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Bettany Hughes has been a fixture on British television for more than two decades.\u00a0The 56-year-old\u00a0historian and TV presenter has a special expertise in ancient times and\u00a0is a sought-after lecturer. She\u2019s written several bestselling books, from her first\u2014Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore<\/a>\u2014<\/em>to\u00a0her most recent<\/a>,\u00a0The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: An Extraordinary New Journey Through History\u2019s Greatest Treasures<\/em>, out on April 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hughes lives in London but spends much of the year abroad,\u00a0logging about 75,000 miles in the air. Her favorite carrier is Sri Lankan\u00a0Airlines, a legacy from\u00a0when she was shooting a show focusing on the ancient Buddhist world. \u201cWe had lots of delayed flights, and every time there was a delayed flight, they helped with a lovely pot of ginger tea in a silver teapot,\u201d she says. \u201cEven when I was flying economy, they looked after me.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some hard-earned hacks Hughes has picked up while trekking everywhere from the deserts of Turkey to the backwoods of Cambodia.<\/p>\n Never apologize for double-packing.<\/strong><\/p>\n I always pack two suitcases, even if that means there\u2019s excess to pay. They\u2019ll have either identical things in each one, or almost a copy, sort of like mirror suitcases. It means if you lose one, you\u2019ve still got enough clothes. I first traveled alone when I was 15. I hadn\u2019t been abroad before, and I traveled by myself to Italy, to be in the Alps with someone I just met on the beach that summer.<\/p>\n I was so petrified of the idea of ending up there and being a kind of burden. That\u2019s when I started the double-packing thing: two tiny, identical suitcases. I made a schoolgirl error last October, traveling to Trieste, Italy, to do a public lecture. \u201cFor once,\u201d I thought, \u201cI\u2019m going to take one bag. What could go wrong?\u201d And Lufthansa lost it. It meant I was stuck without my makeup, my clothes.\u00a0It did turn up four or five weeks later, but\u00a0I\u2019d learned my lesson.<\/p>\n Try these two tricks if you\u2019re worried about creepy-crawlies.<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was researching not just Angkor Wat\u00a0but also\u00a0Angkor Thom\u2014which is behind Angkor Wat, and a bit more remote\u2014I was really going out into the wild, where the tree roots are kind of thigh-high and you\u2019re hacking your way through the bushes. I had a guide with me, and I admitted that the only two things I\u2019m scared of in life are the dark and snakes. He said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, look what I\u2019ve got in my pocket.\u201d\u00a0It was a lemon. He said, \u201cI promise you won\u2019t get bitten.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether that\u2019s true or not, I now always carry at least a slice with me at all times. It does mean at the end of big travels I often end up with a slightly shriveled slice of lemon in my pocket. I also wear Clarks desert boots, which go just high enough up your leg that you\u2019re not going to get bitten. They\u2019re just above ankle-snakebite level.\u00a0<\/p>\n Want\u00a0an insider\u2019s guide to Athens or Istanbul? This is the need-to-know.<\/strong><\/p>\n The way to experience Istanbul is by boat, because the city is laced with waters. You can get on a ferry that goes from one end of the Bosporus to another or across it, that classic thing:\u00a0Travel from Asia to Europe for less than a dollar on a ferry. And go to Athens and\u00a0walk down Adrianou Street, which is the main pedestrian street, and look left. You\u2019ll actually see the Oath Stone where Socrates\u00a0was tried. Also on the other side, almost directly opposite, is the painted stoa where we get the word \u201cStoics\u201d from.<\/p>\n Follow this\u00a0protocol anytime you plan to take pictures.<\/strong><\/p>\n Never forget you\u2019re a guest in someone else\u2019s country. That\u2019s always my position when you arrive: You are a guest, and you are lucky to be there and need to earn the respect of your host. Whatever you\u2019re filming with, whether it\u2019s a camera or an iPhone or whatever, respect the place and make sure you\u2019ve got permission.<\/p>\n And I don\u2019t mean legal permission, but buy-in from the people you\u2019re with. Make eye contact, make friends. Always say, \u201cIs it OK if I take a photo?\u201d\u00a0I was filming on the Jordanian-Lebanese border, and we sat down in a cafe that was full of Hezbollah. We didn\u2019t realize that, and it could\u2019ve been very sticky. But the fact that we took the time to explain\u00a0what we were doing\u2014that I was doing something on the history of Mars, the god of war\u2014we were allowed to proceed. If we\u2019d just barreled up and taken over, without taking the time, it could\u2019ve ended very badly.<\/p>\n Go here for an\u00a0alternative to the overcrowded excavations of\u00a0Pompeii.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Turkish-Syrian border has some of the richest archaeology, spanning 12,000 years of human history. There\u2019s a place called Zeugma, an ancient\u00a0city that was occupied by the Romans, initiated just after the time of Alexander the Great, and an incredibly rich border town. It\u00a0was on the border of what was then the Persian Empire. The level of detail of the mosaics that have been discovered there are just extraordinary; there are levels of preservation that are as good as Pompeii.<\/p>\n A quick way to sense-check the safety of a new place? Rely on animal instinct.<\/strong><\/p>\n I do a \u201cstray pet check\u201d\u00a0when I land somewhere I\u2019ve not been before. I always check out how friendly the dogs and cats are. If they\u2019re cowering, then you know people don\u2019t treat them well, and you need to have your wits about you. If the dogs are incredibly friendly, then that\u2019s a good sign, because it shows people are being kind to them. I\u2019ve just come back from Georgia, in the Caucuses, and I can\u2019t tell you how friendly the dogs were. They were like emotional support dogs.<\/p>\n Two worthwhile souvenirs to buy\u00a0in every destination.<\/strong><\/p>\n Wherever I\u2019ve traveled in the world, I will always buy a scarf and a pot of honey. If anybody knows my programs, I always have basically a suitcase full of scarves. I found that wherever you travel, they\u2019re a sunshade, they can wipe sweat, they can keep you warm, and they can work as a tourniquet if you get into trouble. So I have this extraordinary selection of scarves that I carry with me, from Indian bazaars, souks in Istanbul, Albanian villages. They\u2019re definitely not Herm\u00e8s, but they have their own authenticity and honesty to them.<\/p>\n And I have an archaeological collection of honey in my kitchen\u2014a whole side wall. I\u2019ve come back with saffron honey from Azerbaijan. As an historian, I know that honey lasts sometimes for centuries. I\u2019m still never in my lifetime going to get through the supplies of honey that I\u2019ve got, because\u00a0I literally bring them back from every single location I\u2019ve been to.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two Greek islands worth a special trip.<\/strong><\/p>\n I love the Greek islands.\u00a0You expect them to be amazing, but Icaria is so beautiful. It\u2019s where Icarus supposedly died when he fell to the ground, and it\u2019s almost completely unspoiled. There are freshwater springs;\u00a0there aren\u2019t many cars. There\u2019s a man called the Odysseus of Honey who travels around by boats getting fresh honey from the bees. It\u2019s a pretty dreamy island. And go to\u00a0Naxos<\/a>, another Greek island, where a lot of the marble came from to build the Greek sculptures. But there they were quarrying out a sculpture, probably Dionysus or Bacchus, the god of wine, and stopped midflow in the side of the mountain\u2014a half-finished statue. You can still see the chisel marks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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