Bucket list: 10 sports every traveller should see at least once

This is it: the pinnacle of football fandom. Nowhere will you find fans as raucous packed into a stadium as intimidating. Nowhere will you be so enthralled and so amazed. This is La Bombonera, home to Argentina's Boca Juniors football club. The experience of seeing a game here is intense from the moment you step into working-class La Boca. The stadium sits in the centre of the suburb, amid houses and bars within touching distance of its grafitti-covered walls. Inside, the crowd is a roiling sea of yellow and blue that dances and shouts and cheers and screams. There's nowhere else like it.

Capoeira, Brazil

Is this a sport or a dance? Is it a martial art or a show? With capoeira it's sometimes difficult to tell, and that's part of the attraction. Capoeira is the perfect snapshot of Brazilian culture and history, a pastime with roots in African slavery, inextricably linked to local passions such as music and dance. To see capoeira is to witness the joyful flow of movement, as two "capoeiristas" engage in a series of high kicks and low sweeps, as they feint and weave, dodge and duck, all while accompanied by musicians and other performers.

Camel Racing, UAE

First thing you're probably going to ask yourself about camel racing in Dubai is: what the hell is going on? There's a lot to take in. There's the sight of the camels themselves, beautiful beasts that are treated as royalty by their owners (who might be actual royalty). Then there are the jockeys: not people, but small boxes strapped to the camels' backs. Then there's the size of the track, which seems to stretch past the horizon. And then there's the fleet of luxury cars poised trackside, ready to roll. What's going on here? Emirati camel racing.

Basque Stone Lifting, Spain

Surely not. Surely that guy is not going to be able to lift that rock. It weighs 150kg. No one could do that. But then, he does lift that rock. He grapples with it, flipping the huge stone onto his knees, bracing as he hauls it up to his chest and onto his shoulder. A referee yells and he drops the stone to the ground with a deep thud. And then… he picks it up again. And again. Welcome to harri-jasotze, or Basque stone-lifting. Join the cider-sipping crowds in the Plaza Trinidad in San Sebastian and marvel at the big men doing their thing.

Darts, England

Somehow, at some point, darts became fun. In fact, not just fun, but a riotously good time. Somehow the World Darts Championship, held each year at London's Alexandra Palace – aka the "Ally Pally" – became the social event for sports loving English people who enjoy mixing fancy dress and copious amounts of alcohol with their consumption of the big game. And so, this sport that features everyday men and women throwing tiny arrows at a circular target has morphed into a cultural phenomenon.

Schwingen, Switzerland

It begins with solemn prayer. The competitors gather high in the rich green hills of Switzerland and pause respectfully as Sunday mass is observed. And then it's time to wrestle. This is schwingen, traditional Swiss wrestling. It's little known throughout the rest of the world, and yet passionately revered in its homeland. This is a rural sport, a sport for farmers, for workers, for strapping lads in checked shirts who gather on these beautiful hillsides, don their "schwingerhosen", the traditional hessian trousers, enter sawdust-covered rings and then attempt to throw each other to the ground.

Naadam, Mongolia

First, you need to know about the Three Manly Pursuits: wrestling, archery and horse-riding. It doesn't take long in Mongolia to realise why these three sports are held in such high regard. This is a traditional society of genuine nomads who still live in felt gers, hunt for food, travel on horseback and value physical strength. To witness their feats, simply attend Naadam, an annual festival dedicated to the Three Manly Pursuits in Ulaanbaatar. It's a feast for the eyes, as arrows are fired, oiled-up men in leather underwear tackle each other to the ground, and wild horses are raced over distances up to 30km.

Sepak Takraw, Thailand

Wow. That's the word you will utter when you see your first game of sepak takraw. How do these guys get so high in the air? How do they twist themselves into those positions? How do they land without breaking something? Sepak takraw is basically volleyball, only the ball is a small rattan sphere and players can't use their hands to control it. What that results in is both male and female players leaping high into the air and performing entire somersaults in order to "spike" the ball over a high net. You will find this sport played throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos, everywhere from dusty clearings to modern stadiums.

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