Quirky Guide

Arctic Man Ski and Sno-Go Classic, USA

Alys Ince — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:37:18 +0000

In the world of extreme sports, skiing and snowboarding rate pretty low in the grand scale of all things fear inducing. It was perhaps with this in mind that the people behind the Arctic Man Ski and Sno-Go Classic decided to add snow mobiles into the mix.

Every April, the worlds of snow mobile and ski enthusiasts collide (quite literally) with a high-speed race across the hills of Alaska’s Summit Lake. After working up to a speed which would make the average man wince, skiers and boarders are joined by a snow mobile that drags them towards an eye-watering 80mph.

This annual competition ups the town’s population for the weekend from seven to 15,000 and the normally peaceful mountains turn into a camper van covered festival site, complete with barbeques, bonfires and beer guzzlers.

Flow Rider surfing, England

Emily Davis — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:18:31 +0000

Surfers take note. The UK’s first Flow Rider – an artificial inland surf wave – opens in April 2010.

A thin sheet of water surges over a curved bank, creating the illusion of a perpetual wave. Boarders can carve, turn, ride up and slide down the reverse cascade, with no fear of a ducking when they lose their balance. And beginners will be glad to know a soft layer cushions the slope for any slip-ups.

Trained instructors are on hand with safety instructions and tips of how best to ride the wave - whether standing (flowboarding) or lying down (bodyboarding).

The Flow Rider will form part of the 5-star Retallack Resort & Spa near Padstow, in Cornwall.

Read more posts on Cornwall or England.

Wine tasting, Brazil

Stuart George — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:44:43 +0000

Brazil is better known for carnivals and footballers than wine. But Bento Gonçalves, a hilly city of 105,000 people in the deep south of the country, is home to Brazil’s most important wine region.

The top producers include Miolo, whose Rio-born winemaker admits that he had to “adjust” to Serra Gaúcha’s relatively cool climate. Also worth a visit are the tiny cellar doors of Lidio Carraro and Don Laurindo.

Further afield from Bento Gonçalves the Don Guerino and Boscato wineries at Alto Feliz and Nova Pádua respectively are worth the drive over the hills of Rio Grande do Sul state.

Is it so surprising that Brazil makes good wines? After all, it is shaped like a bunch of grapes.

Cherry blossom season, Tokyo

Jeni Fisher — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:48:28 +0000

Tokyo may be known for its fast-paced energy, but once a year its inhabitants wind down to casually gaze at trees. Yes, really. The city’s cherry blossom season is generally between March and April, and is celebrated with hanami (literally ‘flower viewing’).

A simple way to celebrate is by strolling one of the city’s blooming parks. But some take it rather more seriously. In the early hours of the morning throngs of nature-lovers line park gates, desperate to reserve an optimal picnic spot under the blossom. To others, hanami is an excuse to get romantic and a quirky way to do this is to hire a rowing boat at Chidorigafuchi, the North-Eastern moat of the Imperial Palace.

However you experience hanami, though, it’s a unique chance for bustling Tokyo to surprise you with its capacity for a genuinely soothing and serene experience.

Read other posts about Japan.

Try life as a monk, Austria

Jeremy Brazier — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:33:39 +0000

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live a cloistered life, you can now try it out on holiday. The historic Austrian monastery of Maria Enzersdorf near Vienna has introduced a ‘monk for the day’ scheme, in which visitors can work and pray alongside the monks.

The resident Franciscans want to give curious men a down-to-earth glimpse into their life within the monastery – and all for free. The scheme runs on weekends, and has already convinced several participants to become full-time monks. The only restriction is that men must be under the age of 40. Female visitors are also welcomed by an order of Franciscan nuns.

Maria Enzersdorf has been the site of a monastery since the 15th Century.

Read other posts about Austria.

HEP FIVE Ferris wheel, Japan

Claire Potter — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:19:56 +0000

Stepping off the seventh floor of a building is not something I would generally recommend. Not unless you’re going to be scooped up and taken on a breath-taking aerial voyage.

The architects of the HEP FIVE shopping complex in Japan had the bold and brilliant idea to build a Ferris wheel into the actual building. Board one of its 52 bright-red, air-conditioned gondolas from the 7th floor and it will take you up into the sky above the other skyscrapers, giving you an amazing view of the city and beyond to the mountains. The nightscape is even more splendid.

After that, explore the rest of this funky building where cafes serve ice-creams as big as your head and the top floor is a virtual theme park.

Idaho yurts, USA

Alys Ince — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:28:16 +0000

If you’re fed up with overcrowded, built up, boozy party town ski resorts, Idaho’s back country may provide the remedy you’re looking for. Permanent buildings are banned in some of the most breathtaking regions of the state, resulting in the seasonal erection of temporary structures such as Mongolian-style yurts.

Based in the untouched surroundings of the mountainous Gem State, these yurts provide basic accommodation with fully fitted kitchens and, if you’re lucky, a wood-fired hot tub or sauna. In addition to loud bars and crowded slopes, these holidays also lack any form of ski lift, meaning that guests must come equipped with the energy and willingness required for a very long and steep climb!

Photo courtesy of Glen Allison and Sun Valley Trekking.

World Chocolate Wonderland, China

Claire Potter — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:12:00 +0000

What to do with a huge Olympic stadium once the games are over is always a problem. Well, in Beijing, they decided the solution was to fill it with 80 tons of chocolate.

World Chocolate Wonderland is the world’s first chocolate theme park. With five indoor areas and two outdoor areas, it is a visual feast of chocolate creations – including a 12-meter long replica of the Great Wall of China and 560 terracotta warriors. There are chocolate waterfalls, cars, clothes, money and all kinds of other chocaholic pleasures and activities to indulge in.

The park will only be open in the winter though, closing every Spring before the warm weather melts it away.

Take Subway Line 8 to Olympic Green. Open Jan 29 to April 10.

The Mystery Spot, USA

Antony Barton — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:07:47 +0000

Water appears to flow uphill, people seem to change height and trees grow at apparently strange angles in the Mystery Spot outside Santa Cruz, California.

Puzzling hundreds of thousands of visitors since 1940, the anomalies at this tiny attraction have been attributed to buried spacecraft, carbon dioxide, holes in the ozone layer and a magma vortex. The more logically minded explain that it is all just an optical illusion.

But whatever explanation visitors choose to accept, most find it fun and liberating to challenge the force of gravity for an hour or so. Others find the whole experience too nauseating to handle.

Similar mystery spots have since sprung up across the States, allowing more people the chance to walk on walls and watch balls roll up planks of wood.

Kanchanaburi river cabins, Thailand

Aisha Regan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:45:15 +0000

If you have good sea legs and a fondness for the unusual, then don’t settle for a hotel with foundations set in stone. Spend the night floating on the River Kwai in a cabin quite literally on the water’s edge.

Often combined with a ‘Hellfire Tour’, during which you elephant trek, visit the tiger temple and see hellfire pass, these floating cabins in Kanchanaburi will offer complimentary river rafting during your stay. Some also have their own floating sun decks and swimming pools as well.

The cabins are usually attached to a floating restaurant-bar, with everything accessed via floating corridors. Evening entertainment is sometimes provided, but the relaxed atmosphere lends itself more to socialising and soaking up the unique experience.