At Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, the inside of the biertzelt (beer tent) is packed and lively. Photo courtesy of wikimedia/Gutsul

But only Munich, Germany, is the home of the original Oktoberfest, where festival-goers begin gathering in front of immense beer-branded tents in the early hours of the morning, eagerly awaiting their turns in packed communal drinking areas. It’s the Mecca of brew, imitations of which have sprouted all over the globe, even in places as far away as Canada, Vietnam, Australia and Argentina.

In a tribute to Oktoberfest, The Travel Word brings you a selection of seven special brews from different parts of the world. Although beer is the world’s most widely consumed alcoholic beverage, finding hidden gems requires a bit of digging, so we asked some of our WHL Group local partners across the globe to bring forth their beers of choice. Here are seven of the more surprising ones.

(For more just-as-surprising information about local drinks – and lots about local eats, check out our Culinary World Tour of Local Food.)

Baja Blond is the local's favourite beer in Los Cabos, Mexico

Mexico’s Cerveza of Choice

According to Karem Matamoros, the WHL Group local partner in Los Cabos, Baja Blond is the Mexican beer locals love. The fledgling brewery opened in 2007 in the Mexican state of California Sur and has already made its marks in the highly competitive world of brewing. Their hallmark is the Baja Blond “Cream Ale,” described as having a light golden colour, a whole-bodied flavour and a good balance of sweet and bitter. Locals abide by it and take great pride in promoting the only brewery in their state.

Travel to Los Cabos, Mexico, the home of Baja Blond, with Karem.

A local enjoys a fresh brew of artisanal 'pito' from a calabash shell in Ghana. Photo courtesy of Marian Thompson

Ghana’s Ethnic Beer

Marian Thompson, the whl.travel local partner in northern Ghana, gave us the scoop on pito, which is Ghana’s artisanal, village beer. It is brewed from fermented sorghum (also known as guinea corn) in the northern parts of the country, where it is very popular and widely consumed. Its production methods have remained traditional and are therefore quite labour-intensive, providing a number of people with a local livelihood. Traditionally, a calabash bowl is used to share pito, the ultimate refreshment under the scorching Ghanaian sun.

Travel to Northern Ghana with Marian, who can introduce you to pito, as well as other qualities of village life.

Cisk lager is a best-selling brew on the island of Malta. Photo courtesy of Marco Attard

Malta’s Favourite Malt Beverage

If you’re wandering through Malta’s history-imbued villages, do stop at a bar to try some brew. Simonds Farsons Cisk PLC is the Maltese beer company that Marco Attard, the WHL Group local partner in Malta, swears by. The veteran brewery opened in 1928 and has never changed the recipe or production process of its best-selling Cisk Lager, a golden-coloured, bottom-fermented beer with a distinctive and well-balanced character.

Travel to Malta with Marco for a taste of Cisk Lager.

Birra Tirana has a billboard display in downtown Tirana, Albania. Photo courtesy of wikimedia/Rainchill

Albania’s Best Brew

When in Albania, do as the Albanians do, which is drink lots of local brew. Albania’s Birra Tirana is the beer that the WHL Group’s local travel expert, Laura Payne, prefers. Only the freshwater sources of Tirana’s surrounding mountains are drawn upon to manufacture this prized drink. Critics seem to agree it has a nice colour with moderate carbonation. The aroma is smooth and richly malty.

Travel to Albania with Laura, who also knows the Albanian Alps from which Birra Tirana’s waters flow.

Itaipava is a big hit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, especially when served ice-cold in the summer. Photo courtesy of Luiz Renato Malcher

Brazil’s Carioca Beer

Luiz Renato Malcher, the WHL Group local expert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, says that Cariocas (people from Rio) love their pints of Itaipava beer. Why? For starters, it is lighter than the others and can be drunk in larger quantities on a hot sunny day without making you feel full. It is best served trincando, as locals say, which means near-frozen. Known to be a light-bodied, soft and rounded beer, it is distinctively sweet and grainy on the palate. To enjoy a chilled Itaipava on Rio’s beach strip with a nice view of the sea is a classic Rio moment.

Travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with Luiz and learn where to get the best Itaipava.

Pilsener, one of two very popular beers in Quito, Ecuador, competes with Club for #1 status. Photo courtesy of Maria Fernanda Cabascango

Ecuador’s Draft Duo

A palpable rivalry reigns between Ecuador’s two best lager beers. Even Maria Fernanda Cabascango and Sebastian Sierra, the WHL Group local partners in Quito, Ecuador can’t come to a consensus. Maria vouches for Pilsener, whereas Sebastian is a staunch defender of Club. Pilsener pours with a pale yellow colour and a creamy white head. It is brilliantly clear and has a distinct corn edge to its flavour. Club beer, while also a clear lager, picks up a noticeable earthy and peppery flavour from the hops. Guess you’ll have to visit Quito to decide for yourself!

Travel to Quito, Ecuador, with Maria and Sebastian, and plan for Pilsener-or-Club blind taste test.

A window display of craft beers at Oktoberfest in Villa General Belgrano, Argentina. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Ord

The Argentinean Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest in Argentina – a country known more for its fine wines than its beers – is one of the largest outside of Germany. At this time of year especially, the village of Villa General Belgrado (in the province of Cordoba in the Argentine Pampas) draws large crowds interested in its cervezas artesanales (craft beers). Wandering the streets of Villa General Belgrado with giant beer steins (or mass as the Germans call them) in hand, Oktoberfest-goers are transported into a little piece of Germany in the southern hemisphere. The town was founded by two Germans in 1930 and their influence is obvious; buildings have characteristically Bavarian facades, shops sell handmade strudel and chocolate, and microbreweries supply craft beer.

Cynthia Ord, the manager at WHL Assist, is currently headquartered in Argentina and reports that the variety and quality of local craft beers is impressive; you can find lagers, stouts and all sorts of creative brews. During the two-week Oktoberfest celebration, when hordes of people enjoy spring weather and asado (barbecue), the goal is to keep your stein full of something until the small hours of the morning, reminding you that you are in Argentina after all.

Laura has a large collection of fearless travel tales from the carefree days when she was in her 20s. She did a lot of solo travel, ranging from a Greyhound bus trip all over Canada and hitchhiking on Vancouver Island to a road trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg in South Africa.

One of many things that enchanted Laura Payne about Albania was its ancient ruins such as Butrint (pictured in the background here) in the south of the country

She marvels at her luck. In all her years of young and adventurous solo travel, she never found herself in a bad situation. Her best memories are of the people met and experiences had on the road.

WHL Group: Which is your favourite WHL Group destination
Laura: Albania, although I may be biased.

WHLG: Which would you most like to visit?
Laura: Vanuatu.

WHLG: What would you never travel without?
Laura: Mosquito repellent.

WHLG: What do you miss most about home when travelling?
Laura: My bathtub.

WHLG: What’s the most adventurous trip you’ve ever taken?
Laura: Rock jumping in Greece (from 18 metres above the sea!), driving solo from Cape Town to Johannesburg and a camping trip in a snowstorm in Canada.

Whether in western Europe or in the Albanian Alps, skiing has always been one of Laura Payne's favorite pastimes and earliest travel memories

WHLG: What is your funniest travel experience?
Laura: I was still in my teens and on a Eurail train trip in Europe with a close friend of mine. We decided to use the very last of our money to buy tickets to a rock festival. The only problem was that we had no money left for food. Soon we discovered that we could ‘earn’ food and drinks by returning plastic cups to the catering company. We had so much fun collecting the cups and trying to get as many as possible that we almost forgot to listen to the music!

WHLG: What is your scariest travel experience?
Laura: It really was not scary, but once when I was hitchhiking, a car stopped and I opened the door. At first glance there was nothing wrong in particular, but my intuition said to not get in. So I said thanks and closed the door, letting him drive off without me. I still think it was a good decision.

WHLG: If you could go on holiday with anyone famous – living or dead – who would you take?
Laura: Johnny Depp! Do I need to say why?

Laura can't wait to show Lilou, her baby girl, all the places that she loves in Albania, the country that she now calls home

WHLG: Describe the best and worst accommodation you’ve ever stayed in.
Laura: Best: A really nice hostel in South Africa, where they gave us free lobster with their Christmas dinner. Worst: A hotel in Cumbucco, Brazil.

WHLG: Describe your earliest travel memory.
Laura: I was trying to snowboard with one ski when I was just three years old.

WHLG: Please briefly explain what you think local travel is.
Laura: As I’ve written elsewhere, it involves as many local actors as possible in the travel experience of the tourist.

WHLG: In what ways do you see local travel benefiting the country in which you live?
Laura: We have created a network of local drivers and guesthouses which we helped get ready for tourism. Nowadays we supply them with many tourists a year!

The entrance of the Cave of Pellumbas in Albania, now with a platform for stability and an informative plaque for visitors to reference

Its Size

For a long time, folk wisdom about the cave was that it was endless. In reality, though, from front to back, it measures 360 metres long, 10 to 15 metres in width and 15 to 45 metres in height. I had read a little about the cave before I visited, but the numbers don’t prepare you for the enormity of it once you’re inside. Voices echo like bat sonar off the cavernous walls.

Its History

Considered one of Albania’s many great archaeological treasures, the cave has received a good deal of research attention from the Tirana Archaeological Institute, as well as scientists from Italian universities. They have unearthed the remains of an ancient species of cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) that date back to 10,000 to 400,000 BC. They have also found traces of human activity from the Middle Paleolithic period, which spanned from 300,000 to 30,000 years ago. Evidence from the entrance of the cave suggests that these early humans were utilising the flint-sharpening and fire technology that developed at the time.

Albania native Endrit Necaj is dwarfed by one of Pellumbas cave's many stalagmites. Local lore surrounds some of their unique shapes.

The geological history of the place is also hard to fathom. I saw giant stalactites and stalagmites, but my little human brain couldn’t quite absorb how long it actually took for them to form. The average growth rate of a stalactite is 0.13 mm per year. The formations in this cave are several metres in length and even width. I tried to imagine the time involved, but then I stopped and just admired their phantasmagorical beauty.

How Much Work Has Been Invested in It

As we approached the well-marked trailhead leading to the cave, we were greeted by Behar Duqi, the local village guide and guardian of the cave. He collects the small entrance fee of 100 lek (about US$1) and offers to accompany visitors on the hike from the village to the cave. As we approached the cave, it was evident that forces were at work. Bilingual signs mark the way and warn against littering, guardrails line steep edges, steps ease along the steeper inclines and benches punctuate the trail at the finest viewpoints. The trail is impressively tourism-ready.

Immeasurable time, energy and care have been poured into the details of the trail to the cave, such as this hand-illustrated signage in both English and Albanian.

Who was behind this massive effort? With funding from the Dutch Embassy in Albania, the Outdoor Albania Association does ongoing work to make the cave accessible to tourists and to protect the area from degradation. The association, through its projects in Pellumbas, Vuno and other sites, has been clearing the path toward a more sustainable tourism future in Albania. This means tourism that places an emphasis on the natural and cultural assets of Albania, preserving these endowments over time rather than threatening them.

How Unnoticed It Has Gone

It is a wonder how an excursion this good is still so far off the radar. None of the many independent travellers I met in Albania had even heard of it. While Outdoor Albania offers a guided day tour, it has received little attention. The In Your Pocket guidebook does mention it, but Lonely Planet does not. Behar Duqi says that the cave received only about 100-200 visitors during the entire summer high season of 2010. Both foreigners and Albanians are missing out! Where is everyone?

Basking in the view from the mouth of the Cave of Pellumbas, Albania

The cave’s web presence is also weak. Several of the top search results were actually posts written by my friend Lieke Van Leeuwen, although by modifying my search to include the character ‘ë’ for the correct local spelling – Pëllumbas – a few more informative pages came up. Outdoor Albania Association also maintains a bilingual website about the caves and Pellumbas appears in an index site of caves.

The View

Description is insufficient here. The path looks out toward a stunning panorama. It must be seen to be believed.

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Situated in the southeastern Europe, the Balkans is fast becoming one of the most popular destinations for intrepid travellers. It’s a region of incredible untouched nature, delectable cuisines, rich historical lands begging for exploration and understanding, cool ocean breezes across golden sandy beaches, awe-inspiring mountain peaks dotted with centuries-old villages and genuinely friendly and smiling locals. The Balkans is also now quite a safe place to travel, so there’s no excuse not to visit this wonderful part of the world.

The Stari Most (Old Bridge) of Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, spans the Neretva River. Originally built during the Ottoman era, it was destroyed during the Bosnian-Herzegovian War and then rebuilt according to the old design and using as much of the recovered original stone as possible. The bridge and surrounding historic neighbourhoods are now a World Heritage Site.

Bringing new Balkan travel experiences to visitors in the region has been one driving mission of the International Finance Corporation Advisory Services in Europe and Central Asia (IFC is a member of the World Bank Group), along with the WHL Group and local stakeholders. Working together since 2008 to develop tourism market readiness and infrastructure, these partners have, through a Balkan Hotel Market Access Program, succeeded in improving access to the region for independent travellers who prefer to book and pay for services online.

The project targeted eight destinations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania for which Web-based travel portals were developed. In each destination, a local operator was carefully selected to own and operate the website, with follow-up support in technical development and web marketing provided by whl.travel (part of the WHL Group). It was not all about building websites though; the hard work fell to the local stakeholders, who worked directly with small accommodation owners unfamiliar with new technologies and therefore more reliant on traditional marketing. Despite the obstacles, Sarajevo and Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Bay of Kotor, Budva and Podgorica in Montenegro; and Tirana and Shkoder and the Albanian Alps in Albania are now directly connected to the global e-marketplace.

A screen shot of the Tirana, Albania, website

After just one year of operation, the Web portals made possible by the Balkan Hotel Market Access Program had already generated over €105,000 for small accommodation and tour operators in the region. With over 150,000 unique visitors and some 620,000 page visits, the project had far exceeded expectations. The ongoing impact of the project is now also expected to be significant, having spurred commercial development in new destinations across Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and further destinations in Albania.

“We managed to achieve all program objectives and the project has been recognized by the IFC management as successful and efficient with significant impact on regional tourism development,” praised Denis Mesihovic, IFC Program Coordinator. “The fact that the program revenue for the first year of the operations was three times higher that the program budget and expenses speaks for itself.”

This is no time to rest on one’s laurels though. “While giant strides have been made with the development of the region’s first online e-commerce enabled booking portals, there is still quite a bit of work that can be done at the product level,” said Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting (also a WHL Group company), the entity that managed the project for IFC. “As with many new and emerging tourism destinations, targeted assistance needs to be delivered to the individual hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses on issues like pricing and commissions, digital content development and e-commerce distribution.”