Calvino Travels

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New Zealand thermals, hot beaches and hobbits

May 21, 2020

Center an Iframe Champagne Pools at Wai-o-tapu You are a traveller. You are sat in an outdoor theatre, bowl-shaped and curving round a small white slab of rock. There is a woman emptying a sack of soap into a hole in the top. Your companions are beside you. The bearded one is desperately taking pictures, afraid to miss the crucial moment. The curly-haired one is leaning backwards, worried that the Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland will spray boiling water on the audience. It doesn't. It erupts, sending a white jet of water and steam straight up into the air. Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland You continue your journey around Wai-o-tapu and visit the Champagne Pool, named for its bubbling surface. It is a 62m well that’s filled with water, grazing the earth's burning crust and drawing heat up. The water steams at 72°C. There is also Echo Lake, a lake dyed green by algae which grows in its warm waters. You walk around...

Mount Fuji and hot spring baths in Hakone, Japan

May 15, 2020

Mt. Fuji from Lake Ashi You are a traveller. You are sitting in a hot spring bath in Hakone-Yumoto, Japan. Once your skin starts to blister from the heat, you climb from the bath, feeling free and unembarrassed about your naked state among the many bare bodies that surround you. It’s raining and slowly growing dark. You step with wet feet out into the open air, feeling the freezing rain distantly on your too-hot skin. It splashes off, leaving only a thin curl of steam floating away. You are in an onsen, a traditional Japanese bathhouse with a set of basic rules. People are separated by gender, you have to be naked, and you take in a small towel which must not touch the water in the pool. Tenzan Onsen costs ¥1,200 - that’s just £9. The pools are built of natural stone and wood, and there is a freezing cold bath in the centre which you use to cool down between sessions. You cycle through a state of hot and cool for about an hour and a half. When you leave your skin is still red,...

Taking the long road: NZ's Forgotten World Highway and the Tongariro Crossing

May 11, 2020

The Emerald Lakes viewed on the Tongariro Crossing You are a traveller. You grip white-knuckled to the sides of your seat as the Nissan Caravan swings heavily around tight corners on the Forgotten World Highway in New Zealand. Keane’s groundbreaking album Hopes and Fears is playing on the radio. The bearded one is in the driver’s seat, he's monologuing about Donald Trump or something like that. He's not paying attention to the road or any of the recommended speed signs. The curly haired one, to your left, is agreeing with him politely, but you know that she is in her own world, thinking about food. "So I'm thinking we should have the curry tonight," she interjects. "Yeah, that sounds good." Says the bearded one, but you know he isn't listening, and that this will have consequences later. From the Forgotten World Highway The Forgotten World Highway is 148km of slow road that curves around farmland and nature reserves. It's the ...

Sampling the Himalayas on a trek to Poon Hill, Nepal

May 06, 2020

Annapurna I You are a traveller. You are sleeping in a freezing cold hotel room in Annapurna National Park, Nepal. It's 6.30am. You open the curtain and see the peaks of Annapurna South framed in your window. They’re glowing orange, lit up by the morning light. Suddenly your companions are awake, too, and they're crashing around you, trying to get a view. The bearded one is on the balcony, breaking the still morning air with the harsh ker-chunk of his camera shutter. The curly haired one is shaking her limbs, shivering, and pulling on clothes to go outside. Annapurna South You are on a three day teahouse trek to Poon Hill. From Poon Hill you have a panoramic view of a section of the Himalayas that includes the Annapurnas and Fish Tail (Machapuchare). This is your destination, and it means a climb from Naya Pul to Ghorepani up 3,000 steps, undulating woodland paths and several hanging bridges. An elevation of 3,210m. You are accompanied by a guide called Suk, tw...

Ten days in Malaysia

May 01, 2020

Long-tailed macaques at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur You are a traveller. You’re sweating from head to toe. The air is hot and wet with moisture as you climb the walkway to Kerachut Beach in Malaysia. The wood that surrounds you smells like a sauna. Your companions are dragging sore limbs behind you. The curly-haired one has tied her locks up into a bun. The bearded one has sweat so much that his hands are starting to wrinkle, his camera has overheated and will no longer work. Once you reach Kerachut Beach a man tries to charge you 50 Malaysian Ringgit to see turtles (£10). You refuse, and instead walk another 100 meters to the free turtle sanctuary. There are turtle hatchlings swimming carefree in a small pool at the entrance. You learn that the conservation project collects turtle eggs as soon as they're hatched on the beach, incubating them and ensuring the population grows. Turtles at Kerachut Beach Your companions are too cheap to hire a boat back to the start o...