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to the poor on Easter Monday. A more likely explanation of its origins is that it was a pagan fertility ritual. An 18th-century vicar unhappy with the festival’s heretical overtones tried to ban it. He relented when an unhappy villager daubed “no pie, no parson” on the rectory wall. The muddy melee is thought to have started when one year nearby Hallaton rushed the crowd and stole the beer. Thus this annual settling of scores is thought to be an early precursor of football and rugby. One thing it proves is that an Englishman will do almost anything for a beer. —CO’M

When to Go: Easter Mon.

Birmingham (97km/60 miles).

$$ Kilworth House, Lutterworth Rd., North Kilworth, Leicestershire ( 44/1858/880-058;www.kilworthhouse.co.uk). $ Dingley Lodge Hotel, Bed & Breakfast, Market Harborough, Leicestershire ( 44/1858/535-365;www.dingleylodge.com).

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Bloco da Lama Mud Carnival

Primal Scream

Paraty, Brazil

A mud-covered creature stumbles toward the bank of a giant sand pit. Other creatures emerge from the mud, some stumbling as they slowly drag themselves out, muck dribbling from their limbs. All that is visible are their eyes and teeth. It could be primeval man taking his first steps onto land. Instead it is a bunch of Brazilians intent on having one big party.

The fact that festival participants at Bloco da Loma dress up as cavemen and run around shouting “hooga hooga ha ha!” only adds to the Stone Age connotations. They bang drums and chant, bearing large grisly gods made from skulls and matted hair. Filthy shamans burn colored smoke and horses drag altars befitted with wigs and puppets. All the runners are completely black—the color of the mud they rolled around in on Jabaquana beach before running through the streets of colonial Paraty, frightening tourists who look disconcertingly spic–and-span and colorful. Bloco da Lama means “block of mud” and it is part of the 6-day carnival festivals that engulf the country in early February. While Rio de Janeiro, 258km (160 miles) to the east, has the big, brash sambodome, Paraty has the down and dirty mud festival. Streams of young people run through the cobbled streets of this colorful city, some bearing ghoulish puppets and floats. Huge quantities of the local brew cachacha is consumed as well as lots of cool beers in the bars and kiosks that line the town’s beachfront. Paraty is the home of cachaca, a sugarcane alcohol drink popular across the country; 1.3 billion liters of it is consumed every year, much of it during carnival.

The town has a lively arts scene with a bohemian feel. Once the second biggest city in Brazil, it thrived on gold and slave trading. Then the pirates came and the city proved vulnerable to attacks. The gold route moved north and Paraty fell into rapid decline. It was only in the 1950s that this atmospheric beachtown was rediscovered and an effort made to preserve and restore its charming architecture. Now it is a popular tourist destination in the Ilha Grande Bay with great bars and restaurants and a party atmosphere.

Its carnival celebrations are unique and have not been tainted yet by the outright commercialism that takes place elsewhere. Participation is open and free and the festival is still very much a local affair, though it is increasingly attracting foreign visitors. It can be difficult to tell locals from outsiders as they swarm across the streets. Everybody is covered in mud and they all speak the same language, which is “hooga hooga ha ha.” —CO’M

When to Go: Early Feb.

Rio de Janeiro (253km/157 miles).

$$ Pousada Bromelias, Rodovia Rio-Santos (BR-101) Km 558 Graúna, Paraty ( 55/24-3371-2791;www.pousadabromelias.com.br). $$ Pousada do Sandi, Largo do Rosário, 01, Paraty ( 55/11/3081-2098;www.pousadadosandi.com.br).

3 Wacky Climbing Competitions

If you’re eager to shimmy your way to the top of something, but think rock climbing or ice climbing is too serious, strenuous, or stuffy, perhaps you need to go out on a limb (or a log, or a greasy pole, or a tower of buns . . .) and look for a different kind of climb. Below are three climbing