Top Theme Parks & Resorts

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APRIL 2019 / 150

$ 4.50 / SLR 450 / NPR

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The
m i l y
Fa ay
o l i
H issued

INTRODUCING
SPA OF
THE MONTH
SONAKSH S NHA A CRUISE FOR EVERY MOOD
finds the magic of
ALASKA
Europe in Asia THE CARIBBEAN
SINGAPORE
 India & South Asia APRIL 2019

FA M I LY H O L I D AY

p. 83 Alaska, USA p. 58
Skåne, Sweden
p. 108
Copenhagen,
Denmark
p. 16 Berkshire, UK
p. 18 Netherlands
p. 14 Las Vegas, p. 12 Pennsylvania, USA p. 20 Rust, p. 118
USA Germany Prague, Czech Republic
p. 16 Orlando, p. 22 Turkey
USA p. 12 Paris, France
p. 70 Macao
p. 63 Switzerland p. 56 Bhubaneswar,
p. 126
Jordan Odisha
p. 14 Osaka, Japan
p. 134 p. 10 Spain p. 16 Dubai, UAE
Mexico City,
Mexico p. 20 Manila,
p. 92 Miami, USA Philippines

p. 52 Jodhpur, p. 68 Kuching,
Rajasthan Malaysia
p. 97 Bahamas p. 90
Singapore
p. 20 Dominican
Republic

p. 144 Victoria,
Australia

DEPARTMENTS WELLNESS & SPAS

04 EDITOR’S NOTE 56 CONSCIOUS TRAVEL 104 SPA OF THE MONTH 126 A JOYFUL JAUNT
A heritage walk through Our selection of the THROUGH JORDAN
10 REASONS TO TRAVEL
Bhubaneswar’s temples. Away from the clichés,
NOW 15 theme parks and month, reviewed by
an artist. Jordan’s less-visited
integrated resorts for 58 TREK A trail along the
cities spring a surprise.
wholesome fun. Eiger’s base revisits the 108 EXPERIENCE Hygge
lives it has claimed. in all its forms in 134 VIVA MEXICO CITY
23 WATCHES Timepieces that Eight neighbourhoods
Copenhagen.
come from a line of class. 63 WHY WE TRAVEL
to visit in the Mexican
A family is drawn to the 110 EXPERT TALK
24 STYLE The fashion guide to capital.
volcano-hit Big Island. Celebrity Pilates trainer
dressing up for the summer.
What to do Namrata Purohit tells us
65 WANDER ON THE COVER
28 PEOPLE Cricketer Suresh in 24 hours in Skane, how to get fit.
Sonakshi Sinha at
Raina spills the beans on Sweden. The Parisian Macao.
112 DIET AND NUTRITION
his favourite haunts. A 30-day plan to lose Photographed by Rohan
68 DISCOVER The first ever Shrestha; Styled by Mohit Rai;
44 CHECKING IN A Goa cat museum sits in a city those holiday excesses.
Hair & Makeup by Namrata Soni;
property combines local that loves its felines. Skincare solutions Produced by Aindrila Mitra.
116 DIY
style and modern luxury. with ingredients from On Sinha: Gown, Rami Kadi,
70 COVER STORY Sonakshi
46 THROUGH THE LENS Unreal Sinha cuts a caper at the hotel’s mini-bar. price on request; earrings,
Vinita Michael, `11,797.
postcards from Norden in Sands Resorts Macao. FEATURES
the throes of summer.
83 CRUISING 2019 Biking 118 THE CZECH LIST
52 INDIA INSIDE OUT An old excursions, a Danube Medieval history
fort gets a second life as sail, Alaska action, and modern charms
a house of heritage. Disney dreams. meet in Prague.

travelandleisureindia.in
EDITOR’S NOTE

Everybody has a summer holiday

Doin’ things they always wanted to
So we’re going on a summer holiday,
To make our dreams come true…

Come summers, and Cliff

Richard’s Summer Holiday from
the 1960s still strikes a chord.
After all, it is time for that annual
family holiday! This issue of
Travel + Leisure India & South Asia
is dedicated to making your family
getaway the most memorable one
yet, in every way possible. From
the world’s top integrated resorts
(p. 10) that both, kids and adults,
appreciate, to the world’s first cat
museum for ailurophiles (p. 68),
this edition will help you plan the ultimate family vacation.
This month, we whisked away Sonakshi Sinha right before 1
the release of her latest film, Kalank, to one of the best and
1. Sonakshi Sinha
biggest integrated resorts—Sands Resorts Macao. Both, The at The Parisian
Parisian Macao and The Venetian Macao, are charming in their Macao.
own ways (p. 70). Also, Chennai Super Kings’ very own Chinna 2. A cat
Thala, Suresh Raina, tells us about his travel plans beyond monument
in Kuching,

H E M A N T K H E N D I LWA L ; R I G H T R O W, F R O M T O P : RO HA N S H RESTH A ; K H U R S H E E D D I N S H AW ; CO URTESY O F D I S NE Y CR U IS E LI NE

cricket and his idea of the perfect family vacay (p. 28). Malaysia.
Speaking of taking time off for leisure, cruising is gaining 3. The AquaDuck
popularity among travellers. Our package, Cruising 2019 (p. 83), on the Disney
gives you the lowdown on the best cruises this year. My personal Dream.

favourite is the Disney Cruise in the Bahamas (p. 97). Closer

home, we take you on a heritage trail of Mehrangarh Fort (p. 52),
and a stroll in Bhubaneswar (p. 56), consciously immersed in
local history, serves up a fascinating platter of temple food.
In the Wellness & Spas section, we give you a step-by-step
guide to detoxing after you’ve had your epic summer outing
(p. 112). And starting this issue, our ‘Spa of the Month’ will take a
well-known face to review one of the top spas in India (p. 104).
So, what are you waiting for? Pack your bags and take off
’cause everybody needs a summer holiday!
2

Aindrila Mitra
aindrila.mitra@burda.in

# TNLTRAVELS ON
@TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA
@TNLINDIA

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 INDIA
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editor at large (wellness) Parvati Mohanakrishnan

editorial coordinator Kanchan Rana
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TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN
COMING THIS MONTH...
YOUR GUIDE TO THE ULTIMATE SUMMER DESTINATIONS SPOTTED
This April, make the most of your imminent summer holidays and explore Farhan Akhtar and his lady
gorgeous destinations in and around India to rejuvenate and relax. love, Shibani Dandekar, recently
completed a year of togetherness,
and the couple chose Mexico
Summer Destinations In to celebrate their anniversary.
Asia You Must Explore Major #FOMO, anyone?
travelandleisureindia.in/farhan-
This Year akhtar-shibani-dandekar-mexico/
This holiday season, explore
these five destinations in Asia 
to soak up some sunshine and
gather Insta-worthy experiences.
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summer-vacation-destinations-
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Indian Holidays To Take

With Your Kids
From the ruins of the Indus Valley
civilisation to the world’s largest DISCOVER
river island, these are little-known If you thought living in an igloo is
Indian destinations that will be something that only happens in
perfect holiday spots for you and Iceland, then we’re here to bust
your family. travelandleisureindia. myths. You can now live in an
in/indian-destinations-to-visit- actual igloo near Manali, Himachal
Pradesh. travelandleisureindia.
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Peaceful Getaways
To Skip The Crowd
While some of us love to check
into hotels on the touristy Mall
Roads across hill stations, others
love to get away from it all. If
you’re the latter kind, head to one
of these quieter regions in India.
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peaceful-summer-getaways/

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 APRIL 2019

THEME PARKS &

RESORTS FOR FAMILY FUN
SUMMER IS HERE. AND IT’S TIME TO GATHER THE YOUNG AND THE OLD FOR A FAMILY HOLIDAY AT THESE
HANDPICKED AMUSEMENT PARKS AND INTEGRATED RESORTS. BY DIVYA BEHL & VIKAS PLAKKOT

n o.
PortAventura World, Spain
An hour away from the Barcelona Airport lies the biggest resort of
southern Europe, PortAventura World. This Spanish wonder in Salou
houses three theme parks with unique features and several attractions,
the biggest draw among which is Ferrari Land. Experience the tallest
ride in Europe, The Red Force, that shoots to 180 kmph in under five
seconds and goes up to 112 metres high. Understand the history of
Ferrari, get into the shoes of an F1 driver, go Around The World in
Ferrari, or buy souvenirs from the original store. Besides the Ferrari
adventure, 17 cool attractions like the Bermuda Triangle wave pool
provides much-needed respite from the summer heat. Book a stay at one
of the five themed hotels of PortAventura World; it comes with day-long
access to Ferrari Land. Access to the parks with a night stay starts from
` 12,500; portaventuraworld.com

PA N AGI OT I S KOTSOVO LO S / A L A MY

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R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

n o.

Hersheypark,
Pennsylvania, USA
A ticket to Hersheypark is no less
rewarding than Willy Wonka’s golden
ticket to the chocolate factory.
Understandably located in Hershey,
this Hershey-themed park is literally
what its name suggests, and more.
Initially established as a leisure space
for the company’s employees, the
amusement park is today the perfect
place to bring family, friends, or your
partner. Enjoy the moderate to wild
rides at the park, or spend a summer
day at the waterpark. If chocolate is all
you care for, visit the next-door
Hershey’s Chocolate World, and
indulge in chocolate tours and tasting
experiences, or make your own
Hershey candy. When the sugar rush
hits, head over to the quaint woodside
cottages of the Hershey Hotel, one of
the three official resorts of the park.
Enjoy a relaxing spa, swim in the
indoor pool, play golf, or take a tour of
the town that is considered the
sweetest place on Earth. If you feel like
burning some of those holiday calories,
choose one of the Hershey Outfitters
activities, like kayaking or fly-fishing.
One-day entrance ticket in summer
costs `2,800; rooms from `18,000 per
night; hersheypark.com

FRO M LE FT : C HA RLES LUPI CA / A L A MY ; MIC HA E L VE NT URA / A L A M Y

n o.

Disneyland Paris, France

Baloo with his whimsical singing, Spiderman with his web-slinging, Disney
princesses with their wishful thinking, and Winnie-the-Pooh with his wise
sayings—all your favourite characters come alive at Disneyland Paris. What makes
this Disney experience unique is its French backdrop, located a 40-minute train
ride from Paris, and a Parisian version of the famous Disney castles. Scream out
loud at the 13-storeyed Twilight Zone of Terror that reeks of hauntings. Indulge
your senses in Gusteau’s famous Parisian restaurant through the 4D experience of
Ratatouille. For some real food, eat your way through Bistrot Chez Rémy, where
everything is oversized. Shop, eat, watch movies, or just take a stroll through the
Disney Village. For a happiness overload, stay at one of the Disney Resorts and avail
the Extra Magic Time reserved for the hotels’ guests. One-day entrance is `5,000 per
adult; disneylandparis.com

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R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

The thrill of visiting a Universal Studios multiplies in Osaka, Japan, where the destination magnifies the magic.
n o. One of the most visited Universal Studios, the Japanese edition takes the wizardry of theme parks up a notch
with its exclusive Harry Potter-themed rides and immersive shows that draw Potterheads from around the
Universal globe. The award-winning ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey has recently been upgraded to an
extraordinary 360o sensory experience. Opt for Wand Study to brush up those magic skills you have been hiding
Studios Japan under your Muggle mask. Sip on specially-brewed draft beer at Hog’s Head tavern as the kids get a taste of the
non-alcoholic Butterbeer, or enjoy a filling meal at Three Broomsticks. If you’re not a Potterhead, there’s a
Minion Park, a Hollywood area, and a deadly Jaws ride, among other experiences. Entrance from `4,300; usj.co.jp

n o.

Wynn Las Vegas

Located on the famous Las Vegas Strip, Wynn is a luxury resort and
casino featuring daily theatrical shows, a boutique shopping complex,
a 20-acre lagoon, a gorgeous golf course, and of course, a world-class
casino. The holder of the most Forbes five-star awards on the planet,
FRO M TO P: S HUT TE RSTO CK ; HE MIS / A L A MY

the property boasts Asia’s finest features—from spas to restaurants.

On any given day, you could go shopping for fashion accessories at the
plaza, take a customised spa treatment at the award-winning facility,
follow it up with a delightful Cantonese dinner at the Michelin-star
Wing Lei, get entertained through shows like La Reve or a Robbie
Williams live show, and take the night deep in one of its three
signature nightclubs. Check into the Deluxe Panoramic View Room
that looks over the strip from the 28th floor. For those who wish to
linger longer, there’s a wide menu of experiences ranging from
winemaking sessions to sushi masterclasses. Panoramic View Room
from `30,000; wynnlasvegas.com

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 Kanto Lampo Waterfall, Bali

Explore the Calmness

of a Blissful Adventure
Integrate your mind, body, and spirit. Seek the serenity of balanced
well-being. One of the many ways to discover it is by getting closer to
nature. Have a break, a meaningful one to harmonize your energy
by exploring our land. Witness a fragment of our exquisite cultures,
ethereal landscapes, tantalizing dishes, and everything you've never
imagined in Bali. A heavenly destination blessed with dazzling
sensory indulgences above and below the horizon. Find your perfect
match and discover more exciting treasures on our website. Rejoice
beyond the bound in the home of beautiful treasures.

www.indonesia.travel
indonesia.travel
Indonesia.Travel
indtravel
R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

n o.

LEGOLAND
Windsor Resort,
United Kingdom
Eat, sleep, and drink LEGO at one of the
largest and coolest LEGO-themed
parks in the world. Built for children
aged two to 12 and for any adult with
the heart of a two- to 12-year-old, this
amusement park located in Berkshire
has been meticulously designed piece n o.
SeaWorld Orlando, USA
by piece. Choose one of the 55 rides like
the Dragon, that goes all the way up and On one hand, you could go dancing with dolphins or feed sea lions, and on the other,
down through a castle, or earn your test your mettle by strapping yourself into giant rollercoasters. The US-headquartered
first driving license at the Lego Driving chain of marine parks is a combination of animal encounters and adrenaline-pumping
School. Attend the spookiest of parties rides, with its Orlando branch being among the original ones. The signature show,
at the Monster House Haunted Party, featuring the park’s resident orcas, brings you up close with one of the ocean’s most
where Lord Vampyre awaits, or buy a fascinating creatures while educating you about its life and conservation. The Atlantic
ticket for a 4D LEGO movie—the two bottlenose dolphins are another highlight, with opportunities for personal up-close
latest additions to the park. There are encounters as well as a theatrical show. Away from the animals, Mako is a family roller-
12 themed areas, each with a unique coaster ride widely believed to be the tallest and fastest in the Florida area. The park is
plot, like The Land of the Vikings, best experienced on a full hotel package that comes with top seats at shows. A two-night
Miniland, etc. At the Imagination all-inclusive package at Holiday Inn Express begins at `18,000; seaworld.com/orlando
Centre, children can build their very
own digital fish as they gobble up fresh
donuts. If you’re visiting in the
sweltering summer, cool off at the
Drench Towers. An all-inclusive ticket

CLO CK W I SE : C O URTESY O F S EAWO RL D; S HUT TE R STO CK; C HA RLOT T E BA L L-PA I MAG ES / CO N TRI BUTO R / GE TT Y IM AG ES
is `3,800 online; legoland.co.uk

n o.
Dubai Parks and Resorts, UAE
Bhuvan from Lagaan awaits at The Thrill of Victory, where you can
play a game of cricket against a team of British Raj. If Krrish is your
kids’ favourite superhero, choose Hero’s Flight, a 4D flying theatre.
This is the first-ever Bollywood-themed amusement park, one of
five parks at the stunning Dubai Parks and Resorts. Stroll through
the dazzling Mumbai Chowk, snack at Bollywood Boulevard, or
make your own version of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. You can also
immerse yourself in the full-fledged Legoland and LEGO-themed
Waterpark; there are 40 LEGO-themed rides and 20 water rides. To
make the best of your time, stay at the Polynesian-themed resort
Lapita. Doubles at Lapita from `12,000; dubaiparksandreorts.com

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the Ent
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New Delhi: Mumbai:
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R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

n o.

Tivoli Gardens,
Denmark
Georg Carstensen’s love for
amusement parks gave birth to
Tivoli Gardens in 1843 and is
believed to be the inspiration for
Walt Disney. This 176-year-old
amusement park retains its vintage
tint with unique features like the
renowned music school called
Tivoli-Garden, which accepts only
the best. Tivoli is not just about
thrilling rides; the love for
amusement is served by world-class
ballet, drama, dance, and
enchanting concerts. Every day is
marked by a different genre of live
music—there’s Friday Rock and
Wednesday Jazz. Unlike other parks,
Tivoli does something different in
each season—summer is marked by
n o.
Efteling Hotel & Theme Park, Netherlands
At the Efteling theme park, you walk into a life-size setting of your favourite fairy tale,
be that Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or Pinocchio. Known as the keeper of fairy tales,
Efteling has a theme for all kinds of fables—the old and the contemporary—creating a
mystical, romantic, and sometimes wild aura. Started in 1933 as a sports park, Efteling
brings together well-designed adventure activities within its themed sections, making
it a fun place for all family members. Feed the paper-eating Holle Bolle Gijs, who never
seem to get full, experience miniature dioramas, watch the latest CARO theatre, or cool
off in the Pirana river rapids. Eat fresh bread rolls at the underwater-themed Octopus,
order a stack of delicious pancakes at Polles Keuken, or enjoy Dutch specialities at the
adorable Poffertje. When visiting the park, stay at Efteling fairytale-themed hotel and
choose your favourite story setting for a cosy night’s sleep. Entrance is `3,200, doubles
from `20,000 per night; efteling.com
FRO M TO P: S HUT T ERSTO CK ; CO URTESY O F EF T ELI NG

outdoor activities, though there’s

fun in store for rainy days as well.
Classic rides like Animal Carousel
and thrilling ones like The Demon
make sure there’s something for
every set of nerves. Sip on the
175th-year special Nordic-style beer
called Cuvée Carstensen, relish an
array of cuisines, or just picnic in the
architectural wonder that Tivoli is.
Summer season begins mid-April;
entrance for kids above eight years of
age is `1,400; tivoli.dk

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visitabudhabi.ae
R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

n o.
Europa Park, Germany
Ditch the classic Euro trip this summer for an extravagant experience of 15
‘European lands’ built in a single theme park. Located in a small German town
called Rust, Europa Park has only one drawback—there are too many amazing
options to choose from. One moment, you are in the Variety Theatre of
Montmartre, and the next, you’re gobbling down Greek gyros in a taverna in
Mykonos. For adrenaline junkies, there’s the Blue-Fire megacoaster that touches a
speed of 100 kmph in about 2.5 seconds, one of the 13 spine-chilling rollercoasters
at the park. Move around the park in the EP-Express train, feast on scrumptious n o.
cuisines in one of the 20-plus bars and restaurants, live in the themed resorts,
cuddle up in rugged Teppes, or camp in your caravan. The little ones are known to
enjoy the adorable gondola ride through Italy, guided by Enzo the parrot, but if
Grand Memories
spooky is what floats your boat, Ghost Castle is the haunt for you. Splash Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic
A two-day admission is priced at `7,760; europapark.de

In the azure Caribbean, Grand

Memories delights with outdoor pools
and a splash park on its all-inclusive
property. A short hop away from the
tranquil Bavaro beach, amenities
include unlimited gourmet dining,
fully-stocked mini bar, access to a high-
quality water park, and a supervised
children and teens club, among others.
At the water park, there are seven giant
slides, including the lightning-fast
Space Bowl. Play with your family at
the wave pool, and enjoy non-alcoholic
drinks while the children go ballistic
with splash pads and spraygrounds.
Once you’ve had your fill of the on-site
park, you can go snorkelling in the
surrounding lagoon or head out on a
kayaking expedition. For a complete
experience, book the Diamond Club
Presidential one-bedroom Suite that
has a separate pullout couch for the
kids, a Jacuzzi tub, two private
balconies, and butler services.
Presidential Suite from `70,000 in
summer; memoriesresorts.com

CLO CK W I SE : A RC O I MAGES G MB H/ A L A MY ; CO URT ESY O F ME MO RI ES RES ORTS ;

n o.
City Of Dreams Manila, Philippines
An integrated resort that houses three luxurious properties, an extraordinary
nightclub, and a buzzing casino, along with a bunch of family-friendly attractions,
City Of Dreams Manila is a wholesome getaway in itself. Strategically located a
stone’s throw from the international airport, the resort can keep you occupied for
weeks at length. Here, you can experience golf like never before at the simulated
golfing experience of K-Golf, or ski down tricky slopes at the simulated Ski Rodeo.
Play Crap, a superfast table game, Three Cards Poker, or the classic Roulette at the
casino. For an entertaining evening, taste French food dished out by Chef Frederic
Thevenet. Alternatively, relish Japanese-Peruvian dishes at the classy Nobu
Restaurant. Buy apparels at Porsche Design, and pick up some luscious fragrances
at Art of Scent. Throw the kids a surprise bash with their favourite Dreamworks
character. Prices vary based on experience/hotel chosen; cityofdreammanila.com

travelandleisureindia.in
R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

n o.

Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore

Name it and you have it at Resorts World Sentosa. A full array of
activities focussed on water makes it a superb choice for summers:
watch over 1,000 species of marine animals swim around as you
stroll through the tunnels at S.E.A. Aquarium; greet Vanda, the
‘miracle’ zebra shark born without a father; or take a scuba diving
lesson in the aquarium awash with 100,000 sea animals. For the
adventurous, there’s cliff jumping at the Adventure Cove Waterpark.
Bombard your Instagram followers with quirky pictures from the
Trick Eye Museum, where augmented reality meets cool art, or feel
the chills at Headrock Virtual Reality experience. The cherry on top
is the in-house Universal Studios Singapore that features 24
exclusive rides and a series of character-themed shows. Snack on
local food at Sessions, or savour gourmet meals whipped up by
Chef Benjamin Halat at Curate. Sleep at Ocean Suites, where lower
floors come with a view of the underwater world. Prices vary based
on the experiences; rwsentosa.com

n o.

Cornelia Diamond Golf

Resort & Spa, Turkey
FRO M TO P: ZU MA P RESS , IN C./ A L A MY ; CO URT ESY O F CO R NELI A RESO RT
Located in the land of Rumi, the all-inclusive,
award-winning 5-star Cornelia Diamond Resort
and Spa calls for a unique vacation. The property is
surrounded by premium golf clubs that sit on
majestic Turkish landscape, the best of the lot being
the 27-hole Cornelia Golf Club designed by Sir Nick
Faldo. Sip on funky drinks at the Mermaid Bar, or
listen to jazz at the Seabird Bar, one of the 11 classy
bars at the resort. Meanwhile, toddlers enjoy the
company of trained babysitters at Baby Cornelia, and
the older ones get supervised free time at the Atlantis
Children’s World. While the kids play, you can melt
away in the inclusive Turkish Bath or Russian
Sauna, or opt for a private spa experience. Families
can bond over watersports, archery, boccia, dance
courses, bowling, and more. A Garden Family Suite
begins at `70,000; corneliaresort.com

travelandleisureindia.in
WAT C H E S

OYAL OAK FROSTED GOLD

OUBLE BALANCE WHEEL
OPENWORKED 41 MM
AUDEMARS PIGUET
t released in 1972, Royal Oak was
n instant hit. It still is. Launched at
019, the 18-carat white-gold case
ttering with frosted gold provides
ideal frame for the open-working
The golden double balance wheel
hanism, which improves accuracy,
enhances the dial. The bracelet is
red 18-carat white gold with AP’s
ous folding clasp. Price on request

CLASSIMA LADY 31MM MOP AUTO

BAUME & MERCIER
The Classima collection is inspired by a watc
from 1965 and represents the company’s her
of timepieces for women. The Maison launch
eight Classima Lady steel watches at SIHH 2
Capturing the essence of femininity, this 31m
automatic Classima Lady showcases a radian
dial in white mother-of-pearl enhanced by a
diamond-set bezel. `1,25,000

Keepers of Time
any luxury watch brands owe their
ess to the nurturing of families or
ct lines. These new watches are
s much for their brands as their
mes. By Mitrajit Bhattacharya

CLASSIQUE 5177
BREGUET
am-Louis Breguet favoured a refined
even in the 18th century, otherwise
oque exuberance. This simplicity
normal for Parisian elite. In the
reguet adds a fresh touch with
blue hands being transposed
presenting an unprecedented
grand feu enamel. Price on request

SANTOS DE CARTIER CHRONOGRAPH

CARTIER
The Santos collection derives its name from aviator
Alberto Santos-Dumont, and the new Santos de
Cartier watches celebrate the skies. Taking a cue
from his need for speed, the new Cartier chronograph
carries a single start/stop push button, visible at 9
o’clock, with the reset function integrated into the
crown. The piece is fitted with the 1904-CH MC
Cartier Manufacture movement with a chronograph
featuring a column wheel, vertical clutch, and linea
reset hammer. Price on request
S

WAT C H
Link Calibre 17, Tag
Heuer, ` 3,15,243;
tagheuer.com and in sty
le this sea
son.

Stay Sharp SHADES

“Angel” Acetate
Sunglasses, Dolce &
Gabbana, price on request;
Let your fashion statement spell dolcegabbana.com
out subtle elegance this season.
By Priyanka Chakrabarti

PERFUME
Le Vestiaire Des
Parfums – Velours,
YSL, ` 22,084 (125 ml); B E LT
yslbeauty.fr
Crocodile T Icon Belt, Tom Ford,
` 84,841; tomford.com

LUGGAGE
Lite-shock Spinner
75 cm, Samsonite,
` 32,489; samsonite.co.uk
EARPHONE
HOLDER
Headphone Holder In
Intrecciato VN, Bottega
Veneta, ` 25,219;
bottegaveneta.com
CLOTHES
Fall 2019 Menswear,
Ralph Lauren,
SHOES price on request;
Jethro Cuero men’s ralphlauren.co.uk
oxford shoes,
Magnanni, ` 30,473;
magnanni.com
SHUT TERSTOCK

travelandleisureindia.in
 7 FOR ALL MANKIND
ADIDAS
ARMANI
B A L LY
BOGNER
BOSS
B O T T E G A V E N E TA
BURBERRY
CA LV I N K L E I N J E A N S
CA LV I N K L E I N U N D E RW E A R
COACH
CONVERSE
DESIGUAL
DIESEL
DOLCE & GABBANA
DOUGLAS
ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA
ETRO
FALKE
FOSSIL
FURLA
GUCCI
GUESS
HOGAN
HOUR PAS S IO N
JACK & JONES
JIMMY CHOO
JOOP!
KIPLING
LA PERLA
LACOSTE
LEVI'S
LINDT
LORO PIANA
MAMMUT
MARC O'POLO
MAX MARA
MICHAEL KORS
MISSONI
MONCLER
N A PA PIJR I

EXCLUSIVE
NIKE
OAKLEY
PUMA

SHOPPING DESTINATION
S A LVAT O R E F E R R AG A M O
SAMSONITE
SCHIESSER
SCHIESSER KIDS
O U T L E T C I T Y. C O M SCOTCH & SODA
SEIDENSTICKER
SIGIKID
In the home town of Hugo Boss, OUTLETCITY METZINGEN offers a unique and stylish shopping
STRELLSON
experience in modern inner-city surroundings with award winning architecture. Only 30 minutes away from
SUNGLASS HUT
Stuttgart and two hours away from Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich, you will find a wide range of
SUPERDRY
premium and luxury brands in flagship outlet stores with savings of up tp 70 %* throughout the year.
SWAROVSKI
S WAT C H
If you are visiting from a country outside the European Union, you qualify for tax-free shopping with an
TEFAL
additional saving of up to 14.5 %. OUTLETCITY METZINGEN is the only outlet center in Germany that offers
THE NORTH FACE
an immediate tax-free refund on site in cooperation with the international financial institution 'ReiseBank'.
TOD'S
T O M TA I L O R
THE NEW OUTLETCITY!
TOMMY HILFIGER
In April numerous famous brands like Fabiana Filippi, Philipp Plein & Breitling will open their doors – be part of
WINDSOR
the spectacular opening event!
WMF
ZWILLING

* Compared to the manufacturers' former recommended retail price if there is any. and many more
 WAT C H
Tank Américaine Watch,
small, 18k pink gold,
diamonds, Cartier,
`2,15,9477; cartier.co.uk les this April.
’s buzzing loca
ame to Macao
Bring your A-g

Summer
Blush
Stay rosy and glam this summer with our
ADES
Se s, Bvlgari,
curation of the latest embellishments. om
By Priyanka Ch krabarti

RING
Crown 18 carat White
EARRINGS
Gold Pink Sapphire Ring,
Rose Gold and Blue Diamond Annoushka, `1,53,162;
Oyster Stud Earrings, Bee annoushka.com
Goddess, `39,499; harrods.com

CLUTCH
Ballet Pink Satin
Clutch Bag with
Crystal Bow
Clasp, Jimmy
Choo, `1,79,436;
jimmychoo.com

PERFUME
My Burberry Blush,
Burberry, `7,980 (30 ml);
in.burberry.com

CLOTHES
Lakme Fashion Week
FA C E M A S K
SS’19, Anita Dongre, SHOES
Mediterranean price on request;
Almond Milk Hangisi 70 Blue Satin
anitadongre.com
Jewel Buckle Pumps,
SHUT TERSTOCK

with Oats Instant

Soothing Mask, Manolo Blahnik, `76,732;
The Body manoloblahnik.com
Shop, `1,895;
thebodyshop.in

travelandleisureindia.in

Private Haven
Promising luxury for the entire family, immersive
activities for the kids, and dining credits, the
Private Retreats at Four Seasons Resort Koh
Samui and Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai
call for a long family vacation this summer.
WHETHER YOU HEAD TO the
cultural capital of Northern
Thailand, where Four Seasons
Resort Chiang Mai rises like a
fantasy amid emerald paddy
fields, or choose to spend your
holidays on the island oasis
of Four Seasons Resort Koh
Samui, you are sure to enjoy
a dream vacation. Fret not if
you have your spouse and kids
in tow, for these plush resorts
COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS RESORTS THAIL AND
are among the world’s best for
family vacations with two- to
four-bedroom ‘Private Retreats’
that allow every member of
the group to have a memorable
time together.
In addition to expansive
accommodations, indoor and
outdoor living areas, dining
spaces, private pools, open-air
pavillions, private butlers,
kitchenettes, buffet breakfasts,
Clockwise from above: Four
Seasons Resort Chiang Mai lets
kids immerse themselves in
local culture; families enjoy the
luxury of private pools at Four
Seasons Resort Koh Samui;
Private Retreats come with a
dining credit of USD 500.
bottles of wine for welcome,
and round-trip airport
transfers in a limousine,
the luxe Private Retreats
featurea dedicated ‘Kids for
All Seasons’ programme. It
makes sure that the younger
travellers are entertained
through the duration of the
stay, by offering a range of
fun and safe experiences.
But this isn’t all. The resorts
reward their patrons with a
USD 500 credit, which can be
redeemed for dining at any of
the restaurants (book by April
30, 2019 to avail offer).
At Four Seasons Resort
Chiang Mai, the kids can soak
in local culture by learning the
travelandleisureindia.in
SEASON'S DEALS
art of making krathongs from
banana leaves, painting on
traditional umbrellas, crafting
hill-tribe garments, and finally
showcasing their handiwork
in an exciting dress-up party.
The resort also offers to take
children for meeting resident
buffaloes at a buffalo-bathing
ceremony, and through its very
own working rice fields for a
first-hand planting experience.
At Four Seasons Resort
Koh Samui, the kids can
enrol themselves in Muay
Thai classes for endless
energy-packed activity, and
culinary sessions with their
parents to learn the secrets
of Thai cooking. The resort
also educates young minds
in sustainability—the Coral
Conservation Project has led
to over 16,000 broken coral
fragments being nursed back
to life under the supervision
of an on-site marine biologist.
fourseasons.com/thailand
—SUSHMITA SRIVASTAV
PEOPLE

SURESH RAINA
INDIAN CRICKETER

Straight Drive
A regular in the Indian ODI Cricket Team and an integral
member of three-time IPL Champions Chennai Super Kings,
Suresh Raina gets drawn to food and hates turbulence.
By Sumeet Keswani Lord’s Cricket Ground,
London, is one of
Raina’s favourites.

Favourite cricketing venues in

the world?
There are a lot of grounds that have
good pitches to play on, but my
favourite would be Chepauk in Chennai,
Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Lord’s
in London, Sydney Cricket Ground
[in Australia] and the one in Auckland,
New Zealand [Eden Park].

Do you explore destinations on

cricket tours?
When we go for long tours, we manage
to get a little time out from our itinerary
to explore the cities. But we hardly get
time to be adventurous, as the matches
are usually few days apart; we always
cherish the time we get.

Most memorable personal holiday?

I love visiting Amsterdam—it’s like a
second home. I think it was last year that
all of us—Priyanka, Gracia, and I—were
there, and we had loads of fun.
F R O M T O P : N I K R E AT E S /A L A M Y; C O U R T E S Y O F S U R E S H R A I N A
Favourite travel companion?
It has to be Priyanka, without any doubt.
She’s quite the explorer! And of course,
my little one, Gracia. And my
headphones!

Your worst travel nightmare?

Turbulence, without a doubt.

How hard is it to escape the

spotlight while travelling?
The energy that the fans have is so
humbling and motivating. I have been
fortunate enough to be loved by a crazy
bunch of people... I don’t mind getting
clicked with fans—they’re so gracious
and polite.

travelandleisureindia.in
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PEOPLE
Three destinations on your
bucket list?
Cuba, Japan, and Brazil.
Five things you don’t travel without?
Noise-reduction headphones, hair wax,
shades, iPad, and beard trimmer.
What do you miss most about India
while you’re away?
Food. I think the food we have in India
is tough to compete with.
How do you feel about sharing your
life on social media?
I share bits and pieces of my life on social
media, but there’s a side of me I keep only
for the people who know me closely.
travelandleisureindia.in
Clockwise from
left: Amsterdam
is akin to a second
home for Raina
and his family;
wife Priyanka and
daughter Gracia
are his favourite
travel partners;
Raina loves
Shangri-La
Hotel, Paris.
What does your typical holiday
itinerary look like?
I like the quietness of my holidays.
Simply lounging, engaging in casual
conversations with my people,
[and] eating good food really help
me get in my holiday mood.
What is the first thing you look for
while checking into a hotel?
If the bed has been properly done for
me to take a dive into.
What drives you to a destination?
It definitely has to be food. I am an
experimental person, and the thing that
attracts me to a particular destination is
CLOCK WISE: SHUT TERSTOCK; COURTESY OF SURESH R AINA; COURTESY OF SHANGRI-L A
the kind of cuisine the country offers.
Favourite five hotels in the world?
Shangri-la in Paris, Astarte Suites in
Santorini, Hacienda Na Xamena in Ibiza,
Soneva Jani in Maldives, and Hotel
Danieli in Venice.
Any bizarre airport experiences?
I’m sure this has happened to all of us at
some point in time. Gracia had just been
born, and I was travelling to meet her
and Priyanka. And my mother had
packed in several jars of ghee for
Priyanka to use during her postpartum
recovery phase. I was stopped at the
Amsterdam airport, and it was hard to
explain what that ghee was all about!

10
Reasons to put
Baden-Baden
on your travel
bucket list
Located in Germany’s Black Forest,
Baden-Baden combines Mediterranean
flair with cultural attractions.
1 Wellness: Baden-Baden
is home to a variety of
wellness hotels and spas
with exquisite treatments.
The modern Caracalla Spa
(carasana.de), for instance,
offers soothing relaxation in
curative thermal water.
2 Nature: In this ‘green city’,
you find numerous well-
maintained parks and gardens
to enjoy peaceful walks or
romantic horse-carriage rides.
Within the town and its
car-free city centre, everything
is reachable by foot.
3 Shopping: A number
of exquisite boutiques
offer high-class shopping
opportunities to visitors on
picturesque streets, the
shopping boulevard, and in the
neo-baroque old town.
4 Adventure: Surrounded
by mountains, Baden-
Baden is the ideal place to
enjoy outdoor activities such as
Every year, dahlias of 64 varieties bloom
For more information, write to info@baden-baden.com, or visit www.baden-baden.com.
hiking, mountain biking,
and paragliding.
5 Food: For gourmands, the
town’s restaurants range
from Michelin-star restaurants
to cosy little taverns and cafes,
offering both international and
traditional Baden cuisine.
6 Culture: The Festival Hall
Baden-Baden, Europe’s
second largest opera and
concert hall, hosts international
opera, ballet, and concerts.
in Baden-Baden’s Dahlia garden.
PROMOTION
Baden-Baden and the
surrounding Black Forest is
best explored by bike or foot.
Several museums and art
galleries serve to fill your
daytime hours.
7 Events: There is no
boredom in Baden-Baden;
look out for international
horse races, vintage car
meetings, food and music
festivals, summer concerts,
operas, and more.
8 Excursions: A trip to
the castle in Heidelberg
or Europa-Park, Germany’s
biggest theme park, are just
two of the many day trips you
can take from Baden-Baden.
9 Medical Care: Whether
it is preventative or
rehabilitative medicine, or a
medical check-up, the holistic
well-being of the person
is at the forefront of every
treatment in Baden-Baden.
10 The Whole Package:
The elegant spa- and
culture town of Baden-Baden
is packed with a variety of
culinary, wellness, cultural,
and shopping highlights in an
unparalleled natural setting.
It’s true what they say—“good
things come in small packages.”
P R I VAT E R E T R E AT
Living the
Country Dream
There’s no need to plan a long vacation abroad to live
in a cute cottage this summer. Karma Chalets at
Karma Lakelands near Gurugram is a well-kept
secret that lets you sample the sweet countryside
life within touching distance of NCR.
THINK OF DRIVING INTO a 300-acre green
sanctuary—spotting peacocks and antelopes
in the woods and crossing a colossal golf
course—before arriving at tastefully-
designed boutique villas, where you are
offered a refreshing drink made of Chinese
oranges and honey, as a welcome gesture.
How’s that for a retreat?
Just 20 minutes from the city of
Gurugram, the state-of-the-art Karma
Chalets at the boutique resort of Karma
Lakelands are the ideal accommodations for
a lazy weekend staycation. The eco-friendly
space has a nine-hole golf course, an animal
farm with horses, peacocks, antelopes, and
porcupines, an apiary, cycling tracks, serene
pools, zip lines, an organic farm, and much
more, that makes you forget that you are a
stone’s throw away from a bustling city.
Meandering paths through lush lawns
take you to the chalets—each designed
elegantly with a selection of photographs
travelandleisureindia.in
From top: Under The Neem lets you enjoy an al fresco dining experience;
the Nimoli Spa offers a wide range of therapies for the weary traveller.
adorning the wallpapered walls and
distinctive colour palettes on the upholstery.
From the French-press coffee machine for
your morning cuppa, to outdoor sit-out
spaces with hammocks and loungers for
your evening tea, everything has been
crafted with meticulous attention to detail
and personal touches. The boutique rooms
are divided into six categories—Studio
Magnolia (a junior suite), Rabbit’s Burrow
(a quiet retreat for two), Sparrow’s Nest (a
two-room space), Eagle’s Perch (a two-
room duplex), Lion’s Den (a three-room
spacious villa), and Ekant Villa (a four-room
luxurious cottage).
When you are done lounging in the
comfort of your chalet, step out to dine
at the cafe named Under The Neem that
lets you dig into scrumptious spreads
sitting under sun umbrellas. The farm-
to-fork concept here makes sure that the
wide menu brings only the freshest of
ingredients to your table, and you have a
chance to stroll in the kitchen garden to
see where your meal’s ingredients sprout.
There are swings and outdoor games to
keep the kids from getting bored while
waiting for the food to arrive. And then,
COURTESY OF K ARMA CHALETS
there’s Spa Nimoli, which offers a variety of
therapies and treatments that help you get
rid of urban lifestyle’s lingering knots. With
villas featuring all the modern amenities
and nature-rich surrounds, Karma Chalets
stands true to its motto—relax, rejuvenate,
rejoice. karmachalets.co.in
—SUSHMITA SRIVASTAV
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
 IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE ENIGMA OF
BLACK & WHITE
Just as design and photography rely on a confluence of structure
and fluidity, the culinary journey often begins with a study of
opposites. To celebrate the Black & White Editions of Polo, Ameo
and Vento, these expert proponents of their craft help us highlight
the purity of contrast.

BY GAYATRI MOODLIAR
PHOTOGRAPHED BY RAHUL JHANGIANI
STYLED BY TANIMA KHOSLA
HAIR & MAKEUP BY ROSWITA AKOLKAR
PRODUCTION BY IMRAN KHATRI PRODUCTIONS

Nachiket Barve
DESIGNER/STYLEMAKER

“When you strip away colour, you’re able to see details that you
wouldn’t otherwise. You reduce objects to their core.” There’s a
meditative quality to black and white that acclaimed designer
Nachiket Barve attributes to it having stood the test of time. Yet, it
does so while adding a graphic element to the silhouette. He reaches
for this combination at times when he wants to highlight structural
form: “When I want to express something that has strength, that has
an element of classicism, with repeating motifs, I think that’s when
black and white works its magic.” But black and white isn’t a static
concept—it isn’t restricted to minimalist and classic styles, and
colour isn’t the only way to dive into the fluidity of fashion. “You can
be as out there and as rebellious without the presence of colour. It’s
really what you make of it and how you carry it.” It also depends on
how well you listen, because whether it’s the material or the design,
the colour will make itself heard. “I can’t superimpose anything on
this. Take what I wore for this shoot: it’s a black canvas with a flight
of swallows. It’s all about the economy of white on black, as opposed
to it being too busy. The design dictates the colour.”
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E

Colston Julian
PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER

“It isolates emotion from the visual; it isolates the noise.” For Colston
Julian, who has showcased and played with the full spectrum for
more than two decades, cutting down to only two of them brings a
new sense of clarity to his direction, along with a purity of thought.
Of course, it also requires a different set of skills, one that many
don’t seem to understand the depth of. “A black-and-white image is
just a black-and-white image, but a real black-and-white image has
emotion, has definition and, most importantly, it has a purpose,
because there’s just one purity that has to stand out.” It grew to
become a personal space for Colston, and his portraiture speaks
volumes of this duality. He feels that urban landscapes can change
with a million shades of grey once he senses the singular raw
element that can shine through the chaos. But there’s a certain
amount of responsibility that comes with shooting using only two
shades, a responsibility of figuring out what you’re trying to capture.
“There’s a very fine line in black and white... either you get it, or you
get it wrong.”
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
 IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Vicky Ratnani
CHEF/GOURMAND

It’s easy to use a myriad colours to bring about emotion—especially

in food, when the hues available are endless. But, for Vicky Ratnani,
bringing out emotion in, and through, culinary masterpieces is done
right when it’s done black and white. “Black sets a backdrop of
highlighting the food more, especially brighter colurs, but white,
white reflects all the colours on the plate right back at you.” To get
through to the base level of emotions, you reach for this palette.
“Black is zen, black is noir; white, on the other hand, is more
friendly. Imagine if just by using a single shade, everything on the
plate could be enveloped together in a monochromatic hug.” In the
chef’s eyes, it’s like the two come together as narrators in whatever
story is trying to be told through the dishes, but silent ones that play
a game of juxtaposition, whether visually or through flavours.
Because what truly matters in the kitchen is that the ingredients,
and the contrasting textures and flavours, speak for themselves.
OFFERS
Summer Splash
Plan your next family vacation with
Trident Holidays, and expect to be smitten
by unmatched service, warm hospitality,
and some amazing family offers.
WITH SUMMER KNOCKING on the
door, and school kids gearing up
for their annual breaks, vacation
prices are on their way up. In
this season of family getaways,
Trident Holidays is set to serve
up some tempting deals.
For those who choose to
holiday at Trident Agra, Trident
Jaipur, Trident Udaipur, or
Trident Cochin, Trident Holidays
has special prices for double
occupancy packages that include
accommodation for two nights
and three days, breakfast for two
adults and kids up to six years of
age, 25 per cent savings on spa
reservations, happy-hour offers,
and an additional 50 per cent off
on the third night stay. You can
The serene pool at
even request for a complimentary
Trident Cochin.
additional room for two children
Cruise through History
Decked with the finest facilities, The Oberoi Zahra, Luxury Nile
Cruiser, Egypt and The Oberoi Philae, Luxury Nile Cruiser, Egypt
unfold ancient secrets, while drifting on the magical River Nile.
NOTHING SPELLS LUXURY like
a cruise in Egypt, the cradle
of ancient civilisation. When it
comes to cruising on the River
Nile—Oberoi Hotels & Resorts’
Luxury Nile Cruisers have all the
answers. Think spacious luxe cabins,
private escorted tours to ancient
monuments, gourmet food by master
chefs, spa therapies, and tailored
services for everyone on board.
The Oberoi Philae, Luxury Nile
Cruiser, with its 22 swanky cabins
and suites, lets you plan a dream
cruise vacation of four or six nights
on the River Nile between Luxor
and Aswan. The suites feature
The Oberoi Philae, Luxury Nile Cruiser,
magnificent bathrooms and
Egypt cruising on River Nile.
high-speed internet (for up to four
travelandleisureindia.in
A royal dining experience
awaits you at Trident Udaipur’s
Aravalli Restaurant.
up to 12 years of age at any of the
listed properties, except Trident
Udaipur. The families can come
together for bonding activities like
gourmet cooking, pottery, painting,
treasure hunts, and more.
Also on offer is access to the
Trident Kids’ Club at Trident
Hotels in Agra, Jaipur, and
Udaipur. The club gives little
vacationers a play area, splash pool,
swings, and a variety of games. The
facility lets parents find time for
themselves to rejuvenate at the spa
or relax in the pool. The package
for a 2N-3D stay at Trident Agra,
Trident Jaipur, and Trident Cochin
starts at `10,500, and at `14,900
in Trident Udaipur. Valid from
April 1 to September 30 this year;
tridenthotels.com
—SUSHMITA SRIVASTAV
devices), and the multi-level cruise
liner offers fine dining options with
FROM TOP: COURTESY OF TRIDENT HOTELS (2); COURTESY OF OBEROI HOTELS & RESORTS
western, Indian, Asian, and Middle
Eastern cuisines to choose from,
and of course, uninterrupted views
of the legendary river.
The Oberoi Zahra, Luxury Nile
Cruiser offers 27 luxurious cabins
and suites for the modern traveller,
a temperature-controlled outdoor
pool, traditional music and dance
performances, multiple outlets to
dine and drink at, and best-in-class
services that the brand is famous for.
The endpoints are the same, Luxor
and Aswan, but the itineraries are
five- and seven-night-long, letting you
explore ancient temples and famous
Egyptian monuments dating back
thousands of years at a slow pace.
Exquisite accommodation, fine
culinary options, modern amenities
and the best-in-class luxury paired
with sincere, intuitive, and ‘Heart.
Felt. service’ make Oberoi Hotels
& Resorts’ Luxury Nile Cruises the
perfect setting for the holiday of a
lifetime. oberoihotels.com —S.S.

Isle Time for All
Vakkaru Maldives has a tempting offer for those who wish to explore
the surreal archipelago with their family this year.
P
eppered with swaying
coconut groves, gorgeous
white-sand beaches,
turquoise lagoons, and
top-notch services, Vakkaru
Maldives is a timeless sanctuary
ideal for family vacations. Set
in the heart of Baa Atoll, the
dreamy Maldivian island resort
has launched a special FAMILY
AFFAIR offer that lets couples
bring their kids along to the
cerulean waters for little to no
additional cost.
If you book a villa for at least
seven nights directly on the site
(vakkarumaldives.com), you get
complimentary stay, meals, and
return island transfers for up to
two children below 12 years of
age. The offer is valid for travels
up to December 19, 2019. With
spacious luxury villas, an array
of family activities at Coconut
Club, scrumptious breakfast
buffets and special children
menus, kid-friendly amenities,
and tailored assistance, Vakkaru
Maldives makes for the perfect
destination for your next family
island getaway.
Depending on the family
size and individual preferences,
guests can choose to stay
at any of the spacious villas,
which have been thoughtfully
designed and categorised into
various types—Beach Family
Pool Villa, Two Bedroom Beach
Villa, Lagoon Villa, Over Water
Pool Suite, and Four Bedroom
Residence. All the villas come
with complimentary baby bath
amenities for children below
two years of age, while baby
For more information, visit vakkarumaldives.com
PROMOTION
Excursions like the
Dolphin Quest are fun
for the whole family.
Inset: A four-bedroom
overwater pool residence
at Vakkaru Maldives.
Bottom: The living
room of a beach pool
suite soaked in
tropical sunlight.
cot, stroller, bottle steriliser
and warmer, as well as monitor
device are available on request.
To ensure that vacationing
families get the most out of
their Maldives getaway, the
resort plans engaging activities
like family cooking classes,
which include everything from
picking up fresh produce
from an organic farm to
preparing a delicious meal.
You can also spend a day
at sea with excursions and
water adventures, including
kayaking, diving, snorkelling,
cruising, island-hopping, and
more. A certified team at the
Parrotfish Club makes sure the
junior islanders have a safe and
entertaining time. There’s also
an outdoor exploration space
with a children’s pool and mini
sun loungers.
The resort enables couples
to get some quality time for
themselves by engaging the
little ones in age-appropriate
activities, and offers a
complimentary three-hour
babysitting service per stay for
children aged three to 12.
TRENDSETTER
Mediterranean Magic
Sitting on a private peninsula in Crete, Out of the Blue,
Capsis Elite Resort is fit for a lavish family holiday with
unending views of the Aegean Sea.
WHEN YOUR DESTINATION is as
naturally blessed as Greece, the
number of hotels ‘with a view’ is
huge. In Crete, close to the traditional
fishing village of Agia Pelagia,
Out of the Blue, Capsis Elite Resort
(capsis.com) should be the leading
contender for your Greek vacation.
STAY IN STYLE
Accommodation is offered in three
collections—Classic, Lifestyle,
and Exclusive, each with a unique
concept and design. While The
Classic Collection consists mainly of
bungalow-style guestrooms, nestled
in a botanical environment, perfect for
small families, the Lifestyle Collection
is an all-suite modern art-themed
boutique hotel with garden- and
sea-view rooms and extended living
spaces. Located in the most coveted
travelandleisureindia.in
part of the peninsula, the Exclusive
Collection comes with utmost luxury,
and is ideal for large families and
groups—think seafront suites,
maisonette villas, outdoor Jacuzzis,
private pools, and exclusive services.
SOMETHING FOR THE KIDS
Within the resort, you never run
out of entertainment options for the
kids. The Capsis Minoan Amusement
Club, which is a one-of-its-kind
mythology-themed amusement park,
caters to kids as well as kids-at-heart,
and can easily occupy an entire day
of your itinerary. At the Labyrinth,
children play archaeologists, go on
treasure hunts, and solve puzzles.
The Teenagers Club, as the name
suggests, keeps the older children
engaged with sports like tennis and
basketball. Quality creche services for
Clockwise, from left: The resort is nestled in
a botanical garden; the one-bedroom suite in
the Lifestyle Collection has a modern vibe; the
Exclusive Collection comes with private pools.
kids between the ages of six months
and three years allow parents to take
some time off and enjoy their time in
mesmerising Crete.
A FAMILY THAT EATS TOGETHER
Out of the Blue, Capsis Elite Resort
offers a sinful culinary immersion in
COURTESY OF OUT OF THE BLUE CAPSIS ELITE RESORT
its seven multi-cuisine restaurants
and eight bars. From the Greek Seasalt
and Rosemary Restaurant that serves
lunch and dinner in a picturesque
seafront ambience amid olive trees
to H20 Gourmet Grill Restaurant set
alongside a pool that hosts a water-
music-light show each evening, the
dining venues are stunning. Moreover,
the resort’s private beach hosts a
restaurant along with a watersports
centre that offers water-skiing, fly
boarding, scuba diving, and more.
—RASHIMA NAGPAL
 PROMOTION

The Open Ocean Habitat

at S.E.A. Aquarium feels like
a window to the sea.

Deep Sea Dive

S.E.A. Aquarium™ at Resorts World™ Sentosa Singapore puts up a surreal,
immersive display of marine life from around the world. And there’s more to it.

H
ome to over a thousand species of on the functioning of S.E.A. Aquarium, or at Shark Seas, home to over 100 sharks
marine life, the S.E.A. Aquarium™ at Ocean Dreams, which includes a sleepover of 12 species. Visitors go through an
Resorts World™ Sentosa Singapore within the aquarium—you have plenty of underwater glass-walled tunnel that lets
is one of the most fascinating aquariums in choices to enjoy the underwater life here. them get a 180o glimpse into the behaviour
the world. Its total capacity of 42.8 million The Open Ocean Habitat is the pièce of the majestic creatures, including the
litres comprises more than 50 habitats, de résistance. Featuring a floor-to-ceiling nurse shark, black-tipped reef shark,
each an experience in its own right. Be viewing panel that is 36 metres long and grey reef shark, and the endangered
it immersive learning journeys such as a 8.3 metres tall, the habitat offers a view scalloped hammerhead shark. The most
guided VIP tour that gives you a lowdown that leaves you transfixed. Another Instagrammable spot at S.E.A. Aquarium
intriguing exhibit is has to be the sea jelly gallery. Combined
the Shipwreck Habitat, with special lighting effects, sea jellies
which shows how the such as the bio-luminescent moon jelly,
ruins of a ship evolve blue jelly, Japanese sea nettle, and white
into habitats for sea spotted jelly put up a bewitching show.
creatures to thrive— Conservation is an integral aspect
think squadrons of of the aquarium; environmental-friendly
threadfin trevally, in-house practices and quality care are
batfish, and more, a priority. Committed to public education,
amid colonising the aquarium is interspersed with
sponges and corals. interpretive panels, touchscreens, touch
You’ll also find the pools, and other hands-on experiences
endangered ornate that provide an immersive learning
eagle ray and shark experience for guests, young and old.
ray, which have been Several conservation projects include
The underwater tunnels consciously bred here. the Manta Ray Tagging Project, Save
make for an immersive For more sharks, the Irrawaddy Dolphin Project, and
viewing experience.
you must spend time Coral Reproduction.

Child enters free with 2 adult one-day tickets at USD57 (save USD20). Book your tickets at rwsentosa.com/IN now!
CHECKING IN
The Art of Goan
Hospitality
Located on Vagator beach, W Goa epitomises luxury,
local style, and contemporary sophistication.
Priyanka Chakrabarti checks in for an unruffled weekend.
From top: Rock Pool, the open-air beach club that overlooks
Vagator beach; a private dining room at Spice Traders;
the vitality pool at SPA by Clarins, W Goa.
travelandleisureindia.in
FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, Goa has
been my preferred getaway for some
coastal tranquillity. And as I packed
my bags for my sixth visit—a two-day
stay at W Goa—I wondered if the state
could surprise me after all this time.
As I reached the hotel after an
hour’s drive from the airport, I was
greeted by a huge W totem. Its grand,
golden, and mosaic-inlaid reflective
geometry represented what guests
were signing up for—entertainment,
adventure, and sheer luxury. The
totem could have easily passed
for modern art in a gallery. And
indeed, art seemed to be a strong
undercurrent in the design aesthetic
of the property. For instance, the
entrance doors of W Goa are gigantic
and pale blue, and they depict the
phases of the Moon—created by
celebrated Goan artist Subodh Kerkar.
The doors are always kept open.
Inside the hotel, I was enveloped
by a bohemian vibe right from the
reception—pops of colour, flashing
lights, hippie decor, and eclectic
murals inspired by Goa. Amidst all
this, Cher crooned, “Do you believe in
life after love?” Classic! You’ll know if
you are a 90s child.
My room screamed vintage with
hints of refined minimalism. W Goa
is known to do ‘sexy’ well. Think
pristine white walls, chandeliers that
flip colours at dusk, lilac furnishing,
silver doors, comfy beds, antique
wallpapers, and a huge chocolate
stiletto (entirely edible). To top it
all, my room opened to the cutest
balcony ever overlooking a pool that
was contoured with fairy lights.
W Goa caters to all kinds of
travellers. If your agenda is to party
till you drop, head to Rock Pool, a
stunning amphitheatre-style beach
club overlooking the Arabian Sea.
With the 500-year-old Chapora Fort
soaring above and a crescentic beach
below, this club has the best DJ
line-ups and theme parties. Sit back
in a cabana or grab a poolside seat,
watch the sunset while sipping exotic
cocktails, and binge on seafood.
If you like to lounge on holiday,
hit Woobar and let Vaid Niraj, head
mixologist, take care of your cocktail
cravings. I absolutely loved the Beach
Tonic—a concoction made of gin, tonic,
kokum syrup, and ginger. To satiate
your taste buds, you can explore
the Kitchen Table, an all-day diner
that comes with a pool and a cool
sun deck. I recommend their lamb
croquettes, lemon chilli coriander
chicken with poi (local bread), and
sea bass and fried mushroom. But
my favourite was the traditional Goan
thali that comprised mutton vindaloo,
fish rawa fry, poi, fish curry, tamri
bhaji, and mooga ghati.
If you lust after Peruvian and
Asian-inspired food, have dinner
at the Spice Traders, where chef
COURTESY OF W GOA
Dawa Lama whips up magic. I loved
the truffle tuna pizza and the sushi
assortment. While so much more
remained to be explored in Goa once
again, I departed with a bag full of
happy memories. marriott.com
The World’s
Largest Readers’
Choice Wellness
& Spa Awards

VOTE NOW!
vote.asiaspaindia.com
 the

Norway, Iceland,
Faroe Islands

travelandleisureindia.in
 A Nordic Summer
When you’re in Norden, ‘an invincible summer’ isn’t just a literary innuendo.
With the sun barely setting, summer is the time for exploration and nature therapy in
Iceland, Norway, and the Faroe Islands. Text & Photographs by Aamir Wani

From left: These colourful, wooden houses are characteristic of Bryggen,

a historic harbour district of Bergen and UNESCO World Heritage Site;
a lone cabin sits by a lake in beautiful Norwegian countryside.
 Clockwise from left:
Skógafoss is one of
the biggest waterfalls
in Iceland, with a drop
of over 60 metres and
a width of 25 metres.
You can walk right up
to it, but be prepared to
get drenched; Icelandic
horses, famous for
their beauty, can be
found throughout
the country, grazing
and running in farms;
Stoksness is sought out
by photographers for
its unspoiled dramatic
landscapes.

travelandleisureindia.in
 Clockwise from left:
The Faroe Islands,
a Danish territory,
is an archipelago
of 18 mysterious
islands with beautiful
valleys and cliffs;
apparently, there are
more sheep living
on these islands
than people; the tiny
village of Gásadalur
in the Faroe Islands
sits at the edge of a
tall cliff overlooking
the sea. This
majestic waterfall is
located right on the
edge of that cliff.

LAST SUMMER, I DECIDED to make a sojourn to the Nordic
region, namely Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.
These places are all the more fascinating because they feel
remote and almost untouched. The landscapes are
wondrous and beautifully primal, but also equipped with
the right infrastructure to enable you to rent a car and
explore them at your own pace.
I started the adventure in Oslo, hitting the city’s
revamped art district, before heading west to take in the
mountain terrain. The 28-kilometre hike to Trolltunga,
one of Norway’s most spectacular rock formations set
1,100 metres above sea level, was one of the highlights.
This particular peak juts horizontally out of the mountain,
about 700 metres above the Lake Ringedalsvatnet. While
28 kilometres of hiking sounds quite a stretch, the awe-
inspiring views of the changing terrain were enough
motivation for me to keep walking. Next on my itinerary
were the rugged fjord landscapes, best experienced on a
cruise. There is something majestic about traversing on
these waterbodies surrounded by looming mountains.
I then headed further north to the Faroe Islands. The
unique archipelago is home to dramatic landscapes, an
interesting culinary scene that includes blubber on the
menu, and more sheep than people. In fact, the stunning
Saksun Lagoon, nestled in a natural amphitheatre of steep
fells, cradles a tiny village that is home to just 14 people!
When you’re on the Faroe Islands, you find something
jaw-dropping around every bend.
Finally, I was off to the land of ice and fire. You just have
to take a short drive in Iceland to witness a stark contrast in
scenery. You can be driving through snow-capped mountain
ranges, passing waterfalls, and take a turn into fields covered
in gleaming volcanic lava or meadows of green moss. It’s
sometimes hard to believe that all these landscapes exist on
the same land. If that isn’t enough, the aurora borealis adds
an otherworldly dimension to Iceland.

travelandleisureindia.in
 INDIA INSIDE OUT

A NEW ROLE
in a
NEW ERA
Mehrangarh Fort has adapted with the times,
thanks to the owners’ vision to invest in its
shared heritage, discovers Radhika Tandon.

P H O T O S I N D I A /A L A M Y

The ceiling of Phool Mahal

inside Mehrangarh Fort is
decorated with gold filigree.
 A guard in traditional attire
peers out of the fort in Jodhpur.
Below: A palanquin from early
18th-century Gujarat.

MANY HERITAGE PROPERTIES have been turned into hotels The alcoves of Phool Mahal reveal faint,
and tourist sites, and countless more have fallen into
ruin. Mehrangarh Fort stands out, not just as one of unfinished pencil sketches left by
Rajasthan’s most impressive forts, but as a thriving the 18th-century artist who died while
entity in the life of modern Jodhpur. painting the structure.
The city of Jodhpur grew around the
built by Rao Jodha of Mandore in 1459. S
was occupied more or less continuously
descendants, the Rathores, until their m
F R O M T O P : R O B E R T H A R D I N G /A L A M Y; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M E H R A N G A R H M U S E U M T R U S T

Umaid Bhawan Palace in 1952. There is a

guides at Mehrangarh Fort will tell you—
not entirely accurate—of how the infant
Singh, was smuggled into the forest by a
in 1678, to protect him from Emperor Au
29 years the Mughals occupied the fort, u
now-grown king emerged from the fore
people and recapture his heritage. Ajit S
with building most of the fort as it stand
The Citadel of the Sun is built on a roc
metres above Jodhpur, and its walls soar
in places. Its benign presence is inescap
catch glimpses of the fort from virtually a
the old city. For 500 years, Mehrangarh
of power here. The rulers and their famil
palaces within its walls, its temples were
worshippers from the city, and its consis
of the arts made it the region’s cultural h
The weight of history aside, today, M
has taken on a new avatar. The present o
Gaj Singh, or Bapji as he is fondly referre
INDIA INSIDE OUT

laid the foundations of this reinvention by

creating the Mehrangarh Museum Trust in
1972. One of the first initiatives of the trust
was to set up the Mehrangarh Museum,
which comprises several galleries that
exhibit around 15,000 pieces donated from
Bapji’s personal collection. As you stroll
through the fort, from gallery to gallery, the
exhibits are put in context and history
brought to life. There are myriad displays,
from priceless historical artefacts, art,
palanquins, and textiles, to quirky pieces
such as a pair of eight-kilogram dumb-bells
that once belonged to a queen.
You can also wander through some
stunning rooms, such as the Phool Mahal
(Palace of Flowers), its ceiling decorated
with gold filigree brought from Gujarat.
Peer up into one of the alcoves to see the
faint, unfinished pencil sketches left by the
From top: The 18th-century artist who died while painting
royal palace room it. In the Sheesh Mahal, the floor-to-ceiling
boasts intricate
gold and glass
intricate mirror-work is interspersed with
work; local colourful paintings. In the armoury room,
craftsmen are the personal swords of Emperor Akbar,
given space to
promote their Rao Jodha, and Timur are on display.
wares in the crafts If you happen to visit in the afternoon,
bazaar; personal inquire about the traditional feeding of
swords of past
rulers are the eagles. These birds are considered the
displayed in the protectors of Jodhpur, and every day,
armoury room.
visitors are treated to the spectacular sight

F R O M T O P : S H U T T E R S T O C K ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M E H R A N G A R H M U S E U M T R U S T; D O N M A M M O S E R /A L A M Y
of a man standing high up on a platform
throwing morsels of food up in the air,
with hundreds of eagles sweeping down
for a meal.
A visit to the fort is unlike any other
historic tour in the country, given its
excellent planning and curation. It’s no
surprise then that Mehrangarh draws
over a million visitors each year. The
museum shop, which feels more like
an eclectic boutique, is the only Indian
accredited member of the Museum Store
Association, an international association
of non-profit retail professionals and
museum store vendors. It showcases
the best of art and craft from the region,
carefully selected to appeal to global
tourists. Started on a shoestring budget
in 1998 as an experiment, it now accounts
for a substantial portion of the fort’s
income. There is also the crafts bazaar,
where 60 local craftspeople are given
space to promote their wares over
the course of the year. The trust has also
had several international travelling

travelandleisureindia.in
 exhibitions. The current one, Peacock in the Desert,
features 250 pieces of art and treasures, including a
Rolls Royce and a massive 17th-century court tent,
from the house of Marwar. It opened in Houston last
year, and is now moving from the US to Canada
before going on to Europe.
There are daily folk-dance and music performances
on the fort premises. Since 2007, Mehrangarh has also
hosted several unique music festivals, which have
become annual events. The Rajasthan International
Folk Festival is held in October. The Flamenco and
Gypsy festival is another draw, and the World Sacred
Spirit Festival in February is firmly established on the
F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M E H R A N G A R H M U S E U M T R U S T; T I M G R A H A M /A L A M Y
Above, left to right: [makes] them see it as their fort. And they
A painting depicts
Maharaja Abhai Singh
get to meet the world at their fort.” While she
of Marwar on horseback; modestly terms her work as ‘fun projects’,
the various galleries in these ventures not only create a sense of
the fort-turned-museum
display quirky historical ownership within the community, but also
artefacts that lend bring in tourism and generate income that
historical context to the goes back to the people.
heritage structure.
Her latest project is to marry modern
design with traditional crafts. Jewellery
designer Laura Masolek is one of the people
involved in this initiative. A visiting Luce
Scholar, Masolek collaborated with the
craftspeople of the Thatera community,

world music circuit. The festivals bring thousands of helping design simple jewellery that sold
THE DETAILS
visitors to Jodhpur, and have also led to musical out at a recent music festival.
collaborations between traditional musicians and GETTING THERE The fort stays open throughout the
There are multiple
international artists, creating a world of new sounds. week. At the end of the day, when the
direct flights from Delhi
Mehrangarh’s tradition of patronage of the arts is to Jodhpur daily. tourists depart, a handful of visiting
perhaps stronger now than ever before. This is possibly WHERE TO STAY
scholars, researchers, and interns are left,
because the fort has been thrown open for the people of Umaid Bhawan housed in a space called the Scholar’s
Jodhpur to share. Shivranjani, Bapji’s daughter, who Palace (from `57,500; Retreat at the top of the fort. What’s it like
spearheads several projects at the fort and is the driving tajhotels.com), RAAS to stay there, I wonder. “Sometimes, I have
Jodhpur (from
force behind the music festivals, recalls how, as a `21,000; raasjodhpur. to pinch myself,” laughs Masolek. “As a
youngster returning from a UK university, she found com), and Ajit Bhawan designer and jewellery-maker, I find it
words like ‘heritage’ and ‘conservation’ intimidating. It palace (from `9,800; inspiring. I feel like I’m living the history.”
ajitbhawan.com) are all
took a while to find her niche within the family’s luxurious options.
Mehrangarh Fort is every inch the
enterprise. The music festivals, children’s programmes, living monument envisaged by its current
THINGS TO DO
and now, arts and crafts development are some of the A guided tour of the
owners. It is also a model for what a
projects she has undertaken. “I wanted people my age to museum and fort broader vision and a sense of responsibility
enjoy the space and not see it as daunting—as I had, for (mehrangarh.org) is towards shared heritage can achieve. By
a must-do. Find the
it to be accessible to everyone,” she says. “The fort is alive adapting to a changing world, it remains as
schedule of the music
for everyone in Jodhpur, but to mix people from all over festivals at jodhpurriff. relevant and revered today as it has been at
the world and the local community at these events org before you go. any time in the last half-millennium.

travelandleisureindia.in
C O N S C I O U S T R AV E L
Taste of
Tradition
In the corridors of Bhubaneswar’s Ananta
Vasudeva Temple, a copious amount of holy
food is prepared and sold each day. By virtue of
this daily practice, visitors get their prasadam,
and the people working at the temple, their
livelihood. By Rashima Nagpal
travelandleisureindia.in
IT FELT LIKE THE BEST TIME to be in Bhubaneswar. The winter sun
shone brightly, the roads were clean, some neighbourhoods were
decked up with lights, lanterns dangled from trees, walls with
fresh graffiti caught my eye around inconspicuous corners, and
a cheerful uproar rose in the background—the Men’s Hockey
World Cup lent a festive spirit to the Temple City.
But hockey had not brought me here, the Dot FEST had. The
first-of-its-kind festival that celebrated Odisha’s cultural riches with
concerts, a culinary fair, literary sessions, and a variety of trails
around the city, had put the state’s tourism vision at the forefront
and exposed first-time visitors like me to its history and heritage.
Of the two days spent in Bhubaneswar, I especially enjoyed
COURTESY OF DETOUR ODISHA
the one that was spent trotting through the Old Town, as part
of the Ekamra Walks (ekamrawalks.com). Beginning with the
Mukteswara Temple, “the gem of Kalinga architecture,” my guide
Tushar offered interesting insight into the intricate details of the
sand-stone temples that dot the region. A bit amused, I told him
that it was pleasant to learn about ancient art and aesthetics
from a young engineer. “A lot of us volunteer with Detour Odisha

(the organisation that conducts Ekamra Walks; detourodisha.
com) over the weekends,” he said. “It helps us stay connected to
our local history.”
A breakfast of dahi bara aloo dum (buttermilk-soaked vadas
topped with spicy potato curry) and plenty of informative temple-
visits later, one thing was clear—the people of Bhubaneswar take
their history seriously. That part became all the more evident as
I approached the end of the trail, the Ananta Vasudeva Temple.
A stroll halfway around the Bindu Sagar in the heart of the city
brought us to the 13th-century Vishnu Temple. Unlike all the other
temples I had seen so far, this one was filled with food. “Two
temples in the city—this and the more famous Lingaraja Temple—
double as temple kitchens,” Tushar said. I observed men going in
and out of the kitchens bordering the temple premises, carrying
food in earthen pots. “Every day, food for about 2,000 people is
prepared and sold in the market square adjoining the temple. And
at the end of each day, the used pots are broken and discarded,” he
added. On one hand, this is a virtue of sattvik bhojan or prasadam,
and on the other, the practice sustains the temple workers.
From left to right: Queen Chandrika of the Eastern
Ganga Dynasty built the Ananta Vasudeva
Temple in 13th century; not a day has gone by
without food being cooked in the temple kitchens
ever since; you’ll find different forms of a lion
scuplture in Kalinga architecture; as a virtue of
sattvik food, only organically grown seasonal
vegetables are used in the prasdam.
It was late afternoon by the time we reached,
so I couldn’t see the beginning of the elaborate
process. Early in the morning, after taking a bath,
the cooks peel, wash, and precisely chop seasonal
vegetables using a traditional knife called paniki.
Once cooked, a pot of the dish is served to the Gods as
bhog, following which the rest of the pots are taken to
the adjoining market square for visitors who buy and
relish the food on banana leaves. Ritualistically, the
platter includes delicacies like dalma (lentil stew with
vegetables), chakuli pitha (rice pancake), and pakhala
(a fermented rice preparation), among others. It is
also common for locals to order an exclusive feast on
special occasions. By the end of the tour, I realised
I couldn’t leave without a taste of the divine. Before
I could ask, Tushar handed me a coin-size serving
of kanika (sweet rice sprinkled with raisin and nuts)
from the platter, a slice of centuries-old tradition
in my palms.
travelandleisureindia.in
TREK

Face to Face
with the

Seduced by the magnetism of the iconic

mountain in Switzerland, Sathya Saran
follows a trail along its base.

The iconic red Jungfrau

Railways train passes in front
of the Eiger’s North face in the
Bernese Alps, Switzerland.
 “ARE YOU SURE YOU want to walk the Eiger Trail?”
my guide, Roland, asks. “Yes,” I say, emphatically.
We have just got off the train at Eigergletscher
station and crossed the tiny tracks that take
thousands of tourists up and down the steep
slope to the highest approachable point on
Jungfrau every season. We stand—Roland, my
photographer, and I—literally at a crossroads.
The Eiger Walk leads one way, the Eiger Trail the
other. “The walk is only two kilometres long and
easy,” Raymond says softly. “The trail is not easy.
It is long, and there are steps.”
“Let’s go,” I say, and step resolutely on the path
that starts up the trail, looking up at the Eiger’s Here I am, at last, preparing for what the
North face, looming overhead. It is this mountain write-up called an easy ramble. The Eiger Trail
that has brought me here, and as I look up, leads you down from the Eigergletscher railway
I understand its magnetism. The dark, rough station through six kilometres of gentle slopes,
mass of granite, curving inwards to create an rocky outcrops, and green pasture, to the
amphitheatre of sheer rock, has indeed beckoned Alpinglen station below. It should be quite a lark
many, challenging them and often sending them From top: Starting for me, I think, as I have braved steep uphill
to their deaths. Ever since I chanced upon Joe from the same point, climbs in the Himalayas on my treks to the
the Eiger Walk is two
Simpson’s account of his audacious attempt on kilometres long and Pindari and Sunderdhunga glaciers and to
the mountain’s North face in winter, the Eiger has easy but the Eiger Gomukh, the source of the Ganga.
Trail is longer and
seized my imagination. And while I waited for an tougher; the Trail
But the Eiger is a notorious mountain. It shows
opportunity to see it, I read every book on the leads you six nothing of its true face to those looking at it from
Eiger, including The White Spider by Heinrich kilometres down from afar. Mountaineers going up the North face
the Eigergletscher
Harrer, which I rank among the best books on railway station to the encounter streams of icy water carrying stones
mountaineering ever written. Alpinglen station. and rocks, which sometimes come down with
F R O M T O P : S AT H YA S A R A N ; S H I V S A R A N . O P P O S I T E PA G E : A R T E R R A P I C T U R E L I B R A R Y/A L A M Y

travelandleisureindia.in
TREK
lethal force, and at other times, fly straight off the
steep slopes into the depths below. Despite being
lower than Jungfrau, the Eiger at 3,970 metres has
more blood on its rocks than mountains that
dwarf it. The slightest of clouds, Harrer notes in
his book, “caught in the huge perpendicular
upthrust of the Wall’s concave basin can kindle a
fearsome storm of hail, snow, and raging winds,
while the visitors at Grindelwald, just below there,
are sunbathing in their chaise lounges.”
I look up trying to see if indeed there is a storm
raging unseen, unheard, high on the mountain. It
is a sunny day in November, but I know now that it
means nothing. The Eiger, which translates as
‘Ogre,’ is not named so without reason. Though
today, he seems disinclined to put up a show.
What is putting up quite a show instead is my
right leg. A month ago, a nasty fall into a foot-deep
pit tore a ligament, or two, and walking has been
a challenge ever since. Despite a limp, I have been
pushing a few thousand steps on sightseeing
walks. But the Eiger Trail seems to have thrown it
a serious challenge—the stone- and shale-strewn
path is veering straight on at a steady incline.
Roland Fontanive is a man of the mountains.
Like many of his kind, he is shy of speaking about
his countless climbs in the Himalayas of Nepal and
travelandleisureindia.in
the Alps, and it is with much dexterity that I
manage to get him talking about his two attempts
on Mount Cook in New Zealand, the first thwarted
by whimsical weather and the second successful.
Having noticed my limp, he has brought along a
trekking stick. I feel no shame or hesitation in
Above, from left: asking him to hold my hand up the steep slopes,
The Eiger is just
3,970 metres tall
the shifting stones underfoot not only reach me
but has claimed through my thick-soled boots, but seem conspiring
more lives than its to send me spinning.
taller peers; rocky
outcrops, steep When the going gets especially tough, I think of
slopes, and green those who braved the mountain, and the gauntlet
pastures punctuate it has thrown at me seems a small one. Max
the Eiger Trail.
Sedlmayr and Karl Mehringer were two young
men from Munich, who, without fuss or public
announcements quietly made their way up the
North face for the first time in 1935, astounding
those who watched through telescopes set up at
Grindlewald. But the mountain was more than a
match. The Ogre had its victims when the two
men, after fighting storm and wind, icy weather
and mists for five days in the open, disappeared
from the mountain face hidden by mist, but their
F R O M L E F T: S AT H YA S A R A N ; S H I V S A R A N
courage would light the way for others.
Anyone who has read about the Eiger will know
the story of Tony Kurz, the 23-year-old German
Max Sedlmayr and Karl Mehringer, two
young men from Munich, without any public
announcements quietly made their way up
the North face for the first time in 1935.
 who hung by a rope just out of reach for two
nights. His friends had died one by one, claimed
by rock fall and injury; he alone seemed to defy
death even as the night winds stripped him of a
glove and frostbite numbed his hand. But he hung
at a point where rescuers could not approach him,
and when, on the last day, the rope thrown to him
fell short, it was too much even for his sturdy
spirit to bear. The visual of Tony slumped over the
rope, legs dangling in the air, has stayed with me.
What, I rebuke myself as my spirit balks at yet
another steep incline, is this compared to nights
alone on the mountain?
Then, suddenly, we are cresting a slope. A
board stands squarely ahead. I grab the excuse to
take a break, but need not have worried. As I study
the rough drawing of the first successful route up
the North face taken by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig
Vörg, Heinrich Harrer, and Fritz Kasparek in
1938, whose success came after the Eiger had
claimed many more lives, Roland pours hot tea
sweetened with honey from a flask and holds it
out. “Let us celebrate the end of the climb,” he From top: Edi Rainer the face of the Eiger. I shiver in the chill of my
says, eyes twinkling. “From here, it is easy...” then and Willy Angerer bookish knowledge.
(top), and Toni Kurz
with a quick look at my foot, he adds, “easier”. and Andreas
It is a long six kilometres. The path winds
Indeed, the path eases out. I take my eyes off Hinterstoisser (below) along, showing no sign of descent. Despite ‘No
the ground to look at the tiny flowers daring the died during an attempt Cycling’ signs, two intrepid mountain bikers rattle
on Eiger’s North face
frost that has created patches of ice in the shaded in 1936; the start point past. Roland warns them, one misplaced tyre
areas. The mountain itself is almost bare of ice. for the Trail is near the could send them hurtling down the craggy slopes!
There is no sign of the deadly ice fields that the Eigergletscher station. A picnic party watches us, as Roland tells me
climbers, one and all, had struggled through in many prefer to walk up the trail, and others just
their primitive climbing gear. Today, the come halfway to picnic.
mountain has been climbed via innumerable Scanning the mountain face, I see the
routes by teams from across the world; even Hinterstoisser Traverse, so named after Kurz’s
though records have been made and broken, the
Orge remains unmoved, inviolate. I fail to see its
deadly avatar though. There are no waterfalls, or
showers of ice. A cloud shields the sun, darkening
FROM TOP: IMAGNO/CONTRIBUTOR /GE T T Y IMAGES; SHUT TERSTOCK
TREK

fellow climber who first solved the problem of an

unsurmountable stretch of sheer wall by throwing
and fixing a rope across a ledge and traversing to a
more accessible route. Forced to turn back when
one of the four was injured by a falling rock, the
party could not traverse back. Not expecting to
return, they had pulled out the rope and the slope
was too steep to allow any foothold to fix it from the
other end. Hinterstoisser lost his life, but attained
immortality thanks to his skills. I imagined the
Traverse to be much longer, I muse, but then
realise distance is deceptive. The mountain’s crags
and crannies cannot be seen with the naked eye.
But it is the Spider I seek, as I walk along. Roland
points out the two windows in the rock face, from beak-like overhang covering it, the Spider funnels
where the attempts to save Kurz were launched. in ice, water, rock, and snow from all sides into the
From top: The Eiger
The window has saved many lives since. The Trail provides stunning
chute. Harrer and others had to fight the cold and
Spider, he says, is high up on the face. Straining and views of the Bernese wet and slippery surface of a narrow passage to
squinting, I follow the direction of his hand. I can Alps; the Heckmair climb to the next level. For the first time in my life,
Route maps the first
see why the Spider provided a deathly challenge. successful ascent of I am glad I am not a mountaineer and will never be
Forcing climbers to squeeze though a chute with a the North face. tempted to encounter it.
More tea, a sudden fall as my hurt foot buckles
under a round stone, a new bump on the knee, and
I can see we are on a downward slope. More
THE DETAILS photographs must be taken—I want to take the
Eiger home, since I cannot climb it.
GETTING THERE
The easiest way is Far below, the Alpinglen station gleams in red
to fly from Delhi or and grey. The downward slope is manageable,
Mumbai to Bern, though there is now the fear of falling again. And
or to Zurich, from
where you can take my foot has reached its limit. I sing to it softly of
a train to Interlaken. Joe Simpson, who, after four days of crawling
STAY
down a mountain in Peru with a broken shin bone
There are plenty of that stuck out at a 45o angle, went on to attempt the
hotels across price Eiger’s North face six times and write a book
ranges at Interlaken,
about it. But when, with the station in sight, the
your base. The choice
ranges from the iconic path gives way to steep broken steps, my courage
Victoria Jungfrau fails me. Every step is pure pain. I can feel my foot
(from `22,000, swollen inside my shoe.
victoria-jungfrau.ch)
at the luxury end, “I told you there were steps,” Roland says, half
to the mid-range in rebuke at my foolhardiness. “Not broken steps,”
Metropole Hotel (from I counter, but the banter distracts me enough to
`10,000, metropole-
interlaken.ch).
help me navigate safely without tumbling down
towards further injury. “But for my injured foot,
EIGER TRAIL this is a cakewalk,” I say, as the road broadens and
The special train to
Jungfrau will take you straightens. We have missed our train thanks to
F R O M T O P : S H I V S A R A N ; I M A G E B R O K E R /A L A M Y

to the Eigergletscher me, but “ there will soon be another,” of course. So

station, from where I watch the dusk settle in, wrapping the mountain
you can start the trail
or the easier Eiger in dark folds. Beyond, the Jungfrau shines bright,
Walk. The Eiger Trail its yellow limestone catching the remaining light.
takes about two and a Its slopes always ring with laughter of excited
half hours. The route is
fairly clear, but guides
tourists, and in season, skiers rush down its sides.
can be helpful. July Beside it, the Mönch stands sublime and silent.
to October is the best Three mountains. The Maiden, bright and
time; the trail’s closed fresh; the Monk, silent and serene; and the Ogre,
in winters. Contact
info@jungfrau.ch for diabolical in its mystery. Why, I ask myself, is it
guide bookings. the Ogre that calls to me?

travelandleisureindia.in
 W H Y W E T R AV E L

After the
MY DAUGHTER, AGNES, is four, which
means she asks questions like “Where
does hot lava come from?” So after

Volcano
Last year’s eruption of Kilauea scared some travellers
away from the Big Island, but for Jesse Ashlock
and his family, the mountain was part of the
destination’s appeal—that, and a very nice hotel.
BRU CE O M O RI / CO URT ESY O F PA R A D IS E H EL IC O PTE R S
Hawaii’s Kilauea began erupting last
May, we watched some lava videos
together on YouTube. When I told her
that we were going to visit the Big
Island and she could see the volcano,
she was excited, but said sternly,
“We just can’t get too close.”
Our destination was the
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai (doubles
from `66,000; fourseasons.com), known
for being the platonic ideal of family
vacation destinations. But for
a moment, another natural disaster—
Hurricane Lane, briefly a Category 5
storm—loomed. The news media acted
like Lane could spell the end of Hawaii
as we know it, but the folks at the resort
were blasé about it. And, sure enough,
our family—Agnes; my son, Rex; my
wife, Chi; and I—arrived to the
moderately humid perpetual 29O
Celsius for which Hawaii is so famous.
After a POG (pineapple-orange-guava
juice) in the lobby, we were ferried by
electric cart along serpentine paths,
past volcanic-rock walls and dense
native plantings, to our tranquil Deluxe
suite above King’s Pond, a man-made
lagoon. Inside are more than 4,000 fish
species, including a spotted eagle ray
named Kainalu, which the kids would
get to feed the next morning.
Walking the grounds, I came to
see the Four Seasons Hualalai as an
ingenious piece of social engineering.
It’s laid out as a series of interlocking
crescents, each speaking to a different
life stage. At one end is King’s Pond;
at the other, the golf course, with areas
in between better suited for couples’
retreaters and families with older kids.

The resort’s seven pools range from

the shallow, sandy-bottomed Keiki
Pool, for really little kids, to the adults-
only Palm Grove Pool, which has a
swim-up bar that serves a sensational
Hendrick’s-cilantro-cucumber-
jalapeño number called Cool and Spicy.
Paradise Helicopters’
Big Island tour visits the Chi and I took turns at the Palm
Kohala Waterfalls, Grove Pool while the kids napped. One
tucked inside the Pololu
Valley, on the northern
afternoon, I was sitting in the pool with
tip of the island. a novel and a Cool and Spicy, happy as a
clam until I realised the basalt deck

travelandleisureindia.in
W H Y W E T R AV E L
The adults-only Palm
Grove Pool at the Four
Seasons Resort Hualalai.
I was leaning on was really quite hot. As
if by magic, an attendant appeared with
a towel. I left the tab open for Chi, who
told me later that she’d been greeted by
name and shown to a chaise that had
been made up for her.
This kind of service—anticipatory,
empathetic, always nearby but never
intrusive—is like a glass of ice water on
a hot day. At first it blows you away, and
then it’s just quietly satisfying. We
experienced it at Ulu Ocean Grill, when
we had a dinner prepared by Thomas
Bellec, the executive chef. Everything
was marvellous: the craft cocktails,
the Kona Kampachi crudo, the special
grilled oyster Bellec brought Agnes
when he found out she was a mollusk
lover, and most of all, the double
rainbow that appeared over the beach.
And then, as can happen with jet-
lagged kids, everything went to pieces.
Just as Bellec began carving the fresh
whole snapper tableside, both children
had meltdowns. “Go,” he told us. “I’ll
have it sent to your room.” Minutes
after Agnes and Rex fell asleep, a waiter
arrived to set up a feast on the balcony.
Chi and I sat in the dark, devouring
that beautiful fish, drinking a lemony
Sancerre, and listening to the waves.
Early one morning, I left my
family to go on a group sunrise tour
of Mauna Kea, the million-year-old
dormant volcano that ancient
Polynesians considered the belly button
of the Hawaiian islands. “Thank you for
not being afraid of the volcano, the
hurricane, and the 2 am wake-up,”
Justin Larkin, a guide from Hawaii Forest
travelandleisureindia.in
HOTEL NEWS FROM
THE BIG ISLAND
Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii
The Kohala Coast resort’s
culinary revamp under
new executive chef David
Viviano begins with the new
Binchotan Bar & Grill, the first
restaurant on the Big Island
to specialise in robatayaki, the
Japanese style of cooking over
hot charcoal. Doubles from
`52,092; fairmont.com
Volcano House The view from
the only hotel inside Volcanoes
National Park has changed:
the lava lake is gone, but
Kilauea’s crater has gotten
much bigger—and because
there’s less volcanic gas in the
air, stargazing opportunities
abound. Doubles from `13,632;
hawaiivolcanohouse.com
Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts
Collection First opened in 1983,
Mauna Lani will rebrand this
fall as Auberge’s first Hawaii
property after a yearlong, $100
million face-lift that will add
three new pools and reimagine
virtually every aspect of the
hotel. aubergeresorts.com
Westin Hapuna Beach Resort
Last summer, following a
$46 million renovation, the
former Hapuna Beach Prince
Hotel—first opened in 1994 as
the sibling to the iconic Mauna
Kea Beach Hotel next door—
became a Westin, with four
new restaurants and a seductive
lobby experience that beckons
you down to the famous
Hapuna Beach below. Doubles
from `29,558; marriott.com
& Trail (hawaii-forest.com), said as he
drove us up the mountain in the early
dawn. At first, the sunrise was like
filigree lace edging the clouds, then it
flooded us with celestial light. Just as
cool was the shadow Mauna Kea
projected onto the atmosphere, just
west of Maui’s southern tip, which we
could see in the distance. Maui, Larkin
said, had begun life where Mauna Kea
is now, before wandering over the eons
to its current location. Set free for a
moment from the realities of parental
time, I marvelled at the slowness of
geological time.
Since I’d told Agnes she’d get to see
a volcano too, the hotel had arranged
a tour for us with Paradise Helicopters
(paradisecopters.com). Our pilot, Keith
Darby, kept up an affable patter about
the sights below, from the white-sand
beach where Captain Cook met his end
to the green, mist-enshrouded coast
near Hilo, where an ill-fated railroad
once ran. Rex was airsick, and Agnes
was more excited about asking me
questions over her headset than the
view. Eventually, they both fell asleep.
We circled the black-and-umber crater
of Kilauea, but it was obscured by
steam. “Not to rub it in,” Darby said
later, after we’d landed on a secluded
mountaintop for a quick picnic, “but
the lava flow was amazing until
August.” The ebbing of the lava has
been good for the Big Island, which has
been able to reopen Volcanoes National
Park. Agnes said that it was okay that
she hadn’t seen the volcano, because
“the helicopter was fun.” It was also
okay, I decided, that I hadn’t seen any
lava, because Hawaii was fun.
During one breakfast at Ulu, I
chatted with our server, Tiffany, about
the hurricane’s near miss. “For those of
CO URT ESY O F FO UR SE ASO N S RESO RT H UA L A L A I
us who grew up on the island, each day
is its own day,” she said. You get into
that mindset quickly here. The next
morning, Tiffany pointed out a pod of
dolphins surfacing just offshore. As
Agnes and Rex and I raced to the beach,
one corkscrewed out of the water and
landed with a splash.
Agnes turned to me, her face alight.
“We saw a dolphin do a trick!” I was as
excited as she was.

A Day in
Skane
Sweden’s southern county unveils a different
ON AN OVERCAST DAY, we took the Scandlines ferry from
Helsingør, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden. The
G U S TA F E M A N U E L S S O N / F O L I O / G E T T Y I M A G E S
geographies of the two countries were as different as
the names of their connecting towns were similar.
No sooner did I arrive at Skåne (also called Scania),
the southernmost county of Sweden, that the low-
hanging clouds lifted. The landscape changed
dramatically; I was surrounded by water on all sides
beyond the idyllic countryside. The houses were a mix of
National Romantic style of architecture—made of brick
and wood with inverted V-roofs—and contemporary
WA N D E R
o
idea of Scandinavia to Amrita Das.
design like ornamental windows and bright colours
including reds, yellows, and oranges.
The sights changed to forest trails as we drove up to
the peninsular Kullaberg Nature Reserve. Surrounded
by the Øresund (The Sound) and Kattegat straits, I
panned my head, gluing a pair of binoculars to my eyes,
to take in the spectacular panorama from Kullaberg
Lighthouse. This, I thought, is not how I had imagined
Skåne to be. After all, Scandinavia is assumed to be
gloomy and grey. But I saw shimmering blue waters
with numerous sailboats, under a crisp, azure sky.
travelandleisureindia.in
WA N D E R

Clockwise from far left:

The Kullaberg Lighthouse
offers spectacular panoramas
tinted azure blue; many
sailboats can be spotted on
the surrounding straits; the
Swedish ritual of fika sees
families and friends come
together to enjoy coffee
and pastries.

We walked a few metres down for an exciting

adventure—porpoise safari. After a few minutes of
anxiety on a rather buoyant ridge-inflatable boat
(RIB), I tried to ease into my seat and spot the
small-toothed aquatic mammals. Our hopes started to soon expanded with Höganäs APA (American Pale Ale),
dwindle in a matter of minutes. Whether that was a African Pale Ale High Nose, and Miss Behave IPA. They
result of no porpoise in sight or the overbearing sun, I now sell all over Scandinavia, Germany, USA, and
was not sure. But an hour later, when our boat parked Dubai. Magnus Einarsen in the brewery poured me a
back at the bay, we felt victorious having spotted two sample of their famous APA and studied my reaction
porpoises and a few seals. with his curious eyes. After a few seconds of silence, I
On my way up to the Visitor’s Centre, naturum answered his silent questions. I loved the APA’s hoppy
Kullaberg, I saw chiselled cliffs rise symmetrically yet delicious flavour, though the malty IPA did not suit
from the sea. Some cliffs were interrupted with green my taste. He cheerfully responded to my feedback,
shrubs, and hikers could be seen on those trails. There when I realised his big and intimidating stature was in
were also secluded coves for picnickers. Driving away complete contradiction to his lively personality.
from Kullaberg Nature Reserve, I waved at mountain
bikers who arduously pedalled on the incline.
Next, we made our way to Höganäs Saluhall. This
market hall is only six years old and a modern place to
shop for locally produced groceries, meat, and food
products. Open through the year, it is frequented by
locals who purchase Swedish food produce like freshly
caught herring, new potatoes, cheese, jams and oils,
and other ingredients. I walked around looking at the
larger-than-life asparagus, the kitsch-bottled
raspberry jams, and locally grown vegetables like red,
yellow, and green tomatoes. Further inside the market,
I swiftly walked across the bakery towards local
ceramics. The municipal of Höganäs is known for its
well established ceramic industry. Höganäs Keramik
dates back to 1909, and these salt-glazed earthenware
were one of my primary motivators to visit Skåne.
The display in front of me included the characteristic
brown Höganäs jugs (in many sizes), glasses and
modern monochrome and abstract artefacts, crockery,
and a full range of home-decor items. I walked around
a couple of stores for some time, trying to pick the
perfect souvenir and eventually arriving at a colourful
ceramic trivet from Höganäsgruppen store—one of the
many local manufacturers.
My aimless wandering in the market was
A M R I TA D A S ( 2 )

interrupted when a fellow traveller informed me of a

local microbrewery in the vicinity. Höganäs Bryggeri
started operations in 2013 with the Höganäs Lager, but

travelandleisureindia.in
 From left: The 190-metre 'Turning Torso' skyscraper soars above
Västra Mamnen; a kayaker rows towards the Øresund Bridge.

and using solar energy for heating and electricity.

In Flickorna Lundgren, in Skäret, I met even more
friendly and cheerful Swedes, if that was possible.
Flickorna Lundgren is a charming house immersed in
history. Mats and his wife, Ann-Lie, are the second
generation who run this cottage, which has been
serving coffee and cakes since 1938. Mats tried to
convince me that it was the tranquillity of the place that
brought people there. “When you’re passing through
the chestnut tree (at the entrance), you just relax.”
I, on the other hand, am quite certain that it is the
traditional experience of fika that makes their guests
revisit. Fika, a Swedish ritual where the entire family
F R O M L E F T: M A N F R E D G O T T S C H A L K /A L A M Y; L E I F J O H A N S S O N / V I S I T S K Å N E
Towards the end of the road from Ohboy Hotell, the
landmark Turning Torso jutted out. This 54-storeyed
residential skyscraper has a 90o twist from the base to
the top. Capturing it in one frame proved to be a bit of a
challenge. Next, we walked to Sundspromenaden
where local Swedes came out to enjoy the sun. Most sat
by the Øresund, while others swum in it. I noticed a few
skateboarders and many cyclists, and a group of young
girls who danced to music from their own stereo.
At a distance, across the glistening sea, I saw the edgy
Øresund Bridge, blurred by the golden evening sun. This
bridge would take me back to Denmark, with the new
idea of Scandinavia that I now had. A Scandinavia where
the sun shines at night, where people communicate with

and friends come together to enjoy a cup (or more) of
coffee along with pastries, in the outdoors of this
thatched red house is truly comforting. Flickorna
Lundgren’s homemade ‘vanilla hearts’ are a favourite
with everyone. Though I also loved the freshly baked
Scania ring with cardamom and sweet chimney
sweepers (a crusty bite made with eggs, nuts, and
chocolate). We whiled away our time under the late
afternoon sun with copious amounts of caffeine and
delicious cakes—keeping the spirit of fika alive.
Since we were in the county, a quick 40-minute
detour to the capital, Malmö, was mandatory. My
personal interests vested in the unique Ohboy Hotell
(ohboy.se), where guests are encouraged to stay with
their cycles on long- or short-term basis. It is a fully
sustainable hotel with apartments, and practises
sustainability by promoting bikes as a mode of
transport, growing vegetation on roofs and courtyards,
their smiles, and where blue is the warmest colour.
THE DETAILS
GETTING THERE
Many airlines like Lufthansa, Emirates,
and Swiss offer one-stop flights to
Copenhagen Airport (CPH) from Delhi
and Mumbai. From there, take the
20-minute train ride to Malmö.
STAY
Clarion Hotel and Congress Malmö
Live (from `8,500; nordicchoicehotels.
com) is centrally located and a few
steps away from Malmö Central
Station, with sea and city views.
Choose The Lodge (from `26,000; the
lodge.se) between Malmö and Lund,
for an indulgent spa stay. Experience
royalty in the modern Örenäs Castle
(from `13,296; orenasslott.com),
15 kilometres from Helsingborg.
EAT
In confectionery, try spettekaka
(pyramid cake) or äggakaga (egg cake).
In main course, preparations of goose
and eel constitute traditional cuisine.
SHOP
Try Höganäs Saluhall or Malmö
Saluhall for a market hall experience.
Formargruppen on Engelbrektsgatan,
Malmö; and Wallåkra Stenkärlsfabrik
on Drejarestigen, Vallåkra, are good for
local crafts including ceramics. Stores
like Marimekko on Skomakaregatan
and Norrgavel on Engelbrektsgatan,
Malmö house Scandinavian designs.

travelandleisureindia.in
DISCOVER
Hello
Kitty!
The Malaysian city of Kuching
loves its cats. Khursheed Dinshaw
purrs at the sight of artefacts in a
cat museum, and learns a thing
or two about feline history.
The solo white cat
sculpture at South City
Hall in Kuching is dressed
up during festivities.
Below: The monument at
the North City Hall has
nine cat figurines.
A CAT’S HEAD FORMS the entrance of the
museum in Kuching, Sarawak. I enter
through its mouth. On my left side is a
souvenir shop selling feline knick-knacks,
key chains, and fridge magnets. In fact,
everywhere I look, a cat stares back at me.
I am not being catty; this is the world’s
first cat museum. With almost 4,000
exhibits spread across 1,035 square
metres, the museum purrs its way into
the hearts of its visitors.
Looking at posters of people hugging
their cats, I wonder if the adage of a dog
being a man’s best friend has got it all
wrong. But such ideological dilemmas can
wait—cats in all their avatars, sizes, and
moods beckon. Shy, small ones; big,
ferocious ones; and those happily playing
with gnarled balls of wool. A hand fan with
a cat embossed on it gets the approval of a
feline lover who is visiting from the US.
An article at the museum explains that
the bond between cats and humans dates
back centuries to the time when man began
farming and had to stock his produce.
Inevitably, rats attacked the grain with
gusto. This is when cats came to man’s
rescue. Through the ages, in some cultures,
cats were considered good omens, in others
they were massacred over superstitions
that proclaimed them to be the devil’s
K H U R S H E E D D I N S H AW (4)
accomplice. There was also a time when
people believed that witches could turn into
cats, and hence, burned the poor animals.
In ancient Egypt, though, cats were
credited with bringing wealth and fortune.
Bastet, or Bast, was the feline Goddess of
 A wire structure at children’s play things, advertising material,
the Old Courthouse.
Left: Cat tattoos are
and textiles with design centred on cats.
common among the Mugs, slippers, wallets and purses, and
locals of Kuching. teapots wear feline symbols and pictures.
If you’re someone who stalks cats on
YouTube, this is your Disneyland.
It’s not just the museum, though;
THE DETAILS
protection. From Egypt, cats meowed their way to the city of Kuching loves its feline
Italy and the rest of Europe. By the 18th century, it was GETTING THERE residents. There are three prominent
common to see cats in homes. Sarawak itself has had Malindo Air has flights cat monuments in the city. A solitary
to Kuching via Kuala
a long association with felines. Dayak of the Orang Lumpur from major white cat at South City Hall is clothed in
Ulu tribe—which hails from Borneo—carried babies Indian cities. The cat traditional outfits during festivals like
in a woven basket embellished with colourful beads museum is located on Chinese New Year and Ramadan. The
the ground floor of the
and cowries that formed cat motifs. These designs Kuching North City second monument is on the border of the
were believed to protect the baby and repel evil spirits. Hall building. North and South City Halls, while the
Another article in the museum narrates a story of ENTRY monument of Kuching North City Hall
Lord Buddha. It says that all the animals were present Entry to the museum has nine felines.
when it was time for Buddha to attain nirvana, all is free; camera charges The waterfront market offers various
are `68. It’s open from 9
except the lazy cat that had fallen asleep. She lost her am to 5 pm every day.
cat souvenirs, while the old courthouse
shot at nirvana, however, over centuries, the feline has a wire structure as a tribute to their
BEST SEASON
charmed her way back to such an extent that she came The months from June
favourite animal. I have also noticed cat
to be worshipped in some parts of the world. to September are ideal. tattoos peeking from arms, shoulders,
Cats and superstition seem to go hand in hand. In OTHER ACTIVITIES
calves, and thighs of the locals. But it’s the
Japan, if a cat enters your home, then not only is it Stroll along the cat museum that deciphers the provenance
unlucky but the event also signifies impending poverty. waterfront, and take of the city’s name for me: the Malay word
an evening cruise on
In India, of course, it is said to be a bad omen if a black for cat is kucing. In olden times, cats were
the Sarawak River.
cat crosses your path. The Chinese believe that if they Visit the Tua Pek Kong often spotted along the banks of the
see a cat washing its face, it is a sign that a stranger will Temple, Kuching Sarawak River. Another river called Sungai
visit them soon. Many fishermen traditionally believed Old Courthouse, Kuching flowed through an area overgrown
Square Tower, which
that cats carried the souls of shipwrecked sailors, who is now a restaurant, with fruit trees locally known as Mata
could predict challenging weather at sea. Chinese and Fort Margherita, Kuching, or cat’s-eyes fruit. We all know the
paintings depicting cats with butterflies denote which houses the fruit as rambutan. It was Sir James Brooke,
Brooke Gallery. Also,
longevity. But there are practical reasons for the visit Semenggoh
the first white Rajah of Sarawak, who first
exaltation as well—in the Chinese silk weaving Wildlife Centre, called the town Kuchin in 1839, and in 1876,
industry, cats are held in high regard since they kill home to rehabilitated the city officially became Kuching. The cat
vermin, which would otherwise eat silkworm larvae. orangutans, and Bako museum then is not just a feline-lover’s
National Park, where
Kuching’s cat museum has no guides, but the the endemic proboscis haunt, but a short history of a remarkable
museum is easy to navigate. There are paintings, monkey resides. city that loves its cats.

travelandleisureindia.in
 A SLICE
of
EUROPE
in
ASIA
Macao is much more than ‘the Vegas of the East.’ We travelled with
Bollywood’s leading lady, Sonakshi Sinha, to discover why the
integrated luxury resorts of The Parisian Macao and The Venetian
Macao are the best in business, if what you’re looking for is
a European experience closer home. By Aindrila Mitra

PRODUCED BY
AINDRILA MITRA
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
ROHAN SHRESTHA
HAIR & MAKEUP BY
NAMRATA SONI
STYLED BY
MOHIT RAI
LOCATION
THE PARISIAN MACAO
 The grand lobby of The
Parisian Macao is inspired by
French decor elements.

On her: Gown, Gauri and Nainika,

price on request; cape, Namrata
Joshipura, price on request;
sunglasses, Misho, price on request;
ring, Outhouse, price on request;
shoes, Truffle Collection, `3,899.
The ornate entrance of
The Parisian Macao.

On her: Outfit, Emporio

Armani, price on request;
shoes, Christian Louboutin,
price on request.

Opposite: Nights at
The Parisian Macao
are glitzy affairs.
 he first few reactions I received from my peers
when they became privy to the fact that I was
travelling to Macao for a shoot with my crew and
cover star, Dabangg actress Sonakshi Sinha, were
predictable. “They have some great casinos!”
“Try the slot machine... it’s fun.” “Try your luck
on the table.” But there were a few suggestions
that instantly resonated with me. “It’s a shoppers’
paradise.” “It’s a great family destination... the kids will enjoy.”
Particularly, this one: “You should dine at the Eiffel Tower!”
Now I’m no gambler, but I love Europe, and if you
can experience a slice of two iconic European cities at a
destination that’s closer home in Asia, then why not? Located
in the heart of Macao—a 15-minute drive from the Cotai
Ferry Terminal—The Parisian Macao and The Venetian
Macao, part of the Sands Resorts Macao, boast over 6,000
rooms, 850 shops, and multiple fine dining options, including
the Michelin-star Golden Peacock.
American business magnate Sheldon Adelson, who happens
to be the world’s 15th richest person, was so in love with
Venice—which he visited for his honeymoon—and Paris,
for the city personified romanticism, that he decided to build
his Macao hotels emulating the two European cities. With
billions of dollars pumped in to get it just right, the doors of
C O U R T E S Y O F T H E PA R I S I A N M A C A O
The Venetian Macao were finally opened to public in 2007. The
Parisian Macao followed suit in 2016.
“It’s the most unique integrated resort offering, the
perfect location to experience Europe in Asia,” said Australian
Stephanie J Tanpure, vice president of sales, Sands China Ltd,
who has been in Macao since 2009. It’s no surprise that the
resort welcomes almost 70,000 visitors a day, who are served
by over 28,000 staff members of Sands Resorts Macao.
The Parisian Life
As we entered the gates of The Parisian
Macao, where the crew was put up, it didn’t
quite seem that we were in Asia. The fountain
reminiscent of the Fontaine des Mers, the gilded
doors inspired by Palais Garnier, the dome
fashioned after the iconic Les Invalides of the
7th arrondissement, the (mini) Eiffel Tower that
stood metres away from the hotel façade—you
could just as well be in Paris, minus the freezing
weather, and relish some egg tarts instead of
croissants! The Parisian Macao has recreated 20
Parisian landmarks, and deservedly earned its
French parallels.
I met Chef Emmanual Souliere, the executive
chef at The Parisian Macao, at La Chine, which
takes pride in serving Chinese food ‘with a
French touch.’ While the chef was undisputedly
French, he was proud of his “multi-cultural
team.” “I’ve spent 22 years in Asia,” he said, and
cautioned me against leaving the place without
trying the signature ‘Omni-pork.’ “It’s vegan
pork, made of cereals,” he smiled. I did try it later
the same day at the Market Bistro, a 24-hour
noodle eatery serving Macanese, Vietnamese,
and Hong Kong cuisines. As a hardcore meat
consumer, I was pleasantly surprised.
If you’re a family of foodies, The Parisian
Macao is a culinary paradise—from the
signature Chinese restaurant Lotus Palace (I’d
recommend the fresh oyster with bean curd
travelandleisureindia.in
A combination of pastels and
gold adorns the walls of the
gallery that leads to the
ballrooms at The Parisian Macao.

On her: Gown, Belluccio, price

on request; cape, Dhruv Kapoor,
price on request; earrings,
Shaze, `6,200; shoes,
Truffle Collection, `3,299.
La Chine at The Parisian Macau
is an elegant fine dining
restaurant that serves Chinese
cuisine with a French touch
and a panoramic view.

On her: Dress, Ashish, price

on request; shoes, Alexandre
Birman, price on request.
 Kids and kids-at-heart love
to go for a spin at the dreamy
carousel overlooking
the Eiffel Tower.
On her: Gown, Rami Kadi,
price on request; earrings,
Vinita Michael, `11,797.
custard topped with spicy lemon jelly and caviar), to the all-day
dining Brasserie, which offers French cuisine led by chef Daniel
Brolese, and Le Buffet, where I had breakfast every day (the
matcha buns are recommended), to Crystal Jade that serves
Chinese regional cuisine (Beijing, Szechuan, and Shanghai),
and finally, the Parisian Pool Bar, which is an al fresco cafe
with a view of the Eiffel replica. Your taste buds are bound
to be satisfied, vegetarian options included. Chef Souliere
emphasised, “We are working with organic products for the
vegetarian dishes across all our restaurants, and want to [push]
the vegan trend.” The assurance received a sigh of relief from
the vegetarian and vegan members of my crew.
As I headed back to my Champagne Suite overlooking the
Eiffel Tower, the Shoppes at Parisian housing popular Parisian
labels as well as international brands were in full business
with the Chinese New Year around the corner. Couples and
families with kids in tow were busy clicking the perfect
Insta-worthy image against the Eiffel Tower. Kids were happy
at the Qube Kingdom (the 2,000-square-metre indoor and
outdoor play area), and parents had enough ‘me time’ to enjoy
this recreation of Paris. And I couldn’t help but swing by the
Love Lock Bridge to reinstate my love for the ‘City of Lights’
and add my own love lock.
The Venetian Ride
The Venetian Macao has always been Bollywood’s favourite—
it has hosted two IIFA shows already. For me, the Venetian
Macao—conveniently connected with The Parisian Macao via
walkways—was all about the gondola rides while rejoicing
some delectable ice cream, and then hopping over to enjoy
my favourite pastime a.k.a. shopping at the Grand Canal
Street. Shoppes at Venetian is a 93,000-square-metre indoor
mall that features the best of global brands and is connected
with Shoppes at Four Seasons, Shoppes at Cotai Central, and
Shoppes at Parisian.
Inspired by the legendary Las Vegas Strip, when The
Venetian Macao opened its doors in 2007, it became the largest
integrated resort in Asia. From replicas of the famous canals
to the signature architecture of Venice, The Venetian Macao
is inspired by the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.
And while The Venetian Macao inevitably sees “repeat guests,”
as Tanpure confirmed, The Parisian Macao is where the next-
gen flocks. With over 350 stores at Shoppes at Venetian and
over 30 restaurants, it’s the perfect family getaway. As I waded
through what seemed like an unending shopping paradise,
I finally managed to catch up with the PR manager, Posy Kuok,
to experience a slice of India in Macao.
Welcome to Sands Macao’s one Michelin-star Indian
restaurant, the Golden Peacock. Chef Justin Paul, from Trichi,
Kerala, is the man behind the Michelin star. Extremely affable,
he greeted me with some kadak chai. “I was part of the opening
team at Sands Macao in 2007,” he smiled. “Then IIFA happened
in 2009, and suddenly there was a rush of Indian clients,” he
revealed, adding that his restaurant served no beef and pork,
and only halal meat. After spending five years in Hong Kong,
Chef Paul shifted base to Macao because it was “quiet and safe.”
When the restaurant opened in 2013, his challenge was to make
it one of the best eateries in Macao and Hong Kong—one that he
has successfully delivered—and the proof was in the pudding,
as I tried a meal there later that night. The kandari murgh tikka
travelandleisureindia.in
 Sinha checks in at
The Parisian Macao in style.

On her: Jumpsuit, Theia Couture,

`54,525; shoes, Alexandre Birman, price on
request; neckpiece, Misho, `18,800.

travelandleisureindia.in
 was one of the best I’d ever had. The chef told us that there
was a special Jain menu for conservative vegetarians. Would
you expect that from the ‘Vegas of the East’? Besides the
Golden Peacock, The Venetian Macao has several options
for fine dining. These include Cantonese delicacies at the
Canton, and Italian food at Portofino, among others.
I spent 72 hours in Macao. Experienced luxury at its
best, savoured fabulous delicacies, kept adulting at bay as
I Instagrammed the Eiffel Tower from a carousel, soaked
in the energy of the casinos, and realised that there was
indeed a ‘Europe in Asia’—one that’s easily accessible and
where my family would love to spend their summers.

THE DETAILS
GETTING THERE
Multiple airlines operate from
Mumbai and Delhi to Hong
Kong. Cathay Pacific
(cathaypacific.com) has direct
flights on the routes. Take the
Cotai Water Jet Ferry
(cotaiwaterjet.com) from
Skypier, Hong Kong
International Airport, to the
Taipa Ferry Terminal, Macao
(60-70 minutes). The Venetian
Macao and The Parisian
Macao have free shuttles
from the ferry terminal.
TIME DIFFERENCE
Macao is two hours and 30
minutes ahead of India.
CURRENCY
A gondola ride through the canals at While 5-star hotels accept HKD
The Venetian Macao transports you to Europe. (1 HKD = `8.94), local shops
Below: The one-Michelin star Golden Peacock is the accept only Macanese Patacas
go-to restaurant for quality Indian food in Macao. (1 MOP = `8.59).
STAY
The Parisian Macao has
3,000 guestrooms and suites.
These are divided into Deluxe
Rooms (from `11,600), Famille
Room (`15,200), Lyon Suites
(`16,100), and Champagne
Suites (`17,000). Taxes extra.
parisianmacao.com
The Venetian Macao has
3,000 suites. These comprise
the Premio Royale Suite (from
`16,100); and Premio Bella
Suite (from `18,400). Taxes
extra. venetianmacao.com
EXPERIENCE
COURTESY OF THE VENE TIAN MACAO (2)
The Arc de Triomphe de
l’Étoile (at Forecourt-Marquee):
At 30 metres, the Arc de
Triomphe marquee is an exact
representation of the original
neoclassical design by architect
Jean Chalgrin.
Fontaine des Mers, Place de
la Concorde (main lobby): Built
in the centre of the lobby, it is
one of the most photographed
spots in the property and is
made of 20 tonnes of clay.
Shoppes at Parisian: From
Avenue Montaigne to Avenue
des Champs-Elysees—enjoy
immersive Parisian retail
therapy across 150 luxury
boutiques.
Windmill (Level 6, Hotel Pool):
Montmartre in Paris’s 18th
arrondissement is marked by a
signature red windmill. At The
Parisian Macao, the windmill
stands at nine metres.
The Parisian Theatre:
The 1,200-seat Parisian
Theatre brings international
entertainment from around the
world to Macao. Think music
concerts, Broadway shows, etc.
The Venetian Macao
Gondola Rides: There are
gondola rides available through
the indoor canals stretching
along the Shoppes at Venetian,
with singing gondoliers.
Shoppes at Venetian: The
indoor mall houses 350 stores
that host luxury brands and
boutique labels from New York,
Paris, London, and Milan.
The Venetian Theatre: The

The Parisian Macao 1,800-seat theatre is one of

The Eiffel Tower (at Forecourt):
Half the size of the original, the
Eiffel Tower at The Parisian
Macao has over 6,600 LEDs
covering the façade and
observation decks on Level
7 and 37. Tickets at the Eiffel
Tower Souvenir Shop; `950 for
adults; `770 for kids under 12
the most luxurious in Greater
China, and hosts top Chinese
and international acts.
Cotai Arena: The 15,000-seat
arena was host to the IIFA
Awards, and has witnessed
shows from the likes of Rihanna,
The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry,
Lady Gaga, and Beyonce.

travelandleisureindia.in
 “Scuba diving
changed my life.”
KALANK ACTOR SONAKSHI SINHA IS A TOTAL WATER BABY.
HERE, SHE REVEALS HER TRAVEL WISH LIST, WHAT MAKES
FOR A GREAT ITINERARY, AND HOW SCUBA DIVING OPENS
UP YOUR WORLD. BY AINDRILA MITRA

What does travel mean to you? I went scuba diving for the first time,
Travel is something that I really look and it was the most surreal experience. It
forward to. It’s a gateway to the world; you changed my life. Though I haven’t gotten
learn so much, see and experience so many my license yet, I go freediving. I’m a good
new things. [Travelling] is the best way for swimmer, but I haven’t gone deeper than
a person to grow. 12-15 metres. I want to get my scuba diving
certificate soon. Just being underwater,
Your most memorable holiday? swimming with the turtles, seeing the
It has to be the first trip I took with my corals—that’s when you realise the
friends without adult supervision (laughs). importance of preserving the oceans.
We went to London, and this was just
before Dabangg released. I felt What are your top diving
independent for the first destinations?
time. When you are The Great Barrier Reef,
doing things on your SONAKSHI’S Bahamas, Seychelles,
own—booking your FAVOURITES and of course, the
tickets and your Maldives.
stay, walking on Luxury Hotels
the streets, just Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi And places you
going out—that’s Loews Hollywood Hotel, LA want to visit?
memorable. Other Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad I want to go to
than that, the first Tokyo; Greece,
time I went to the Shopping Destination especially Mykonos;
Maldives! New York and do a road trip
City to Live through Europe.
What kind of a traveller Sydney
are you? Your travel discoveries
I am a chilled-out traveller. I while on shoot?
like to go with the flow. I don’t like to The ruins in Hampi. I got to see those
plan too many things in advance, because while I was shooting for Rowdy Rathore.
travel can be unpredictable. You may plan I recently went to Bhopal, and we were
something, but you might end up doing staying at this beautiful property in
something else that day, depending on your Chanderi, which overlooks the entire town.
mood. Usually, I get to the place first, and Jaipur and Jodhpur are cities that I would
then figure out what I want to do. not have visited if it weren’t for work.

You’re a diver. When did you know you
wanted to be one?
I discovered snorkelling when I was in
the Maldives for a shoot. What you see
underwater is so beautiful and different.
And the second time I was there was when
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
There’s Kalank, which is a period film.
In Mission Mangal, I’m playing a scientist,
which includes travelling to Mars! (laughs)
Then, I’m starting Dabangg 3 very soon. I
think 2019 has started on an amazing note.

travelandleisureindia.in
Our cover girl strikes a pose in
the ostentatious interiors of
La Chine at The Parisian Macao.

On her: Dress, Ashish,

price on request.
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 THE
A CRUISING HOLIDAY takes different forms for
T+ L different travellers, sometimes part of the
CRUISING same family. While some are content with

MANY
2019
sipping on sundowners and enjoying theatre
shows on board, others take pleasure in
exploring every feature of the mammoth
floating hotels of today. Then there are those
who choose their cruises solely based on the

WAYS TO
shore excursions on every port of call. These
stories from around the world present the
many facets to the modern cruise holiday.

CRUISE
CO URT ESY O F S E A BO URN C RUI SE LI NE

Ventures by Seabourn,
the luxury line’s
programme of offbeat
activities, focusses
on kayak and Zodiac trips
in places like Alaska’s
Inside Passage.

travelandleisureindia.in
T+ L
CRUISING 2019

Tauck river cruise

passengers on a shore
excursion in Austria’s
Wachau Valley.

BIKE, EAT, REPEAT

Cycling side trips are growing more popular on river
cruises, and Tauck, a Connecticut-based tour operator, recently
added a slate of new ones. On a weeklong
sail along the Danube, Howie Kahn fuels up for the ride
by sampling the local delicacies.

ONE RIDE, ONE SCHNITZEL.
That was the rule I set for myself
before I boarded Tauck’s
130-passenger Joy in Vilshofen,
Germany. I would have the chance to
cycle five times over seven days as we
made our way to Budapest, passing
castles, vineyards, and monasteries.
The schnitzels would be my reward.
I definitely needed some pan-
The dish sounded like a schnapps-
driven, prewar art movement, but it
was actually a piece of chicken,
pounded thin, breaded, and studded
with pumpkin seeds. It proved to be
instant energy.
A dozen or so of us set out that
afternoon from the ship, each taking
things at our own pace as we began to
climb a steep stretch of road. Steve, a
descended along the highway, where
the air was redolent of fresh timber,
and through small Austrian villages.
At dusk, we zoomed into Aschach,
a tiny town with a population of
around 2,000, where the lights were
on inside the Red Berlin. I assumed it
was a bar. The booths were covered in
red velvet; the walls displayed grainy
photographs of musicians. Turns out,
DA N I EL GE BHA RT D E KO E K KO E K

fried goodness before ride number
one, a hilly 29-kilometre ride. At
Gasthaus Engelszeller Stüberl, a
treasure of a restaurant attached to a
gas station in the whisper-quiet port
of Engelhartszell, Austria, I ordered
the Kürbiskernschnitzel vom Huhn.
new friend from near Buffalo, New
York, broke to the front of the pack.
He’d had one knee replaced, and yet
he attacked our first hills as if he were
riding in the Tour de France. My
sweat smelled like schnitzel, but I
managed to keep up with Steve as we
Red Berlin is an ice cream parlour. I
ordered the Heisse Liebe. Translation:
‘hot love’—a sundae with warm
raspberries. After dessert, we headed
back to the plush boat, its deluxe
cabins stocked with 400-thread-count
sheets and Nespresso machines.

travelandleisureindia.in
 “We were getting worried about you,”
said one of my other new shipboard
friends. The older crowd was
universally friendly. It was like having
129 doting parents. I mean that as
a compliment. Tauck succeeds in
sustaining an upscale, familial vibe
where guests are taken care of
seamlessly—and even come to take
care of one another.
A couple of days later, we saw signs
for more ‘hot love’ as we biked over
cobblestones in the district of Krems,
whose capital was founded in 1305. Our
group that day numbered in the dozens,
and our spandex-clad guides told us we
were at the gateway to the Wachau
Valley, home to some of Austria’s best
wines. Pedalling through rows of
Grüner Veltliner vines, I spotted Steve
again, sprinting along with his wife,
Cathy, on what he’d later tell me was
their 47th wedding anniversary.
After the ride, which went for an
easy and flat 13 kilometres and
concluded after sunset, Steve asked me
if I wanted to hike to the top of the
castle in Dürnstein, where the English
king Richard the Lionheart was held
for ransom in the 12th century. I was
still charged up from my most recent
schnitzel, eaten 24 hours prior in the
DA NI E L GE BHA RT D E KO EK KOE K . ILLUST RAT IO N BY G I ACO MO BAGN A RA
Blaue Gans restaurant in Salzburg. It
was Wiener schnitzel that time—veal
pounded paper-thin, with a breading
that had properly puffed away from
the meat and possessed a golden
topography of peaks and valleys.
Lighting the steep trail with our
phones, Steve and I made our ascent.
Thirty minutes later, we reached the
top. We looked toward Vienna, where
we would soon ride for 14 more miles
around the Prater, the city’s most
famous park, and along the Ring Road,
stopping at the Hofburg palace. The
great schnitzel reward of this leg of the
trip would come at Zum Schwarzen
Kameel, a cafe that dates back to 1618,
where the Wiener schnitzel was so on
the mark that the meat practically
levitated within its breading.
But up above Dürnstein, there was
no schnitzel, no rules. It was just me
and Steve among the ruins on a cool
fall night. Up there, it was more about
the centuries, the passage of time, how
we all got here and where we’ll all go.
Steve boiled our adventure down to
its essence: “How cool is this?”
Seven-night Danube sailings with
two-night stays in Prague and
Budapest from `4,15,547 per person,
all-inclusive; tauck.com
The 130-passenger Joy runs
weeklong cruises through
the Central European
countries along the Danube.
travelandleisureindia.in
RETHINKING
THE RIVERS
A host of new programmes
from cruise lines are bring-
ing a more active bent to the
world’s inland waterways.
Debuting in May on the
Danube, AmaWaterways’
196-passenger AmaMagna
will have a custom Water
Sports Platform that will
allow you to kayak right
off the ship. And with the
Exclusive Golf Concierge
Program, there’s the option to
play 18 holes at top courses
like Albatross, outside
Prague. Seven-night sailings
from `1,66,469 per person;
amawaterways.com
Crystal River Cruises is
now offering Exhilarating
Adventures, a welcome
departure from a typical
gentle walking tour. On an
Enchanting Moselle voyage
aboard the Crystal Bach, you
can work off breakfast with
an eight-kilometre trek along
Luxembourg’s hilly Mullerthal
Trail. Or cross Germany’s
thrilling 100-metre-high
Geierlay Suspension Bridge,
then hike in the surrounding
forest. 10-night sailings from
`3,14,243 per person, all-
inclusive; crystalcruises.com
On the Ganga, Uniworld’s
new wellness-focussed
sailings, round-trip from
Kolkata, include sunrise yoga,
meditation, and pranayama
breathing, as well as
Ayurvedic cooking classes
and lectures on understanding
your chakras. 12-night sailings
from `4,58,488 per person;
uniworld.com
— JACQUELINE GIFFORD
T+ L
CRUISING 2019

The Solomon Islands

are a remarkable
destination for diving.

pgcruises.com) now offers Society

Islands sailings that include a stop in
Tahiti Iti, where passengers can dive
the Marado, one of the archipelago’s
only true drop-offs. Experienced divers
can reach a depth of up to 27 metres to
see coral, sea anemones, and plenty of
reef fish. In April, Australia-based
Coral Expeditions (10-night sailings from
`4,75,788 per person; coralexpeditions.
com) launches the 120-passenger Coral
Adventurer, which will have a variety of
itineraries in Papua New Guinea, one

FANTASY
of the world’s least-visited
destinations. The Customs and

ISLANDS
Craftsmen journey will have an art
historian on board and include visits
to isolated villages to meet local
makers. History buffs interested in the
These cruise lines are making it easier than ever Solomon Islands—the setting for the
to experience the rich traditions and unparalleled Guadalcanal campaign in World War
beauty of the far-flung South Pacific. II—can explore battle sites and
shipwrecks on the 20-passenger
Taka as part of Solomon Islands
com) is bringing expert navigator Tua Discovery Cruises (seven-night sailings
HOME TO COUNTLESS islands Pittman on board for two French from `1,22,573 per person; sidcruises.
and atolls, as well as pristine waters Polynesia itineraries. A Cook Islander com.au). And come January 2020,
rich with marine life, the South with Māori and Tahitian bloodlines, Windstar Cruises (six-night sailings from

Pacific is arguably best seen by ship.
And now cruise lines are upping
their game with innovative
programming and visits to some of
the region’s most remote corners.
This year, Lindblad Expeditions (eight-
and nine-night sailings from
`5,51,270 per person; expeditions.
Pittman often sails the open ocean in
a traditional vaka (outrigger canoe),
using the stars to guide him. Aboard
the ship, he will share his seafaring
stories and insight into regional
customs and cultures. Also in French
Polynesia, Paul Gauguin Cruises (seven-
night sailings from `3,87,487 per person;
G ER A LD R A MBE RT /C O URT ESY O F S O LO MON I SL A N D S D IS COVE RY CRUI S ES . ILLU ST RATI O N BY G I ACO MO BAG NA RA
`1,66,132 per person; windstarcruises.
com), which keeps its sailing yacht
Wind Spirit docked in Tahiti, will
launch a new collection of South Pacific
itineraries. Ranging from seven to
16 days, the voyages will hit Australia,
Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga, and the
Cook Islands.
— BROOKE PORTER KATZ

KAYAKING IN THE BAHAMAS
At Princess Cruises’ resort area
on Eleuthera, Princess Cays, you
can now take a clear-bottom-
kayak tour through the aquamarine
lagoon and spot eels, clown fish,
and sea turtles. Six-night western
Caribbean sailings from `41,552
per person; princess.com
STAND-UP PADDLEBOARDING
WATER WORLD IN THE GALÁPAGOS
More fun excursions Ecoventura offers paddleboarding
for cruise passengers on all of its vessels, including its
on ocean voyages. spring debut, the luxury yacht
Theory. Guests might paddle along
Cerro Brujo’s white coral beach
or in the secluded Tagus Cove,
where pirates and whalers once
anchored. Seven-night sailings
from `5,43,644 per person,
all-inclusive; ecoventura.com
SAILING IN NEW ZEALAND
In 2021, New Zealand will defend
its title in the America’s Cup. In the
years leading up to the competition,
Viking is giving passengers a taste
of the action in Auckland’s Hauraki
Gulf. Guests will embark on a three-
hour sail aboard a sleek yacht used
in the 1995 race—and even have the
chance to take the helm. 14-night
sailings from `4,70,756 per person;
vikingcruises.com
CANYONING IN GIJÓN, SPAIN
This spring, luxury line Silversea is
unveiling a 22-day British Isles and
Northern Europe voyage aboard the
Silver Cloud Expedition, sailing from
Lisbon on May 1. Activities include
a canyon descent near Gijón, Spain,
where guests can swim in the
clear, natural pools typical of the
Asturian coast. From `9,00,107 per
person, all-inclusive; silversea.com
— B.P.K.

travelandleisureindia.in
 UNDER A
COLD SPELL
Alaska is at the top of many a cruise wish list—
but how many lines can truly get you up close
to the state’s natural wonders? On an
action-packed voyage with Seabourn,
Stephen Drucker explores the wilderness
by kayak, dogsled, and ship.
N ATI O N A L GEO GRA PHI C I MAGE CO LLECT I O N/ A L A MY
Tourists take a Zodiac
ride past South Sawyer
Glacier, in Alaska.
SOMEDAY YOU’RE GOING to go
to Alaska. You can say you hate the
cold, but you’ll still go. There are
puffins, whales, otters, bears,
glaciers, and fjords in many places
around the world, but eventually
you’ll give in, because only Alaska
feels like Alaska: vast, empty,
disconnected, and, as you start to
realise during your 10th hour in the air
to Anchorage, farther away than you’d
imagined. It’s the end of the line, and
not in a Key West kind of way.
“Alaska isn’t a reserve. It’s wild,”
I was told by Chris Srigley, the
leader of the expedition team
aboard my Seabourn Sojourn cruise
last July. “Wild” is not quite the
same as the pure, still majesty of
Antarctica, which fills you with
peace. Wild is a charge in the air.
It’s the dark, ominous, infinite
evergreens. It’s watching everything
trying to eat everything else, while
keeping a respectful distance from
the things that want to eat you. It’s
the nagging thought in the back of
your mind that the most powerful
earthquake recorded in the US—an
incomprehensible 9.2—occurred
where you’re standing. The ground
in Anchorage shook for four and a
half minutes.
Champagne flowed freely as the
450-passenger Sojourn explored the
wild for two leisurely weeks, starting
in the southern port city of Seward
and then following the Inside
Passage to Vancouver. I’d sailed
Seabourn on expedition itineraries
before and knew its cosseted take on
adventure and the people it would
attract. They came from around the
world, and they weren’t boring: an
Australian TV celebrity, a producer
of Sharknado, a lawyer from
Liechtenstein, who finally explained
Liechtenstein to me. As always, the
cabins were spacious and the
bathrooms were marble, while the
food ranged from country-club solid
to stellar. Chef Thomas Keller of the
French Laundry has his own
handsome restaurant on board and
travelandleisureindia.in
T+ L
CRUISING 2019
also creates menus for the main
dining room.
Most ships do this itinerary in
one rat-a-tat week. Two weeks gave
Sojourn the time to linger, to call on
obscure ports, and to dig in with
116 shore excursions, many a part
of Ventures by Seabourn. Available
in Alaska since 2017, Ventures
consists of more rigorous
outings—the kind you’d
traditionally find on an expedition
cruise. The programme, now over
three years old, has transformed
this luxury cruise line in
unexpected ways. Everything has
become less formal, more youthful,
and much more active. There’s not
a lot of vegging in a deck chair
anymore. You’re in a kayak, alone
in silence, or in a Zodiac, racing
along with a guide telling stories
about bears and avalanches. You’re
focussed on fishing, ethnography,
nature photography, hiking,
travelandleisureindia.in
In the port town of Sitka,
there is the option to do a
rainforest hike and visit the
Alaska Raptor Center.
mindful living, or a zipline. You’re
always wondering what you’ve
missed: I’d go to dinner thrilled about
my spin through the Tracy Arm
iceberg field and leave envious of a
new friend’s 10-kilometre, eight-hour
A bear hunts for
salmon at Anan Creek,
near Wrangell.
march in cleated boots across
Davidson Glacier (after which he
moaned in his cabin for a full day).
Each of us really designed a
personal cruise. The birders were
attached to their binoculars
perpetually, hoping for one more
pigeon guillemot. The whale-watchers
would spend hours on deck, scanning
the water for the tip of a fin. The bear
people would lose their minds over
every brown speck in the distance.
“Look, at two o’clock...” “Sorry, it’s a
rock...” “No, I saw it move...” “Too late,
you missed it...”
I—a generalist—chose one ice
outing, one search for sea and bird life,
and one bear trek, though I wasn’t
quick enough to book the coveted
Ventures Anan Creek bear viewing,
which sold out months in advance.
And I like dogs, so I signed up for a
helicopter jaunt to go sledding. I didn’t
fully grasp that I’d be dropped onto a
glacier with 200 huskies in training for
the Iditarod, the legendary thousand-
mile sled race from Anchorage to
Nome. These weren’t the blue-eyed
glamour dogs I was expecting; they
were more like mutts, powerful,
affectionate, smart, and bred solely for
endurance. All they want to do is run,
and if you make them stop, all they do
is bark. Our musher had to spell out
their commands—I can still see his
F RO M TO P: D ESI G N P I CS IN C/ A L A M Y ; C O URT ESY OF SE A BO URN C RU ISE LI NE
 breath in the cold air as he mouthed the
letters H…A…W…—because if you even
whisper the command “Haw,” every
dog within earshot will take off like a
rocket to the left. Within minutes of
landing, I was standing on the rails of a
sled with 10 ecstatic dogs that thought
they were galloping for Nome, ready to
bump for miles through a valley of
snow and ice. And then someone stuck
a puppy in my arms. Total goner.
The wild side of Alaska is less
apparent when you’re docked in Juneau
or Ketchikan along with 14,000 people
from other ships. But walk over 150
metres beyond the shorefront stores,
and you’ll find it. In Ketchikan, I spent
an hour over reindeer sausage and
eggs at the Pioneer Café, making futile
small talk with the locals, who tend to
answer in one word. Like most of the
state, Wrangell (population 2,369) is

A totem pole
in Ketchikan.

COLD-CLIMATE CRUISES FOR EVERY TRAVEL WHIM

The wonders of winter, in Alaska and beyond. accessible only by plane or boat,
and the boat sometimes appears
at 4.30 am. I found a cafe there that
*If you want to see truly feel at the edge arctic wolves at Polar
Alaska and enjoy all of the world: Alaska’s Park. From `3,46,985 per made Red Bull smoothies, and
the comforts of a big, volcanic Aleutian Islands. person; vikingcruises.com then reviewed a supermarket
glamorous ship... You can visit Kiska, which noticeboard where every kind of
Cunard’s newly refitted, was occupied by the bullet was for sale.
*If you want to splurge
2,081-passenger Queen Japanese during World
and tick every cold- Every day brought something a
Elizabeth will call in War II, before heading
climate destination off cruise brochure can’t quite capture:
Alaska this season—the to the mainland and
your bucket list...
first time for the brand wildlife-rich Katmai the distinctly un-touristy cultural
National Park. From Regent Seven Seas
in more than 20 years.
Cruises has one of the
demonstration by the First Nations
You’ll have your pick of `7,42,617 per person, all-
most comprehensive, people of Klemtu, British Columbia,
some 140 excursions: inclusive; ponant.com
mind-blowing where Seabourn is the only cruise
set out in search of
itineraries out there: a line that calls, or the American Bald
sea otters or soar over *If you want to spot the 91-night Grand Arctic Eagle Foundation in Haines, where
glaciers in a floatplane, aurora borealis… Discovery voyage. The
then go back to the my heart was stolen by a bird named
Viking now offers 496-passenger Seven
grand, Art Deco–style Arden that had been rescued after
voyages above the Arctic Seas Navigator will set
liner for a restorative
Circle in the winter out from New York City an encounter with a power line.
massage at Mareel, the
season—the best time for on June 15, 2020, to But I always liked knowing
reimagined spa. 10-night
ME D I O I MAG ES/ P HOTO DI SC / GE TT Y IMAGES. I LLU ST R ATI O N BY GI AC O MO BAG NA RA

viewing the phenomenon. take passengers up the

sailings from `1,31,797
On its 12-night In Search eastern coast of Canada
what was waiting for me at the end
per person; cunard.com of an exhausting day: the yachtlike
of the Northern Lights and on to Greenland,
itineraries, you’ll stop Iceland, Denmark, Sojourn, its clubby atmosphere,
*If your heart is set in the small Norwegian Norway, and Murmansk, a crew I looked forward to seeing
on way, way remote ports of Bodø, Alta, Russia, the largest city
Alaska... again, and—what every cruise
Tromsø, and Narvik. north of the Arctic Circle.
A 12-night expedition Along the way, you can From `30,54,014 per revolves around—dinner. Months
itinerary from Ponant take a reindeer-led sleigh person, all-inclusive; later, I’m still thinking about a cut
calls in destinations that ride and get up close to rssc.com —J.G. of prime beef Keller called a calotte,
wondering if I’ll ever eat anything
that good again. Two weeks of living
like that goes to your head. At one
point I caught myself standing on
deck in hiking boots and waterproof
pants saying, “I have to keep it
simple tonight. Caviar and lamb
chops.” 10-, 11-, or 13-night Alaska
sailings from `3,26,280 per person,
all-inclusive; seabourn.com

travelandleisureindia.in
T+ L
CRUISING 2019
FLOATING
PALACE
Sumeet Keswani overcomes his fear
of ships on a weekend cruise from
Singapore with Dream Cruises.
I HAD NEVER BEEN on a cruise
before. Until last month, my lone
frame of reference for cruising, like
many 90s kids, was Titanic. Not the
best visual precedent to carry miles
into the high seas. But this meant
that every experience I would have
on board the Genting Dream would
suffer an irrational comparison
with the doomed 1912 ship.
Right from the time we—a
couple celebrating our second
anniversary—arrived at the Marina
travelandleisureindia.in
Bay Cruise Centre Singapore, we were
told that we were travelling top of the
class. From separate luggage kiosks to
dedicated butlers, the passengers of
The Palace—a private 10,000-square-
metre ship-within-the-ship with 142
suites—availed the highest level of
facilities and service. We even had our
own restaurant, gym, and pool deck to
avoid the crowds.
In a brief tour, we were informed
that the 18-deck, 1,51,300-ton ship
was capable of accommodating 3,400
Zodiac Theatre has a
long line-up of shows
that mix dance and
music with acrobatics.
The spacious Palace
Suite comes with a
beautiful balcony.
guests and 2,000 crew members, a
high crew-guest ratio. This focus on
hospitality was further underlined in
The Palace, where the ratio was 1:1 and
personal butlers went the extra mile to
entertain the wildest of requests. Ours
were rather banal—booking onboard
experiences, getting clothes ironed
(no irons were allowed in the room for
safety), and acquiring safety pins (you
know this one if you’re a woman or
married to one)—but the butlers are
known to do much more. They even
help you pack or unpack your luggage,
and as the chief butler joked, “work out
for you at the gym.” “We’re the top one
per cent here,” remarked a fellow Palace
guest, quite delighted at the distinction.
Images of British elite, dressed in their
regal best, ordering cups of tea as the
RMS Titanic flooded, filled my mind
and were promptly shoved out. My
persisting fear of a calamity was put
F RO M TO P: CO URT ESY OF G E NT IN G D RE A M ; S UME ET KESWA N I
to rest by the Captain of the Genting
Dream, Jukka Silvennoinen, during
the Captain’s Gala. The Finland-born,
Phuket-based Silvennoinen had seen a
few accidents in his 36 years at sea. But
he assured me that the safety measures
on today’s ships were quite foolproof.
Once the ship left the port, I
understood why people call today’s
cruise liners ‘floating hotels’. I couldn’t
even feel the Genting Dream move,
except when we sat on a dining table
with suspended cutlery that trembled
quietly. There were over 35 restaurants

Meals at Umi Uma
Teppanyaki entail an
elaborate performance.
and bars, including the first Johnnie
Walker House at sea. As The Palace
guests, we had the privilege of two
complimentary set-menu meals in
any of the six speciality restaurants,
along with a premium-beverage
package. My favourite of these was
Umi Uma Teppanyaki, where Chef
Brian from Philippines (“call me Justin
Bieber Asian-Spice”) put up a culinary
show, equal parts humour and food
acrobatics, before serving each of
us—a motley group of nine people
with contrasting diet preferences—
customised meals that used “Japanese
produce—from China.” I do not
remember a more entertaining meal.
SUMMER CRUISES ON
THE GENTING DREAM
Explore Thailand, Indonesia,
Bali, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
A 5N Singapore-Nha Trang-
Ho Chi Minh-Singapore cruise
leaves on April 14, June 30, and
September 29. From `39,130 per
CO U RTESY O F GE NT I NG D RE A M
person on twin-sharing basis.
A 4N Singapore-Ko Samui-
Pulau Redang-Singapore cruise
leaves on May 20 and August
12. From `32,425 per person.
Early bookings get 40 per cent
discount (till November 5, 2019).
dreamcruiseline.com
Though the cruise had optional
shore excursions on Bintan Island,
Indonesia, there were far too many
things to do on the ship as it followed
a loopy trajectory from Singapore on
the high seas and back over two nights.
Bingo, fitness classes, a fashion show,
t-shirt painting, belly-dancing classes,
cocktail-making, graffiti, live cooking
demos—who needed an excursion?
The ship had buzzing nightlife too. Live
music from multiple venues clashed
in the art-speckled corridors; the slot
machines were always occupied; kids
and young adults made full use of the
karaoke at Zouk Club; and a St Patrick
Foam Party drenched the Zouk Beach
Club and its revellers in neon-green
light and soap foam.
There was also a strong line-up of
shows in the 999-seat Zodiac Theatre.
As The Palace guests, we had front-
row seats to the jazz-centric Some Like
It Hot. The performers were bafflingly
skilled and put up a show that was
highly entertaining, if a little thin
on plot. But it was at the Silk Road
Chinese Restaurant that I witnessed
the most amusing show, Dreamgirls
Save The World. Somewhere between
a cabaret and a full-blown strip show,
the ‘world saving’ involved a set of
women dressing up in native garb
from countries around the world that
conformed to stereotypes (tribals in
A mural on the hull
depicts a love affair
between an astronaut
and a mermaid.
Africa, Eskimos in wintry Russia),
only to take them off on-stage in
meticulously choreographed dance
moves. While this is expected of
adult entertainment, what took
us by surprise was the interactive
nature of the performance. For
some of the dances, male spectators
were coaxed up onto the stage.
Dressed as tribals, the women
‘worshipped’ one of the befuddled
men, gyrating and disrobing in
circles before ‘devouring’ him,
all in gesticulation of course.
Given that the volunteers were
all newly-weds on honeymoon—
with their wives sitting cross-
armed in the audience—I think
a marriage or two might have been
‘sacrificed’. Who said cruises
were uneventful?
The al fresco area
of the first-ever
Johnnie Walker
House at sea.
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T+ L
CRUISING 2019
CRUISE
CALL
Adrift on the Caribbean Sea,
Charukesi Ramadurai realises a luxury
cruise is everything she imagined
and much more.
The Norwegian Getaway
sailing along the Nassau port.
travelandleisureindia.in
LATE ON MY THIRD EVENING
aboard the Norwegian Getaway, I’m
ready to call it a day. But for many
other passengers, the night is young
and full of possibilities. On Deck 6,
where I’ve been hiding in a corner
of the library after dinner, I hear
the buzz of cheers and catcalls. I am
curious enough to leave my haven
to find out what is going on. It turns
out, it’s the Mister Sexy Legs contest.
Around two dozen male passengers
strut about the stage as other
passengers, of all ages and genders,
watch. The atmosphere is boisterous
and genial. Here, the party started
the minute I boarded the ship, and,
as I will find out, won’t stop till I
disembark at the end of the week.
Cruise ships have been described
as floating hotels, but I have always
thought that to be hyperbole. When
I first catch sight of the ship at a
distance, from the road in Miami one
sunny Sunday morning, I know I am
in for a fascinating introduction to the
world of luxury cruises. After checking
in, I spend my evening exploring nine
out of the 15 decks open to passengers,
admiring the ship, reading the menu
cards of restaurants, gawking at the
bling of the casino already filling up,
window-shopping for exotic liquors
and expensive diamonds at the
shopping arcade, and planning my
shore excursions and spa treatments
for the next few days.
Every night, the steward who
makes the bed in my sea-view balcony
cabin, places a sheet of paper with
information about the next day’s
activities. This includes time change
notices—we are travelling through
three time zones. I get to plan ahead
for the excursions and activities that
CO U RTESY O F N O RW EG IA N CR UI SE LI NE
interest me. Planning is key, for there
are contests, performances, classes,
and talks through the day at various
locations on the ship. One morning,
I learn to samba. That is to say, I
learn three steps of this sensuous
Brazilian dance from a Russian pair,
who are part of the official dance
troupe. Another time, I sing along to
 ABBA’s greatest hits, belted out by
an enthusiastic band from Eastern
Europe. With a tall, cool drink in hand
(the ship seems fuelled by alcohol), I
watch people play bingo or learn to
fold towels into arty shapes. And when
the going gets too crowded for me, I
escape to the hushed silence of the
library, with its plump couches and
unending supply of coffee and cookies.
The entertainment onboard is
outstanding. Late one evening, I line
up at the Illusionarium theatre for
the Cirque Dreams and Steam show,
a dramatic circus act combined with
music and movement, described as
being inspired by Victorian fashion
and a steampunk theme. Through the
90 minutes, performers in elaborate
and weird steampunk costumes juggle
multiple objects, while riding unicycles,
throw knives at each other blindfolded,
and twist themselves into pretzels
while hanging from ropes. Included is a
three-course dinner. Another evening,
I stamp my feet to the beats of rumba
CO URT ESY O F N O RW EGI A N CRUI S E LI N E (2 )
and salsa, foxtrot and cha-cha-cha at
the Burn The Floor show, a tribute to
dance styles from around the world.
During the performance I spot the
nimble duo from Russia who had
taught me samba earlier, and feel an
endearing kinship with them.
I keep seeing the same faces at the
various shows—I suppose the others
have forged their own entertainment
elsewhere. Sure enough, Deck 15 is a
24-hour party zone, with music blaring
from hidden speakers and folks lining
up for the gigantic water slide, the
Jacuzzi tubs, and the swimming pool
located conveniently next to a bar.
Did I say, a bar? The Norwegian
Getaway has over a dozen bars and
lounges, not to forget the alcohol served
in most of the eateries and theatres. From top: The aquapark
From specialists like the Sugarcane on the cruise takes fun to
another level; Ocean Place
Mojito Bar and the Chill Bar popular for is the go-to hangout zone
its margaritas, to we-serve-anything- on the Norwegian Getaway.
alcoholish dining and drinking spaces,
the management keeps everyone in a
perpetually happy state.
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CRUISING 2019
I grid my loins and try out
most of the bars (all in the name
of duty!), but my freeze-frame
moment comes at the Skyy Vodka
Ice Bar. Inspired by the ice hotels
of Scandinavia, everything inside
is made from ice—the bar counter,
seats, and glasses included. I
am made to suit up, as if for a
polar expedition, before stepping
inside, where I promptly become
one with the ice. No surprises,
since this enclosure is constantly
maintained at a chilly -8O Celsius.
The bartender attempts to thaw me
with his special cocktails created
with Skyy vodka, but all the vodka
in Russia cannot bring my fingers
and toes back to life.
With nearly 20 cafes and
restaurants to choose from, I can
potentially eat every meal in a
Cruise far and deep into the Caribbean Sea to experience its myriad hues and idyllic islands.
A seven-night voyage on board
Crystal Cruises' Crystal
Serenity takes you from Miami
to San Juan through the coral
reefs of Turks and Caicos, the
picturesque Basseterre on the
island of Saint Kitts, the haute
hideaway that Gustavia is, and
colourful Tortola, the capital
island of the British Virgin Islands.
From the House of the most
travelandleisureindia.in
SOAK UP THE CARIBBEAN SUN
awarded cruise line in the world,
a range of suites and penthouses
and many a premium offering
ensure a lavish immersion in the
Caribbean. From `1,52,959 per
person; crystalcruises.com.
There's nothing like a cruise
through the Southern Caribbean
with SeaDream. An extravagant
eight-day affair is scheduled
Clockwise from left: The Sugarcane Bar
is one of many bars on the Norwegian
Getaway; a trek through the Belize Jungle
leads you to the mysterious Caves Branch
stream; head to Wasabi for a hearty
Japanese lunch.
different place. For breakfast, I stick
to the Garden Café at one end of the
top deck, with its bewildering buffet
spread from all over the world, even
puri-bhaji and pongal for homesick
Indians. Other eateries included in
the cruise cost are Savour and Taste,
both on Deck 6, dishing up classy
three-course Continental meals;
Shanghai’s Noodle Bar, serving
authentic street flavours from China;
and O’Sheehan’s Irish pub. There
are the speciality dining areas that
CLO CK W I S E: CO URT ESY O F N O RW EG I A N C RUI SE LI NE ; S H UTT E RSTOC K; CO URT ESY O F NO RW EG I A N CRU IS E LI NE
come at extra cost, like Wasabi for
sushi, La Cucina for Italian cuisine,
Le Bistro for French, and Ocean Blue
for seafood.
Before the Norwegian Getaway,
I had a fairly stereotypical image of
cruisers being for older folk, loaded
with cash and sailing in search of new
lands to explore. I could not have been
for April 19, 2020, which will are home to green turtles, coral
embark from the historic port reefs, colourful fish, and crystal
city of Bridgetown and eventually clear waters as you anchor at
bring you back there. En route, Tobago Cays, the enticing aroma
you will be charmed by the of nutmegs, cocoa, mace, cloves,
adventure offerings of Rodney vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger at
Bay, 18 square kilometres of St George's, and Mayreau where
quiet lagoons, reefs, and silvery you indulge in the SeaDream
stretches of beach at Port signature Champagne and Caviar
Elizabeth, an intimate cluster Splash. From `4,73,997 per
of five uninhabited islands that person; seadream.com
 The Mahogany Bay at
Roatan Island is an idyllic
pit stop in the Caribbean.
PH OTO N O NSTO P / A L A MY
more wrong. The passengers aboard
this ship include young couples on
honeymoon, families with kids,
older couples throwing themselves
retirement parties, and single
men possibly in search of their
soulmates; there were Americans
and Europeans, Canadians and
Caribbean folk.
Friendships are easy onboard,
and given that I am that rare single
woman traveller on a luxury cruise,
people slip easily into conversation
and confession mode. I meet
72-year-old Barbara from Miami,
who will start dialysis as soon as she
is back home. Rebecca from Toronto
has found out her husband of 22
years has been cheating on her, and
has gifted herself this cruise to think
over her marriage. A gang of girls
from Dublin teach me Irish slang:
gowl for an annoying person and feck
off! to (not so) politely ask that person
to go away. Richard exchanges notes
about his sudoku puzzle with me
in the library, while his wife knits
quietly next to him. Juanita from
Venezuela is celebrating her 30th
birthday at sea with her boyfriend.
While I am excited about
the cruise itself and all the
entertainment and relaxation
options on board, I am also keen to
explore all the ports of call. This is
another way I differ from veteran
cruisers—many of them are clearly
here to unwind, with a routine of
eat, swim, spa, and party. Rinse
and repeat. But I want to see as
much of the four ports (in three
countries) on the schedule as I can.
I plan carefully to get a good
mix of activities. At Roatan Bay
in Honduras, our first stop, I
head back into the sea on a glass-
bottomed motorboat, and then get
my hair braided with beads by the
soft-spoken Laura. In Belize, I hike
in the lush forest off Monkey River
in search of, well, monkeys and
endemic birds. When we fetch up at
Mexico, my first excursion is to see
the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum.
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CRUISING 2019

One cannot be in Tulum and

not visit the ruins of the
GETAWAY WITH NORWEGIAN
ancient Mayan civilisation. The seven-day Western Caribbean cruise
embarks and disembarks at Miami, making
four ports of call—Roatan, Honduras;
Harvest Caye, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico;
and Cozumel, Mexico.

REACH MIAMI meals at selected

Fly to Miami from restaurants).
Mumbai or Delhi on Excursions and
Turkish Airlines or activities cost extra.
Virgin Atlantic, via
OTHER CRUISES
Istanbul/London.
The Norwegian
STAY ONBOARD Cruise Line has
The Getaway offers over 15 luxury
accommodation cruise ships sailing
options starting all over the world,
from inside rooms from Hawaii and
(`44,873 per person) Alaska to Australia,
going up to the New Zealand and
exclusive Haven Thailand. For more
suites (`1,58,956 information, visit
per person, including ncl.com.

And finally, tired of the sightseeing,

I party on shore at Costa Maya. ‘Salsa
and salsa’ is the theme of this outing,
as I learn to cook up a (Mexican) storm
at a bar right on the shimmering
beach, with salsa borracha (drunken
salsa) and guacamole on the menu,
and then get a very drunken dance
lesson from the bartender.
My last day at sea is spent at the
spa, a wind-down measure after all
the debauchery. At Mandara Spa on
Deck 15, an oasis of calm from the
noise and gaiety, I have my aching
muscles soothed by a Thai masseuse,

FRO M TO P: JA N W LO DA RCZY K / A L A M Y ; C O URT ESY OF NO RW EG I A N C RUI SE LI NE

who applies warm poultice on top of
medicated oil. I follow this up with a
few hours in the exclusive Thermal
Suite, soaking in a relaxing Jacuzzi,
sweating it out in the sauna, and ending
the session with a snooze on heated
deck chairs overlooking the ocean.
There is something liberating,
exhilarating even, about a cruise, a
feeling of being adrift, surrounded
by the blue waters of the open sea.
And although there is enough and
more onboard to keep one fruitfully
and pleasurably occupied through the
day and half the night, it is the quiet
Dare to walk the plank on your
next Norwegian cruise. moments staring at the endless ocean
that I cherish most.

travelandleisureindia.in
 Kids’ favourite characters abound on
Disney Cruise Line journeys, adding a
fantastical dimension to the cruises.

THE DISNEY DREAM

Disney Cruise Line operates some dreamy cruises for kids
and kids-at-heart. A three-night sail to the Bahamas leaves
Vishwaveer Singh considering a career at sea.

YOUR FIRST CRUISE will always
be a special one. From the get-go, I
was told that I was lucky to be losing
my cruising-virginity to a Disney
ship. “There isn’t a better experience
out there,” proudly announced a
fellow traveller and self-proclaimed
cruise junkie who’d been aboard
almost all the major cruise lines. “It’s
the experiences they pack in that
CO U RTESY O F D I SN EY CR UIS E LI NE
the ship from the House of Disney
Cruise Line is a floating world of its
own. A 1,400-strong crew caters to
the needs of guests who inhabit the
1,250 staterooms inside, while the
ship comfortably sails over choppy
waters at a top speed of close to 24
knots. Imagine one of the popular
Vegas hotels sailing on the Atlantic,
and you’ll get an idea of how I felt
step into the ship’s impressive lobby,
which is reminiscent of Disney’s
grand palaces, flowing staircases
and all. For those travelling with
family, it can be quite a mesmerising
experience, with ushers calling out
your name as officers welcome you
with applause, and a Disney character
in full costume takes selfies with you.
It’s easy to get lost on the big ship,

make the difference,” he added.
An hour’s drive from Orlando, I
reached Port Canaveral in Florida,
where the behemoth that is the
Disney Dream waited to take me and
4,000 others across the Bahamas and
the Caribbean. Over 340 metres long
and weighing in at 1,30,000 tonnes,
looking up at the Disney Dream.
HAKUNA MATATA!
Boarding the ship is fuss-free. There’s
a quick check-in process, where your
luggage is loaded in advance, to be
delivered straight to your stateroom.
A hassle-free passport scan later, you
each guest taking a few hours to
find their bearings. Staterooms are
larger than industry standards, with
split bathrooms allowing families
to use the facilities without tussle.
Most sea-facing verandahs have a
sitting area, ideal for whiling away
time with great views of the infinite

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CRUISING 2019

Clockwise, from left: The roller coaster-like

AquaDuck on the top deck of the Disney
Dream is designed for fun; you can enjoy a
pirate-themed night on Disney Cruise Line;
Animator’s Palate serves contemporary
American and Pacific Rim cuisine along
with a unique show starring Disney
characters; a glimpse of the general
stateroom on the cruise ship.

sea, which changes hues according

to the sun’s whims. The staterooms
have all the usual bells and whistles
that come with any five-star hotel.
A designated attendant makes sure
your room is brushed up twice a day
with personalised attention to detail.
For those looking to splurge, the ship
has a great selection of larger suites,
including the Walt Disney Suite that
has two bedrooms, an expansive
balcony with its own Jacuzzi and
patio, where you can host a party for
two dozen people.
The first day includes an
emergency drill, where all guests
are expected to assemble at their
CO U RTESY O F D I SN EY CR UIS E LI NE (3 )

designated emergency zones

in preparation for the worst-
case scenario. Images of Titanic
immediately come to mind, but then
you’re reassured that this is the 21st-
century equivalent of a space shuttle
on the sea and that such a thing
would almost never occur.
BARE NECESSITIES
One might imagine a three-night
cruise to be action-packed, but the
level of activity you want to take up
depends entirely on you. The ship’s
in-house spa, called Senses, has a
quaint, glass-walled room that looks
out to the sea, sauna and steam
rooms, and a water bed on which I
was given a salt scrub—possibly the
most relaxing sensation in the world.
The open-air decks on the top level
have adults-only areas, where guests
can relax on sunbeds, with majestic

travelandleisureindia.in
 views of the Caribbean Sea and a
handy bar nearby. There are plenty
of such spots on the ship where
guests can spend some ‘me time’ and
be completely unaware of the 4,000
others onboard.
A favourite of mine was the Skyline
lounge, a dimly-lit bar with giant LCDs
mirroring the skylines of some of the
world’s most impressive cities. One
moment, there was the Empire State KIDS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
Building, as the music changed to a Activities for teens, tweens, and little ones run the gamut, making
track right out of a New York jazz bar; it easier than ever to keep everyone entertained.
as Oriental music filled the air, the
Hong Kong skyline appeared—it was
SLUMBER PARTY two-storey go-kart track animals, including sloths
as if I had entered a surreal rooftop bar on the top decks where in Costa Rica and sharks in
Royal Caribbean’s
on a skyscraper that changed location newest ship, Symphony the cars can reach 48 km Hawaii. princess.com
every few minutes. of the Seas, has a one-of- per hour. Scores go up on
a-kind Ultimate Family an electronic display at TOP CHEFS
the end of the 15-minute
DIETING IS A PIECRUST PROMISE Suite—a two-storey guest
race. ncl.com
It may come as a surprise,
accommodation with an but luxury ships welcome
Disney takes great pride in the food
indoor slide (it connects plenty of children,
they serve aboard their ships. There’s the kids’ bedroom to the INTO THE WILD especially during the
a massive variety of F&B options, living room), an air hockey Princess Cruises summer and holidays.
making it impossible to savour all the table, and a climbing wall, has rolled out shore Crystal Symphony and
delicacies on offer on a three-night among other amenities. excursions across the Crystal Serenity just went
It sleeps up to eight and fleet in partnership with through multi-million-
cruise. An all-day diner called Cabanas averages `41,42,640 Discovery and Animal dollar overhauls, and
serves the majority of guests who opt for a seven-night cruise. Planet. Look for active, their redesigned kids’
for a buffet. The options are limitless royalcaribbean.com outdoorsy experiences, clubs offer cookie baking,
here—giant crabs and lobsters such as a ride on the galley tours, and even
READY TO RACE crab-fishing boat from sushi-making courses.
occupy the platters on display, while
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Deadliest Catch and crystalcruises.com.
succulent meats are grilled nearby
Norwegian Bliss has a opportunities to meet — SHERRI EISENBERG
with designated chefs serving up
customised dishes. Asian fare, Italian
perennials like pizzas and pastas, a
dessert section that could put Willy
Wonka to shame! For those wanting a
more refined experience, the Disney
Dream offers Palo and Remy, fine-
CO U RTESY O F D I SN EY CR UIS E LI NE ; IL LU ST RATI O N BY GI ACO MO BAG NA RA

dining restaurants for Italian and

French cuisines respectively.
I had the good fortune of
savouring an osso buco at Palo that
transported me to Tuscany, paired
dreamily with a 2014 Tignanello,
which acted as the proverbial cherry
on top of the cake. Remy was equally
impressive, offering Wagyu in a
setting that rivalled the bistros of
Paris. For families travelling with me,
Animator’s Palate was an instant hit.
The restaurant creates an interactive
experience, where characters of
Finding Nemo talked to guests
through giant digital windows, giving
them all the underwater feels. An

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CRUISING 2019

Clockwise, from left: The Senses Spa on board is

a haven of relaxation; Atlantis, Paradise Island is
home to the largest open-air marine habitat in
the world; designated bike routes at Castaway
Cay are a cyclist’s delight.

all-day, buffet-style cafe that served
pizzas, burgers, hotdogs, and salads
stood next to the giant swimming
pools on the ship’s top deck.
BEAUTY IS FOUND WITHIN
for an overdose of eye-patches, golden
earrings, and faux hand hooks. As
you’d expect, there are hundreds of
tiny toddlers parading about in outfits
ranging from Tinker Bell to the Little
For kids, the amount of stuff to
do on board is mind-boggling. They
have their play lounges, stylishly
themed to suit different age groups.
The teenagers have PlayStations

CLO CK W I S E: CO URT ESY O F D I S NE Y CRU IS E L IN E ; VISH WAVEE R SI N GH; CO U RTESY O F D IS NE Y CRU IS E LI NE

Mermaid, some even going all-out and and plunge pools at Vibe, while
The Walt Disney Theatre on board masquerading as Ursula and Captain younger ones can enjoy a plethora
allows guests to experience Disney Hook. All this in the foreground of of entertaining activities at the
musicals every day of the cruise. an impressive fireworks display that Oceaneer's Lab and Club. Toddlers
Beauty and the Beast, The Golden illuminates the night sky. have a nursery, aptly named ‘It’s a
Mickeys, and Disney’s Believe
were playing when I sailed. To see
Broadway-quality acts as you enjoy
popcorn on a cruise ship—that, my
friends, is truly priceless! The acts
themselves are performed by an array
of theatre professionals, who use the
effects and backdrops that Disney
has become famous for, impeccably.
There’s sparkling dust and confetti,
pyrotechnics and prosthetics, outfits
that make you fall for the illusion hook,
line, and sinker.
If you’re not a theatre person, the
ship has its very own movie screen that
shows unreleased Disney blockbusters.
There’s also a Pirate Night, where you
dress up and join fellow passengers in
grooving to popular tracks. Be ready

travelandleisureindia.in

Small World,’ modelled after Andy’s
room, where Woody and Buzz
Lightyear lived. There’s a candy store
called Vanellope’s Sweets & Treats on
an upper deck; I highly recommend
that you steer clear of it unless you
want to spend hours with your
kids going bonkers on a sugar high.
There’s even a full-sized waterpark on
the upper deck, complete with a giant
AquaDuck ride and waterfall.
SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS
BEFORE BREAKFAST
The Disney Dream stops at Nassau,
Bahamas, for a day, and Disney’s
private island, Castaway Cay, for
another. The destinations play second
fiddle to the cruise line itself, but can
be fun nonetheless if you’re looking
for a bit of sun, sea, and fresh air. The
cerulean waters around the islands
please Instagrammers, while the
bars at Nassau leave you happy and
hungover. The Bearded Clam Sports
Bar and Señor Frog’s, we were told,
CO U RTESY O F D I SN EY CR UIS E LI NE
were two such establishments where
you could drink till your liver decided
to sail back to the mainland.
For me, a trip to Nassau would have
been incomplete without a tour of the
imposing Atlantis Hotel and Casino, its
pink façade gleaming as the Bahamian
answer to the Taj Mahal Palace. Later,
a wily cab driver overcharged me, as
he showed me around the Old Fort of
Nassau and drove past the late Anna
Nicole Smith’s house. The former
Playboy model is also buried on the
island; the offer to visit her grave, I
politely declined.
For shoppers, Nassau offers a
smorgasbord of outlets that cater
to all your souvenir needs. The
Bahamian dollar trades equal to the
US dollar, allowing you to pay in USD
or use one of the ATMs. There’s even
a sizeable Gucci showroom bang in
the middle of the island.
A night’s cruise later we arrived
at Castaway Cay, which was picture-
postcard perfect, thanks to the weather
Gods’ mercy. You’re given an entire day
here to explore the island’s sights and
sounds, which range from kid-friendly
beaches to shacks serving Bahamian
Pina Coladas and Mojitos. There are
plenty of stores to pick up Disney-
themed gifts, and an adults-only beach
that looks like it should have been the
location for the DiCaprio starrer The
Beach. A plunge in the cool waters is
recommended, so is lathering yourself
with dollops of sunscreen, lest your
skin turn to a shade of pink more
suitable on the Atlantis Hotel.
I chose to pick up a bicycle and
wander around the island. There’s no
Castaway Cay is a private island reserved
exclusively for Disney Cruise Line guests on
Bahamian and Caribbean voyages.
better way of discovering Castaway
Cay, not least because it has clearly
marked bike routes that make
riding an absolute treat. There
are even designated spots for you
to take water breaks, and lookout
posts that give you a bird’s-eye
view of the island.
Alas, three days on the Disney
Dream tend to pass by rather
quickly. And even though I managed
to pack in all the experiences I
possibly could, there was a lingering
yearning to stay on. Do they have
an opening for a deck hand perhaps,
I wonder now?
CRUISE INTO FANTASY
Disney Cruise Line’s four ships are
high on luxury and entertainment.
REACH ORLANDO
Many airlines, like Lufthansa and Air
Canada, operate one-stop flights from
major Indian cities to Orlando.
THE CRUISE
The three-night Bahamas and
Castaway Cay cruise for two adults
and two children starts from
`1,90,242. Disney offers three other
destinations—Alaska, Northern
Europe, and the Mediterranean/Greek
Isles. disneycruise.disney.go.com
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 WELLNESS
INDIA
& SOUTH ASIA
& SPAS
SHUTTERSTOCK

SPA & SALON HYGGE IN COPENHAGEN EXPERT OPINION

REVIEW EXPERIENCE DIET & NUTRITION

p. 106 p. 108 p. 112
Mont h

Royal
Retreat
Bahaar Dhawan Rohatgi spends a relaxing
afternoon at our Spa of the Month: the luxurious
Imperial Spa, Salon, Health and Racquet Club.
It redefines the spa exprerience with its exquisite
interiors, revitalising treatments, and all-
encompassing philosophy of wellness.

WHO
BAHAAR DHAWAN
ROHATGI
Lawyer, artist, and entrepreneur,
Rohatgi has as vibrant a
personality as the colours she
uses on her canvas. Every piece
of art she produces is unique,
and as bold and beautiful as the
artist herself. She loves to spa
and dives onto a massage bed
whenever she can!
Follow her on @bahaar_art

WHERE Bathed in natural light, thanks to its flavoured with Mughal and Indian accents. The
beautifully engineered skylights, The Imperial all-white spa serves up a variety of luxurious
Spa, Salon, Health and Racquet Club is steeped treatments that aim to relax and rejuvenate, the
ANISH ARJUNAN (2)

in what can only be described as an all- salon has a mix of beautifying and nourishing
encompassing feeling of wellness. The residents- treatments, and the Health and Racquet Club is
only spa is spread over a massive 16,000 square perfect for an invigorating game of squash or a
feet and has a distinctive Moroccan feel that is peaceful session of yoga. theimperialindia.com

travelandleisureindia.in
 was your massag e ?
How this was
t h e ra p ist wa s ex c ellent, and
My
e la x in
possibly the most r gest time!
the lon
EXPERIENCE “I’ve been
stressed out for a few weeks.
Both my body and mind have
been tired because I’ve been
working round the clock.
And I’ve been waiting for a
chance to soothe my nerves
with a massage.
So, naturally, I was
relieved when I heard that I’d
be spending an afternoon at
The Imperial Spa. I found
myself relaxing almost as
soon as I entered the lovely
premises. The walk down the
FROM TOP: ANISH ARJUNAN; COURTESY OF THE IMPERIAL NEW DELHI
staircase from the garden
into the spa felt like I was
physically immersing myself
in a well of light that could
only heal me. I sipped on a
glass of Sufi juice, the spa’s
signature tonic for weary
souls such as I, and opened
the menu to find, almost at
once, the perfect massage
for me: ‘Imperial Depth’. The
90-minute-long massage
promised everything I
needed—deep-tissue,
Swedish, and energy
balancing techniques.
As I walked down the
corridor to my treatment
room, I told my therapist that
g t wo h o u rs I’ve had in
I had several knots and
wanted her to give me a very
strong massage. We entered
an arched doorway and I
found myself in a beautiful
spa suite—the Mughal Suite—
softly lit with candles, and
with an inviting bathtub filled
with fragrant rose petals.
After a quick foot ritual,
I lay down, breathed a silent
sigh of relief, and let my
therapist take over. She
recommended a ginger-
infused oil to soothe my
aches and pains, and went
slow and easy on me. She
used a balanced, deep
pressure with her elbows
and hands to give me a
massage that I can only
describe as ‘perfect’. She
spent a lot of time easing out
the knots on my back and
legs, and I felt unknown
burdens lift off my shoulders.
Later as I sat in the
bathtub, taking in the rose
petals and the candles that
surrounded me, I felt
absolutely relaxed and ready
to take on another few weeks
of work-related madness.“
#TNLPICKS
—AS TOLD TO IMPERIAL SYNERGY
PARVATI MOHANAKRISHNAN This signature therapy
is a synchronised four-
hands massage that
balances the brain’s
hemispheres.
FACIAL MUDRA
De-stress and cleanse
with this facial that
uses lymphatic drainage
techniques to give you
toned and radiant skin.
DIAMOND ROSE RITUAL
This anti-ageing body
treatment exfoliates,
nourishes, and hydrates
your skin, while at the
same time relaxing body
and mind.
YOGA NIDRA
Experience deep
relaxation with this
guided yogic meditation
technique.
From top: The entrance to The Imperial
Spa, Salon, Health and Racquet Club;
inside the luxurious Mughal Suite;
Rohatgi finds her favourite spots at the
beautiful spa.
travelandleisureindia.in
Wellness
& Spas
R E V I E W J E A N - C L A U D E B I G U I N E S A L O N & S PA
MALAD, MUMBAI
A French
Affair
At Mumbai’s Jean-Claude Biguine Salon
& Spa, experience a variety of services
that are as luxurious as they are effective.
FOR ME, THE TRANSITION FROM the cold winter
to the blazing summer means dry, dehydrated
skin, frizzy hair (a la Monica from Friends),
and feet that need a pick-me-up after being
confined to sneakers and boots all winter long.
So, I’m at the Jean-Claude Biguine Salon & Spa
at Malad to get myself summer ready.
It is an easy-breezy Thursday at the salon,
with hairstylists and pedicurists talking
nineteen to a dozen with their clients. I settle
down for my head-to-toe treatments that are
specific to my skin, hair, and feet types. I opt
to start with the ‘Biguine Bio Aqua’ facial (with
PHYT’S products). The welcome massage is
slow and soothing, carefully building up the
tempo to keep my skin soft. The massage is
followed by a quick cleanse—my makeup is
removed and skin is toned, after which the
facialist applies the PHYT’S Gommage Contact
Plus Scrub. After a thorough scrub, a 20-minute
steam session that makes my skin glow follows.
A hydrating serum is then applied, and with
travelandleisureindia.in
Clockwise from right: The
nails station at Jean-Claude
Biguine Salon & Spa, Malad;
the entrance to the salon;
a massage room; the hair
stations at the salon.
each pat on the face, the lightweight concoction
seeps in beautifully, adding a much-needed
flush and smoothness. After a 10-minute
break, a peel-off mask is applied on the face.
Then, a finishing cream is applied to seal in
the moisture and retain the plumpness while
enhancing the skin texture. My skin feels
cleansed, hydrated, and smooth.
The ‘Moroccan Moisture’ therapy is next in
line for my dull hair (with a side of oily scalp).
The treatment begins with a simple procedure
using the Moroccanoil Oily Scalp Treatment,
an argan oil-infused treatment that works on
balancing oiliness and soothing the scalp. Once
the serum is applied, the hairstylist allows it to
sink in for about two minutes before starting a
relaxing massage. Later, a hair wash leaves my #TNLPICKS
hair shiny, revitalised, and healthy-looking. The
C O U R T E S Y O F J E A N - C L A U D E B I G U I N E S A L O N & S PA
90-minute session has the stylist using a repair Try the ‘Biguine Bio
mask that adds intense hydration to the hair, Sensi’ routine if you
making it more manageable. have sensitive and
The day comes to a close with an effective irritable skin. The
‘Bespoke Pedicure’ by Footlogix, a customised facial uses a variety
treatment. After a soothing wash and clean-up,
of soothing organic
the pedicurist massages my ankles and feet,
and then I enjoy a soothing lavender foot soak. PHYT’S ingredients
Moisturised to perfection and prepped, my feet, to give you
and my glowing skin and bouncy hair give me hydrated, relaxed,
all the motivation I need to face the summer! and protected skin.
biguineindia.co.in —LATHA SUNADH
 Wellness
& Spas

S
BE AUT Y

umme
pecial
Say hello to spotless and hydrated
skin with these new releases.
By Parvati Mohanakrishnan

Face th
e sun with
skin for
tified by
a daily s
kincare
routine.
VA L E N T Y N V O L K O V \ A L A M Y

travelandleisureindia.in 1
Wellness
& Spas
E XPERIENCE

Clockwise from left:

Nyhavn, the waterfront,
and the canal in Copenhagen;
outside Amalienborg
Palace; at a colourful pub
in Nyhavn; the entrance
to Freetown Christiania;
The Little Mermaid statue.

IDLE SCROLLING ON THE PHONE while commuting

to work can unsuspectingly reward one with
treasures. Mine was a gold mine of words that
describes feelings of happiness and wellness.
With an extra swift swipe of the thumb, I
was immersed in cockaigne, French for an
imaginary land of luxury and idleness; there
was eudaimonia, the Greek word to describe a
state of happiness, health, and prosperity; and
hygge (pronounced hoo-guh), a Danish word
that helps you articulate a feeling of well-being.
More intriguing was the fact that none of these
words have counterparts in English.
I wasn’t unfamiliar with hygge. An
encounter with it took me back a year and a
half, when I was in Copenhagen. I was walking
along Harbour Bath Island Brygge, and couldn’t
help but notice an abiding unhurried vibe. I
attributed it to a cheerful sunny day—there
was a patch of grass to sunbathe on after a dip
in the common city pool, which was across
the road from where I was standing. Everyone
looked unflustered and satisfied. Picnic baskets
propped on chequered spreads, colourful sun

Hygge and
umbrellas, and people in swimsuits made for
a perfect recipe for unwinding. Later, a local
friend explained that this inexplicable feeling
of calm and collectedness was closest to hygge,
although my summery version of this was

the City
off by a couple of months. Hygge is usually
associated with a cosy, Christmas-y ambience
of snow, hot cocoa or whiskey, friends by the
KIM PETERSEN\ALAMY

fireplace, and a holistic feeling of nourishment.

If only there had been some intimacy to the
scene, I would have been completely accurate
Supriya Sehgal discovers the meaning about the essence of the word. It is derived
of wellness in Copenhagen. from a 16th-century Norwegian term, hugga,

travelandleisureindia.in
 which meant ‘to comfort’. Some say it could be THE DETAILS
related to the English word ‘hug’. GETTING THERE
Once articulated by my friend, and Take a direct Qatar
firmly lodged in my memory, the idea only Airways (qatarairways.
found encouragement in the succession com) flight from Delhi
to Copenhagen.
of experiences that day. The feeling of
conviviality seemed to seep into every STAY
occasion in Copenhagen, and I was the ideal Centrally located next
target for imbibing the spirit of hygge. It hung to Tivoli Gardens,
Copenhagen Central
over restaurants, embraced one during a Station, City Hall
walk around Freetown Christiania, and was Square and the Ny
certainly present in the pubs of Nyhavn, the Carlsberg Glyptotek
most popular waterfront walkway in the museum, Nobis Hotel
Copenhagen (`28,500
city. The ubiquitous feeling of fulfillment per night for a Deluxe
permeated the entire city. room; nobishotel.dk)
In the spotlight of the happiest moments makes for a great stay.
of my time was a walk through Vesterbro, the
erstwhile meat packing district of the city that is
now the hotspot for hip bars, art galleries, and
shops. What entirely embodied hygge was an was celebrated across the country, and why the
old building, wedged between relatively newer Danes are known to be the happiest in the world.
graffitied walls. It was Central Hotel & Café, the The year after my trip, the bestseller The
world’s tiniest hotel. Expecting to get a room for Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy
a night was heretical, since it’s always booked for Living hit the stands. Naturally, I rushed to
the next few seasons. Not surprising, since there the bookstore to get my hands on a copy.
is only one room to let out. Instead, I had to Author Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness
make do with a coffee at the cafe on the ground Institute in Copenhagen, explained the idea
floor. This was no cutting edge cafe like the of hygge to readers across the world with feel-
others in Vesterbro, but certainly worthy of the good examples. The word gained so much
pilgrimage for its relaxed vibe. Having hurried prominence that, in the same year, Oxford
down the cobblestoned street that led up to Dictionaries shortlisted hygge as one of their
Christiansborg Tårnet—Copenhagen’s highest ‘Words of the Year 2016’.
point—and through the Carlsberg factory, and That evening, book in hand, I lay in
making a quick stop at The Little Mermaid statue bed in my most worn-out pyjamas,
SHUT TERSTOCK

and Amalienborg Palace, a break at Central with the family dog at my feet. It
gave me a taste of the most authentic flavour couldn’t have been a better ode to
of hygge. I finally understood why this feeling my hangover of hygge.
Wellness
& Spas
E X P E R T TA L K

f
Celebrity trainer
and Pilates expert
Namrata Purohit tells

Core
us about her love for
the exercise and all
things fitness. By Parvati

Per ormance
Mohanakrishnan

Tell us about your

fitness journey.
My love for fitness started when I was very
young. I have always been very active, and
have played sports throughout my life. But
my love for Pilates started when I was 15.
I fell off a horse and injured my knee—don’t
blame the horse, it was my fault! After a
variety of therapies and exercises that didn’t
work for me, I tried Pilates. It worked like a
wonder drug—for the first time in the year
since my injury, I was absolutely pain free.
That’s how I became a believer of Pilates.
Even my father (Samir Purohit), who had
suffered from a chronic back injury for 30
years, was absolutely pain free after just four
days of Pilates. This made us believers in the
exercise form, and that’s when we decided to
start the studio (pilatesaltitude.com).
Namrata Purohit
WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE FITNESS
INDUSTRY IN INDIA?
I think it’s just growing. The reason for this is
people are becoming more aware of the benefits
of working out. They are becoming more aware
about the different options available, and about
the different things that they could do to get
fit. They’ve started looking at fitness not only
in terms of weight loss, but also holistically in
terms of strength, mind and body, flexibility,
endurance, and about getting the ‘real’ fit. Skinny
people too have realised that fitness is a part of
their lives as well.

travelandleisureindia.in

WHAT’S KEPT UP YOUR FAITH IN PILATES?
As I said earlier, what drew me to Pilates
is the amount it helped me recover from
my knee injury. Then I thought if it could
help me so much, it could also help others.
And just as we started the journey, and
I started training people, I realised that
it’s not only people who are injured but
also those who are healthy that it helps. I
saw them becoming stronger, their bodies
looking leaner and more toned, them
feeling more flexible, lighter, and happier,
and an improvement in their concentration
and coordination. So, just seeing the
results in myself and those I train has been
a major motivator in keeping the Pilates
journey going.
WHICH FITNESS TRENDS ARE GOING TO
BE POPULAR THIS YEAR?
I definitely think, without being biased, that
Pilates is here to stay. It is an amazing
form of exercise, and anybody who has
experienced it, and has experienced
the pure form of Pilates, will vouch for
From top:
The entrance
to Purohit’s
new studio in
Gurugram; the
Core Stix and
Flow chamber;
the Pilates room.
What’s your
t n e ss m a n t ra ?
fi ,
ISS : Ke e p it Safe
K Try Pilates or weight
Simple and
Smart.
the fact that it’s fabulous. I have been
training people for about 10 years now,
and every day there is something new
to learn. It never gets boring, doesn’t
get monotonous, always poses a new
challenge, and can be customised to your
body type—so I think Pilates is definitely
here to stay.
I think EMS (Electric Muscle
Stimulation) will also grow. In EMS,
electrons are transmitted into the body to
make the whole body work out in one go.
It’s just a 20-minute workout, done once
a week, and operates in the same manner
the brain does when it sends electrons to
our muscles to work—the machine only
What are the
basics one
should keep in
mind while
starting a
fitness routine?
I always say that it’s
important to train
with someone who is
knowledgeable, certified,
and knows what they are
doing, because they can
guide you best. The trainer
needs to understand your
body type and what you
need, and set realistic
goals, and guide you in a
safe manner. If one has
never worked out before,
I would say try different
things before you settle on
a routine, because fitness
should be fun. It shouldn’t
be something you find
monotonous, or stress you
out. It’s supposed to be a
de-stresser, and make you
happy. Go out, try things.
training or Core Stix or
flowing or EMS—there is
something for everyone.
amplifies it. So, your complete body is
working in those 20 minutes. It is extremely
safe. It’s great for injuries and to develop
strength even in the deeper muscles, and
you can get your fast twitch and slow
twitch fibre at the same time.
Also interesting is Core Stix. It’s
basically a board on which there are
different Stix attached through which you
can do different kinds of exercises. It is
very challenging because it not only works
the core but also every single muscle in
the body. So, it has a lot to do with stability,
flexibility, coordination, and just working
all your muscles and gaining phenomenal
levels of strength.
travelandleisureindia.in
Wellness
& Spas
DIET & NUTRITION
Spring
Cleaning
Nutritionist Kavita Devgan chalks out a 7-Step,
4-Week Detox Plan that will help cleanse your
body of all the holiday excesses.
THE FIRST STEP TO ACHIEVING a healthier self is to get rid of all
the junk that has gone into your body over the last two to
three months. And, to do that, you need to go the detox way.
WHAT IS DETOX?
The body has its own natural healing system that gets
rid of chemicals it doesn’t want. But, sometimes, when
there’s an overload, these toxins get deposited in the
lymph and digestive systems. Detoxification enhances
the functioning of these systems, enabling them to tackle
waste better and absorb nutrients more efficiently. In
effect, it’s like giving your system a thorough spring
cleaning. A mild detoxification regime tunes up your
travelandleisureindia.in
Include healthy food
and activities in your
holiday itineraries.
body and cleanses the internal systems to
remove toxins.
Detox doesn’t mean a punishing diet.
The main aim of the process is to help
the body get rid of unnecessary toxins
that may have accumulated because of
daily excesses in food and drink, and
other lifestyle abuses. The good thing is
that you can do a detox at home without
subscribing to a fad diet. All you have to
do is make small changes in your diet and
lifestyle to feel, and see the difference.
Fasting or drastically cutting down
on your intake of food is not the correct
way to detox. Similarly, short-term detox
diets do not help much. What really
works is adopting healthy eating and
lifestyle practices in the long run. Adding
antioxidants to your diet, keeping a tab on
the amount of fat you consume, cutting
MSTUDIOIMAGES/GET T YIMAGES
down on unnecessary stimulants such as
caffeine, decreasing your intake of non-
vegetarian food, and hydrating your body
regularly are some of the things to keep in
mind when undertaking a detox.
Here’s a 7-step, 4-week detox plan to help
you clean up your system now:
 Clockwise from here:
Exercise is an essential
component of any detox;
salads, vegetable juices,
and nuts aid in the
detoxification process.

STEP 1: ADD ANTIOXIDANTS

To start with, increase your body’s intake
of antioxidants; these include vitamins
E and C, beta carotene, and some trace
minerals, such as selenium. These help
the body get rid of free radicals that make
you feel unhealthy and fatigued, and lead
to heart problems in the long run. While
antioxidant supplements are available, it’s
best to ingest them naturally through the
food you consume. So, follow meal plans
that ensure you get enough.

STEP 2: GO LOW FAT

All the fat you consume is processed by
the liver. This process takes energy away
WHAT DETOX DOES
from the regular detoxification that the • Makes you feel more
energetic and leads to
liver does for the body. Several toxins are holistic well-being
fat soluble, and liver’s job is to transform
them into water-soluble substances, so • Clears your skin
that they can be excreted via the bowel or • Regularises bowel
kidneys (the bowel and kidneys cannot movements and
improves digestion
process fat-soluble toxins). So, when you
binge on fried food, your liver is unable to • Helps you concentrate
handle the load. The best way to ease the better
burden on the liver is to switch to a low-fat • Enhances your
diet. Just strike the word ‘fried’ off your emotional well-being
food dictionary for some time. • Helps you achieve
inner peace and
STEP 3: CUT DOWN ON NON-VEGETARIAN FOOD enlightenment
Meat requires several enzymes to • Makes sure you become
digest, so its elimination from your diet healthy in the long run
enhances the detoxification process. It
• Changes your eating
is very easy to go on a protein overdrive habits and educates
when you follow a primarily non- you about good and from breaking down caffeine. But taper
vegetarian diet. Agreed that meat, fish, bad food off gradually to avoid the extremely
and eggs are good proteins and required • Helps you sleep better uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms
for the growth of the body. But, if your that include splitting headaches. And if
C L O C K W I S E : S H U T T E R S T O C K ( 2 ) ; A N Y K A\ A L A M Y

protein intake is more than 30 per cent
of your daily caloric intake, it can result
in a build-up of toxic ketones in the body,
the symptoms of which are weakness and
dizziness. And, in the long term, this may
put a strain on your kidneys and liver.
STEP 4: WATCH WHAT YOU DRINK
Cut down on your consumption
of tea and coffee. You need
to give your liver a rest
you want to multiply the benefits, switch
to green tea because it contains only a
fraction of the caffeine in black tea and
coffee, and is loaded with antioxidants,
which make it an efficient detoxifier.
STEP 5: HYDRATE WELL
Drink at least seven–10 medium-sized
glasses of water a day. Water is not only
essential for every bodily function, it
is also an amazing detoxifier. It helps

landleisureindia.in
Wellness
& Spas
DIET & NUTRITION

Clockwise from here: Seafood should

be an integral part of the diet; yoga
gently detoxifies the body; add seeds
to your morning cereal; your intake of
Vitamin C-rich food is essential to the
detox process; make drinking water fun
by infusing it with fruits and mint; fruits
make for the best snacks.

dilute toxins and waste products, and eases

DOS & DON’TS
CHOOSE ORGANIC FOOD
These are free of pesticides,
synthetic fertilisers, growth
hormones, and genetically
engineered substances,
which means fewer toxins in
your body.
EAT PROBIOTICS
All the sugar and alcohol
from your holiday can
disrupt the delicate balance
of bacteria in the gut.
Probiotics help boost the
good bacteria and restore
healthy digestion.
SKIM FAT OFF YOUR DIET
Make smart swaps. Opt for
low-fat dressings, low-
fat cheese, low-fat milk,
and cottage cheese. Cook
vegetables with vegetable
broth instead of oil. Use a
non-stick frying pan and
spray oil from a spritz
bottle. Remember, a little
goes a long way. If a recipe
calls for a tablespoonful of
oil or butter, then you can
safely cut it down to two
teaspoonful or even lesser.
STEER CLEAR OF FASTING
Water fasts, juice fasts,
and the excessive use
of laxatives to clean out
your digestive system are
a no-no. In fact, fasting is
their drainage from the body. It regulates
and maintains the body temperature, and
also helps clear out excessive fat from the
bloodstream. If you’re tired of drinking just
water, try this: boil some cumin, coriander,
and fennel in water, and drink regularly;
it’s great for your digestion.
STEP 6: CUT DOWN ON SUGAR
It is inevitable that you will have little or
no control over your sugar consumption
while on vacation. And you know that it’s
terrible for you—not only because it’s empty
calories, but also because it suppresses your
immune system and makes you susceptible
to colds and the flu. Stop eating desserts.
To satiate your sweet tooth, eat fresh fruits;
they contain natural sugars and several
essential nutrients.
STEP 7: GET MOVING
An important step for those who want to
detoxify is to be physically active. The lack
of exercise contributes to weight gain and
makes circulation sluggish, which eventually
results in a build-up of toxins. You don’t
have to spend hours at the gym. Even gentle
exercise gets your circulation going. Start
with a 30-minute walk at least twice a week.
Or try yoga—it’s a wonderful way to gently
SHUT TERSTOCK

the worst thing you can do.

Your body needs nutrients
and energy, and fasting just
makes detoxifying even
more difficult.
detoxify the body. It stimulates all the
bodily systems, and also teaches you how
to live a less toxic life.

travelandleisureindia.in
 Now that you’ve understood the basics and know
what to eat and what to avoid, you can start this
four-week plan:

WEEK 1
Increase your intake of Vitamin E.
• Snack on walnuts, peanuts, and almonds, and
sprinkle seeds (sunflower, flax, and watermelon)
and wheat germ on your morning cereal.
• Add olives to your salads and a green, leafy
vegetable to your main meal. It is a good idea to
add lettuce to your sandwiches. If you are a non-
vegetarian, try eating liver once or twice a week.
• Incorporate lemon juice in your diet—be it in a
glass of lemonade or a generous squeeze in your
fruit or salad bowl. It cleanses the body and
strengthens the liver.
• Start limiting the consumption of non-
vegetarian food to every alternate day.
• Make sure you drink more than six glasses
of water a day.

WEEK 2
Concentrate on Vitamin C this week.
• Start your day with a glass of lemonade. Eat
citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruit.
• Continue with a green, leafy vegetable for lunch
and dinner, and add some broccoli twice or
thrice a week to your meals.
• Try to eat two tomatoes a day. Factor in tomato
soup thrice this week.
• In fruits, include guava and strawberries, and
have some amla murabba (you can also have
amla achaar) and drink vegetable juice daily.
• Start eating non-vegetarian food only twice
a week.
• Start drinking eight glasses of water a day.

WEEK 3
Focus on your dose of beta-carotene this week.
C L O C K W I S E : S H U T T E R S T O C K ; H E R A F O O D \ A L A M Y; S H U T T E R S T O C K

• Alternate between mangoes and papaya for

your daily fruit serving.
• Eat a portion of pepper, spinach, pumpkin, or
sweet potato daily.
• Snack on nuts and seeds in the evening.
• Start eating plenty of fibre, including brown
rice, whole wheat, oats, and fresh fruits
and vegetables.
• Limit non-vegetarian food to once a week.
• Keep water consumption to eight glasses, and
start eating water-rich fruits and vegetables.
WEEK 4
Time for the often ignored, but absolutely
essential, antioxidants.
• For selenium, eat seafood thrice this week.
• For phytochemicals, gorge on green,
leafy vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli,
and cabbage.
• Eat sunflower seeds and flaxseeds.
• Add garlic to all your dishes.
• Eat beans and legumes in one meal at least.
• Drink lots of vegetable juices as they have
cleansing properties. Try carrot and beet root
juice with a hint of lemon.
• Limit non-vegetarian food to once a week.
• Keep water intake the same as Week 3.

travelandleisureindia.in
 Wellness
& Spas
AIR?
Z Y H saucer
DIY
, F R I Z on a
DRY a b anana oons of
p
Mash u two tablesp ell
d w
and ad it. Combine from
to ir
honey ly on your ha over

Mini-bar Cures
p C
and ap s to the tips. leave
ot p and e
the ro e r c a
show efor
with a alf an hour b poo for
h h sha
Run out of your favourite products or broken into blemishes? on for ff w it
go
wash n
That too, when on holiday? We give you easy skincare DIYs
that you can put together with whatever’s available in your
hotel room. By Parvati Mohanakrishnan

F YO U R WA X?
CO MING OUT O f
a t h in layer o
Appl y on
c o n d itioner ,
hair rms
u r l e g s and a om
yo or fr
d u s e the raz ra
an
h a v in g kit fo f
the s e of
s e s h a ve. Wip a
clo ith
e r e m nants w oth
th mo
e t t o w el for s kin.
w s
m o is turised
and
DRY, FLAKY SKIN
BOTHERING YOU?
On a saucer, combine two
sachets of white sugar with a
teaspoonful of honey. Rub the
mixture in a circular motion
on your lips, elbows, and
knees to exfoliate and
moisturise dry skin. Wash
off and pat dry.

d a rk?
ned too ater
Tan ran d w
powde
milk the
DUL L S K I N W O ES ? e tea
Mak e a
paste,
an d a pply i
s
t
h
on
o f f with
ags from th s. Wa
nutes
b
w it h tw o
of green tea tea bags in the fridge fo
r
ed a re a i
Brew a cup
af fe ct 5 m
ter 1
ed
keep the us to dab the c
hilled
f
caddy. Then
Use a c o tt o n b a ll and a te r a k in.
15 minutes. flammation
co ld w te r s
ligh
re d u c e in
your face to tea bags y
green tea on k in. Place the i s ib l
for v
n e y o u r s
nd to to vitalised
breakouts, a s for five minutes for re
on your eye kin.
under-eye s

11 travelandleisureindia.in
 APRIL 2019

THE OLD, THE NEW, A MIDDLE EASTERN CAPER

JORDAN
AND THE MEDIEVAL

CZECH REPUBLIC
p. 118
p. 126

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

MEXICO CITY
p. 134
L I N D S AY L A U C K N E R G U N D L O C K

A temporary exhibit at
Museo Experimental
El Eco in the San Rafael
neighbourhood of Mexico City.
The Old Town Square of Prague is punctuated with the city’s emblematic orange tiled roofs.
 THE
CZECH
LIST
PRAGUE’S PRE-WWII SPLENDOUR MESHES
SEAMLESSLY WITH ITS CONTEMPORARY VIBE, MUCH
TO RADHIKA TANDON’S PLEASANT SURPRISE.
J O H N K E L L E R M A N /A L A M Y
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
HAD LONG BEEN ON
MY WISH LIST, BUT LIFE
KEPT GETTING IN THE WAY
OF MY ACTUALLY BEING
THERE—MAINLY BECAUSE
I ASSUMED IT WOULD BE
WASTED ON THE CHILDREN.
From all the pictures I lusted over, I imagined myself strolling on
cobbled streets, breathing in the Gothic spires and enchanting
views, pausing for coffee at a chic cafe. Not quite the place to be
towing two energetic children around. When I finally made it, what
a pleasant surprise it was—so much more than I had imagined.
Prague is one of the few great cities of Europe to have escaped
large-scale destruction during World War II, leaving it with a
wealth of original architecture. The historical core of Prague is a
UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. It is bisected by the Vltava
River, the iconic Charles Bridge a good reference point for any
wander. I began on the east bank, strolling down Wenceslas
Square in the general direction of the river. The square is
misleadingly named—a long, wide street skirting the Old and
New Towns that takes a while to explore. There is so much to
examine, from the National Museum at one end to quirky street
sculptures along the way.
Hampered only by having to stop and stare, I made my way to
the Old Town Square. The buildings here stand as living
memorials to various phases of Prague’s history. The Square was
founded in the 12th century and is presided over by the medieval
astronomical clock, the Prague Orloj. Local legend dictates that it
must be kept in good working order or else the city will suffer.
While I was there, the clock was shrouded for renovations and
just days away from unveiling. At the centre of the Square is a
statue of Jan Hus, the 15th-century religious reformer who was
burned at the stake for his beliefs. The Church of Our Lady before
Tyn is a 14th-century Gothic building, while the Kinsky Palace,
which now houses the National Gallery, was built in the 18th
century at the height of the Rococo era.
I walked along the historic Jewish Quarter and on to Parizska
Street, the mecca for luxe shopping. Considered the most
expensive piece of real estate in the Czech Republic, the street is
lined with a series of luxury brands, including one of the largest
Louis Vuitton stores in the world.
Close to Charles Bridge, and rapidly running out of steam, I
hopped on to one of the several river cruises available on the
banks of the Vltava. While this is a fairly ubiquitous activity in
many European cities, I highly recommend doing this in
Prague—the views from the water are stunning.
travelandleisureindia.in
The next morning, I explored the west
bank. Charles Bridge, constructed in the
14th century during Charles IV’s reign, is
the oldest of the 17 bridges spanning the
Vltava. It is lined by 30 statues, though the
one I was looking for was St. John of
Nepomuk. This unfortunate saint from
15th-century Bohemia refused to divulge
the queen’s confession to the king and was
thrown off the bridge for this discretion. It
is believed that wishes made to his statue
always come true. I soon came upon it,
distinguished by the shiny golden patch
on the plaque at its feet, where it has been
rubbed by thousands of hopeful visitors.
Prague Castle was my next stop. The
largest castle in Central Europe, it dates
back to the ninth century, with many
buildings added to it through the ages.
Today, it serves as the seat of the president.
There are many unique buildings in the
castle complex, but St. Vitus Cathedral is
undoubtedly the highlight. Afterwards, I
joined visitors thronging the Golden Lane,
so called because of a legend that it once
housed royal alchemists. At Number 22, I
peeked into the house where Franz Kafka
lived and worked.
Over the next few days, I discovered
many more facets to Prague. The city
drips with history and grandeur at every
turn, but is also thoroughly contemporary.
When you’ve had your fill of museums
and monuments, you can grab a klobatsky
(sausage) or trdelnik (a cinnamon pastry
that, while not native to the Czech
Republic, is found everywhere) from a
street cart and wander around the
cobblestone streets. Prague’s magic lies in
being a visual treat with something
beautiful to feast on at every corner.
There are lots of interesting restaurants
and unusual shops to browse. You can try
your hand at the beer bikes—a sort of
mobile pub that crawls with you—that
combine two abiding Czech passions, beer
and biking. When I tired of tramping the
streets, I retreated to a beer spa, which
turned out to be surprisingly refreshing. I
soaked in a hot tub infused with hops,
while sipping cold Czech beer on tap and
nibbling on beer bread. Afterwards, I lay
on a bed of straw, wrapped in a sheet,
while letting the hops work their magic on
my skin. At a lively restaurant on the
riverfront, I discovered goulash. Not the
soup I was expecting, but a delectable dish
of tender, slow-cooked meat in a dark
 From top: The Wenceslas
Square skirts the Old and New
Towns; the DOX Centre for
Contemporary Art is home to
stunning exhibits in Praha 7.
F R O M T O P : A R T K O WA L S K Y/A L A M Y; C O U R T E S Y O F D O X

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 C L O C K W I S E : J O H N M C K E N N A /A L A M Y; I A N B O T T L E /A L A M Y; C O U R T E S Y O F J AT K A 7 8
Clockwise from left: Jazz musicians put up a performance on
Charles Bridge; tourists regularly rub the plaque beneath the statue
of St. John Nepomuk for good luck; Jatka 78 is a slaughterhouse-
turned-theatre in Praha 7. Opposite: Trdelnik is a cinnamon pastry
found everywhere on Prague’s streets.

YOU MUST TRY

YOUR HAND AT
BEER BIKES—A
SORT OF MOBILE
PUB THAT
CRAWLS WITH
YOU—THAT
COMBINE TWO
ABIDING CZECH
PASSIONS, BEER
AND BIKING.
travelandleisureindia.in
 gravy, served with dumplings, which quickly became my
staple diet in the city.
Another day, I explored Prague’s art district, where life and
art are seamlessly entwined. Praha 7 is both a neighbourhood
where people actually live and work, and a centre for
contemporary art and culture. There is, for instance, Jatka 78
(jatka78.cz), a former slaughterhouse that now houses a
theatre as well as a gallery and cafe. And Vnitroblock
(vnitroblock.cz), starkly industrial in keeping with its former
avatar as a factory, is an art gallery with a restaurant that also
serves as a showroom for local fashion brands. Or you can pop
into Bitcoin Coffee (bitcoincoffee.cz), a cafe that accepts
payment only in bitcoin, and get acquainted with the
principles of the Parallel Polis movement.
The area is also home to the DOX Centre for
Contemporary Art (dox.cz), distinguished by the giant
wooden blimp on its roof. It hosts some stunning
permanent exhibits and an impressive roster of temporary
displays. In its vicinity is a planetarium, a hockey arena, an
ice-skating rink and the Prague Exhibition Grounds
(vystavistepraha.eu), a vast exhibition hall with
programmes for children. At Letna Park, I stopped for
lunch at the elegant bistro Letensky Zamecek
(letenskyzamecek.cz). The beer garden outside is a great spot
to laze away a sunny afternoon.
For a change of pace, there are plenty of day trips under
an hour from Prague. The Fashion Arena Prague Outlet
(fashion-arena.cz) is one of the largest shopping centres in
Europe, a mere 25 minutes from the city centre. I could
have happily spent a day in retail therapy, browsing
through the many international brands available at serious
M O N I C A W E L L S /A L A M Y. O P P O S I T E PA G E , C L O C K W I S E : J O H N M C K E N N A /A L A M Y; I A N B O T T L E /A L A M Y; C O U R T E S Y O F J AT K A 7 8
lovingly restored as a grand chateau with many
of its original frescoes and artefacts. I stayed at
the medieval-themed Stredoveky Hotel on its
grounds, replete with candlelight, stone floors,
and wooden beams. The rooms recreate those of
a medieval inn, with tall four-poster beds,
wooden toilets, and stone gargoyles that glare at
you disconcertingly through the night. At
midnight, staff in ghoulish costumes rattle
chains and moan their way down the corridors,
and breakfast is served in a trough, with a vat of
boiling water to make your coffee. The overall
effect is fun and kitschy rather than spooky. The
nearby tavern serves dinner with a side of Czech-
language entertainment. Though I couldn’t
follow all the banter, it was worth it for the
atmospherics with an eclectic band of
entertainers that included a fire-eater, some
light-hearted torture re-enactments, and,
somewhat confusingly, a belly dancer.

discounts. The mall is laid out in a user-friendly circle and

offers a VIP day pass to foreign visitors for some added
perks. There is a playground to keep the kids entertained,
and restaurants as well.
About 40 minutes out of Prague is the Prague Zoo
(zoopraha.cz), accessible from the town centre by metro
and bus and currently rated the fourth best zoo in the
world. My visit was all too short, but I was impressed by the
ecosystem-themed displays and would have loved some
more time at the petting zoo.
Another child-friendly excursion is to the delightfully
random collection of experiences at the Mirakulum
(mirakulum.cz). Built on the site of a former Soviet military
base, this amusement park is popular with Czech and Polish
families. While language may pose a slight barrier for
English speakers, it is still doable without a guide. There is a
vast playground of non-mechanised structures, including a
wooden castle, climbing frames, giant trampolines and a
water play area. A narrow-gauge railway connects the park
to the neighbouring Tankodrome (tankodrommilovice.cz),
where you can ride a military tank while gazing at highland
cattle, ponies, and llamas along the way.
Getting a sense of the country outside Prague is
relatively easy, with many possibilities within an hour or
two of the city limits. One overnight foray I made was to the
Detenice Chateau Resort (detenice.cz). Originally built as a
fortress in 1404, it has had several incarnations, from being
the seat of a count to, more recently, serving as a juvenile
reform school under communist rule. Today, it has been

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Tourists must buy a
traditional ceramic
mug with a spout to
taste the thermal
mineral waters
running beneath
Karlovy Vary.
Opposite: The spa
town is famous for
its Moser crystal
glassware.
 KARLOVY VARY BOASTS TWO
OF THE MOST FAMOUS
PRODUCTS OF THE CZECH
REPUBLIC—MOSER GLASS AND
BECHEROVKA LIQUOR.

Close by, and with quite a different ambience, the exquisite

Chateau Mcely (chateaumcely.cz) is about an hour to the northeast of
Prague. A former aristocratic manor, this chateau offers an elegant
and tranquil retreat deep in the Bohemian countryside. With a
chapel on the premises, a glass-enclosed patio bar with views in
every direction, and an in-house spa with its own exclusive products,
it’s perfect for a luxurious getaway. There are pretty walks and
cycling trails in the surrounding villages and forests. Children will
love Nely, Princess of Chateau Mcely, a sweet, illustrated book
written by the current owner about her daughter. It is filled with
imaginary adventures of the child in the various country-themed
rooms of the chateau. There is plenty of inspiration for youngsters to
make up adventures of their own, such as the beetle hotel on the
grounds, a small library in the top floor of the tower, and all the usual
accoutrements of playground and pool.
West of Prague, I visited the picturesque little town of Loket.
Close to the German border, it presents a postcard view with its
Karlovy Chateau ALL PLAY IN
castle on a hill and the Ohre flowing in a crooked bend beneath it. Vary
Prague
Mcely
PRAGUE
The town hosts an opera festival every year, as well as the Czech The capital of Czech
Motocross Grand Prix. The climb to the top of the castle was well CZECH REPUBLIC
Republic ticks all the
worth it for the views. Afterwards, I stopped at the Staroslovanska boxes for an immersive
Kuchyne (staroslovanska-kuchyne.cz), a tavern with its own tour for the entire family.
Stroll through cobblestone
brewery that serves an assortment of unique beers, including Old Town streets to explore its
Square
smoked and sweet ones. Prague
Castle history and hop cafes to
Karlovy Vary, nestled in a valley to the west of Prague, was my PRAGUE tap into the local buzz.
favourite place outside the capital. This spa town deserves a
couple of nights at the very least. There are 15 thermal springs
running beneath the town, and various spas and hotels offer GETTING THERE hilltop. From `11,200;
treatments ranging from two-Week packages for specific Fly to Vaclav Havel Airport spa-hotel-imperial.cz
ailments to short wellness breaks. You must buy a specially in Prague via Istanbul
on Turkish Airlines BEST SEASON
designed porcelain cup with a spout, and can taste the waters in
(turkishairlines.com). Summer is popular, though
a number of places around town. spring and early autumn
Karlovy Vary hosts a prestigious European film festival and STAY have mild weather and
boasts two of the most famous products of the Czech Republic— PRAGUE: Penta Hotel is a smaller crowds. Or catch
Moser glass and Becherovka liquor. The Moser factory offers regular trendy place 15 minutes the Christmas markets from
from Old Town Square. From late November onwards.
tours where you can watch expert glassblowers at work, and buy
H E M I S /A L A M Y. O P P O S I T E PA G E : R O B E R T H A R D I N G /A L A M Y

`6,800; pentahotels.com
their exquisite (and extremely expensive) products. Becherovka, DETENICE CHATEAU:
especially the lemon version, is just plain delicious (and medicinal, A 15th-century fortress with
the Czechs will tell you), and makes a great souvenir. lovely artefacts and the
If you like the idea of a stately, old-fashioned European hotel, medieval inn-themed
Stredoveky Hotel. From
the Imperial in Karlovy Vary is built like a castle and stands on
`6,600; stredovekyhotel.cz
a hill, with the town spread beneath it and forested hills beyond. CHATEAU MCELY: The
I found myself there on a full-moon night and despite freezing ideal place to weave your
temperatures, sat on my balcony entranced by the view, having own fairy tale. Rooms are
my Grand Budapest Hotel moment. Earlier that evening, I had `18,000 and upwards;
chateaumcely.cz
sailed high above the region in a hot-air balloon, tasted the spring KARLOVY VARY: The
waters, and dined in the town centre. It was the perfect setting to Imperial Hotel offers
reflect on all the highly anticipated—as well as the unexpected— splendid views from a
delights that I had encountered in this beautiful country.
TOP TIP
Be very careful when
changing money—fine print
involving the sum you
exchange is a well-
established scam. Never
hand over cash or sign a
receipt without confirming
exactly how much money
you will be given for your
foreign exchange. The
booths around Wenceslas
Square are among the
safer places.

travelandleisureindia.in
 at every corner, leaving Neeta Lal wonderstruck.
The usual suspects aside, Jordan springs delightful revelations
A JOY FUL JAUNT
THROUGH JORDA N

C L O C K W I S E : E LV E L E I M A G E S L I M I T E D /A L A M Y; J O R G E F E R N A N D E Z /A L A M Y; A G E F O T O S T O C K /A L A M Y; J O E L C A R I L L E T/ G E T T Y I M A G E S
 Ajloun Castle has been restored
D E N I S C H A P M A N /A L A M Y

partly after two major earthquakes.

Opposite, clockwise from top left:

Bedouin teapots at El Deir, Petra; a
bagpipe player at the Roman ruins
of Jerash; a Greek mosaic dated
AD 762 at Moses Memorial Church,
Mt Nebo; a Bedouin woman in a
traditional veil in Petra.
A
fter ooh-ing and The 90-minute journey took us through pine
forests and the olive groves of the Ajloun–Dibeen

aah-ing over Petra highlands. The region around Ajloun has an

almost Mediterranean feel to it. The air is fresh

and Wadi Rum—the and crisp, perfumed with evergreen oak,

pine, wild pistachio and wild strawberry trees.

big daddies of tourist Birds conduct their own raucous orchestra from
the treetops. At roadside stalls, plump olives—in

attractions—we different hues and sizes—winked back at us

from their jars. A cornucopia of colourful fruits

thought we’d seen it and vegetables sold by the local Bedouins added
more heft to the streetscape. Hamdi, our

all. Then along came avuncular Jordanian driver-cum-guide, killed

the engine and stopped for us to try some

Ajloun. From our hotel in deliciously sweet bananas and mangoes.

Soon, we reached Ajloun to view its famous

Amman, the capital city of Qal’at Ar-Rabad (Arabic for ‘hilltop castle’). Tickets
bought, we ambled past kiosks selling touristy tat

Jordan, we drove south and a moat bridge that cut a swathe through the
castle’s east wall. A long, sloping passage led up a

towards the Syrian border gradient to an older, arched entrance, embellished

with carvings of birds. Stepping inside was like

and the hill-fringed town of walking into a vintage painting, with the dun-
coloured fortification’s soaring towers, chambers,

Umm Qais, where history alcoves, and galleries silhouetted against an azure
sky. As we nipped up to the top, vistas of the Jordan

whispers from every corner. Valley opened out before us in shades of emerald
and sherbet like a cinematic landscape. The hill on
which the castle sits, Jabal Auf, overlooks three
major wadis or valleys.
The castle’s warren of chambers and galleries is perfect
for exploration. The kids loved the castle—capacious rooms
to scamper about, and plenty of selfie points with a
chiaroscuro playing out in its cavernous innards. Treasures
from long ago—artefacts like broken urns, weapons, and
utensils from various periods of the castle’s history—tell
stories of the past. Hamdi explained that the castle was
formerly the site of an isolated Christian monastery, home to
a monk named Ajloun.
“By 1184, in the midst of the Crusades, the monastery had
fallen into ruin. An Arab general, Izz ad-Din Usama, seized
this opportunity to build a fortress on the ruins,” Hamdi
narrated, as we perambulated the castle’s stony ramparts
peppered with debris and the occasional whirring machine
deployed for its restoration. Usama’s idea behind building
the castle was to limit expansion of the Crusader kingdoms,
protect the rich iron mines of the nearby hills, and exhibit his
clout to the warring clans of the local Bani Auf tribe.
According to legend, Usama invited the sheikhs of the
tribe to a lavish banquet in the castle. After entertaining
them, he threw them into the dungeons. Later, the castle was
partly destroyed in the invasions of the Mongols in 1260, but
A G E F O T O S T O C K /A L A M Y

was rebuilt quickly afterwards. Ottoman troops were

garrisoned here during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Today, Ajloun Castle stands partly restored after damage
by two massive earthquakes in 1837 and 1927. Consolidation
work on the surviving structures continues in a bid to
preserve its rich legacy.

travelandleisureindia.in
 Clockwise: The Qal’at
Ar-Rabad, or Ajloun Castle,
built atop Jabal Auf in 1184 AD;
a lodge in Ajloun Forest
Reserve, which features
evergreen oak, pine, wild
pistachio and strawberry trees;
a mint tea seller in traditional
garb in Ajloun.
F R O M T O P : A L O N M E I R /A L A M Y; A G E F O T O S T O C K /A L A M Y
Clockwise: The 800-metre-long
colonnaded street of Cardo
Maximus in Jerash; accessories
for sale in a local market; the
Brazen Serpent monument
created by Italian artist
Giovanni Fantoni at Mount
Nebo; a rolling stone once used
to fortify the door of a Byzantine
monastery, now outside the
Moses Memorial Church,
Mount Nebo.
 JERASH
A short drive northwards from Ajloun lies the
ancient city of Jerash, one of Jordan’s most visited
attractions. We stopped midway at a local Bedouin
restaurant for lunch, a Jordanian buffet of pita
bread, salads, rice, and meats. No Michelin stars
for the food, but it was fresh and wholesome,
unblemished by ‘modernity,’ and we washed it
down with our favourite mint-infused lemonade,
or limonana.
Tucked into a quiet valley among the Gilead
mountains, Jerash is a city with personality. It
sits upon layers of history, each one more
complex than the other. Within the city’s walls,
archaeologists have stumbled upon ruins of
settlements dating back to the Neolithic Age,
indicating human occupation as long back as
6,500 years ago.
Founded by Alexander the Great, or perhaps
one of his generals, the metropolis was buried
for centuries under sand until it was excavated
and restored over the course of a century. It
flourished between the first and third centuries
AD, enjoying robust trade relations with the
Nabateans or ancient Arabs.
“Jerash is considered one of the world’s
largest and most well-preserved sites of Roman
architecture outside of Italy,” the local guide said,
O P P O S I T E PA G E , C L O C K W I S E : R O B E R T H A R D I N G /A L A M Y; M A U R I T I U S I M A G E S G M B H /A L A M Y; S U P E R S T O C K /A L A M Y; H E M I S /A L A M Y
as we entered the city through its spectacular
gateway, Hadrian’s Arch, built to honour the visit
of Emperor Hadrian of Rome in 129 AD.
The Romans Hellenised the city’s Arabic
name to Gerasa, which was again changed at the
end of the 19th century to the Arabic Jerash, and
the moniker stayed. A melange of Greco-Roman
styles as well as influences from the Orient, the
city’s architecture and city planning highlight its
embrace of different cultures and artistic styles.
We ambled around the handsome city admiring
its well-paved and colonnaded streets, exquisite
hilltop temples, expansive plazas and squares,
baths, fountains, and city walls pierced by towers
and gates that remain in exceptional condition.
We captured the city’s myriad sites on
camera, spoilt for choice in terms of remarkable
photo ops. As we took in the visual theatre, our
guide told us that Jerash was one of the great
metropolises of the Decapolis, a clutch of cities
on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in
the first centuries BC and AD.
Today, however, Jerash is most famous for
hosting the Roman Army and Chariot Experience
or RACE, the biggest show of pageantry of any
kind in the Middle East. The spectacle includes 24
fully equipped legionaries demonstrating their
battle formations and tactics, gruesome gladiator
fights, and a chariot race with laps around its
spina or the middle barrier.
Despite yearning to spend more time in Jerash,
unearthing the mysteries of this fascinating city layer by
layer, our next destination beckoned.
MOUNT NEBO
History and religion intertwine so seamlessly in Jordan, it’s
tough to known where one ends and the other begins. This
thought sprang to mind as we soaked in a jaw-dropping
view of  Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank from the summit
of Mount Nebo.
The 710-metre Mount Nebo, the zenith of a ridge known
as Pisgah, is where Moses viewed the Promised Land just
before his death and his burial here. Its breathtaking
panorama extends from Jericho all the way to Jerusalem, and
to the Jordan Valley in the North. In the distance looms the
Mount of Olives in western Jerusalem. As we trained our eyes
further, we could also glimpse the northern tip of the Dead
Sea and the rolling hills of the surrounding valleys.
“One of the world’s most important Christian holy sites,
Nebo was visited by Pope John Paul II in 2000,” the guide
said as we inspected the olive tree, now lush with foliage,
the pope planted here as a symbol of peace. In 2009, Pope
Benedict XVI’s visit further burnished Mount Nebo’s
reputation as a salient holy site.
Next to the viewpoint, on a raised platform, is a modern
sculpture by the Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni
representing Moses’ staff and Jesus’ words in John 3: “As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the
Son of Man be lifted up.”
As we moved ahead to view the Memorial Church of
Moses, we were told it is infused with elements of a
Byzantine basilica uncovered by archaeologists in the 1930s.
Its excavated Old Baptistery is inlaid with some of the most
gorgeous ancient mosaics. In the far right corner of the
church is the New Baptistery, previously a funerary chapel,
that is in remarkable condition despite dating back to 597
AD. It also includes a tiny mosaic originally from the
threshold bearing the greeting, ‘Peace to all.’ Later, we
visited the small museum and gift shop to buy some holy
relics and souvenirs, including holy water in pretty vials
and a book about Jordan’s biblical history.
PETRA
Nothing prepares you for Petra. Not the glossy brochures
that feebly capture the blushing glow of its rocks. Nor
television shows that fail to evoke the tangible magic of this
spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Site. And definitely
not your friends, whose florid descriptions of one of the
New World’s Seven Wonders are likely cliche-ridden. And
so, I must paint a first-hand-witness account of it, despite
its popularity. Set in the titanic jebels of southern Jordan,
between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, Petra is an
enchanting ensemble of hand-hewn caves, palaces, Roman
amphitheatres, temples, and tombs crafted from pink
sandstone 2,000 years ago.
We arrived in the ancient city from Nebo after a bumpy
drive on a cold wintry morning. And dived right in, starting
with Bab Al Siq, a natural 1.2-kilometre-long gorge of red
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 J A N W L O D A R C Z Y K /A L A M Y

Like many other structures

in the ancient city, Petra’s
treasury, Al Khazney, was
carved out of sandstone rock.
Opposite: A Bedouin prepares
tea in the Wadi Rum Desert.
 sandstone, formed after the mountains split. As we ambled
past the canyon walls and towering rocks marked with multi-
hued striations, our local guide Sam told us that Petra was also
known as the Rose City due to its pink rocks. “The city is
basically an ode to a lost civilisation—the Nabateans—a
Semitic desert tribe about whom little is known and whose
kingdom lay among these cliffs and peaks,” he said.
As gifted architects, artisans, and engineers, the
Nabateans lived in the valley from the seventh century BC to
the second century AD, and prospered until trade routes
changed. The arrival of Romans in 63 BC brought expansion
as well as ostentation. They erected some of the city’s most
impressive façades, including a theatre that could seat 4,000
spectators—the world’s only theatre carved into rock.
Petra thrived till an earthquake ravaged it in the fourth
century AD and was abandoned thereafter until a Swiss
explorer called Jahannes Burckhardt rediscovered the ruins
in 1812. Burckhardt, dressed as an Arab, asked the local
Bedouins to show him around. So enchanted was he that he
kept revisiting the city, spurring global interest in Petra that
A TREASURE HUNT
continues till date.
The Siq tapers off to a few feet and then opens out
FOR THE FAMILY Ajloun
JORDAN
Go beyond the usual tourist Jerash
dramatically at the 40-metre-high Treasury or Al Khazana, attractions in Jordan, and you’ll Amman
swarming with tourists, kiosks, cafes, and camel riders. be pleasantly surprised at the Mt. Nebo
Local Bedouins approached us to offer guide services or to jewels it holds. Go for a curated
tour, or sketch out your own
sell necklaces and souvenirs. Shops selling ‘Bedouin kohl’ Petra
itinerary—there’s something here
seemed especially popular. for every family member.
Experts are divided over what the Treasury’s exact
WA D I
RUM

function was. “Some say it was temple while others contend it

was a tomb,” we were told as we marvelled at the structure’s GETTING THERE & AROUND
Several airlines like Gulf Air,
still lustrous Corinthian pillars, friezes, and mammoth
Oman Air, and Etihad Airways
sculptures with distinct Hellenistic and Middle Eastern operate one-stop flights to
architectural influences. From the Treasury we walked past Queen Alia International
ancient temples, a marketplace, and an expansive Greek-style Airport in Amman. Travelling
amphitheatre. Interspersed through the rock formations, within Jordan is easy and
relatively cheap as most cities
rising in the distance, are remnants of over 800 tombs.
are well-connected through a
“The Nabataeans buried their dead in intricate tombs fine road network.
carved exquisitely from the mountain sides,” our guide
explained, as we struggled to understand how the structure STAY
was crafted in such complex detail centuries ago. Ajloun Hotel: The hotel has a
Given Petra’s bewildering expanse, archaeologists even garden with an outdoor pool,
and offers air-conditioned
today have explored only a fraction of it. Excavations, rooms with free Wi-Fi. It has a
facilitated by satellite imagery, unearthed a monumental
24-hour front desk and a free
structure buried in the sand as recently as 2016. For the last shuttle, but its location—one
half of the hike, we nipped up 800 steps through the cliff kilometre from Ajloun Castle—
is its most fetching detail.
face to the vast, temple-like monastery—Ad Deir. It crowns
Rooms from `5,000
a craggy mountain with sweeping views across Israel and Olive Branch Hotel: Nearly
Palestine. We soaked in a stunning panorama of palm trees, four kilometres from Jerash,
surreal rock formations, and camel caravans navigated by located on a hill overlooking
Dibbin Nature Reserve, Olive
Bedouins below us. When we returned to the Treasury an
Branch offers spacious rooms
hour later, it was bathed in the salmon-pink glow of early and an outdoor pool with a sun-
evening. We stood transfixed yet again till Sam reminded us lounger terrace. Rooms from
J A N W L O D A R C Z Y K /A L A M Y
walking distance of the Church
of St George and the famous
mosaic map of the Holy Land.
Doubles from `6,000;
mosaiccityhotel.com
Mövenpick Resort Petra:
Located right at the entrance to
Petra, it is crafted from natural
stone, handcrafted wood, and
Middle Eastern fabrics. The
hotel offers 183 rooms and
suites, seven restaurants, and a
fitness and wellness centre.
Rooms from `15,000;
movenpick.com
TOURS
Amman-based Jordan Select
Tours is conscious about the
region’s environment and
organises an array of cultural
tours, including an eight-day
Nabatean Wonder Itinerary. It
also curates tours for groups
with specific interests—from
culinary arts to wine-tasting
tours and birdwatching.
+962-65930588; select.jo

that our escort was waiting to take us back to our hotel. `7,000; olivebranch.com.jo Enjoy Jordan organises a
Reluctantly trooping back, the French novelist Gustave Mosaic City Hotel: Around variety of tours, from diving in
eight kilometres from Mount Aqaba to a 10-day family
Flaubert’s words echoed in my mind: “Travelling makes one itinerary and trekking
Nebo, Mosaic City Hotel is a
modest—you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” small, friendly property in the programmes. +962-65534544,
Having experienced diminution time and again in Petra’s heart of Madaba, within easy enjoy-jordan.com
elemental vastness, you can’t help but concur.

travelandleisureindia.in
 MEXICO CITY
There are few places as dynamic, diverse, or mind-bogglingly large as the Mexican capital.
In a city layered with history, in which change is an essential part of residents’ DNA, where to begin
planning a trip? Michael Snyder gives his breakdown of the eight neighbourhoods to visit,
whether your focus is shopping, food, art, or design.

Photographed by Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock

A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, I moved to Mexico City
more or less sight unseen, taking it on good faith that this urban
giant could find space for one more body among the 21 million that
already called its entire metro area home. I came, like many
foreigners before me, with vague ideas about its vibrant food and
art scenes; its crooked glamour and effortless cool; its rich
colonial and modern architectural landscape. I expected to find
moments of enervating chaos and sometimes choking smog. But I
was rejuvenated by gracious parks and sublime weather, by crisp
autumn mornings and springlike afternoons, by spasms of rain and
hail and thunder that gave way, just in time, to marigold sunsets
blooming across the horizon. Mexico City, it seems, is able to turn a
different face to each of its inhabitants.
That’s because, in the past five centuries, Mexico City has
become a master of transformation. Flung wide across a seismic,
high-altitude plateau, North America’s largest city has survived

travelandleisureindia.in
 A building in the
Centro Histórico,
where young chefs and
gallerists are bringing
new energy to Mexico
City’s oldest
neighbourhood.
colonial conquest, years-long floods, a bloody war of
independence, a bloodier revolution, and in 1985, a
catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 9,000
and decimated much of the historic central borough of
Cuauhtémoc. Thirty-two years later to the day, in 2017,
another quake shook the city to its core, bringing down
over 40 buildings and damaging many more. Within
weeks, the city had bounced back from that, too.
Chilangos, as residents are known, continue to deal
with shoddy governance, shoddy infrastructure, and
fluctuating levels of security. Given the choice, many
would just as soon return to the villages they left a
generation or three before. But many more—myself
included—wouldn’t live anywhere else.
No one trip is enough to unlock the city’s many
wonders. For a first-time visitor, sticking to the leafy
neighbourhoods in and around the Delegación
Cuauhtémoc offers an ideal introduction: a walkable,
manageable microcosm of the city’s wild, sophisticated
whole. From the cockeyed grandeur of the Centro
Histórico to the discreet galleries of Santa María la
Ribera and the glamorous cafes of Condesa, these are
the eight districts every visitor should get to know.

CENTRO HISTÓRICO the century onward, modernity-

Late one Sunday morning, I set out
from my home on the far side of the
Zócalo, Mexico City’s spectacular
central plaza, to the Mercado San Juan.
It wasn’t a particularly long walk, but,
like most routes through the Centro
Histórico, it encompassed many pasts,
many presents, and many possible
futures. Here, you’ll find opulent
colonial palaces, crooked Baroque
churches, murals by Diego Rivera at
the Palacio Nacional and the
From top: The Palacio de
Bellas Artes, one of the Secretariat of Public Education
most iconic buildings in headquarters, and the magnificent
the Centro; scallop ruins of the Templo Mayor, the axis
ceviche at Don Vergas, in
the Mercado San Juan. of the Aztec Empire’s religious and
political universe.
Until the late 1800s, the Centro was
Mexico City. Then, from the turn of
obsessed elites began abandoning
their ancestral homes and moving to
the newly created suburbs in the west
and south. After the 1985 earthquake,
the Centro was all but abandoned. It
remained an important place of
protest and celebration, but it was not
a place where you lingered.
Entering the open doorway of the
Mercado San Juan, I passed vendors
selling rambutans and mangoes,
plastic boxes of microgreens, and
giant clams from Baja. But I hadn’t
come here to shop (for that I go to
Mercado la Merced, the bigger, crazier,
more beautiful wholesale market on
my side of the Centro). Instead, I had
come to eat at Don Vergas, an eight-
seat market stall that, for the past year,
has been turning out some of the best
seafood in Mexico City.

travelandleisureindia.in
 ROMA & CONDESA

At the northern edge of Colonia Roma,

a trickle of young, stylish people
wandered in and out of a heavy glass
door that swung open onto Calle
Chef Luis Valle, who hails from the Puebla. They followed a bend of stairs
northwestern coastal state of Sinaloa, past tall white gallery walls and out
had opened shop only an hour earlier, onto a sunny roof terrace surrounded
but already a rowdy line had filled the by treetops. Monserrat Castera, beer
aisle, singing along to the banda music in hand, led me from the open patio
playing through a loudspeaker into a small, glass-walled room at one
perched precariously over the tiny corner to show me around the latest
kitchen. “How many crab tostadas?” edition of her pop-up shop, Momo
Valle shouted over the music. Hands Room—one of a growing number of
shot up: 15 orders. nomadic retail spaces now at the
I slipped behind the bar to help vanguard of Mexico’s fashion scene.
squeeze a few limes and hang out with This iteration, she explained,
Valle, who makes great company, no was inspired by Juan Rulfo, the mid-
matter how busy he is. I asked how 20th-century writer whose works are
many people he would cook for today. widely considered to be among the
“About 400,” he said. I asked how he Below: A lounge finest ever written in Mexico. Rulfo set
area at Ignacia
coped. “I don’t!” he laughed, then Guest House, which two of his most important books in a
turned back to the crowd, shouting: inhabits a converted fictional town in the small coastal state
“How many scallops?” town house in of Colima. Among objects selected from
the style-centric
Even a decade ago, you’d have been neighbourhood local designers, Castera had scattered
hard-pressed to find such excitement of Roma. photographs of Colima, burlap sacks
surrounding a restaurant in this part of
town. But in the past year or so, pop-up
parties have begun to appear on
rooftops, in basements, and at
run-down cantinas like the bizarre and
beautiful La Faena, decorated with dusty
shadow boxes of toreadors’ costumes.
Edgy art galleries have appeared in
former office buildings. Bósforo, still the
top place in town for mezcal almost 10
years after it opened, draws crowds on
weekends, while the nameless
restaurant next door serves impeccable
Oaxacan food by flickering candlelight.
But despite the fact that a new,
younger generation is now gravitating
to the Centro, it’s still a place that
belongs to everyone. Activists stage
regular protests in the Zócalo. Residents
from around the city come to shop at
stores selling everything from spices to
light fixtures and giant handmade
candles decorated in lacy wax flowers.
Government workers stop in at century-
old cantinas for an afternoon beer (try
La Ópera for gilded old-world opulence,
or Salón España for the city’s best
tequila list). Even the exorbitantly
expensive Mercado San Juan, where
Luis Valle slings his seafood, has a
raucous weekend party. Nowhere in this
immense, stratified city is more
democratic or more beautiful.
of the state’s famous sea salt, and
handwoven straw hats. There were also
playful sunglasses from French-
Mexican collective Stromboli Associates;
handmade box bags in wood and leather
by Aurelia, a brand run by three sisters
from Guadalajara; and embroidered
linen kimonos dyed with indigo and
cochineal from local label Korimi Kids.
None of these designers had a brick-
and-mortar shop. After all, in a city
obsessed with collaboration, and replete
with spectacular spaces ideal for short-
term group exhibitions, what would
be the point?
When Mexico City was named the
World Design Capital for 2018, many
ascribed the distinction to an aesthetic
that brings Mexico’s disparate creative
traditions—from textiles and
earthenware to the great Modernist
boom of the 1950s—into conversation
with one another. Though that
sensibility has existed in Mexico for
generations, it has become newly
fashionable in Roma and Condesa, two
of the capital’s most design-forward
neighbourhoods. You can witness it at
stores like quirky clothing boutique
Hi-Bye, at the shops lining the uneven
sidewalks of the beautiful Calle Colima,
and at Ven a Mi—an appointment-only
showroom selling unusual crafts from From far left: A temporary
around the country. exhibit by the artist TO at
Museo Experimental El
After the 1985 earthquake, many Eco, in San Rafael; chicken
residents fled Roma, and it was well with mashed potatoes and
over a decade before artists and tortillas with octopus at
Salón Ríos, in Colonia
designers began moving back into its Cuauhtémoc; the Angel of
gracefully dilapidated Beaux-Arts Independence, on Paseo de
la Reforma in Juarez.
mansions. Condesa, which was the
city’s most cosmopolitan
neighbourhood during the 1930s and
40s, experienced a shorter decline,
having rebounded by the mid 90s.
With its pretty Art Deco and Mission-
style apartments and even prettier
residents, Condesa is today the grande
dame of Mexico City colonias—
stylish, elegant, but never trying too
hard. Condesa and Roma were also
among the areas most heavily
damaged in the 2017 earthquake, but
this time both returned to life with
remarkable speed. Were it not for a
handful of empty buildings dotting the
area, deep cracks running like vines
through their white plaster exteriors,
you might not know that anything
had happened here at all.
And while the dialogue between
tradition and innovation found its way
into restaurant kitchens at least a
decade ago in places like Enrique
Olvera’s Pujol, in the swanky Polanco
area, Roma and Condesa have taken
the lead in translating it into more
casual—though no less ambitious—
settings. At the year-old restaurant
Meroma, wife-and-husband team
Mercedes Bernal and Rodney Cusic
offer some of the neighbourhoods’
most refined cooking, taking
inspiration from local ingredients,
rather than traditional dishes, to
create an eclectic menu. At El Parnita,
a family-run taco joint that got hip as
the district did, young diners line up
for a lunch of fish tacos and craft beer.
And at the chaotic, nameless open
kitchen next door, a young chef
named Jesús Salas Tornés creates
consistently delicious, interesting
dishes that bring the flavours,
techniques, and oddball informality of
the countryside straight to the heart
of the city.
travelandleisureindia.in
SANTA MARÍA LA
RIBERA & SAN RAFAEL

Not long after I moved to Mexico City,

I climbed a flight of terrazzo stairs leading
to a buzzing, dimly lit terrace in Santa
María la Ribera, an otherwise quiet
residential neighbourhood northwest of
the Centro. Glamorous in its turn-of-the-
20th-century heyday, Santa María, the first
planned suburb of the Centro, was, by the
1950s, overshadowed by neighbourhoods
like Roma and Condesa. On that chilly
evening, however, it was hard to imagine
anywhere more elegant.
In the 17 years since Zonamaco, the city’s
mammoth weeklong art fair, launched,
Mexico City has become an essential stop
for regulars on the international art circuit
and young artists looking to create and
show work in a dynamic, affordable
environment. A few nights before the
gathering on the terrace, Art Week had
started—an annual event that includes
Zonamaco and its daring younger sibling,
the Material Art Fair. Around me was a

crowd of local gallerists, artists from
Mexico and abroad, and assorted global
movers and shakers. They’d come to
celebrate the recent opening of the
Mexico City outpost of Casa Wabi, the
Tadao Ando–designed artists’ retreat in
Oaxaca, on Mexico’s southern coast.
Mezcal flowed freely as fairy lights
twinkled along with the neon sign for a
cheap hotel across the street.
Between them, Santa María and the
adjacent area of San Rafael are home to
more than a dozen galleries and art
spaces. Some represent internationally
Above: Grilled lamb recognised artists, but most are like
at Meroma, in Roma. Casa Wabi: alternative, informal spaces
Above right: Salón Ríos,
in Colonia Cuauhtémoc,
for young Mexican artists. On a recent
serves updated morning, I stopped by the gallery to see
Mexican staples. an exhibition of earthenware pieces by
a Swiss resident at the Oaxaca centre,
displayed alongside Mid-century
Modern furniture sold by the design
shop Decada. The small space on
the ground floor showed work by a
photographer from the northern state
of Sonora—endless desert horizons
punctuated by fragments of industrial
architecture. “Mexico City is a nursery
for the rest of the country,” said Carla
Sodi, director of the Casa Wabi
Foundation, as we sat one morning on
a balcony overlooking an ordinary
street that was waking to the working
day. “Eventually, these artists will go
back home and plant those seeds.”
Santa María and San Rafael have
always been low-key repositories for
Mexican design. Around Santa María’s
gracious alameda, or central park,
families move up and down the marble
stairs of the gorgeously old-fashioned
Geology Museum, built in 1910, while
old couples dance beneath the
flamboyant glass dome of the Moorish
Kiosk, erected here in the same year.
The Art Nouveau towers of the Museo

travelandleisureindia.in
Universitario del Chopo, an important
centre for contemporary art, soar over
a street that, in the early 1980s, was the
locus for the city’s punk and goth
scenes. The ruins of Cine Opera, a now-
defunct Art Deco cinema, stand like a
sentinel at San Rafael’s northern edge.
And the abstract minimalism of the
Museo Experimental El Eco, built in the
1950s by the celebrated artist and
designer Mathias Goeritz, brackets San
Rafael’s south.
Yet despite all these monuments,
both neighbourhoods remain typical
middle-class barrios. Santa María’s
neighbourhood tamale shop, Cintli, is
my favourite in all of Mexico City. Beer
and tequila abound at the local cantina
Salón París, and La Polar in San Rafael
serves steaming bowls of birria, a
regional beef stew, accompanied by
raucous mariachi bands playing late
into the night.
JUAREZ & COLONIA
CUAUHTÉMOC
The glass-and-steel towers lining
Mexico City’s grand ceremonial avenue,
Paseo de la Reforma, burst from the
low-slung concrete grid like volcanic
peaks, monuments to globalist
prosperity erupting from the city’s
ancient lake bed. Reforma connects the
Centro to the Bosque de Chapultepec,
the city’s biggest park, and the trio of art
institutions clustered at its northern
Below: The end—the Museum of Anthropology, the
neighbourhood of
Condesa, near the Museum of Modern Art, and the
Parque México. Tamayo Museum for contemporary art.
For much of the last century, the
neighbourhoods that flank Reforma—
Colonia Cuauhtémoc to the north
and Juarez to the south—were the
centre of the city’s international
population. Wealthy Mexican families,
foreigners, and diplomats were drawn
here by embassies and banks and
streets named for the great rivers and
cities of the world they once called
home: Ganges, Danubio, and Rhin;
Londres, Hamburgo, and Berlín. From
their development in the early 20th
century onward, these areas have
expressed Mexico’s global ambitions.
They still do.
Ryo Kan, a guesthouse that opened
in April in Cuauhtémoc, takes its
neighbourhood’s global spirit to heart,
bringing the intimate calm of the
traditional Japanese inns it’s named
after to the heart of the Mexican
capital. While other new boutique
hotels in the city revel in Mexico’s
mid-century elegance, Ryo Kan is
tranquil and subdued, compact and
efficient, a meditation in pale oak and
terrazzo. “Japan and Mexico have a lot
in common—our ceramics, our
textiles, our uses of natural materials.
We wanted to find those parallels,”
says Regina Galvanduque, the lead
architect on the Ryo Kan project.
Ryo Kan is the most recent of a
number of Japanese-inspired
businesses to open along Cuauhtémoc’s
subdued, tree-lined streets. In the past
six years, the Edo Kobayashi restaurant
travelandleisureindia.in

group, run by Edo López, has created a
small empire there, with an izakaya
and ramen spot called Rokai, a tiny bar
called Le Tachinomi Desu serving sake
and natural wines, and a listening bar
inspired by Tokyo’s Ginza Music Bar.
Wander a few minutes south into
the Zona Rosa, the historic gay
neighbourhood at the centre of
Colonia Juarez, and you’ll find it hard
not to feel transported. Banners for
cheap cafes, Korean lunch joints, and
neon-lit gay bars obscure the façades
of old houses built in an inexplicable
(and inexplicably pleasing)
hodgepodge of architectural styles
from France, Italy, Britain, and Spain.
In the evenings, crowds spill onto the
broad pavement of Plaza Washington
from the garage-like edifice of Cicatriz,
an all-day cafe run by a sister-brother
team of American expats, Scarlett and
Jake Lindeman. Most of their
customers—who come for coffee and
cocktails, natural wines, and fried-
chicken sandwiches—wouldn’t look out
of place in New York, Los Angeles,
London, or Paris. That’s because many
of them hail from just those places: the
most recent group of immigrants to call
Juarez home.
travelandleisureindia.in
Chefs Saqib Keval and
Norma Listman of Masala y
Maíz restaurant, in San
Miguel Chapultepec.
SAN MIGUEL
CHAPULTEPEC
The long communal table that runs
down the centre of the restaurant
Masala y Maíz had been laid out with
bowls of spices—some of them
familiar to Mexican palates (cumin,
cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper),
others (coriander seed, ginger, and star
anise) less so. Chefs Norma Listman,
originally from the nearby town of
Texcoco, and Saqib Keval, born in
northern California to an Indian family
from East Africa, circulated, greeting
guests. Seated at the centre of the table,
the restaurant’s first artist in
residence, Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik,
began her talk on the origins of Indian
chai. The conversation then segued to
the spices in front of us and how some
made their way into Mexican kitchens.
Masala y Maíz had opened a few
months earlier in the quietly elegant
colonia of San Miguel Chapultepec, a
triangle of leafy streets that separates
Condesa from the Bosque de
Chapultepec. Right away, it was a space
obsessed with hybridity: an artists’
residency, an ambitious full-service
restaurant, and a coffee shop serving
house-made doughnuts from a window
connecting the kitchen to the street.
That evening, it was also a workshop for
a handful of curious people, an event
that was local in its reach, yet
cosmopolitan in its vision.
For Listman and Keval, the menu
at Masala y Maíz is a reflection of the
mestizaje, or cultural mixing, that has
defined Mexican culture since the
Spanish conquest. Here, huevos
rancheros come with uttapam
flatbreads in place of tortillas. Giant
prawns are coated in Ethiopian
berbere and served with jicama and
rose water. Patra de hoja santa, a riff
on an Indian snack of spiced chickpea
batter, trades the traditional taro leaf
for southern Mexico’s emblematic
herb, hoja santa.
San Miguel was not an obvious
choice for this kind of restaurant.
Peaceful and residential, the area is best
known for its access to the Bosque de
Chapultepec, never more than a few
blocks away; for the pretty cobblestoned
lanes that line its southern side; and for
the beloved white-tablecloth cantina, El
Mirador de Chapultepec, that has been a
favourite among city politicians for
decades. It’s also notable for its
proximity to several essential design
institutions, including the influential
gallery Kurimanzutto, which turns 20
this year. Casa Luis Barragán, the
former home of Mexico’s Pritzker-
winning 20th-century architectural
master Luis Barragán, lies just beyond
the colonia’s western edge, and the
renowned Archivo de Diseño y
Arquitectura exhibition space sits right
next door to Barragán’s house.
San Miguel is the ideal place for
peaceful walks past magnificent
private homes secreted away behind
humble Neocolonial façades, for
whiling away hours in quiet corners of
the Bosque de Chapultepec, or for
sipping hibiscus mead brewed right
here in the city, a specialty at Masala y
Maíz. It’s also the ideal place to reflect
on something Chilangos have known
for ages: that Mexico City isn’t just the
capital of the Spanish-speaking world,
or the biggest city in North America. A
city of immigrants and innovation,
built and rebuilt with a zealous lust for
the new, blasted by tragedy, sustained
by passion and pragmatism—Ciudad
de México is, and always has been, the
great city of the Americas.
 PLAN A PERFECT STAY
IN MEXICO CITY
For a manageable microcosm of this vast metropolis, stick to SANTA
these parts of the historic Cuauhtémoc borough. Pick one as MARÍA LA
RIBERA
your base, and spend your days exploring the others.

SAN
RAFAEL

GETTING AROUND CENTRO

HISTÓRICO
Despite its size, Mexico City is relatively easy to navigate, COLONIA
CUAUHTÉMOC
particularly if you stay within the central neighbourhoods. JUAREZ
Comfortable year-round temperatures make it a great city
for walking. The Metro is the most efficient way to cover longer
distances, though it’s best avoided at rush hour. Uber is also a ROMA
good option here. CONDESA
SAN MIGUEL
CHAPULTEPEC

CENTRO HISTÓRICO EAT & DRINK

HOTELS
The Downtown Mexico
(doubles from `16,035;
downtownmexico.com), set in
a 17th-century palace, has an
elegant rooftop bar and pool.
EAT & DRINK
Arrive early to avoid the
crowds at Don Vergas (21
Ernesto Pugibet; entrées
`488–`2,231), a stall in the
Mercado San Juan serving
great seafood. Dip into a
historic cantina like Salón
España (25 Avda. República de
Argentina), La Ópera (10 Cinco
de Mayo), or La Faena
(49 Venustiano Carranza) to
break up a day of sightseeing.
For dinner, stop at Bósforo
(31 Luis Moya), then try the
chic, nameless restaurant next
door (entrées `558–`837).
ACTIVITIES
Start in the Zócalo, or central
plaza, then see the Diego
Rivera murals at the Palacio
Nacional (palacionacional
demexico.mx) and the
Secretariat of Public
Education headquarters
(28 Avda. República de
Argentina), the Aztec ruins at
the Museo del Templo Mayor
(templomayor.inah.gob.mx),
and the Baroque Metropolitan
Cathedral (catedral
metropolitanacdmx.org).
ROMA & CONDESA
HOTELS
Roma’s Ignacia Guest House
(doubles from `20,914; ignacia.
mx) and La Valise (suites from
`24,400; lavalise.com) are two
of the city’s prettiest boutique
hotels, while Condesa DF
(doubles from `13,943;
condesadf.com) is all about
minimal chic.
Join the area’s stylish residents
at lunch spot El Parnita (tacos
around `209; elparnita.com).
The open kitchen at the
unnamed spot next door
(84 Yucatán; small plates
`209–`488) serves some of the
most interesting dishes in town.
In Condesa, Molino El Pujol
(fb.com/molinopujol) offers a
taste of chef Enrique Olvera’s
signature snacks, and Baltra
Bar (baltra.bar) mixes fantastic
cocktails. In Roma, Meroma
(entrées `976–`1,255; meroma.
mx) makes for an elegant,
low-key alternative to the
flashier restaurants in the
Polanco district.
ACTIVITIES
Shop for whimsical fashion
at Hi-Bye (hibye.world),
and pick up a bottle of mezcal
at Sabrá Diós (15 Avda.
Veracruz), in Condesa. If you’re
interested in local crafts, make
an appointment to visit the
showroom at Ven a Mi
(instagram.com/venami_mx)
and keep an eye out for retail
pop-ups like Momo Room
(momo-room.com).
SANTA MARÍA LA RIBERA
& SAN RAFAEL
HOTELS
The boutique hotel El Patio 77
(doubles from `8,714;
elpatio77.com) makes for a
peaceful base in a central but
relatively unexplored area.
EAT & DRINK
Find the best tamales in the
city at Cintli (174 Calle
Sabino), a no-frills storefront in
Santa María la Ribera. Salón
París (152 Jaime Torres Bodet)
is a great traditional cantina,
while La Polar (birria `488;
lapolar.com.mx) makes superb
birria (beef stew).
ACTIVITIES
The magnificent Geology
Museum (geologia.unam.mx/
igl/museo), in Santa María’s
main plaza, has a beautifully
displayed collection. For
contemporary art, don’t miss
Casa Wabi (casawabi.org) and
the Museo Experimental El
Eco (eleco.unam.mx/eleco),
a masterpiece of mid-century
Mexican design.
JUAREZ & COLONIA
CUAUHTÉMOC
HOTELS
The newly opened Ryo Kan
(doubles from `10,457;
ryokan.mx) brings tranquillity
to the city’s business district.
EAT & DRINK
You’ll find some of Mexico City’s
best international restaurants
in these neighbourhoods, from
small plates at natural-wine
bar Le Tachinomi Desu
(small plates `349–`558;
edokobayashi.com) to a
remarkable omakase at Sushi
Kyo (set menus from `5,229;
edokobayashi.com). Salón Ríos
(218 Río Lerma; entrées `558–
`2,091) is a great place for
updated Mexican classics, while
Cicatriz (entrées `209–`418;
cicatrizcafe.com) is ideal for a
salad or an evening cocktail.
ACTIVITIES
The Anthropology Museum
(mna.inah.gob.mx) has an
extraordinary collection of
Mesoamerican artifacts. Next
door, Museo Tamayo (museo
MEXICO
CITY
tamayo.org) shows modern,
contemporary, and folk art,
while the Museo de Arte
Moderno (mam.inba.gob.mx)
focusses, as its name suggests,
on modern art.
SAN MIGUEL
CHAPULTEPEC
EAT & DRINK
The menu at Masala y Maíz
(small plates `349–`627;
masalaymaiz.com) explores
the commonalities among the
cuisines of Mexico, India, and
East Africa, while El Mirador
de Chapultepec (sharing plates
`488–`697; cantinaelmirador.
com) is one of the city’s
classic cantinas.
ACTIVITIES
Book well in advance for a
tour of Casa Luis Barragán
(casaluisbarragan.org), former
home of the Pritzker-winning
architect. Nearby, Casa Gilardi
(fb.com/casagilardi), the last
house Barragán built before his
death, also offers tours by
appointment. Next door to the
Barragán house is the Archivo
de Diseño y Arquitectura
(archivonline.org), a small
exhibition space and reading
room devoted to Mexican
design with a beautiful garden
in back. Twenty years after
opening, Kurimanzutto
(kurimanzutto.com), in the
neighbourhood’s peaceful
heart, is still among the most
influential galleries in North
America. — M.S.

travelandleisureindia.in
 Worth Flying For
PINK SALT LAKES
Victoria, Australia
VICTORIA IS ALWAYS A tempting destination
for a holiday, season no bar. But come
summer, it hosts an additional reason for
you to visit: pink-hued salt lakes. Algae living
in the salt crust at the bottom of these lakes
produce a red pigment (beta carotene) during
photosynthesis, which lends the waterbody
a pink hue. This unique output requires a
certain set of environmental conditions,
though. A combination of high salt levels, high
temperature, ample sunlight, and lack of rainfall
is the ideal combination for the lakes to blush.
While some of the waterbodies are seen in
their pink garb for a couple of summer months,
travelandleisureindia.in
others retain the hue for longer. Most recently,
a lake in Melbourne’s Westgate Park wore a rosy
pink surface. Elsewhere in the state of Victoria,
you will find more Instagrammable locations.
The picturesque Pink Lake at Murray-Sunset
National Park and the more popular Lake
Tyrrell—Victoria’s largest salt lake spanning
over 20,000 hectares—also offer stunning
sunsets and sunrises with their unique colour
palettes. If you can’t get enough of the rosy lakes
EXC I TAT I O N S / A L A M Y
in Victoria, you might want to check out Lake
Hilliar on Middle Island and Hutt Lagoon on
Western Australia’s Coral Coast.
—RASHIMA NAGPAL