Ultratravelwinter2013

ultratravel The Daily Telegraph

YOUR GUIDE TO HEAVEN ON EARTH

WINTER 2013

BRAZIL

Refreshed

INTERACTIVE ISSUE HOT NEW AFRICA SNOW ADVENTURES ZAHA HADID THE RISE OF AIR CRUISING

NEW YORK CHICAGO GRAND WAILEA THE BOULDERS DUBAI ARIZONA BILTMORE

THE STORIES BEGIN HERE

QASR AL SHARQ JERUSALEM PUERTO RICO SHANGHAI AMSTERDAM BEIJING ORLANDO ROME CAVALIERI BERLIN KEY WEST NAPLES PARK CITY PANAMA BOCA RATON RAS AL KHAIMAH THE CALEDONIAN LA QUINTA RESORT & CLUB TRIANON PALACE VERSAILLES THE ROOSEVELT NEW ORLEANS

READ TH E N EW SHORT STORY FROM SI MON VAN BOOY FEATURING OLGA KURYLENKO E XC L U S I V E LY AT WA L D O R FA S TO R I A . C O M / T H E S TO R I E S

Š 2013 Hilton Worldwide

e Arc de Triomph Sofitel Paris the Sofitel icated ambiance of Discover the sophist nce between phe, a perfect bala Paris Arc de Triom r interior ne ior and its desig its Haussmann exter nce. ga ele emporary which exudes cont 08 PARIS - FRANCE 14 rue Beaujon – 750 .com 50 50 - www.sofitel 89 53 1 (0) +33 : TEL

Paris, Dubai, Montreal, Bangkok… Discover all our magnifique

addresses in over 40 countries at www.sofitel.com

Features 30 Brazil special Chris Moss explores two districts of Rio that have been reborn ahead

of the World Cup; plus Brazil’s fashion set pick their favourite hot-spots, from a pousada in Pernambuco to the beaches of Bahia and São Paulo’s finest restaurants 42 Snow adventures Five adrenalin-filled winter activities, from dog-sledding in the Alps and ballooning in the Rockies to driving a Bentley on ice

FASHION: ONDADEMAR SWIMSUIT, £170 (BIONDICOUTURE.COM); MASAKO SHOES, £595 (CHARLOTTEOLYMPIA.COM); HSTERN BY OSCAR NIEMEYER CUFF, £19,900, NECKLACE, £13,300 (HSTERN.NET); PROBJETO CHAIR £2,615 (SILVIANAYLA.COM)

CONTENTS ANDY METTER/SWISS IMAGE

White Turf Annual horse race on snow in St Moritz (page 42)

19

50 Sun, sea and skiing Colin Nicholson rejoices in the Marbella Club’s new mountain chalet, just two hours from the beach 55 We have the technology Introducing The Telegraph’s Luxury Travel channel 58 Game plan In Kenya and Tanzania, Lisa Grainger explores three recently opened wilderness retreats where luxury tourism is key to conservation 65 Air cruising Max Davidson travels the Silk Route the smooth way – by private jet

Regulars 11 Editor’s letter Charles Starmer-Smith on how a brave new world of connectivity is informing our travel choices

74

13 The next big thing Spaces with stellar views; the “Kissing Room” in Paris; new cultural tours led by experts 16 Accessories The watch dedicated to Ayrton Senna; Brazilian fashion; what to take cruising; and the latest snow gear 25 Aficionado Franca Sozzani of Vogue Italia reveals what inspires her around the world 26 Up front with John Simpson The BBC’s World Affairs editor enjoys the quiet life in Ireland 29 Mr and Mrs Piers Morgan and Celia Walden head to the hottest new hotel in the Hamptons 71 Intelligence The latest super-luxe ski chalet; an expert’s guide to star-spotting; stylish Majorca holiday homes 74 Travelling life Zaha Hadid reminisces about Mexican architecture, swimming in Beirut and partying in Istanbul

© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2013. Published by TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT, and printed by Polestar UK Limited.

Colour reproduction by groupfmg.com. Not to be sold separately from The Daily Telegraph. Ultratravel is a registered trademark licensed to The Daily Telegraph by PGP Media Limited

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EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LETTER

A CONNECTED WORLD eFLAVOURS OF RIO

VIDEO

Bring our cover story to life with Blippar by scanning this image with your mobile phone or tablet.

VIDEO BLIPPAR

HOW IT WORKS 1. Download Blippar for free from the AppStore or Google Play.

2. Whenever you see the video symbol in this magazine, hold your smart phone or tablet KARSTEN GEISELER

over the photograph.

3. Watch and hear video content that enriches the story.

T

here seems little danger of the Jules Rimet trophy returning from

travel searches are now conducted on mobile phones or tablets).

Brazil in English hands â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but if there were to be a World Cup

People rail about how this digital revolution is destroying the art of

of connectivity, we would surely be champions. According to

concentration and conversation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but this connected world is our reality.

Google, Britain outstrips its global counterparts when it comes

We have responded by launching a new Luxury Travel site (see page

to online travel planning: in researching a holiday, we look at 26 different

55), dedicated to the ďŹ ner things in life, and by making this our ďŹ rst fully

websites over a 60-day period and spend 4hr 48mins in the process.

interactive issue of Ultratravel. Follow the instructions, above right, and

But we are not simply a nation of ofďŹ ce- or home-based automatons tapping away on desktop PCs. Rather, we are mobile-swiping multi-taskers

see the pages of the magazine come to life.

But in all this thirst for the here and now, we can forget to draw breath.

who switch devices depending on the time of day. We walk with our

So sit back, switch off and be inspired, whether by our eight-page guide

heads down and our brows furrowed, checking our phones up to 150

to Brazil, our feature on snow adventures, John Simpsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s column or

times a day (research has shown that more than 50 per cent of all Google

Zaha Hadidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s travelling life. Your journey starts here.

Smooth waters The pool and bamboo stand at Norwood House, on the Tea Trails estate, Sri Lanka (page 54)

Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Shot at Hotel Fazenda da Lagoa, Bahia, Brazil Model: Marcelia Freezs at Way Model

FOR THE LATEST IN LUXURY TRAVEL telegraph.co.uk/ luxurytravel

Chris Moss The writer explored Rio on his way to spot wildlife in the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rio has a Big Five, too,â&#x20AC;? he says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;which all begin with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;: beauty, bossa nova, beer, bottoms and beaches.â&#x20AC;? His latest book is about London, commuting and coffee.

Franca Sozzani Vogue Italiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s editor-in-chief is one of the most inďŹ&#x201A;uential people in fashion, and has tackled thorny issues ranging from race and body shape to plastic surgery. For Ultratravel, she remembers journeys around the world that shaped her thinking.

Lisa Grainger â&#x20AC;&#x153;The sight from the air of elephants bathing in rivers and wildebeest migrating in their thousands is incredibly moving,â&#x20AC;? said our Africa expert, on her return from Kenya and Tanzania. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It makes you want to take up arms against poachers.â&#x20AC;?

Scott Schulman The Sartorialist blogger and photographer, who took the images for our Rio story, says the only essential items to pack are sunblock and books. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You just want to sit on the beach â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or on the rooftop of the Fasano hotel, which is heaven on Earth.â&#x20AC;?

ALBERTO HERAS

Photographer FABIO BARTELT

Zaha Hadid Although a committed urbanite, the British-Iraqi architect loves nothing more than swimming in the sea. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I went to university in Beirut, we would go to the beach all the time, throughout the year.

I miss that.â&#x20AC;?

ultratravel

Editor Charles Starmer-Smith Creative director Johnny Morris Managing editor Andrew Purvis Deputy editor Lisa Grainger Sub-editor Kate Quill Photography editor Joe Plimmer Contributing editor John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ceallaigh Designer Wanting Su Executive publisher for Ultratravel Limited Nick Perry Publisher Toby Moore Advertising inquiries 07768 106322 (Nick Perry) 020 7931 3239 (Andrew Wiltshire) Ultratravel, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT Twitter @TeleLuxTravel

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Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coming up in the world of luxury travel, from a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Kiss Roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Paris to hunting with the Bushmen in Botswana

the NEXT BIG THING COMPILED BY JOHN Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;CEALLAIGH

VIDEO Stellar views Spaceport America (main picture), in New Mexico, where the first commercial space trips will be launched.

Below, from left: Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shanghai Tower; the Messner Mountain Museum in the Dolomites; the One World Trade Center in New York

z NEW HORIZONS

T

ravellers who want a fresh perspective on their favourite destinations will have it easy in 2014, when a number of new highrise buildings receive their first visitors. Perhaps the most notable

will be the One World Trade Center, which has risen from the ruins of New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Twin Towers and will stand by the 9/11 Memorial Museum, also opening in 2014. The 104-storey, 1,776ft tower will be Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tallest building and its new observation deck is certain to become a popular New York attraction.

In terms of height, the New York building will be overshadowed by Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shanghai Tower. When it is completed next year, the tower will be the second-tallest building in the world, with 121 storeys reaching 2,073ft, and will house hotels, shops and cultural attractions.

At 377ft high, the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower in Stratford wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t compare in terms of views when it opens in April, but it should attract visitors eager to see this regenerated part of East London and to relive their Olympic memories. The views will be natural, rather than man-made, at the Zaha Hadid-designed Messner Mountain Museum Corones. The last of six mountain-themed museums built in the Italian Dolomites, the building will cut through the peak of Mount Kronplatz and overlook the valleys below from a height of 7,464ft.

Those determined to explore truly new frontiers will be drawn to New Mexico, where Spaceport America, designed by Foster + Partners, should finally realise its purpose. From here, the first paying passengers will be launched into space before the year is out.

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ONtrend:

the NEXT BIG THING zEXTREME PRIVACY

The Kiss Room, which opened in a converted storeroom at La Perle CafĂŠ in the Marais district of Paris this week, manages to be both intimate and infinite.

At 33sq ft, it just about accommodates an ensuite, a Hästens bed and a Ruinart minibar, as well as 1,000 mirrors covering every surface. Conceived by artist Mathias Kiss, it is intended to invite reflection of every sort. For up to 24 hours, two guests can book the windowless pod and focus on themselves rather than the city outside, from â&#x201A;Ź750/ÂŁ635 (lakissroom.com).

zA TASTE OF REALITY

T

op-end hotels competing to provide the same degree of luxury risk creating a sense of homogeny, hence

the rising number of properties trying to offer a sense of place, authenticity and insight into their locality.

Peninsula Hotels (peninsula.com)

exemplifies the trend. Through its Peninsula Academy, guests in Tokyo can visit a sake brewery to learn all about this distinctive beverage, and in Los Angeles can have a private tour of the Warner Bros studio.

The experience is earthier at Shangri-La Vancouver (shangri-la.com/vancouver),

FOR THE LATEST IN LUXURY TRAVEL telegraph.co.uk/ luxurytravel

which hosts a farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; market each summer.

Guests tempted by the produce can snack at the stalls or return to the Market by JeanGeorges restaurant for a brunch using

zDOVER STREET HITS NYC New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shopping scene is stepping things up a notch, just in time for Christmas. Dover Street Market,

to international exhibitions, from Indian art to New York jewellery, accompanied by experts from the auction house. Similarly, the Royal Horticultural Society has teamed up with Collette Worldwide to provide trips (rhsgardenholidays.com) to gardens around the world, led by an RHS host or a horticulturalist, while experts

a different side of an established favourite.

A Fortnum & Mason beekeeper can escort interested parties to the department storeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rooftop beehives, where they can taste fresh

Kawakubo (right), will open in

London honey and take a sample home.

Intrepid travellers who want to immerse

Murray Hill in December.

themselves fully in an alternative reality may

Occupying an entire seven-

be drawn to the Bushmen Initiation Hunt on

20,000sq ft, it will, like DSM in London

insight. With Abercrombie & Kent, Christieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (christiestravel.com) is offering tours

visitors are offered a chance to discover

Garçons designer Rei

storey building with an area of

Art lovers pondering opaque works need no longer depend on Wikipedia for

At Comoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s London hotels, The Halkin and The Metropolitan (comohotels.com),

conceived by Comme des

a largely residential section of

z JOURNEYS OF UNDERSTANDING

produce provided by that dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vendors.

and Tokyo, be laden with multiple Comme lines as well as designer concessions. Kawakubo has a knack of setting up shop in areas that soon become magnets for other fashionable retailers, so donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be surprised if this stretch

offer at Uncharted Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camps in Botswana (unchartedafrica.com). With their guide Ralph Bousfield, participants will accompany local San tribesmen (below) on a hunt for an eland antelope. Its capture and subsequent slaughter forms the focal point of an initiation ceremony that sees boys

of Murray Hill turns into another of New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

successfully ascend into adulthood. The

must-visit retail destinations (doverstreetmarket.com).

privileged few foreigners permitted to attend the ceremony bear witness to one of the

from the Courtauld Institute (courtauld.ac.uk) lead a range of art study tours.

defining moments of a tribesmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life.

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Whatever the requirements of travellers this

premises. Meanwhile, ahead of Februaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

winter, there is a new property to suit.

Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, SolĂ­s

Sun? Opening this month in Phuket,

Hotels & Resorts will open three hotels.

Thailand, Point Yamu by COMO features

City? Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Godfrey Hotel, also

a 328ft infinity pool and interiors by the

opening in February, will be a sleek, modern

Italian designer Paola Navone. In December,

place to stay, with plenty of techie

Andaz Peninsula Papagayo launches in

touches â&#x20AC;&#x201C; even the television can be

Costa Rica, offering surfing, zip-lining and

controlled by smartphone. By comparison,

rafting, as well as an 11,000sq ft spa.

Armaggan Bosphorus Suites in

Snow? Le Grand Bellevue in Gstaad,

Istanbul are made up of three historic

Switzerland, reopens in December after

waterfront mansions, which can be rented

a full refurbishment. It is intimate and

separately or as a single shared residence.

family-run, but incorporates big-budget

Something different? Nobu is opening his

amenities. The Michelin-starred Urs

second hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in

Gschwend runs the kitchen, and the

early 2014. Unlike at his first hotel, in Las

Gstaad Yacht Club forms part of the

Vegas, alcohol will be strictly off the menu.

GETTY

z NEW HOTELS

ROGER FEDERER ARTIST

Enjoy responsibly – www.moet.com –

ULTRAwatches COMPILED BY SIMON DE BURTON

3The tonneau-shaped

GETTY

MP-06 is available in Hublotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patented, ultra-hard â&#x20AC;&#x153;King Goldâ&#x20AC;? (pictured), black PVDcoated titanium, and regular titanium. Forty-one watches are being made in each material, representing Sennaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 41 F1 victories. The dial details and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sâ&#x20AC;? (for Senna) logo are coloured yellow, green or red.

Drive time

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

In the run-up to next weekendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brazilian Grand Prix, we remember the late Ayrton Senna (above), a legend in his native Brazil and worldwide. The triple world champion, who crashed and died while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, was one of the greatest drivers of all time and his record of six wins at Monaco remains unbroken. In 2007, the watch brand Hublot created the first of a series of special editions dedicated to Senna.

The new MP-06 model is the fourth and most complex to date

4 Each watch is

supplied in a presentation case which is an exact, miniature replica of the green, yellow and black helmet (seen in portrait photograph, far left) worn

by Senna during the 1988, 1989 and 1991 seasons when he came respectively first, second and first in the Driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Championship.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

1 The MP-06 has a tourbillon mechanism,

meaning the escapement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which regulates the release of power from the mainspring â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is contained within a tiny revolving cage. This counters the effect of gravity on timekeeping accuracy by preventing the escapement remaining too long in the same position.

5 The strap also takes

inspiration from the world of motorsport, being made from perforated Schedoni leather to echo the look of â&#x20AC;&#x153;classicâ&#x20AC;? racing gloves and lightweight car seats. Yellow, green or red leather is laid beneath the perforations to match the relevant dial detailing.

2 The dial is made from

clear sapphire crystal, allowing the hand-wound movement to be seen in action; it contains 155 components. The barrel that houses the mainspring is designed to look like a car brake disc, while the bridge across the tourbillon cage at six oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock was inspired by the spokes of a steering wheel.

Hublot MP-06 hand-wound tourbillon ÂŁ114,400 (King Gold), ÂŁ98,000 (black PVD titanium), ÂŁ94,000 (titanium). Available from Marcus Watches (020 7290 6500; marcuswatches. co.uk). Part of the proceeds goes to charities including the Instituto Ayrton Senna, set up by the late driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sister, Viviane, to help educate underprivileged children.

THREE MORE MOTORSPORT WATCHES

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IWC Ingenieur Chronograph

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona

TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre

Racer ÂŁ10,150 (0845 337 1868;

Platinum ÂŁ50,100 (020 7024

1887 Jack Heuer 50th

iwc.com). The company this

7300; rolex.com). This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Anniversary ÂŁ5,295 (01204

year launched a new range of

50th anniversary of the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

861168; tagheuer.com).

Ingenieur watches to mark its

watch â&#x20AC;&#x201C; named after the

Another celebrated driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

partnership with the Mercedes

Daytona 500 car race, but

watch to reach 50 this year is

AMG Petronas F1 team. This one

made famous on the wrist of

the Carrera. The milestone is

features a â&#x20AC;&#x153;tachymeterâ&#x20AC;? bezel for

Hollywood star Paul Newman â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

marked with this special version

speed and distance calculations,

is marked by the introduction

made in honour of Jack Heuer,

a combined hour and minute

of the first Cosmograph

the designer of the original.

totaliser at 12 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock, and

Daytona to feature a

Featuring a 45mm, black

â&#x20AC;&#x153;hackingâ&#x20AC;? seconds (meaning the

platinum case. It is available

titanium carbide steel case,

second hand stops when the

only with an ice-blue dial,

its crown and pushpieces are

crown is pulled out). The back of

exclusive to platinum models.

at 12 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock (like a traditional

the case bears the image of an

stop watch) and the smoked

F1 car, and there is the choice of

sapphire case back carries

a steel bracelet or a rubber strap.

Jack Heuerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coat of arms.

ROGER FEDERER GENTLEMAN WINNER

Enjoy responsibly – www.moet.com –

An adventure like no other EASTERN & ORIENTAL EXPRESS AN EXOTIC ADVENTURE AWAITS Fly with Thai Airways from Heathrow and step aboard the magnificent Eastern & Oriental Express for luxurious journeys across an enchanting landscape of vibrant cities, ancient temples and lush paddy fields.

EPIC THAILAND - 23rd February 2014 Take an extraordinary journey into the hidden depths of northern Thailand, visiting national parks, local vineyards, Chang Mai, temples and local villages.

From £6,609 per person

CALL 0845 163 9221 ORIENT-EXPRESS.COM/E&O The £6,609 per person price for Epic Thailand Journey includes return economy class flights with Thai Airways from London Heathrow to Bangkok leaving the UK on the 22nd February 2014. One night at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok before the train, and 6 nights onboard the train in a State cabin. Price include all table d’hôte meals and all beverages whilst on board and all sightseeing as shown in the respective itineraries. Subject to availability.

ULTRAfashion

PHOTOGRAPHER: JOE PLIMMER; ASSISTANT: WANTING SU; STYLIST: ARABELLA BOYCE; HAIR AND MAKE UP: KRYSTLE GOHEL; MODEL: EKATARINA AT PROFILE MODELS

Barbara Casasola two-tone midi dress in silk cady and satin, ÂŁ2,095 from Harvey Nichols (020 7235 5000; harveynichols. com) and thecorner.com.

Available in ice blue or violet.

Isadora platform sandals with Swarovski crystal detail in black/nude suede and mesh, ÂŁ595 from Charlotte Olympia (020 7499 0145; charlotteolympia.com).

H Stern Boboli ring in 18ct yellow gold, noble gold and diamonds, ÂŁ6,600 from H Stern Sloane Street (020 7893 8477; hstern.net) and Harrods Fine Jewellery Room (020 7730 1234).

Swirl clutchbox bag with circular detail in black and white Perspex, ÂŁ795 from Charlotte Olympia (as before).

Made in Brazil

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

With her sensual yet restrained, ultra-feminine pieces inspired by art and architecture, Barbara Casasola is one of a new group of young designers emerging from Brazil.

The dress, inďŹ&#x201A;uenced by the artist HĂŠlio Oiticica, uses subtle colour, contrast and a sense of movement to achieve a sophisticated, pared-down look. Architectural high heels and an HStern ring, with elegant clean lines honed by craftsmen, complete the effect â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a far cry from the bikinis, kaftans and colour of Copacabana

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

ARABELLA BOYCE

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ULTRAboutique

A few exquisite items, judiciously packed, add a dash of old-school opulence to a sea voyage. Caragh McKay gives advice

The Art of Packing by Louis Vuitton With its roots in travel, and ocean voyages in particular, who better than Louis Vuitton to show us how to pack properly?

The French luxury maison â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which was Josephine Bakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s luggage-maker of choice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; offers one-to-one â&#x20AC;&#x153;Art of Packingâ&#x20AC;? lessons at its Bond Street emporium.

To book: 020 7399 4050. If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it to London,

ALAMY

watch the demonstrations at louisvuitton-histoires.com.

Lavish Josephine Baker, the Americanborn revue artiste

Patek Philippe World Time watch Whether you are sailing or cruising around the globe, knowing which time zone you are in is vital. To keep

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

informed at all hours and

When Josephine Baker crossed the Atlantic on a French Line vessel in the 1930s, she embarked directly from her Bugatti on the quayside with maids, cats, dogs and more than 50 handcrafted trunks in tow. Her luggage, carefully packed for her, was expertly crafted to ďŹ t into the nooks and crannies of her suite. The grandest cabins had gold-mosiac bathrooms, Lalique chandeliers, lacquered games rooms and grand pianos. Ocean-going opulence may not be what it was, but there are still a few luxuries for the modern voyager which will add old-school elegance to any sea jaunt

at every longitude, opt for a world-time mechanism beautifully crafted by one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ nest watchmakers. Not only does it do the job, but it will bring years of pleasure simply in its wearing.

Patek Philippe ref 5130, in a new yellow-gold version, ÂŁ30,520 at Watches of Switzerland (020 7409 3555).

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

William & Son games During the heyday of ocean travel, the games room was a popular haunt â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and a haven for suave card-sharps posing as distinguished passengers. Recreate the fun with games such as backgammon: this 18in set, hand-crafted in leather, can be made in the colours of your choice. ÂŁ1,700 at William & Son (020 7493 8385; williamandson.com).

Zip Elegance necklace by Van Cleef &Arpels Multifunctionality is a recurring design signature of the French high-jewellery house and this necklace, which works as smoothly as a zipper, can be transformed into a bracelet. It is an ideal item of jewellery for the ocean-goer, ensuring that packing is kept to a minimum Imperiale clock by Chopard An effortless way to add

while style is ampliďŹ ed to the max.

a touch of glamour to a shipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cabin is to set a gorgeous

Zip Elegance necklace in white

little travel clock at your bedside the minute you are

gold, diamonds, pearls, onyx and

settled on-board. With its rose-gold case, violet

red coral, price on application

cabochons, dainty 4.7in face and nifty little stand, the

(020 7493 0400; vancleef-arpels.com).

Imperiale ďŹ ts the bill exactly. Imperiale alarm clock, ÂŁ1,520 from Chopard (020 7409 3140; chopard.com).

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Mila Kunis wears earrings by Dominic Jones

Limited edition pieces by leading international jewellery designers, featuring ethically-sourced emeralds, rubies and amethysts supplied by Gemfields, are available exclusively from CoutureLab 32 Grosvenor Crescent Mews, Belgravia, London SW1X 7EX +44 (0)20 7235 7324

www.couturelab.com

ULTRA tech

Mark Wilson, Ultratravelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gear and gadgets guru, chooses the most innovative equipment for the ski slopes

2

1

2

Winter wonders

1 Arcâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;teryx Caden jacket ÂŁ520 (020 7078 3546, arcteryx.com).

A perfect shell for backcountry adventures, featuring waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex Pro. The loose fit makes it ideal for layering, while a helmet-compatible hood and snow skirt keep you warm and dry. 2 Fischer Viron 10 Vacuum CF boots ÂŁ270 (fischersports.com). New technology means the heel and ankle areas can be heated and moulded during a fitting session. A neoprene-insulated toe box keeps the feet warm.

5

VIDEO

33

4

3 3 Oakley Airwave 1.5 goggles ÂŁ520 (00800 6255 3985; uk.oakley.com). Thanks to built-in GPS and a display on the inside of the anti-fog lens, these give a skier or snowboarder information such as speed (see dashboard, inset), altitude, height of jump and even preloaded resort maps, while out on the slopes; they can also connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth and the Airwave app. 4 Rossignol Spark Audio helmet ÂŁ76 (01475 746000; rossignol.com). For those who need music on the mountain, this allows earphones (not included) to be fitted and worn comfortably underneath by removing the foam sections in the earflaps. 5 HaglĂśfs Vojd ABS 30 backpack ÂŁ800 (0032 4929 71640; haglofs.com). A potential lifesaver for freeride skiers and alpine tourers, this comes with a handle-activated ABS airbag which protects against burial by avalanches when inflated, and is highly visible to rescue helicopters. The backpack also includes a safety whistle and 30 litres (about 1 cu ft) of storage, despite weighing less than 6lb. 6 Scott the Ski ÂŁ490 (scott-sports.com). A homage to the classic skis made by freestyle legend Bobbie Burns in the 1970s, these have a full-length wood core for a durable, flexible ride. They come in four sizes and are as comfortable on powder as they are on piste. 7 Sirch Abyss R13 sledge ÂŁ270 (0049 8338 488; sirch.de). It may not be the height of high tech, but this German-made sled, with its classic steel runner design, is crafted from ash wood and has adjustable rope handles for steering round trees.

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6

7

AFICIONADO

FRANCA SOZZANI FASHION EDITOR Fabrics in Africa, art in Shanghai, solitude aďŹ&#x201A;oat and the smoky, scented air of Marrakesh are among her most poignant travel memories

F

ranca Sozzani has been the editor of Italian Vogue for 25 years. Her role, she says, is â&#x20AC;&#x153;to reflect what is going on in societyâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; hence the avant-garde nature of some of her shoots, such as those featuring Linda Evangelista wrapped in bandages (below right) for the Makeover

Madness issue, Gisele BĂźndchen sprayed with blood (to illustrate the beauty business) and Kristen McMenamy wearing oil-covered clothes (after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico). A graduate in philosophy and German literature, Sozzani speaks four languages, is a recipient of the LĂŠgion dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Honneur, and is a goodwill ambassador for Fashion 4 Development, an organisation linked to the United Nations that helps African women find employment through fashion,

I never expected to find great fashion in Ethiopia, but in Addis Ababa I discovered beautiful, richly coloured leather and the softest cotton.

The fabrics in Africa are wonderful: the tie-and-dye in Nigeria, the patterns in Ghana, the colours in Burkina Fasoâ&#x20AC;Ś Every country has specific types of fabric and design that its people like.

highlighted in ModaVie magazine (below left). â&#x20AC;&#x153;The best way to give someone dignity is to give them a salary,â&#x20AC;? Sozzani says. She is also patron of Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience (thedubaimall.com).

JONATHAN FRANTI; CORBIS; GETTY IMAGES

â&#x20AC;&#x161;â&#x20AC;&#x161;

T

§

Travel has been part of my life since I was a child. My father was obsessed with it, so we moved all the time. My first memory of something very different and foreign was the pink flamingoes on Lake Naivasha, Kenya.

I love the smell of Marrakesh, where Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a house for 25 years. Even when Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not there, that scent is inside me.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a mix of flowers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they make the most incredible rosewater â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and spices and dust and smoke that is like nowhere else.

â&#x20AC;&#x161;â&#x20AC;&#x161;

he best way to take a holiday is on a boat. To go away into the middle of the ocean, surrounded by sunshine and nature, with no towns, no social life, no dressing up, is a treat. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to talk or do anything but

soak up the beauty and silence. This year I went to the west coast of Corsica for two weeks: heaven.

Dubai was a shock â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but in a good way. One of the malls gets 65 million visitors a year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as many people as live in Italy! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Always look to artists to

like having Bond Street,

see whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening in

Madison Avenue and Via Montenapoleone all in one

a culture. In Shanghai

place. When you arrive, all

recently I spent a long

you want to do is shop.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m enchanted by India and Japan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for very different reasons. In Tokyo, you feel like you are living in the future. In India, you sense you are in a place where things are about to happen. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a country that is still rooted in the art and traditions of the past (above) but slowly evolving.

time in the M50 art district, where the work is so strong, so clear. .

Interview by Lisa Grainger

LCKI8KI8M<C

JOHN SIMPSON

UP FRONT

Moving to Ireland gave the globetrotting journalist a rare chance to unwind, and reďŹ&#x201A;ect on pleasures closer to home

LCKI8KI8M<C

ILLUSTRATION: ROMY BLUMEL; MARTIN POPE

Yet some friends thought I was mad to come here â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the â&#x20AC;&#x153;I-spent-a-night-inBelfast-once-in-the-Seventies-and-it-wasawfulâ&#x20AC;? ones. Others sighed because they knew I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s odd how little British people know, and want to know, about Ireland. It may have supplied half the populations of Glasgow and Liverpool, many of our greatest generals from Wellington onwards, a ďŹ fth of our military medalholders (I made that up, but it could well be true) and a sizeable chunk of our literary, comedic and musical talent; yet Ireland is still forgotten territory, just as it has always been for the British.

Forty years ago it was generally regarded as hostile. I became the BBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dublin correspondent in 1972, at the tender age of 27, because the wives of all my better, older and more experienced colleagues thought the job was a death sentence. If I reported anything faintly positive about the Irish Republic, the BBC received complaints about it. When we had a famous political editor from a Unionist background, with a strong Ulster accent, the BBC was ďŹ&#x201A;ooded with criticism about his very right to do the job.

Now, though, everything has changed.

An opinion poll recently indicated that British people thought an Irish accent was the friendliest and most suitable for a broadcaster to have. Ever since, advertisers have employed Irish actors to do their television voice-overs.

I ďŹ rst came to live on the coast here at Dalkey in 1973, after getting death threats from the Provisional IRA at my old address. I packed everything up and

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

t I like the fact that nothing much happens; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pleasant counterpoint to the rest of my life.

I particularly like it that, in stark contrast with Chelsea, no one thinks Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m David Attenborough

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

I

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;m writing this at my kitchen table, gazing vacantly out of the window.

The sea is 20 yards away, and I have the sweep of Scotsmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bay to look at. The Martello tower where the ďŹ rst few pages of Ulysses are set â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the most understandable bit, frankly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is just there, 200 yards to my right.

The waves are crashing against the rocks over on Sandycove Point, but in front of our house the water is placid.

A large, familiar ďŹ gure is luxuriating in the chilly waves. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not in fact Mr Johnson, my neighbour, who swims in the sea every day regardless of the weather, and pads to and from the water in his brown dressing gown, his bare legs purple with cold; no, this is a common harbour seal, which hangs out there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; only seven miles from Dublin city centre.

My wife and son and I moved here some months ago from Chelsea: a bit of a culture shock, but better, happier, more life-afďŹ rming in every way. And a good deal cheaper, since Dublin doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have Russian oligarchs. But it does have a considerable degree of class nowadays.

Sitting in the bar at The Shelbourne, which so many of Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social and political grandees have passed through since the 1870s, is a special pleasure â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accompanied by one of the barmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous whiskey sours.

There are good places to buy clothes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and not just tweeds. Dublinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restaurants are a revelation too, and the hotels are on a par with those in London or Paris. This country is very different from the pleasant backwater it used to be; opening up to European inďŹ&#x201A;uences has transformed it.

settled in a new house on the sea at Bullock Harbour, where the AngloNormans landed in the 1170s and promptly built a castle, which still stands. My neighbour was the ďŹ lm director John Huston. We used to watch the sun setting over the sea together.

Then, when I married a second time, I brought my new wife to show her my old stamping ground. She liked it so much that we bought a ďŹ&#x201A;at in a new development overlooking the sea, only 100 yards from my old place. And now, with a stunning lack of imagination, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re back here yet again, 400 yards the other way.

Unadventurous, but deeply satisfying.

I like the Dalkey accent; the vowels are more rounded, the consonants softer here.

I like the unsurpassed quality of the ďŹ sh and meat and vegetables in the shops.

I like the evening scent of peat burning in peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ replaces at this time of year.

I like the fact that nothing much happens; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pleasant counterpoint to the rest of my life, which is spent rushing round the world looking for news. I particularly like it that, in stark contrast with Chelsea, no one thinks Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m David Attenborough.

And I like the humour: quiet, subtle, yet with a certain sharp edge. One chilly evening recently, I wandered round to the famous Forty Foot swimming place, named after the 42nd Highland Regiment of Foot â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Black Watch â&#x20AC;&#x201C; stationed there to guard against Napoleon. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sean says the waterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite warm tonight,â&#x20AC;? said one blueish-skinned man in a swimming costume to another as they passed me. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ah yes,â&#x20AC;? said the second one, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can feel the heat from here.â&#x20AC;?

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

MR&MRS MORGAN

In the Hamptons, where novelists rub shoulders with Real Housewives, socialising is the whole point. One man begs to differâ&#x20AC;Ś

ANDREW CROWLEY; DAN GOLDSMITH/SCOPE FEATURES

Y

SHE SAYS

ou do realise itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a weekend, not a week, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you?â&#x20AC;? says Piers, staring down at my suitcase.

In equally patronising tones I explain that a weekend in the Hamptons is a week anywhere else. There will be breakfasts, brunches and afternoon teas involving buttermilk biscuits, homemade plum preserves, Jay McInerney and a couple of the Real Housewives. There will be cocktails on the porch, mojitos on the beach and digestifs in â&#x20AC;&#x153;the blue sitting roomâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just quite fancied lying by the pool all weekend,â&#x20AC;? murmured my husband, aghast. Which, of course, is exactly what he did.

Funnily enough, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind. Topping Rose House â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Greek Revival-styled inn and restaurant situated in the heart of Bridgehampton â&#x20AC;&#x201C; felt more like our personal Hamptons home than the hot new hotel in town. Although booked solid since it ďŹ rst opened in May, it was rare to chance upon another (dressing-gowned) ďŹ gure strolling through the gardens or spa â&#x20AC;&#x201C; except at lunch or dinner, when the bar and restaurant were suddenly ďŹ&#x201A;ooded by men in cable-knit Ralph Lauren and women in Tory Burch ďŹ&#x201A;ats. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never guess who I bumped into downstairs,â&#x20AC;?

I panted, having run up to the suite to change into my fourth â&#x20AC;&#x153;casual chicâ&#x20AC;? outďŹ t of the day (itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing how many variations on eggshell cashmere you can come up with, if you put your mind to it). He stared at me blankly as I reeled off the list of semi-acquaintances Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been fraternising with downstairs on the porch rockers, before explaining that the Arsenal game was about to start and that he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t envisage leaving his wafďŹ&#x201A;e slippers or the chaise longue any time soon.

Hoteliers should spare a thought for the WAGs when they are propelling the comfort levels of their suites to such outlandish levels. Plush Frette bed linen, $3,000 designer pile rugs, full minibars and bags of homemade chocolate cookies are all very lovely, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not exactly propitious to adventurous getaways, are they? And while women can appreciate all those things too, we generally want our weekends away to include outings: a spa jaunt, a trip to the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one-acre farm (where all the restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vegetables are grown) and a little local wander.

So while Piers lazed in the suite and by the pool, I had jojoba beads crushed into my face by a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Naturopathica beauty technicianâ&#x20AC;? (my â&#x20AC;&#x153;Face Lift Facialâ&#x20AC;? gave my skin the same dampened, eerily smooth quality as the aforementioned Real Housewives â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but thanks to holistic methods), witnessed a radish harvest for the ďŹ rst time, took our daughter to the wonderful Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Museum of the East End down the road and toured the laughably overpriced local antique shops. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe the Hamptons isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so ghastly after all,â&#x20AC;? exhaled Piers, ďŹ nally out of the suite and extended on one of Topping Roseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soft towels on a nearby beach. Ghastly? Honestly, I have no idea what that man is on about half the time.

T â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;He stared at me blankly as I reeledof the list of people Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d met downstairs, before explaining that the Arsenal game was about to start on televisionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; CELIA

Celia Walden and Piers Morgan stayed at Topping Rose House, Bridgehampton, New York (001 631 537 0870; toppingrosehouse.com).

Suite 5 starts at $1,250 (about ÂŁ924) per night, including breakfast.

HE SAYS

he Hamptons are usually ďŹ lled with what I hoped to leave behind in New York City,â&#x20AC;? opined arguably Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest chef, Mario Batali. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always been my experience. In the height of summer, Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealthiest, most elite lemmings spend ďŹ ve hours trekking up there by car, a day and a half socialising with everyone they work with, for or against, then another ďŹ ve hours trekking back to the city. But there is, I have discovered, a way to actually enjoy this hellish ordeal. First, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go in midsummer. Go, like we did, in autumn, or spring, when the weather is still gorgeous, and the trafďŹ c much easier (two hours). And stay at Topping Rose House.

I knew Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like this place when I entered our gleamingly clean, expansively chic, minimalist suite to ďŹ nd an Arsenal shirt emblazoned with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Piersâ&#x20AC;? on the back. Hideously, there was also a framed photograph of Robin van Persie, the Dutch striker who broke my heart by defecting to Manchester United last year, with the word: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Welcome!â&#x20AC;? Turns out the otherwise splendidly solicitous general manager is a United fan. Ho ďŹ&#x201A;aming ho. But the brazen cheek made me laugh, and how many hotels do that in these politically correct days?

Celia brought enough suitcases to make even J-Lo look travel-light, and seemed worryingly intent on treating the whole weekend as some kind of ghastly â&#x20AC;&#x153;getting to know the localsâ&#x20AC;? extravaganza. I, conversely, knew exactly where my priorities lay. The same as they do with any holiday, however brief: a) sleep b) watch Arsenal on television c) lie by the pool, and d) drink and eat everything my personal trainer views as â&#x20AC;&#x153;undesirableâ&#x20AC;? for my well-being.

The food at Topping Rose is sublimely fresh (they have their own large vegetable garden, though I left the tour to my wife), simple and consistently delicious. Breakfast was good, lunch better, and dinner quite spectacular: a â&#x20AC;&#x153;tasting menuâ&#x20AC;? feast of Henry VIII-like proportions featuring foie gras, lobster, trufďŹ&#x201A;e, seared tuna, rabbit, wagyu beef and a chocolate pumpkin tart. All washed away with Puligny-Montrachet and a brave 2005 Pomerol.

Celia always feels guilty after such blow-outs, and raced to the gym the next morning. I have no such dietary concerns, and loped to the pool, where I lay in the sun, reading the papers and soaking in the genteel tranquillity of this rather heavenly oasis. Topping Rose House nestles on the corner of Bridgehampton, a quaint little town in the middle of the Hamptons, about a mile from an even quainter little beach (the hotel thoughtfully supplies bikes or a car shuttle service to get around). It looks and feels like an old colonial white-wood private home. Which is exactly what it used to be.

As I sat on the terrace, drinking chilled Brother Thelonius beer while my two-year-old daughter entertained me with her absurdly over-the-top â&#x20AC;&#x153;old manâ&#x20AC;? walks (I fear they are based on her fatherâ&#x20AC;Ś), strains of John Coltrane ďŹ lling the air, I was already planning a return visit.

LCKI8KI8M<C

UltraBrazil

The REBIRTH of RIO

LCKI8KI8M<C

As all eyes turn to Brazil, Chris Moss

explores two re-energised districts where art galleries, smart hotels and restaurants are springing up as fast as sports venues

Hip and happening Clockwise from top, far left: the Museu de Arte do Rio; dressed for the beach; the pool at the Fasano; street style; the terrace at La Suite; local fashion; the new Olympic park LCKI8KI8M<C

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VIDEO

S

unrise over Copacabana. One of the word’s great everyday happenings.

It’s surprisingly cool, a little cloudy still, the soft greys of the morning slowly burning away. I decide to shake off the night flight with a walk – or rather, a hike – to the south-western end of the beach. On my right, deco-style residential towers, tall thin hotels, the early morning commuter traffic on Avenida Atlântica. On my left, the heavy slap of the surf on Copacabana beach.

There I walk and walk, following the long curve all the way to the end. I can’t quite emulate the commitment of the locals, the cariocas, as they pound the famous wavemosaic pavements, and stop to stretch and twist or lift themselves up on to the gym machines spread along the prom. But I feel I’m in the flow, part of the Rio morning, and walking off the weariness. In a city where the body is important, it makes sense to engage with it physically before anything else.

I catch a team of serious swimmers launching themselves into the surf; they’re members of the Luiz Lima Olympic athlete school. In training for 2016, they hammer into the waves with a powerful crawl. There are high breaks on the left of the old Fort – I see kids cross themselves before paddling in on their boogie boards.

There are football and frescoball and volleyball and footvolley matches. Weight training and circuit training. A man is playing keepie uppie with… sand. Not quite kicking a grain of sand, but rolling small piles of the stuff in the sea with his feet, and then kicking the squelchy

ball up into the air. The stallholders selling iced beer and cocô gelado (chilled coconut water) are beginning to open up. Refreshments for the troops.

Walk on the beach and the thundering waves drown the traffic and the other city noises, and, when you look inland, you see the steep granite mountains known as morros, rising up behind the apartment blocks. Rio’s magnificence resides in the proximity of the man-made and the natural.

Copacabana kicked off Rio’s golden age in 1923, when the Copacabana Palace hotel opened. Over the years, Rita Hayworth and Gina Lollobrigida gave way to the Garota de Ipanema, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, bossa nova and Tropicalismo.

This has been the story of Rio’s Zona Sul, or South Zone. A city spreading along the beach, and learning to define its own idea of cool.

The following afternoon I walk along the proms of Arpoador, Ipanema and Leblon. The Fasano hotel on the corner of Vieira Souto and Joaquim Nabuco is the south zone’s claim on the 21st century. It’s a low-lit, sleek, modernist redoubt for Rio’s fashion and media crowd. The rooftop terrace and bar have become popular

City of light Ipanema and Copacabana beaches from the air, top; chilling at the Fasano hotel, above

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places to be photographed, and the slightly kitsch stamp of Philippe Starck is everywhere.

Ipanema and Leblon are very hip, but they remain residential zones. On and around the Quadrilatéro da Moda – fashion district – are the top local designers and jewellers: Antonio Bernardo, Blue Man, Farm, Gilson Martins, Lenny, Nag Nag. At Bar d’Hotel, the Apollos and Venuses of Lagoa (Rio’s upscale lakeside area) and Jardim Botânico meet for drinks. But you can still get a lunch of fish and rice, and an ice-cold Bohemia beer for a few reais. That’s exactly what I do.

I walk back through the neighbourhoods. Away from the beach strip, I am soon in the thick of commerce, buses, banks (and long queues for cash), dog-walkers, food, drink, life…

At the western end of Copacabana is a statue of the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade where visiting Brazilians like to have their picture taken. A line of one of his verses is inscribed: No mar estava escrita uma cidade (“In the sea a city was written”). The pounding waves on one front, the morros on the other; there is nowhere for Zona Sul to go. All of life is squeezed into a half-dozen city blocks.

That’s where the neighbourly vibe comes from – unlike ever-expanding São Paulo, this patch of Rio can grow no more. That’s also where the tension comes from, and the energy, and the depth. Finally, I head back out to the beach, sit down and have a cocô gelado.

BARRA The sandbar suburb

A drive out to Barra is a journey into Rio’s immediate future. There’s an easy way out via the Morro Dois Irmãos tunnel at the end of Leblon beach, but I’m taxied via the high road over the Rocinha favela. This “pacified” shanty town is home to somewhere between 70,000 (the official statistic) and 100,000 souls and has been open to visitors for some years now. I get out and have a look around. It feels safe. It’s not pretty, but it’s a massive part of the Rio story. Local people are welcoming enough and there is some nice artwork on sale.

Rocinha is quite a contrast with what awaits at the foot of the hill. First comes Gávea, an affluent residential district and home to Rio’s hottest nightclub, 00 (Zero Zero) – housed in the planetarium; and then Barra da Tijuca. This was the place that stirred controversy a decade or so ago when a small-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty was erected above the New York City Center shopping mall.

It remains an essentially American-style development.

Car is king. Condo living is the norm. There’s a university (a private one) inside a shopping mall. My guide, Marcelo Esteves, and I stop on the beach – an 11-mile-long, dead straight band of soft golden sand – to have a drink.

The bar has champagne but no cocô gelado.

But Barra, prosaically named after that long sand bar, is changing. The Olympic village and Olympic park are being built here, as are a new metro line, a new highway, a new dedicated bus lane modelled on Bogotá’s pioneering TransMilenio, new luxury hotels and lots of offices, residential blocks and more malls. Low-slung building dominates and Barra has a bigger sky than much of Rio. The gated complexes have drawn high-profile residents, including the footballers Romario and Ronaldo.

The Rock in Rio megaparties happen here in Barra, too.

But it’s not all celebs and slick shows. There’s a fourmile-long coastal nature park and a reserve abutting a residential zone that is home to the rare golden lion tamarin monkey. There’s the Cidade das Artes, a major film and classical music venue designed by Christian de Pozamparc, which opened this spring. There has been a boom in gallery openings across Rio, reaching Barra with the opening of Arte Ater in June. A showcase for contemporary Brazilian art run by the former rock star André Sheik and the acclaimed French dramatist Victor Haim, it is – tellingly – located inside the Barra Point mall.

Now turning its attention to the international jet set, Barra – or at least its near neighbour, Joatinga – already has one of the smartest hotels in Rio. La Suite

Ahead of the game Beach tennis, top. The Museum of Tomorrow, left, and La Suite, above.

The view from the Hotel Praia Ipanema, below

5 CLASSIC RIO EXPERIENCES SAMBA From 8pm every Monday

for the 15th-floor bar of the Hotel

there are samba de roda (in-the-

Praia Ipanema for some great

Casa Daros exhibits daring and

round) guitar, voice and percussion

views (praiaipanema.com).

challenging contemporary art from

improvisations around Lapa’s Pedra

FAVELA See the Rocinha shanty town,

across Latin America (casadaros.net).

do Sal – on the site of a former slave

bust some myths and get to grips with

FASHION For your beach, day and

market, and where the story of samba

another reality of Rio de Janeiro.

eveningwear, head for the fashion

began; afterwards, see a more formal

ART The Museu de Arte do Rio,

quarter – the Quadrilatéro da

live music set at Carioca da Gema

a combination of art gallery and city

Moda. The following ruas and

(barcariocadagema.com.br).

museum, explores Rio’s many facets,

avenidas are especially good:

SUNDOWNER The terrace of the

from slaving capital to intellectual hub,

Aníbal de Mendonça, Joana Angélica,

Fasano hotel is for guests only, so aim

to a city of favelas and fashionistas

Vieira Souto, and Epitácio Pessoa.

(museudeartedorio.org.br). In Botafogo,

LCKI8KI8M<C

is a genuine boutique hotel, with just seven rooms and the feel of a private villa about it – not to mention amazing sea views from its cliff-top setting.

Barra looks like a work in progress. Cranes, earthmovers and “opening soon” hoardings are everywhere.

The Olympic Games will probably seal its fate, but in a city where glamour and grittiness have for a long time generated a sort of fertile friction, this eastern sprawl is a little too new and shiny and tidy for my taste.

It may also have bagged the wrong event. I ask Marcelo which is the most important of the two big sporting showcases coming to Rio, the World Cup or the Olympic Games? He doesn’t hesitate: “The World Cup, of course. For one thing, we have a chance of winning it.

Sure, the Olympics will be good for the city – but when there’s football, the city shuts down.”

I like a city that knows when to take days off.

SANTA TERESA and the art of living Rio is renascent, there’s no doubt about that. It’s not just Barra and the Olympics, or the Zona Sul zillionaires. In the downtown area, the Centro, there’s the dashing new Museu de Arte do Rio, with an evolving collection that celebrates the city, and an R$8.7billion (£2.4billion) port regeneration project known as Porto Maravilha, which includes the Santiago Calatrava-designed Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow), focusing on science, technology, climate change and matters ecological.

An abandoned chocolate factory in the neighbourhood of Santo Cristo is being turned into a studio complex called the Fábrica de Artes (Art Factory). Even the old Gloria, the only grand hotel that opened before the Copacabana Palace, has been bought by Brazil’s richest man, the energy tycoon Eike Batista, and will reopen in 2014 as a deluxe downtown hotel.

In Botafogo, the opening of Casa Daros in March 2013 gave a residential district a serious showcase for contemporary Latin American art. The gallery’s in-house restaurant, Mirá!, is run by Roberta Ciasca, a widely praised 37-year-old chef who made a name for herself in the district with two other restaurants, Miam Miam

A DRIVE TO BARRA IS A JOURNEY INTO RIO’S IMMEDIATE FUTURE. THE OLYMPIC PARK ANDVIILLAGE ARE BEING BUILT HERE

and Oui Oui. She mixes Brazilian, French and oriental influences to make exquisite dishes, and calls it “comfort food”. Brazil doesn’t do pretentious, even in the rarefied world of high-class chefs.

For a happy balance between the thrusting new and the romantic old, there’s one stand-out neighbourhood: Santa Teresa.

The main virtues here may well be topographical. In many parts of Rio, the rich live on the flats and the poor high up on the steep slopes.

Here, I wander cobblestone streets that wind up a gentle incline. Some of the houses are rain-stained and crumbling. Others are freshly painted. Most are grand. In the 19th century, city dwellers retreated here for breezes and views. Now artists and writers, and hoteliers, have adopted Santa Teresa as an affluent but affordable bohemian bairro.

I stay at Mama Ruisa, a French-run property. My room is bare, high-ceilinged and airy, with a small desk and antiques. There’s a grand salon stocked with sofas and art books, where tall doors open on to a wrought-iron balcony. Here I breakfast, enjoying views of Guanabara Bay – and another sunrise – and the neighbours’ exuberant plant-filled gardens.

It was here, in Santa Teresa, and in nearby Lapa and the Centro, that Rio forged its identity as a capital.

Before stripping off and sunning became de rigueur, Rio was a city of trade and banking, power-broking and intellectual debate. Have a coffee at the Confeitaria Colombo – a rare temple to the bean that enriched this nation – and you can imagine the author Machado de Assis striding in and scribbling in his notebook about the incongruity of an imperial city in the midst of the Atlantic rainforest. The new shift of focus – and money – to the old

city and port has to be a good thing. The beach culture in Rio’s south is richer than just about anywhere on earth, but a great city needs leather shoes and long trousers as well as Havaianas and hot pants.

At another Santa Teresa hotel, the recently opened Modernistas – which combines five bedrooms dedicated to the work of famous Brazilian modernist painters with a tiny gallery – I ask the Argentine photographer and part-time receptionist, Virginia Barrera, how Rio compares with a city I used to live in, Buenos Aires.

“Here, life is lived out on the streets, especially in Santa Teresa, which is like a village inside the city,” she says. “People just seem to come together to talk and sing and dance, and for no particular reason.”

The year-round heat helps, of course.

And the light, which can be iridescent in Rio but is loveliest when the haze makes it fall soft and even on everything around.

Santa Teresa turns golden at dusk.

At Urca, the last neighbourhood I visit on my stay, I watch the sun go down from the seawall. Eating calamari and shrimps at Bar Urca, which opened in 1972, is a Rio ritual as quintessential as samba or cachaça, the famous, fiery sugarcane spirit. Here I sit back and indulge in the city’s easier side: idling, talking, drinking a few beers, and watching the sky turn peach, then orange, then crimson.

But, I am not fooled. There is no sunset in Rio. The city looks out to the north and west. It’s always waking up.

Audley Travel (01993 838000; audleytravel.com) is offering five nights in Rio from £1,650 per person, with three nights at the Copacabana Place and two nights at Fasano. The price includes accommodation, airport transfers and three days with a guide. TAM (020 8741 2005; tam.com.br) flies from London Heathrow to Rio de Janeiro with return fares starting at £1,073 in high season (Christmas and summer).

THE SARTORIALIST; TOM NAGY/GALLERYSTOCK; JULIANA ROCHA/RIO ETC; HUMBERTO TESKI

THE BEST OF RIO WHERE TO STAY

dishes; the less formal Pérgula,

Copacabana Palace This

beside the pool, serves a popular

handsome beachfront hotel, right,

feijoada on Saturday lunchtimes (21

opened in 1923 and has been

2548 7070; copacabanapalace.com).

a magnet for royalty, the seriously

Miam Miam Roberta Ciasca’s first

rich and the jet set ever since.

restaurant, in Botafogo, is in an old

Reopened in November 2012 after

house that belonged to her grandma.

a six-month refurbishment, the

Kitsch Seventies décor pays homage

Palace, owned by Orient-Express,

to the old lady. Brazilian, French and

has two excellent restaurants – see

Italian staples are splashed with

Where to eat, below – and a great

Asian spices and sauces to create

outdoor pool (0845 077 2222;

light but luscious dishes (21 2244

best places to meet, affording great

copacabanapalace.com; a deluxe

0125; miammiam.com.br).

views of the ocean, and of Leblon’s

beach-view room costs £650).

Térèze at Santa Teresa The serene

good-looking socialites. The new

Fasano With its Sixties retro

restaurant at this Relais & Châteaux

retro décor is cool and the Italian

furniture, moody lighting and Philippe

hotel (in what was once a coffee-

food excellent (21 2172 1100;

Starck fixtures, this hotel on the

Mama Ruisa This is an elegant

iced beer – the holy trinity of

grower’s townhouse) has fine views

hoteismarina.com.br).

Ipanema-Arpoador border is aimed

boutique hotel in a colonial mansion

Brazilian gastronomy – are best

over the neighbourhood, the bay and

Baretto-Londra The Fasano hotel’s

at the fashionable set. Guests have

on a side road in Santa Teresa, with

experienced at this atmospheric

the Niterói-Rio Bridge. Chef Damien

main bar is a Brazilian-cum-Italian

exclusive access to a great roof

views over the bay. Rooms are

bar-restaurant, which manages to

Montecer might be French but his

homage to the English capital. That

terrace (0055 21 3202 4000; fasano.

decorated with drawings by Jean

attract enough Santa Teresa

menu features Bahian lobster,

may sound a bit weird, but the dimly

com.br; rooms from £340).

Cocteau, photographs of Josephine

residents to offset the foreign

fazenda-raised beef and guinea fowl

lit space is great for cocktails and

La Suite This small clifftop hotel

Baker and Maria Callas from Rio’s

diners, and thus retain its local feel

and Amazonian delights such as

there are DJs every night (21 3202

in Joatinga, the district next to

golden age, and Brazilian religious

(21 2221 9227; bardomineiro.net).

jambu and cupuaçu (rainforest fruits)

4000; fasano.com.br).

Barra, provides a wonderful, slightly

art (21 2242 1281; mamaruisa.

Cipriani at Copacabana Palace

and tasty tambaqui fish (21 3380

00 (Zero Zero) This sophisticated,

out-of-town option, and has a real

com; rooms from £177).

Perhaps the finest Italian food in Rio

0220; santa-teresa-hotel.com).

stylishly designed dance venue is

VIP feel – highly appropriate in a villa

is served here. Chef Nicola Finamore,

perfect, according to the magazine

that used to belong to a Portuguese

WHERE TO EAT

from Abruzzo, uses Brazilian

WHERE TO DRINK AND DANCE

Time Out Rio, for “grown-up

banker (21 2484 1962; lasuiterio.

Bar do Mineiro Fine cachaça,

ingredients from family recipes to

Bar d’Hotel This bar and bistro,

clubbing”. I couldn’t agree more

com; rooms from £180).

feijoada (bean and pork stew) and

create sublime risottos and fish

above right, is one of the city’s

(21 2540 8041; 00site.com.br).

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UltraBrazil

The FASHION SET’S GUIDE TO BRAZIL

For tips on where to stay, play, chill and eat in South America’s most stylish country, ask a local – especially one with taste ISABELI FONTANA

CRISTIANA ARCANGELI

WHERE TO STAY To be alone, I would

WHERE TO STAY Uxua Casa

go to the simple but elegant Pousada

Hotel & Spa (uxua.com) in

Supermodel (above)

Owner, Beauty’In

Zé Maria (pousadazemaria.com.br) in

Trancoso 5, Bahia, is a chic

Fernando de Noronha 1, an

rainforest retreat, with treehouse

archipelago 220 miles off the north-east coast, with

rooms overlooking the forest canopy, a restaurant

incredible beaches and clear blue seas. With my children,

serving delicious local dishes and a fantastic spa.

I would go to Costão do Santinho (costao.com.br),

Almost as good is Ponta dos Ganchos

a resort on Santinho beach in Florianópolis 2, which has

(pontadosganchos.com.br) – just north of

lots of activities. Lastly, for a holiday with something for

Florianópolis 2, in the far south – which has little

everyone, I would go to Nannai Beach Resort (nannai.

bungalows with their own infinity pool, and

com.br) in Pernambuco state, and stay in one of the

a Christian Dior spa: the only one in South America.

large private bungalows. It has 65,000sq ft of pool area

WHERE TO EAT Rodeio (rodeiosp.com.br) on

alone and a L’Occitane spa.

Oscar Freire Boulevard in São Paolo 6, where

WHERE TO EAT My favourite place, Pelô Bistrô, is in

businessmen, politicians and celebrities meet,

a beautiful boutique hotel, Casa do Amarelindo

serves the best picanha (a juicy cut of rump steak)

(casadoamarelindo.com), in the historic heart of Salvador

and papaya and crème de cassis dessert.

3 on the north-east coast. Its patio overlooks lush

Restaurante Spot (restaurantespot.com.br) in São

gardens: the perfect spot for lunch or a romantic dinner.

Paulo has delicious international dishes, including

I almost always have bobó de camarão: puréed shrimp

the best penne pasta with melon and prosciutto.

with coconut milk, flavoured with palm oil.

DON’T MISS The city of Florianópolis 2, on Santa

DON’T MISS Chapada Diamantina National Park 4 in

Caterina Island in the far south. It has perfect

Bahia, which is one of the most spiritual places in the

beaches, delicious seafood and lovely cultural

world. It has rivers, vast caves, incredible cliffs and the

attractions ranging from colonial fortresses and

Pico do Barbado to climb: not for the faint-hearted.

relaxed markets to parks.

PATRICIA BONALDI

Fashion designer

WHERE TO STAY The Fasano (fasano.com.br; left), in Rio de Janeiro 7, has a fantastic

dining room and incredible views. From the roof terrace you can see over Ipanema Beach, Copacabana and Leblon, to the Two Brothers Mountain and Corcovado. It’s a great place in which to wake up; open your curtains and the whole city is before you.

WHERE TO EAT Bistro Bagatelle (bistrotbagatelle.com.br), in the Jardins district of São Paulo 6, has

a unique atmosphere. Although it’s very chilled and cool, with French cuisine, the music is very loud.

It’s a popular place with the in-crowd.

DON’T MISS Trancoso 5, in Bahia state, which is full of colourful houses, cosy hotels and local beach

restaurants. It’s the place to chill out under gazebos, and watch the sea and coconut palms.

RIO ESSENTIAL The Carnival in Rio isn’t just fun, with lots of dancing and singing, but is also an important

part of Brazilian culture. Everyone has to do it once in their lifetime.

LCKI8KI8M<C

DANIELA CECILIO

Fashion entrepreneur

SILVIA FURMANOVICH

WHERE TO STAY The Hotel

Jewellery designer

Unique (hotelunique.com), in São

WHERE TO STAY Casa Turquesa (casaturquesa.com.br), a charming b & b in historic

Paulo 6, which is big but feels

Paraty 8, has the best views of the town’s rooftops and mountains. It’s a restored

boutiquey, and has superb service.

18th-century townhouse with nine rooms, each painted a different colour, with

They’ll bring fresh coconut water to your room and

Trussardi linen and botanical drawings.

they always know your name. Pousada Maravilha

WHERE TO EAT Dalva e Dito (dalvaedito.com.br) by Alex Atala is one of the great restaurants in São Paulo 6.

(pousadamaravilha.com.br) in Fernando de

It offers a unique twist on Brazilian food; one of my favourite dishes is the grilled pirarucu – a large tropical

Noronha1, off the north-east coast, is also

fish – with Brazil-nut vinaigrette and a ratatouille of Brazilian vegetables.

wonderful, with views as impressive as the food.

DON’T MISS Alto Paraíso 9, in the north-eastern Goiás state, which has pure air, waterfalls and

Pousada do Toque (pousadadotoque.com.br) in

incredible crystal caves. I go at least once a year to renew my spirits. In Minas Gerais, Tiradentes

São Miguel dos Milagres13, on the north-east coast,

10 and Ouro Preto 11 are preserved colonial towns which were founded on mining and are

combines attentive service, turquoise sea and

now Unesco World Heritage sites. They have beautiful baroque architecture, works and

tasteful furniture. I have simple, traditional dishes when I’m there, like queijo coalho (cheese) omelette.

sculptures by the architect Aleijadinho, and quaint b & bs. More adventurous visitors might want to cycle between the cities of Cunha 12 and Paraty 8, or do yoga in Alto Paraíso 9.

WHERE TO EAT D.O.M (domrestaurante.com.br) in

São Paulo 6 for Brazilian food with a cool twist; chef Alex Atala sources wild ingredients from Amazonian tribes and uses them in inventive, delicious ways.

RIO ESSENTIAL Sit in the traditional Bar Luiz

(barluiz.com.br), order beer, caiprinhas and bolinho de macaxeira (manioc fritters) and eat and drink from lunchtime until sunset. It’s the best way to soak up the culture of the city’s Centro district.

ALEX ATALA

Chef, D.O.M.

WHERE TO STAY Fazenda da Lagoa

(fazendadalagoa.com.br) is on a coconut plantation in the middle of nowhere, a 40-minute drive from Ilhéus 14, in Bahia. It’s surrounded by a beach, the Aliança River, mangroves and a beautiful lake. You can be left alone in your secluded bungalow, but have every comfort you could possibly want.

WHERE TO EAT I love young chefs who source their

ingredients locally. Favourites are Mani (manimanioca. com.br) in São Paulo 6, with wonderful outdoor dining rooms and delicious food; Remanso do Bosque (restauranteremanso.com.br) in Belem do Pará 15, in the far north, which feels like a bit of the Amazon within the city; Trindade (trindadebrasil.com.br) in Minas Gerais, which offers real variety, from octopus appetisers to Portuguese-style desserts; and Banzeiro (restaurantebanzeiro.com.br) in Manaus16, in the heart of the Amazon, which has a small, perfectly curated selection of Brazilian flavours.

Illustrated map TANIA WILLIS

DON’T MISS Fernando de Noronha 1, off the north-

LENNY NIEMEYER Swimwear

east coast, which was declared a marine national park in 1988; Porcos Bay is one of the island’s most beautiful stretches of sand. Also, go to the spot where the Amazon meets the beach 17, and witness the impressive Pororoca tidal wave that is popular with daredevil surfers. From there, you can appreciate the vast extent of the Amazon, which is home to more than a third of the world’s known species and more than 2,100 varieties of fish. It’s an impressive natural wonder.

designer

WHERE TO STAY I have three favourites: Hotel Reserva de Ibitipoca, in the Serra

da Mantiqueira range 18 of south-east Brazil, which has mountain views and impeccable staff; Uxua Hotel & Spa (uxua.com) in Trancoso 5 (right), set in a garden with a beautiful quartz-stone pool; and Hotel Casa da Praia (bahiahomes.com.br/ imovel/casadapraia), on the Trancoso beachfront, because the owners not only built the place but run it and prepare meals from produce grown in the garden.

WHERE TO EAT Sorriso da Dadá in Salvador 3 has the best reasonably-priced local food in Bahia. Its

top dish is moqueca, a traditional Brazilian fish stew. The cod risotto at the Fasano (fasano.com.br) in São Paulo 6 is pretty unforgettable, too.

DON’T MISS Trancoso 5, for its delicious food, and Lençóis Maranhenses 19, in the north-eastern

state of Maranhão, which has incredible landscapes and good weather all year.

Continued on page 41

LCKI8KI8M<C

SMALL SHIP CRUISING WITH NOBLE CALEDONIA - BOOK EARLY AND SAVE £1000 PER COUPLE

South East Asian Odyssey A voyage along the coast of Vietnam aboard the luxurious L’Austral combined with a journey from Singapore to Bangkok aboard the Eastern and Oriental Express 28th October to 13th November 2014 There are countless tours available around South East Asia which fly from one city to another, abruptly introducing you to cultural and architectural contrasts that can be bewildering and in many ways unfulfilling. However there are some regions of the world which deserve to be absorbed at a more relaxing pace in order for the experience to be enjoyable and rewarding, and South East Asia is certainly one of these.

O

ur journey begins with an 11-night voyage along the coast of Vietnam aboard the luxurious L’Austral, the ideal means to explore the country’s cultural and natural splendours, removing the need for internal flights and long overland journeys. After a busy day of exploring ashore you can be assured of a warm welcome back onboard with excellent dining options, comfortable surroundings and a convivial atmosphere.

Vietnam has seen enormous changes over the last three decades as she emerges from a troubled past. Perhaps less well known to British travellers than much of South East Asia, Vietnam, with its long and complex history demands a detailed look to appreciate its intriguing mix of cultures and landscape. The country’s ancient, colonial and modern history is all enthralling and who

could not be enchanted by its brilliant patchwork of verdant rice paddies, fascinated by its rivers which bustle with commerce and charmed by the subtle blend of French and Vietnamese architecture. The elegant architecture, exquisite art and beautiful boulevards of the cities are reminders of the country’s colonial rule, while the poise and grace of Hoi An and the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) are windows on a culture that values its past as it moves eagerly into the future.

Upon disembarking L’Austral in Singapore, we join the exquisite Eastern and Oriental Express train for a journey to Bangkok via Penang and the River Kwai. This sister train to Europe’s Venice Simplon-Orient Express offers an equally exciting onboard experience with gourmet dining, an open-air observation car and special onboard entertainment.

The Itinerary in brief Day 1 - London to Hong Kong. Fly by scheduled flight.

Day 2 - Hong Kong. Arrive this afternoon and transfer to your centrally located hotel for an overnight stay.

Day 3 - Hong Kong. After breakfast in your hotel enjoy a morning tour of Hong Kong and a local lunch before transferring to L’Austral.

Day 4 - At sea.

Day 5 - Haiphong, Vietnam. Our first port in Vietnam is Haiphong. Located in the delta of the Red river, Haiphong is a pleasant and lively city. You have the chance to go ashore and discover its picturesque districts and monuments full of history, including the ancient colonial city. Alternatively join a full day optional excursion to the capital city of Hanoi and see the exquisite French Colonial architecture.

Day 6 - Ha Long Bay. Arrive this morning in the spectacular Ha Long Bay. Here distorted ghostly shapes of

L’Austral

The Eastern & Oriental Express

The 132-cabin, five-star L’Austral offers an extremely high level of service, beautiful surroundings, spacious cabins and public areas. Cabins feature a private balcony (with the exception of the Superior Stateroom which has a picture window), en-suite facilities, individually controlled air-conditioning, minibar, flat screen satellite television, video on demand, DVD player, CD and Ipod players.

Onboard facilities include a large lounge, lecture theatre, a Panoramic Lounge which leads out onto a terrace, library, beauty centre and internet corner. Outside deck areas are spacious and feature comfortable deck furniture as well as a pool and on the top deck you will find the open-air bar.

French and international cuisine is accompanied by fine wine and there is also 24 hour room service.

The golden age of travel lives on aboard the Eastern & Oriental Express luxury train.

Enjoy gourmet dining, cocktails in the open-air observation car and special local entertainment as your adventure unfolds.

All cabins are fully air-conditioned with an en suite shower, washbasin and WC and feature large picture windows for an excellent view of the passing scenery. Facilities include 24-hour steward service, a personal safe and hairdryer. Chefs on board the Eastern & Oriental Express are internationally renowned for their ability to create a tantalising variety of Eastern and European dishes, using the finest fresh seasonal ingredients. Lunch and dinner are served in the two Restaurant Cars, each lavishly decorated with rosewood and elm panelling. Each morning a breakfast of freshly baked croissants, coffee or tea, juice and fruit is delivered to your compartment. At the end of your day relax and socialise with your fellow passengers in the Bar Car and listen to the sounds of the piano from the resident pianist. The train also features an observation car with an outdoor observation area offering unobstructed views.

rocky pitons emerge from turquoise blue waters, engulfed by mountains and mysterious caverns with magical names.

The optional excursions today offer the chance to either cruise through the waters and amongst the caves, grottoes and sandy beaches in a local junk whilst the more active can use a kayak.

Day 7 - At sea. Relax onboard, sit out on deck as we sail down the Vietnamese coast.

Day 8 - Da Nang. At the mouth of the Han River on the South China Sea, the port of Da Nang is our way in to visit the lovely town of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Cradled by the tranquil waters of the Thu Bon river, Hoi An appears to be asleep, standing still in time. The low-ceilinged houses with their faded coloured facades have an outdated charm which nothing seems to disturb.

Day 9 - At sea. Enjoy another day to relax onboard and enjoy the luxurious surroundings of L’Austral.

Day 10 - Nha Trang. It is impossible to resist the white sandy beaches, deserted islands and rolling, verdant mountains of Nha Trang. You will be charmed by the colonial district and today’s optional excursion will take you to the Po Nagar Cham Towers built between the 7th and 12th centuries.

Day 11 Ho Chi Minh City. Sail along the Saigon River arriving in Ho Chi Minh City in the late morning. Founded in the 18th century and formerly known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City started as a small commercial port in the Kymer Kingdom.

Today, Ho Chi Minh City is a thriving metropolis and you will have the chance for independent exploration or join

one of the optional excursions to either explore the city or take a journey to Cai Be in the heart of the Mekong Delta.

Day 12 - Saigon River. Depart Ho Chi Minh City this morning as we sail along the Saigon River and towards Singapore.

Day 13 - At sea.

Day 14 - Singapore. Disembark in Singapore after breakfast and enjoy a city tour and local lunch before transferring to Woodland railway station to embark the Eastern and Oriental Express and depart in the late afternoon. Enjoy the passing scenery as the train crosses to Malaysia via the causeway of the Straits of Johor. During the evening, the train pauses at Kuala Lumpur’s magnificent Moorish-style station where you may disembark for a stroll.

Day 15 - Penang. At the mainland station, disembark for the crossing to Penang and a guided introductory tour of historic Georgetown. Return to the train for lunch and as the train crosses into Thailand spend the afternoon watching the changing scenery.

Day 16 - River Kwai & Bangkok. After breakfast arrive at the River Kwai Bridge station and take a short walk down to the jetty to board a local craft for a cruise along the lush greenery of the picturesque Kwai Yai river, passing under the Bridge. Onboard, a local historian provides a brief overview of the history of the Thailand-Burma railway and the bridge. Return to the train for lunch and depart for Bangkok where we arrive in the late afternoon and transfer to our five star hotel for an overnight stay.

Day 17 - Bangkok to London. After breakfast transfer to the airport for our return scheduled flight to London.

Prices & Inclusions Special offer prices per person start from £6795 for superior stateroom aboard L’Austral and a pullman cabin aboard the Eastern and Oriental Express.

Price Includes: Economy class scheduled air travel, overnight hotel accommodation in Hong Kong and Bangkok on bed and breakfast basis, 11 nights aboard L’Austral on a full board basis with house wine with lunch and dinner onboard, two night’s accommodation aboard the Eastern and Oriental Express Private Train on full board basis including excursions, gratuities onboard L’Austral, transfers, port taxes, airport taxes.

Not Included: Travel Insurance, visas, shore excursions during cruise, gratuities onboard the Eastern and Oriental Express.

NB. Ports and itinerary subject to change. All special offers are subject to availability. Our current booking conditions apply to all reservations and are available on request.

Call us today on 020 7752 0000 for your copy of our brochure.

Alternatively view or request online at www.noble-caledonia.co.uk

UltraBrazil

Continued from page 39

HARRY BRANTLY

Co-founder, Frescobal Carioca beachwear WHERE TO STAY Pousada Estrela

dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ă gua (estreladagua.com.br) in Trancoso 5, Bahia, is a small, relaxed inn with a sand-floored reception, white hammocks in thick vegetation, light, bright rooms and loungers set on a sandy bank above the beach.

WHERE TO EAT On Ilha do AlgodĂŁo, in the Paraty 8

archipelago south of Rio, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a place called Hiltinho. You can only get there by boat, so they send a dinghy to pick you up; then itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a short steep climb up a rocky path to the restaurant, which overlooks a bay filled with traineras, old traditional fishing boats. Everyone gets there in summer for a 4pm late lunch and starts with a caipirinha de maracujĂĄ, made with passion fruit. The dish to order is the moqueca mixta: white fish pieces, mussels, squid and prawns, all cooked in palm oil in a black clay pan, which arrives bubbling hot at the table.

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T MISS Ilha Grande 20, in the Angra dos Reis

collection of islands, two hours south of Rio. It has great fish restaurants and parties so cool even the Paulistas (SĂŁo Paulo locals) will fly in for them.

Blue notes Clockwise from above: looking out from the Ponta dos Ganchos hotel; the barman at the Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa; Inhotim gallery and botanical garden; Casa Turquesa in Paraty; and Fernando de Noronha, off the north-east coast

Another must-see is Inhotim (inhotim.org.br), in the state of Minas Gerais, a cross between a botanical garden and a contemporary gallery. There are works

by Brazilian artists such as HĂŠlio Oiticica and Adriana VarejĂŁo, and by my favourites, Doug Aitken and Simon Starling. Sonic Pavilion by Doug Aitken is a room with a borehole that echoes the sounds of the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core, while The Mahogany Pavilion by Simon Starling houses an upside-down sailing boat made in Scotland from Brazilian mahogany which has travelled back across the Atlantic.

NATALIE KLEIN,

Owner, NK Store WHERE TO STAY The Botanique

Hotel (botanique.com.br) in Campos do Jordão 21, São Paulo state, has only six rooms and 11 bungalows, all filled with the best of Brazil, from the furniture and art pieces to the wine and coffee. The spa is amazing; the 400 titles in the library were chosen by the literary critic Cassiano Elek Machado; the artworks were made by Ricardo Trevisan from Casa Triângulo, one of the best galleries in São Paulo; and the gastronomic research was led by the chef Gabriel Broide, a former co-owner of the restaurant Dois, famous for its expeditions through the region to collect the best flavours available.

WHERE TO EAT Los Negros (losnegros-

jacaretrancoso.com), owned by the chef Francis Mallmann, is the best place in Trancoso 5 for dinner.

My favourite dish is the seared tuna with ratatouille, although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth leaving room for the dulce de leche crĂŞpe.

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T MISS SĂŁo Paulo 6. If I had a day there, I would

go for a walk in Ibirapuera Park, have a natural juice GILES BENSIMON/TRUNK ARCHIVE; GETTY

at PĂŠ no Parque (penoparque.com.br), go to the flea market in Bixiga, have lunch at the Museum of Modern Art (mam.org.br), then visit the Pinacoteca (pinacoteca.org.br), a museum housed in one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most beautiful buildings, full of local art. I would then go to the top of the Banespa Building, with its 360-degree views, and have a drink at Terraço ItĂĄlia (terracoitalia.com.br), next door, which is equally impressive and known for its fantastic jazz nights.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S A SHORT CLIMB UP A ROCKY PATH TO THE RESTAURANT, WHICH OVERLOOKS A BAY FILLED WITH TRADITIONAL FISHING BOATS. LUNCH STARTS AT 4PM WITH A CAIPIRINHAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

ADRIANA DEGREAS,

Swimwear designer

WHERE TO STAY The Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa (uxua.com), in the beach

resort of Trancoso 5, is one of the most charming places in Brazil. It has typical Bahia decor, spoiling service, individually decorated rooms and a great restaurant. I love the swimming pool of natural green stones, the spa, and the beach club thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perfect for relaxing at the end of the day.

WHERE TO EAT Brasil a Gosto, in the Jardins district, because it is the only restaurant in

São Paulo 6 that feels calming and peaceful. The chef, Ana Luiza Trajano, travels around constantly to find ingredients typical of our country. Among the other treats are her caipirinha cocktails, blending fruit juices and the remnants of a huge cellar filled with cachaças, potent sugarcane spirits.

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T MISS The Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses19, on the coast of

MaranhĂŁo, which has an incredible 45 miles of coastline and occupies 600 sq miles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an area larger than SĂŁo Paulo. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a vast expanse of pure white sand dunes, punctuated by lakes of warm, vivid blue waters which are great for fishing. Relaxed, charming and natural, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the perfect place to chill.

Interviews by Lisa Grainger

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Pulling power The SkikjĂśring race, one of a series of equine events that attract 35,000 spectators to the White Turf snow spectacular held in St Moritz each February

HORSE RACING Switzerland THE ADVENTURE In St Moritz, the most thrilling action isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

swaddling themselves in sleeping bag-sized pelts and ensuring

found on the ski slopes but in the valley below. The Lake of St

that a restorative glass of champagne is always to hand.

Moritz turns to ice each winter and its surface provides the setting

WHEN TO GO White Turf takes place on February 9, 16 and 23.

for winter-sports events. The most daring are the White Turf races

THE ACCOMMODATION The grand and traditional Kulm Hotel

each February, in which jockeys and horses dart along the track at

St Moritz (0041 81 836 80 00; kulm.com), is well placed for the

dizzying speed. The crunch of compacted snow as they approach,

action. Our lake-facing room overlooked the track with a jagged

and the spray of crushed ice slicing the air as they gallop past, add

sweep of mountains behind. During White Turf, double rooms start

a jolt of excitement to this unconventional day at the races.

at ÂŁ670 a night, half-board, based on a seven-night minimum stay.

The SkikjĂśring race tests the courage of the most competitive

THE DETAILS Official website: whiteturf.ch. To reach St Moritz, fly

racers, who grip harnesses tethered to horses and are dragged

to Zurich and complete the journey by train. Swiss (swiss.com)

along on skis. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a risky display of bravado, with the danger of

flies to Zurich from London City, Heathrow, Birmingham and

participants being trampled never far from a spectatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind.

Manchester with fares from ÂŁ129 return. The Swiss Travel System

HOW TO DO IT Unless you are a professional jockey, White Turf

(swisstravelsystem.co.uk) offers a Swiss Transfer Ticket covering

can be enjoyed only as a spectator. Around 35,000 people turn up

a round-trip between the airport/Swiss border and the destination.

to watch. Seasoned visitors prepare for a day on the ice by

The price is ÂŁ149 in first class, ÂŁ92 in second. John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ceallaigh

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OFFPISTE

Skiing is not the only sport where the cold mountain air, the crunch of snow and the beauty of white peaks add a certain frisson. From dog sledding in the Alps and boat skiing in Norway to driving a Bentley on a frozen lake, our writers test ďŹ ve snow adventures to set the pulse racing

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OFF PISTE

VIDEO

ICE DRIVING Finland THE ADVENTURE Power on Ice is an exhilarating

dealer. Prices start at €10,840 (£9,175) per person

the slide, and power gracefully through bends on

chance to drive swish Bentley Continentals to –

and participants must make their own way to

tracks that become more challenging, as

and beyond – the limits on frozen lakes in northern

Helsinki airport – armed with thermals to withstand

confidence levels rise. Tractors are on hand to

Finland, on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Just once

temperatures that drop to -20C, worn under Team

rescue cars from deep snow-drifts and the key to

a year, when conditions are perfect, motoring

Bentley ice jackets issued on arrival. Guests are

success, say the instructors, is having fun.

enthusiasts can try their hand at controlling

greeted by Bentley staff and transferred by private

WHEN TO GO Eight ice-driving courses are run

powerful 200mph rear-wheel-drive cars in the most

plane and four-wheel drive to their accommodation

during February and March.

slippery conditions known to man, as the lakes

at the exclusive ski resort of Kuusamo.

THE ACCOMMODATION Five-star hotel

freeze to a depth of about 2ft. Extreme driving

The action starts with a safety briefing in a cosy,

Finnish line Bentley Continentals (centre and bottom right) are the car of choice for drivers mastering the art of sliding sideways through bends on a frozen lake (top).

Bottom left: Chalet Ruka Peak

bedrooms and lavishly appointed chalets are

instructors – world-class competition experts, led

remote log cabin on the freezing shores of Lake

the order of the day at the mountainside boutique

by four-times world rally champion Juha

Ahvenlahti, about 12 miles west of Kuusamo. With

hotel Chalet Ruka Peak (00358 8 868 4100;

Kankkunen – demonstrate what can be done

its blazing log fire, reindeer rugs and intimate dining

rukapeak.fi), where guests can also enjoy the

with the required skill, daring and miles of

area complete with waiters, this is where

finest Finnish cuisine.

specially prepared tracks. Participants then take

candidates are initiated into the secrets of driving

THE DETAILS There are 18 driving places per

the wheel for two days of sideways drama with

Bentleys sideways on ice. “Almost everyone can

group; the package includes three nights’

an instructor sitting next to them.

learn how,” says the chief instructor, “but nobody

accommodation, all meals and air

HOW TO DO IT Perfecting the art of sliding

goes on to the ice without me or one of my

transfer. Activities include a night-time husky

a three-ton, 600-brake-horsepower car through

colleagues; it’s dangerous.” Lecture over,

sled safari, a traditional Finnish smoke sauna,

a series of bends at speed begins by contacting

candidates gingerly negotiate the learner course

snowmobiling and dinner at a reindeer farm.

Bentley through its website (below) or via a local

until the cars begin to slide. The trick is to “catch”

events.bentleymotors.com. David Williams

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BOAT SKIING Norway THE ADVENTURE Most visitors to the Norwegian fjords arrive in summer by cruise ship, alighting now and then on the shore for a tour or a hike. During northern Norway’s wintry spring, however, when snow lies down to sea level, the way to explore is by expedition yacht, laden with all the requisites for a ski touring adventure. Each day the yacht, with a small party of experienced, energetic skiers, a mountain guide and a skipper on board, sails to wherever conditions are best, hundreds of miles from the nearest ski lifts and with barely a hamlet in sight. Then it’s simply a case of gliding to shore on a Rib and heading uphill behind the guide.

Touring skis are fitted with acrylic “skins” that prevent the ski sliding backwards when going uphill, and the technique is easy to master.

Summits are 900m to 1,200m (3,000ft to 4,000ft) and ascents take up to four hours – but it’s worth it to be the only humans sharing the mountain with white ptarmigan, hares and raptors, and to survey the slate-grey water from high above, the boat a mere speck in a bay. Sometimes there is fresh powder all the way down, too.

HOW TO DO IT Prepare for boat skiing by learning or practising off-piste skiing: often the downhill is trickier than the uphill. Of course, it is vital to enjoy the uphill too, so try a couple of day tours during your regular ski holiday: the Monte Rosa region in Italy, Obergurgl in Austria and Val d’Isère in France are well set up for day tours through the ski school or guides’ office and there is equipment to rent. Get fit: ski touring is for all ages, shapes and sizes but it’s a lot easier if you have a little strength, stamina and puff. That said, boat skiing is arguably less physically demanding than “hut-to-hut” touring because skiers only need to carry in their rucksacks what they need each day – everything else stays on the boat.

Yachts take ski-tourers to several districts in Norway. Most popular is Lyngen, in the far north (nearest airport Tromso), where some routes take in islands as well as coast. Farther south, near Bodo, the coast of Steigen and the Lofoten islands are far less “trodden”: I saw no other parties – indeed, no other human – during a week of mountain forays there.

WHEN TO GO Boat skiing is best between late February and late April. Day tours in the Alps are possible all winter.

THE ACCOMMODATION In Steigen, the boat to opt for is Lille Polaris, a 44ft expedition yacht built to withstand icebergs and with hot showers, two lavatories, comfy cabins, plenty of drying space,

OFF PISTE

outstanding food and a convivial Norwegian skipper. Boats of similar quality are available in Lofoten and Lyngen.

THE DETAILS Zuba Ski (zubaski.com) arranges tailor-made boat skiing trips to all three areas of Norway from £2,000 per week, full-board, excluding flights. Yolanda Carslaw

THE ADVENTURE There are more

aboveitallballoon.com) operates from

writer Hunter SThompson, who made

strenuous winter adventures to be

Aspen-Snowmass, at the heart of the

the hotel’s famous J-Bar his “office”.

had in Aspen, Colorado, but none is as

Colorado Rockies. Flights cost $295

WHEN TO GO The Above It All

peaceful and sublimely beautiful as

(£180) per person, booked directly or

Balloon Company flies once daily,

a flight above the mountains in a hot-

as part of a package (see below). The

summer and winter, but flights are

air balloon. Dawn is the faintest glow

balloons can accommodate two to

weather-dependent and can be

above the rim of snow-covered peaks

16 people. Flights last around an hour

cancelled at short notice, up to and

as you clamber into the basket and

and conclude with a champagne

including the morning of departure.

are lifted gently above the pines to

breakfast. Longer and tailor-made

All flights leave at dawn, following

drift skywards on the faintest whisper

private flights can also be arranged.

a free hotel pick-up, when winds

of wind. As the sun rises, so does the

THE ACCOMMODATION The Hotel

are at their most manageable

balloon, climbing into the icy air as

Jerome (001 970 920 1000;

for ballooning.

one of the finest panoramas in North

hoteljerome.aubergeresorts.com;

THE DETAILS Scott Dunn (020 8682

America unfolds on all sides. Silence

doubles from £165) in Aspen provides

5050; scottdunn.com) offers seven

reigns as you gaze at line upon line of

the perfect base for ballooning and

nights’ b&b at the Hotel Jerome from

mountains and a vast, snow-covered

a host of other winter activities. Built

£2,535 person, including return flight

wilderness that stretches to the

in 1888, and recently reopened after

with BA, private transfers and a

horizon, dappled with forest and

a sensitive multi-million-pound

balloon trip. The company can arrange

dawn shadow, and etched a dazzling

overhaul, the handsome building –

ski, board and other activities and

white against the immense blue sky.

a National Historic Monument – has

excursions. For further information on

HOW TO DO IT The Above It All

been a favourite of visitors and

winter adventures in the region, see

Balloon Company (001 970 963 6148;

residents over the years, not least the

aspensnowmass.com. Tim Jepson

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METTLER/SWISS-IMAGE; 4CORNERS; REUTERS; CLOTILDE RICHALET.

HOT-AIR BALLOONING United States

Wind power Ballooning over the Rocky Mountains (top). Boat skiers high above the slate-grey water where Lille Polaris (bottom) is moored

Elegance is an attitude Kate Winslet

One New Change, London The Grande Arcade, Cambridge Trafford Centre, Manchester Argyll Arcade, Glasgow

Longines DolceVita

OFF PISTE

VIDEO

DOG SLEDDING France THE ADVENTURE La Grande Odyssée is an arduous 470-mile dog-sled race up and over the snowy slopes of the Savoie MontBlanc region between France and Switzerland. The 11-day event attracts an international mix of more than 20 dog sledders, know as “mushers”, who compete for a prize purse of $100,000 (£62,000).

Organised along the same lines as the Tour de France, the competition features day races with mass starts, individual time trials and even random drug testing – for dogs as well as drivers. It’s a dramatic journey that tests the dog teams as they climb a total altitude of 28,000m (92,000ft) at temperatures as low as -22C. HOW TO DO IT To appreciate the skill and strength of the racers, you can try your hand with a team of 14 Siberian huskies on an hour-long solo ride through the Haute Savoie, booked through your hotel (see below). It is exhausting, exhilarating and the most thrilling way to travel through a snowy forest. Just remember that the dogs are French speakers, so it is “Allez, allez!”, not “Mush, mush!”

Spectators don’t have to endure the same extreme conditions because the race route passes through 24 ski resorts. One of the best places to watch is Megève, where the howl of the dogs and the whoosh of the sleds bring an earthy excitement to the upmarket ski town. Situated roughly halfway along the route, Megéve is the only resort where you can witness a night trial, plus the start and finish of a day race. For the best close-up views, head to the morning start at the town’s aerodrome. Position yourself at the first bend at the end of the starting slope and enjoy the drama of the mushers manoeuvring 14 dogs at full speed.

WHEN TO GO Next year’s Odyssée, which marks the 10th anniversary of the great race, runs from January 11-22, arriving in Megève on January 16 for an evening time trial over a distance of 7km (roughly 4.5 miles).

THE ACCOMMODATION The historic Hôtel Mont-Blanc (033 4 5021 2002; hotelmontblanc.com) in the centre of Megève provides a convenient and sophisticated base for enjoying the race; doubles from €290 (£243). Les Fermes de Marie (0033 4 5093 0310; fermesdemarie.com), built around a cluster of original alpine chalets on the outskirts of town, offers a more family-friendly option; doubles from €290. Both hotels can arrange dog-sleigh experiences and transfers to the race.

THE DETAILS Official race website: grandeodyssee.com.

To enjoy a thrilling aerial view of the course from a Cessna snow plane, see aerocime.com. Johnny Morris

Allez, allez! Teams of 20 Siberian huskies (inset) are ushered by mushers over the snowy slopes of the Haute-Savoie (above)

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ONPISTE

I

meet her every winter at the airport – the ubiquitous woman in the spaghetti-strap top and flip-flops. And every year we part company when the departure gates are called, she heading to some far-flung beach, I to the snow-clad mountains.

But this year her straw hat rested gently on my ski helmet in the intimacy of the aircraft’s overhead compartment as we flew together to Malaga, in southern Spain. It was only there that we went our separate ways for, strange as it may seem, the beaches of the Costa del Sol are just two hours from the ski resort in the second-highest mountain range in western Europe – the Sierra Nevada.

Given that we were further south than some parts of Tunisia, just how much snow could there be? Rather too much, in fact. On the pass up from Granada we were turned back by the Guardia Civil as our car didn’t have winter tyres. So we ended up briefly stranded in a small hostel in the olive groves, drinking local rioja until an enormous four-wheel-drive coupé from El Lodge came to our rescue.

El Lodge is a remarkable retreat that stands out in a resort that is a pleasant mix of whitewashed buildings with wooden balconies, modern hotels and apartments, and snow-laden trees. It is a four-storey Finnish log cabin jutting on to the piste, and if the hotel looks fit for a king, that’s not far from the truth.

Originally intended as a private residence for Juan Carlos I in the Seventies, it was bought and reopened last season by the owner of the Marbella Club, the Mediterranean resort made famous by Sean Connery and Elizabeth Taylor, among others.

And the taste of the sea was not far away when we dined in its restaurant on caviar, scallops and lobster, albeit under lights decorated with reindeer antlers and ibex horns made of resin. Creaking up the

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COSTA DEL SKI Just two hours’ drive from the sandy shores of Andalusia are the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Time to pack some skis along with the beach towel, says Colin Nicholson

Sunshine on ice At the highest skiable point in the Sierra Nevada, far left and above, you can see the sea; mogul skier Sam Hall of Australia, left, a qualifier in the 2013 FIS Freestyle World Cup, held in Andalusia; and the pool at El Lodge, bottom

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SKI AND SUN RESORTS Mount Etna, Italy Sicily’s famous volcano has two small ski resorts, Piano Provenzana (with one piste) and Rifugio Sapienza (five pistes).

Both are 90 minutes’ drive from the seaside resort of Taormina.

The best months to ski there are January and February.

The Cedars, Lebanon Beirut, with its Mediterranean beaches, is a two-hour drive from this, the best known of the six ski resorts in the Mt Lebanon range and a f avourite of the architect Zaha Hadid (see page 74). Its 2,000m elevation means the season is relatively long here: mid-November to late April.

Serra da Estrela, Portugal Three hours’ drive from sunny Lisbon is this ski resort, with nine pistes. It’s very good for learners and intermediates. February is

SUPERSTOCK; HEMIS.FR; CAMERA PRESS

usually the best month for snow.

Southerly slopes Clockwise from top left: the Sierra Nevada resort; taking a lift; MC Grill restaurant at El Lodge; and the sun deck and bar with views

stairs, we found the mountain-safari theme continued in the 16 rooms and four suites. Chests of drawers had been created from travel trunks, and cow hides covered the bed, where – at 2,100m (7,000ft) – our day’s journey through olive groves, then blizzards, metamorphosed into a night of crazy dreams.

Skiing straight from the lodge on to the slopes the next morning, we were blissfully unaware that the convivial chaos of the previous day had not stopped when we woke.

Drivers searched for their cars in giant snow-drifts and queues for the gondolas looped around the main square.

We found a short cut to one of the two main gondolas out of the principal village of Pradollano. In half an hour we were on the roof of the world.

There are no trees above the village and a constantly gyrating radio telescope scouring the skies added to the lunar feel. But looking down the even slopes back to Earth, we could make out Granada in a huge swathe of Andalusia stretching north before us.

In the Alps, such carefully groomed slopes would have turned into motorways for fast, frenetic skiers. But here our nervous fellow skiers lacked that competitive drive.

So, unintimidated, we enjoyed some leisurely runs, before reckoning that a sun-drenched lunch was in order while we waited for the queues to subside.

Back at the lodge, we tucked into breasts of duck and shanks of lamb on the sun deck, and basked in the warmth to the sound of Iberian beats. By the time we had finished, the queues had gone down, so we took the gondola to the mid-station of Borreguiles, where we had a choice of lifts fanning out across the valley. We headed to where the pistes drop down into the Valle de San Juan.

Here I could ski, unguided, through the plentiful light, dry powder that is typical of the Sierra Nevada, while my partner could ski along the red runs beside me.

We toasted our exploits with sundowners back on the lodge’s terrace, as we watched the pistes glow orange, and our hands felt as frozen as the mojitos we were clutching.

WE ENJOYED SOME LEISURELY RUNS BEFORE DECIDING A SUN-DRENCHED LUNCH WAS IN ORDER Later, we warmed up in the lodge’s pool, sauna and steam room before dinner, and vowed to start early the next day.

We had only scratched the surface of the Sierra Nevada’s 65 miles of pistes.

It was another blue-sky day, with plenty of snow.

Another, more subtle, sign told of our luck with the weather. The highest huts all wore a shock of white beard with long icicles standing perpendicular to the walls. This means only one thing – intense wind. Indeed, on the day

we arrived we were told that only one of the 19 principal lifts had been open for this reason.

For our part, we enjoyed the glacial colours of windblown ice sheets in the Laguna de las Yeguas, the area over the ridge from the observatory, which, to our delight, had opened that afternoon. This is irresistible to off-piste skiers because, in a resort populated by intermediate skiers, the powder is relatively untouched.

Only one thing was missing. I had been told that from the highest skiable point at 3,300m (11,000ft) you could see the sea. But with the lifts about to close, all we had seen to the south was a cauldron of bubbling cloud.

My legs were dead, yet we pushed ourselves to make the lift one last time. And at the top, we saw in the distance a curious light, its twinkle strangely familiar, yet out of place. The mist suddenly parted to reveal the shining, shimmering Mediterranean, where the woman in the spaghetti-strap top was doubtless sunbathing.

HOW TO DO IT GETTING THERE

two nights at the Marbella Club

Luxury Hotels of the World

WHERE TO EAT

British Airways (0844 493 0787;

from €910 (£770) per person,

(0800 048 2314; slh.com) offers

MC Grill

ba.com) offers return flights to

based on two sharing and

a seven-night package to El

Despite its name, the restaurant

Malaga from £78 in economy,

including breakfast, use of the

Lodge from €2,135 per person,

at El Lodge serves excellent

departing London Gatwick, and

golf course (handicap required)

including breakfast, but not

fresh seafood, not just meat.

from £476 flying Club Europe

and one transfer between the

flights or transfers.

Calle Maribel 8, Monachil

from London City. The return

two properties, but not flights

RESORT COSTS

(958 480600; ellodge.com).

fare with easyJet (0843 104

and other transfers. Small

A six-day lift pass costs from

Ruta del Veleta

5000; easyjet.com) starts at

€212 (£183). See sierranevada.

Fine dining in the nouvelle

£93. Argus (0800 088 5548;

es. Skiset (sierra-nevada.skiset.

cuisine tradition. Edificio

arguscarhire.com) offers seven

co.uk) offers six days’ ski and

Bulgaria, Calle Pradollano (958

days’ car hire from about £25.

boot hire from €67.42. The

481201; rutadelveleta.com).

WHERE TO STAY

British Ski Center (958 481049;

Casablanca

The Marbella Club (0034 952

britishskicenter.com) offers

Wood-lined bar-cum-restaurant

822211; marbellaclub.com)

individual lessons from €38.54

known for its fine-quality

offers a Ski and Sun package

per hour and group lessons

meat. Edificio Impala, Plaza

with two nights at El Lodge and

from €145 per person.

Pradollano (958 480830).

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OUR NEW LUXURY TRAVEL SITE

N

ovember 2004 marked the launch of Ultratravel and, in the nine years since, the tenets of the publication have remained the same: to provide

you, the reader, with the quintessential guide to the world’s best travel experiences. But where, when and how people find out about these experiences has changed. For that reason, the Telegraph has launched a new Luxury Travel section, telegraph.co.uk/luxurytravel – across all platforms,

from tablet to mobile – to ensure that readers of Ultratravel remain informed and inspired throughout the year. You can expect to find the same evocative features that are a signature of the print magazine, often with additional video footage and imagery, as well as the latest news, reviews of the best hotels and suites, profiles of the tastemakers who determine how we see the world, and interviews with experts on culture, dining, design and more.

Among the site’s regular contributors is the travel journalist Claire Wrathall, providing weekly dispatches on the latest developments in the field.

The Luxury Travel section is showcased within the Telegraph’s newly launched Luxury portal, telegraph.co.uk/luxury, while the Telegraph’s multi-award-winning travel section continues to offer extensive, expert-led content at telegraph.co.uk/travel. I hope this new platform will provide the inspiration that leads you to incredible experiences and indelible memories.

John O’Ceallaigh telegraph.co.uk’s Luxury Travel editor @johnoceallaigh; @TeleLuxTravel

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JAMAICA

SAINT LUCIA

ANTIGUA

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BARBADOS

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MORE QUALITY INCLUSIONS THAN ANY OTHER RESORTS ON THE PL ANET Check yourself into the Jewel of the Caribbean, and you won’t be disappointed. Complete with a 29,000 sq. ft. Red Lane® Spa*, which can only be described as a sanctuary for mind, body and soul offering classic European spa rituals with the truly distinct essence of the Caribbean. Wrap this with sumptuous Suites, some with Personal Butler service, land and water sports such as an 18-hole Greg Norman-designed championship golf course^ and complimentary, unlimited scuba diving for certified divers. At Sandals Emerald Bay you will also be treated to a stunning beach as well as nine gourmet dining options so you can enjoy a variety of delicious cuisine during your stay. If you are looking for the ultimate escape, where you can combine a world-class golf course featuring six signature holes edging the coast and an exceptional spa, as well as all the dining and suite options Sandals Resorts are renowned for, then look no further. We even include tips & taxes for you. As we like to say…

Love is all you need, the rest is Luxury Included®.

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Call 0800 742 742 | Visit sandals.co.uk See your local travel agent

*Spa treatments at cost. ^Green fees and golf caddies payable locally.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID CROOKES

RICH MAN’S GAME

Western tycoons are turning vast tracts of land in Africa into opulent wilderness retreats devoted to conservation. It’s a controversial practice, but it may be the last chance left for struggling wildlife. Lisa Grainger visits three new camps in Kenya and Tanzania

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Big country Giraffe on the plains near Segera, below. Above, from left, Segeraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homely interior; a woman from the local community; an artwork by Walter Oltmann; meals are all locally sourced from Laikipia farms

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AWAKEN YOUR SIXTH SENSE. Beyond your imagination. Beyond your expectations. Beyond the ordinary.

Peak 6 is opening the door to a whole new realm this year with 543 brand new acres of terrain at Breck.

For an exclusive sneak preview video of Peak 6, visit BR ECKENR IDGE.COM/ULTR ATR AVEL.

INAUGU R A L SE A SON 2013-14

I

t is 6am, and in the dawn light an archetypal Kenyan scene is unfolding before my villa. In the dry acacia-thorn savannah, three buffalo graze by a stream. A pair of ďŹ nger-sized emerald sunbirds ďŹ&#x201A;it between cactus blooms. And in the distance, against the backdrop of a cloud-covered Mount Kenya, the silhouettes of giraffe break the horizon. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the East Africa Hemingway loved: a wild expanse of dry plains and vast skies, with a scattering of animals between.

Behind my villa, though, the scene is anything but archetypal. I am staying at Segera: the wilderness home of Jochen Zeitz, the former CEO of Puma, who seven years ago bought a 50,000-acre cattle ranch and turned it into a private bush home, with six villas for paying guests who wanted to join him.

Although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the middle of Laikipiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wildlife-rich plains, Segera could not be described as a bush lodge. Its double-storey stilted wooden villas are furnished in modern colonial style: an elegant mix of antique gramophones and low linen sofas, grand silver buckets and recycled-glass chandeliers. The 10-acre garden, protected from the wilderness by a thick cactus hedge, is landscaped with exotic cacti, goldďŹ sh ponds and an azure swimming pool. And beside the paths, on garden plinths, and in the stalls of converted stables is the biggest collection of contemporary African art on the continent.

The art is here, Zeitz says, because â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have seen it all over the globe and wanted to bring it back to Africa, to help put African art on the mapâ&#x20AC;?. By â&#x20AC;&#x153;artâ&#x20AC;?, he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean the sorts of masks and baskets often displayed in safari camps, but paintings by Chris OďŹ li, football pitchsized installations by Strijdom van der Merwe, and prints

by Owusu-Ankomah. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s serious stuff, making Segera the closest thing Kenya has to an African Tate Modern.

When I ďŹ rst arrive at Segera â&#x20AC;&#x201C; having spent a night in Nairobi, where there was no sign of tourism having been disrupted by the airport ďŹ re or the Westgate atrocity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not entirely convinced by this strange beast of a place: part home, part gallery, part cattle ranch. It feels slightly incongruous stepping out into the heart of East Africa, after a dusty two-hour drive from Nanyuki, past the grim roadside â&#x20AC;&#x153;69 Paradise Hotelâ&#x20AC;? and ramshackle â&#x20AC;&#x153;Drunked Teacherâ&#x20AC;? bottle store, to ďŹ nd a two-storey, solar-cooled wine tower stocked with South African wines and French champagnes, a hangar housing a sunďŹ&#x201A;ower-yellow plane, and a garden peppered with African art.

But then, I soon appreciate, having spent a couple of days with Segeraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manager, Jens Kozany, who previously oversaw North Island in the Seychelles, Segera is not a camp but a home, not a Big Five destination but a wilderness retreat. More than that, it is a statement from Zeitz that tourism can be done in a different way.

He is clearly a man on a mission. In 2009 he founded the Long Run, an organisation that grades tourism in

VIDEO Animal magic Clockwise from left: Jochen Zeitz, owner of Segera, with the retreatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camels, which guests can ride; Segeraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paddock House living area; Satubo Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beading Project; the luxury spa; a family of elephant

relation to conservation, culture, commerce and community (what he calls the 4Cs). He is on the board of Wilderness Safaris and, with Richard Branson, set up the B Team, a group of business leaders who engage with sustainability issues. He also has an extensive network of connections to call on â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it was he who persuaded Dame Vivienne Westwood to sponsor the neighbouring Uaso Nyiro Primary School. But can he make Segera work as a tourism-cum-community venture? â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we bring together the right people, communities can ďŹ&#x201A;ourish and wildlife can survive alongside them,â&#x20AC;? he tells me, over dinner. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But that means everyone has to be on board. Unless the local community signs up, wildlife wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t survive. And without wildlife, no one will visit. Real success will only happen if all 4Cs are linked.â&#x20AC;?

Although there is a great deal of wildlife in Laikipia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it has the second highest density of game in Kenya after the Maasai Mara â&#x20AC;&#x201C; most visitors to Segera donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come to see animals. They use it as a bush home: a place where they can work out, have massages, lounge around the saltwater pool, and relax with a view of Mount Kenya.

Others, such as I, slightly wary of being over-cosseted

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in this uber-comfortable bubble, opt to go out and meet the people whose lives this venture might affect. With local guide Omanda Jackson Etoot, I buy bracelets from a womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beading group whose products the Zeitz Foundation (an umbrella organisation for Zeitzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projects) helps to market, and visit a primary school it helped to build. I talk to local herdsmen who are allowed to bring 2,000 cattle a year on to the property to graze, and former Maasai warriors now employed as anti-poaching wardens.

Most interesting of all, I go walking with the propertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manager, Mark Jenkins, the renowned Kenyan conservationist mauled as a child by one of George Adamsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lions, who understands more clearly than most why properties like Segera need to exist. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realise is that an elephant is now being killed every 20 minutes in Africa,â&#x20AC;? he whispers, as we warily watch a skittish herd browsing 50ft in front of us. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The days of national parks that were fenced pristine wildernesses are over; the pressure of people around them is too great. There probably isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an elephant in this group that hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been shot at in the past month in the surrounding community areas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This can only change if we can give communities jobs, educate them, and work with them. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only way.

Unless they beneďŹ t from wildlife and want to protect it, in 30 years we wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have anything left.â&#x20AC;?

Home comforts Singita Serengeti House in Grumeti Reserves, above; Alfred Ngwarai, its revered guide; and Mara River Tented Camp, below right

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hile the privatisation of great tracts of wilderness such as Segera might be abhorrent to many â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a sign to some Africans of a new wave of colonialism, and proof to others that the rich can have whatever they want â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in wildlife circles it is seen as one of the more expedient ways to prevent the extinction of our planetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wildlife.

All over the continent, families that once hunted, and wealthy businessmen such as Zeitz, are investing their wealth in wildlife. In South Africa, the Getty family has turned 23,000 hectares of KwaZulu-Natal into the Phinda Private Game Reserve, and the Oppenheimer family has set aside 100,000 hectares of Kalahari desert as the Tswalu Reserve. In Kenya, the Wildenstein family, known for its art dealing, has turned its 53,000-acre private home, Ol Jogi Ranch, into a conservation retreat. In Mozambique, the voicemail millionaire Greg Carr is helping to repopulate with wildlife the Gorongosa National Park.

High-tech billionaire Mark Shuttleworth is investing millions in Bom Bom Island, off the coast of SĂŁo TomĂŠ.

And in Tanzania, the billionaire Wall Street trader Paul Tudor Jones has leased 350,000 acres of former hunting concession to create his Grumeti Reserves â&#x20AC;&#x201C; my second port of call in a 10-day East African journey.

When Tudor Jones opened Grumeti to paying guests 10 years ago, he had just one place for them to stay. Today, he has six, the latest being Singita Serengeti House. That the house is beautiful should come as little surprise, given Tudor Jonesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealth and connections (visitors have included Oprah Winfrey, George Bush and, last year, a honeymooning Justin Timberlake). What is a surprise is that its interiors are so tastefully understated, decorated with sculptural furniture covered in cream cottons and tan linens, tables of wood and rattan, Picasso-esque African paintings and bleached-wood masks. Equally pleasing is the provision of a private chef, butler, and staff to administer gin-and-tonics, together with a game guide, Alfred Ngwarai, with whom to explore this wilderness.

The Zimbabwean guide is so respected that he guides the Tudor Jones family and other wealthy Americans not only in Tanzania, but all over Africa. With him we discover the many pleasures of being on a private reserve â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one of which is being allowed to do things that would be prohibited in national parks. In three days, we ride glossy stallions from the ownersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; stable of 16 horses, play tennis on lawns surrounded by grazing zebras, and practise

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;AN ELEPHANT IS NOW BEING KILLED EVERY 20 MINUTES IN AFRICAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; archery between courses at breakfast. One morning we even ride mountain bikes on rocky tracks through huge herds of migrating wildebeest, closely followed in a Land Rover by Alfred and an armed guard, just in case an irritated creature should charge.

None does â&#x20AC;&#x201C; surprising, given the numbers of creatures about. On still-green grasslands, thousands of bearded wildebeest thunder past in great herds, day and night.

Lions lie under trees, their stomachs distended from overeating. Cheetahs snooze in the shade. Elephants huddle under trees in the midday sun, ďŹ&#x201A;apping their ears.

And in the evening â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as we sit beneath the stars, enjoying gazpacho, prawns, duck breast and creamy crème brĂťlĂŠe made by Tanzaniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top chef, Michael Matera â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they all join together in a spine-tingling orchestra of cackles, whoops, grunts, barks, squeals and trumpets that slowly fades, as the moon rises, into a long, low ďŹ nale of moans signalling that the lions have come out to hunt.

For guests whose migration experience isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t complete until they have seen thousands of wildebeest hurtle across the Mara River in the Serengeti National Park, Tudor Jones has also set up Mara River Camp right on the riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s banks. A 12-minute ďŹ&#x201A;ight from Grumeti, this 16-bed canvas camp is modern to look at, and run on solar power.

It is also very quiet. In this northern Lamai Triangle, just

below the Kenyan border, there are just three seasonal camps and, because the migrating creatures have just made their ďŹ nal crossing, there is hardly anyone else about. Each day, I watch the sun rise from my bed before warming my bones on a sun-lounger while watching elephant browse. I have a massage on an open deck, and sip cold South African wine. And every evening, Alfred takes us out on the Land Rover to traverse the Serengeti plains, where giraffe, zebra and Thompsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gazelle graze in their hundreds.

Although each camp is a treat, the highlight of my trip is the ďŹ&#x201A;ight out of the area. Sitting in a Cessna Caravan, soaring low over the Serengeti, I begin to appreciate what we would lose if conservationists such as Jenkins werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so dedicated, and men such as Tudor Jones and Zeitz spent their fortunes elsewhere. For an hour we ďŹ&#x201A;y over plains thick with game, over elephant bathing in rivers, over clouds of birds. That this landscape might one day have no creatures on it at all seems unthinkable. But, given the current rate of poaching, it is not just possible, but probable. These wealthy individuals could spend their billions on yachts and sports cars. Instead, they use their money and inďŹ&#x201A;uence to prevent that destruction, and put in place strategies for Africans to save their natural heritage. Who can criticise them for privatising swathes of threatened wilderness?

Africa Travel (020 7843 3586; africatravel.co.uk) is offering a seven-night safari, with one night at Hemingways Nairobi (hemingways-nairobi.com), three nights at Segera (segera. com) in Kenya, and three nights at Singita Mara River Tented Camp (singita.com) in Tanzania, from ÂŁ6,495 per person, full board. The price includes drinks, activities, park fees, transfers and return ďŹ&#x201A;ight with British Airways.

Grand tour The Shah-i-Zinda necropolis in Samarkand, the Uzbek city which is one of the exotic stopoffs on the Captain’s Choice route.

Below left, the 50-seater liveried jet

THE SILK ROUTE THE SMOOTH WAY A private jet trip is the most stylish way to retrace the legendary trading route, from Istanbul to Samarkand and Kashgar – and in only two weeks. Max Davidson joins a cruise by air for a whistlestop tour of the East

U

ntil we hit the Istanbul rush hour, and our air-conditioned coach had to slow to a crawl just like everyone else, we could have been travelling by magic carpet. Parking at the Harrods Aviation terminal at Stansted airport and boarding a private jet bound for Turkey took just 20 minutes, most of them spent chatting to my fellow passengers over a cup of coffee.

International travel usually means stress, delays and crowded airports. Not on this trip. An angel in a perfectly pressed uniform checked our passports, another took our bags, and a third escorted us to the aircraft. It all felt faintly surreal, like one of those dreams where you are playing golf with Roman Abramovich and Lady Gaga pops out of a greenside bunker.

By the time we had snuggled into our seats on the plane – seats so generous that we had to stretch our legs to touch the back of the seat in front – we were in such festive mood that it was hard to suppress a grin. Behind us on the runway, Ryanair planes waited impotently as we

soared into the skies above Hertfordshire. This was bliss.

Pop! The first bottle of champagne was opened over the English Channel and we were served canapés of foie gras, smoked salmon and caviar. Even in the washroom, I noticed, there was a red rose beside the basin, a stylish touch way beyond Ryanair’s budget.

The plane was an A319, seating nearly 50 people, and it was flown by a crew from Lisbon who welcomed us on the flight deck after we had digested a superb lunch. “Every day is different in this job,” said Captain Victor Brito.

“On Monday, we might be taking a football team to a Champions League match. On Tuesday, it could be a rock band on tour.”

The passengers were too old to be footballers and not quite cool enough to be rock stars. But they were an interesting, eclectic lot. Captain’s Choice is a Melbournebased company which, for nearly 20 years, has been offering private jet trips to destinations which are so far from the normal tourist beat that making the same journeys by scheduled flights would take an eternity. It is

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like a 21st-century version of the grand tour, but global in its reach and telescoped into a fraction of the time.

I was only going as far as Istanbul, but the main party would fly on to Kashgar in China, before zigzagging its way back to Turkey along the old Silk Route. Samarkand, Bukhara, Yalta, Sebastopol… just names on the map for most people, arousing curiosity but being instantly dismissed as wildly impractical places to visit.

“I’ve wanted to visit Samarkand since I was a girl,” said Sally, from Poole in Dorset. “I saw a film about it on the BBC in the Seventies. It seemed unimaginably exotic.”

June, from Edinburgh, had waited almost as long to get to Kashgar, after reading the memoirs of an Englishwoman who had lived there in the 19th century.

Everyone had their own story to tell and, as the group began to bond over a glorious starlit dinner in Istanbul, it felt more like The Canterbury Tales than a contemporary story about millionaires living high on the hog. These people have serious money to burn – a typical Captain’s Choice trip might last two weeks and cost around £20,000 – but they came across as old-fashioned romantics: Stanleys looking for Livingstones in far-flung lands where the sun beats down without pity and the natives don’t speak a word of English.

Most of them were Captain’s Choice regulars. Hank from Western Australia, a retired accountant, travels with the company three or four times a year. He has been from Cape Town to Cairo, the Antarctic, and the Galápagos

IT IS A THROWBACK TO A LEISURELY AGE, WHEN TRAVELLERS HAD TIME TO SAVOUR THE SIGHTS

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Crossing continents Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, above. Travellers on the tour see the mosque on a private twilight visit, when the tourists have gone. Left, a day trip on the Bosphorus by private boat

time to savour their surroundings. A horse-drawn carriage took us past ornate seaside villas, through shady pine forests, past walled orchards and little monasteries, pockmarked with age. Cats snoozed in the shade of the bougainvilleas. Then it was on to lunch – fresh fish, grilled to perfection – at a waterfront restaurant.

It was not hard to see why Captain’s Choice has so many repeat customers. Travel in the 21st century can be a race against the clock, but if you have the means to let others smooth your way through the crowds, you can recapture a little of the grace of bygone days. When Doc Adam surveyed his charges over lunch, checking for signs of raised blood pressure, all he saw was seraphic smiles.

Captain’s Choice (0845 304 5227; captainschoice.co.uk) is offering a 15-day itinerary, The Silk Route and Beyond

by Private Jet, for £19,500 per person, based on two people sharing. The next trip leaves London on September 3, 2014.

GETTY; SHUTTERSTOCK; JOE PLIMMER; 4CORNERS

Islands. Zuli and Rekha, dentists from Sheffield, were only on their third trip but were hungry for more. “You can just get to so many places in such a short space of time,” said Zuli. “It is like a five-star cruise by air.”

They were in good hands, pampered like royalty. There were fewer than 50 people in the group, but there was a GP on permanent standby, the jovial Doc Adam from Melbourne. He was comically under-employed and, with no heart attacks on the horizon, was reduced to offering tips on hand-washing and avoiding dehydration.

Peter Ward, an English historian, was another colourful character. He had written a book about the Silk Route and set the scene in an introductory lecture. “This is the most iconic journey in history,” he said, transporting listeners back to the days of Alexander the Great, Tamburlaine, Marco Polo and Genghis Khan. “The route was like an information superhighway, transformative in its effect.”

Silk was only one of dozens of commodities traded on a road that extended for 5,000 miles and took three years to travel, by camel or horse, in searing heat. Doing it in a fortnight, by private jet and air-conditioned coaches, felt like cheating. But if this was cheating, it was the sort that made you feel exhilarated rather than guilty.

For much of our time in Istanbul, we could have been any other tourists, hunting for souvenirs in the Grand Bazaar or traipsing around the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace. It is a noisy, crowded city, with a population of nearly 15 million, straddling the Bosphorus – but we quickly discovered that the Rolls-Royce service extended even to the sightseeing.

The Hagia Sophia mosque is normally a scrum, but we were treated to a private tour at twilight, before descending into the Yerebatan Sarayi, or Basilica Cistern, for a cocktail party. This vast underground cavern, decorated with statues of Medusa, dates back to Constantine the Great. There we drank perfectly chilled champagne, served by waiters who looked like film stars.

Best of all was our day trip on the Bosphorus by private boat. We left the smog of the city behind and, with a sea breeze on our faces, made for the Princes’ Islands, where the Istanbul jet set spend the summer. It was like a throwback to a more leisurely age, when travellers had

EXOTIC INDIA & MOUNTAIN KINGDOMS

BY PRIVATE JET OMAN

UDAIPUR

JAIPUR

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On this incredible 19 day journey, discover India, Nepal and Bhutan – countries steeped in history and rich in awe-inspiring architecture and extraordinary landscapes. Visit the stunning Amber Fort in Jaipur, discover the Holy City of Varanasi and enjoy a serene boat ride on the Ganges at dawn. Explore Nepal’s capital Kathmandu in the foothills of the Himalayas and see the spectacular landscapes of Bhutan’s Paro Valley. You’ll also visit bustling Delhi, and the dazzling Taj Mahal.

You will board our all business-class private jet at the exclusive Harrods terminal at Luton for the flight to Muscat in Oman. After two days in this fascinating city, you will fly onward to explore India, Nepal and Bhutan. You will stay in the finest hotels, dine on superb local cuisine and discover amazing sites in the company of expert local guides. Thoughout the tour, our dedicated flight crew and experienced escort team will take care of your every need.

Your fully inclusive tour price includes all travel and accommodation, sightseeing and entrance fees, all meals, special immigration and luggage handling arrangements (where possible) and the personal attention of an experienced escort team, including a doctor throughout. To find out more about the Captain’s Choice Exotic India & Mountain Kingdoms tour, call us now. Prices from £21,950 per person twin share.

Tour dates: 25 September – 13 October 2014.

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A LITTLE PLACE I KNOW...

La Bergerie 1850, Courchevel

This extravagant superchalet, built for a Russian banker, is

and iPads to control gadgetry, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the outrageously

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Downstairs, the ski room is equipped with an

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broad balconies facing in all directions. Berger means

But why ski? On the ground floor there is a spectacular

shepherd, and life-sized woolly models of sheep have

spa, with a 66ft pool, sauna, hammam, fitness room,

been placed artfully around the interior. But the style is

massage bed, sofas and an open fire, and next door is

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A week at La Bergerie 1850 (labergerie1850.com) in

and sofas encircle another glass-encased fireplace.

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48

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The best place from which to see the

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Moore and the Collins Stars & Planets guide

of the southern night sky with a resident

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a captain and crew.

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Mark Wilson

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I love waking up early, discovering it’s sunny, and being bothered by no one.

I really need the sun to warm my bones

T

he British-Iraqi architect Dame

Zaha Hadid is one of the world’s most celebrated practitioners, and in 2004 was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, awarded to a living architect whose talent, vision and commitment have enriched humanity. Her fluid buildings can be found all over the world – from the Guangzhou Opera House and the new Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre in Baku to the London Aquatics Centre, for the 2012 Olympic Games. She lives in London.

How often do you travel?

Until two months ago, perhaps every week. Last winter was crazy, working in China and Japan, as well as teaching in America and Austria.

Where do you go on holiday?

Years ago, to switch off, I’d go to Hawaii or Thailand or Bali. In those days there were no mobile phones or televisions in the room. Today, because I work all over the world and like to Which cities in particular?

I love Rio [see page 28]; it has great views, great beaches and a lot going on. And Beirut, where I went to university and have family. Lebanon’s

BRIGITTE LACOMBE

stay in touch, my holidays are mostly city breaks.

VIDEO

TRAVELLING LIFE Zaha Hadid

The distinguished architect loves Rio, Istanbul, heat, impeccable service – and plenty of shoes in her suitcase

so small you can cross it in about three hours. As

the plane, go straight on to a sun-lounger and

Tell us about Baku

bathroom can make a huge difference, as can

a student, we’d go to the Bekaa Valley, go skiing

burn half of their body. Now, that’s precisely what

It’s a very interesting city, and changing quickly.

a towel rail near the shower.

at The Cedars [a resort in the country’s highest

I do. Having lived in London for so long, I really

I enjoyed the bazaar and restaurants such as Art

Do you enjoy winter sports?

range] and be clubbing in Beirut that night.

need sun to warm my bones. I used to swim a lot

Garden, Karvansara and Mugham Club, which are

No. I went to school in Switzerland and hated it, so

Other favourite destinations?

when I lived in Baghdad and Beirut. I miss that;

in old places where, long ago, travellers would rest

for many years I wouldn’t set foot in the country.

Istanbul. It has the best of all worlds: Ottoman

swimming was my only hobby.

on their great journeys from Asia to Europe.

Do you travel light?

architecture, islands and water, incredible food,

Do you feel compelled to look at new

What luxuries can’t you do without?

I used to, but then I’d always need things. So now

an exciting music scene, a fascinating bazaar

architecture when you travel?

I have to have a clean room, with a good bed,

I have a suitcase full of shoes and a suitcase full

and wonderful people. I went there first as a kid,

Always. At school, every year we’d go to new

a nice bath and soft sheets.

of bags, and everything else in another case.

then to lecture in 1994, and have been back

cities to learn about architecture: we’d study arty

The best hotels you’ve stayed in?

Do you collect souvenirs?

nearly every year since. I first met the Queen at

Paris, or baroque Rome, or ancient Rome. I think

I always like Aman Resorts. Other than that, The

I did when I worked in Russia. I bought every

the Istanbul Modern contemporary art gallery

that’s what inspired my love of buildings. When

Sukhothai in Bangkok and the Park Hyatt Beijing.

possible plastic trinket: the sputniks, the rockets.

five years ago, and I went to an incredible party

I’m visiting a city now, I just can’t help myself.

What makes a good hotel great?

Shopping today isn’t as much fun because the

afterwards in an aircraft hangar. The city has the

Any specific style you look out for?

Service. It’s why I have stayed for the past 20

world is so homogenous, other than in Japan,

same intense energy that New York used to have.

Modernism, because it’s so different wherever

years at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, and

where the displays are wonderful, and in China.

Where do you stay?

you go – Russian modernism is not at all like

why I like The Mercer in New York.

The best airline in the world?

The Kempinski. It’s on the Bosphorus and I enjoy

Brazilian modernism. The most incredible

Hotel bugbears?

British Airways, although the service isn’t as good

sitting by the pool and watching the boats go by.

modernist cities, I think, are Chicago – its

I really don’t like frou-frou places with fussy

as on the Asian airlines. I also like Lufthansa,

Anything you don’t like there?

skyscrapers were the precursors of all the glass

carpets and curtains. And a bad bathroom can

which has a good air-miles programme – unlike

The traffic; it can take hours to get anywhere.

towers worldwide – and Mexico City.

make or break a hotel: the rooms in the Hotel

BA, which you have to fly with virtually every

Your idea of a perfect day on holiday?

Favourite restaurants?

Imperial Vienna might have 20ft-high ceilings

day of your life in order to get something.

Waking up early, discovering it’s sunny, and being

I always go to the same places in London:

and décor like the palace at Versailles, but

Favourite place to stay in Britain?

bothered by no one. I love the sun. When I lived

Hakkasan, The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Moro,

the showers have miserable plastic curtains.

Home. I haven’t stayed in a hotel there for years.

in Beirut I’d laugh at tourists who would get off

which is near me. I like bistros and Chinese.

Simple things like under-floor heating in a cold

Interview by Lisa Grainger

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