This cool spot in the Masuria region of Poland packs in plenty of Eastern European charm. About a three-hour drive from Warsaw in the country’s north-east, the ‘funky village for urban people’ – as it is described by its owners – is tucked in between a pine forest and a lake.
An old barn with a fireplace, library, cinema and bar forms the social heart of the camp, but each shelter is well equipped with a wood fire, fridge, wi-fi, bathroom and hammock strung up on the veranda.
Campers can gather provisions from the town a kilometre away, but for a more luxurious approach opt for full board and start the day with ostrich egg scramble followed by Polish and Mediterranean cuisine – think cured meats, grilled vegetables and ukha, a traditional soup made with fish caught from the nearby lake, washed down with a bottle of Zywiec, the local lager. Na zdrowie!
During the day go scuba diving, splash around the lake on kayaks or cool off in the swimming pool. Back on shore there’s beach volleyball and badminton, as well as trekking and bike riding. Once you’re done exploring, relax with a range of spa treatments.
Peruvians prefer to work out their differences head-on, and there’s no better time to wipe the slate clean than just before the new year. People don’t come to the high-altitude Takanakuy festival (usually held on 25 December) to hold hands and sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ – they get straight to the point with an all-out scrap.
Romantic disputes, stolen llamas and trivial gripes are all fair game in this cathartic airing of grievances. Considering this is how many drunken new year celebrations end up back home, they probably have a point.
Wake to the calls of the rainforest. Set on a hill in a national park, Canopy Tower hotel offers guests an experience that’s nestled in nature, with the lights of Panama City glimmering in distant view. Built in 1965 by the US Air Force to house radars, this unusual structure has had numerous identity changes – including a stint as a control tower used to detect aircraft suspected of carrying drugs – before its transformation into the bird-watching haven it is today.
Grab a set of binoculars and search the canopy for toucans, fruitcrows and hawks, and keep your eyes peeled for sloths and howler monkeys. During the day, kayak the Panama Canal, go fishing, hitch a ride on the Birdmobile to top ‘twitching’ spots or just chill in an indoor hammock.
An ever-changing bank of dunes hems this empty stretch of pale sand. Drive five hours south from Muscat along the Omani coastline and you’ll find one of the Middle East’s best beaches. Just back from the lapping waves, a luxury camp operated by Hud Hud Travels is the perfect romantic getaway. Amble straight from your tent into the Indian Ocean and soak away the sultry heat of Oman’s south. Here, flamingos wade with pink legs into gentle waves and eagles swoop on the surface, rising with fish glistening in their talons. During the day jump in a 4WD and take the ferry to nearby Masirah Island, where sea turtles breed, or head to Barr al Hickman, a saltpan where migratory birds flock. Otherwise just enjoy the seclusion on the sand or snorkel off the shore.
Omanis go gaga for shawarma (kebabs). Every local swears by their favourite shop, but those in the know make a beeline for Istanboly Coffee Shop when they’re after a late-night snack.
Pull up a chair outside and watch the cook carve meat from a hulking spit, doling out goodies to workers ferrying packages between the kitchen and cars. Go for a wrap, packed with tender strips of chicken, and if you’re feeling brave slather on mayo laced with enough garlic to ward off vampires for years to come. Make eyes with the neon Mr Istanboly sign as you munch – he’s giving you the thumbs up for your fine selection.
It’s easy to find hamburger joints and sandwich shops in Muscat, but Ubhar is one of the few restaurants to cook up genuine Omani cuisine. Order the muttrah paplou (seafood soup with plump wontons) coupled with ubhar harees, a porridge-like chicken dish topped with rich onion sauce, before finishing with saffron crème brûlée and frankincense ice-cream. It’s Arabia on a plate.
You’re spoilt for choice to fill your belly at Bareeq Al Shatti mall, but be sure to stop off at B+F Roadside Diner, where trendy twenty-somethings flash eyes at each other while queuing to get inside. Its signature dish of Dynamite Fries – a delicious mess of chips topped with minced beef, cheese, ranch sauce and jalapenos – is downright ugly, but boy does it taste good.
Fairy lights twist through trees and sweet smoke from the shisha coils beneath lanterns in the canopy at the sultry Kargeen Caffe. This is one of Muscat’s best-loved restaurants; inside its grounds you’ll find families feasting in dining rooms, men lounging in courtyards blowing flawless smoke rings and fashionistas with heels and handbags worth many months’ rent glimmering in hidden alcoves.
If you’re peckish, share a serve of shuwa, a dish of goat meat rubbed with spices, wrapped in banana leaves and roasted over hot coals for a day. But don’t get completely distracted by the food – there’s also mighty fine shisha. All the usual flavours like apple and strawberry grace the smoker’s menu, but for something more adventurous suck down a Kargeen Special, made with a selection of freshly carved fruit.
Tourists trawl Mutrah Souq in the heat of the day, sizing up Aladdin’s lamps and rocks of frankincense, but locals know the best time to go is at night. Stroll down the corniche, past vendors selling sweet potatoes and dates and sandwich shops with customers spilling onto the street, and enter the jostling bazaar.
If you look beyond the main passage, you can slink into a labyrinth of hole-in-the wall coffee shops, stands dripping with gold and boutiques where black-clad ladies thumb abayas (traditional robes) in fabrics of cerulean and hot pink.
Sweep between rusty red dunes and over honey-coloured peaks, then wade through lush vegetation to a freshwater oasis, surrounded by swaying palms. This is the romantic image of the desert come to life, where you can stargaze from your camp under the clear Arabian sky before mists veil the night.
You’ll encounter nomadic tribesmen who roam the sands with goats and camels, and peer down a sheer 1,000-metre drop to the bottom of Jebel Shams’s ‘Grand Canyon.’ Explore the fishing village at Ayega, once a stronghold of rebellious sheikhs, and pass a night on a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel.
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