New Orleans

By Gregor Swiderek

It’s time to finally write about one of my favourite cities in the US, if not in the whole world, New Orleans. I absolutely love the place and it is actually a shame that I had to wait for so many years to see it again.

My first visit there was in 2001 when we stopped in the Crescent City during our transcontinental trip from Florida to California. We only had a few hours to explore this amazing place before heading further west. We did our best, walking constantly for hours through the streets of the French Quarter, and the city really made its impact.

Still, it was only a few hours stop and we didn’t have a chance to try its famous (or, for some, infamous) nightlife. So, finally, after all those years I decided to visit the city again and see if it is really as great as I remember it.  It could be that because it was one of the first such places that I had ever visited, I only have good memories of it. Then there was of course Hurricane Katrina in 2005. So, how is New Orleans now?

This time we decided to stay here for longer and booked ourselves a cheap room in a guest house right on the edge of the Vieux Carré, (as the French Quarter is also called), literally minutes from all the action of Bourbon Street. It was particularly unimaginatively named as “New Orleans Guest House” but it was a historic building, painted pink, with a nice patio, (where breakfast was served), and a resident cat. All the right boxes ticked then. After parking our Mustang and dropping bags off in to our room we hit the town immediately.  Continue reading New Orleans

Louisiana

By Gregor Swiderek

When you ask people about Louisiana they will probably think of New Orleans or eventually marshes and swamps of the Gulf Coast. These associations are obviously correct but there is much more than that in the Pelican State.

We entered the state driving across Mississippi River from Natchez to Vidalia on the impressive (if a bit narrow and precarious) cantilever bridge, offering great views and which showed how massive the Great River is. As we were driving the heavens opened and torrential downpour started. Basically while we were heading west a huge cold front was heading east. Literally in minutes the temperature dropped from about 28C down to less than 15.  We decided to wait-out the worst in the State Welcome Centre, where a lovely old lady furnished us with all the possible maps and brochures.

From the Mississippi valley we drove over 120 miles to Natchitoches, crossing the sparsely populated and heavily forested centre of the state Continue reading Louisiana

Mississippi – Vicksburg and Natchez

By Gregor Swiderek

It took us a whole day to get from the Mississippi-Tennessee border to our main destination in the Magnolia State, the Lower Mississippi valley with its historic towns of Vicksburg and Natchez (you can read more about the rest of the state in the previous entry). 

We arrived at Vicksburg in the late afternoon and headed straight towards the Vicksburg National Military Park. Run by the National Park Service, it preserves the site of the American Civil War’s Battle of Vicksburg in 1863. The park includes over a thousand historic monuments and markers, miles of historic trenches and earthworks, a 16-mile tour road, a walking trail, antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons and the restored gunboat USS Cairo (sunk in 1862, on the Yazoo River and recovered in 1964). Continue reading Mississippi – Vicksburg and Natchez

A short visit to Mississippi

By Gregor Swiderek

Mississippi has a problem with its reputation. Most visitors to the US either completely forget about its existence, or worse, have such a bad and prejudicial view of the Magnolia State that they give it a wide berth. So let me write a few words about it.

We got to Mississippi driving south from Memphis on the Interstate 55 and our entry was, lets say, less than grand. The state boundary cuts across the far outskirts of Memphis so the only way of knowing that you have crossed it is to look for a small sign on the side of the suburban looking freeway indicating the beginning of the DeSoto County.

After this less than spectacular welcome we booked ourselves into a motel in the small town of Senatobia, 26 miles from the border. We stayed on its outskirts in yet another cluster of chain motels and fast food establishments next to the freeway exit. For example our motel (Days Inn) had a franchise of the Waffle House on site and was next to three big gas stations as well as branches of Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendy’s, Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen and Subway. So far, so boring.

But the following day things got much better. For a start the I-55 happened to be way more scenic than I thought it would be. Looking at the road map I was expecting a flat and straight freeway running along the fields and farms, instead we got gently undulating and quite heavily forested landscapes all the way to Jackson. Continue reading A short visit to Mississippi

A Ziggurat and Some World Heritage Waterworks: Shushtar, Western Iran

By Caroline Sandes

Chogha Zanbil is, according to the UNESCO World Heritage list, the largest and best preserved ziggurat in Mesopotamia. It now stands alone in the semi-desert landscape, its well-preserved red brick construction somewhat at odds with its wild surroundings. It was built around 1250 BC and was part of a flourishing temple complex with the town of Dur Untash until Ashurbanipal, who was also responsible for destroying Susa, sacked it in about 640 BC. It was only rediscovered in 1935.

I’d had to hire a taxi for the day to take me from Shush, to Haft Tepe and to Chogha Zanbil, and then to deposit me in Shushtar. Both Haft Tepe and Chogha Zanbil are out in the countryside and not reachable otherwise. The ziggurat is impressive. You can’t go into it, or climb up it, which is just as well given its great age, but this is in keeping with its history as it was only ever accessible to the Elamite elite. It stands at about 25 metres high but originally would have been about 60 metres. The uppermost two sections including a temple have gone. If you look carefully, running around the temple at approximately eye level is an inscription in cuneiform. From the leaflet for the site, some has been translated and one section reads: “I Untash Napirisha with golden coloured bricks, silver coloured, [with brick colour of] green and black have built this temple and have gifted it to Napirisha and Inshushinak the gods of this sacred place”. Continue reading A Ziggurat and Some World Heritage Waterworks: Shushtar, Western Iran

Stanfords announces line-up for Stanfords Travel Writers Festival

 

Stanfords is delighted to announce that Kate Adie, Simon Armitage, Ned Boulting, Frank Gardner, Tristram Hunt, Griff Rhys Jones, Tim Moore, Richard Parks, Simon Reeve, Chris Stewart and Levison Wood will headline a superb array of talented authors at the Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2015.

The festival will be held in a purpose built auditorium at the Destinations Show 2015, and will be a unique opportunity for visitors to meet well known explorers, adventurers, food writers, poets, TV presenters, journalists, politicians, and comedians.

Alongside the auditorium there will be a ‘Signings At Stanfords’ shop where visitors will be able to purchase copies of the author’s books and have them personally signed and dedicated.  The signing area will be complimented by the Stanfords Shop selling guidebooks, travel literature and accessories.

Stanfords Managing Director, Tony Maher, said: “We are delighted to present such a prodigious array of authors at the first ever Stanfords Travel Writers Festival.  I would especially like to thank Jo James for her energy and input, publishers for their show of support, and Clarion Events for their continued help in making this dream become a reality. The programme line-up ensures that the festival will be a huge draw for travel connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike and will further underline Stanfords’ position as the market leader in the retail of travel books, maps and related product”.

Jo James, who is working with Stanfords to develop the programme and look after authors during the event said: “I’m delighted by the amazing response and support from publishers, and of course our experts and speakers. The Writers Festival will be the big attraction for visitors at Destinations 2015, promising a jam-packed programme of travel writing talent”.

Sam North, Show Director, Destinations Show, said: “The line-up for the Stanfords Travel Writers Festival is truly fantastic and will provide show visitors with a unique insight in to the authors stories, experiences and expertise. We are incredibly proud to be hosting the Festival at Destinations, the UK’s number one consumer travel event and look forward to welcoming the authors to the show”.

Further announcements will be made on the Destinations Show Website. The current line-up of speakers at the Stanfords Travel Writers Festival is available to view at http://destinationsshow.com/london/stanfords-festival-line-up

Entrance to the Travel Writers Festival is included in the ticket price for Destinations.

About Stanfords

Edward Stanford Limited was founded in 1853 and located at Charing Cross Road in London. In 1901 the Company moved to its current flagship location in Long Acre, Covent Garden.

Famed throughout the World as a publisher of maps, Stanfords expanded into retail following the move to Covent Garden. To this day Stanfords stocks the largest range of maps in the World, as well as travel guides, a large selection of globes and furniture, and other travel related product. It has a further shop in Bristol, a website and a specialist Business Mapping Service based in Manchester. Edward Stanford Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Edward Stanford Group Limited.

Read more about Stanfords at www.stanfords.co.uk/The-History-of-Stanfords.htm  

About Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show

The Times presents Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show, Olympia London, is the UK’s biggest and longest running consumer travel exhibition, due to celebrate its 21st year in 2015. Organised by Clarion Events and with over 300 exhibitors and more than 37,000 visitors attending, the show is the perfect place for those passionate about travel to indulge themselves, be inspired and book their next holiday. The show’s sister-event, held in Manchester each January, is the North’s biggest travel show and will be held for the 4th year in 2015 at EventCity.

Stanfords Travel Writers Festival – Essential Information:

Taking place within Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show

Dates: 29th January – 1st February 2015

Venue: Olympia Grand, Olympia London Hammersmith Road, London, W14 8UX

Open times: 10.00am – 5.30pm every day

Ticket price: Entry is included in the ticket price for the Destinations Show

–      Advance Adult Ticket: £11

–      On-the-door Adult Ticket: £13

–      Children under 12 go free when accompanied by an adult ticket-holder
 

Festival information: http://www.destinationsshow.com/london/stanfords-travel-writers-festival-new

Festival line-up: http://destinationsshow.com/london/stanfords-festival-line-up

Destinations Show website: http://destinationsshow.com/london/

Stanfords website: http://www.stanfords.co.uk/

 

     

Visiting Persepolis’s contemporary: Susa, Western Iran

by Caroline Sandes


My room in the Apadana Hotel, Shush, was the scene of a massacre. When I got to it, the small fridge was swarming with ants. I pointed this out to the man from reception. He grunted and disappeared, reappearing about five minutes later with a large aerosol can. He rapidly dispatched the ants in jets of spray; I felt a little guilty.

Shush is a small town not very far away from the Iran-Iraq border. It’s not really on the tourist trail despite being the site of ancient Susa. The complex of 400 hectares includes the remains of the palace, the Apadana, of Susa, constructed by Persepolis’s principal builder, Darius the Great. With Persepolis Susa was once one of the great capitals of the Persian Empire.

I could see the site from my hotel room and as soon as I had sorted myself out and cleared up the ant carnage I set off to visit it. It was closed. A rather cross looking security guard shooed me away with the explanation of ‘not working’.

So I took up my favourite occupation of going for a wander. Shush, as with pretty much everywhere in Iran, has a very long history and was not always the comparatively small town that it is now. There is evidence of occupation from 5000 years ago and it was occupied more or less continuously until the Mongols destroyed the place in 1218 AD. It is also famous for having the Tomb of Daniel (of lion’s den fame) and so was a place of Jewish pilgrimage. The Mongol destruction put an end to that as well. Nowadays the Tomb of Daniel is a place of Islamic pilgrimage, though the complex with its curious pinecone-shaped tower was only built in the 1870s. I didn’t go in as the weather was very hot and clammy and the thought of wrapping myself up in a much-used black chador to visit it put me right off.
 

Continue reading Visiting Persepolis’s contemporary: Susa, Western Iran

Wilderness Lectures in Bristol 2014-2015

Wilderness Lectures
Images Copyright Ben Wakefield

Stanfords has teamed up with Wilderness Lectures to bring travellers and explorers to venues in Bristol.

The Wilderness Lectures are a winter series of public talks in Bristol; the theme of which is worldwide adventure. The lecturers are well-known explorers, mountaineers, travel writers, TV and adventure sports personalities or anyone who has an epic story to tell and can entertain the audience with a good story. The talks usually include slides and/or film.

Wilderness Lectures tickets are available on the Stanfords website (up to 72 hours before each event) and in-store from the Bristol shop, but regrettably not by phone. See the programme guide below for further details. Continue reading Wilderness Lectures in Bristol 2014-2015

People In London: Exotic Hindu Ceremony close to Home

By Richard Slater, photographer and author of People in London: One Photographer. Five Years. The Life of a City.

You don’t have to go to India to see a Murugan Hindu kavadi ceremony.

As I discovered, all you have to do is hop on the Tube to Archway and go up the hill to the Murugan Hindu Temple in Highgate.

A kavadi is an object which consists of two semi-circular pieces of wood or metal attached to a cross structure which can be balanced on the shoulders of the devotee. It’s decorated with lots of flowers, foliage and peacock feathers – they’re the symbol of the Hindu God of War and Victory, Murugan – and can be very heavy indeed.

 

Continue reading People In London: Exotic Hindu Ceremony close to Home

Ahvaz to Shush by taxi

by Caroline Sandes

A taxi-journey isn’t normally worth writing about, but my journey from Ahvaz to Shush, sometimes better known as Susa, in western Iran was more entertaining than most.

I’d caught the overnight bus from Shiraz to Ahvaz. The bus was clearly much loved by its owner as it was carefully decked out in red lights, inside and out, even round the windscreen. Together with its red seats and all the other things it was festooned with, I felt a little like I was getting into a mobile bordello. That journey was uneventful and I arrived at 5am in Ahvaz. I had forgotten, for some reason, that arriving long-distance buses were prey for eager taxi drivers looking for a fare and naturally I being the tourist on board was an immediate target. Being rather tired, my resistance wasn’t very high and I was soon haggling with a particularly tenacious driver over the cost of him taking me the 100km or so north to Shush. I had been intending to take another bus but the rial was so low against my euros that the cost was far too tempting. In the end we settled on the equivalent of 11 euro (see what I mean), though I knew that even then I’d paid too much, judging by the raised eyebrow of the man in the taxi office who took the payment. Continue reading Ahvaz to Shush by taxi