Six recommendations for snow lovers

Germany’s Ruhr region takes up the mantle of European Capital of Culture in 2010. Andrew Eames reports on the transformation of one of Europe’s most heavily industrialised areas

Annie Kelly journeys down Nicaragua’s Rio Coco in search of the indigenous Miskito people of the rainforest

On the island of Flores, Paul Spencer Sochaczewski finds out more about the lost species of ‘hobbits’ that may once have inhabited this part of Indonesia

Poland’s Bialowieza National Park contains the last surviving segment of Europe’s primeval forest and an ecosystem to match. Dan Hayes reports

The recent attempt by a Vermont town to secede to New Hampshire has highlighted the rivalry between the pair. Barr Seitz reports from New England

Writer-explorer Robert Twigger shares some thoughts on crossing the Sahara

Alfred Kueppers journeys to Yasnaya Polyana – writer Leo Tolstoy’s country estate near Moscow – and discovers how it was saved from meeting a sorry end

Visitors flock in droves to the temples of Angkor Wat, but what effect are they having on the irreplaceable treasures? Leisa Tyler reports from Siem Reap

Jack Martin crams the highlights of Germany’s capital into one day