Struth! Mount Titlis Cliff Walk - Don't look down

IN his continuing search for the more weird, wacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says a must-do for those with steely nerves is to take a walk on Switzerland's new Mount Titlis Cliff Walk – billed as Europe's highest suspension bridge and most-certainly one of the world's scariest.

Stretching almost 100m over a vast drop between two points of the Swiss Alps and at 3000m above sea level, the bridge offers views across the Alps, and on a clear day into Italy as well.

With a steel-mesh deck just 90cm wide and reinforced wire-mesh sides 2m high to prevent any possibility of visitors falling off, the Cliff Walk took five months to build at a cost of AU$1.53m.

And while it sways as visitors walk across it at any time, it can truly rock 'n roll when swept by 200kmh gales, making it as a spokeswoman said, "the highest-adrenaline new adventure in Switzerland.

"But as well as winter gales it's strong enough to carry up to 500 tonnes of snow and ice – something that's highly unlikely as it will be regularly 'groomed' during the winter months."

Kawah Ijen. Worst job in the world?

Kawah Ijen, 2,799m. East Java.

By Michael Travers



Antok has a hernia. He has dropped his basket of sulphur and sits against a rock on the mountain path. “Obat, obat - medicine, medicine,” he calls as he clutches his stomach in obvious agony. We have nothing but cameras, passports and crackers. I give him my water bottle and apologies along with a kretek clove cigarette, which he accepts. We walk down to the weighing station to tell the manager about his plight. “Antok sick? Yes. Everyone knows about Anton’s stomach,” he says, as he goes back to stacking bricks of brimstone. We look at each other and shrug.

Kawah Ijen

Such is the working life at Kawah Ijen in East Java, one of the hardest places in the world to make a living. It’s a daily grind filled with backbreaking journeys, heavy loads, poisonous gasses, low pay and a life expectancy of less than 50. Yet, despite the hardship and marginal working conditions it is one of the most dramatically beautiful places I have ever visited in my life.

We had risen at 4.30 that morning for the hour-long drive up the mountain to the start point for the three-kilometre trek up the mountainside to the crater rim. We pass through all the wonders of tropical agriculture along the way. Rice terraces and bananas gave way to coffee and clove plantations before we hit the heavily forested slopes of the mountain where the land is too distant and high up to farm.

Endemic langurs watch
curiously from the trees

The road also seemed to give up its domesticity and our jeep struggled to find a footing along the once long ago paved road. “Just like Jurassic Park,” says our driver, Hasim, of the misty, towering forest. It is the only English he seems to know but it gets a laugh, and that’s all you really need to communicate sometimes. But make it to base camp we do and we load up with water and biscuits and small denomination notes before heading on up the path to the crater rim through coniferous forests filled with song birds and troupes of langurs, the large black monkeys endemic to the area.

We hear the miners before we see them: the creak-creak-creak of bamboo against shoulder gives them away. Coming down the mountain with their yellow payloads of sulphur, 80kg of it, the maximum a man can carry, two men stop to chat briefly with us and pose for photos in exchange for cash and cigarettes before we part ways; them down, us up. One worker, Ali, shows us the disturbing scars on his collarbones from six years of toil. He has no plans to stop. He can’t, he has a family.

Deceptively beautiful: sulphur lake

For the tourist, it requires a medium effort to hike the three kilometres to the top, making it pretty much accessible to everyone. The track is wide and in good condition with covered rest areas along the way. At the 2km point is the weighing station where the workers stop to tally their loads before carrying on down to the collection point. The last 500 metres become quite barren with scarred scrub and ferns and scorched trees, and at every corner is unveiled an impressive view back down the valley - but it’s nothing compared to what waits for us at the top.

The odour of rotten eggs hit us before anything else and turning the last corner we were faced with a colossal sight that, if the sun wasn’t shining, could be mistaken for the gates of hell. Before us lay a huge barren crater, devoid of life, with choking sulphur clouds wafting up from a milky green lake, deceptively beautiful in the sunlight and giving no hints as to its extreme, unfriendly pH of 1. It was ages before anyone said a word.

80kg loads make heavy work for these men

For the workers, the journey isn’t over just yet as they still have to descend over 200 more almost vertical metres down to the lakeside and into the heart of the mine. An active vent at the edge of the lake is the source of elemental sulphur and it is here that escaping volcanic gasses are channeled through a network of ceramic pipes resulting in the condensation of molten sulphur. Deep red in colour when molten, the sulphur pours slowly from the ends of these pipes and pools on the ground, turning bright yellow as it cools. Amidst the toxic fumes the miners break the cooled material into manageable pieces and carry it out in loads of about 80kg up to the crater rim and then down the mountain. Few have decent walking shoes and almost none have gas masks.


But what is it all for? Sugar. In its raw state it has a yellow to brown colour, but by bubbling sulphur dioxide gas through the cane juice before evaporation it turns white, the perfect colour for our kitchen tables and sensibilities. The nearby sugar refinery pays the miners by the kilo and most of them manage two journeys per day earning them about US$6 per trip.

Men work without masks in the pungent fumes

Despite the very real tragedy playing out in its mines, Kawah Ijen’s mines are the only source of income for the men in this part of the world. Several years ago a suggestion was made to employ mules and horses to shoulder the burden but it was met by howls of protest from the workers. How else would they feed their families and educate their children, they cried? So, the daily march to an early grave carries on regardless, but strangely enough, we tourists have become a vital part of the supply chain with the extra money the miners make from posing for photos and selling small pieces of sulphur going a long way to padding out the household expenses for people like Antok.

Antok takes a welcome rest

Because of the stark contrast of lush green agricultural landscapes and the barren wasteland of the crater, Kawah Ijen has to be one of the most sublime areas of the world in the truest sense of the word. In all, we spent about four-and-a-half hours up there, clamouring over rocks and scree, sitting on the denuded hillsides and pondering the dark beauty and awesome power of nature, while being bombarded with the acrid steam clouds that pour out of the sulphur vents. It’s beautiful and it’s tragic, but the Banyuwangi region of East Java is a place that has so much to offer the tourist looking for something more than just Bali. If more visitors would venture to this land of rice fields and volcanoes, the long term opportunities for Antok and the people of the region could be made just a little bit better.

Top tips for shopping abroad

Travelscene American Express' Top Tips for Shopping Abroad!

Shopping and travelling go together like bees and honey – a perfect match. Meandering through bustling markets, weird and wonderful shops, bazaars and boutiques can be a holiday highlight. To ensure you make the most of your next holiday shopping sprees, the experts at Travelscene American Express reveal their top 5 tips for shopping bliss!

• Spoil yourself a little! The strong Aussie dollar means you could pick up some real bargains abroad, and you might even stumble across some 'one off' gems that can't be found back home. Go on - bring back fond memories of your time away.
• Pack light – or take a collapsible bag inside your suitcase, or why not do both! This way you will have plenty of space. Check with your travel agent before you go on luggage weight and piece allowances too so that you're not caught out.
• Do some research – got friends who have been there before? Ask them where they loved to shop. Put the word out on social media, check online and ask your travel agent. Better yet, when you get to your destination, why not ask a few locals who could help you find some great shopping spots 'off the beaten track'.
• Check customs restrictions – every country has its own laws, customs restrictions and duty free allowances which do change, so before you fly, visit www.customs.gov.au for up to date information to avoid any disappointment.
• Utilise your travel agent – because chance are, they've been there too. Travelscene American Express travel experts can give you tips and advice for the shopaholic in us all!

Whatever type of spender you are, there is nothing better than finding shopping bargains in a brand new city. For more tips to make your next holiday really pay off, have a chat to your local Travelscene American Express Member Agency – you never know what could be waiting for you around the next corner….

Contact 13 13 98 or visit www.travelscene.net.au  to find your nearest Travelscene  American Express Member.

Struth! No smoking, no eating, no sex please

 

IN his continuing search for the more weird, whacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says authorities in a village in Bali are considering putting up "No Sex" signs after a tourist couple was fined for having sex in their temple.

Youth leaders arriving at the Hindu temple in the village of Saraseda detained and turned the Estonian couple over to police after discovering them in the act. Police however said they knew of no law forbidding sex in temples, and suggested authorities and the couple negotiate a suitable "fine."

The couple, aged 43 and 32, agreed to pay 20-million rupiah (AU$2000) for a "cleansing ritual" of the temple, and the officials say they are now thinking about displaying "No Sex" warnings  alongside the already existing "No Smoking" and "No Eating" signs in their temple.

150 Years in the Southern Highlands: Convicts, bushrangers, heroes and squatters

VICE-REGAL SUMMER BOLT-HOLE – THAT'S COOL

David Ellis

WHILE bushranger Ben Hall and his lot were getting travellers to throw up their arms and part with their possessions on the roads of the Southern Highlands of NSW back in the 1860s, more law-abiding citizens were throwing up inns, grand mansions and public edifices that would remain a legacy for generations to this day.

And with the towns of Bowral and Moss Vale this year celebrating 150 years of their founding, visitors are flocking to these Southern Highlands, just 1.5hr by freeway south of Sydney, to soak-up a vibrant history and architecture that can be found at virtually every turn.

And to view public gardens and private half-hectare blocks planted to flaunt stunning seasonal flamboyances.

The first ex-convicts-cum-explorers here in the late 1780s recorded the potential for bountiful settlement… and Europeans' first-ever sightings of koalas, lyrebirds and waratahs.

John Oxley and Dr Charles Throsby soon followed – Throsby carving the Old South Road from Picton and being given a 1000 acre (400ha) land grant by Governor Macquarie.

Here he established the settlement of Bong Bong in 1817 alongside the Wingecarribee River between today's Bowral and Moss Vale, but regular floods forced its move further inland in 1831 to what's now Berrima.

The original 27-room Throsby homestead, cottage and stables still stand today, managed by the Historic Houses Trust; the Highlands' first church, Christ Church circa-1845 also still serves there today, having originally been Throsby's family chapel.

In 1868 then-Governor, the Earl of Belmore leased Throsby homestead to escape Old Sydney Town's oppressive (for newly-arrived British) summer heat, establishing a precedent that was followed more grandly in the early 1880s by Governor Lord Augustus Loftus: he had a vast mansion, Hillview at Sutton Forest, purchased purely as a cooler-climate escape that hosted every State Governor until 1957.

Staff included 35 butlers, cooks, kitchen- and stable-hands, and full-time Chinese gardeners – with a Vice-Regal suite built at Moss Vale Railway Station for Their  Excellencies' entourages to await in luxury their trains back to Sydney.

Hillview has been privately restored at a cost of $2m and is today a palatial refuge for discerning holidaymakers.

Throsby also in 1864 subdivided part of his landholdings, naming it Moss Vale after loyal Irish convict-cum-servant at Throsby Park, Jemmy Moss – and giving Jemmy occupancy for life of the land on which he lived with his wife in a bark hut.

Governor Macquarie also gave 2500 acres (1000ha) to explorer Oxley whose sons Henry and John raised sheep and cattle on what was to eventually become Bowral, and with the Old South Road soon being by-passed in favour of the new road further inland to Berrima, the town of Mittagong also emerged.

George Cutter who built the Highlands' first inn, the Kangaroo on the Old South Road in 1827, closed it with the demise of the road, and operated a second Kangaroo Inn in Mittagong from 1834; it traded under different owners and names until 1866, and is today Minnikin Lodge, an art gallery and annual Christmas Shop – with sandstone walls 54cm (21ins) thick.

Other inns and hotels included the 1834 Surveyor General Inn at Berrima that's still trading today in this last, largely-intact Georgian village in Australia, the short-lived Argyle at ill-fated Bong Bong, and nearby the circa-1854 Royal Oak that's now The Briars between Moss Vale and Bowral.

The Prince Albert Hotel at Braemar just north of Mittagong has had a chequered career since opening in 1845, now restored as the Prince Albert Inn motel.

Bowral's first hotel, the Wingecarribee Inn opened on Bong Bong Street in 1862 where the Royal Hotel now is, and the second, the circa-1887 Grand Hotel, also on Bong Bong Street is still trading today.

As the Highlands' popularity increased amongst Sydney's gentry, they established large English-style mansions amid rambling English-like gardens, reminiscent of home, in Bowral, Moss Vale and Mittagong, and numerous small villages and hamlets around them.

20^th century residents included Sir Donald Bradman with an oval, museum and Cricket Hall of Honour named after him in Bowral, and Helen Lyndon Goff – who using the name PL Travers, wrote Mary Poppins in Bowral in 1910.

For details of Bowral and Moss Vale's 150^th anniversary celebrations and all properties in this article, contact Tourism Southern Highlands 02 4871 2888 or www.southern-highlands.com.au

                                                                   ………………….

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] RETREAT for Vice-Regals from 1868 to 1957 – when it all got too hot in Sydney.

   (Hillview Historic Mansion)

[] BOWRAL (unknown date) before motor car was king. (Berrima Historical Society)

[] LETTING off steam – train and passengers alike – at Moss Vale Railway Station.

   (Berrima Historical Society)

[] MINNIKIN Lodge Mittagong built as the second Kangaroo Inn 1827 – walls 54cm

   thick. (Sandra Arrell)

[] AUTUMN leaves: the Southern Highlands stun with seasonal flamboyancies.

  (Southern Highlands Corporate Events)

[] CHRIST Church Moss Vale: first church in the Southern Highlands and still

   serving today. (Organ Historic Trust Australia)

[] PIONEER explorer, settler and visionary: Dr Charles Throsby. (Tourism Southern

   Highlands)       

Holiday with celebrity chef in an Asian paradise

Variety's upcoming Vietnam Culinary Tour from October 12th to 20th is a one-of-a kind holiday adventure set to tantalise the senses like no other! Hosted by celebrity chef, Marion Grasby, the experience promises to be an unforgettable trip of a lifetime.

Celebrity chef and cookbook author, Marion is getting set to pack her bags for this once in a lifetime 'foodies delight' tour of Vietnamese landscape and culture and share her own culinary tips and ideas on local cuisine during hands-on cooking classes and demonstrations, led by well-renowned local Chefs.  Feast on the magnificent and highly varied local cuisine in an array of stand out locations and restaurants, while learning all about the country's rich food heritage. From the vibrant centre of food haven Hanoi to the deep valleys of Mai Chau for a school community project, travellers will be immersed in all the wonderful rich culture Vietnam has to offer.

Marion is no stranger to travel having been raised by globe trotting parents and lived in exotic locations including Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Darwin; providing an abundance of inspiring ingredients for spicy papaya salads and sweet, sticky mango dishes. Marion's Thai mother also gave her a wealth of knowledge and an appreciation of Asian food from a young age.

"This will be a very special food tour because not only will we be seeing and tasting some amazing things but we'll also be helping to make a difference to children with special needs," said Marion.

A key hands-on highlight of the tour will be cooking classes with Madam Anh Tuyet, who is highly regarded as Hanoi's best chef. Visiting the local market, travellers will learn all about Vietnamese ingredients and herbs before returning to her kitchen, where Madam Anh Tuyet will demonstrate how to cook traditional dishes before serving them up as a tantalising lunch menu in her esteemed restaurant.

At the Hoa Sua Vocational Training School where disadvantaged youth learn hospitality and educational skills to equip them with the tools required to provide for themselves, reminiscent of "Jamie's Kitchen", travellers will be taught by the school's teachers to cook delectable delicacies such as lotus root and shrimp salad, fresh spring rolls with shrimp and pork, char grilled pork balls with rice noodle and sweetened lotus seed doughnuts.

Other food experiences set to showcase the country's rich culture include dining at the 400 year old Dinh Bang Communal House and Mau Dich Restaurant, as well as visiting the empowering Muong Culture Space, Temple of Literature and Do Temple.

The ultimate kitchen activity, however, will be on the final two days of the tour when the group will help to build a kitchen for a remote Vietnamese kindergarten. This community kitchen will stand as a permanent reminder of the nine unforgettable days for the travellers and of course, the local children who will benefit from it for years to come.

The cost for this all encompassing Vietnamese adventure is from $3,250 (dependant on reaching maximum group size), which includes return economy international flights from Sydney to Hanoi with airport transfers, excursions, meals and accommodation. In addition, Travellers have a minimum fundraising goal of $3,000 which will be used to purchase a Sunshine Coach for a school in Dubbo (rural NSW) which supports 265 students, 67% of which are aboriginal and 26 have special needs. The Sunshine Coach will be used to transport children to school (ensuring they attend) and to extra-curricular activities that they would otherwise miss out on.

For further information and bookings please visit www.varietyadventure.com.au or contact Lucy Rae on 9819 1014

ABOUT VARIETY

Variety-the Children's Charity is a national not-for-profit organisation committed to empowering Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs to live, laugh & learn. By giving practical equipment, programs & experiences, Variety helps children in need to overcome whatever obstacles they face & live life to the fullest.

Today, Variety Australia delivers around $1 million in individual and organisational equipment grants every month, filling the gaps often left by governments and other organisations. Variety is often an appellant's last resort to secure equipment vital to their children's wellbeing.

About Marion:

Marion is a little bit Thai (courtesy of her Mum) and a little bit Australian (courtesy of her Dad). Her love of food and travel became ingrained at an early age as her globe-trotting parents lived and travelled in Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Australia.

Marion counts her successful meal solution range, Marion's Kitchen as one of her biggest achievements to date. Last year she launched her cookbook 'Marion: Recipes and Stories from a Hungry Cook' and continues to source her recipes from all over the world.

Elba: Napoleon’s mark on his isle of exile.

David Ellis

NAPOLEON could certainly have done a lot worse than being exiled to the little Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814 in punishment for his surprising loss in the war with Russia, which he'd sought to add to his already many other conquests across Europe.

Because not only was here on Elba a place of exquisite natural beauty laying in the sunny Tuscan Archipelago off Italy, but the allied Sixth Coalition that had forced the Emperor's banishment allowed him to take a thousand or so faithful troops and other followers with him – and extraordinarily bestowed upon him sovereignty to run the place.

But while he stated publicly that Elba was "where he would be happy to rest," and where he threw himself into building new schools and hospitals, improving road networks and encouraging the arts, he was also quietly plotting his escape… successfully doing so just ten months after setting foot on the island.

And he did it remarkably easily: one evening when the British Navy's "guard ships" that were based in the island's Portoferraio harbour were conveniently away elsewhere, Napoleon – a hero to most of the locals – and his men simply hopped aboard a few vessels put at their disposal, and sailed 280km across to land near Cannes in France.

Today just 31,000 permanent residents live a laid-back lifestyle on dreamy little Elba, somehow putting up with an extraordinary 4-million visitors who annually invade the place between March and October, tourism now being the most important industry after the open-cut iron ore mines were closed in 1982 because of their spreading disfigurement of the picturesque landscape.

We recently spent a captivating day on Elba during a Mediterranean cruise, taking a tour there with a proverbial "walking encyclopaedia" guide from Italian sightseeing specialist DDP-Incentive: she had a yarn to spin about everything from Napoleon's time on the island to the wine, the culture and the honey industry whose bees thrive on wild rosemary and lavender… and the blossoms of Australian eucalypts that were imported to manufacture medicines and, she said, "are simply nice to breathe."

Amongst places we visited was the historic Tenuta La Chiusa Winery that's both a winery and a collection of holiday cottages right on the beach in Portoferraio, and which dates back to the 1700s – and where, today's owners proudly say, Napoleon chose to stay on a couple of occasions.

A specialty wine here is Aleatico, a rich, sweet, dessert red that as well as being heartily tossed down by the glass is also tossed with gusto into another favourite called Schiaccia Briaca – the locals' appropriately-named "drunken cake." And yes, our guide assured us, Aleatico was a favourite of Napoleon, who would drink a glass with breakfast every day. Yeah, well…

(She revealed her grandmother swore by the wine too, also quaffing a glass a day. "She said it was for her health's sake, and Grandma lived to 100 years, one month and ten days.")

Elba is most-famous, however, for its beaches, including two that remarkably are reserved for dogs. Humans don't swim at these unless taking their pets into the water, and inspectors regularly check that canine patrons have a Pet Passport certifying they've been micro-chipped and appropriately vaccinated. And after their ocean frolics, the happy pooches can rinse-off under their own little doggy-height showers…

Our guide also pointed out the tiny off-shore island of Monte Cristo – yes, the one made famous by Alexandre Dumas in his 19th century The Count of Monte Cristo. But if you want to visit there, register now: only 1000 visitors are allowed on this now-national park annually, and waiting-time is three years.

Elba still exports vast amounts of roof and floor tiles made from the local clay, but it is its beaches, restaurants, bars and museums – and its connections with Napoleon it's best-known for: just about every major building seems to have some link with the man, and while he lived in an apartment in the local Town Hall, there are also six or eight houses that the locals claim he also occupied at some stage of his just-300 days on Elba...

(IF you're visiting Elba, Rome-based DDP Incentive Management specialises in sightseeing, tailor-made tours and airport, hotel, ship, and other transfers there and across most of Italy; go to www.ddpincentive.it) 

                                                               ……………………..

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] ONE of several villas Napoleon supposedly occupied during his short time on Elba.

[] TENUTA La Chiusa winery dates back to the 1700s.

[] PICTURESQUE Portoferraio: 4m visitors come here every year.

[] A QUIET beach out of the tourist season.

[] HISTORIC painting of Napoleon's escape from Elba.

[] DOGGY beach: Elba has two reserved for canines that even have their own showers.

(Photo credits in order: Niels Buus Madsen FlickR; Tenuta La Chiusa; Understanding Italy; Wikipedia; Understanding Italy; Tuscany Tourism.)        

Struth! Heart Attack Grill claims another customer

 

IN his continuing search for the more weird, wacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says that for two years John Alleman has stood outside the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas spruiking its famous calorie-laden hamburgers, and exhorting passers-by to come in and try.

Burgers that included the 1.444kg (3lb 3oz) Quadruple Bypass which the Guinness Book of Records recognises as the world's most calorie-laden with 9,982 calories per burger… and, which John constantly enthused with four layers of beef pattie, bacon, cheese, tomato and onion, "has a taste worth dying for."

Last week after a hard day's spruiking at the Heart Attack Grill, 52 years old John bade diners farewell, walked down to the nearby bus stop – and dropped dead.

Of a heart attack.

John Alleman was the Heart Attack Grill's second spruiker to pass away: the first, Blair River scaled-in at a whopping  260kg (that's a quarter of a tonne) and died in early 2011 of pneumonia. And the Las Vegas Sun reported that last year a male customer and a female customer had separately both reported to a local hospital after "being stricken with what were believed to be heart problems while eating Triple and Double Bypass Burgers."

And maybe the Grill's fries too, which are cooked in pure lard.

The Heart Attack Grill's owner has described John Alleman's death as "a wake-up call," and said he would be greatly missed. "He lived a very full life, and ate and breathed the Heart Attack Grill."  But no, the calorie-laden burgers would not be taken off the menu, he said, "while ever the public has an appetite for them."