Indie Horizons Travel Club

Born from travellers, for travellers. A Travel Club for those who feel that the world is their oyster and long to explore it. Design of tailor made travel experiences to suit every budget or need.

Flips

Andaman Islands
The tiny Indian village that banned shoes
BBC Travel - By Kamala Thiagarajan
In a country where people often go barefoot indoors – considering it a gesture of respect and a nod to hygiene – a village in southern India has taken the practice to a new level. As an Indian, I’ve always
Japan
Where you must catch your meal with chopsticks
BBC Travel - By Don George
In nagashi somen, one of Japan’s most delightful summertime food rites, noodles are sent down a bamboo chute ‘waterslide’ and you must catch your meal with your chopsticks. It’s a sunny July day on a restaurant
Kosovo
Is Kosovo’s capital city the ugliest in Europe?
BBC Travel - By Deborah Huso
Europe’s youngest capital challenges the notions of what it means to be beautiful. Pristina, Kosovo, has the distinction of often being dismissed as one of Europe’s ugliest capitals. It’s certainly a I
South Africa
South Africa’s flammable floral kingdom
BBC Travel - By Robin Cherry & Thomas Lewton
This scorched shrubland has three times as many plant species as the Amazon rainforest, and needs to burn to survive.
Fiji
How Fiji changed the way we travel
BBC Travel - By Sarah Stodola
The little Pacific island nation was the first to incorporate GPS into its aviation system – and in doing so forever changed the way we get from Point A to distant Point B. The descent into Fiji’s Nadi
Athens
Athens’ bizarre underground phenomenon
BBC Travel - By Stav Dimitropoulos
Just 40km north of Athens lies a vast cave where visitors have reported water dripping upwards, ghostly voices, electronics going out of control, glowing orbs and more. Dimitrios Makridopoulos has always
The yum cha rules you need to know
BBC Travel - By Karen Chiang
From finishing every grain of rice in the bowl to knocking on the table, these etiquettes have been passed down through generations and can be traced all the way back to ancient China. As a born and bred
New Year's Eve
The Spanish town celebrating New Year’s Eve in August
BBC Travel - By Olivier Guiberteau
When an accidental power cut put an abrupt end to their festivities, the residents of Bérchules, Spain, decided to make the best out of an unfortunate situation. The streets are brightly lit with holiday
Soysauce
Is Japan losing its umami?
BBC Travel - By Eliot Stein & Mari Shibata
Soy sauce is one of the most important ingredients in Japanese cooking, but chances are you've never tasted the real thing.
Archaeology
A 2,000-year-old biblical treasure
BBC Travel - By Sara Toth Stub
Jerusalem’s Terra Sancta Museum, which displays ancient artefacts excavated by the Franciscan Order over the past 100 years, offers insight into life in the Holy Land. Inside the new archaeological wing
New Jersey
Was this the US’ first film town?
BBC Travel - By Laura Kiniry
Fort Lee's days of movie stardom may have been a flash in the pan, but the New Jersey town’s role in the history of film is unmistakable. A famous black-and-white image from the early days of film shows
Martial Arts
A town where most speak sign language
BBC Travel - By Mark Eveleigh
Kata Kolok, literally meaning ‘deaf talk’ in Indonesian, is a unique sign language that’s the primary means of communication for just 44 people on the entire planet. Kolok Getar flexed his biceps, puffed
Norway
Norway’s beautiful but treacherous road
BBC Travel - By Anton Österlund
The 8.2km-long Atlantic Ocean Road connects Averøy to mainland Norway, revealing extraordinary views as it hops from island to island. World of Wonder is a BBC Travel series exploring some of the most
Chinese New Year
Can tossing food make you rich?
BBC Travel - By Claire Turrell
Each Chinese New Year, chefs throughout Singapore make a dish that when tossed guarantees prosperity. Singapore may be known for glittering skyscrapers, glossy designer shops and hosting power meetings
Denmark
What to do when hygge no longer works
BBC Travel - By Karen Rosinger
Danes, often hailed as some of the happiest people on Earth, love nothing more than to hygge. But what do they do then when things aren’t so cosy? They say the magical word: ‘pyt’. Danes, often hailed
Cyprus
Sanna: A language written for the first time
BBC Travel - By Nikolia Apostolou
A mix of Arabic and ancient Aramaic, the Sanna language is only spoken in the village of Kormakitis, Cyprus, and is considered ‘severely endangered’ by Unesco. Join more than three million BBC Travel by
Oman
A hidden village carved into a cliff
BBC Travel - By Ibrahim Shehab
For more than 500 years, a remote tribe has lived suspended on a cliff-side in the mountains of Oman.
Vodka
Russia’s strange bread-sniffing ritual
BBC Travel - By Sophie Harris
Investigating why Russian people sniff bread while drinking vodka offers a portal into the realities of Russian life at a time when sympathetic cultural insight is sorely lacking. “Somebody in Bristol
The Swiss town obsessed with the number 11
BBC Travel - By Mike MacEacheran
For more than 500 years, Solothurn has fostered a puzzling relationship with the number 11. On a recent morning, at precisely 11:00, Therese Stählin was waiting in silence outside the entrance to the town
McDonald's
Why China is obsessed with numbers
BBC Travel - By Mithila Phadke
The Chinese fascination with numbers – and how much they are part of both online and offline lives – is a societal quirk that baffles long-term tourists and expats alike. As a newly minted Beijinger, were
Central Asia
Asia’s ‘dead’ lake where boats can’t float
BBC Travel - By Dave Stamboulis
Lake Karakul is almost a Central Asian version of the Middle East’s hyper-saline Dead Sea – although that hasn't stopped visitors from trying to sail here.
Bosnia’s intriguing dessert made by 12 hands
BBC Travel - By Lidija Pisker
‘People have not come to this world to be on their own, nor to make desserts on their own’ Winters are dear to 53-year-old Azemina Ahmedbegović. Not because she is a big fan of snow or the cold, but because
Cuba’s Taíno people: A flourishing culture, believed extinct
BBC Travel - By Christopher P Baker
Although it’s commonly believed that the indigenous Taíno were extirpated after Spanish conquest in 1511, their bloodlines, identity and customs were never completely extinguished. A commonly repeated
A ‘melting pot’ made of cheese
BBC Travel - By Natalia Guerrero
Keshi yená, or ‘stuffed cheese’, is a fascinating metaphor for an island where everything is a mix of something: flavours, languages and colours.
Murals
Meet Japan’s first female bathhouse artist
BBC Travel - By Eliot Stein & Mari Shibata
As the country’s ancient bathhouses disappear, a young artist is attempting to revitalise a 1,200-year-old tradition – one mural at a time.
The birthplace of modern medicine
BBC Travel - By Rossi Thomson
Padua, Italy, was at the forefront of a shift to scientific consciousness that allowed the real picture of human anatomy to emerge for the very first time. From the 2nd Century AD to the end of the Middle
The secret travel club that’s been everywhere
BBC Travel - By Mike MacEacheran
New York’s Explorers Club has inspired adventurers, aquanauts and astronauts for more than a century. But it’s now evolving to inspire everyone to make the world a better place. Amid the neon-lit diners
How Ibiza’s party really started
BBC Travel - By Emma Cooke
Ibiza has long been an island for the outcast and non-conforming, and its history is littered with rock-star anecdotes. The buildings of Playa d’en Bossa and San Antonio were boarded up, but as we cruised
Japan
The mysterious case of Japan's ‘dancing zombie squid’
BBC Travel - By Janelle Lassalle
Katsu ika odori-don came to global attention in 2010 thanks to a YouTube video that went viral. But how did this unique phenomenon come about? Katsu ika odori-don isn’t for the faint of heart. Loosely
Did wine cause a full-scale revolution in Armenia?
BBC Travel - By Martin Guttridge-Hewitt
According to some Yerevan locals, seeds of change were inadvertently sowed in the intimate interiors that define many of Armenia’s new specialist drinking dens. Born late-December 2012, In Vino was the