, more quietly, and with an inclination towards the considered and the artistic. It’s no coincidence that Buddhism has long exerted a strong…

What you need to know about visiting the Himalayas

There is no mountain range mightier than the Himalayas, an awe-inspiring crest of snow-blanketed peaks which lifts the plains of the Indian subcontinent to the Roof of the World, the Tibetan Plateau. In the process, it notches up nine of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the greatest of them all: Mount Everest. Needless to…

A dive into the demonic at the Musée des Vampires in Paris

In the quiet Parisian suburb of Les Lilas, down an anonymous side street, is a scarlet door. I knock on it three times; no one answers. I wander around the corner to look for another entrance. Beyond a wrought iron padlocked gate is a thickly overgrown garden; beyond that, a frosted window dimly illuminated by…

El Tajín: Visit one of Mexico’s most mysterious Mesoamerican cities

The smell of vanilla hangs thick in the air over Papantla, a bustling hill town in the jungly northern reaches of the Mexican state of Veracruz. The prized aromatic has been cultivated here since pre-colonial times, by the same Totonac people who still live here, speak their own language, and practice a brand of Roman…

The Musandam Peninsula: Oman’s final frontier

Oman’s Musandam Peninsula offers dramatic coastline and stunning mountainous landscapes. Daniel Stables explores to let travellers know what to seek out.

A postcard from Indonesia: life and death in Tanah Toraja

In Tanah Toraja, Indonesia, long-held animist beliefs mean the dead are laid to rest with elaborate ceremonies that last for days. Daniel Stables attends a funeral to learn what life and death means to the locals here. I am clinging to the back of a sputtering motorbike, speeding through the highlands of Tanah Toraja on the Indonesian island…

Nepal, two years on: why the time to go is now

In April 2015, Nepal hit global headlines when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the country, killing almost 9000 people. Two years on, Nepal continues to recover, but it remains as fantastic a destination as ever. As the gateway to the Himalayas, it’s home to eight of the world’s ten tallest peaks and arguably the finest mountain trekking…

Indonesia beyond Bali: 7 places off the tourist trail

Bali’s beautiful beaches and shimmering rice paddies have made it a justifiably famous tourist destination – but there’s so much more of Indonesia waiting to be explored. The world’s largest archipelago, with a huge 17,000 islands, Indonesia is home to ancient ruins, world-class diving and incredible wildlife, including the critically endangered orangutan and fearsome Komodo dragon. Here,…