Innholdsfortegnelse for March - May 2023 i International Traveller

GREEN SCENE Singapore has become the first country in the world to be certified as a sustainable destination. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council awarded the certification based on the island nation's commitment to sustainable management, socio-economic sustainability, cultural sustainability and environmental sustainability. REBEL AT HEART Rascal Voyages is sailing into 2023 in style onboard Rebel, a traditional Dutch-inspired phinisi yacht that accommodates just 10 guests. The yacht, which joins flagship Rascal (pictured left), is built around the concept of a floating villa and includes a wine cellar and outdoor cinema. Rascal Voyages is now sailing through Indonesia, with imminent plans to expand to Malaysia and Thailand. rascalvoyages.com DUBAI BY DESIGN Crafted by the world's leading designers, architects and artists, Atlantis The Royal (top right) turns the concept of traditional resort…

Don Rafa Boutique Hotel, San Juan The six-storey Don Rafa Boutique Hotel is located in Miramar in the heart of the historic district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Art is at the centre of this boutique hotel, with each of its 36 rooms, suites and residences inspired by mid-century styling and decorated with artworks produced by local Puerto Ricans. The convenient location of the carefully curated hotel also offers a peek into the rhythm of life in the Puerto Rican capital. donrafaboutiquehotel.com Le Regina and Le Garage, Biarritz Le Regina and Le Garage are set to reopen following full refurbishments. The two hotels in Biarritz, in the French Basque Country, are part of the Experimental Group's uber-cool collection. Le Regina first opened in 1907 and boasts views across to the…

BEPPU NSENS One of Japan's most famous onsen resorts, Beppu is blessed with eight different natural springs – each with public baths and facilities so guests can enjoy the soothing mineral benefits of the thermal waters, which can help ease aching muscles. Aside from onsens, find other forms of bathing across Beppu such as sand baths (soaking in heated sand) and mud baths. Even the hotels have their own onsens for guest use – the Japan & The Scenic South Tour by Wendy Wu Tours will see you staying in one such hotel, with the opportunity to have a pre-sleep soak at your leisure. MOUNT FUJI IN CHERRY BLOSSOM SEASON A visual representation of Japan, Mount Fuji during cherry blossom season should be top of every bucket list. Occurring during…

I know this midday summer sun over Carcross will burn my face. There's sunscreen in my daypack, strewn just beyond reach, or I could stand up and step into the tall shadow thrown by the towering story pole. Either might break Gary Sidney Johnson's flow, and nothing feels more important right now than sitting still and listening. I'm back in Canada's Yukon Territory in the north-west corner of Turtle Island – the lands now also known as North and Central America. I return here almost annually, in all seasons, for paddling trips on the Nisutlin and Yukon rivers, dog sledding on Fish Lake, riding a snow mobile around Dawson and camping in Kluane National Park at -30° Celsius. Yet, this time, I've travelled here with an intention I should always…

Until 21 May HIP-HOP: CONSCIOUS, UNCONSCIOUS New York, USA THE ORIGIN OF HIP-HOP HAS BEEN TRACED TO A 1973 HOUSE PARTY IN THE BRONX, WHEN DJ KOOL HERC DEVELOPED THE ‘BREAK' USING TWO TURNTABLES. NOW, 50 YEARS LATER, A PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION AT FOTOGRAFISKA NYC TRACES THE VIBRANT HISTORY OF THE GENRE WITH REFERENCE TO HIP-HOP MEGASTARS, TRAILBLAZING WOMEN AND HIP-HOP CULTURE FROM COAST TO COAST. FOTOGRAFISKA.COM/NYC Until 24 April ERA OF PRINCIPLE AND NO PRINCIPLE INTERWOVEN – CALLIGRAPHY AS A VISUAL FORM Taoyuan, Taiwan ASIAN CALLIGRAPHY IS AN ANCIENT ART FORM – A PURE EXPRESSION OF ENERGY AND MOTION. THIS EXHIBITION AT THE TAOYUAN MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (TMOFA) BRINGS THE ARTISTIC QUALITY OF CALLIGRAPHY FRONT AND CENTRE, WITH A DIVERSE DISPLAY OF CONTEMPORARY WORKS FROM ACROSS ASIA AND BEYOND.…

MARINA BAY SANDS, SINGAPORE At 150 metres long and straddling the rooftops of three 57-storey buildings, the Marina Bay Sands has the world's longest elevated pool. The stratospheric pool was described as an architectural feat when it opened as part of Marina Bay Sands Resort in 2010 and boasts panoramic views of the city from the water's edge. The pool opens from 6am, giving early birds an incredible vantage point to catch the sunrise from behind the skyline, and doesn't close until 11pm, well after the sky turns to black and the city is illuminated with sparkling lights. Between dips, guests can lounge under palm trees and enjoy food and drinks from a rooftop dining menu designed by renowned LA chef Wolfgang Puck. Open to hotel guests only. marinabaysands.com AMAN…

The soft and sleepy green folds of the English countryside might not be the first place you'd expect to stumble upon a faithful reconstruction of a Roman villa – in full resplendent scale and colour – but that's exactly what guests at The Newt in Somerset will discover on the grounds when they check in. Launched in June last year, Villa Ventorum (Villa of the Winds) is a historical reimagining of a Romano-British villa inspired and informed by excavations of a settlement found on site that dates to 351 AD, some 60 years before the Romans left Britain after four centuries. It is just under an hour's drive from here to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed city of Bath, which was founded by the Romans as a thermal spa and where…

1 OCEAN ACTIVITIES CENTER Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel's Moanaku‘inamoku Ocean Activities Center offers adventures for the whole family, such as stand-up paddleboarding lessons and snorkelling tours to Pu‘u Keka‘a (Black Rock), a spot revered in Hawaiian culture as a place where the spirits leapt from this world to the next. The beach is one of the best locations to watch the annual humpback whale migration from December to April, while seeing green sea turtles is a year-round highlight. 2 Kawenaokeao Cultural Center THE HOTEL'S KAWENAOKEAO CULTURAL CENTER HOSTS A WIDE RANGE OF COMPLIMENTARY HAWAIIAN CULTURAL OFFERINGS. ENJOY A HULA OR LEI-MAKING LESSON, AN INTRODUCTION TO HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE AND MUSIC, OR A STORYTELLING SESSION THAT SHARES HAWAIIAN VALUES AND TRADITIONS. 3 OLD LĀHAINĀ LŪ‘AU The open-air beachside Old Lāhainā Lū‘au is Hawai‘i's most authentic…

The design dispatch I've always romanticised railway journeys. I wouldn't exist if it weren't for my parents meeting on a snowed-in Swiss train in the winter of 1982. Severe weather conditions meant the trip from Lausanne to London was derailed, forcing passengers to alight in Paris, where my parents spent a few magical hours running around the City of Love. Who wouldn't fall head over heels? It's basically the script from Richard Linklater's cult 1995 film Before Sunrise. I was seduced by the charms of train travel in my twenties: the slow, meandering pace; the cinematic scenery unfolding outside my window; the rhythmic sound of the wheels rattling along the track as I drifted off to sleep. I was enamoured with sumptuous Pullmanstyle carriages that transported me back to the…

DAY ONE 8AM: after a restful night's sleep at COMO METROPOLITAN BANGKOK and an energising in-house yoga session, choose from the hotel restaurant's shambhala spa-inspired breakfast menu while overlooking the pool. Alternatively, step out onto the streets of sathorn and walk a few blocks to TOBY'S AT SALADAENG. Tucked down a quiet business district laneway, this attractive Australian-inspired cafe is the latest of the owner's three modern offerings in the city, and its Aussie breakfast classics peppered with thai flavour will transport your tastebuds across the Asia Pacific. Pair a flat white or lean green juice with the prawn toast – topped with fried eggs, grilled prawns and lotus root served with black sesame sweet plum sauce, it's the hearty start you need to tackle the busy streets. 9.30AM: Cross…

Grass Routes Conscious travel | POSTCARDS Gabon is being described as The Last Eden, the next big place for ecotourism and adventure. Around 88 per cent of the country on the west coast of Central Africa is blanketed in verdant, equatorial rainforest. And it's the country's commitment to preserving this untouched environment that has seen it earmarked by adventure travellers, nature lovers and environmental preservationists. Within this green, shady habitat is the largest population of forest elephants in the world, numbered at about 95,000, and an estimated 30,000 gorillas and chimpanzees. Gabon is, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the most carbon-positive country in the world. The UN says it is also the first country in Africa to be awarded resultsbased payments for reducing emissions from deforestation.…

Places | NOMAD “We're on alpine terrain, at an elevation of about 2750 metres, and the red line on a passing thermometer is negligible,” writes photographer Jiwon Kim of the moments before capturing this shot. “We've ridden 2.5 hours and climbed another kilometre from the already high-lying village of Mestia, the capital of the Upper Svaneti in Georgia, to experience sunrise at the foot of the Ushba. On the journey upward, village scenes give way to rocky mountainous inclines. The fresh alpine scents and brisk near-zero air invigorate our tired bodies. Our long exhalations leave paths of misty clouds as we rise and dip on the saddles in tandem with our stallions' rhythmic trots. On arrival at the plateau, the inky darkness lifts slowly, the air becomes increasingly frigid. Our…

The breathtaking natural landscape of this country is the ultimate environment for immersive experiences, so it's little wonder that ‘wild swimming', the act of seeking out natural bodies of water to splash, soak and float in, is gaining in popularity. From lakeside beaches to river shallows and waterfalls that act as waterslides, the options for taking the plunge are plentiful and pristine. 1 LAKE MOTOSU Located on the north-western edge of Mt Fuji and part of the Mt Fuji UNESCO World Heritage Site, swimming is a popular pastime at Lake Motosu, which is renowned as the clearest of the Fuji Five Lakes. Less than two hours' drive from Tokyo in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park in Yamanashi, Lake Motosu's pristine surroundings are enough to recommend it; add the prospect of a swim…

Star turn Curtis Stone's Hollywood restaurant Gwen has earned its first Michelin star. Named after Stone's maternal grandmother, it was one of 26 restaurants in LA to be awarded one or more Michelin stars. Practise your swagger. The swanky 62-seat venue, which includes a Europeanstyle butchery, is located on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood. gwenla.com TREE CHANGE Award-winning Brazilian chef Manoella ‘Manu' Buffara will be at the helm of Fresh in the Garden at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives until September. The pop-up dining experience is located at the over-the-top treetop restaurant, perched high above the sprawling organic garden at the luxury resort in the Maldives. soneva.com/resorts/soneva-fushi PLANT YOURSELF IN PERU Bolstering Peru's culinary status as eight-time winner of World Travel Awards' Leading Culinary Destination, chef Matthew Kenney…

A certain blue enters your soul,” once remarked Henri Matisse. That's certainly the effect in Jardin Majorelle, where all of the architectural features, from the villa to the water fountain, are painted in a bright ultramarine shade akin to the one used in Matisse's Blue Ladies. It's a fresh and intense hue that seems to rush forward and pervade the air, serving as the backdrop for the garden's verdant collection of otherworldly plants. However, the exact shade used, Majorelle Blue, is trademarked by the garden's namesake designer, French-born Jacques Majorelle. Majorelle first came to Marrakech as a young painter and like many of his contemporaries, fell in love with the vibrant colours and rich light of the city. He relocated permanently, drawing inspiration from his surroundings where souks, kasbahs and…

POSTCARDS | Himalayas I'm sitting cross-legged inside a monastery, crammed shoulder to shoulder between a throng of Buddhist monks. It's not just any monastery, though. Namgyal Monastery is the home temple of the Dalai Lama, who is due to arrive any minute now. Young monks swathed in sumac-coloured robes are making their way through the packed hall with enormous teapots of scalding-hot yak-butter tea (a thick, calorieladen drink that's been a staple in Tibet since the 10th century), divvying it out among the masses. One monk leads in a mesmerising chant, a hypnotic melody that spellbinds the chamber. All around me, monks are swaying side to side, transforming the monastery floor into a gently oscillating sea of saffron and crimson robes. Then, there's silence. A wave of reverence sweeps over…

Great escapes | JOURNEYS Daydreams from a Fiji daybed There's really no good reason for me to leave my daybed at Likuliku Lagoon Resort. In fact, I'm working out how I can stay forever. I could learn to crack open a coconut, Cast Away-style. But then again the platter of tropical fruit and bottle of Veuve Clicquot waiting for me on arrival in my Deluxe Beachfront Bure should help sustain me. Not to mention the jar of handmade cookies with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, which is replenished daily. Oh, and at a push: the resort's five-star restaurant is just a lazy saunter away through tropical gardens. Its ever-evolving menus crafted by executive chef Gregory Llewellyn – a New Yorker by way of Sydney, where he ran cult Newtown…

California | JOURNEYS There's been something audaciously alluring about a road trip since before we even figured out how to lay bitumen on the ground. Jack Kerouac put it best in his 1957 celebration of escapism, On the Road: “I was surprised … by how easy the act of leaving was and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.” And nowhere on Earth epitomises this feeling more than California's Highway One – a 1055-kilometre journey along almost the entire California coastline. But we're not alone in wanting to ride this famous roadway, particularly during the northern summer. And so, done best, this iconic journey requires road-trippers to (occasionally, at least) leave the well-trodden path to find places less visited, but all the more special for it.…