Skip to main contentSkip to footer
The islands themselves are practically hidden among mangroves and rainforest, but the coastlines of dazzling white coral sands lapped by turquoise waters are the perfect setting for pirates to have buried their treasure chests long ago. In fact, the real jewels and gems are the lesser known islands that lie off the south western coast of Thailand. Theatre, music, dance... there's something for everyone. All across Europe, summer is a time for cultural programmes with live performances of all types; here we take a look at just four of this year's festivals. Throughout July and August, when dusk creeps into the streets and squares of the fortified Plantagenet town of Le Mans, it brings with it a truly magical spectacle of light, colour and sound. Nestled deep in central Borneo lies a haven quite unlike any other place on earth; here, in Tanjung Puting National Park, in the south of the island of Borneo, visitors can see orang-utans in their natural habitat and get up close and personal with these great apes – our cousins who share around 96% of their genes with humans. While Catalonia is widely thought of as cosmopolitan, Spain's Asturias region is better known for farm produce than for its cutting-edge design. All this is changing, though, and Gijon (pronounced he-hon, with two very guttural 'h' sounds), on the country's north coast is making a name for itself as a modern shopping mecca with chic clothes and accessories shops, often managed by the designers themselves. Good opera is a marvellous spectacle wherever it is performed. But to witness a performance of Verdi's Aida at the foot of Masada, the ancient desert fortress, must be a truly unforgettable experience. And that's what's in store in the desert of Judea in June of this year. The timeless desert of Jordan is home to many marvellous sights. Chief among them are the man-made stone city of Petra, one of the modern wonders of the world, and the natural monolithic rockscapes of Wadi Rum, known as The Valley of the Moon. Set high on the sandstone cliffs, the Greek Orthodox monasteries of Meteora have looked out over the valleys of Thessaly since the fourteenth century, but the religious history of the place is far older. Putting cliches and prejudices to one side, anyone who wants a personal experience of the Arab world could do a lot worse than to start by visiting Tunisia. Here, in a modern African country open to the western world, a host of enchanting towns await discovery. And the most delightful of all could well be Sidi Bou Said. Autumn is on its way, and the vast herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle will soon be gathering in Kenya's vast Maasai Mara Game Reserve, ready to make their return to the Serengeti plains in one of the most impressive spectacles the animal world has to offer. The Frieder Burda Museum in Baden-Baden is hosting an exhibition of around a hundred of the works of the great multi-disciplinary artist from Catalonia. If you're a sea lover and you fancy doing your bit for the cause of the cetaceans and turtles that inhabit the Mediterranean, why not sign up for a place on the good ship 'Toftevaag' and work shoulder-to-shoulder with the biologists and researchers on their conservation work? To visit the Colca Canyon in Peru is to discover a land of superlatives: the second deepest canyon on the planet, it's home to the magnificent Andean condor, a New World vulture with the largest wingspan of any land bird, and one of the world's longest living birds. Do you fancy a once-in-a-lifetime journey to a unique spiritual destination? In one of the most remote and beautiful areas of Egypt's Sinai Desert, discover the monastery-fortress of Saint Catherine, which has stood guard for nearly 1500 years at the foot of Jebel Musa, the place where, according to tradition, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. Not everyone will be listening for the chimes of Big Ben to herald in 2010. Read on to find out how people greet the New Year in other countries around the planet.
