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This story appears in the February 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine.
She is lying in a cave, dying. Legs and arms but knobby sticks, Lidia Maiyu is curled up close to the campfire. Her eyes are wide in apprehension of death. She coughs, her body convulses, and she cries out in pain. Lidia is perhaps 15 years old, she isn't sure. Three months ago she gave birth, and the baby died; the group left the body in a cave and moved on. Pasu Aiyo, Lidia's husband, tells me this is what happens. "When you get sick, you get better or you die."
But for the glow from the campfire, it is impenetrably dark. Never are there stars, as if that would be too much to hope for. Instead, beyond the rock overhang, it's pouring, waves of water relentlessly slapping the giant fronds of the jungle. It always seems to rain at night here in the mountains of Papua New Guinea. This is why Lidia and what's left of her people, the Meakambut, seek refuge in rock shelters—they're dry. Located high in the cliffs, sometimes requiring a treacherous climb up vines, caves are also natural fortresses that once protected the Meakambut from their enemies: headhunters and cannibals and bride stealers. But that was generations ago. Now their enemies are less violent yet no less deadly: malaria, tuberculosis.
Pasu shoos away Biyi, their hunting dog, and sits down by the fire. He smooths his leaf loincloth and rests Lidia's head in his lap. She peers up at him wanly. Pasu gravely tells his brother John to ask us if there is anything we can do.
We—a team from National Geographic—have unwittingly walked into a crisis. Our plan, to follow the Meakambut, one of the last cave-dwelling, seminomadic peoples in Papua New Guinea, through their mountainous homeland, has been eclipsed by the present emergency. A member of our team, trained as an emergency medical technician, examines Lidia and discovers that her lungs are filled with fluid, her heart is thrumming at 140 beats a minute, and her temperature is 104. He determines that Lidia likely has a life-threatening case of pneumonia and gives her double doses of antibiotics and Tylenol. We coax her to drink a cup of sterilized water mixed with sugar and salt, sit her up for the night in her husband's arms so she can breathe more easily, and suggest that first thing in the morning she should be carried out of the mountains, then downriver, to a clinic in the village of Amboin. Two other Meakambut, Michael Wakinjua and his infant son, are also seriously ill.
One man from our team, Sebastian Haraha, is an ethnographer who has come on this journey to pinpoint the exact locations of the Meakambut's caves with a global positioning system. He hopes to register them under the National Cultural Property Act, so the homeland of the Meakambut will be protected from logging and mining. Now, in this moment of crisis, he volunteers to escort the sick all the way down.
At dawn Lidia is gasping for air. We administer more medicine and give Pasu a week's supply of pills. He bundles Lidia's lax body into a bilum, or net bag, and slings her onto his back. Sebastian helps Michael, while Michael's wife carries their listless baby on her back. Like wounded refugees from a jungle war, they depart single file down the slippery path. It will take them six hours to machete their way to the Manbungnam River, where we have a dugout canoe with an outboard motor waiting. From there it's another six hours downstream to reach the clinic. We have little hope that Lidia will live.
The vast geographic variation of Papua New Guinea created tremendous biological diversity, which in turn was accompanied by enormous cultural diversity: more than 800 languages in a country about the size of California. Due to this diversity, after colonial powers prohibited headhunting, cannibalism, and tribal warfare beginning in the 1880s, the region became a draw for both missionaries and anthropologists. Margaret Mead made her name here, as did Gregory Bateson (Mead's third husband) and, more recently, the writer Jared Diamond.
Today the whole country continues to conjure images of headhunters with bows and arrows, and bones through their noses. But that's about as accurate as imagining the American West filled with Indians still taking scalps. Many photos of feathered and painted Papua New Guineans come from tourist exhibitions akin to Native American powwows.
It is only in the most deeply inaccessible regions of the country that enclaves of traditionally nomadic people, like the Meakambut, still exist. The group lives on two steep ridges hidden on the edge of the expansive northern escarpment of the Central Range. Boundaries between their land and the territories of surrounding settlements—Imboin, Awim, Andambit, Kanjimei, and Namata—are roughly demarked. Their territory is about a hundred square miles.
The Meakambut were unknown to the outside world until the 1960s, when Australian patrols began to trek into the country's most ferocious topography. In 1991 Slovenian anthropologist Borut Telban spent a week in the area and found only 11 Meakambut living in roughly built shelters and caves. He recounted that the men wore kina-shell necklaces and leaf loincloths, and the women wore grass skirts. When Telban returned in 2001, he couldn't locate them again. But the related Awim people knew that the Meakambut were still up there somewhere. Only three generations back the Awim had also followed a nomadic lifestyle, but they have since settled beside the Arafundi River to gain access to schools and clinics.
In hopes of meeting up with these last seminomadic holdouts, an anthropological researcher named Nancy Sullivan sent out a team in July 2008 to find the Meakambut and inventory their caves. Sullivan, who runs a consulting firm in Papua New Guinea that conducts social assessments for development projects, is studying the region's cave paintings—hand stencils that record generations of inhabitants. With blue eyes and flowing white-blond hair, Sullivan bears a passing resemblance to Meryl Streep. She has lived in Papua New Guinea for more than two decades and has adopted a number of local children. Sullivan's team discovered 52 surviving Meakambut and 105 caves with names, only a score of which were actively used as shelters. They found clay pots, bone daggers, and hand stencils on the walls in nine caves, and human skulls in three. Many of the elderly had died.
To first search for the Meakambut, our team flies by bush plane into the Sepik River basin, the floodplain that drains northwest Papua New Guinea. We then skim up smaller and smaller tributaries in a motor dugout until we are pushing it more than riding in it. Finally we strike out on foot into the mountains.
Two evenings in a row we try reaching them by jungle telephone: Three men pound the two-story trunk of a towering tree with wooden bats, the deep-voiced thumps reverberating out over the canopy. When this doesn't work, we set out on a grueling two-day foot patrol to the group's last known whereabouts, Tembakapa, a collection of temporary huts perched on a misty ridge. It is deserted. In the middle of the huts is a wooden cross encircled with stones.
At noon the next day, two Meakambut men come striding into our camp—they've heard the call of the jungle phone. They recognize 26-year-old Joshua Meraveka, a member of Sullivan's team at the time, and greet him joyously, vigorously shaking his hand. He introduces them as John and Mark Aiyo—brothers, perhaps in their late 20s, both slight, muscled, with wide feet. John, a leader of the Meakambut, is wearing a blue Lakers jersey, a leaf loincloth, and a beaded headband festooned with yellow feathers. Mark has striped his face with charcoal and red clay and placed ferns in his hair and yellow flower petals in his black beard.
They lay down their bows and arrows and machetes, squat by the fire, and begin rolling tobacco leaves for a smoke. Because we are with Joshua, our presence doesn't seem to bother them. He explains they have Christian names because some of their people lived in villages for a time; one had gone to a Bible school and baptized them when he returned. John and Mark are from the 12-member Embarakal group, one of perhaps four that compose the Meakambut. The other three groups have had to leave to take their sick to a health clinic over the mountains (rather than to the one down the river). "Too many people sick," says John through Joshua. The rest of the Embarakal, some of whom are also very sick, he says, are coming down to a cave called Ulapunguna tomorrow to meet us.
We set out for Ulapunguna cave at nine the next morning, Mark in the lead. The trail is a web of vines, but Mark glides like a phantom right over them. He points his toes, like a ballerina, confidently gripping root, rock, or mud. Leeches are everywhere, and he stops periodically to shave them off his bare legs with his machete.
Finally we reach Ulapunguna, a rock overhang 40 feet high with fire pits and a quiver of arrows lined up against the wall. The featherless arrows are four feet long. Each has a point designed for a different prey. There are three arrows for fish, two for birds, two for pigs. When I ask how often they kill a pig, John says every week. It is clear he is proud to be a hunter. Mark says that "being a nomad is in our blood." And who is the intended prey for the arrow with a carved hardwood point and a foot of sharp, backward angling notches? Mark smiles, then thumps his chest once with his fist and dramatically falls over.
While waiting for the rest of the Embarakal to arrive, John begins to replace his bowstring and, through Joshua, explain cave life to me. The Meakambut spend several days to several weeks in any rock shelter or hut before moving on. The women and children plant taro, pumpkins, cucumbers, cassava, bananas, and tobacco, to be harvested the next time they pass through. The men hunt or help the women make flour from sago palms. He says they like their hunter-gatherer life and have no interest in changing it.
Each of their caves has an owner and a name, and ownership is passed down from father to son. Mark and John own Ulapunguna cave. Some caves have legends, which are strictly proprietary: Only the cave owner can share its secrets.
Plucking his new bamboo bowstring, John indicates for me to follow him. We track through the jungle to a clearing, where he points up at a massive limestone wall.
"Kopao," he says.
Kopao is the Meakambut's most sacred cave. It is their creation cave, where they believe they originated, and John says he is the owner of this cave too. He will take me there tomorrow. When we return to Ulapunguna, the rest of the group has arrived. This is when we first encounter Lidia, curled up by the fire, coughing horribly.
The following day, while the sick begin their long journey to the clinic, I head to Kopao cave with John and Joshua. The trail ascends a flash flood gulley, abruptly ending at a vertical face. Without hesitation, John starts climbing the slick black stone, his toes finding pockets in the limestone. Eventually he finds a small tree protruding perpendicular to the face, knots a vine around the trunk, and lowers the end to me. I climb up hand-over-hand, feet slipping against the wet wall. We monkey up two more bands of slimy rock via slick vines before I insist we use a rope. It takes us more than two hours to climb a thousand feet. We crawl through tree limbs hanging out in space. The final test is a tiptoe traverse along a glass-smooth ledge with nothing but an abyss of swirling mist beneath us.
On the other side is Kopao cave. We hunch beneath a low overhang and stumble into a gantlet of skulls. Human skulls. They are lined up as though they are whispering to each other. Their craniums have turned green and their dark, haunting eye sockets stare directly at intruders. John is conspicuously silent. He slides his machete into his bark belt. These are the skulls of his ancestors. The Meakambut may have Christian names, but they continue to engage in ancestor worship. As if trespassing, he delicately slips past the ossuary of skulls.
Farther along the cave are the paintings, red and black stencils of human hands. These are the prints of John's forebears. He doesn't know how old they are—they keep no record of time—but many of the prints have almost disappeared. Like the skulls, the hand stencils seem to be saying, Stop, turn around, leave now.
John leads me past the paintings to an eight-inch-wide crack in the ceiling. He stands beneath it and solemnly says that he will now tell the story of Kopao, but when he is done, we must leave immediately, quickly and silently.
In the beginning, Api, the Earth spirit, came to this place and found the rivers full of fish and the bush full of pigs, and many tall sago trees, but there were no people. Api thought: This would be a good place for people, so he cracked the cave open. The first people to pull themselves out were the Awim, and then the Imboin and other groups, and finally the Meakambut. They were all naked and could barely squeeze out into the light. Other people were inside, but after the Meakambut came out, Api closed the crack, and the others had to stay behind in darkness.
The Awim and the Imboin and the Meakambut spread across the mountains and lived in rock shelters. They made stone axes and bows and arrows, and the hunting was good. There was no hatred, no killing, no disease. Life was beautiful and calm, and all people had full stomachs.
At this time men and women lived in separate caves, John continues. In the evening, the men would go up to a special cave to sing. But one night a certain man pretended he was sick and stayed behind. When he could hear the men singing, he snuck down to the women's cave and had sex with a woman.
When the men returned, they sensed something was wrong. One man suddenly felt jealousy, another felt hatred, another felt anger, and another felt sadness. This is when man learned of all bad things. This is also when sorcery began.
The next morning, back in Ulapunguna, John is sitting on his haunches, hands over the fire, head down. There are no flowers or ferns in his curly black hair. He is deeply agitated.
Joshua says the spirits of Kopao came to John in the night. The skulls spoke to him. The black sockets had red eyes like some nocturnal bush creature. The skulls said they had seen John bring a white man into the sacred place. They had heard John tell the secret story to the white man, and they were angry. This was a story for the Meakambut, not for the white man.
John is worried that the spirits might punish him by killing Lidia. He has a bad feeling. He wants to leave immediately, run out of the mountains to the river and paddle downstream to wherever she is. I am to blame for his fears and feel as if I have betrayed these people.
Belief in sorcery and witchcraft is common throughout Papua New Guinea. Amnesty International cites media reports stating that 50 people accused of sorcery were murdered in 2008; some were burned alive. British author Edward Marriott describes in his 1996 book, The Lost Tribe, how he was blamed when a woman and four children were killed by a lightning strike, and he was forced to flee for his life. If Lidia dies, it is likely that I will be blamed.
We explain to John that paddling downstream will take several days and that our motor dugout is expected back upstream tomorrow, when we can take him to the clinic in Amboin. Satisfied with the plan, John surprises us by admitting that his people ran out of food yesterday, so today they must make sago. When I suggest we go hunting instead, he shakes his head.
We follow Mark and his wife, Jelin, to the sago camp. Making sago is an arduous operation. Mark hacks out pulp from the heart of a felled palm tree; the pulp is transferred to a trough filled with water, and Jelin squeezes it against a coconut-husk filter, pressing out an orangish white paste. The group works for six hours, glistening with sweat, slowly fatiguing. By late afternoon they've collected 40 pounds of gummy sago—not bad for an afternoon's work—and we head back to Ulapunguna as the rain begins.
That night it's fire-fried sago pancakes for dinner. Sago is a carbohydrate with essentially no protein, fat, vitamins, or minerals. Although John had made it clear they were proud to be hunters and that they shot a pig every week, we haven't seen any meat.
John, Joshua, and I sit by the fire, chewing the bland, gummy pancakes, talking late into the night. John begins to let down his guard. He admits that his group hasn't eaten meat or killed a pig for over three months. He is deeply worried for his people. He says that there used to be several hundred Meakambut. Now they lose two babies for every one that lives. He says that there are no pigs left in the mountains, no cassowaries in the jungle, no fish in the streams. When the campfire dies out, John whispers something he wants me to pass on to the government of Papua New Guinea. It is a message.
Just after daybreak the Embarakal group begin decorating themselves for the journey out of the mountains. The men stripe their faces with black and orange; the women blanket their skin with dots. In a climate where clothes are superfluous, this is how you dress up for special occasions.
We reach a camp called Wakau, halfway to the river, by noon. Resting here in the oppressive heat, we suddenly catch human hoots drifting down from the mountains—it is the rest of the Meakambut returning over the ridge. The Embarakal group decides to join them, and John asks me to find Lidia, Michael, and the baby and send them home when they are well. Privately, I am relieved that John is not coming with us. I worry what would happen if Lidia has died.
We reach the motor dugout late in the afternoon and travel downstream until dark, eventually reaching the riverside village of Awim. Stepping from the dugout, we are shocked to learn that Lidia and the others are all here. The only working clinic in the region had no supplies to help her.
But Lidia is still alive. Simple antibiotics have saved her. She is still weak and unable to walk, so we put her on an IV drip for the night. Michael and his son are recovering as well. By dawn, Lidia is able to smile and rise unsteadily to her feet, although she is still hacking.
At breakfast, I find Sebastian Haraha sitting by the campfire. He hands me a cup of coffee and motions for me to sit beside him. He was compelled to temporarily abandon his plan of mapping the Meakambut's caves—the goal of which is to save their habitat, and thus ensure the continuation of their culture in the future—in order to save their lives in the present. He says the choice was clear. He is a human first, an ethnographer second.
"Protecting the caves? What does it matter—if there are no Meakambut left?" asks Sebastian. He is angry. Lidia's close call has shaken him.
"The Meakambut are on the edge of extinction. They are dying from easily treatable illnesses. In ten years they could be completely gone, and their culture and language would vanish. This is one of the last nomadic people in Papua New Guinea!"
He is obviously appalled, but also energized.
"When I get back to Port Moresby, I'm going to walk straight into the prime minister's office and do something." I nod in agreement, then pass along John's message verbatim:
"We, the Meakambut people, will give up hunting and always moving and living in the mountain caves if the government will give us a health clinic and a school, and two shovels and two axes, so we can build homes."
EPILOGUE—Since National Geographic's visit, the Meakambut continue to live without access to government services. But they have partly settled in homes on the ridgetop camp of Tembakapa, where Nancy Sullivan's team has provided building supplies, water tanks, and solar panels. Despite the threat of encroachment by miners, they continue to hunt and gather on their traditional land. Lidia survived.


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Books About Books: 8 Unputdownable Novels Featuring a Literary Mystery
| Jun 10
Sit back Glommies...we're getting meta here.
Emma is a former intern at Touchstone Books and a senior at Columbia University. When not floundering through Chaucer and Milton for her English major, she enjoys reading contemporary experimental and literary fiction.

domain: literature


Traditionally, the end of the year is a time to take stock of your finances and make a few last-minute moves that can save you money and set you up well for the 12 months to come. That’s still true in 2020 but with a darker twist: The looming expiration of critical financial-relief programs under the CARES Act for Americans hit hard by the pandemic economy means that, for some people, their year-end money to-do list will include moves to ensure they’ll still be able to pay their basic bills and keep the roof over their heads as 2021 begins.
In fact, over half of Americans say that their finances have been impacted by the pandemic and more than three in four are worried about their ability to pay their bills and loans, according to a recent report by the credit-rating agency TransUnion. Meanwhile, roughly one in four worry that someone in their household will suffer a loss of income in the next month, a Census Bureau Household Pulse survey recently found.
Some help may come soon if Congress can agree on a new stimulus plan with bipartisan support currently being debated on Capitol Hill. But you don’t need to wait for politicians to act before making some smart financial moves of your own—steps that will help you prepare for what’s to come, take full advantage of some CARES Act provisions before they disappear and enable you to cut your tax and healthcare bills before year end.
Ending a very tough 2020 with a little more money in your pocket seems like an especially good way to usher in a New Year. These 10 moves will help you do just that.
Prep for the End of Unemployment Benefits
More than 12 million out-of-work Americans stand to lose federal financial support when extended unemployment benefits under the CARES Act—which tacked on an extra 13 weeks of benefits to state limits—expire on December 26, along with benefits for people who are self-employed, according to The Century Foundation. Put another way: Nearly half (47 percent) of those currently receiving benefits expect to be cut off at the end of the month, a Morning Consult poll found. If you’re among them, you’ll want to figure out other forms of financial support now to help tide you over until another pandemic relief program is enacted or you find a new job.
Your state is your first line of defense. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, some 31 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, offer extended benefits—13 or 20 additional weeks, depending on the state—to workers who’ve exhausted regular unemployment insurance during periods of high unemployment. If you’re eligible, your state should notify you or you can contact your state agency to enquire directly (the “Unemployment Benefits Finder” tool at Careeronestop.org has info on each state program). The Century Foundation estimates that about one in four Americans currently on unemployment, or roughly 2.9 million people, will receive help from these state-level programs.
Other steps worth taking: Consider enrolling in assistance programs offered by credit card or other lenders as well as utility companies to defer payments until you’re back on your feet. Look into other federal programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, for food assistance, or the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for help with energy bills (find out what’s available at 211.org). And through Feeding America, you can search its network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries to find your local service.
You might also be able to bring in some extra income with a freelance gig. Find opportunities at SideHusl.com, SideHustleNation.com and similar sites. Bear in mind, though, that if you are still eligible for unemployment, earning any kind of paycheck will reduce your benefits commensurately.
Lend Yourself a Hand
December is your last chance under the CARES Act to make a penalty-free withdrawal from your 401(k), IRA or any other retirement savings plan—and be able to postpone some of the taxes due or repay the money at no cost if your financial situation improves soon. That would essentially turn the funds you take out into an interest-free loan.
“Early withdrawals from your retirement accounts should generally be avoided,” says Stillwater, Minnesota financial planner Jesse Sell. But if you’re struggling financially because you or a family member has lost a job or taken a pay cut during the pandemic, the planner adds, “Taking advantage of the waived penalty before it expires at the end of 2020 can make sense.”
Here’s how the program works: People who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or who have lost income because of the pandemic can withdraw up to $100,000 from their retirement account without paying the 10 percent penalty that savers younger than 591/2 are usually hit with. You’ll still owe income taxes on any money you pull out, but you can spread the payments over a three-year period to make them more affordable.
If you don’t end up needing the full amount you withdraw, you can return the unused money anytime within the three-year period and file an amended return to get a refund of any taxes you paid on that amount. If your finances improve enough, you can also repay some or all of the money you withdraw over the next three years, get a refund on the taxes paid, and the amount won’t count toward your annual contribution limit for the account.
Lower Your Student Loan Payments
Nearly 60 percent of borrowers say they’ll find it difficult to come up with the money they owe when payments on federal student loans resume early next year, according to a recent Pew survey.
Payments, which have been suspended since March due to the pandemic, were scheduled to pick up again on January 1 but that deadline on Friday was extended through the end of the month to January 31 by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. An additional two-month reprieve, extending deferral through March of 2021, is reportedly part of the bipartisan $908 billion stimulus package being discussed in Congress, says Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors. But given the financial crunch these payments represent for tens of millions of student borrowers, don’t wait on a deal coming through before taking steps to ensure your loan payments won’t be a burden for you in 2021—no matter when the deferral ends.
Fortunately, you have options. If you’re on a standard 10-year repayment plan, you can switch to one that bases the amount you owe each month on how much you currently earn, limiting payments to 10 or 15 percent of your income after living expenses. In some cases, that can be as low as $0. The tradeoff: You’ll make payments over a longer period of time, up to 25 years, and shell out more in interest over the life of the loan. If you’re already on an income-based payment plan but you’ve lost your job or seen your income drop during the pandemic, re-enter your financial information at studentaid.gov to see if you qualify for lower payments or an economic hardship deferment.
A bonus to lowering or further postponing your loans now if you owe less than $10,000: You may not have to pay back what you borrowed at all. President-elect Joe Biden has said he supports immediately forgiving $10,000 of an economically distressed borrower’s student debt, which would be huge as nearly a third of all people with outstanding education debt owe less than $10,000, according to the College Board.
Get Ahead of Your Landlord
Yet another economic relief provision due to expire at year end: an eviction moratorium that prevented renters who earn less than $99,000 a year, or $198,000 for couples, from being kicked out if they were behind on payments. Plus, come January 1, renters will be on the hook for the outstanding back payments as well as late fees.
If you’re not able to resume payments or pay back rent, try working out a deal with your landlord or leasing agency—asking for, say, a reduced payment schedule initially or the option to spread the next six month’s payments out over a year. If that doesn’t work, your state may be able to help. A few, like California and New Jersey, have extended protections into early next year. Some states and cities also have expanded financial assistance programs. The National Low Income Housing Coalition maintains a list of them that you can filter by state to find help.
You can reach out to a tenant’s organization in your area or nonprofits like JustShelter.org that can help you understand your rights, deal with the eviction and, hopefully, remain in your home.
If you need immediate shelter or emergency housing, check the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s database of housing organizations in each state that could help.
Use It or Lose It
If you stashed money in a Flexible Spending Account, or FSA, this year to help pay for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses and still have money left in the account, it’s time to go on a spending spree. That’s because funds held in an FSA—$2,750 is the annual limit—typically must be used by year end if you don’t want to lose them. Wageworks, which administers such plans, says that about 8 percent of its FSA participants forfeit an average of $172 a year.
Since many Americans put off doctor visits and elective procedures this year due to the pandemic, you may have more money at risk than usual. In addition to health insurance deductibles and copayments, FSA funds can be used to pay for prescription medications, eyeglasses and contact lenses and medical equipment like crutches and blood sugar test kits. This year, thanks to the CARES Act, you can also tap the account for over-the-counter drugs and medications and menstrual products.
If you won’t be able to use up your account in time, check with your company to see if it offers a grace period, typically up until March 15, to spend the unused funds or allows up to $550 of unused money to be rolled over for use the following year, says Paramus, N.J., financial planner James Shagawat.
Save for the Next Healthcare Emergency
A COVID-19 diagnosis or other medical crisis can deplete your rainy day fund and knock your finances off course. A good option for “just in case” saving that can also cut your 2020 tax bill: a health savings account, available to anyone who has health coverage through a high-deductible plan, as almost half of private workers do.
“We are always telling people to contribute to their HSA prior to year end. The triple-tax advantages are too great to pass up—pre-tax contributions, tax-free growth, tax-free distributions for health related needs,” says Boston financial planner Nick Hofer.
Unlike with an FSA, money stored in an HSA can remain there for as long you like. Contributions reduce your taxable income and then can be invested and grow tax-free, as with a 401(k) or traditional IRA. You won’t owe any taxes on money taken out of the account to pay for qualified medical expenses. And, if you’re over age 65, the funds can be tapped for any non-medical reason without incurring the 20 percent penalty younger users would, though you’ll still have to pay income tax.
In 2020, you can stash up to $3,550 in the account if you have health coverage for yourself only or up to $7,100 if you have family coverage. Those over age 55 can put in an additional $1,000.
See Your Doctor, Pronto
If you’ve already met your health insurance deductible for 2020—that is, the amount you must spend on healthcare out of pocket before your insurance kicks in—try to schedule any doctor visits or medical services you need in the remaining days of December. And while you’re at it, stock up on any prescription medicine you need as well.
That way you’ll only be on the hook for the copay or coinsurance portion of the bill. Once January rolls around, you’ll have to pay the whole bill on your own until you’ve met the deductible again. In 2020, the average deductible for single coverage was $1,418 at large companies and $2,295 at smaller employers, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.
Those facing heavy medical bills this year may also benefit from grouping their healthcare appointments into a single year. That’s because you can only deduct medical expenses from your taxes if they exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income.
Give a Little, Get a Little
This holiday season consider incorporating a little charitable gifting into your annual traditions, if you can afford it. That’s because under the CARES Act, you can deduct up to $300 in cash donations from your taxable income, if you give to a qualified charity before year end—without needing to itemize deductions on your tax return.
That might not seem like a big deal, but since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, you can only get a tax benefit from donating if you itemize and forgo taking the annual standard deduction, something only about 13 percent of Amercians actually do.
Postpone Your Take
The IRS usually mandates that anyone who has money saved in an IRA or 401(k)-type retirement plan must begin withdrawing a certain amount each year once he or she turns 72, or 70-1/2 for anyone who reached that age before January 1, 2020 of this year. Otherwise, you get hit with a hefty 50 percent tax penalty.
However, the CARES Act does away with this requirement for 2020. This means you can skip taking this year’s annual required minimum distribution, or RMD, leaving the money invested to grow tax-deferred for another year and save yourself the income tax owed on such a payout.
While it might seem like a no-brainer to pass on your RMD this year, Plymouth, Minnesota financial planner Mike Miller warns it might not produce the best tax outcome for some people. That’s because passing this year will likely mean you’ll need to take a larger distribution in future years and that extra income could push you into a higher tax bracket. An accountant or financial planner can help you determine whether skipping or taking your RMD is the best move for you.
Make the Most of a Low-Income Year
The pandemic has caused millions of Americans to lose some money this year, be it through job loss, early retirement or a career break to care for an ill loved one. But that dip in income can offer a small silver lining in the form of greater tax savings down the road by switching some of your savings from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
That’s because your contributions to a traditional IRA are made with money you haven’t been taxed on yet; instead, you pay income tax when you withdraw money from the account. A Roth IRA uses after-tax dollars, so when it comes time to take money out of the account, those distributions are tax free—a boon for retirees on a fixed income. So while you will owe income tax on any money you move to a Roth IRA, if you’re in a lower tax bracket this year than you expect to be in retirement, it can be a huge tax saver down the line. For instance, paying 12 percent on a $20,000 conversion now vs. 22 percent in retirement equals $2,000 in tax savings.
Year end is typically the best time to consider this move “because you’ve already earned the majority of your income in the current calendar year and can better ballpark the tax liability,” says Atlanta financial planner Serina Shyu.
Newsweek contributor Kerri Anne Renzulli is personal finance journalist based in London; she’s written for Money, Financial Planning magazine and CNBC.


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What’s better than crushing two Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathons in less than a month? Showing off your accomplishment to all your running pals!
Run the American Association for Cancer Research Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon, on September 18, AND the Rock ‘n’ Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon, on October 8, and you’ll score this stylish zip up!
Are you up for the challenge? Register for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon now and be on your way to owning this zip up!Register for Brooklyn

domain: sports


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Adults in the UK [and the US] should aim to cut their sugar intake to 5% of daily calories if they can, according to the World Health Organisation – less than the amount, for an average person, in a single can of Coca-Cola.
In a new draft guideline, the WHO said all people, at every stage of life, should try to reduce the amount of sugar they consume. It reiterated its 2003 guidance that countries should set an upper limit of 10% of daily calories from sugar – but said the ideal level would be 5%.
For an adult of average bodyweight, with an intake of about 2,000 calories a day, 5% would equate to 100 calories – which at four calories in a gram would be 25g of sugar, said Dr Francesco Branca, the WHO’s director of nutrition for health and development. A standard 330ml can of cola contains 35g of sugar.
Even at a 10% limit, said Branca, a can of sugar-sweetened drink “approaches the amount that is acceptable for an adult. For a child, since a child has a lower energy requirement, that could be a lot less. Consumption of a single serving of sugar-sweetened soda might actually exceed the limit of 10% of energy [from sugar] for a child.”
Branca added that soft drink consumption “is one of the elements that has been more constantly associated with increased weight gain, particularly in children. This is an area where more intense action needs to be taken if this guideline is to be implemented…”
The WHO’s nutrition guidance expert advisory group has been mulling over the evidence for nearly two years and commissioned scientific reviews of the evidence on the risks posed to health by “free sugars” – those added to food and drinks rather than the intrinsic sugars in fruit and vegetables.
The evidence is clearest on dental caries, the report says. Studies show an increase in tooth decay in children who get more than 10% of their calories from sugar…The link with obesity and diseases for which it is a risk factor, such as strokes, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, is less clear cut. However, analyses of all available well-conducted trials suggested that people who cut down on sugar also managed to reduce weight – and those who ate more sugar put on weight.
The new guideline is likely to be strongly opposed by the food and drink industry and their supporters, who argue that no one food or type of food is a problem – all food and drinks are fine in moderation, they say.
Meanwhile, you’ll not be harming yourself by reducing sugar intake. So, why not get off your rusty dusty, sort out your nutrition and diet, squeeze a little more exercise into your daily life – and don’t waste too many tears on the food and drink industry.

domain: food


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You know those long-term craft and DIY projects that you always want to do, but never have a large enough block of time for? Yes, they often take a while, but they can also lull you into a peaceful state, where you can focus on breathing instead of any chaos churning around you. Now's a great time to embrace the work and get a hefty project done before fall.
Get in a groove while stenciling gold cacti all around the room, à la A Beautiful Mess. It's a time suck, but much much cheaper than wallpaper.
Using a hula hoop, Anne Weil of Flax & Twine weaves t-shirt yarn round and round until it's large enough to be a colorful rug.
If you did latch hook as a kid, you know how long it takes to loop each individual piece of yarn. This colorful shag rug DIY is from eHow and you know it took a bit.
Your breathing will coincide with the needle while piecing fabric for this Warrior quilt pattern from Suzy Quilts. It's be done just in time for the cooler weather!
I've seen a couple of these aluminum chair makeovers and I love every one of them. This colorful triangular pattern from A Beautiful Mess probably took a bit of time, but it's a keeper.
There are lots of no-weave versions of these textile wall hangings, but if you want to dig in to a meaty project, try making a loom and start weaving. Deer Jane has some nice how to posts, and her finished products are beautiful too.

domain: design


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I am running CHX-I on Windows 2000. On a few occasions (like if the power has gone out) I have had my cable modem, router, and computer all turned off for several hours. When I turn everything back on, then I cannot access the internet. However, if I reboot, then everything works fine. It happened again earlier today where after I turned everything back on, I couldn't access the internet. I rebooted, and internet access worked fine. But I want to get the problem fixed so that I don't need to reboot at all. The CHX log says that 3 UDP packets were sent from my router's port 67 to 192.168.1.33 (my computer's IP address) port 68. Then the router sent 4 UDP packets from port 67 to 255.255.255.255 port 68. All 7 packets were rejected by CHX because they were "Unsolicited UDP". I have a couple questions: 1) I already have a filter to allow incoming UDP, but I also have UDP stateful inspection turned on. So I guess that means I need a Force Allow filter for the DHCP packets. I want to make my filter as tight as possible and still allow everything to work, so can I set the Destination MAC to be just my computer's MAC? Or do I need to set the Destination MAC to be both my computer's MAC and also FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF (because of the last 4 UDP packets)? 2) Actually, I'm not sure why I'm experiencing the problem the way things are set up right now. Those UDP packets were sent after I turned my computer back on, so my computer must have sent some sort of DHCP request to the router. So then why is CHX saying that those packets were "Unsolicited UDP"? Wouldn't they have been solicited? I don't understand that.


7 Most Misused Car Performance Modifications
In some circles, the cool thing is to have a pimped out ride, or at least, a ride that’s been modified and beefed out. Car enthusiasts who value having custom cars may choose to add some custom features that lead to some drastic modifications on cars that were perfectly functional, but now, with added modifications, have become counterproductive. Additionally, some of these added parts are strictly exterior additions, and are essentially useless, since no changes were made to the actual engine. There are many other modifications that are often misused, or end up being useless because of improper use and installation. Here’s a list of the seven most misused car performance modifications.
- Giant Wings: One of the worst car performance modifications you can possibly have are giant wings. First, let’s make sure the difference between a spoiler and a wing is clear: there are no gaps between a spoiler and the trunk it rests on, and its purpose is to decrease the slope of the airflow path down on the back of the car. This is supposed to decrease drag, increase mileage, and keep your rear window cleaner. For cars with giant wings, this isn’t true at all. Oversize wings add more weight to your car, pushing the back tires down and affecting the steering and control of your car. In fact, not only do most cars with oversize wings not increase their performance and speed, but they are actually physically unable to reach the speed that the wing’s down force is supposed to achieve. The wing, in these cases, is actually picking up the wheels in the back that you want to push down, making it even more unsafe to drive. Depending on the shape of the wing you choose, the aerodynamics of your car could be negatively affected, creating drag instead of alleviating it.
- Aerodynamic Body Kits: For car lovers who don’t want to actually lower the car’s suspension, but still want that “low suspension” look, a body kit seems to be the best answer. However, body kits in the wrong hands can end up being very dangerous if not installed properly. Furthermore, some are downright ridiculously looking, without adding much to the down force or aerodynamics of the car. Using body kits that weren’t designed specifically for your car, or using parts from other car models will only harm your car, not improve its performance.
- Low Profile Tires: Low profile tires, otherwise known as “low-pros,” are expensive upgrades that may seem fancy due to less rubber surrounding the chrome wheel, but in reality they are quite difficult to maintain. Once low-pros get older, they begin to crack around the tire sidewalls because of sun exposure. While low profile tires are bigger and do offer more traction, the most important thing is the quality of your brakes. Without powerful brakes, the whole point of getting low-pros is counterproductive, since their desired function is to provide better handling and reduce weight below the suspension. Furthermore, you have to be extra careful around potholes, since hitting a pothole at just the right spot can crack the tire rubber right open, and replacing these bad boys are expensive. ($1,000 a pop).
- Race Car Clutches: Putting a 450 horsepower race car clutch into a 200 horsepower regular ride is borderline insane. Whenever car juice heads get a sports car, they try to satisfy their need for speed even further by adding a pair of Flowmasters and a K&N CAI, one of the heaviest, most impractical clutches you can find. The king cobra clutch even has a 450 horsepower warning. Although these beastly looking clutches don’t actually make the car go faster, they will cause some train on your left leg in traffic. On your tired and lazy days, shifting hastily will do much more damage to your car.
- DIY Lower Car Suspension Kits: It’s true, lowering a car’s center of gravity does allow you to handle and steer the car better, while feeling less shock along curves and over speed bumps. But when you try lowering the suspension yourself, you may run into problems, and rather fatal problems. For one, if you simple hooked on to the biggest set of springs you found under your car, without adjusting the rest of the suspension, you’ve created “bump steer.” Now when you hit a bump in the road, no matter how small, your car will now steer in that direction. If you didn’t even buy new springs, you just cut your perfectly well functioning springs in order to lower it, and thus, your car no longer has a functioning suspension system.
- Exhaust Systems: Super loud exhaust systems are one of the most sought after modifications for hot rod enthusiasts. It makes a car’s engine seem louder and more powerful, possibly adding to the intimidation factor. However, if your car has a poor exhaust system, it will magnify the sound, making your car seem beat up and about to break down. Instead, focus on getting a sound muffler, or something less restrictive than a super loud exhaust system. You want to let out more of the engine’s natural tone, not amplify it and annoy your fellow drivers.
- Blow Off Valve: Race car blow-off valves may make your car sound like it has an impressive jet engine, but do you really want to hear that loud hiss of compressed air all the time? During rush hour, every time you lightly step on the gas pedal, the annoying loud noises from the blow off valve will not make your car perform better, but it surely will bother your fellow drivers.


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The lush county of Warwickshire is nestled at the very heart of England, only an hour by train from London and just minutes away from the bustling city of Birmingham. Medieval castles, historic towns, famous theaters and lush, breathtaking landscapes are only some of the stimulating attractions that his area has to offer curious travelers. If you are after an off-the-beaten path destination in the UK, read on to discover what we love about this region!
Warwick is the county capital of Warwickshire, most famous for its charming medieval castle situated on a bend of the River Avon. Having stood in the city for over 1,100 years, Warwick Castle survived countless attacks and a terrible fire in 1871, and is one of the UK’s most well-preserved castles dating from the Middle Ages.
The current castle was developed from an original commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1068 and rebuilt in stone during the reign of King Henry II. Offering activities for every age, the castle gives visitors exceptional insight into the everyday life of its past inhabitants.
What to Do Around the Area:
If you are planning to visit the castle, we strongly recommend that you take some time to wander around Warwick’s small but gorgeous town center. In particular, if you’d like to try a traditional English cream tea, make sure to stop at The Brethren’s Kitchen, a vintage tearoom which has been serving food to Kings and Queens, Tudor nobles and Victorian literary figures for over 500 years.
The food here is homemade with products from the Master’s Garden. Both the garden and tearoom are located on Warwick High Street, within the Lord Leycester Hospital, a historic group of timber-framed buildings dating from the late 14th Century: a fine example of Britain’s Medieval courtyard architecture which is well worth a visit.
Warwick’s is not the only castle open to visitors in Warwickshire: the county is rich in fascinating historical sites, such as Kenilworth Castle and its Elizabethan Gardens. This castle has played a fascinating central role in England’s affairs for 900 years: for example, it was the subject of the longest siege in English history, at Kenilworth, in 1266.
Since it was partially destroyed in 1649, only two buildings remain habitable today. For the first time in 350 years, it is now possible to explore the entire height of the tower that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, commissioned in order to attract the interest of Queen Elizabeth I, hoping to convince her to marry him (Spoiler alert: he did not succeed).
The tower, built especially for her, had a private staircase, luxurious rooms and glass windows . A newly installed series of stairs and platforms within the ruins take visitors 18 meters high, in order to enjoy the spectacular view from the Queen’s bedroom. If you’re feeling peckish after a long walk within the ruins, we advise you to go for a meal at The Queen and Castle, a fabulous village pub located in the shadows of the castle.
Royal Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa’s Christmas Market on the Parade. Photo: Anna Maria Colivicchi / All Rights Reserved
This small town, located on the confluence of the rivers Leam and Avon, grew and prospered thanks to the natural spa springs that were discovered and commercialized here during the 19th century. In 2017, the charming little town was awarded the title of ‘happiest place in the UK’: in our book, this alone makes it well worth a visit.
The main high street, the Parade, offers numerous fine examples of Regency architecture and is lined with busy shops and cafes. We particularly recommend trying the handmade bagels at The Steam House, which are cut, roasted and filled to order. For a real taste of Britain, pop to Bandstand Tea Rooms where you can find the best home backed scones in town.
At the end of the Parade, the Royal Pump Rooms host classical music concerts and arts exhibitions year-round. Across the road from the Pump Rooms, the Jephson Gardens are the perfect place for a walk around the curated flower beds, or to sprawl out for a picnic on the grass during the warmer months.
Coventry, situated 18 km north from Warwick, was completely destroyed by Nazi bombings during the Second World War. The city’s Cathedral, in particular, was damaged during a blitz on the 14th of November 1940. Instead of rebuilding the Cathedral, the architect of the new church, Sir Basil Spence, decided to keep the ruins intact as a memorial of that night. As a (touching) result, what remains of the old Cathedral stands as a tribute to peace and represents a unique space for prayers and reflection. This is a site that may deeply move you.
Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. Photo: Anna Maria Colivicchi / All rights Reserved
Stratford is the most famous town in Warwickshire, being the home to the poet William Shakespeare, who was born here in 1564. If you haven’t already visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace, his New Place and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, we strongly recommend doing so, since these historical sites represent some of the best-known and fascinating in England.
Theatre fan? Or just curious to see one of the Bard’s famed works in the town where he lived and worked? The Royal Shakespeare Company, based in Stratford, is one of the biggest theatre venues in the UK, staging different adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays and shows by other writers of the 15th century.
If you’re looking for something different to do in Stratford, head to the lovely Butterfly Farm, where you can enjoy the pleasure of discovering hundreds of colorful butterflies flying in an exotic environment of tropical blossom with splashing waterfalls and fish-filled pools. If you’re a book lover and you’re always on the look for a good second-hand and vintage bookshop, visit the Chaucer Head Bookshop, where you will find rare and antiquarian books covering a wide range of subjects.
Chaucer Head Bookshop. Photo: Anna Maria Colivicchi / All Rights Reserved
Compton Verney House
Just nine miles from Stratford, Compton Verney House offers 120 acres of gorgeous parkland, a lake and an award-winning art gallery that hosts several stunning exhibitions every year. Richard Verney and his brother John, together with the Earl of Warwick Richard Beauchamp, acquired the estate in 1435 and built the manor-house in 1442.
This elegant house passed through different owners and through periods of splendor and decadence. During the Second World War it was requisitioned by the army and used as experimental station for smoke-screen camouflage. By the 1980s Compton Verney had fallen into semi-ruin, but in 1993, the Peter Moores Foundation acquired it, restored it to its astonishing original splendor.
Long Compton’s Rollright Stones
This mysterious complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monuments is situated near the village of Long Compton, on the border between Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. The three monuments have surprisingly inspiring names: The Whispering Knights, The King’s Men and The King Stone, respectively.
Read related: The Most Breathtaking Megalithic Sites on the Planet
The oldest of these monuments was built between 3,800-3,500 BC. According to some legends, they are the petrified remains of a monarch and his courtiers, who were cursed by a witch and turned into stone.
About the Author
Anna Maria Colivicchi is an Italian writer who is interested in travel, art and food. She lived in Rome and in the UK, which is her home away from home. You can follow her on Instagram to see more of her stories and photos.
A visit to a world-famous natural reserve is a good way to remind yourself of the spectacular beauty and diversity of planet Earth. In the United States, national parks cover 84.6 million acres; in the UK, there are a total of 15 breathtaking protected natural areas, while Italy counts twenty-four. On the Asian continent, Thailand offers remarkable treasures, boasting over 130 awe-inspiring parks. In short, if you’re after an unforgettable adventure that involves plenty of natural surroundings and wildlife, you’ve got a wealth of options to choose from. Read on for what we consider to be the 10 best national parks in the world: selected for their sheer wild beauty, biodiversity and potential to make your jaw drop.
1. Yellowstone National Park, USA
Extending across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone is the world’s first national park, established by the U.S. Congress in 1872. The park spans an area of almost 9,000 km, which comprehends breathtaking canyons, clear rivers, mountain ranges and one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America, Yellowstone Lake. This magnificent area has been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 11,000 years, and it’s still home to hundreds of species of birds, fish and mammals. The park offers an impressing variety of exciting activities, including ranger programs, camping, hiking, boating, fishing and much more.
2. Zambezi National Park & Victoria Falls
One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe is a precious wildlife refuge that’s home to a stunning array of wildlife and some of the globe’s most jaw-dropping natural scenery. From the mist and rainbow-filled wonders of Victoria Falls, with its thunderous falls and green surroundings, to the Zambezi river and surrounding plains where you can embark on a safari to see everything from elephants and leopards to crocodiles and hippos, this is the place to head if you want to get a sense of what the Earth might look like with fewer humans– and more animals.
3. Cinque Terre, Italy
Italy’s first National Park was established in 1999, and it’s probably one of the most spectacular places on the whole peninsula. This park comprehends the territory of five gorgeous towns: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare – “cinque terre” literally means “five territories” – as well as the communes of Levanto and La Spezia. This means that when traveling to Cinque Terre, you can enjoy open-air activities such as hiking and camping, and visit some evocative cliff-side villages which are famous around the world.
4. Jasper National Park, Canada
Jasper is the largest and wildest of the Canadian Rocky Mountain parks, encompassing over 11,000 square kilometres. While summer is peak visitor season, we strongly recommend visiting the park during the winter, when the abundant snow creates a truly magical tableau.
Read related: The World’s Most Beautiful Spots for Leaf-Peeping and Fall Foliage
The park is also famous for its “dark sky”: this is a perfect location for stargazing, as the second dark sky preserve in the world. In October, Jasper National Park hosts the Annual Dark Sky Festival, celebrating the astonishing beauty of the night sky with special activities and talks by scientists, experts, night sky photographers and astronauts.
5. Los Roques Archipelago, Venezuela
Opened in 1972, this National Park consists of an archipelago of nearly 350 islands and cays situated in the Caribbean Sea. These small, white-sanded islands are almost uninhabited; surrounded by crystal-blue water and coral reefs, they harbour some of the best diving and snorkel spots in the world. In fact, Los Roques’ biodiversity is incredible: the park harbors over 60 species of corals, 200 species of crustaceans, 140 species of mollusks, 45 species of echinoderms and 280 species of fish – a real paradise for scuba-divers and sailing lovers!
By Tucanrecords [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
6. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
This Croatian park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Located halfway between Zagreb and Zadar in the mountainous northwestern region of Croatia, it represents the country’s most popular attraction. Over one million visitors throng on the park each year, with peak numbers in the late spring and summer. Immersed in deep and wild forest vegetation, sixteen bigger lakes and several smaller ones are interconnected by a series of breathtaking waterfalls. Seven different routes are available to tour the stunning lake system, as well as four hiking trails.
7. Guilin and Lijiang River National Park, China
This protected area situated in southeastern China is rightfully famous for its lush, deep forests, limestone cones, cylinders and solitary hills, which are also printed on the country’s paper currency. Among the rocks of Guilin flows the Lijiang River and its tributaries, producing spectacular scenery which has long inspired various Chinese poets.
Read related: What to do in Seoul, South Korea
In order to best appreciate the treasures of this National Park, we particularly recommend taking the 30-mile long boat trip along the Lijiang River, from Guilin to Yangzhou, or embarking along the parallel hiking route on the riverside. Both Guilin and Yangzhou, picturesque cities surrounded by the natural splendors of the National Park, are equally worth a visit.
8. Jostedalsbreen National Park, Norway
Are you a true snow and mountain lover who would like to experience glacier river rafting or snowshoe hiking? If this is the case, Jostedalsbreen park is the ideal destination for your next trip. Jostedalsbreen glacier covers half of the National Park, and it’s the largest in mainland Europe. The park is also famous for its amazing variety of natural environments all clustered within a small area, and it hosts different activities year-round. During the winter months, make sure to visit the famous blue ice caves hidden beneath the Nigardsbreen glacier. When accompanied by a guide, groups of tourists are allowed to hike on skis or snowshoes up to the front of the glacier and to explore the fascinating blue caves.
9. Kui Buri National Park, Thailand
By: Tontan Travel via Flickr
Not far from the Burmese border, Kui Buri National Park is a stunning site for wildlife viewing. The park is well-known for the presence of herds of elephants, which can be seen pretty much everywhere in the protected area. Tourists are allowed to drive their own cars around the park, but must take a guided tour to visit the protected sections of the natural preserve. For a real up-close-and-personal experience of the wildlife here, it is also possible to rent tents and bungalows to stay overnight.
(Read related: Top 8 Travel Photography Tips)
10. Snowdonia National Park, Wales, UK
The name of this beautiful National Park comes from Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, while the Welsh name for this area is Eryi: legends state that this name derived from a word meaning “the land of eagles”. The park is best known for its wonderful hiking opportunities, but it offers much more than that: come here for splendid waterfalls, lakes and mountain biking paths. In particular, we recommend that you hop on one of the vintage steam trains that climb up to the highest peak in Wales. Taking the old-world train will allow you to experience the area just as a traveler would have back in 1896, and you will see for yourself how gorgeous and mythical this mountainous area is, journeying through the clouds to Yr Wyddfa, Snowdon.
About the Author
Anna Maria Colivicchi is an Italian writer who is interested in travel, art and food. She lived in Rome and in the UK, which is her home away from home. You can follow her on Instagram to see more of her work, stories and pics.
Megaliths are enormous stones used by prehistoric civilizations to construct impressive monuments without the use of concrete or mortar. The word ‘megalith’ comes from two ancient Greek words: mégas, which means ‘giant’ and lìthos, meaning ‘stone’. Even though we can’t always clearly understand the reasons and history behind their existence, these incredible structures allow us to travel back in time and to reflect on the early past of humankind, and are inspiring sites to visit at least once in a lifetime. Every one of these ancient stones has interesting and fascinating stories to tell. From the world-famous Stonehenge to the mysterious spheres of Costa Rica, here are some of the world’s most incredible — and beautiful– megalithic structures to visit.
A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986, Stonehenge is without doubt the most famous cromlech – a circle of megalithic stones – in Europe, and one of the most visited attractions in the UK. Located near Amesbury, in Wiltshire, its name literally means ‘hanging stones’. The actual position of the megaliths was restored between 1901 and 1964, when every stone was straightened or reinforced with concrete to recreate the site’s original circular shape.
In recent decades, there’s been much speculation over the original purpose of Stonehenge’s construction, in 3100 BC. Theories are numerous: some say it functions as an astronomical calendar while still others think it may have been used as a site for ritual human sacrifice!
According to several legends, giants brought the stones from distant lands to create Stonehenge; isn’t it fascinating that some myths held that the massive stones had healing powers? This megalithic circle has always been surrounded by mystery– and since it’s only a few hours away from London, it’s an easy site to visit.
Just outside the visitor center, you can step into five Neolithic houses furnished with replica axes, pottery and other objects; these allow you to get a real feeling for what everyday life might have been like for the ancient people who built Stonehenge.
Carnac Stones, Brittany (France)
By Nicolas Raymond/Freestock
Around the village of Carnac, in Brittany, the biggest collection of megaliths in the world – alignments, dolmens, tumuli and menhirs – takes us back to 4500 BC. These prehistoric standing stones, amounting to more than three thousand when counting those situated within La Trinitè-sur-Mer, were erected by the pre-Celtic peoples of Brittany. At Carnac, there are three major groups of stone rows (alignments), which probably formed a single group and then split up when the stones were removed and used for other purposes.
Read related: Experience the Wonder of France’s Lascaux Paleolithic Cave
Since these incredible stones stand in perfectly straight lines, local legends claim they were marching soldiers, turned into stones by the magician Merlin.
A more rational explanation? According to researchers studying the site, the megaliths could have been used as a primitive earthquake detector, but there are also several theories about it being a huge lunar observatory or even a calendar. In the commune of La Trinité-sur-Mer, a much smaller group of stones known as Petit-Menec is nestled in the woods, covered by ivy and moss. If you’re looking for a unique adventure that combines mysterious megalithic structures and fresh air, Carnac is a great choice. Its beautiful beaches are well worth visiting, and the Quiberon peninsula nearby is famous for wind-surfing and sailing.
Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons
Tombs of Giants and Nuraghi, Sardinia
Sardinia is already well-known for its enchanting beaches and deep blue sea. But if you’re after a peaceful, wild place tucked well away from those crowded holiday destinations, you might want to visit the majestic stone monuments scattered around the island. Several different kinds of megalithic structures grace this gorgeous Mediterranean island: menhirs (singular standing stones), cromlech (similar to those found in Stonehenge) and dolmens (composed of three or more stones).
The Tombe dei Giganti – meaning ‘Tombs of Giants’, a name given to the site by the locals, but nowadays frequently used by archaeologists – are impressive dolmenic structures, built in the 2nd millennium BC as collective graves and located in various Sardinian regions. We particularly recommend visiting those that stand in Arzachena, in northwest Sardinia.
By ciamabue [CC BY 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
Read related: Spotlight on Montefeltro, Italy
Nuraghi are Sardinia’s most well-known symbol and the main type of megalithic structure found on the island. A trip to Sardinia is not complete without a visit to one of these extremely evocative monuments. According to the experts, there were originally more than 30,000 nuraghi, although only 7,000 still stand today. The exact use of the Nuragic structures is still unknown: they may have served as religious sites, tombs or even fortresses.
Dolmens of the North Caucasus, Russia
Megaliths and stone labyrinths have also been discovered in the Caucasus Mountains, 50 km north-east from the Black Sea. While these are not as famous as the European constructions, they are equally mysterious and intriguing. Archaeologists believe they were built between the 2nd and the 4th millennium BC, and previously unearthed dolmens continue to be found on both sides of the Western Caucasus. This makes the site even more fascinating as new discoveries are still underway. Despite their similar appearance to the sorts of structures we’ve highlighted in England, France and Italy, these Russian dolmens are of unknown origin. Experts are still developing theories about who build them and for what purpose.
Diquìs Stone Spheres, Costa Rica
Over 300 petrospheres – the term used by archaeologists to refer to spherical man-made objects – are located on the Diquìs Delta and on Isla del Caño, in Costa Rica. While their exact significance remains uncertain, they have been attributed to the extinct pre-Columbian indigenous culture of Diquìs.
According to ancient myths, these perfectly rounded stones came from the sunken town of Atlantis. Since June 2014, the Diquìs Spheres are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Despite the fact that “archaeo-tourism” is still a new concept in Costa Rica, the museum FINCA 6 in Palmar Norte, which holds the largest collection of these stones, is gaining in popularity. Could the Diquìs Spheres be an excuse for planning your next trip to the charming Central American nation?
Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites, South Korea
Dolmens can be found in East Asia too, and one of the biggest collection is situated on the Korean peninsula, which is said to contain more than 40% of the world’s dolmens, summing up these three important archeologic sites. Korean megalithic monuments date to around 1,000 BC: they are far more recent than the others we covered in this article. Objects excavated nearby suggest that they were mainly used as tombs.
Read related: 7 Top Things to See & Do in Seoul, South Korea
Due to the increasing number of tourists traveling to Korea to see these megaliths, the sites of Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa are slowly becoming national symbols: ones that celebrate Korean pre-historic culture and its inhabitants.
About the Author
Anna Maria Colivicchi is an Italian writer who is interested in travel, art and food. She lived in Rome and in the UK, which is her home away from home. You can follow her on Instagram to see more of her stories and photos.
At The Loftus Guides we seek to inspire you with suggested destinations that are unique and off-the-beaten-track: places that many travelers overlook, but shouldn’t. While we do aim to provide you with plenty of inspiring lists to peruse, we also want to bring you some local flavor, showcasing places around the world that deserve a closer look. This week, we train a spotlight on the charming town of Beaucaire, France.
Beaucaire is nestled in the department of Gard right beside the Rhone River, which forms a natural boundary between Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon. The massive floodgates at the water’s edge are proof that flooding has at times been a real threat to this low-lying part of the region. The surrounding landscapes are lush and green, and the town is bathed in that extraordinary Southern French light that so many of us know and love.
An Easy Trip From Nîmes, Arles or Avignon
Beaucaire lies at the centre of a triangle formed by the important Southern cities of Nimes, Arles and Avignon. Only 30 to 40 minutes away by train or car, it makes an easy and lovely trip from all of these places. It also lies in close reach of the ancient Roman town of Orange, the village of Uzès, the UNESCO-listed Roman aqueduct known as the Pont du Gard, and numerous other iconic destinations in the South of France.
Read related: A Visit to France’s Lascaux Caves and Their Paleolithic Wonders
Starting to understand just how well-situated this little town is? Now let’s take a look at why it’s special in its own right.
Top Things to See & Do in Beaucaire
Although it’s not especially touristy, Beaucaire has so much to offer, from picturesque strolls to canal-side cafes, restaurants serving delicious local gastronomy and quaint little shops. Do turn down the town’s many small alleys and streets: you never know what you’ll find!
Take a Walk by the Canal
The canal adds much to the charm of this little town, with its lush waterside trees, decorated houseboats and opportunities for boat tours. Visiting around Christmas-time? The boats are all decked out with lights, and there’s a festive Christmas market to explore as well.
Visit a Local Market
Beaucaire is very much a market town. There’s a colorful food market that springs up each Thursday and Sunday morning on the Place Georges Clemenceau. Here, you’ll find everything from delicious local cheeses and produce to fresh bread, olives and flowers.
For clothing, household items and textiles, take a whirl at the Cours Gambetta market along the canal, held on Thursday and Sunday morning.
Read related: These Are the World’s 11 Most Enticing Food Markets
During the summer, don’t miss the Beaux Quais de Vendredi, an evening market held along the banks of the Canal in Beaucaire each Friday night through July and August. Arts and craft stands, live musical performances and other festivities take over the canal strip, adding plenty of summery ambience.
A lively market in nearby Tarascon. Image: Michelle Loftus/All rights reserved
For a bonus, follow the bridge over the river to the adjacent town of Tarascon which has its own share of treasures to discover, including a vibrant, large open-air market and numerous cafes.
Visit Two Castles (Overlooking One River)
Beaucaire Castle/Michelle Loftus/All rights reserved
Beaucaire and Tarascon each have an impressive castle and ramparts facing one another on their respective sides of the Rhone river. The walk and climb up the hill to Beaucaire’s medieval castle is a treat, with the view becoming more and more impressive as you climb. Free to visit, this impressive site gives you a glimpse of its past grandeur.
Chateau de Tarascon/Wolfgang Staudt/Creative Commons 2.0
The Tarascon castle across the river is extremely well-preserved and is considered one of the grandest examples of a medieval fortress in France. It was built starting in the 15th century by the Dukes of Anjou.
The Chateau often hosts events such as concerts and performances; ask at the tourist office for current details.
Enjoy Music & Dancing on a Hidden Square
Dancing at Place de la Republique/Michelle Loftus/All rights reserved
Find the Place de la République, which the locals call la vieille place (the old square). This is a term which might come up frequently when you’re asking for directions, so don’t be confused by it!
The charming square is surrounded by restaurants and café terraces. On certain evenings there’s free entertainment by local musicians, offering the perfect opportunity for an evening of free dancing.
Taste Locally Made Olives and Olive Oil
Olives and olive oil are a local delicacy, and we recommend you spend some time tasting some of these gourmet specialties. You can notably visit a local olive oil mill at Huiles Robert. Take a tour of the facility and taste the delicious oils! The shop here has many options for gifts to bring back home.
Read related: Where to See Gorgeous Lavender Fields in France
Address: 105 Allée Sergius Respectus, 30300 Beaucaire
Telephone: +33 (0)4 66 74 40 46
See the Abbaye Saint-Roman
Situated right on the edge of town, this Abbey is a truly exceptional site. Carved into the caves and hillside by hermit monks from as early as the 5th century, it’s absolutely worth the uphill walk. The views alone are spectacular.
Address: Abbaye de Saint-Roman, 4294, route de Saint-Gilles, 30300 Beaucaire
Telephone: +33 (0)7 81 56 44 51
Visit the Pont du Gard Aqueduct
The famous Pont du Gard aqueduct is nearby, so if time allows we recommend you see it firsthand. Enjoy this tour de force of Roman architecture and its mythical setting, as well as the onsite museum. For a fabulous evening outing, witness the spectacular son et lumière (a light and music show) that brings the site to life in the summertime.
See an Exhibit or Light Show at an Old Quarry
Also just under half an hour from Beaucaire, take in the superb exhibits and light shows at the old quarry known as the Carrières des lumières.
Then enjoy breathtaking views from the Chateau des Baux,
a vast ruined castle situated high in the hills at the village of Les-Baux-de-Provence and billed as one of the finest sites in historic France.
Accommodations We Recommend in Beaucaire
Our general recommendation at TLG is almost always to book local holiday rentals and lodgings. Rent a flat, a house, a studio or even a furnished houseboat: in today’s world, this is possible just about anywhere you might choose to travel.
What better way to experience a destination locally? You’ll be able to bring home local fare from the market, eat on your own schedule, pack a picnic for a day-long outing– all the while treating yourself to a morning or afternoon pause café, to use the French term. I don’t know about you, but I prefer not to eat out at every meal.
Visit one of our favourite sites to find the perfect place to stay in Beaucaire. You can also find accommodation reviews and recommendations at sites such as Booking.com and TripAdvisor.
If you do choose to stay in a hotel, be aware that in Beaucaire and in Tarascon most of these offer basic comforts (remember that French 3-star hotels are about equivalent to 2-star counterparts in North America). You can expect good service, but grand luxury isn’t usually on offer here. This may be another good reason to consider self-catering accommodations, at the end of the day!
Where To Eat in Beaucaire?
Beaucaire, like most towns in France, boasts plenty of restaurants serving high-quality fare. We recommend that you simply take a canal-side stroll to make your choice. Daily menus are displayed on traditional chalkboards outside of each establishment. You can ask the servers to help you translate if you don’t quite understand the options.
In addition to the typically-offered menu— consisting of three and sometimes more courses– there is usually also a daily ‘set menu’ that is more affordable. You can also order a la carte, of course.
For specific restaurant reviews and suggestions in and around Beaucaire, we recommend that you visit this page.
For More Info: Visit the Tourist Office
In our opinion, the local tourist office should always be one of your first stops– no matter your destination. There’s no better way to find out about local events and activities such as market days, art tours, current exhibitions, concerts and performances, to name just a few.
Interested in a canal cruise with lunch? They’ll have a recommendation. Want to visit an olive oil mill? They’ll set you on the right course.
Getting There: The Beaucaire Tourist Office is located at 8, rue Victor Hugo. You can also visit the official website here for more information ahead of your trip.
Please leave your comments below if you have any questions about your plans to visit Beaucaire: we’re here to help. Especially since some of the above resources are available in French, you can feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have about your trip.
You can also use our contact form and connect with us on Facebook.
If ancient history and stunning prehistoric artwork interest you, the Lascaux Cave is something you must see during your lifetime. Part of a complex of caves located near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, the cave is famous for its elaborate, Upper Paleolithic paintings. The cave is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist destination that puts you up close and personal with an exact replica of the original cave.
There’s a lot going on at this mesmerizing location, so let’s break it down.
We’ll start with some of the history, before giving you some need-to-know information, and finally some more details about what you can expect from this experience.
Some Brief History
The Lascaux Cave was first discovered by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat in 1940, and it was eventually opened to the public in 1948. However, it was closed in 1963 after the influx of visitors began to damage the delicate surface of the paleolithic paintings it housed. An exact replica of the cave called Lascaux II was opened in 1983. The successor to that replica is Lascaux IV, which is the updated replica cave that you can visit today. With its attached museum and down to the millimetre-level accuracy, Lascaux IV is nearly identical to the real thing.
When you visit Lascaux Cave, you can expect a roughly two-and-a-half-hour long experience from start to finish. That includes the tour of the replica cave, the self-guided tour, galleries, and art exhibits that add to the experience. The tour through the cave itself takes about an hour, and the rest of the experience is self-guided with the aid of a digital tablet.
You can buy tickets online in advance of your visit here. Tickets are available up to 90 days in advance, right up until the day before your intended visit. Please note that you cannot purchase online tickets the day of your visit, but if you can get them day-of at the ticket centre in person. Tickets are non-exchangeable and non-refundable, so be sure you’re confident when you book.
Tickets are currently 17 EUR each for adults, and 11 EUR for children, and you have the option to choose between English, Dutch, and French tours (Please note that while these prices were accurate at the time of publication, they may change at anytime).
Lascaux IV is open every day from 9am-7pm.
What You’ll See
The Lascaux experience is broken up into four main spaces: the Belvédère, the Shelter, the Cave itself, and the Studio.
Belvédère and Shelter
The visit starts when you receive a tablet and take an elevator up to the top of the roof of the museum. From there, you can look out over the Vézère Valley and use the augmented reality interactive map on your tablet to see information about the view in real time. It’s a great way to learn about the many surrounding archaeological sites.
At the shelter (also on the roof), you can stand in front of a screen and watch the evolution of the Lascaux area shift and change. It feels like you’re looking into the past through a window. It’s incredible to see how different the landscape looked back in the time of the cave painters. It sets up the “time travel” feeling you get when you move onto your next destination: the Lascaux Cave.
You’ll have an appointed entry time to visit the cave with a group of other visitors and a trained guide. Walking into the replica, it feels exactly like you’re going into a real cave. Cool and damp, the re-creation is incredible, and it’s very easy to suspend your disbelief. Of course, it helps that the recreation is built into the same hill as the original, and that you really do go underground for your visit. It’s as real as it can get these many years later!
The main attraction are the paintings. The first one you see is a curiously named painting called “The Unicorn,” even though the animal has two horns. Then you’ll proceed into the famous “Hall of the Bulls” where enormous paintings of bulls seem to leap and run right off the walls. From there, you go deeper, into a series of smaller caves with multicolor paintings of horses, cows, bulls, and symbols in shades of black, brown, red, and yellow. The presence of all these colours is part of why Lascaux is so justifiably famous. Polychromatic caves are very rare, and when you walk through the tour, you’ll feel awed and inspired by the achievements of the people who made the paintings at a time where there was no written language.
The Lascaux Studio
After you leave the hallowed halls of the cave, you can wander at leisure through the Lascaux Studio space, where eight cave walls have been reproduced for you to explore. These include the cave’s most famous works: “Two Crossed Bison”, “The Great Black Cow”, “The Panel of the Imprint”, “The Apse”, “The Shaft Scene”, “The Axial Gallery”, “The Upside-Down Horse” and “The Hall of the Bulls”.
These reproductions include enhanced reality information available on your tablet, giving you more information on the techniques and history of the specific scenes.
Other exhibits of note are the virtual reality version of the cave, which you can view at your own pace on the tablet, the art exhibit where you can create your own virtual cave paintings, a historical exhibit on the history of the cave and why it was closed to the public, and an area with real objects that were found during the archaeological dig.
The Big Picture
Aside from the cave being just plain cool, visiting the Lascaux Cave puts you at the heart of two exciting developments in the history of art. First and foremost, the cave gives you access to some of the world’s earliest and most incredible cave paintings. The discovery of the Lascaux Cave brought Stone Age culture to the modern world, giving us rare access to a time that has few surviving records.
With its high-tech re-creation and careful archaeological preservation, you can experience this wonder without worrying about damaging the original. Lascaux’s reproduction took years to make, and it represents an exciting development in the world of historical preservation.
If you’re a fan of delicious and flavorful food, Morocco is one of the best places in the world to visit. Boasting a cultural character whose diverse roots resemble an elaborate quilt more than a mashup, Morocco’s medley of Arabic, Berber, sub-Saharan, Spanish, and French cuisine is unparalleled. And if that sounds like an overstatement, a visit to Morocco (or at least a restaurant serving the country’s wonderful fare) should be on your short list of adventures to take. Here are some of the best Moroccan dishes you can try the next time you get a chance– whether at home or in cities such as Marrakesh and Fez.
Moroccan cuisine is, as mentioned, incredibly diverse. Yet a few favorite staple dishes feature on most traditional menus.
Tiny steamed balls of crushed durum wheat semolina, couscous is traditionally served for lunch on Fridays after Friday prayers. Trust us though, it is delicious all week long. Served in a round platter and topped by heaps of vegetables such as eggplant, squash, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, onions, and chickpeas, you can eat it vegetarian or serve it with meat, traditionally beef or chicken.
Where to eat it: Restaurant National, Oujda
Located in Morocco’s largest city, Restaurant National is one of the most popular restaurants on the Algerian border. They make incredible couscous every Friday, and their rotisserie chicken is delicious.
Tagine (also spelled tajine) is a savory stew made from sliced meat and vegetables that are slow-cooked with spices and nuts. It gets its name from the distinctive peaked top earthenware pot in which it’s cooked, and it combines the savory warmth of soups without ever getting too heavy. They’re commonly prepared with ginger, turmeric, saffron, cinnamon, and cumin, and served with chicken, fish, or lamb. They are usually served with bread. There are a huge variety of tagines you can try, and each region has its own specialty.
Where to eat it: L’ibzar, Marrakech
This modern, stylish restaurant serves distinctly home-cooked Moroccan food, including some incredible tagines. The owner and operator is usually onsite, and there are great options for vegetarians and vegans here as well!
Local to Marrakech, tanjia is a specialized tagine that is traditionally prepared by men by slow-cooking an entire lamb over coals that heat local hammams. Fresh meat (usually lamb), herbs, preserved lemons, and spices are placed in a tanjia pot, which is then covered with butcher’s paper. It roasts for at least five hours and is then served in a tagine pot with the juices.
Where to eat it: Latitude31, Marrakech
With its leafy courtyard and traditional cooking techniques, Latitude31 is the perfect place to get some tanjia.
Originally from the Spanish region of Andalusia, this flaky stuffed meat pie is commonly made of pigeon or chicken meat. Though originally from Spain, today it is a favourite in Moroccan cuisine and generally served as a starter at the beginning of special meals. You can usually find it at food stalls in medinas. The Fes region is famous for their pastilla, which are flavored with almonds and savory spices. Don’t forget to wash it down with some mint tea!
Where to eat it: Darori Resto, Fes
This elegant medina restaurant has classic Moroccan cuisine and flawless presentation, and their pastilla are amazing!
Another of Morocco’s excellent slow-cooked dishes is mechoui, a whole lamb cooked overnight in an underground oven. The end result is meat that is so tender it literally falls off the bones, you don’t even need a knife to eat it! Because of the labour-intensive nature of the meal, it’s a favourite at special occasions, like weddings.
Where to get it: The appropriately named “Mechoui Alley,” Marrakech (Jemaa el Fna near the olive souk)
Or, if you prefer a setting that isn’t an alley, the other end of the spectrum is La Grande Table Marocaine, a restaurant so nice that the Moroccan king owns it.
In addition to the major staple items listed above, these smaller dishes add to the distinctive flavors and surprises of Morocco’s gastronomy.
Whether you’re eating them grilled at a restaurant, in the open souks with tomato and onions, or served in a tagine with bread, sardines pop up all over the place in Moroccan cooking. The Safi region is justifiably famous for their fresh sardines, though you’d do well to be a little wary of street sardines. Don’t forget to try charmoula, a Moroccan traditional marinade that pairs really well with fresh sardines.
Where to get it: Essaouira harbor
There’s nothing better than fresh fish, and vendors at Essaouira’s seaside will barbeque the fish right in front of you.
Makouda are beautiful, golden, deep-fried potato cakes. They’re delicious served on their own, with salad, or in a sandwich. They’re available in many medinas as a snack, but they’re especially prevalent in the north of Morocco: Meknes, Fes, Essaouira, and Moulay Idiss are all hotspots for makouda.
Where to eat it: Café Clock, located in Fes, serves up makouda with harissa yogurt and fresh salad! Because makouda are so carbohydrate heavy, this is a great way to have them.
Morocco’s baked goods use some of the most beautiful ingredients in the world: orange blossom water, rose water, almond paste, and delicious dates, among others. Pair these delicacies with a steaming cup of delicate Moroccan tea served in a small glass, and you have a place that really knows how to do teatime.
Chebakya, a fried pastry covered in honey, sesame seeds, and rose water, is perfect with a bowl of harira soup. Or try almondy ghoriba biscuits with a cup of hot tea for a sweet afternoon pick me up.
Where to eat it: Patisserie des Princes in Marrakech is one of the finest bakeries in Morocco! Don’t miss their mint tea and delicious treats.
Dried fruits and nuts
If all this eating has exhausted you, you may need to opt for a snack instead. You can’t beat dried fruits and nuts when it comes to a quick energy boost, and the fresh nuts grown in the Atlas Mountains, such as almonds and walnuts, are locally roasted right in Morocco. And don’t forget dates and figs from the south!
Where to eat it: Souk Al-Attarine in Fez is home to some of the world’s best spices, dried fruits, and nuts. This market is definitely one to visit!

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