Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i Travel + Leisure India & South Asia

DO ICELAND OUR WAY If Iceland’s raw splendour has touched a chord with you, plan an escape before skyscrapers and shopping streets start mushrooming and hinder the view. travelandleisureindia.in/ do-icelandour-way HOW TO CHOOSE A FAMILY- FRIENDLY HOTEL A guide to finding hotels that don’t mind if you ask them to make khichdi for dinner and go the extra mile to make your holiday special. travelandleisureindia.in/ how-to-choose-a-family-friendly-hotel TRENDING NOW: ISRAEL From religious to secular; history buffs to beach bums; wine lovers to foodies—Israel has some smart tricks up its sleeve for all travellers. travelandleisureindia.in/ trendingnow-israel DOWNLOAD US T+L Tablet Editions Available on iPad, Android, and Windows Tablets. FOLLOW US INSTAGRAM/ TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA FACEBOOK.COM/  TNLINDIA PINTEREST.COM/  TRAVLEISUREIN TWITTER.COM/  TNLINDIA SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS EMMINDIA.COM THE STATS Oman received…

TRYST WITH ASSYRIOLOGY When I was in school, I thought of becoming an Egyptologist. I had always wanted to learn a difficult language and was intrigued by the Egyptian script. Later at my university (University of Birmingham), we had a professor of Egyptology. Unfortunately, he passed away after our first class. I was told, “Look it’s going to take a year or so to look for a replacement. In the meanwhile, we have Professor Lambert who teaches cuneiform. Why don’t you do this for a few months and swap when we find someone?” So I knocked on the door and told him I had come to learn cuneiform to which he said, “Oh dear! What a shame!”—In those days, professors didn’t like having students; now they want as many as…

THE TREND: BARS MEET BOOKS Late Night Library Club This roving party takes inspiration from books such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and historical novel Tipping the Velvet for evenings at venues including a Tudor mansion in Hackney (right). Guests—many of whom dress in period costumes—clink glasses with artists, poets, and performers—some of whom may take the stage late into the night. latenightlibrary club.co.uk Society Club An outpost of this Soho club and bookshop has opened in Shoreditch. Both have specialised book collections (Soho’s is 20th-century literature , Shoreditch’s focuses on music and the visual arts) and literary-inspired cocktails (the daiquiri recipe was a favourite of Ernest Hemingway). Non-members can attend talks and poetry events by calling ahead for a reservation. thesociety club.com Library This private members’ club in Covent Garden…

A sushi-craving on a Roman holiday is unusual but not unheard of. And London’s new izakaya (meaning ‘casual diner’ in Japanese), ZUMA, just made sure they’re available when it happens. Located at Palazzo FENDI on Via della Fontanella Borghese, the Japanese restaurant by chef Rainer Becker adopts classic cooking techniques, robata charcoal grill for example, and pairs dishes with signature beverages to create a Japanese bubble in the heart of Rome’s historic district. At the rooftop bar with terrace, you can enjoy a ZUMA style sunset aperitivo over gorgeous views of the city or book intimate dinners for eight at the private seating space within its wine cellar. Kawara tiles in the background, handmade floor-to-ceiling bamboo lanterns, and Tohiki ceramic bricks add to the ambiance. zumarestaurant.com WHAT TO ORDER Grilled…

“I love the market in Ouro Preto for its incredible stonework and ceramics. I bought several pieces when I was there over the holidays; they just feel so authentic and, of course, remind me of home. The design and craftsmanship is unbeatable. There’s nothing like it!” LARGO DE COIMBRA MARKET / Ouro Preto / Minas Gerais, Brazil…

There’s a saying in Mallorquin, La pedra estira, which means, ‘The rock pulls you.’ As a shopper, I felt it on a recent trip there. The largest island in Spain’s Balearic archipelago, Mallorca is filled with artisans and craftspeople skilled at making beautiful accessories and objects—things that have, historically, been difficult if not impossible to import . In almost every town, there’s a small, family-run factory specialising in everything from textiles and ceramics to furniture, shoes, and glassware. My friend Danica Wilcox had turned me on to Mallorca; she discovered the island’s secrets when she moved there to open Hito (hitohome.com), a shop specialising in handmade goods for the home . “Family businesses are the norm here,” she told me. “If your father was a carpenter, his father probably was,…

HIPPOS AND LEOPARDS Spend four nights at safari camps in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, where elephants, leopards, and more than 400 species of birds inhabit open grasslands, stands of ebony trees, and the expansive Luangwa river system. Robin Pope Safaris, named after the guide who founded the company in 1986, has developed a strong relationship with the area’s Kunda people. The company has renovated schools in nearby communities, paid teachers’ salaries, and funded a healthcare clinic. Learn about the locals’ daily life during a visit to the village of Kawaza and, if you wish, dine in the home of a Kunda family. Then, fly northeast to Pope’s new Mkulumadzi Lodge in Malawi’s Majete National Park. Surrounded by a 1,75,000-acre conservation area, eight contemporary chalets front a river filled with…

Travel+Leisure India & South Asia recently collaborated with Mister Chai, the beautiful new tea restaurant at Shangri-La’s - Eros Hotel, New Delhi, to celebrate Indian street food through the restaurant’s creative fusion menu. Tea aficionados were introduced to popular Indian beverages in style at the afternoon tea—the famous cutting chai and masala cola for example—paired with a variety of regional favourites spun with chef Neeraj Tyagi’s twists. Impressive results appeared on small plates: Butter chicken samosas, Colaba fish-fry sandwiches, vada pao sliders stuffed with pork sausages, all received instant appreciation. The event saw the likes of Sonalee Kumar, Arjun Sawhney, Anupamaa Dayal, Anita Bajaj, Karishma Manga Bedi, and Mandira Nath, while one of Delhi’s renowned tea leaf readers, Neera Sareen, conducted personalised tea leaf readings—an engagement that was extremely popular…

in my lifetime (I accept that is a pretty pathetic statistic) and not once seen a tiger. On one trip to Ranthambore some years ago, the guide excitedly showed me a pugmark from the side of the jeep; I swear it looked like it was made in 1982 and he was passing it off as something that happened just a few days earlier. In fact, over the years, I got so frustrated and sour about the whole thing that I started to think that there must be, in reality, just five tigers in India. And that all the drama and suspense build-up that happens when the guide tries to hear alarm calls must be a carefully taught charade in some secret school for game guides. But I have realised, it’s…

I RARELY USE THE WORD ‘AWESOME’. The word is exhausted, and makes me feel like an American teenager from the late 80s. But as I stepped into my room on the 49th floor of Andaz Tokyo, the word finally had something worthy of its meaning. The Hyatt Group (of which the Andaz brand is the chicest member) need not have bothered to actually have anything done to the interiors—they are stylish, minimalist, and impressive in technology, but you notice them only if you can take your eyes off the view. And strangely, it’s not the height that makes the best views at the hotel. It’s the vibe of the space where you are standing, its privileged vantage. In the last one year, I’ve been up a few of the world’s…

PASSAGE TO INDIA I first visited India when I was 18, and every time I go, I collect more fabrics and embroideries. My latest (1) runway collection is inspired by (2) Rajasthan’s heritage — I’ve always been attracted to the region’s textile techniques, like embroidery, mirror work, and beading. NATURAL WONDER While in India, I stay at ( 3 ) The Imperial New Delhi (doubles from 13,500; theimperial india.com). It’s in an old colonial building, and it has a beautiful garden. MARKET SWEEP I love to go to markets and find objects from everyday life, like black-clay pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico, and jewellery from Africa and India. In Paris, I can spend hours at the Porte de Clignancourt flea market, looking at clothing. HOMETOWN GETAWAY On weekends, I go to…

Luxury Hotels Group has added three more properties to its illustrious portfolio that will send you searching for your swimsuit. Characteristically diverse, the resort collection takes in three islands on three continents, from Europe to the Far East by way of east Africa. New for 2016 is a luxe lakeside retreat on the shores of Taiwan’s legendary Sun Moon Lake. Relatively little known outside of this Chinese sovereign state, the lake is one of the country’s most picturesque natural attractions—a beautiful body of water so named because its rounded main section resembles the sun, with a thin crescent ‘moon’ around the outside. Perched above the lake’s Ita Thao Pier, the Crystal Resort Sun Moon Lake is an opulent waterside retreat with sweeping views, and smart, contemporary design to delight fashionable…

IN THE WEEKS leading up to my weekend in Goa for a new spa programme at Alila Diwa, I was in two minds whether it was good or bad timing for something like that. While a detox programme can be refreshing, it could also result in opening up all those boxes of ‘unresolved’ issues we learn to skilfully Tupperware away. After years of going to serious detox programmes at Chiva Som and Como spa resorts, I knew all the directions a real detox can take. But it was hot, dry, and dusty in Delhi, and I welcomed a weekend of rain and quiet time. A friend, however, thought I was crazy. “You have a functioning liver in your body. You don’t need to detox. The organ does it all for…

Once upon a time a thousand silk looms sang in Lyon, and a million glorious threads wound their way from this city to the ballrooms of Paris. But during those hundreds of years that the city was Europe’s centre of the weaving trade, did anyone ever embroider Debbie Harry’s portrait on a black silk blouse or decorate a suit jacket with a Dalí-worthy lobster? Not until now. Émilie Sauzet (emilie sauzet.com), whose Lyonnais atelier is across from a fabric museum, is one of the young designers revitalising the city’s fashion industry and putting new bounce in its historic footprint. I met Sauzet on a crisp autumn day, and I was immediately drawn to her and to her vaguely Dadaesque ensemble. I was in Lyon because I have perhaps the screwiest bucket…

“Although I went to Japanese language school for six years as a child, my skills are laughable. Therefore it took some time to locate the silver cups I once saw in Kyoto. I mistakenly thought they were used for beer at the restaurant Kitcho, but it turns out I had seen them at Tawaraya, the venerable ryokan. The proprietor there directed me to Seikado, a tiny, tiny, very traditional shop with mud-and-bamboo walls. Eventually, I was able to get my cups: solid silver with a narrow profile and a beautiful chased (delicately hammered) surface. It takes ages to make them, as each is hand-formed. They are especially wabi sabi when they suffer the first fog of tarnish and the silver takes on a faintly warm glow.” SEIKADO / seikado.jp…

“SO BALOO, THE TEACHER OF THE LAW, TAUGHT HIM the Wood and Water Laws: how to tell a rotten branch from a sound one; how to speak politely to the wild bees when he came upon a hive of them fifty feet above ground; what to say to Mang, the Bat, when he disturbed him in the branches at midday; and how to warn the water-snakes in the pools before he splashed down among them. None of the Jungle People like being disturbed, and all are very ready to fly at an intruder.” Indian jungles have always inspired great stories that feature grand old trees, quirky birds, mysterious sights, heart-stopping sounds, and shadows and light that can play tricks on your mind. It is no wonder that 150 years ago,…

HOW YOUR SAFARI DOLLARS WILL HELP ...EDUCATE A CHILD IN ZIMBABWE African Bush Camps Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Beks Ndlovu’s Bulawayo-based company, works hand in hand with the communities surrounding Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe to oversee education, empowerment, community infrastructure, and conservation projects. The foundation currently educates more than 160 children in a school on the outskirts of the park. africanbushcamps.com ...RUN A SCHOOL IN SOUTH AFRICA An arm of Wilderness Safaris, Children in the Wilderness is an environmental and life skills educational programme that trains local kids to become custodians of key conservation areas. Besides running eco-clubs in rural schools throughout Southern Africa, the non-profit raises funds for school nutrition programmes, water supply, scholarships, and school buildings. childreninthewildreness.com ...PROTECT WILDLIFE IN THE SERENGETI Bordering Serengeti National Park,…

WHAT we FIRST NOTICED DRIVING EAST from VENICE WERE the SUDDEN HILLS, fog clinging to their peaks, and the groves of persimmon trees, heavy with fire-orange fruit. Soon the signs changed from Italian to Slovene and four-sided Romanesque church towers began rising in the distance, and everything looked almost familiar, but not quite. The sensation wasn’t entirely unexpected. As a country, Slovenia is not even 25 years old, but for centuries its territory formed a buffer zone between larger nations, a land ruled by outsiders who left indelible traces before leaving. Visiting the country felt like being somewhere I’d never been but seemed to remember anyway. Nowhere is this living history more apparent than in the local food…

The stars descended on tinsel town as asiaSpa India celebrated the 9th GeoSpa asiaSpa India Awards in association with Lufthansa and Swiss airlines, ITC Grand Central, Skoda Superb, Monaco Tourism, Episode (trophy partner) and Grant Thornton. It was a night of glitz and glamour at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai - an evening that highlighted the latest spa trends and luxurious spa treatments, and acknowledged leading industry experts and celebrities such as Rekha, Bipasha Basu, Sushmita Sen, Shilpa Shetty, Randeep Hooda, Tiger Shroff, Athiya Shetty and Madhavan. “The asiaSpa Awards have become known for their uncompromised independence, building a reputation for transparency and objectivity and were the first in the region to offer a comprehensive line-up of awards, which fully encompass everything that sets a standard in the spa industry,” said…

1 Nayantara Kilachand WRITER Goa Grows Up You may have read Nayantara Kilachand’s stories in the Wall Street Journal, Mint, and NYMag.com. A few years ago, she founded Mumbai Boss, an intelligent and quirky website on events and happenings in the maximum city. Kilachand loves to travel, her favourites being New York, Kenya, and Paris, and this issue, she takes us through Goa and tells us how she has watched India’s coastal state evolve from a collection of sleepy beach towns into a serious style destination over the past 30 years. 2 Rishi Raj FASHION STYLIST Cover , Pench on the Rocks A stylist, choreographer, and image consultant, Rishi Raj enjoys reading a variety of authors—from Jackie Collins to Desmond Morris. On his travel bucket list is Bhutan,…

BETWEEN THE sky-high rents of Hong Kong and the looming threat of government censorship in Shanghai and Beijing, none of China’s world-class art destinations are actually welcoming to the artists themselves. Shenzhen, which did not exist 40 years ago, but is now a capital of electronics manufacturing (and also the origin of a lot of fakes), is stepping in to fill that void. Located on the mainland just north of Hong Kong, it’s both culturally and geographically outside the spotlight, and is under less scrutiny from Beijing than other major cities . Shenzhen, a city of 10 million, has the country’s youngest population , and a rare ‘anything-goes’ attitude prevails there. “Many residents come from outer villages and try to find their place here,” says Bronwen Shelwell, who developed the…

Chanel’s Sublimage La Crème is a medium-weight anti-aging favourite that’s suitable for day and night in any climate, meaning you can bring it on a beach trip to Miami or a ski weekend in Aspen . 25,000 for 50g Estée Lauder’s Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Revitalizing Mask Noir takes the DIY mask to luxurious new heights. The two-part ritual includes a dry brush, which is used to prep the skin, and a lightweight black mask with ingredients like purifying bamboo charcoal and rejuvenating Périgord truffle extract , which promote a youthful glow. US$340; esteelauder.com For Hermès’ Eau de Rhubarbe Écarlate cologne, perfumer Christine Nagel focused on the rhubarb plant’s tart, earthy notes. The result: A fragrance that’s warm, subtle, and perfect for spring. Price on request Tuberose forms the core of…

BAMBI CAFÉ ISTANBUL Eight years ago, after a night of partying in the city, I stumbled upon this little cafe and walked in on a whim. Its casual ambience and outstanding food make it one of those places that you can go back to again and again. Try their flavoursome pickled radish and rolls that give you a taste of authentic Mediterranean cuisine. bambicafe.com.tr LA PETITE MAISON LONDON I travel to other countries to see what brands I can bring to India. There I was, looking for Jamie’s as a brand, when I came across La Petite Maison. A chic restaurant, it brings cuisine of Southern France and the Mediterranean to London. Even now when I think about their Burrata et Tomatoes (a cheesy appetiser), I want to hop on…

“A store I fell in love with recently is Aizel, in Moscow. Its visionary owner, Aizel Trudel, is wonderful and kindhearted, and has a great eye—her selection of luxury products is extremely well curated. Unlike so much shopping in big cities these days, going there feels like picking something special at a friend’s home who has extraordinary taste. I especially liked the Russian jewellery brand called Axenoff Jewellery and their War and Peace– inspired collection.” AIZEL / aizel.ru…

It was over bowls of ice-cold watermelon fragrant with mint that I sat chatting with Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, an award-winning Mumbai novelist who had recently relocated to Goa. We were on the veranda of his 100-year-old villa in the hamlet of Moira where, from our elevated perch, I could just glimpse a cruelly tempting lap pool, beyond which rice fields glowed in an electric green. Just a few years ago, this unspoiled Goan village was best known for an unusually large variety of banana. The state’s beaches—arranged along a lush, 64-mile stretch of India’s palm-laced western shore—were most commonly associated with low-end, backpacker tourism. Now, certain beaches and inland villages are becoming seriously fashionable. Such is Goa’s newfound status as a locus of Indian cool that hamlets like Moira fall…