Bold Issue #28 Asia Spotlight

BOLD I N S P I RAT I O N F O R T R AV E L L E R S

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cheff cory vitiello's toronto

Transforming

Thailand

WITH AVION YOU CAN DO IT ALL, ®

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AWEINSPIRING THAILAND Thailand is famous for the bustling vibrancy of Bangkok and lively coastal resorts. However, away from the sun and sand is a wealth of historical and cultural interest and rich jungle landscapes. The people are overwhelmingly friendly and the food fantastic. All this is complemented by the lush tropical countryside of paddy fields, highland jungle and fine seascapes.

For a full range of adventures in Thailand, contact Exodus Travels at 1 800 267 3347 or visit exodustravels.com/thailand-holidays

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

WHEN WE STARTED OUR MAGAZINE A FEW YEARS AGO, we really didn’t know what kind of shape and form it would take. We were just a group of friends with an entrepreneurial spirit, passion for travel and true curiosity.

Curiosity, I always say, is one of the hallmarks of a traveller. It is what differentiates a traveller from a tourist. Travel opens our eyes and gives us greater insight into the world, taking us out of our comfort zones and into new territory.

We are exposed to new cultures, flavours and languages, making us wiser, more sensitive and more informed.

Today, we travel to see the world in new ways, to feel ourselves fully in the world, immersed in the experience of discovery. The issue that you are holding in your hands, represents a new beginning for BOLD magazine.

We’ll be making some exciting changes over the next few months - please send us your notes if there is anything you would or would not like to see from us as we evolve - but you can be certain we will remain as committed as ever to sparking the curiosity that inspires you to hit the road.

And in the spirit of inspiration, I am delighted to introduce you to Erin Hershberg - an accomplished editor who will be overseeing the editorial content of our publication.

As you prepare for a busy season ahead, with the holidays, family visits and gatherings with friends, you’ll need some down time! So, our new team will be doing the homework for you. We believe that passport stamps and miles logged in the air and on the ground are key metrics to a life well lived. Take a trip with us; it’s a BOLD start.

Marlon Moreno marlon@boldmagazine.ca

@BOLDmagazine

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On this page:

View of the Andaman Sea from the COMO Shambhala Retreat, Phuket - Thailand.

CONTENT: 40 Transforming Thailand

Lush, green jungle, beautiful weather and glorious temples that could make the irreverent fall to their knees. This is Thailand: A country that offers its visitors the true meaning of luxury, not quite nirvana, but a depth of serenity they have never known.

By Muriel Paras

49 Martinique Magnifique

A slice of Europe in the Caribbean, the island of Martinique is an alluring oasis, a teasing temptress with Gauguin landscapes and African roots.

Step foot on this strangely bewitching paradise and you may never leave.

By Mark Stevens

54 The Ultimate East Coast Road Trip Cape Breton Island’s famed Cabot Trail is consistently ranked among the world’s most spectacular drives, a title the road wears proudly as a tartan in Acadia’s cultural tapestry.

By Matthew R. Loney and Photography by Sergio Beristain

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CONTENT

23 YOUR WORLD The Best of the Good Life

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My Town: Chef Cory Vitiellos’s Toronto

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Away

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Obsessions: Scent me Travel Essentials Libations

33 HERE & NOW

Inspiration + Design

Design: Siamese Dreams

Luxury Weekend Escape: The Drake Devonshire

58 BEYOND

People + Places

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Globetrotter Alex Cuba

In Every Issue 6 Publisher’s Note 14 Editorial Note 16 Contributors 18 Upgrade: Editor’s Itinerary

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On the cover: The Four Seasons, Koh Samui, Thailand Beach Villa.

Image by Markus Gortz

EDITORIAL NOTE

MARLON MORENO Publisher + CEO EDITOR Erin Hershberg

When we contemplate getting away from our day-to-day lives, there are different ways of achieving the same goal – some slight, some immense, all valuable. A weekend jaunt to New York with a buddy, leaving baby at home, to remember what life was like before you were given that special gift.

A last minute trip to Austin dedicated solely to sampling the spectacular barbecue and music scene. A West Coast haul to Palm Springs because everyone says it’s the new South Beach and Vegas is too, well, you know...

Growing up in Winnipeg, I used to

panic when August would bring even the slightest hint of the colder months’ approach – a sudden waft of cool air on a warm summer day; a long shadow appearing brazenly on the sidewalk before me; one crinkly leaf lying plaintively on the pavement. Truthfully, Winnipeg really has only two seasons, summer and winter, with fall simply a waylay station in-between, and I never completely understood Autumn’s singular beauty and importance until I left the foul-weathered but remarkable town that was my home.

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And then there’s Thailand; in my mind it shines unabashedly as one of the true great spots for escape. Lush jungles, gleaming temples, luxurious waterside spas and famously warm inhabitants make Thailand strange in ecosystem, exotic in architecture but still kind of like home.

With escape, there is a danger of going so far outside of yourself that you become lost. The warm hug of Thailand keeps you far-flung, but still grounded so that the inevitable return home is not a wallop in the face but a gentle adjustment, much like accepting that a green leaf has transitioned all at once to red.

ERIN HERSHBERG

AMERICA’S EDITOR Magda de la Torre CONTRIBUTING EDITOR David Sendra Domènech GRAPHIC DESIGN + ART DIRECTION Heddy Graterol Eric Hanson PHOTOGRAPHY Felicia Byron Carlos Bolivar PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Christyan Estrada WEB DEVELOPMENT Rahul Nair BUSINESS ADVISER Roger Gingerich MEDIA SPONSORSHIPS marketing@ boldmagazine.ca CORRESPONDENCE The Hudson Bay Centre 20 Bloor St. East P.O. Box 75075 Toronto | ON | M4W 3T3

For Advertising, Promotion, Reprints and Sponsorships inquiries: marketing@boldmagazine.ca O: 1.416.323.7828 ext. 25 M: 1.647.780.8082 Twitter @boldmagazine Facebook.com/boldmagazine Instagram.com/bold_mag Pinterest.com/boldmagazineca

BOLD® is published bimonthly by Pulso Media Group Inc. Opinions express in BOLD are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the publisher or advertisers. BOLD does not assume liability for content. www.boldmagazine.ca Inspiration for Travellers ®

P HOTOGR A P HY: F EL ICIA BYR ON

When I moved to Toronto, the scar that harsh climate had left on me began to fade. My heart filled with warmness as I spied Torontonians embracing the season, walking about the city in their cashmeres and plaids while enjoying the multitude of colours on the leafy tree-lined avenues. This was fall in all its glory - not a season to lament a passing of sun-kissed afternoons, but rather a time to celebrate a return (to reality) and, within that celebration, to nurture thoughts of escape.

T hailand Because there is only one trip of a lifetime.

W i th i t s b r eatht ak in g v i s t as, unfo r ge t t ab l e jun gl e tr ek s, sp l en di d b ea c h es, sp e c t a c ular r e tr eat s, glimm er in g temp l es an d wo r l d c las s c uisin e, i t is n o wo n d er that th e p e o p l e of T hailan d wel c o m e th eir v isi to r s w i th a s er en e s ens e of p r i d e that i s at o n c e h ear t w ar min g an d up li f tin g.

The true bea uty of Th ailan d b egin s with its p eop le.

l ea rn m ore at

exodustravels.com/ca

CONTRIBUTORS Mark Stevens WRITER

Martinique Magnifique Page 49

“The culture, the people, the beaches and the rhum agricole is what makes Martinique a very surreal place,” says this Caribbean specialist, multiple award-winning writer. Mark is currently finishing up a story on snowmobiling in the Yukon and is a finalist in the Ontario Tourism Travel Writing Awards for an article about spending a frigid February in Algonquin Park.

Follow Mark on Twitter @travelwriteclick Will Aitken

THE GRAND PALACE,

WRITER

The Siamese Dream

ON POINTS.

Page 33

“What I loved the most about the Siam is champagne on the pier at sunset,” says the Montreal-based travel writer, novelist and playwright. Will is heading off to Japan soon to check out the fall colours of Japan’s fabled Kakusenkai Gorge.

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Sergio Beristain PHOTOGRAPHER -

The Ultimate East Coast Road Trip Page 54 “I would return to P.E.I. because of the delicious lobster rolls,” says this travel and automotive photographer with a passion for motorcycles. Sergio is based in Toronto, Canada.

Follow Sergio on Twitter @sergioberistian Matthew R. Loney WRITER The Ultimate East Coast Road Trip Page 54

Subject to availability. Some restrictions may apply. For complete terms, visit rbc.com/travelredemption. † To receive the 15,000 bonus RBC Rewards points, your application form must be approved by us. Upon enrolment, 15,000 bonus RBC Rewards points will appear on your first monthly statement.

This offer may not be combined or used in conjunction with any other offer.

Royal Bank of Canada reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time, even after acceptance by you. ®/™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. ‡ All other trademarks are the property of their respective owner(s).

“I would go back to New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces for the landscapes, the food and the people,” says the author of That Savage Water (Exile Editions, 2014) – a collection of backpacker-themed short fiction. Matt was a finalist for the 2013 and 2014 Gloria Vanderbilt Short Fiction Award and his work has appeared in a range of North American publications, including Bold Magazine and the political anthology Everything Is So Political. He is based in Toronto, Canada. Follow Matt on Twitter and Instagram @mattorero

Short trips to the U.S.

Why you need travel insurance for those weekend vacations Most people think about getting travel insurance for a vacation to Europe or the Caribbean, but when it comes to weekend trips to the United States, many people don’t even consider insurance. For travellers who need emergency medical assistance during their trip, this can be a costly oversight. In fact, a 14-day U.S. hospital stay for trauma associated with a motor vehicle accident could cost around US$363,000.

“Whether you’re planning a weekend trip across the border to shop or attend a sports event, emergencies can happen — even on a short trip,” says Isabelle Forget, Head of Travel, RBC Insurance. “The cost of medical services in the United States can be very high, and Canadian government health insurance plans typically only cover a small part of these costs.”

RBC’s emergency medical insurance coverage comes with a variety of value added services, including:  One of the largest and most experienced 24/7 global emergency travel assistance networks in the world  Assistance from multilingual representatives who speak a minimum of two languages

RBC Visa‡ Infinite Avion® cardholders also have the ability to add on to the trip cancellation and interruption insurance coverage included on their credit card, which can also be purchased separately.

Trip cancellation and interruption covers your non-refundable travel arrangements when you have to cancel your trip, come home early or stay later at your destination.

 Access to an emergency medical team of specially trained, multilingual co-ordinators, doctors and nurses who are available to help clients who become injured or sick while travelling

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“Having comprehensive travel insurance, whether it’s through a premium credit card such as the RBC Infinite Avion card or a separate insurance package, will help give you the peace of mind you need while travelling,” explains Isabelle.

For more information, visit www.rbcroyalbank.com/travelinsurance

® / ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. ‡ All other trademarks are the property of their respective owner(s).

Underwritten by RBC Insurance Company of Canada. In Quebec, certain coverages underwritten by RBC General Insurance Company. VPS91386

109725(04/2015)

EDITOR’S ITINERARY

The Blue Lagoon - Iceland’s most well known and unique attractions.

ICELAND'S MOMENT If ever there was a destination that is truly exceptional, it is Iceland: vast, evocative and constantly evolving through the sheer power of the geological forces that created it. Perched on the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, this rugged island is one of the most volcanic and seismically active places on earth.

For a visitor, especially one used to living in a comfortable urban cocoon, Iceland provides a rare opportunity to reconnect with nature.

From the waterspouts and glaciers of the south to the volcanic landscape of the north, exploring Iceland allows you to see firsthand the raw power and beauty of Mother Nature at work.

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TO BOOK AND FOR DETAILS TO A WIDE-RANGE OF ITINERARIES TO ICELAND, GO TO EXODUSTRAVELS.COM OR CALL 1800-267-3347

Santa Ana Cathedral

El Salvador – the still hidden powerhouse of a country, teeming with colonial splendour and creative vision is on the verge.

Iglesia El Rosario

UR -FIND YON SECRET I

el dor

a v l a S Museo de Arte Moderno

A D V EeRrTtIiSsEem M Ee N adv nT t

In recent years once uncharted tourist territories have fast become hotbeds for adventure-seekers who used to think Mexico was the only place to land for a pleasure-filled jaunt in Central America.

Still, many travellers want to avoid the well-trodden path and are willing to look harder for legitimate eco-tourism.

This is where El Salvador – the still hidden powerhouse of a country, teeming with colonial splendor and creative vision – comes in.

The small country, about the size of Massachusetts, has been opening its doors to tourists slowly since the end of the civil war back in 1992 and is now at a critical point in its tourism industry. Boasting two national parks, some of the best surf breaks in the world, wonderful museums and vast, haunting Mayan ruins; it is only a matter of time before all of the major tour operators begin to catch on. Our advice: Get on board to El Salvador now.

Museo de Arte Moderno

When in El Salvador, do not shy away from the national (naturally gluten-free!), dish: the pupusa. Made of cornmeal, pupusas are soft, slightly thick, tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans or pork and cooked on a grill.

The savoury delicacies are served everywhere at small restaurants known as pupuserías. For more upscale dining, San Salvador’s tourist district, Zona Rosa, is the place to dine. Look for fresh seafood (it’s not a difficult search) and sip on purified, flavoured waters tinged with the essence of fresh fruits like hibiscus, orange, lemon, passion fruit and guava.

eat

El Tunco Beach

Even if you are a hardcore atheist, Iglesia El Rosario will get you interested in church in no time flat.

Designed by Ruben Martinez, one of El Salvador’s most prominent sculptors, the seemingly non-descript building houses a rainbow-coloured, stained glass archway that splashes a prism of light across the space and its many scrap-metal figures.

For an artistic glimpse into the highly politicized culture of El Salvador, Museo de Arte is a must see. This museum of rotating and permanent exhibits offers visitors glimpses into the character of the country through art of the country’s civil war period, the highlight of which is “Monument to the Revolution,” depicting a naked man whose outstretched arms are thought to symbolize freedom and liberty.

El Salvador has the densest collection of volcanoes in the Western Hemisphere; to go to the country without seeing at least one is nearly impossible and is almost a sin. Our suggestion?

Check out the intensely unpredictable Santa Ana, El Salvador’s highest, measuring at a soaring 7,822 feet. Last erupted in 2005, this bubbly beauty is located at the heart of Cerro Verde National Park and is surrounded by windy cloud forest and glimmering panoramas of lagoon and Lake Coatepeque, Izalco.

see

GO

Surfer or not, you will be hard-pressed to imagine a more beautiful expanse than La Costa Del Bálsamo. This spectacular, beach-lined coast, reportedly swarming with proper point breaks, stretches from Sihuapilapa right to La Libertad, the centre of surfer’s paradise.

Got a hiking urge? Head to Parque Nacional El Imposible, the glorious remains of a threatened ecosystem that is still teeming with exotic wildlife, including pumas, tigrillos, wild boars, king hawks and blackcrested eagles. Don’t forget to bring your boots; the amazing vistas of the Pacific come – quite literally – at a steep cost.

If Swiss novel Heidi mated with Honduras, their offspring would look a lot like El Salvador’s charming, fairytalelike mountain town, Alegría.

This soaring, little hamlet, overflowing with sunflowers, rose bushes and orchids is a tranquil contrast to the rest of the country and a peaceful rest for the adventure-seekers.

Tazumal Archeological Site

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YOUR WORLD THE BEST OF THE GOOD LIFE

MY TOWN

CHEF CORY VITIELLOS’S TORONTO If you live in Toronto, chances are you’ve heard of Cory Vitiello, the dashing co-owner and chef of Toronto’s popular restaurants, The Harbord Room, THR & Co. and FLOCK Rotisserie + Greens, and star of Food Network Canada’s new show, Chef In Your Ear. Needless to say, the Ontarioborn culinary dynamo has a lot on his plate, most recently revamping the menu of stalwart downtown hotspot, THR & Co. Still, the man about town made time to tour us through his Toronto, letting us in on his best kept secrets, from where he shops for his girlfriend to where to find a butter curler.

By Erin Hershberg

PHOTOGRAPHED BY: FELICIA BYRON

BOLD | 23

Chef Cory Vitiello s Toronto

YOUR WORLD MY TOWN

eat 1

Takeout: Sud Forno Owned by the lauded Mammoliti family, the people behind Toronto’s Italian food empire, Terroni, this Queen St. bakery not only has incredible breads but offerings that range from freshly baked thin crust pizza slices to beautiful grain salads to irresistible custards and desserts.

“I split my belly equally between their gelato, pizza and pastries,” states Vitiello, “and from a design point, it doesn’t get prettier than this spot.”

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Garrison Bespoke Owned and operated by one-time Holt Renfrew stock boy, Michael Nguyen, this downtown Toronto shop is a sartorialist’s dream come true. Known as Canada’s best bespoke tailor shop, this custom suit store dresses everyone from big-wig bankers to television characters and even A-listers such as, rapper Drake, NBA star LeBron James, actor Ryan Gosling and of course Mr. Vitiello. He, however, is in it for their custom shirts. Says Vitiello; “I hooked myself on their custom shirts years ago. I even cook in them now.”

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DIY: Cumbrae’s With 4 locations across Toronto, the indulgent Cumbrae’s Butcher Shop has carved itself a level of quality so high that any other butcher would be hard-pressed to even attempt to reach it. As Vitiello mentions, “You simply will not find a better butcher shop.

The dry-aged beef has such an intoxicating smell and flavour so uniquely theirs.” Although the meats are the store’s most impressive offering, it also features a quality of prepared foods that is equal to any high-end restaurant.

style

Kitchen: Tap Phong If you aren’t familiar with this chef ’s dream-store it’s easy to miss it, located smack-dab in the middle of Toronto’s dizzying Chinatown. Featuring aisles and aisles of kitchen supplies, from wellpriced sushi dishes to chafing dishes large enough to serve an army and EVERYTHING in between, it’s easy to get lost in the aisles of this adrenaline rush of a kitchen store. The good news is: If you make your way down there, you may just run into Chef V himself. “I’m in this store more often than any other in Toronto. It can be madness trying to navigate through the endless stock and people in general, but it’s very well priced and a good spot to bump into chef pals.”

ZANE Currently situated in artsy Queen West and Yorkville, Toronto’s answer to New York’s Upper West Side, this well curated bag and accessories shop, featuring pieces that are modern without being trendy and edgy without going over the top, is right at the cusp of blowing up. The owner, Zane Aburaneh, even has developed his own line of jewelry, to which Vitiello is partial; “ZANE is my go-to for everything from personal accessories to luggage and gifts for my girlfriend. His own jewelry line being my favourite.”

YOUR WORLD OBSESSIONS

SCENT ME AWAY

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Travel across the globe every time you spray with these enchanting fragrances.

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A new innovation from Dior, J’ADORE Touche de Parfum is an oil-based, super-concentrated perfume that invites you to pair the scent with any other of your choice. The state of the art bottle lets you choose your own adventure; go anywhere you’ve gone before and anywhere you want to be. dior.com

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With opulent notes of pomegranate, peony, pear, jasmine, bergamot and cedar, it is no wonder that Place Vendôme White Gold, the woody floriental by Boucheron, has the uncanny ability to land you in the heart of Paris with one spray. boucheron.com 26 |

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Transport yourself to the silky sandscape of the Middle East with Alien Oud Majestueux by Thierry Mugler. Mysterious and sensual with gentle notes of the mythical Agarwood, Alien calmly floods you with the bewitching aroma of the unfamiliar. mugler.ca

Created by Jacques Guerlain in 1925, Shalimar is the first ever fragrance to be inspired by the Far East. This otherworldly aroma is meant to evoke the Shalimar Gardens of India, the lush oasis that Emperor Shah Jahan built for Princess Mumtaz Mahal in addition to the Taj Mahal. guerlain.com/ca/en-ca

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Wrapped in the ribbon of Burberry’s original military trench and teeming with the refreshing floral notes of an English garden after a proper rain, My Burberry is British to the core - bright and uplifting while still deeply tied to history. ca.burberry.com

Spray on Marc Jacobs Decadence – a multinational conglomeration of aromas from Italian Plum to Bulgarian Rose to jasmine Sambac and bathe yourself in the sophisticated allure of a New York night. marcjacobs.com

GUERLAIN BOUTIQUE & INSTITUTE 110 Bloor Street West, Toronto 416.929.6114

YOUR WORLD TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

Heading for a quick jaunt to London and expecting rain?

Don’t forget your Neoprene Tour Boots by HUNTER. These day-savers have lightweight neoprene legs that fold over the soles for easy packing. hunterboots.com

A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY Packing light is essential for legit jet setting but should not have to come at a cost to our needs. These days smart design and multi-use items are everywhere, taking minimalist travel to the max.

Give while you go with TRAVELER sunglasses by charitable fashion brand TOMS. This stylish collection of fashion frames is built out of SOLAFLEX™, a lightweight, resilient and pliable material constructed to provide long-lasting comfort and fit. toms.ca

Heading to a warmer climate and don’t want to look like a tourist? Throw the Hoola Beyond Bronze Kit by Benefit in your purse (including carryon sized mascara, Bronzing Powder, Liquid Bronzer, Benebalm and Lip-Gloss ) and you’re golden. benefitcosmetics.com Smell like you’ve bathed in rose petals and musk even though you’ve just stepped off a 12-hour killer with the tiny Amazing Grace Fragrance Rollerball by bare bones beauty giants, Philosophy. philosophy.com

Is it time to make good on your diver’s license? Bring your Caravelle New York Watch

by Bulova and you certainly will not be late. This high fashion, lightweight diving watch is water resistant up to 30 meters and, with its ultra slim, stainless steel band, still sexy enough to be worn on land. caravelleny.com 28 |

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Air travel has always been the skin’s biggest enemy. No more, thanks to the carry-on approved Anywhere Essentials Collection Instant Calm from cult British beauty brand Pai. This easily transportable pack will make the tired dermis look fresh and renewed even after three complimentary champagnes on your overseas flight. usa.paiskincare.com

R ichaRd a ndeRson , c oopeR at the Balvenie foR 18 yeaRs .

His hands know American oak from European.

They hold knowledge from the routine of repairing leaking staves and cracked ends. Only the cooper’s touch is trusted to get the best from the wood, releasing the flavours within to mature the spirit, so it becomes The Balvenie.

Handcrafted to be Enjoyed Responsibly.

THE BALVENIE DISTILLERY COMPANY LIMITED Registered in Scotland.

Registered Number SC138003 Balvenie Maltings, Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland AB55 4BB Represented by PMA Canada Ltd. | pmacanada.com

YOUR WORLD LIBATIONS

THE GLOBAL SPIRIT The world of cocktails is potent and vast and – if life doesn’t allow for globetrotting – often unknowable. Still, if you want to drink like a world traveler, we’ve mapped it out.

Behold, our guide to sophisticated sipping from coast to coast.

BOLD | 31

YOUR WORLD LIBATIONS The French 75 France Dating back to World War I, this classic French cocktail made from gin, champagne, lemon juice and sugar is said to pack such a powerful punch that having a sip was like being shelled by a French 75mm gun.

Margarita Mexico

DRINKS

The margarita – tequila (preferably Patrón Reposado), triple sec, lime – was created in 1938, halfway between Tijuana and Rosarito, by Carlos "Danny" Herrera at his bar, Rancho La Gloria, for a Ziegfeld dancer who was allergic to many spirits…

Tequila was not one of them. Olé!

The Old Fashioned

The Caesar

USA

Canada

The first documented definition of a cocktail was written in 1806 in a Hudson New York paper as a “potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar.” This “concoction” is almost precisely the makeup of what is now known as an old-fashioned, named for the lo-ball glass in which it is served, and made by muddling sugar with bitters, adding whiskey, water and a twist of citrus rind.

Invented in Calgary in 1969 by restaurateur Walter Chell, this abstruse blend of vodka (we recommend Tito’s), Clamato juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire was created to celebrate the opening of his Italian restaurant. Canadians consume over 350 million Caesars annually but the drink remains largely unknowable outside of the country.

The Negroni

The Singapore Sling

Made from gin (select one like Death’s Door and you’ll be back to the USA in a flash), vermouth rosso (like Cinzano), Campari and an orange peel garnish, this ubiquitous bittersweet cocktail reportedly was invented by Count Camillo Negroni in Florence in 1919 when he asked a bartender to strengthen his favourite drink, the Americano. So, how did the Americano become Italiano?

Simple, instead of soda water the bartender used Campari. Delizioso!

Created by a Hainanese-Chinese bartender named Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar in Singapore, sometime between 1910 and 1915. This sweet taste of the east is made of equal parts gin, cherry brandy and benedictine, a dash of bitters and Cointreau and finished off with pineapple, lime juice and grenadine. The welcoming potable is served on all Singapore Airline flights.

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Singapore

HERE &NOW INSPIRATION+BEAUTY+DESIGN

SIAMESE DREAM

HOW A STYLISH HOTEL REDEFINED THE MEANING OF L U X U R Y By Will Aitken BOLD | 33

HERE & NOW

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estled in a cushy rattan basket chair on the pier of Bangkok’s Siam Hotel, succulent amuse-gueule in one hand, flute of perfectly chilled champagne in the other, pleasure craft drifting up and down the Chao Phraya river and central Bangkok’s sweltering 24/7 carnival a half-hour private-launch cruise away, yet there’s a cool breeze on my face and the air’s pellucid. I’m beginning to grasp how the Siam isn’t simply a hotel, it’s a destination.

Once ensconced here, why would you ever leave?

Opened in 2012 in Bangkok’s leafy Dusit district, home to Thai royalty and other Hi-So (“high society”) celebrities, the Siam sounds small – 39 rooms, including 29 suites, some actually villas with their own private pools – but manages to be elegant, spacious and luxurious without ever tipping over into stuffiness or decorative excess. The hotel’s all-white Main Residence centers on a vast glass-roofed atrium – inspired by Paris’s Musée d’Orsay – and a monolithic black granite fountain bordered by verdant palms and giant ferns. The open-air corridors leading to guest rooms give onto the atrium, their subdued palette of grey, white and black achieving a kind of Art Déco minimalism, with period Art Déco furniture arranged on staircase landings and along the corridors themselves.

My congenial butler Aom shows me about my Riverview Suite which, with its high windows and higher ceilings, offers warmer tones and textures – celadon-colored walls, plum velvet loveseats in the sitting area and a commanding bed the size of Cleopatra’s barge. Would someone please peel me a grape? The open bath is almost as large as the bed, with an oval free-standing tub that’s lighted from within, wardrobes big enough to conceal a lion, a witch and another wardrobe and a party-size black granite shower.

The art on display is original, from neolithic pottery to striking black-and-white abstract paintings to Jazz Age Thai movie posters and hand-tinted photos of Bangkok in the first half of the 20th-century.

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HERE & NOW

Going down for dinner I stop by a beautifully proportioned booklined salon given over to a superb collection of movie memorabilia, and a small screening room with belle époque red velvet cinema chairs imported from Paris. The airy billiards room, with a black, grey and white mosaic floor, holds a massive old school billiards table, its green baize surface expansive enough to play polo on, let alone billiards.

In the private dining room of Chom Thai (“Thai Spoon”), the Siam’s in-house restaurant, the center of attention isn’t the food, however delicious – deep-fried soft shell crab, pomelo salad and pork ribs, sour orange curry with sea bass – but rather Kamala Sukosol, president of Siam Hotels and Resorts. A tiny dynamo in a silk brocade robe slung with great loops of gold chainmail, Madame Kamala exudes power andinfluence. When she invites the Thai for dinner, they all show up except the exiled one who now wishes he had. Gesturing with a small hand weighed down by an emerald the size of a door knob, Madame Kamala explains to me that every good business needs a boss, a money man and an asshole. Her daughter, at the far end of the table, a former Wall Street banker, handles finances, Madame Kamala’s the boss, and her record-producer son, sitting across from me, proudly admits to being the asshole.

A second son, a Thai pop-star and avant- garde film actor sadly can’t be with us tonight. It was he who oversaw the design concept for the Siam. The old Thai collectibles in my suite come from his private collection, while the terra cotta pots and sculpted figures come from Madame Kamala’s collection.

From the sound of it, the hotel chain may be the least of the family’s holdings, which include real estate, finance, investment and insurance portfolios. And if that isn’t enough, Madame Kamala informs me that she is also a renowned Thai jazz singer. Catching my incredulous look, she proves her pipes by bursting into song. Could there be a more appropriate ballad for her? She belts out “Goldfinger.”

thesiamhotel.com | rooms start at $530 CND | 3/2 Thanon Khao, Vachirapayabal, Dusit, Bangkok 0300, Thailand | T +66 (0) 2206-6999 | F +66 (0) 2206-6998 | E info@thesiamhotel.com

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HERE&NOW LUXURY WEEKEND ESCAPE

The Drake Devonshire, a Little Bit Rock and Roll It’s official: the Drake Devonshire Inn – Prince Edward County, Ontario’s first foray into true hipsterdom –– is genuinely worth the visit, even if only to witness how a Toronto institution has made nice in the countryside without losing sight of its urbanite roots. By Erin Hershberg

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Come to say you’ve been there, stay for the thrill of homey high-design. drakedevonshire.ca 1.613.399.3338

A mere two-hour drive from the smoggy buzz of hogtown, the Drake Devonshire is a seamless transplant of the original Drake hotel, the self proclaimed “hotbed for culture,” in Toronto’s artsy west end. Cutely outfitted with high-design kitsch – a small scale antique teak rocker here, a vintage Eames piece there and a couple of Ping-Pong tables to bring it all together – this onetime country inn has die-hard city-dwellers flocking from nearby Toronto, Montreal and New York, leaving behind the concrete and din of their native cities for bike-rides in Sandbanks Provincial Park and yoga by the lake.

If that’s not enough, Prince Edward County is teeming with verdant wineries. Many are worth your time, but one that deserves your lunch money is Norman Hardie – a vine-y oasis that welcomes you into the County with wine tastings and wood-fired pizza, pretty much as authentic

as it comes this side of Napoli. That is if you’re able to pry yourself away from the Double D. With 13 cleverly curated rooms – think Andy Griffith meets Wes Anderson – an airy light-filled restaurant with views to Lake Ontario that transplant you to the Atlantic and a round-the-clock menu that features anything from suckling pig to spot-prawn puttanesca, the Devonshire – despite its deep connection to what is trendy – is no passing fad. Come to say you’ve been there, stay for the thrill of homey high-design. drakedevonshire.ca 1.613.399.3338

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FIND YOUR ADVENTURE Exodus offer a wide range of activity and walking and cycling adventures through Thailand. Our holidays cover the best the country has to offer, from busy Bangkok, where glittering Buddhist temples and ancient Thai culture stand defiantly against the rapid pace of development, to the still primitive hill tribe villages in the northern highlands, and the tropical paradise of the Gulf of Siam.

1 800 267 3347 canada@exodustravels.com

To view Exodus’ full range of trips offered in Thailand, visit exodustravels.com/thailand-holidays

JUNGLES & BEACHES Take the family and explore Thailand’s countryside, towns and beaches.

CLASSIC THAILAND The best that Thailand has to offer at an easy pace and in comfort.

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features

Buddhas at Wat Arun Temple.

40 thailand 49 martinique 54 the ultimate east coast trip

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Wat Arun Temple at night

T R A N S F O R M I N G

THAILAND

Lush, green jungle, beautiful weather and glorious temples that could make the irreverent fall to their knees.

This is Thailand: A country that offers its visitors the true meaning of luxury, not quite nirvana, but a depth of serenity they have never known.

By Muriel Paras BOLD | 41

IN BANGKOK

Wat Arun Temple

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there is a river, the Chao Phraya.

It is like an artery, a pathway for the water to flow and transport the city’s people and country folk alike. When I arrive, I quickly realize this is the way to explore.

I hire a river longboat, a private taxi that has been decorated with fragrant blooms and colourful ribbons, and I’m off. The river runs through Bangkok and carves a path to its final destination, the gulf of Thailand, but as I carve my own path through the city, I find, along its banks, life, all walks of it. I sail past, terraces and patios of the people who call these banks their home and note their dwellings - shanties that, even with little means, have idyllic gardens, springing, flowers, herbs and shrubs. Some call it the River of Kings; others, the mother water.

A series of canals call for locks, and here we line up with a rainbow of other vessels, each waiting their turn to go through.

As the locks’ walls close up around us, raising us to the higher depths, I spy the cargo of the longboats: fruit, vegetables, bamboo, crafts, and people. Smiling faces look back at mine, some even wave hello. I smile, too, and wave back. We are all in this moment together. Serene, even in this bustling city.

Temples, or wats, as the Thai people call them, palaces - the Grand Palace among them monasteries and even a few grand hotels also flank the Chao Phraya.

At Wat Pho, where the reclining Buddha resides, I take pause. At 46 metres in length, it is a marvel to behold. In its shadow, I feel reverent, yet reverent also to the

faithful that created this masterpiece. The Buddha’s feet, at 3 metres high, dwarf my full height, and are inlaid with mother of pearl, and the stories and symbols of the deity’s life. Elephants dance, flowers sway in the breeze and tigers roar, in front of my eyes. I am mesmerized and overwhelmed. I must retreat and reflect.

Arriving after dark, I climb the stairs to the entranceway of the Siam hotel. It is at once a city hotel and an urban resort. As I make my way through the lobby I’m thrown back to a more romanticized world. A hint of British Colonial is in the air; I nearly expect the great white hunter to appear with rifle at the ready. But my butler appears, and I am whisked away, happy to be lead on through the colossal black and white columns and hallways. I am enveloped in the room, a masterful mix of graphic modern touches, silver screen glamour and Thai colonial nostalgia. This is the retreat I am looking for. My butler knows exactly when my dinner reservation has been booked, and will return later to escort me to the outdoor dining room. But not just outdoors, along the banks of the mother river - although the terrace at the hotel jetty is a luxurious spot for cocktails - the restaurant, Chon Thai, is housed in three traditional teakwood buildings. Once the home of OSS agent Connie Mangksau, there’s still an element of intrigue and mystery to the place. It’s no wonder, too, that Kennedys and Rockefellers watched the spectacular sunsets over the Chao Phraya River from the riverside view; I, too, cannot resist.

Anantara’s Elephant Camp & Resort

As the sun begins to set, I feel the noise of Bangkok melt away, the liquid of a beautifully dry martini slides down my throat effortlessly, and the scent of Pacific Rim cooking reaches my senses. As I rise to take my meal, I note a few well-dressed people have disembarked from a generously sized longboat, with a rich, wood cabin from which to escape the sun, or the rain. It turns out that The Siam has its own boat shuttle, a launch that is just as well-appointed as the hotel itself.

It has carried guests who have booked dinner here, and why not? It’s one of the prettiest spots with one of the best kitchens on the water. I am satiated and serene.

View of the pool at the Pa Sak Tong Resort

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In the north of Thailand, there is another storied river, in the province of Chiang Rai, which is a road less travelled than its sister province, Chiang Mai. The Mekong has its place in history, most notoriously colliding with the Vietnam war. But here, in Thailand, it is a natural border guard, a keeper of the boundaries between its neighbours, Myanmar and Laos, in what is called the Golden Triangle. (The name may sound romantic, and it is, yet it is also a reminder of the heady days of the opium trade in this region.) It is this river that is in view from the hillside perch of the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort. From the pool, my ice-cold cocktail comes with a view: the overlook is lush, and green, a verdant jungle that is at once tropical and exotic. The cacophony of wildlife is only overshadowed by the trumpeting of the elephants at the camp adjacent to the hotel.

Garden at the Pa Sak Tong Resort

An early morning ride with the pachyderm beauties is not only necessary, it is transformative. Many of these elephants have been rescued from unsavoury situations, and they have been welcomed into the family by the mahouts, or elephant caretakers, who work at the resort and live onsite in the village, to help give the animals a better life. They are massive creatures, with smiling eyes and mischievous personalities. From atop my elephant’s neck, I rock and roll my way through some of the property’s forest, and feed her bamboo as she reaches up and curls her graceful trunk searching for another stalk.

It gives me a deeper understanding of their importance to the Thai culture, with a learning program and a crash course on mahout training offered at the resort.

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The Siam Hotel

”

I want to disconnect from the world, yet connect with the nature surrounding me. ” Like the elephants, the Thai people love to smile at their visitors But the welcome is even grander at Pa Sak Tong, a sublime villa located on the outskirts of Chiang Rai city.

The luxe guest house is run by expat John Dunbar, and its name comes from the Thai for forest of Golden Teak. He greets me at the door, and introduces me to his staff, all of whom will also be my staff during my stay. I’m offered slippers, and a time for a spa treatment. But it is the peace of the place that I am after. I want to disconnect from the world, yet connect with the nature surrounding me.

Exterior of The Grand Palace

From the home’s ridge-top perch, I overlook miles of rice fields and the mountains beyond. Farmers are working in the rice fields, delicately planting the green shoots into the water. Their fluid movements lull me into a sense of calm, and only when the dinner call comes, am I awakened from my reverie. In this moment, the house is mine; I note the delicately intricate Thai and Burmese antiques, and the warmth of teak woods makes me want to run my hands along the worn edges and Patinas. If the weather is good, and it usually is in Thailand, the meals are served al fresco, on the outdoor terrace, at a long teak table set for conversation with my dinner companions.

Tonight is one such night, clear, with the evening sky dazzling our eyes. Much of the chef ’s fare is farm to table from the villa’s extensive gardens; dazzling, too, it is rich in flavour, but simple enough that I can still taste everything. Ginger, turmeric and garlic mingle together on my tongue, as restorative as they are savoury. Nature’s voice coming from the flora and fauna below is the only soundtrack we need to set the mood, with the food so fresh, and the wine flowing, we want to linger, to not let go of the moment. Like the Buddha, we choose to live in this moment. Not quite nirvana, but I feel a happiness that is the true meaning of luxury.

A season of the popular TV show, The Bachelor, was filmed here, we are told at dinner. But we are not surprised. Pa Sak Tong, and Thailand in general, has an ambience that could easily make one fall in love, anew, or all over again.

BOLD | 45

DISCOVER THE LAND OF SMILES,

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behold Steps from Pointe Du Bout beach and nestled within the heart of lush tropical gardens sits Hotel La Pagerie, as timeless and elegant as the Island of Martinique itself.

Martinique itself.

Equipped with a fully renovated spa that offers the gamut of rejuvenating treatments – from Caribbean themed sugar cane scrubs to traditional Indian Abhyanga warm oil massages – and an authentic creole restaurant, La Pagerie has its visitors so spellbound by its offerings it’s a wonder they ever venture off the grounds. the grounds.

Hôtel La Pagerie | La Pointe du Bout | 97229 Trois Ilets | Martinique, French West Indies Email: resa@hotel-lapagerie.com | Tel: +596 596 660 530 |

M A R T I N I Q U E

magnifique

A slice of Europe in the Caribbean, the island of Martinique is an alluring oasis, a teasing temptress with Gauguin landscapes and African roots. Step foot on this strangely bewitching paradise and you may never leave.

By Mark Stevens BOLD | 49

S

houlders straining, I swim through limpid Caribbean waters, sun-dappled and silver-veined, beside a beach of rippled sand, velvety beneath my feet, by a pumpkin-painted bar where expats from France chat desultorily, sipping cognac and fine wine in the late afternoon sun.

When I make for shore I hear their conversation – not a word of English. I see, off to my left, an aqua fitness class, ten or eleven women working out with water woggles – red and yellow and blue – foreground for a vista rising north, emerald mountains sprouting sky-reaching palms, framing a flaming bouquet of poincianas. “Une, deux, trois,” their instructor exhorts them. “Une, deux, trois.”

Now I exit the water, strolling the beach, stopping for a rum at an octagonal wooden bar perched like a pelican over the water at Hotel Bakoua with its French colonial stylings, watching the late day sun blush pink, a view highlighted by precipitous cliffs to the south, changing moment by moment – jade then emerald then indigo.

Five hours ago I was on an airplane. Four hours ago I was doing Mahi Mahi à la Creole on bone china at Restaurant la Marine in Pointe du Bout five metres from mega yachts straining at their 50 |

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dock lines. Three hours ago I sliced the waters of a blue lagoon in a sea kayak at Trois Islets then browsed the nearby artisan’s market. And now a late afternoon aperitif as I try to decide where to dine.

The seduction – like the ministrations of a Paris courtesan – had begun. There is a certain je ne sais quois about Martinique, a lush landfall reclining deep in the Windwards, snugged down between Dominica and St. Lucia, birthplace of Josephine, Napoleon’s empress, an oasis that is a split personality – French and Caribbean, European and Creole, all in the same breath, that I can’t quite put my finger on.

I have been smitten by la Belle Caribbean, a courtship that blossoms over the next five days. I succumb to the allure of a beach at Anse Mitan, perfect waters ruffled like a blue lace collar, a fleet of sailboats anchored just offshore, swaying in a stately sarabande. I am entranced by the accent of a pretty girl at Bistrot d’en Face who lets me sample a couple of rhum agricoles before I finally decide on one that, served up in a brandy snifter, sends a warm glow through my body. I’m lured by the vistas: setting sun gilding the buildings hugging the hills of Fort-de-France, seemingly tossed helter-skelter on the indigo slopes of a mountain

whose peak is swathed in a diaphanous negligee of cumulous clouds.

Maybe it’s a certain savoir-faire – or laissez-faire – or yet another rhum agricole I sip in a bar that could hold its own on the Champs Élysées that populates my fantasies. “I wanted a bit of home here,” explains Fabrice, the proprietor, as he pours me another rum, golden and shimmering as the riches the Spanish once sought here, though they promptly deserted the island when they came up empty-handed. The British had the right idea but the French were the smartest of all. A seminal Caribbean sea battle – the Battle of the Saintes – was waged in this very bay in 1782. The French lost, but they kept Martinique: their tri-color flies over the colonial fort that gives its name to the capital, French colonial architecture dots the landscape, French and Creole are the prevailing languages, bistros and fine dining abound. “Three hundred sixty restaurants here,” says Martinique Tourism’s Christel Coita.

But that’s just the beginning. One day I head north on an island tour. Lush valleys in the middle, gentle waves of sugar cane fields beside pineapple and banana groves. Further north I traverse switchback roads stopping to cool off in a mountain stream strewn with boulders falling away from

There is a certain je ne sais quois about Martinique, a lush landfall reclining deep in There is the Windwards...

“

a certain je ne sais quois about Martinique, a lush landfall reclining deep in the Windwards...

“

BOLD | 51

a waterfall, its sound a bass groove for a concatenation of bird calls. I stop at the Emerald Estate, a natural preserve across the valley from the peak of Mt. Pelée, where I discover the island’s biodiversity, hiking rainforest trails and inhaling scents as aromatic and potent as a Left Bank parfumerie.

I sample rum at Depaz Distillery – cognizant of the fact that my blossoming tête-à-tête with Mar tinique may be alcohol-inspired. Or maybe not.

Might be the aromas wafting from a local baguette shop in Fort de France. Perhaps it’s that designer shirt I pick up at Creole Village, amid shops with wrought iron balconies, gingerbread trim, and storm shutters painted teal and tangerine, a commercial oasis sheltering more boutiques per square metre than Rodeo Drive. Or it might simply be either way, that my love affair with this exotic mélange is near complete – near irreversible.

By now, late in the day of a quintet of days of exploration, ensconced in that bar just down Rue du Chacha from the tip of Pointe du Bout, I’ve com-

pletely capitulated. I raise my glass in a toast to an island that’s a bit of Europe in the Caribbean – a place that reminds you that the French invented ambiance, though here they’ve decorated it with Gauguin landscapes and even this doesn’t tell the whole story.

In a cultural Gestalt in the way a Creole pepper pot is so much spicier than mere haute cuisine, Martinique is a mélange. Consider zouk music, a blend of Caribbean and American that had its birth here, or belya dancing, a celebration heavily influenced by African roots.

And that’s when it hits me – here on my last evening: Martinique is all these things and more.

The Caribs called her “Madiana” – the “Island of Flowers”. I call her “la belle Caribbean.”

AIR CANADA operates weekly flights: On Sundays all year round.

Winter: On Tuesdays, from November 3rd 2015 to April 26th, 2016 AIR TRANSAT operates flights SEASONAL - Weekly on Thursdays from December 24th 2015 to April 7th 2016

STAY

HoTel lA PAgeRIe Steps from Pointe Du Bout beach and nestled within the heart of lush tropical gardens sits Hotel La Pagerie. This newly renovated 4.5 stars hotel features a restaurant, an outdoor pool and 2 bars/lounges. hotel-lapagerie.com

muST TRY ACCRAS De moRue or salt cod fritters are a signature dish in Martinique. Martinicans eat this dish as an appetizer, a snack or sometimes as a breakfast item.

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WHE N YOu GO

S E E +D O lA RouTe DeS RHumS Rum connoisseurs can taste and experience the full range of Martinique’s distinctive rhums by traveling la route des rhums.

The self-guided tour directs visitors to 10 distilleries located throughout the island. for more info visit lamartinique.ca

gs ba r you “ Pack visit us. and comeentôt! ” À bi - Coralie

ALL INCLUSIVE CLUB MED BUCCANEER’S CREEK FROM

$

2 199*

Air-included 7-night for a departure from Montreal on March 31, 2016.

Must be booked before October 31, 2015. 1-800-CLUB MED (258-2633)

*Canada only. Sample price is per adult, based on a 7-night stay on double occupancy in a Club category room at Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique for a departure on March 31, 2016 from Montreal, round-trip flights with Air Transat and transfers to/from the resort included. This offer is valid for new individual bookings only for select travel date March 31, 2016 and must be booked by October 31, 2015. Subject to capacity control and may increase at any time. Prices include the GST and PST Club Med is not responsible for errors or omissions. Club Med Membership fees of $60 per adult and $30 per child are additional. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. For travel services booked with a Québec Travel Consultant, prices exclude the clients’ contribution to the Indemnity Fund, which amounts to $1 per $1,000 of travel services purchased. Québec permit.

THE ULTIMATE EAST COAST The Ultimate East Coast ROAD TRIP Road Trip

It’s a bold enough end-point in itself – Cape Breton Island’s famed Cabot Trail – as it’s consistently ranked among the world’s most spectacular drives, a title the road wears proudly as a tartan in Acadia’s cultural tapestry. But there is too much to be missed along the way to head directly there – or home again. Matthew R. Loney and photographer Sergio Beristain need little justification to seek the scenic route in a grand tour where the road is the destination.

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"

e’re in the woods,” the park Ranger answers dryly, motioning for me to kick the screen door of the cabin closed while I fill out the registration. “Asking if there are bears here is like asking if there are bars in New York City.” But we’re nearly 500 kilometres north of New York City deep in the Adirondacks just north of Lake Placid and I thought it a cautious enough question to ask. In sections of this national park, campers are required to hang their foodstuffs. Not far from here, a lone female hiker stabbed an aggressive black bear and then fled to a nearby campground. The forest-blanketed slopes and trout-filled lakes already feel worlds away from the skyscrapers of Toronto we left behind at dawn but this campsite at Taylor Pond is only day one of our 14-day road trip. With over 6000kms marked for the route, a series of scenic roadways that form a loop through four states and five provinces, I’m not taking any early chances.

Bears, we soon realize, will be the least of our problems. On the outskirts of Vermont our red roadster spooks a moose and the size of our two-seater MX-5 next to the giant mammal reveals that humans, despite the bucolic dairy farms and ski resorts, still share these valleys and escarpments with a diverse wild animal population. Barely into New Hampshire, as if a brief hallucination, a black bear lumbers across four lanes of traffic and disappears up the slope. We pray the road ahead brings us more bears, fewer moose.

With so much distance to cover, striking a balance between headway and sightseeing becomes a Zen-like exercise. Sacrifices have to be made; we speed by more than a dozen photogenic lookouts. But the push onward is reassuring as the next morning. We catch the salty tang of the Atlantic shore as we descend from the White Mountain National Forest and join Maine’s Highway 1. We are soon lured off course down winding country lanes where chopped wood and oysters by the dozen are sold at roadside stands. We creep into cul-de-sacs seduced by a glimmer of the sea flashing to us through stacks of lobster traps. It’s noon before we pull into Rockland – a seaside town that redefines small-town handsomeness – ravenous and on the prowl for the area’s famous lobster rolls. We find them at Claws where butter-toasted buns heaped with chunky lobster meat come served with pepper-crust fries and coleslaw that alchemizes cabbage into a luxuriously slurpable sidedish. The parking lot is crammed as we pull away. We are both deliriously unconvinced such a succulent lunch will be possible to top.

BOLD | 55

ALONG THE NEW ENGLAND COAST,

eating local means eating seafood and the number of roadside lobster pounds is second only to churches and gas bars as the islands of Penobscot Bay fade into the mountains of Acadia National Park. The town of Bar Harbor is thronged with ice cream cone-eating tourists but the park’s campground is half-empty as the last long-weekend of the summer approaches.

We catch whiffs of sizzling bacon and pancake batter drifting over from other sites. Our camp-stove just barely boils water but we are content with spicedapple instant oatmeal and dark roast black coffee.

It’s the kind of simplistic living befitting to Acadia’s sublime offering of hiking trails and driving roads that wind along the jagged coast. Two days in this National Park fly by. We take turns napping in the tent or stoking the fire (the local wood gives off a fragrance intoxicatingly close to frankincense). We scale the cliff-side of the Precipice Trail – an ascent to the summit of Mount Champlain so ludicrously precarious it’s done largely by edging along metal rungs and hand-holds bolted into the rock face. The hike is as exhilarating as it is petrifying thanks to a scattering of islands and sailboats dotting the blue Atlantic for what seems like hundreds of kilometres into the distance. The park’s beach is crammed with a last eager drove of tourists diving into the frigid ocean to swim. Two well-sunned lifeguards patrol the sand lazily. We’re being spoiled with a beach-day so late in the season but we’re left with no doubt we’ve been treated to Acadia at its summer finest.

Soon it’s time to cross back into Canada. We tour through the fishing towns along the winding coastal drive into New Brunswick’s prehistoricfeeling Fundy National Park to catch the incredible tidal variations of the bay. Arriving at the Hopewell Rocks, the iconic stone arches and flowerpot structures that have come to symbolize Fundy, it strikes me that we’ve reached some ineffable totem on the trip – one of those distant landmarks that seem impossibly far away when at home and yet

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suspiciously unreal when you find yourself face to face with it. The extraordinary change of tide arrives in relentless, silty waves the colour of toffee that quickly devour the shoreline. We’re craving lobster again but settle for locally caught fish-and-chips and an order of deep-fried clams. Our shoes caked in sea mud, sunburnt and exhausted, we gorge on our meal in silence back at our site. Except for the crackling of our campfire, it’s just us and a smattering of stars as we collapse into the tent to sleep. We don’t care it’s just shy of 8pm.

In keeping with circadian rhythms, we break camp before dawn the next morning. There’s a considerable section of the Trans-Canada to knock off today, over 400 kms between Moncton and Baddeck if we’re going to keep to schedule. It’s a long but not uninspiring piece of highway that seems pulled from the pages of a classic road trip – sweeping, forested stretches of road, blue skies out to the horizon and an accompaniment of CDs I’d stashed away from the 90’s. We belt out the lyrics to “Mr. Jones” and “All I Really Want” uninhibitedly into the wind.

By afternoon we’re giddy beyond our fatigue as our tires hit the first of the 300 kms in the loop of the Cabot Trail. Technically, we’ve arrived, but we’re only half-way: We’ve planned the route home to Toronto to take us through PEI, New Brunswick, down the St. Lawrence into Quebec. “But no matter, the road is life,” Jack Kerouac typed in On the Road and as we click off the last of our easterly kilometres, we feel a stronger, more visceral keenness to his metaphor.

It would be wrong, or at least irresponsible, to call a ribbon of asphalt like the Cabot Trail a destination.

The Trail is a spectacular, nearly erotic roadway in the seductively muscular way it hugs the island’s impressive coastline. There are views and then there are views of a lifetime and we join the last of the late-summer road-lovers – packs of motorcycles, bicyclists, space-age RV campers – for the astonishing succession of world-class panoramas.

We’re rewarded further with a brilliant blanket of stars and an ocean-view campsite in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Beyond our screen door, the waves crash along one of the beaches where the Venetian explorer, John Cabot, may have landed. The

exact location is disputed but indisputably his arrival to the New World ushered in a volume of history that transformed the landscape of the Acadian region and the entire continent. The name Acadia itself comes from the Greek arcadia – meaning “idyllic place” – a vision of harmony with nature. In short, it means Utopia and it’s not hard to see how this place earned its name. As anyone would be, we are sad to leave after two days in paradise but the undulating section of roadway south into the fishing town of Chéticamp s a breathtaking climax that makes up for our departure from Eden.

Circling west and homeward, we pause for three nights camping amid the majestic sand dunes of Prince Edward Island’s Cavendish Provincial Park. We treat ourselves to more succulent lobster rolls and beyonddelectable hand-cut island fries from Charlottetown’s charming proprietor of The Chip Shack. We settle in for the long haul from PEI across the Confederation Bridge along the Acadian Coastal Drive into Rimouski, a Francophone logging and farm region so picturesque it joins a growing list of places we’ve marked to come back and explore. After hours stopped in a dust-cloud of roadwork, the St. Lawrence arrives into view. We creak from our seats to explore the otherworldly nature sanctuary of Parc Nationale du Bic in time for the sky to melt into a popsicle-coloured sunset. The next day following the Route de Navigateurs down the eastern shore of the river, the Chateau Frontenac greets us as a welcome urban landmark. The cobbled streets of Old Quebec are abuzz with tourists. The Grand Prix has barricaded the road to our hotel: A peloton of cyclists flies by in a flurry of cowbells and neon jerseys and while the hustle is exciting, it’s unexpectedly jarring after the remote tranquility of the parks. We drop the car with Hotel Acadia’s valet service before crumpling onto the first solid mattress in over two weeks. That evening in the cozy interior of the Le D’Orsay restopub, we suck back bowls of steamed garlic mussels followed by roast lamb sandwiches. Our waiter recommends two heady French Canadian ales and the buzz of the alcohol makes for a particularly jovial meander back through the old city to the hotel.

In Ottawa

we treat ourselves to a final night at the Delta City Centre. With the modern decor and sleek backlit bathrooms, we feel somewhat out of place with our clothes smelling like wood smoke but happy to leave the camp stove and sleeping bags packed in the car.

The 401 home to Toronto closes the loop of a 6000km journey through some of the earliest settled regions and pristine protected lands of North America.

Entering the crammed highways of Toronto, we’re suddenly hit by the powerful sensation to keep going, to whizz past our turn-off and continue the adventure indefinitely as long as the pavement would allow. That must be the road trip’s siren song - what they mean by “the call of the road.”

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BEYOND

PEOPLE + PLACES

Last Words with Globetrotter Alex Cuba, The Cuban Rock Soul Alex Cuba, Latin Grammy and two-time Juno award winner is not tied to tradition. Though his style is simple - jeans, a vintage leather jacket, and a ‘60s inspired coif - his music is a layered conglomeration of Latin and African influences with hints of jazz, pop and rock. Cuba moved from Cuba to Canada in 1999 and currently resides in Smithers, British Columbia, the hometown of his wife, Sarah. He has collaborated with such noted artists as Nelly Furtado, Juan Luis Guerra, Ron Sexsmith and Juanes, to name a few, and he is about to embark on his most ambitious project to date: A road trip documentary on the emerging talent of Cuba.

We caught up with the Grammy award winner artist on the heels of his Ontario tour to promote his new lauded album, Healer.

Where was your last trip?

Los Angeles. We had the honour to open for the great Sheryl Crow for two nights at the Hollywood Bowl.

Where in the world do you feel happiest?

In Smithers, BC where I live.

What do you pack first?

My custom made gold shure microphone.

What do you never leave home without?

Vitamin C and oregano oil.

What is your favourite city and why?

New York City. Everytime I play a show there I am reminded of how multicultural the city is.

Perfect travel companion?

My wife Sarah Tell us about a great little place you know.

The Neat Cafe in Burnstown, Ontario.

Confess to one thing you’ve taken from a hotel room.

Sometimes I’ve been in hotels that have great moisturizing products and I take one little bottle with me if I like it.

Which foreign phrase or word do you use most often?

Empingao, a Cuban word for great.

How do you plan your trips? apps?

If you are talking about vacations, I hardly go on them, but when I do my wife and I just go to a place we like without the need of any app.

Work trips are different, they have a different routine that we are used to.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Smoking a Cuban cigar.

Favourite Food when you travel?

Indian food Destination that you always go back to no matter the season and why?

Victoria, British Columbia; it was my first home in Canada.

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