Wanderlust Maya

Slow-travel itineraries and the places worth the detour. Bali to Cape Town, one map.

Places Wanderlust Maya recommends

• Table Mountain (Cape Town, South Africa): Hike Platteklip Gorge up, cable car down. Check the wind before you commit.
• Fushimi Inari Taisha (Fushimi, Kyoto, Japan): Arrive by 7am and climb past the first gates into quiet forest.
• Skyline Gondola (Queenstown, New Zealand): Ride up for the Remarkables panorama, stay for the luge.
• Shibuya Sky (Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan): Sunset slot, every time. Book the open-air deck a week ahead.
• Miradouro de Santa Luzia (Alfama, Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal): Tiled terrace over the river. Come for golden hour, stay for the buskers.
• Tegallalang Rice Terraces (Tegallalang, Ubud, Indonesia): Go at 7am before the tour buses. The light through the palms is unreal.
• Castelo de São Jorge (Alfama, Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal): Moorish ramparts and the best wide view of the city. Go late afternoon.
• Boulders Beach (Simon’s Town, Cape Town, South Africa): A whole colony of African penguins on a white-sand beach. Yes, really.
• Glenorchy Road (Queenstown, New Zealand): The most beautiful 45-minute drive in the country. Stop constantly.
• Meiji Jingu (Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan): A forest shrine minutes from the chaos. Go early for the gravel-path silence.
• Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary (Ubud, Ubud, Indonesia): Mossy temples and cheeky macaques. Keep your sunglasses zipped away.
• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan): Go at dawn. By 9am it’s a selfie scrum.
• Fergburger (Queenstown, Queenstown, New Zealand): Yes, the queue. Yes, worth it. Get the Southern Swine.
• Tirta Empul Temple (Tampaksiring, Ubud, Indonesia): A holy spring temple. Join the purification ritual respectfully, sarong on.
• Nonbei Yokocho (Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan): Drinker’s Alley — tiny 6-seat bars stacked two storeys. Squeeze in anywhere.
• Time Out Market (Cais do Sodré, Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal): Every great Lisbon chef under one roof. Bifana, then a pastel, then everything.
• Cape of Good Hope (Cape Point, Cape Town, South Africa): The southwestern tip of Africa. Wild, windy, worth the drive down the peninsula.
• Kiyomizu-dera (Higashiyama, Kyoto, Japan): The hillside terrace at sunset, then lantern-lit Higashiyama lanes below.
• Bo-Kaap (Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, South Africa): Candy-coloured houses and Cape Malay cooking. Book a kitchen class on Wale St.
• Tram 28 (Graça, Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal): Ride it early or late, not midday. Start at Martim Moniz for a seat.
• Campuhan Ridge Walk (Ubud, Ubud, Indonesia): Easy 2km ridge at sunrise. Cool air, valley views, almost empty.
• Nishiki Market (Nakagyo, Kyoto, Japan): Kyoto’s kitchen — tofu doughnuts, tamago skewers, pickles by the dozen.
• Yoyogi Park (Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan): Sunday afternoons: rockabilly dancers, picnic crews, the whole city exhaling.
• V&A Waterfront (Cape Town, South Africa): Catch the ferry to Robben Island from here, then the food market for lunch.
• Pastéis de Belém (Belém, Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal): The original custard tart since 1837. Eat them warm with cinnamon, standing up.
• Shibuya Crossing (Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan): Watch one wave from the Starbucks window, then cross it yourself at night.
• Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) (Bedulu, Ubud, Indonesia): 9th-century cave shrine with a carved demon mouth doorway. Quietly eerie.

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