Kanoo World Traveller July 2009

THE MIDDLE EAST’S BIGGEST TRAVEL MAGAZINE

JULY 2009

TOTAL GUIDE

Take a gourmet tour of Croatia, find a countryside hideaway in Turkey, and discover the coolest spa in Cyprus…

BANGKOK FOR BON VIVEURS BEGINNER’S BERLIN OFF-RADAR NEW YORK

TAKING STOCKHOLM

A YEAR OF EVENTS IN SWEDEN’S COOLEST CITY SHORT-HOP BREAK

HEADING HOME TO THE BEAUTIFUL INDIAN OCEAN

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A LUXIN STAY URY W T ITH MARRHE T GROUIO KWT 6 T P

CONTENTS JULY 2009 KANOO WORLD TRAVELLER

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Sri lanka

Produced by: Hot Media Publishing FZ LLC June 2008 22,485 BPA Consumer Audit Managing Director: Victoria Hazell-Thatcher Editorial Director: Rob Orchard Publishing Director: John Thatcher Advertisement Director: Chris Capstick Sales Manager: Ian Fairey Designer: Jenni Dennis Advertising enquiries ian@hotmediapublishing.com +971 4 364 2875 Editorial enquiries editorial@hotmediapublishing.com +971 4 364 2876 Cover: Al Maha, courtesy of Emirates Hotels & Resorts Additional images from Getty, iStockphoto, New York Tourism Board Hong KongTourism Board, Design Hotels Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from Hot Media Publishing is strictly prohibited. All prices mentioned are correct at time of press but may change. Hot Media Publishing does not accept liability for omissions or errors in Kanoo World Traveller magazine. ‘Exotic Med’, ‘Sri Lanka’, ‘New York’, ‘Bangkok’ and ‘Berlin’ feature reprinted with kind permission of Sunday Times Travel.

AGENDA

FEATURES

5 AGENDA

35 EXOTIC MED

10 EASY WIN

54 SRI LANKA

New ideas, new promotions and events from smart to bizarre this month.

Win a luxury break at one of three Marriott properties in Dubai.

11 KNOW IT ALL

Our travel experts get to grips with your holiday questions.

12 DRIVE TIME

Grab the wheel and take a beautiful cruise in Northern Ireland.

14 ENJOY STOCKHOLM A year’s top events await.

18 ESSENTIAL SELECTION

The very best hotel offers in the Gulf this summer - get ready for a bargain.

26 PICTURE THIS

Stunning travel images to fire your mind.

Pick the perfect holiday, from gourmet tours of Croatia to hilltop escapes in Turkey.

The tropical island comes back into its own: we take a tour to reacquaint ourselves...

CONCIERGE

64 NEW YORK

The Big Apple’s best spots for dining, shopping and quirky accommodation.

66 BERLIN

The insider’s city guide to this most exciting of destinations.

68 BANGKOK

Head to Thailand for a tour of Bangkok’s lesser-known delights.

72 SUITE DREAMS

Get ready for a perfect stay at the Taj Exotica in Goa.

7.09 AGENDA AGENDA NEWS

10 EASY WIN 11 KNOW IT ALL 12 DRIVE TIME 14 ENJOY STOCKHOLM 16 WEAR IN THE WORLD 18 ESSENTIAL SELECTION 26 PICTURE THIS

WHAT’S IN

WHAT’S NEW

WHAT’S ON

YOUNG TURKS

The islands of Turks and Caicos have long been the hideaway for the rich and famous. But with the recent opening of the Gansevoort Turks and Caicos, the archipelago has become the coolest place to be seen. The rooms are decorated in cool ocean colours, the Exhale Spa and fitness centre is world-beating – and we dare you to resist the ‘floating island’ daybeds when you hit the pool. www.gansevoortturksandcaicos.com

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NEW DEAL

BUY THE BOOK

Grab a copy of Once in a Lifetime Trips to plan your own hot list of things you have to do and places you have to see. From fly-fishing in the Chilean fjords to sailing Alaskan waters that big cruise ships can’t, Chris Santella lists one unique idea after another, describing each one in great detail. Be warned – it’s guaranteed to give you some pretty expensive dreams…

ARTY PEOPLE Looking for a cool package for your next trip to New York? We’re big fans of the Carlyle’s new ‘Art of Discovery’ offer, which combines a luxury room and breakfast with a private, personalised tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from a local expert. The tours are customised to fit your interests and include a 15% discount at The Met Store. thecarlyle.com

JAZZ BY THE BAY

EVENT HORIZON

The French and jazz music have a longestablished love affair, and if you’re in France this summer, be sure to catch one of the many festivals that run during the season.

Specifically, the mother of France’s jazz festivals, the Jazz a Juan in Cote d’Azur turns 50 next year, but come July 11, it’s kicking off celebrations a little early by paying homage to Sidney Bechet 50 years after his death. Set in a beautiful park near the water, the festival will feature Bob Wilber, Joss Stone and Jamie Cullum. antibes-juanlespins.com

LIFE’S A DOODLE London’s Doodle Bar, as you might suspect, is designed for doodlers.

Whitewashed from floor to ceiling - and featuring a VW beetle, a ping pong table and a chaise longue, which could all do with a little colour – the Doodle Bar, which has just opened, lets you go crazy with a sharpie. Even the waiters dressed in white are not off limits. It will host exhibitions, screenings and art classes for wannabe artists, and Vivienne Westwood has signed up to host monthly film screenings.

Marvellous. thedoodlebar.com

TRAVEL BY NUMBERS

30,000 6

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The height in feet from which you can now tandem skydive at the Incredible Adventures HALO center in Mississippi, USA. You’ll experience a freefall of up to two minutes as you drop from higher than Mount Everest - Most other places jump from 15,000 feet.

AGENDA NEWS

BEST FOOT FORWARD

VIA ROMEA A glorious trek from Bologna to Florence through picture-perfect Italian countryside.

You can go by foot or take a bike, stopping off at lakes and tiny villages along the way.

Keen to hit the great outdoors this summer?

Check out our pick of the world’s best hikes…

THE CROW PASS TRAIL One of the most attractive areas in Alaska: trek this trail and you’ll see Crystal Lake, the glorious Raven Gorge and the incredible Raven Glacier: a cavalcade of sights right up till you reach the Eagle River.

THE DEVON COASTAL PATH There are a huge number of walks available on the coastal path in both North and South Devon in the UK. Our favourite is the trip from Lynton to Ilfracombe, which swings by the Atlantic beach of Woolacombe. Sweeping green landscapes and lunguls of fresh air are the order of the day.

THE TONGARIRO NORTHERN CIRCUIT A three day and three night trek in New Zealand, which starts and finishes at Mount Ruapehu, weaving through a volcano-littered landscape, a spookily beautiful place. If you’re feeling energeic you can incorporate an ascent of Mount Ngaurhoe. If you’re not, then take the day-long hike across Tongartiro Crossing instead.

THE ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT For something more serious, take the Annapurna for anything up to 300 kilometres through Nepal’s stretch of the Himalayas, passing along centuries-old trade trails connecting Tibet and Nepal. The views are world-beating.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

SET YOUR SIGHTS ON DUBAI Looking for a great-value room in Dubai? Check out the Ibis Al Barsha, which has an excellent location along Sheikh Zayed Road, just minutes away from Media City, Internet City, Jebel Ali and the Mall of the Emirates. It offers travellers on a budget the perfect base for exploring the city, as well as top value rates across the year.

The modern rooms are highly comfortable and equipped with WiFi and flat screen TVs. When it comes to relaxation, you’ll love the live Latin music at the ‘Casa Latina’ bar and the international restaurant, ‘Baharat’. With prices starting from just AED 279*, they’re your first stop for an economy stay in the City of Gold…

For reservations, please call + 971 4 399 6699 www.ibishotel.com *Conditions apply

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AGENDA EASY WIN

FIVE GOOD REASONS…

TO HEAD TO ATHENS THIS SUMMER…

1

The New Acropolis Museum has just opened and is showing thousands of finds from the Acropolis, many of which have been brought back to Greece from museums across the globe.

2

At the museum you can now check out the marbles of the Parthenon frieze – minus the ones pinched by Lord Elgin, naturally.

3 4 5

You can also see a 5,000-year old settlement which was found when the museum was being built and now forms one of its main displays.

Until December it will only cost you one Euro to get in... ...Which will give you more money to spend on your suite at the Fresh Hotel (freshhotel.gr), one the city’s coolest and best-designed hangouts. Expect beautiful city views from your private terrace.

PLANE SPEAKING As of this month, Emirates will be flying four times a week from Dubai to Guangzhou, their fourth destination in China.

Emirates has also launched a new route from Dubai to Luanda, Angola, with non-stop flights three times a week.

Qatar Airways has just announced details of their new routes from Doha to Amritsar and Goa in India. Four weekly flights to Amritsar will start from October 11, followed by flights to Goa from October 25.

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TREADING LIGHTLY Coming to our Senses

Six Senses has decided to put a chain-wide embargo on serving international bottled water.

Dropping the flown-in mineral drinks in favour of treating local water and serving it for free is part of their drive to green their properties as much as possible and minimise the environmental impact of guests’ holidays. Sounds like a fine plan…

GOLF LAUNCH

STORMING IDEA It’s July. Which means it’s the start of the serious ‘storm-chasing’ season in the Deep South of the USA. That’s right, storm-chasing – the pursuit of bad weather in the name of tourism.

This fringe pursuit involves tornado-lovers racing round the southern states armed with meteorological data and a carefree attitude towards their own continued existence. There are about a hundred professional chasers, with whom you can hook up on a ‘safari’ if you’ve got a couple of thousand dollars to spare – and a few screws loose. They’ll take you to the heart of the cataclysmically bad weather, while everyone else is trying to get away from it.

One of the maddest holidays in the world.

TEE TIME

This month sees the latest launch from Rocco Forte, the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort.

It’s located in southern Sicily and home to two 18-hole golf courses and one 9-hole.

Alongside the golf there’s also a big spa offering hydrotherapy and volcanic mud treatments, plus a restaurant on the beach offering freshly-seared seafood straight from the barbecue and over a kilometre of private coast to enjoy. A perfect place for a Sicilian break.

AGENDA EASY WIN KNOW IT ALL

EASY WIN

We’ve teamed up with the Marriott group this month to offer three separate prizes to three lucky readers. Up for grabs are…

TOP PRIZES JW Marriott Dubai

1) A two-night stay at the JW Marriott Dubai, a magnificent 351room 5-star hotel located in the business district of Deira, with buffet breakfast at The Market Place and dinner at Cucina Italian restaurant for two.

2) A two-night stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Green Community, a serene environment for business and leisure travellers, with buffet breakfast and dinner at the Pine Grill for two.

3) A two-night stay at the Renaissance Dubai Hotel, a 5-star hotel designed in contemporary style, with buffet breakfast at the Sails restaurant and dinner for two at Spice Island.

To be entered into the draw to win one of these three prizes, just send the answer to the following question to us at easywin@hotmediapublishing.com...

How many rooms are there at the JW Marriott Dubai? a) 351 b) 35 c) 3

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Renaissance Dubai Hotel

Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Green Community

AGENDA KNOW IT ALL

THE PANEL INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANTS CORRADO BOGNI Corrado is the head concierge of the flagship InterContinental London Park Lane. He and his network of fellow concierges round the globe can answer dining questions on any city under the sun.

Angkor Wat

KNOW IT ALL

ASK THE EXPERTS

Our team of travel geniuses help plan your perfect break...

Got a question? contact them at knowitall@hotmediapublishing.com

Q.

I want to visit Cambodia and do something to help others but I also want to have a great holiday including some luxury - any suggestions?

DANIELA PAPI : It is possible both to have luxury and to give back when you travel, especially if you take the time to seek out responsible hotels and tour operators. Those who want to learn more about development issues in Cambodia and support education programs can travel with us at PEPY (www.pepytours.com). We offer a range of options from ‘service learning tours’ where you support education programs and stay on the project site to ‘educational bike adventures’ where you travel across Cambodia visiting and supporting a range of NGO programs.

We also offer custom tours where we arrange hotels, restaurants and guided experiences, using locally owned options such as services from Hanuman Tourism or meals at Sala Bai training school. There are some unique locally owned and philanthropic options for hotels in Cambodia such as the boutique Shinta Mani hotel and the luxury of Hotel de La Paix, both of which support a tourism training center. By traveling with PEPY, our guests have the chance to support Cambodia with both their time and

the well-researched and positive investment of their money while leaving ongoing support through the donation portion of their fees. PEPY’s guests have a more authentic experience than simply interacting with local shop owners and hired guides – working together to support a project is a great way to meet local people and gain cultural understanding.

Q.

I’m going to Dubai over the summer and I want to check out the Dubai Fountain.

Where can I go to see it?

Your best option is to check in to The Address, Downtown Burj Dubai (theaddress.com) – get a suite on the Club Lounge floor and you’ll get access to their fantastic terrace, the perfect spot to sit out and watch the show. The fountains are truly spectacular – arcing and dancing across the surface of the lake accompanied by darting lights and inspirational music, they draw a huge crowd to the lakeside throughout the night. You’ll also get a great view from The Address’ hangout Neos, which gives you a vantage point from high above the fountains, a fresh perspective on the phenomenon. Over in Souk Al Bahar you can also catch the fountains from the outdoor areas of a series of restaurants, the most exciting being the Rivington Grill, which serves tremendous modern British food along with the up-close fountain views.

GLOBAL SHOPPING LOUISA COX Louisa is the founder of Shopping Mistress (www. shoppingmistress.com), a unique shopping service aimed at those with the money but not the time to hit the stores. She has expert knowledge of what to buy and where to buy it.

BOUTIQUE HOTELS JAMES LOHAN James is one half of Mr and Mrs Smith, the duo who launched the hugely popular guidebook series of the same name (www.mrandmrssmith. com). He devotes his time to discovering the world’s most exciting boutique hotels.

VOLUNTOURISM DANIELA PAPI Is the founder of PEPY (Protect Earth, Protect Yourself) in Cambodia, a non-profit organisation which organises tours and voluntourist activities in Cambodia - see pepytours.com for more info. .

ADVENTURE AND ECO TRAVEL TIM WOODS Tim is the founder of Car Free Walks (www.carfreewalks. org), leads conservation holidays for the BTCV (www. btcv.org/international) and is an editor for id21, communicating the latest research on ecotourism and responsible travel in Africa and Asia.

AGENDA DRIVE TIME

DRIVETIME

DURATIO N:

ONE DAY

BALLYGALLEY TO THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY

Northern Ireland is home to some superb drives, and none is more fun than a jaunt along the A2 from Ballygalley up to the Giant’s Causeway.

Book in to the Ballygalley Castle Hotel and get a good night’s sleep and an Irish breakfast in before jumping in the car. Set off from rustic County Antrim and head along the beautiful coastline, stopping off at Ess-na-laragh to see the waterfall and at a dozen low-key beaches to drink in the salt air and reel off a million pictures on your camera.

Then it’s on to Cushendun and Carrick-a-Rede with its fantastic rope-bridge (see below) before coming to rest at the Giant’s Causeway: cue more snapping…

Carrick-a-Rede

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AGENDA ENJOY

SWEDEN SPECIAL

Enjoy Stockholm Get ready for a full year of top cultural, sporting and musical events in the Swedish capital

15-19

July

Stockholm Jazz Festival

Head to Skeppsholmen Island for the Stockholm Jazz Festival, where the likes of Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Sonny Rollins will be playing on an open-air stage. Afterhours jam sessions will be taking place in the city’s cafes too unmissable stuff.

The Popaganda festival in Eriksdalsbadet in the south of the country on August 28-29 brings together dozens of big local and international bands for two days of top-flight music. This year you can look forward to pop darlings MGMT hitting the stage.

18-29 November

The Stockholm International Film Festival This fest hits town from November 18-29, with film-makers competing for a bronze horse – plus, of course, plenty of glory.

Visit and you can watch films from Sweden, America and Asia, with a lot from first time directors, plus visits from the likes of Lars Von Trier and Quentin Tarantino.

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From August 11-16 you can enjoy the Stockholm Culture Festival, which brings in thousands of visitors to enjoy the music, art, dance, comedy, kids’ events, photography displays, street art, theatre, special city walks and big name concerts which fill the city.

Throughout the month of October, cocoa-lovers should make a beeline for The National Museum of Cultural History (Nordiska Museet) and hit the Chocolate Festival, where they’ll be able to join with fellow choc aficionados to enjoy a huge raft of special tastings and demonstrations, alongside samplings of the best new products from Sweden’s surprisingly large number of gourmet chocolatiers.

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December

The Nobel Prize Awards The eyes of the world turn to Stockholm on December 10 for the annual awarding of the Nobel prizes by the Swedish king - the atmosphere throughout the city is electric.

In Stockholm on August 22? If so, why not get yourself some tickets to the Coldplay gig at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium.

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October

Stockholm Bull Run On October 17, check out the Stockholm bull run. No bulls take part – it’s a 5.5 mile endurance dash across testing terrain. The location shifts each year but it’s always tough – swamps and marshes aren’t ruled out. Great fun to watch, less fun to do.

Make for the Globen Arena in February for the GE Galen indoor athletics championship, a mid-winter sporting festival which sees international athletes go head to head.

The Spa of course is fabulous but sometimes nothing beats retail therapy Live the moment.

Book a three night stay at One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives and receive a 4th night and return airport transfer by luxury yacht for free. Conditions apply. Travel must be completed by 15 October 2009. To book or for details of longer stay offers, contact your travel professional, visit oneandonlyresorts.com, or email Info@oneandonlyresorts.com.mv.

For a brochure call +960 664 8800.

One&Only Reethi Rah is part of a portfolio of distinctive and memorable resorts in The Bahamas, Dubai, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico and now Cape Town.

Call +960 664 8800, email Info@oneandonlyresorts.com.mv or visit oneandonlyresorts.com.

AGENDA WEAR IN THE WORLD

ER FOR H

SHOES: TODS DRESS: TED BAKER

SCARF: COCCINELLE

WATCH: DIESEL

PURSE: PRADA BAG: TODS

SHOES: REPLAY

SUNGLASSES: MANGO

STYLISH TRAVELLER

WEAR IN THE WORLD KWT’s inhouse fashion expert points you in the direction of the smartest threads and accessories to travel with this month

FOR H IM

SUNGLASSES: DIESEL SCARF: MANGO

JACKET: GUESS

SHORTS: MANGO SHIRT: MANGO JUMPER: GUESS

WATCH: DIESEL

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SHOES: TODS

BAG: TODS

Morocco, a place of fun for the entire family.

MOSAIK

Welcome to Morocco, the land of contrasts. Vibrant and enchanting, where shadows meld with sunlight, and sky and sea kiss at the horizon. A land that for centuries has been romanticized by storytellers in their books. Weaving tales about its natural beauty, the warm hearts of its people and the elegance of its architecture. Not to mention its lazy beaches crawling on the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, its snow-covered peaks, water springs and thick forests, as well as the stunning beauty of its old cities. Come, discover Morocco today. travel for real

£ä£]Ê Àii Ê/ ÜiÀ]Ê > Þ>ÃÊ-ÌÀiiÌÊUÊ*"Ê ÝÊ\ÊÈ{Ê£ä ]Ê i À>]Ê ÕL> ÊUÊ À>ÌiÃÊ À>LiÃÊ1 ÃÊUÊÊ/i Ê\Êä{ÓÓ ÓÎ {

www.visitmorocco.com

ESSENTIAL SELECTION

GULF’S BEST HOTEL OFFERS Summer’s here and the hotels are pulling out the stops to bring you first class deals: here’s our pick of the best…

Jumeirah and the Burj Al Arab 18 Madinat KWT

AGENDA ESSENTIAL SELECTION

Jumeirah Essex House

Jumeirah Beach Hotel

JUMEIRAH Dubai, London and New York Jumeirah are offering brilliant summer deals at their properties across the world as part of their ‘Summer Days’ campaign. The rates are geared up for families and include free meals for kids, free movies and internet, free breakfast and (in Dubai) free passes to Wild Wadi.

Rates start from Dhs1,150 ($313) in the Dubai hotels, £373 ($618) in The Lowndes and Carlton Tower in London and $385 at Jumeirah Essex House in New York. jumeirah.com

Jumeirah Emirates Towers

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W DOHA Qatar Thanks to their ‘Eternal Summers’ promotion, you can net savings of up to 30 per cent when you book at the modish new W Doha. To qualify, you simply have to stay for two or more nights This deal also applies to participating Gulf hotels from the Westin, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, Le Méridien and St. Regis chains. The offer is available for stays up to September 30 and bookings must be made prior to July 31. eternalsummers.com

ROTANA Across the Gulf Rotana has so many fantastic properties across the Gulf and the wider Middle East – including the recently opened superstar resort The Cove Rotana in Ras Al Khaimah.

They’re offering first class rates across their portfolio of properties until September 15, starting at only AED 250 ($68) per night. You can have a weekday stay at the Cove Rotana for AED 400 ($109), a night at the Beach Rotana in Abu Dhabi starting from AED 795 ($217) and a weekend stay at the Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa starting from AED 550 ($150). rotana.com

W Doha

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP Across the Gulf There’s a great deal on at InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express or Staybridge Suites.

It goes as follows: book for seven nights, pay for five. It runs through until September 1 at participating hotels, and it’s accumulative – so if you stay for 14 nights you get 4 nights free and if you stay for 21 nights you get 6 free… intercontinental.com/7for5, ihg.com/7for5

THE HARBOUR HOTEL & RESIDENCE Dubai The well-positioned Harbour Hotel & Residence affords spectacular views out over Dubai Marina and the Palm Jumeirah, and has a great offer on this summer – until September 18 you can stay for three nights and get your fourth night free – with breakfast thrown in for good measure. emirateshotelsresorts.com

InterContinental Dubai Festival City

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W Doha

The Harbour Hotel & Residence

The Harbour Hotel & Residence

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ATLANTIS, THE PALM Dubai Over at top resort Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, they’re offering an incredible package up until September 18.

Pay Dhs800 ($218) and you’ll get a room plus free entry to Aquaventure waterpark and Lost Chambers plus the Kids Club for your little ones and Club Rush for your teenagers. You’ll also receive one massage free when you book one at their spa. An outstanding offer. atlantisthepalm.com

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Al Faisaliah

Al Maha

AL FAISALIAH Riyadh

AL MAHA Dubai

When staying in Riyadh this summer, there really is only one address to consider - the stunning Al Faisaliah hotel, whose breathtaking design has captured the imagination of business visitors to the Kingdom. This summer they’ve got a special promotion on, with prices on standard rooms starting from only 899 Saudi Riyals at the weekend. alfaisaliahhotel.com

From now until September 17, Emirates Hotels & Resorts is offering a special promotion on all published rates.

At Al Maha, the exquisite desert resort outside the city of Dubai, where you can relax in luxury in the middle of a beautiful nature reserve, promotional rates start from AED 2,340 ($638) per night per Bedouin Suite.

All rates are on a full board basis and include two desert-based activities. emirateshotelsresorts.com.

IBIS Dubai and Kuwait

AL RAHA Abu Dhabi

At the Ibis properties in Dubai and Kuwait there’s a great ‘Summer Break 2009’ promotion running until September 20. In Dubai, at the properties at the World Trade Centre, Deira City Centre, Al Barsha and Mall of the Emirates you can stay at prices starting from AED 279 ($76) per night.

And over at the Ibis Salmiya in Kuwait you’ll be able to get a room starting from 21.5 Kuwaiti Dinars. ibishotel.com

The Al Raha resort’s a brilliant place for a beachside getaway. And until September 15, they’re offering some top deals on room rates. Prices start from AED 699 ($190), including breakfast plus a 15 per cent discount in the restaurants and a 20 per cent discount on treatments at the lovely inhouse spa. Visit before August 17 and you’ll also be entered into a draw to win a Harley-Davidson Sportster 883. danathotelgroup.com

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MILLENNIUM HOTELS Dubai Book in to any of Millennium’s three hotels in Dubai (the Grand Millennium, Copthorne Dubai or Millennium Dubai Airport hotel), starting from AED499 ($136) including service charge and tax, and you’ll get breakfast, airport transfer, rides to Ibn Battuta, Mall of the Emirates and City Center malls and a 20 per cent discount on food and drink. And if you’ve got kids up to ten years old with you, they can share your room for free and get a 50 per cent discount on meals. Not only that but also you’ll be entered into a draw to win two tickets to London with Austrian Airlines and a double room for four nights at the Knightsbridge Millennium in London. The offer is valid until August 15. millenniumhotels.com

THE PALACE THE OLD TOWN Dubai In Dubai’s ultra-cool Downtown Burj Dubai neighbourhood lies The Old Town and stunning hotel The Palace, a lovely spot on the edge of the Burj Lake.

Here you can book a four night stay and only pay for three this summer: for longer breaks you’ll get a 25% discount from the fifth night onwards too. You’ll also get airport transfer, breakfast and club lounge access throughout your stay. theaddress.com

The Palace Downtown Burj Dubai

MÖVENPICK HOTEL & RESIDENCE BUR DUBAI Dubai At well-established Dubai retreat the Mövenpick, you can book three nights for the price of two this summer, and get a free upgrade to the next available room category as well as a free daily breakfast. movenpick-hotels.com

MARRIOTT HOTELS Dubai Over at the Marriott Hotels in Dubai – which include Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Green Community, JW Marriott Dubai, Renaissance Dubai Hotel, Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai Creek and Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai Green Community – you can stay for three nights for the price of two until September 19.

If you’re holidaying with your family, the deal at the JW Marriott Dubai includes exclusive access to the JW Kids Club and complimentary meals for kids under the age of 12 in the Market Place and Bamboo Lagoon. marriott.com.

JW Marriott Dubai

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RAFFLES Dubai The Dubai outpost of Raffles has made a name for itself with its outlandishly beautiful, Egyptian-themed architecture and its outstanding restaurants (the Noble House Chinese restaurant is among the very best in the city). It’s also right next to Wafi, one of the city’s coolest, most label-heavy shopping malls. Until September 15 Raffles are running a ‘Summer Sanctuary’ promotion which gets you a room for AED 850 ($232), with a 25% discount on eating at their restaurants and getting treatments at their glorious Amritsa Spa. dubai.raffles.com

The Palace Downtown Burj Dubai

Raffles Dubai

Raffles Dubai

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PICTURE THIS

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL Known as A Cidade Maravilhosa – The Marvellous City – Rio’s home to broad and sunwashed seafront in the form of Ipanema and Copacabana. It’s a wild, untamed beast of a place, capable of shocking you with its extraordinary beauty as well as its raw split between rich and poor. When you’ve immersed yourself in the beaches and boulevards, take the celebrated cable car up the Pão de Açúcar mountain to get a fabulous – and not a little frightening – bird’s eye view over the sprawling cityscape.

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IMAGE: ISTOCK

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VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE The Zambezi River crashes over a hundred metres down through the Victoria Falls, crossing from Zambia to Zimbabwe and throwing spray hundreds of feet into the air. It’s the the world’s largest waterfall, and a captivating, humbling sight. You’ll hear it well before you see it, though – it’s not for nothing that the local name for it translates as ‘The Smoke that Thunders’.

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IMAGE: PHOTOLIBRARY

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ANTELOPE CANYON, ARIZONA An inspiring natural sight in the heart of Navajo country in Arizona, Antelope Canyon is split in two parts. The Upper Canyon is shot through with beautiful beams of light which illuminate the ancient rock. The Lower Canyon is a deeper and tougher climb but a rewarding one, and sees you twisting around underground, emerging into breathtaking caverns along the way. To visit Antelope you’ll need to get a special permit – which helps keep it from being overrun and maintains its special, ultra tranquil character.

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IMAGE: ISTOCK

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PRAIA DA MARINHA, PORTUGAL One of the Algarve’s prettiest beaches, the Praia da Marinha sits on Portugal’s Atlantic coast, a sheltered nook surrounded by high cliffs and hemmed by clean, turqoise water. It’s a wonderful place to set up for the day: take the twisting steps down from the heights above and find a patch of sand before bathing in the sun and the ocean.

When you set off swimming you’ll find there are plenty of caves to explore, as well as little rock pools filled with scuttling crabs.

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EXOTIC MED

TOTAL GUIDE

Exotic Mediterranean

Stretch out summer and shun the crowds – in the corners of a Mediterranean less travelled 36 CAUSING A STIR The freshest fish, the tastiest truffles: a secret stretch of Croatia has all the right ingredients for a (ful)filling week in the sunshine

46 UPWARDLY MOBILE Turned off by Turkey’s thrumming resorts? Then try a break with tradition: in hilltop villages close (but not too close) to the coast

40 MED CONFIDENTIAL Great long weekends in classic coastal cities – with all the boring bits sieved out! Wake up and smell the hubble-bubble pipes

50 SWEET SURRENDER Amid the green tranquillity of Cyprus’s Akamas region is a special spa that’ll get you fit and fabulous chocolate allowed.

Exotic Mediterranean feature reproduced with permission from the Sunday Times Travel

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Causing a Stir Juicy oysters, pungent truffles and meltingly fresh fish – Croatia’s Istrian peninsula gives Italy a run for its foodie money (at a fraction of the price), says Fiona Sims

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here’s no menu at Batalina. It’s what Danilo has managed to catch that day, and how his son, David, decides to cook it. Today it’s brodet, a kind of fish stew. Tiny succulent baby squid mixed with juicy, sweet spider crab in an intense onion-and-tomato broth spiked with herbs plucked from the terracotta pots outside his kitchen.

To mop it up: a creamy mound of polenta.

Next comes sparklingly fresh raw red mullet, thinly sliced and dressed simply with extra-virgin olive oil (‘No lemon juice – it kills the flavour of the fish,’ David warns me), deep-fried baby sole, then plump anchovies sharpened with red vinegar and chopped onion.

Where am I? The attention to culinary detail shouts Italy; in fact, I’m in Banjole, a tiny village on the coast of Croatia’s Istrian peninsula, not far from the striking Roman city of Pula. That’s right, Croatia – land of cabbage and potatoes. Or so I thought until I spent a long weekend scoffing here.

For years I resisted a holiday in the Balkans, not least due to memories of a holiday in a high-rise in the former Yugoslavia (which once encompassed Croatia). The food repeated itself in more ways than one, but recent tales from returning friends mentioned delicious blow-outs, beautifully composed, delicately flavoured and a fraction of the price you’d pay in Tuscany. They described stunning scenery: groves of monastic cypress trees; horizons of knotted vines; metallic marine-blue views spiked with Italianate belltowers. Stir in some swanky places to stay and a long foodie weekend seemed very attractive.

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Istria calls itself Croatia’s gastronomic heart for good reason. A huge peninsula, dangling like a locket into the Adriatic east of Venice, it’s laden with great produce.

With influences from Italy to Hungary, via Austria and Spain, Istria pioneered Croatia’s first high-end eateries, along with the olive oil that put it on Europe’s culinary map. There are beautiful towns and Venetian-look resorts to visit along the coast, such as Rovinj in the north, one of the Med’s original working fishing ports. But for the most dramatic scenery, and the best food, it’s best to head inland, up to crumbling hilltop villages – among the prettiest, Buje and Groznjan. Up here, family-run inns, known as konobas, ladle out bean soups and local fungus-based fare (the porcini mushroom pasta at Toklanja, in Buzet, is a highlight) – fortifying food for long walks through scented pine forests, or narrow cobbled streets in villages slowly waking up to their new popularity.

The roads were empty as I motored inland after my lunch at Batalina. I was heading for Hotel San Rocco, in Brtonigla, a pretty town of pale stone facades and scarlet roof tiles. Still full of fish stew, I wondered how on earth I’d manage dinner.

I’d have to – the main reason for being in Brtonigla is the food at Astarea, one of Croatia’s best konobas, run by chef Nino and his wife Alma.

Can concentration burn off calories? I hoped so, listening to Nino talk me through the courses as I sat in the sun on the balcony. Turbot, caught that morning, was placed with onions, courgettes, potatoes and olive oil in a cripnja, a dome-shaped pan on the burning embers of his huge open fireplace.

Sweat trickled down his face – inside it

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37Rovinj

“I’d been told that I could simply follow the Italian number plates. Italians live for their stomachs and they’d almost certainly be making their way towards the Toncic restaurant” was furnace-hot. The sun set slowly and I loosened my belt in anticipation as Alma nudged scallops to the side of the grill, doused in extra virgin oil.

Eat your way around Croatia and you’re bound to hear the term ‘agro-tourism’ at some stage: it means that every ingredient used in cooking has to be produced by the restaurant, from the oil to the cheese.

The food is healthy but not low-calorie, so I skipped breakfast the following morning, to cope with what lay in store for lunch at a recommended agro-tourism classic later that day.

I got a bit lost en route, following looping ways edged with dry-stone walls. Luckily, I’d been told that I could simply follow the Italian number plates. Italians live for their stomachs and they’d almost certainly be making their way towards the Toncic farm restaurant.

The reason? The renowned pasta made with truffles dug up that morning by Sandro Toncic in the hills above Motovun forest, and cooked by his sister, Orjeta. I scrambled into position at one of the wooden tables, nudging huge banks of lavender that scented the air. Ravioli stuffed with cheese was the special, topped with black truffle shaved at the table. It was softer than that served in Italy, but irresistible.

‘You should come back in the last week of October,’ said Sandro. ‘There’s a truffle festival in Livade.’

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Ancient Roman amphitheatre, Pula

Harbour ofRovinj

I’d tasted perfection – and I wanted more. After a long siesta back at the hotel, I jumped in the car and headed back to the Motovun forest, for dinner at the most famous Istrian truffle restaurant of them all: Zigante. A flamboyant figure met me at the door, sporting gold hoop earrings and a red bandana: Damir Modrusan, head chef, is a celebrity around these parts, his cooking more River Café than Ramsay: sheep’s cheese mixed with chopped black truffle and served simply; and one of the best truffle pasta dishes I’ve ever come across – his signature, mixing black and white.

Next morning, I could do little more than lie by the pool at Hotel San Rocco, avoiding breakfast. But my Croatian feast wasn’t over just yet. I was merely saving calories for cevapcici, the world’s finest fast food. My flight home was much later that evening and, around 5pm in Pula, I watched the sunset flare briefly, the colour of a struck match, behind the almost skeletal Roman amphitheatre.

I’d grazed earlier that afternoon on what I’d found at the market – a colour riot of cherries, figs, plums, tomatoes and cucumbers, at stalls festooned with lavender.

Now my stomach was grumbling. I headed for the cafe I’d been told was the best in town: wooden-tabled Galeb, in the Stoja quarter. Plonking myself on a long bench, I ordered. The cevapcici emerged: 10 beef patties ladled with sheep’s cheese and

wrapped in puffy oven-baked bread. They were cheap and delicious – made by a team of white-capped women in an open kitchen.

Like the hungry diners around me, I doused mine in ajvar, a tomato salsa laced fierily with paprika. It was a warm night, and I idled for an hour watching the women at work. Catching the eye of one I quizzed her about the origins of the dish. The salsa, she said, came from Croatia, the cheese from Serbia and the bread from Bosnia. Little more than a decade ago, those regions of former Yugoslavia had been enmeshed in murderous ethnic conflict. Now I was savouring harmony. Food as past and food as future – the essence of Istria, I realised later, as my plane ascended through fluffy clouds, moonlight turning the wings truffle-white.

WHERE TO STAY Hotel San Rocco (san-rocco.hr; rooms from $220, B&B). Or Hotel Villa Angelo d’Oro (rovinj.at; doubles from $380, B&B).

WHERE TO EAT Batelina, Cimulje 25, Banjole (00 385 52 573767); Astarea, Ronkova 9, Brtonigla (00 385 52 774384, www.konoba-astareabrtonigla.com); Toncic, Cabarnica 42, Zrenj (00 385 52 644146); Zigante, Livade Tartufi, Livade-Levade 7 (00 385 52 664302, www. zigantetartufi.com); Galeb, Osjecka 37 (no phone).

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Med confidential There’s more to the Med than beaches. These far-flung favourites come with cool culture and warm waters

Antalya, Turkey Urban stress-remedies don’t come simpler than a molar-dissolvingly sweet coffee with pastry in the tiny walled quarter of Kaleici, in the heart of Antalya.

Harbours, waterfalls and beaches are attractions beyond the town, and warm (25ºC) autumn temperatures make the resort as popular with Turks today as it was with the Romans.

STAY The Tuvana (tuvanahotel.com; rooms from $190, half board).

Once guesthouses for Ottoman Society, these are now exquisitely restored houses with period furniture and a fruit garden: pick your own plums and pomegranates.

Owned by a garrulous Armenian family, The Ninova Pension (ninova-pension.com; rooms from $64, B&B) has a citrus garden

and a beguiling atmosphere – with echoing footsteps and shadows from the old town lending mystery at sunset.

EAT Sit in the garden at Kral Sofrasi (Kaleici Yat Limani 35, Merkez), looking out over cream and ochre rooftops, while forking at Turkish staples such as guvec (stew) and midye tava (mussels in batter with garlic). Guneyliler (Elmali Mahallesi 4) is a city favourite for its enormous kebabs and its lahmacun – minced beef or lamb on pizza-style bread (dishes from $7).

SEE Start with a wander around the new marina, Kaleici, which bristles with cafes, gardens and mosque spires. It attracts Turkey’s newly wealthy, yet the hubbub evokes its earlier incarnation as a sleeves-

up working harbour. From here, you can board a boat for a half-day tour taking in views of the Duden waterfalls, plunging into the ocean. Back in town, lunch on fresh sardines and prawns in the garden at Hasanaga (00 90 242 247 1313), near Hadrian’s Gate. The gate itself is a Roman triumphal arch with marble columns, the slabs underfoot grooved by centuries of carts. Next day, leave the Kaleici quarter for Ataturk Caddesi, the main shopping boulevard, lined with date palms. Hop on a ’50s tram heading west to Muze. You’ll pass minarets and leafy squares thronged with stooped widows, lazing bikers and sun-seeking office workers at lunch. And don’t leave Antalya without walking to Hidirlik Kulesi – a watchtower from Roman times – to see the cherry-red sunset behind the Lycian mountains.

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Alexandria, Egypt Crumbling colonial mansions, sea walls and sweeping beaches, street cafes and the smell of shisha smoke in the air: the offbeat charms of Alexander the Great’s weathered Med city soon have you hooked. And sunny autumn days, in the mid 20ºCs, are made for idle exploration.

STAY Four Seasons at San Stefano (fourseasons.com; rooms from $450, B&B). Barely a year old, this high-rise newbuild is the city’s smartest option, with sunshine-yellow decor, superb service, sparkling Med horizons and lazy bronzing by the infinity pool. The spa features Thai and Egyptian-informed treatments and nine places to dine include Italian and Lebanese. The Sofitel Cecil

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(www.sofitel.com; rooms from $190, B&B) is nowhere near as glamorous, but much more central.

EAT Alexandria majors in well-executed seafood, especially in the streets near the fish market in Anfushi: chic restaurant Samakmak (00 20 3481 1560; mains from $6) serves lovely crab tagine and spaghetti vongole. Nearby, relaxed Abu Ashraf (00 20 3481 6597; mains from $4) does an excellent sea bass and fine fish stews.

SEE Start underground – so much of the past is buried below. The Catacombs of Shouqafa, in Karmouz district, date from Roman times, displaying elegantly carved and painted tombs. There are more hidden treasures at the National Museum of

Alexandria (00 20 3483 5519): ancient statues dredged from the harbour, mosaics and jewellery unearthed during excavations. Time to sit and watch Alex society whirl by over coffee at one of the city’s faded cafes: try dark-panelled Trianon (Green Plaza), or equally atmospheric Delices (43 Saad Zaghloul), for afternoon tea. From here, it’s a short stroll along wonky pavements to the souk – you’ll smell the spice bazaar from 50 paces. Lunch next day on the terrace at the Greek Yachting Club (00 20 3480 1706): the taramasalata is even better than the harbour views.

Minutes away is Fort Qaitbay, built over the ruins of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the ancient seven wonders of the world. Now join the crowds on the Corniche, nibbling toasted nuts, before seeing out the day back at The Four Seasons: it has several cafes for sunset drinks and a shisha pipe.

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Tunis, Tunisia Calmer than Cairo, safer than Algiers, Tunis’s whitewashed medina unravels in loopy alleys and blue studded doors, mad souks, lazy cafes, and few crowds. Just beyond the city, Carthage, home of warmonger Hannibal, lies crumbled; and Sidi Bou Said village poses on a hilltop, one of the loveliest settings in the Med. STAY Villa Didon (www.villadidon.com; doubles from $400, B&B), on the edge of ancient Carthage: modernist, with bold interiors, a buzzy bar (try Fridays) and views over the port. The 12-room Dar el Medina (www. darelmedina.com; rooms from $200, B&B) is the closest Tunis comes to a Marrakech-

style riad (a traditional merchant’s palace, converted for guests).

EAT Dar El Jeld (www.dareljeld.tourism. tn; set menu $50) inhabits a romantic mansion in the medina. Order dorade (bass) with capers, tomato and olives. In Sidi Bou Said, on the terrace of Au Bon Vieux Temps (mains from $28), tourists eat early, locals wait until late, for fish grilled to a turn, served with couscous.

SEE Even if you don’t normally like art you must do the National Museum of Bardo (www.informatique-tunisie.com/ museebardo): the capital’s storehouse of antiques is stuffed with finds including the

world’s finest mosaics. For a blast of real Tunis, head for the souk – it’s liveliest in the morning and early evening (it closes at 7pm). Skip the main street; instead head for the Souk des Chechias, where artisans still craft the Tunisian version of the fez. Sip glasses of cooling mint tea in Cafe Mrabet, near the main Zitouna Mosque – and savour a snapshot exotic-Med moment.

When the Romans conquered Carthage, they destroyed the city, only to realise its perfection and build anew. Easily reached on the TGM suburban railway, the remains fill a morning nicely. Nearby Sidi Bou Said is a clutter of white houses, blue doors and sea views. It can get mobbed in season, so arrive at dusk, when crowds disappear, leaving you to dine at Au Bon Vieux Temps, before pine-nut tea at Cafe Sidi Chabaane.

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Split, Croatia There’s so much or, if you’d rather (this being the Mediterranean), so little to do.

History is present everywhere on this compact little peninsula – but, then again, so is sunshine, with a handy cafe at every turn. Many centuries ago, the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305AD) quit and retired here. His rambling palace still commands the port like a walled old city, medieval upon Roman: a wormy pattern of living ruins redolent of an older, smaller Venice (which once ruled it). Beyond, palms and cafes line the gusty Riva waterfront, where leisurely days are measured out in coffee and cat yawns.

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STAY Le Méridien Lav (starwoodhotels. com; doubles from $420, B&B). The luxury option is beyond the centre, businesssmart, with a spa and sea-view pool. Inside Diocletian’s Palace, the Hotel Vestibul Palace (vestibul palace.com; rooms from $410, B&B) is lean, with repro Le Corbusier chairs and rooms bearing chunks of the 1,700-year-old walls.

EAT Try Spalatum, in Le Méridien Lav: executive chef Rafael Peterkovic gives great gourmet – the veal medallions are a particular highlight (mains from $28).

Sperun (Sperun 3; mains from £7), owned and run by a benign professor, is a favourite for a romantic dinner of fresh fish.

SEE Split was made for aimlessness: a left turn may lead to a hobbity front door and a dead end, but, backtracking, you’ll emerge into a cafe-edged piazzetta. Diocletian’s Palace is navigable in a day, with 3,000-odd residents inside its flanks.

One day, be sure to board the Jadrolinija ferry for the hour’s voyage to the island of Brac: the beach at Bol, 40 minutes south by bus or cab, has shallows the barely-there blue of a paintbrush swirled in a jam jar.

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Tangier, Morocco At the junction of the Med and the Atlantic, Tangier is close and exotic. Writers, rockers and heiresses came in the ’50s for inspiration and the moody medina and a civic spruce-up underway make it an alluring introduction to Morocco.

EAT There are palace restaurants in the medina, but better still is Raihani (00 212 3993 4866), in the new town. Sit in the garden for French and Moroccan food, including a fine sweet pigeon pie (mains from $16).

STAY Villa Josephine (villajosephinetanger.com; rooms from $440, B&B): it’s a 19th-century clifftop abode with touches of English country-house. The colonial Continental (00 212 3993 1024), doubles from $80, B&B) above the port oozes rundown charm, with fine views from the terrace.

SEE Victorians came for the beach, still a beautiful stretch. Tennessee Williams wrote Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at shorefront Sun Beach café. In town, see Kasbah at the Dar el-Makhzen (00 212 3993 2097), a 17thcentury palace that houses an absorbing crafts museum: painted wooden ceilings and exquisite calligraphy. From here, you

could amble away the weekend in the medina: Rue es Siaghin leads to the square of Grand Socco. Up from here, near the El Minzah Hotel, Saveurs de Poissons (set menu $22) serves one of the city’s most memorable meals: shark soup, grilled fish and fruit. Iconic Café de Paris, in nearby Place de France, is for people-watching. Or head west along the cliffs to Cafe Hafa for literary ghosts and views of Gibraltar. Less than 15km out of the centre, Cap Spartel marks the meeting of Atlantic and Med: walk Robinson Beach to the Cave of Hercules. Nearby, Hotel Le Mirage (00 212 3933 3332, lemirage-tanger.com) has an excellent sea-view restaurant (mains from $24) and atmospheric piano bar.

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Upwardly Mobile Leave the coast to the package-holiday crowds. If you want to find the real Turkey, says Jeremy Seal, you should run for the hills

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auline Salvarli is serving us dinner among the cherry trees of her upland country garden at Bezirgan, when somebody mentions the touristic town of Kalkan, down below on the coast. A tumbleweed hush falls as Pauline pauses. ‘Kalkan.

Hmmm, to be honest, I never really go there any more.’ You could reasonably ask Pauline what she might have against a dose of Turkish Mediterranean air. But if you’ve seen Kalkan – only 20 years ago a pretty port of bobbing boats and outlying olive groves, now a hulking holiday town largely lost beneath a tidal wave of faux-Ottoman villa developments – you’ll sympathise with her sentiment.

Pauline and Erol Salvarli – a fine local/ expat alliance – once ran a restaurant there, but long ago retreated to Erol’s family village, some 18km inland and 725m above sea level. They came to open a country guesthouse, Owlsland, and today it’s a relaxing far cry from the hustle of the coast. No brash bars, no boutiques, no pushy restaurant touts and no concrete mixers.

There are owls, though. Their woo-woos drift romantically across fields as the six of us – Owlsland’s full capacity – dine communally. It’s a banquet of homeproduced cacik (creamy yoghurt-andcucumber dip), bean salads, chilli-fired dips, goat’s-cheese filo parcels called borek, and a heavenly aubergine moussaka.

You can almost hear the peace ringing in your ears. The altitude brings mild temperatures while banishing mosquitoes.

And we have this magical spot just for us?

We’re pinching ourselves.

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Hot summers, and a respect for their roots as pastoral nomads, explain why so many Turks yearn for the inland heights.

It is to the hills that they have traditionally headed, livestock and all, leaving the tour buses and the pushy restaurant touts to tussle it out on the blazing coast. In recent years, imaginative hoteliers, along with villa and B&B-owners, have begun to follow in their footsteps. They have fled the concrete chaos of resorts such as Gocek and Selcuk, Kalkan and Olu Deniz, to deliver authenticity at cooler, calmer altitudes.

Our itinerary, in my opinion, represented the best way of discovering traditional Turkey. We simply meandered by Jeep between the best of the hill retreats in the region, spending a night or two in each, and making regular forays to the coast.

We woke, refreshed, after a night in the former village home of Pauline’s in-laws: a 200-year-old stone house set in an orchard of fig trees. There was a rickety cushioned kosk, or roofed first-floor balcony, for relaxing, and bathrooms with proper showers. For breakfast, we devoured a spread of local cheeses and homemade jams with crusty bread before heading for Saklikent Gorge.

The way led inland, through mountain landscapes. Minarets poked above the huge plane trees which canopied dusty villages of barking dogs. The gorge appeared after an hour, its sides rising sheer from waters of milky jade.

Entering the gorge meant wandering a boardwalk to the river’s edge. Hiring plastic shoes we waded the icy rapids upstream.

Then it was back to warm our toes at the riverside cafes. Saklikent Gorge is truly a

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47 Bezirg창n

“The next day takes us on an adventure along the switchbacking Lycian Way: Turkey’s first long-distance path, which runs just minutes from Bezirgan” special place. The stilted wooden platforms that extend over the river are piled high with faded rugs and cushions to recline upon; there are olive-oil catering cans sprouting geraniums, and lunch was a lazy affair of gozleme (savoury pancakes stuffed with crumbly cheese and parsley) and thirst-slaking ayran (the classic salted yoghurt drink), brought on a burnished tray the size of a tabletop. The wading was hungry work.

The next day takes us on an adventure along the switchbacking Lycian Way: Turkey’s first long-distance path, which runs just minutes from Bezirgan. Tortoises amble the waymarked old track, which winds past collapsing wooden granaries and ancient ruins buried deep in scrub oak.

Too soon it’s time to return to Owlsland, pack up and push on, allowing plenty of time for leisurely diversion: the rusted roadside sign, for instance, which waylays us as we pass the village of Caykoy that afternoon.

It directs us to an olive-oil soap ‘factory’, where we find the proprietor prone under his mulberry tree. It’s not long before Mr Gursoy wakes from his siesta to rhapsodise about his soap. It’s made from a simple mixture of his own olive oil, water and caustic soda. There’s no fancy gift shop here, and it’s a simple pleasure to depart 48

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with a two-kilo bag (10 bulky bars) for just $6, with tea under the mulberry tree thrown in.

The road deteriorates bumpily among the hills, unspooling into great stands of pine forest and stone-terraced fields: the wilds of Yediburunlar (Seven Headlands).

Presently we fetch up at the Lighthouse, a six-bedroom boutique hotel named for its perch on a 600m crag above the sea.

It verges on the surreal. The swimming pool seems to hang in space and the main building perfectly combines boutiquehotel beauty with the homespun frontier appeal of a mountain lodge. Turkish Semra prepares a memorable vegetarian evening meal – aubergine with sautéed walnuts and onion, peppers stuffed with rice and raisins – while South African Leon leads a morning trek to ancient Sidyma. The tour stops for tea in the village square, and to admire the mosque. Its walls have been slung together from chunks of centuries-old columns and Greek-inscribed slabs, with an exhilarating disregard for their classical provenance.

Ancient sarcophagi now function as fodder stores. A trip through millennia and we’re still back at the Lighthouse in time for a late lunch by the pool. There we are beckoned by hammocks, to watch gulets – traditional timber boats – far below.

It was only a short drive to our next day’s base, but it was steep: the wildness was ratcheted up with every breezy hairpin, and we felt like real pioneers on reaching the village of Karaagac. Since the 1990s it has been home to a ranch-style mountain resort called Black Tree Cottages. Anthea and Gurbuz – refugees from the shoreline bustle of Olu Deniz – have made this 1,100m-high village their home since making their escape.

Trad touches (a potter’s wheel; a library; donkeys, rabbits and geese) are everywhere, but there’s welcome

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Mandarin Hotel

Going up: five more hillside havens…

Patara ancient city

modernity, too, with a swimming pool and tennis court. There are horses and mountain bikes for exploratory afternoons.

Alpine-style stone-and-timber cabins are scattered among the fruit trees and the atmosphere is utterly unpretentious.

We settled in immediately, observing the occasional group of walkers emerge from the mountains to overnight in the hostel-style lodgings of the site’s old farmhouse. They guaranteed a diverse, sociable mix each night on the veranda of the restaurant, which turned out delicious dishes based on the fruits of an extensive organic garden.

Finally, one scorching day, we decided to rouse our lazy limbs and make for the coast. It was the huge sandy sweep of Patara that seduced us, with its backdrop

of late-classical and early-Byzantine ruins.

In the dry heat we wandered past the baths and the ruined basilica, climbed the theatre steps, then descended, through the dunes and eucalyptus trees, to a strand of whitepowder sand that stretched westwards for 20km, unbroken and untrodden.

A cavort in the surf cooled us instantly, and we dried off while drinking tea beneath the reed canopy of the beach cafe. But with a reddening sky and evening on the way, sand flies were beginning to mass.

Setting our sights on the inland heights, we were happier than ever to take to the hills.

FURTHER INFORMATION Turkish Culture and Tourism Office (www.gototurkey.co.uk).

MONTENEGRO, GOKCEOVACIK This 700m-high farming village is home to Montenegro, a boutique hotel down a bumpy track.

PASTORALVADI, YANIKLAR Translated as Pastoral Valley, this organic, eco-friendly farm is a clutch of simple but attractive cabins set among vegetable gardens and woodlands of riverbank eucalyptus.

MANDARIN HOTEL, FARALYA Faralya was all but inaccessible until the precipitous road from Olu Deniz was hacked out of the cliff face. This scattered hamlet is wrapped around the head of the Butterfly Valley. Faralya’s eight-room Mandarin Hotel is metres from the Lycian Way, offering lazy lodgings for nature lovers.

NISANYAN EVLERI INN, SIRINCE Tucked in a pretty hillside village of stone and stucco houses, the Nisanyan Evleri Inn (www.nisanyan.com) is an Aegean take on the Provençal auberge, with shaded gardens, five bedrooms and a splendid restaurant.

UZUM EVI, KALKAN If you’d like to be closer to Kalkan, restored village houses and stylish new villas dot hill slopes of vines and orchards above town. Stay at Uzum Evi, a restored two-bed village house with pool.

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Sweet Sureender Does a detox spa retreat have to mean starvation, abstinence and scary treatments? Not in Cyprus, finds Emily Stone

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henever the pastry chef’s back is turned, I sneakily pop another chocolate drop into my mouth. Before long, I’m sticking my finger in the mixing bowl.

Then I’m licking the spoon. A minute later and I actually consider putting my whole head in the bowl and lapping up the mix of chocolate melted in butter.

I realise that a spa break in Cyprus – meant to turn me into a svelte, glowing Gwyneth Paltrow – hasn’t completely transformed me. I still have far more in common with Augustus Gloop, the gluttonous boy who is quickly despatched by the Oompa-Loompas at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I am shamed. The cookery lesson at Basiliko, one of four restaurants at the Anassa resort, was a treat at the end of three days’ intensive detox. I should never have volunteered to be on dessert duty.

Life is sweet for most guests to Anassa, a luxury hotel on the headland above Chrysochou bay in the northwest. Blank all images of trashy concrete resorts – and strips of 24-hour bars and clubs – from your mind: this part of Cyprus has a quiet, rugged, intoxicating beauty. And the resort has lavished huge sums to aid the pursuit of indolence: well-tended gardens of cypress and bougainvillea; lashings of slabby marble and minimalist fountains at every turn; dashes of rustic-chic sandstone and stained glass; expensively simple wooden doors and local-look shutters to evoke a whitewashed Cypriot village. I wouldn’t be surprised if they heated the sand and the waters off the beach, one of the best in Cyprus. With temperatures

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rarely dipping below 12ºC, even in winter, who needs a jet-lagged night flight to Thailand for a holiday?

All that said, I’m not expecting a picnic on the ‘Detox retreat’. It’s organised by Vicki Edgson, a nutritionist who appears on the TV series Diet Doctors. Initially, she’s fun and warm – the antithesis of Gillian McKeith – yet soon she reveals another side, as stern as a Dickensian schoolmaster. I’d entertained thoughts of spending at least the first afternoon on the terrace of my room, gazing at the Mediterranean, and the lushly wooded mountains enveloping the resort, glass of juice in one hand, packet of nuts in the other. But I arrived to find my mini bar empty, save for a low-sugar cereal bar.

Would Vicki actually police my bill for contraband snacks from the pool café?

I decided not to risk her wrath. You can do it, I told myself. No bread, no sugar, fat, or treats. How hard could it be?

The first consultation lasts an hour, as Vicki picks over my eating habits in minute detail and my stomach grumbles sporadically. On the whole, I am pleased to learn, I’m not doing badly. I’ve been vegetarian for 20 years: good. I eat far too many puddings: bad. One of my main problem areas is erratic mealtimes and the urge to reach for chocolate or crisps to fill the inevitable energy dip: very bad.

Over breakfast on the main terrace of the Anassa, I gaze enviously at guests who’ve opted for a nice normal holiday, free of raw food. The bay sweeps out before me, tiny birds swooping low through the lush gardens, as waitresses ferry towers of sticky pastries. A glass of something luridly red lands suddenly before me, and neighbours

The spa at the Anassa resort

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“I’d entertained thoughts of spending the first afternoon on the terrace of my room, gazing at the Mediterranean, and the lushly wooded mountains enveloping the resort...” glance longingly across. If only they knew it was beetroot juice. Gulped down, it tastes like dissolved soil.

Never mind. We’re also allowed Bircher muesli (oats and nuts soaked overnight in apple juice to make them less like motorway-surface mix). It is not unlike sweetened wallpaper paste, but there’s fruit and poached eggs, too. I just hope Vicki didn’t notice me pocket a bread roll as I sidled past the buffet.

The detox retreat attracts people of all ages, but on my trip, we’re all fairly similar – women in our twenties and thirties, stressed from screaming offspring, deadlines and dinners with colleagues.

We’re looking for a short, restorative break, clearer heads and trimmer ‘mum-tums’.

The spa at Anassa is serene, set around an indoor pool and secluded courtyard, but I have never been to a proper one before, and I’m embarrassingly sketchy on spa etiquette. I’m handed a hairnet, which turns out to be a pair of paper-mesh pants. The detox retreat rolls out treatments designed to rid the body of toxins and improve the look of cellulite. During my first facial, the therapist spreads an unguent over my skin, which feels as if it is dissolving my cheeks.

‘It’s burning!’ I cry melodramatically. ‘Don’t worry, it’s just the herbs,’ she replies. At least when I look in the mirror afterwards, I don’t look like the Phantom of the Opera.

I am, I soon discover, a spa wimp. One day I’m taken into a small, dim, windowless 52

room, and asked to stand at the end, while the therapist turns a hose on me – not a gentle garden hose, but a pressure washer.

It feels like a punishment. The nerves in my legs screech in pain and my stomach fat wobbles in alarm. Afterwards, I feel exhausted, beaten, like an old boxer who has fought one too many fights. I swear I can see bruises developing.

And I’m so hungry. As is my detox course-mate Andrea. ‘Lemon taaaart,’ she oohs, as we crunch on a salad lunch and reminisce about favourite foods. It’s like we’ve been on a desert island for years. ‘I’m craving salt-and-vinegar crisp sandwiches,’ I confide, perhaps not quietly enough – did Vicki just shoot me a withering look? During a reflexology session the next day, I lie on the couch, surrounded by rose petals, dim lighting and relaxing music, while my therapist gets to work. Reflexology is the art of applying pressure to points on the feet, which, reflexologists believe, correspond to other areas of the body, supposedly stimulating organs and unblocking the flow of ‘Qi’ (or life force) through the body. It is also excruciatingly painful. ‘You have a lot of tension,’ he says. ‘Because I’m terrified that I will never have the use of my feet again,’ I think to myself. But all I can manage to squeak is ‘oh’.

Perhaps my Qi really has been unblocked because I exit feeling light-footed and energised, my body in balance with my spirit. Two days into this detox and holistic treatment regime and already I’m functioning like a new age throwback.

I warm to the exercise – more the yoga classes than the gym, because for a novice like me they seem to involve quite a bit of lying down. I was slightly less prepared for the sweaty 6am hike into the near reaches of the Akamas peninsula, on Cyprus’s northwestern tip. As someone who considers exercise a sprint to the shops when they’re about to close, I am slightly nervous. I also have a headache. I never get headaches. Vicki says it’s probably a symptom of the ‘cleansing’, as the toxins

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The Anassa resort

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leave my body – hopefully taking those illicit bread rolls with them.

Gravelly paths give way to shaded woody trails as we clamber up rock ledges, through tumbling pine forests and clusters of juniper trees. After about an hour of scrambling, we turn a corner and a spectacular view unfolds before us.

Mile upon mile of wild, beautiful, rugged coastline.

This is detox for the soul: the Cyprus that erases memories of hideous overdevelopment. The Cyprus that cures spainduced headaches. Goats graze peacefully in the distance and villagers rattle from time to time along the tiny road below.

Of the hundred or so plants indigenous to Cyprus, 40-odd thrive on the Akamas peninsula alone. The greenery is vast and silencing. The sandy coves below are the calm colour of coffee with a lot of milk, and if you’re here in summer, you can see turtles nesting. Unspoilt is not the word – it’s utterly untouched.

The only sound in the sweet air is birdsong, and plenty of panting as we start walking again. There’s not a soul encountered – bar the odd snake – the entire trek, and after the showy grandeur of the Anassa, I adore it here. So did Aphrodite, who rose from the sea, just off the coast.

She liked to bathe in a pool up here, shaded by fig trees, though I think she skipped the beetroot juice.

No noisy children, just dense pine forests, birds and the sea in the distance – small wonder the prospect of a plate of fruit for breakfast suddenly palls.

Still, by the end of my stay, my headache is gone, and while I will spare you the details of my digestive movements, I don’t think I have ever felt ‘cleaner’ inside.

My eyes are brighter and my skin, which was too spotty even for a teenager, is strangely clear. I feel rested, full of energy, ready to take on daily tasks.

Surely, to reacclimatise, a last-day cookery lesson with the Anassa’s head pastry chef and his delicious recipe for chocolate orange fondant can’t hurt?

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SRI LANKA

Golden Daze

Whether you’re blinded by gilded old buildings or seduced by cappuccino-coloured beaches, 24-carat Sri Lanka will have you spellbound long after you leave, says Josephine Davies

I

’ll bet you he chickens out.’ My partner, Tom, gestured towards the lake, where a waiter was preparing to ambush a bunch of monkeys causing a stir. We shifted on our sunloungers for a better view of the drama unfolding at the water’s edge.

From a distance, the troupe of chattering macaques looked like old ladies at a tea party, hunched and helping themselves to the remnants of sticky scones and sandwiches left by picnicking guests.

Suddenly they caught sight of the waiter, armed with a rolled-up copy of the Colombo Times, and for a moment, both sides stared each other down. Then the monkeys launched a sudden united attack, hurling handfuls of Victoria sponge and sending him scuttling back towards the pool. Giving us a shrug and a ‘what-canyou-do?’ smile, he headed off in search of reinforcements as we ordered more juices and dipped our weary feet in the pool.

As afternoon entertainment goes, it couldn’t get much better.

The island of Sri Lanka was pronounced

by Marco Polo the most beautiful in the world. Geographically, it might lie in India’s

shadow, tucked under its southeast coast, but in fact it’s every bit as appealing as its big sibling, minus the offputting bits. The crushing poverty prevalent on India’s streets is less obvious here, the roads smoother and cleaner, the tempo languid and tropical rather than big-city frenetic. Horizons ripple with temples. Dozy colonial towns yield to hill stations carpeted in tea plantations and beaches washed by the warm Indian Ocean.

Across Sri Lanka the living is easy, in smart, fashionable hotels, with coconut-laced cuisine that thwarts attempts to stay slim.

But for all the air-brushed creature comforts, the cultural dial is turned up full.

We’re greeted at Colombo airport by a kaleidoscope of saris around the baggage carousel – then by Leyton, our driver-cumguide for the trip. As the terminal shrinks to a memory, we’re transfixed by the terrain sliding by. Clocking our expressions he observes, ‘Ours is a rather green country.’

It’s something of an understatement.

After London’s monotone grey, it’s as if landscapers have made free with some super-strength fertiliser: magnolia and bougainvillea billow in the breeze; water buffalo wallow in emerald paddy fields and parrots chatter in tall palms overhead. At

roadside stalls, king coconuts are stacked high, thirst-slakers to be macheted open, while red bananas hang in fat bunches above mounds of papaya, mango, hairy rambutan – and the notoriously pungent durian fruit.

‘Tastes like heaven, smells like hell,’ warns Leyton as we ask to stop and sample one, promising not to stink his car out with a takeaway.

It’s nightfall by the time we reach Cinnamon Lodge, a colonial-style pile redolent of Raffles in Singapore: soaring ceilings, polished dark wood floors and cold juices clinking on the terrace in the humid evening. By day, its manicured grounds are frequented by mongoose and monkeys who like to taunt staff (to the amusement of guests), but now the night air throbs with cicadas, their distinctive buzz the nocturnal soundtrack of the tropics.

In a tranquil setting just beyond the village of Habarana, the lodge is in the heart of the ‘cultural triangle’, and therefore an ideal base. Whereas in India, you invariably have to travel vast distances to tick off your monuments, Sri Lanka’s ancient sites are clustered conveniently together. The result is a hassle-free culture fix: jungly ruins in the morning, poolside in the afternoon.

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“At the former royal capital, 1,000-year-old Polonnaruwa, we hired some old bone-shakers and cycled idly through sun-splashed woodland, pausing to admire friezes of elephants” In just a few days, you can play join-thedots with a wealth of history, through sights quite tongue-twistingly named. At the former royal capital, 1,000-year-old Polonnaruwa, we hired some old bone-shakers and cycled idly through sun-splashed woodland, pausing to admire friezes of elephants and Buddhas carved in eternal repose. The ground was almost painfully hot underfoot (shoes are banned at Buddhist sites), but that didn’t bother families in Sunday best, or girls with long dark plaits glossy with coconut oil, smiling shyly from behind pastel parasols.

Further north, at Anuradhapura, I needed sunglasses to gaze at the dazzling white 56

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stupas that loomed up from the dusty landscape like giant wedding cakes. Wrapped in orange sashes – the colour of Buddhism – they were circled by pilgrims bearing armfuls of lotus flowers. Here, too, the vegetation was slowly encroaching, with some stupas dusted in a soft-green fuzz as weeds spread their tendrils through the brickwork. At Dambulla, shrines are carved into the rock: the results resemble psychedelic caves daubed in Day-Glo paintings, with Buddha statues of all sizes lined up like Russian dolls along the ledges. Most spectacular are the ruins at nearby Sigiriya – teetering upon a volcanic outcrop 200m high, which juts

up from the flat landscape like a giant’s thumb. Visible for miles around, it was once thought to be crowned by a palace belonging to King Kassapa in 477AD (although some archaeologists claim it was actually a monastery). Whichever story you believe, there’s an Indiana Jones-style thrill as you squeeze between boulders the size of apartment blocks and age-worn frescoes of women.

We joined a group of schoolchildren dressed in starched white uniforms, and snaked our way up the steep steps to the top, where a pair of colossal lions’ paws are all that remain of a stone-carved feline guarding the entrance. It was refreshingly blustery at the summit – the climb was hot and sweaty – and by the time we checked in at Vil Uyana, a boutique eco-retreat within spitting distance of Sigiriya, we were veiled in red dust.

One of a handful of hip hotels emerging across Sri Lanka, its palm-thatched bungalows are well camouflaged by a backdrop of paddy fields and bamboo thickets. The theme is definitely poshrustic: glittering private plunge pools, and afternoon tea served in an open-sided library, where binoculars are provided for leisurely wildlife-spotting. In half an hour we’ve spied an Indian pond heron, Brahminy kite, Malabar pied hornbill, two magnificently named rapacious flangetails (neon-hued dragonflies) and a gaping croc, sunning itself almost next to our cucumber sandwiches.

The Sigiriya scramble hits my thigh muscles the following morning, merging with the full-throttle heat to leave me as limp as a rag doll. I loll in the back of the car and slowly we continue south towards Kandy, Leyton fussing over me like a kindly aunt.

He makes a surprise pit-stop at his friend’s spice garden, where he promises he’ll find something to ‘perk me up’. Sri Lankans swear by medicinal herbs: cloves are

SRI LANKA

Sigiriya

crushed and used as a natural (and strangely effective) toothpaste; cinnamon sticks are smoked like cigarettes for sore throats; nutmeg is grated and mixed with lime for belly-ache. I decline the offer of scarlet Betel nut and bird’s-eye chillies known as Sri Lankan dynamite. But a mug of steaming spice-laced sweet tea (a secret blend, winks Leyton) has all the turbo-charge of a tripleshot espresso.

Which is just as well, as it’s going to be a long night. We have arrived in Kandy during the mother of all rush hours: Esala Perahera. For 10 days, over a full moon in July and August, Kandy’s streets swell with the (party) faithful from all over the country.

There are front-row seats for us along the main drag, which becomes impassable hours before kick-off: pavements are drowned beneath family picnics of poppadoms spread on quilted blankets. Infants doze

on their mothers’ shoulders until, at the appointed hour, gunshots slap loudly through the streets, signalling the start.

Ash-streaked fire-dancers leap forward, followed by boys cracking whips to scare away snakes, which, apparently, might otherwise spook the elephants. Then come dancers twirling sticks, swords, tambourines and, incongruously, pink feather-dusters, keeping time to the drummers’ body-shaking beat. In the distance, swaying fairy lights in white, yellow, blue and red herald dozens of enormous plodding elephants, draped in sequin-studded velvet cloaks and illuminated like close-range constellations.

But next morning it’s as if it had all been a dream: the streets of Kandy have been swept clean of elephant dung, and are again whirring with tuk-tuks, the air smoky-sweet from the sizzle of masala dosas. Absorbing as it all is, we’re bound for another place

and another climate, up in the hills. Hairpin bends climb away from Kandy, through layers of fine mist. Frangipani and coconut palms give way to jade carpets of tea to the horizon, spiked with yellow-flowered acacia trees. Roadside stalls no longer sell pineapples and bananas, but cabbages, carrots and potatoes.

The hill station town of Nuwara Eliya feels strangely familiar, especially in the drizzle falling outside the St Andrew’s hotel. With its rose gardens and manicured lawns, if you half-close your eyes you could easily be in an English country pile – there’s even an antique snooker table, and beds warmed with hot-water bottles to guard against the evening chill. A late afternoon stroll reveals a fine colonial relic: Cargill’s general store, its carved wooden sign advertising ‘smoking requisites, sporting goods and ladies’ drapery’, although these days KWT

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it’s more of a mini-mart, aisles bright with curry powders and spices. At the Hill Club, a former hangout for wealthy tea magnates, white-gloved staff serve drinks in a room adorned with dusty taxidermy and hunting prints.

A wildlife leaflet in our room soon reminds us where we are. It is a list of recommended nature trails around town, and it comes with a warning: leopards still live in the surrounding hills. ‘They’re rare around here,’ Leyton attempts to reassure, ‘but I’ve heard that they come down occasionally when they’re short on food. Dogs go missing from time to time.’ It seemed no mutts at Nuwara Eliya were harmed during our stay, but I really wanted spots before my eyes, so we continued south to Yala, a remote wildlife reserve on the coast, home to around 40 of the big cats. As we descended vertiginous switchbacks, we peeled off layer after layer of clothing while the air became warm and moist again. Leyton, a resident of sunny Negombo, looked visibly relieved to be back in the humid zone.

It was a long, bumpy ride to Yala Village, past salt-encrusted lakes where crocodiles lay motionless. Beyond the thorn bushes, dunes shimmered and surf thundered against beaches stamped with dinner-plate sized elephant footprints. Set back from the ocean, our thatched hut rose on stilts, positioning us at eye level with squabbling monkeys, who sounded like cannon balls as they leapt on the tin roof.

At the main lodge, open-sided khaki 4WDs were waiting to transport guests to the entrance of the reserve, further down the dusty road. I had expected to catch only a fleeting glance of a rare black-and-yellow fur coat, so I was speechless when, half-an-hour into our safari, we came across a leopard just metres from our Jeep, licking its bloodflecked jaws in the shade of a tree.

“Beyond the thorn bushes, dunes shimmered and surf thundered against beaches stamped with dinner-plate sized elephant footprints” The still air smelt of death. ‘Look up,’ whispered the guide. ‘She’s dragged a deer up there. Now she can’t move until she’s digested.’ After a week of rich coconutlaced fish curry lunches, I knew how she was feeling.

Bumping back to Yala Village before nightfall, we pulled over beside a wild and desolate bay whipped by frothing breakers.

More than 40 locals, tourists and guides were swept to their deaths here by the 2004 tsunami – the spot is marked by a memorial in the shape of a wave. It’s a sombre and poignant place, and there are grim reminders of the devastation wreaked further along the coast, too, wide open spaces where villages once stood, tumbledown homes and crumbled walls. But people here are slowly re-building, welcoming back tourists and their much-needed money.

It’s not hard to see why this southern stretch of coastline has long been a favourite with visitors – slender palms curve over bays of pink-gold sand, reaching out to a sea warmed to wallow-in temperature. It may have been battered by the tsunami, but the coastline has bounced back with a string of low-key hideaways. One of the latest to open its doors is the Fortress, hiding, as the name suggests, behind whitewashed high walls.

With well-thought-out architectural touches (hibiscus-scented courtyards, ochre-tiled roofs, breezy verandas), it somehow looks as if it has always stood here. We lie lazily

on wicker loungers, watching turtles bob up in the surf like polished coconuts as hazy tankers disappear over the horizon. Most guests are weekend-breakers from Colombo, escaping the sweltering city heat. Over at the café, a newlywed Sri Lankan couple want to hear all about our trip.

‘But you mustn’t miss Galle!’ urges the wife, adding with a wink, ‘Just make sure you take an umbrella.’ Which is odd since there isn’t a raincloud to mar the azure sky.

The UNESCO-listed Dutch fort of Galle, built in the 17th century, is encircled these days by a bustling modern town. Step through the formidable gates, though, and it’s a different story: gabled merchants’ houses stained with moss, shady verandas fluttering with ceiling fans, boys playing cricket in potholed streets. At the Old Gate, the British royal coat of arms is carved into one side, the faded insignia of the Dutch East India company on the other.

Threading our way next day along the lush coastline back to Colombo, we wind the windows down to inhale the damp air, heavy with the smell of vegetation. ‘If only you could bottle it,’ sighs Tom quietly as we near the airport. New arrivals from a recently landed flight shuffle past, wide-eyed and smiling as they step out into the sunshine, and I feel a pang of jealousy. Afternoon tea back back home will seem sadly sedate when it’s monkey-free.

Travel brief WHEN TO TRAVEL There are two main monsoon seasons: the southwest monsoon from late April to October (affecting the west and southwest coasts) and the northeast monsoon from October to March (affecting the east coast).

Best time to visit is January to April, with dry, relatively cool weather across most parts of the island.

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Right (clockwise): Ocean Park, The Peak, The Causeway, Symphony of Lights, Yan Toh Heen, Lantau Island

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Eid in Hong Kong

From family favourites to wonderful restaurants, Hong Kong has something for everyone this Eid…

FOR SERIOUS LABEL LOVERS While Hong Kong’s many markets are good for a leisurely browse and tourist trinkets – Stanley market is the best of the bunch – it’s in the city’s malls that’ll you find the heavyweight brands. For high fashion, head to Elements on the Kowloon side of the city, where you’ll find stand-alone stores by Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci and wrap-dress wonder Diane von Furstenberg. Of the same ilk is ifc mall, which is home to Arrogant Cat – a firm favourite of the A-list - and Ascot Chang, the Shanghai tailor whose wonderful suits have won him a legion of fans across the globe.

FOR KIDS BIG AND SMALL Hong Kong is home to its very own Disneyland, the world-famous fun park where Mickey Mouse & Co lay on all manner of attractions for all the family to enjoy – big kids should make a beeline for the thrill-a-second Space Mountain. Another firm family favourite is Ocean Park, where in addition to ball-juggling dolphins and flipperclapping seals you’ll find giant pandas and an awesome selection of white-knuckle rides.

FOR CONNOISSEURS OF CHINESE CUISINE As you’d expect, Hong Kong offers some of the finest Chinese cuisine on the planet. Try Yan Toh Heen at the InterContinental Hong Kong for delicious dim sum, the multi-Michelin starred Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hotel, or the exceptional yet almost absurdly cheap Tim’s Kitchen. For something that’s definitely out of the ordinary, hop aboard a junk – the traditional Chinese sailing vessel – and sail over to the famous floating Jumbo Kingdom, which serves up an unbeatable selection of fresh-fromthe-ocean seafood.

FOR RACING ENTHUSIASTS September sees the start of the racing season in Hong Kong, when the locals flock to the world-famous Happy Valley Racecourse – it’s one of only a handful in the world to be housed slap bang in

the centre of a city - for a full card of top-class flat racing. Most meetings take place under the floodlights on Wednesday evenings, but head there early so you can check out the marvellous Hong Kong Racing Museum.

FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR A LITTLE ROMANCE Though the beautiful Hong Kong Park provides the perfect setting for a romantic picnic during the day, it’s at nighttime that the city truly comes into its own as a destination for the starry-eyed. Watch the sun slip into the ocean from Pui o Beach, Lantau Island, before taking a tram up to The Peak to drink in the spectacular views of a city alive with light. To follow, whisk your partner off for a windowside table at Hutong, which grants diners an unbeatable vantage point to view Hong Kong’s superb skyline. Next morning, take to the air in a helicopter for a truly heart-racing ride over the pictureperfect island below.

FOR CULTURAL BUFFS Next to the Hong Kong’s vessel-filled harbour you’ll find the city’s Cultural Centre. It’s home to the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and regularly plays host to top class theatre and opera.

It stands a mere stone’s throw from the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which is chockful of Chinese antiquities, while a little further away you’ll find Hong Kong Museum of History, which provides a fascinating insight into the city’s make-up.

FOR NIGHT OWLS Once the sun sets behind the skyscrapers, the nightly symphony of lights – a spectacular laser and light show – is the cue for the city’s night owls to swoop on places like Lan Kwai Fong and Soho, both of which offer fantastic al-fresco eateries and vibrant atmospheres.

Just be sure to get there early. Also well worth a visit are Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, where you can sample the very best authentic street foods.

For more information visit www.discoverhongkong.com

CONCIERGE CAPE TOWN

CONCIERGE CAPE TOWN

NEW YORK

BERLIN

BANGKOK

THE 30-SECOND CONCIERGE

GRAND DADDY HOTEL, CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA So where should I eat out in Cape Town tonight?

Stay right here and have dinner at The Showroom Café, where fresh local – and ideally organic – ingredients are the order of the day. Then retire to one of our themed penthouse trailers.

Where do I go for some serious shopping?

There are some great malls in Cape Town – try the V&A Waterfront, the Bayside Centre or Somerset Mall. granddaddy.co.za

Image courtesy of Design Hotels™

And what should I see in the city?

You’ve definitely got to take the Aerial Cableway up Table Mountain and take some photos at the top. And the South

African Museum’s great for a short course in the country’s history. Oh, and you mustn’t miss out on some beach time at Camps Bay.

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U.S.A.

Visit New York

Quiet monuments, lazy jade waters, laidback cafés – rediscover New York’s old-time appeal says Nick Redman No matter how many times you’ve been to New York, no matter how used to the place you think you are, at some point it hits you.

You might have queued two hours for a table at some restaurant du moment favoured by Madonna in paparazzi mode. Perhaps the doorman at the latest warehouse hangout in TriBeCa didn’t like your accent, and just said ‘No’. Maybe that hyped installation at the Museum of Modern Art was as thoughtprovoking as your Dad’s old holiday videos, or you’ve just failed to get into some tootight jeans in a snooty 64

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boutique in SoHo. Sure, you love New York – but suddenly, for an hour, you’d like the novelty to cease. Read on…

WHERE TO STAY NO EXPENSE SPARED The Greenwich Hotel 377 Greenwich St (www. thegreenwichhotel.com).

You lookin’ at De Niro?

Yes, you probably are.

His cash and clout are behind this place, and he’s often seen at the place. With reclaimedwood floors and a Zen-tranquil spa, this is already a new classic – and where else has a pool with a ceiling from a Japanese farm?

Rooms from $740.

Hotel Gansevoort 18 Ninth Ave (www.hotel gansevoort.com). Here’s a smart bet in oncesleazy, now sanitised MePa (Meatpacking District), where Stella McCartney et al have set up shop. It’s 14 storeys of ageless – if not-that-muchto-write-home-about – neutral rooms, which look better in low light. The rooftop pool, though, is a corker.

Rooms from $600.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD The London NYC 151 W 54th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves (www.thelondonnyc. com). You’d never recognise this Deco-

infused renovation as the corporate old Rihga Royal. Home to a Ramsay restaurant, it’s yet to acquire the patina of big NY dames; still, its quiet luxury won’t

suffocate like theirs can, either. Rooms from $400.

Hotel on Rivington 107 Rivington St (hotelonrivington.

THE LOCAL’S VIEW Manhattan resident Craig Nelson is managing editor of city-insider website Not For Tourists (notfortourists.com) and contributes to new LondonNew York monitor MetroTwin (metrotwin.com).

‘Lombardi’s gets all the ink for being the original NY pizzeria, but Arturo’s (106 W Houston St; 00 1 212 677 3820) is a classic Greenwich Village scene with jazz nightly. The pizzas ain’t too shabby either. You can see great Caribbean and Latin American art minus hordes at El Museo del Barrio (elmuseo.org). And you’ll avoid out-of-town crowds at the brand-new Santos’ Party House, in Chinatown: hip art, music and the best indie entertainment nightly.

CONCIERGE NEW YORK

Hotel on Rivington Top right: Central Park Left: Time Square and Brooklyn Bridge

GOING APE: The original King Kong’s roar was a tape recording of lion and tiger growls, played backwards.

FALL GUY: Robert E Odlum, the first ‘leaper’ from Brooklyn Bridge, in 1885, survived… for 45 minutes. IN A FLAP: The Empire State Building’s lights are turned off on cloudy nights when birds migrate by: lured by the glow, they can break their necks. HOME TRUTH: Oldest building in New York City?

The Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House, Brooklyn: a Dutch farm dating from 1652.

CLOCK IT: The NYC subway is the world’s only 24-hour transit system. com). Bright sofas and bathroom tiles do their best, yet there’s no escaping the wan, reproduction-’60s palette in this shrine to Toblerone tones.

If you like lobbies as hangouts, you’ll love it. The location, in the slightly scruffy Lower East Side, also adds appeal. Doubles from $400, B&B. WHERE TO EAT NO EXPENSE SPARED Alonso’s Steakhouse, 265 W 20th St, Nr Eighth Ave (00 1 212 675 7749; open evenings

only, from 5pm-11pm).

This is a secret which Chelsea diners want to keep: a tiny, bright-lit box with taxidermic touches on walls, and marshmallow-soft steaks to cross town for.

Mains from $34.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Momofuku Ssäm Bar 207 Second Ave at 13th St (00 1 212 254 3500, no reservations). Trendy, canteeny furnishings belie a razor-sharp insistence on tradition and quality at this queue-forming Korean/ Oriental diner. Aim for a stool at the counter

and go for the pillowy steamed buns. Dishes from $8 each.

Pastis 9 Ninth Ave at Gansevoort St (00 1 212 929 4844, www.pastisny. com). From the red awnings to the carafes of rouge, this fashion bistro in MePa is more French than a general strike: a buzzy, cosy, candlelit retreat for shop-worn feet. Mains from $18.

SHOPPING Broadway Panhandler 65 E Eighth St, between

Broadway and University (00 1 212 966 3434, www. broadwaypanhandler. com). Do this homeware store if only to buy the cheeky-quote paper napkins (ie, ‘Latte is Italian for, “You paid too much for that coffee”’).

Fat Witch Brownies 75 Ninth Ave (00 1 212 807 1335, www. fatwitch.com). Maybe the most rush-inducing brownies in Manhattan.

Persuaded?

9303). The upmarket vintage gear here wins over fashion editors and film stylists. Our advice? Buy it, sweetie, even if you’re reduced to living on Shredded Wheat for a year.

What Comes Around Goes Around 351 W Broadway, Nr Broome St (00 1 212 343 KWT

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GERMANY

The Reichstag

Visit Berlin

Edgy, spooky, cool… after 20 years without the Wall, this is still Europe’s most exotic capital says Nick Redman WHERE TO STAY NO EXPENSE SPARED Hotel Adlon Kempinski Unter den Linden 77 (www. kempinski.com).

It’s a ’90s rebuild of the magnet that used to lure the likes of Marlene Dietrich, but it’s still got 24-carat pulling power. Just entering the lobby for a coffee will transport you into a glitz-pit of Belle Epoque pretensions. Take a corner suite viewing the Brandenburg Gate and you’re guaranteed a historic stay. Rooms from $490, room only.

Hotel de Rome Behrenstrasse 37 66

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(www.hotelderome. com). Main attraction here? Masculinely fashionable interiors that hint at Asia and attract Hollywood. Stir in unflappable fivestar professionalism and finish off with a juice at the splendid café, gazing out at the facades of historic Bebelplatz. Rooms from $400, room only.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Lux 11 Rosa-Luxemburg Strasse 9-13 (www. designhotels.com).

In some ways the most perfectly positioned design hotel in Berlin, Lux 11 is a gentle wander from the

postcard sights up Unter den Linden, and the ‘scene’ districts east. Pale, pared-down and good-looking, too.

Rooms from $220, room only.

Myer’s Hotel Metzer Strasse 26 (www. myershotel.de). Refined Neo-Classical looks combine with a handy Prenzlauer Berg setting to create a (relative) bargain – all a skip away from the Saturday farmer’s market in Kollwitzplatz. Rooms from $170, B&B.

fall of the Wall, the logistics of splitting a city may seem unfeasible. Reality bites on Bernauer Strasse,

where a stretch is preserved. Find the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (Bernauer Strasse 111, 00 49 30 464

THE LOCAL’S VIEW Berlin resident Claus Sendlinger is CEO of Design Hotels (www.designhotels.com), which markets a collection of properties worldwide Sunday is brunch day. Try a traditional German spread at Café Einstein Stammhaus (cafeeinstein.com), over in Charlottenburg: crispy rolls and local cheese with freshly brewed coffee. Don’t bother with tour buses – Berlin is so cycle-friendly. Rent a cool-looking cruiser bike from Aloha Berlin (www.aloha-berlin.com) and enjoy the city independently. There’s no need to bring fancy shoes – just pack trainers and relax.

This city is pretty de-centralised and every quarter

DON’T MISS If you never came to Berlin before the

has excellent cafés. A classic for that first Friday night is Victoria, in Schöneberg. It’s groovy but friendly – all in all, very Berlin!

Lux 11 in Berlin is a member of Design Hotels(tm)

CONCIERGE BERLIN

Brandenburg Gate, Adlon Kempinski, Hotel de Rome, Lux 11

1030, berliner-mauergedenk staette.de).

Here for modern art?

Take a wander along Heidestrasse, hard by the new Hauptbahnhof (main station). Galleries in this nowheresville include the offshoot of London’s Haunch of Venison (00 43 43 422 8888, www. haunchofvenison.com; free). Come prepared for installations with ever-soslightly pseudish names. How about ‘The Instantaneous Everything’?

WHERE TO EAT NO EXPENSE SPARED Grill Royal Friedrichstrasse 105b (00 49 30 2887 9288). It’s been called Berlin’s ‘it’ restaurant for good reason: GR is modishly

laid-back, furnished urban-ly in grey, red and brown, with a cool river setting beside the Spree. It’s loved by Atkins-diet slimsters for its superb steaks.

Mains from $34.

Defne Restaurant Planufer 92c (00 49 30 8179 7111). With sparse terracotta interiors and the lights up bright, this Turkish stalwart in Kreuzberg doesn’t promise fireworks. But it delivers: zingingly fresh fish and kebabs, and an imam bayildi (baked aubergine with tomato and onion) you won’t better in Istanbul.

Mains from $26.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Anna Blume Kollwitzstrasse 83 (00 49 30 4404 8749). For a social snapshot of Prenzlauer Berg –

yummy mummies now squeezing out the Mohican-haired artists – take a table at this suave cafe/florist’s. The crusty-soft crêpe with cheese is memorable, like the honey croutons in the parsley soup.

Lemongrass Simon-Dach-Strasse 2 (00 49 30 2005 6975).

It’s rapidly gentrifying, but edgy Friedrichshain retains great cheap canteens of the world.

This one’s daftly good

value, squawking with Thai chefs, and steamy with curries. From $14.

SHOPPING VEB Orange Oderberger Strasse 29 (00 49 30 9788 6886).

Tangerine sofas, wincingly over-thetop goblets: Ostalgie (‘longing for the east’) reigns amid these vintage finds from ‘beyond the Wall’.

Geile Jacken Krossener Strasse 24 (00 49 1577

191 7827; open Wed-Fri 3-8pm, Sat 12-5pm). Get the Friedrichshain look with a second-hand leather jacket from this little den: biker style still de rigueur.

Bauhaus shop Bauhaus Archiv, Klingelhöferstrasse 14 (00 49 30 254 0020).

Shop for repro houseware – great streamlined kitchen gear etc – and posters from the Bauhaus era onwards.

JUMBO STRIKE: The only casualty of the first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during WWII was the elephant in the Zoo. STAR BUY: In 1998, the late Marlene Dietrich’s 100,000-odd collected possessions were bought for £3.25 million by the city of Berlin. Pay homage at the DEUTSCHE KINEMATHEK (www.filmmuseum-berlin. de). CUT! Last July, a waxwork of Hitler survived mere hours at a new Berlin branch of Madame Tussauds – an onlooker decapitated him. PLANE HUGE: Iconic Tempelhof air terminal, which closed in 2008, is still Europe’s third-largest building in terms of floor space. Plans for its future are a Berlin hot potato.

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THAILAND

The Bangkok Skyline

Visit Bangkok

It’s been in the news for all the wrong reasons, but the Thai capital is still an essential stopover says Sally Howard Thailand’s had a tough time of it recently – blockades, demonstrations and protests against corruption. But despite the disruption, the capital is still very much worth your time, whether you’re on a sightseeing stopover en route Down Under or a hip-city long weekend.

WHERE TO STAY NO EXPENSE SPARED The Sukhothai 13/3 South Sathon Rd (sukhothaihotel.com).

Clockwork hospitality and a water hyacinthstrewn moat mark out this faultless five-star.

Settle with a juice on the padded slatecoloured seats of Zuk

Cafe. Rooms from $400, B&B. Metropolitan 27 South Sathon Rd (www.metropolitan. como.bz). On the main artery of the characterless business district, the Met remains sharpedged despite its half-decade, thanks to the airy aesthetics of Singaporean architect Kathryn Kng. Unlike its London progenitor, the Met’s café is still a cool place to party. Rooms from $340, B&B. MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Chakrabongse Villas, 396 Maharaj Rd (thaivillas.com).

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THE LOCAL’S VIEW Edward Enscoe is the manager of The Long Table restaurant and a TV anchorman on English language 11 News Thais like their meat delicate, which means the young and hip go the other way, with a fashionable US-style hunk from New York Steakhouse at the JW Marriott (Sukhumvit Soi 2). After, they’ll hit Aqua at The Four Seasons: it’s a garden café and one of the few places where you can smoke, so the cool kids come here.

Thais love sweets: try an iBerry ice cream – every mall has a stand. Bangkok hip-hop used to be hilarious, but now local acts do a passable imitation, with a Thai edge; listen in at Home on Silom Soi 4.

Edging the banks of the Chao Phraya River in the heart of jumbled old Bangkok, these wooden villas are converted from a 1908 guesthouse. Book the wooden stilt-house.

Rooms from $300, Heritage Baan Silom, 659 Silom, 19 Silom Rd (theheritagebaansilom.

com). A high-drama foyer in black, white and glass – and spacious rooms with flowing white cottons and freestanding baths – make this sparkly new three-star great value.

Near Silom Rd, it’s handy for last-minute gifts from the strip’s busy night market.

Rooms from $100, B&B.

CONCIERGE BANGKOK

The Sukhothai

$200 BUYS YOU: An expertly tailored suit, stitched in 24 hours, on Silom or Surawong Rds. THE CITY’S FAVOURITE RECORD: The latest by Thai-American hip-hoppers Thaitanium. LOCAL JOKE: Confucius says: man who lives in glasshouse should change in basement.

WHERE TO EAT Face Bar 29 Sukhumvit Soi 38 (facebars.com).

Feel your way along a torch-lit pathway and enter a mysterious Thai-house compound decked out with Asian antiques, before getting stuck into a hor mok pla (steamed fish in banana leaf) at this modern/ trad Thai. Mains from $22.

Long Table 25th floor, 48 Column Bldg, Sukhumvit Soi 16 (longtablebangkok. com). It boasts ‘the world’s longest table’,

seating a mighty 70 people, but don’t let the gimmickry blunt your appetite. The wagyu beef is delectable, all the better for the low lighting that makes everyone a supermodel.

Mains from $28.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Greyhound Café 2nd fl, Emporium, 622 Sukhumvit Rd (00 66 2630 6763). A melee of Thai society and trendsetters congregates at this Sukhumvit pitstop, with its high-gloss concrete floors, exposed ductwork and tangerine

banquettes. The food’s international; try the pasta with sweet Thai basil. Mains from $6.

Harmonique 22 Charoen Krung 34 (00 66 237 8175).

A welcoming blast of personality in the bland five-star hotel district, this restaurant is entered through the crook of a banyan tree.

The space flowers into a 200-year-old Chinese courtyard home, scattered with fine Chinese woodwork and antiques. Try the crab in yellow curry sauce.

Main dishes from $4.

SHOPPING H1 998 Sukhumvit Soi 55. Here’s a sharpedged reworking of the mini-mall in the up-and-coming area of Sukhumvit, inspired by modernist mini-malls in Italy. Go for one-off, locally owned interiors and fashion boutiques, bookshops and avant-garde furniture showrooms.

Chatuchak Market Kamphaeng Phet 2 Rd, Chatuchak (weekends only; take the skytrain to Mo Chit). Spilling across 14 hectares, this

is the largest market in the world. Here you can nab anything from deep-fried scorpions to live roosters and rare vinyl. Areas are colourcoded into crafts, pets, collectables and clothing sections, although the vendors’ interpretation is often somewhat surreal.

MBK Center Phayathai Rd, Wangmai.

One of the first mega-malls, this now has eight frenetic floors of cut-price alternative fashions, and is breathless with Bangkok teens.

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Feeling excited about your holiday? Check through our list of the most popular Kanoo Travel offices, find one near you and head down or call up to turn your getaway dreams into reality...

BAHRAIN Abu Obeidah Avenue Wroad No. 302 Manama Tel. 17 576950 Mahooz Tel. 17 828754 Awali Branch Sitrah Avenue Road No. 4522 Awali Tel. 17 756487 Al Moayd Tower Manama Tel. 17 220220 Kanoo Holidays Mahooz Tel.17 828802 Kanoo Travel Refinery Tel. 17 755012 Airport Office Bahrain Tel. 17 321325 Egypt Air Manama Tel. 17 220747 Lufthansa Mahooz Tel. 17 828763 Air India Manama Tel. 17 220788 Cyprus Airways Manama Tel. 17 220 849 British Airways Manama Tel. 17 220701 Qantas / Jetabout Manama Tel. 17220743 Thai International Mahooz Tel. 17 828771 Air Canada / Austrian Airlines / Polish Olympic Airways / Sudan Airways / Sas / Swiss Int’l / Tunis Mahooz Tel. 17 828770

EGYPT Alexandria Booz Allen 1 Youssef El-Shazly Street Roushdy, Alexandria Tel. 002 03 5459265

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Alexandria 14 May Str, Sayadlia Building Symoha Tel. 020 03 424 1050 Aswan Abtal El-Tahrir Street Corniche El-Nil Tel. 002 097 2306983 Heliopolis Business Travel Centre 33 Nabil Elwakkad St Heliopolis Cairo Tel. 002 02 4130375/6 Cairo Halliburton C/O Halliburton Overseas Ltd Kilometer No 10 Land No 30 Ein Sokhna Road North Kattamia Cairo Tel. 002 02 27591690 Cairo 07 Dr. Kamal Hussin Heliopolis Cairo Tel. 002 02 26251307 Cairo Schlumberger C/O Schlumberger Zeiny Tower 25 Misr Helwan Road Maadi Tel. 002 02 7684700 Ext..

1014 Cairo U.N.D.P C/O U.N.D.P., 4th Fl, World Trade Center 1191 Cornich El Nil Tel. 002 02 25804491 Cairo Kasr El Nil 15 Kasr El Nil Street Down Town Tel. 002 02 25747991 Cairo Nile Hilton Nile Hilton Hotel Down Town Tel. 002 02 25785001 Cairo 1 Wahib Doss Str. Office No 9 Maadi Tel. 002 02 27513930 El Areesh Mfo C/O Mfo Northern Sinai Tel. 002 068 3502868 Luxor Winter Palace Hotel Tel. 002 095 2378333

FRANCE Foreign Exchange 11 Rue Scribe Paris 75009 Tel. +33 1 5300 9897 Foreign Exchange 11 Cours de I’Intendance Bordeaux 33000 Tel. +33 5 5600 6336 Bureau de Change Kanoo Printemps Dept. Store 64 Boulevard Haussmann 75009 PARIS Tel. +33 1 4282 4181

Umalquara Street Hayfer Makkah Tel. 02 544 7741 Kanoo Travel Sharafiya Tel. 02 643 9426 Kanoo Travel Taif Tel. 02 736 4211 Kanoo Travel Rabigh Tel. 02 423 2785

OMAN

Kanoo Travel Medinah Tel. 02 263 3040

Kanoo Travel LLC PO Box 75 114 Jibroo, Muscat Tel. +968 24700249

Air India Jeddah Tel. 02 668 0303 / 669 6571

QATAR

Gulf Air Jeddah Tel. 02 668 0303 / 669 6571 / 646

Old Al Hitmi Street Museum Street, Doha Tel. 04 441 3441 Conoco Phillips Salam Tower Al Corniche Street, Doha Tel. 04 443 7595

SAUDI ARABIA WESTERN PROVINCE Kanoo Centre Medina Road, Jeddah Tel. 02 661 4950 Bab Makkah Jeddah Tel. 02 644 9030 Bamaroof Centre Hail Street, Jeddah Tel. 02 653 0541

Singapore Airlines Jeddah Tel. 02 657 9898 Srilankan Airlines Jeddah Tel. 02 263 2959 Air Canada Jeddah Tel. 02 263 2996, Ext. 190 Kenyan Airways Jeddah Tel.02 263 2959 Ext. 108 Philippine Airways Jeddah Tel. 02 263 2959 Ext. 100 / 122

Khamis Abha Main Road Khamis Mushayat Tel. 07 222 3624

United Airlines Jeddah Tel. 02 263 3021 / 2959 Ext. 196 / 197

Prince Sultan Street Gizan Tel. 07 317 4285

EASTERN PROVINCE

Aboobacker Al Siddiq Street, Medina Tel. 04 823 9120

Airline Centre King Abdul Aziz Street Al Khobar Tel. 03 882 2206

Al Nawa Commercial Centre Al Sinnaiyat, Yanbu Tel. 04 321 3607

Kanoo Holidays, Retail Airline Centre, Khobar Tel. 03 882 2206 / 2601 / 2249

Albishar Commercial Centre King Abdulaziz Street Al Bahar, Yanbu Tel. 04 322 1087

Kanoo Holidays, Wholesale Airline Centre, Khobar Tel. 03 8821626 / 1851 / 8820161

Hertz Khobar Tel. 03 882 2005 / 5597

Dhahran Street Damman Tel. 03 833 7694

Airport Office Dammam Tel. 03 883 2660 / 2660

King Khalid Street Khobar Tel. 03 864 7471

British Airways Khobar Tel. 03 882 2000 British Airways Dammam Tel. 03 835 5714 British Airways Jubail Tel. 03 362 1069 Air India Khobar Tel. 03 882 2478 Air India Jubail Tel. 03 362 3454 Qantas Khobar Tel. 03 882 3711 / 2467 United Airlines / Air Canada / Singapore Airlines / Swissair / Austrian Airlines Tel. 03 882 1518/ 2962 / 2602 / 03 882 4477 / 4442 / 4890 / 4533 Srilankan Airlines Khobar Tel. 03 882 2789 / 2675 / 2792 Gulf Air Khobar Tel. 03 896 8496 / 9393 / 8493

47th Street Rahima Tel. 03 667 0388 Al Quds Street Qatif Tel. 03 851 5009 City Centre Al Mahoob Buidling Hufuf Tel. 03 586 3823 Kanoo Building Corniche Road Jubail Tel. 03 362 2340 Municipal Street Al Khafji Tel. 03 766 0045 CENTRAL PROVINCE Kanoo Tower King Abdul Aziz Road Riyadh Tel. 01 477 2228 King Faisal Foundation Al Khairia Complex Riyadh Tel. 01 463 4454 Wazir Street Al Azizea Building Riyadh Tel. 01 411 4780

Gulf Air Dammam Tel.03 835 4194 / 4917 / 4952

Batha Riyadh Tel. 01 403 0368

Gulf Air Qatif Tel. 03 852 9384 / 854 5240

Al Kubaih Street Buraidah Tel. 06 325 0888

Gulf Air Rastanura Tel. 03 667 8041/ 7972 Gulf Air Hofuf Tel. 03 585 3358 / 4080 / 2252 Gulf Air Jubail Tel. 03 363 0982/ 84 / 85 /86 Kanoo Tower King Saud Street, Damman Tel. 03 833 9793

Airport Road Hail Tel. 06 543 0430 Sharjah Street Hotat Bani Tamim Al Hotah Tel. 01 555 0304 Silsilah Road Onaiza Al Qassim Tel. 06 362 0080 Main Street Al Khamseen Wadi Ad Dawasir Tel. 01 784 6500

CONCIERGE WHERE TO BOOK

Kanoo Travel Naseem Tel. 01 232 8519

Najda Street Abu Dhabi Tel. 02 678 0400

Air India Kanoo Tower, Riyadh Tel. 01 477 2228 Ext. 295 / 296

Kanoo Holidays Dubai Tel. 04 334 1444 / 315 6624

Gulf Air Olaya, Riyadh Tel. 01 461 0589 / 462 4902 United Airlines / Air Canada Kanoo Tower, Riyadh Tel. 01 477 2228 Ext. 289, 290 Qantas Kanoo Tower, Riyadh Tel. 01 477 2228 Ext. 288, 305 Srilankan Airlines Kanoo Tower, Riyadh Tel. 01 477 2228 Ext. 292 X 293 Philippine Airlines Kanoo Tower, Riyadh Tel. 01 477 2228 Ext. 237 X 238 Air India Buraidah Tel. 06 324 6514 / 325 0888 Gulf Air Hail. Tel. 06 532 0280 Gulf Air Buraidah Tel. 06 324 6514 / 325 0888 Singapore Airlines Kanoo Tower Tel. 4734102 / 4734103

UAE Jebel Ali LOB 16, Ground Floor Jebel Ali Free Zone Tel. 04 881 5050 Karama Al Fathooi Centre Dubai Tel. 04 334 1222 Kanoo Building Khalid Bin Al Waleed Street, Bur Dubai Tel. 04 507 2242 Dubai Internet City Building 12 Tel. 04 390 1992 Deira City Centre Dubai Tel. 04 294 1481

Marine Travel Services Dubai Tel. 04 335 1314 Airport Office Dubai Tel. 04 393 1963 Kanoo Travel Corniche, Abu Dhabi Tel. 02 631 3900 / 631 8187

UK Birmingham American Express Bank House. 8 Cherry Street Tel. 0121 644 5514 / 0121 644 5560 Bournemouth American Express 95A Old Christchurch Road Tel. 0787 260 0528 / 01202 780 752 Brighton Amex House Implant American Express Ground Floor Amex House Edward Street Tel. 01273 525 041 / 040 Bristol American Express 74 Queens Road Tel. 01179 065 107 / 105 Cardiff American Express 3 Queen Street Tel. 02920 649 305 / 02920 649 301 Coventry American Express 5 Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre Tel. 02 47 622 5511 / 0787 260 0528 Croydon American Express 2-4 High Street Tel. 0208 256 0808 / 0805 Edinburgh American Express 69 George Street 0131 718 2508 / 0131 718 2505

Kanoo Building Al Orouba Street, Sharjah Tel. 06 561 6058

Essex Lakeside Bureau American Express Lakeside Shopping Centre West Thurrock Way West Thurrock Grays Tel. 01708 890 654

Green Community Mall Jebel Ali Road Dubai Tel. 04 885 3321

Glasgow American Express 66 Gordon Street Tel. 0141 225 2905 / 0141 225 2908”

Kanoo Travel – American Express Hermitage Building Al Karama Tel. 04 334 9219

Guildford American Express 38-40 High Street Tel. 01483 551 607 / 01483 551 605

Leicester American Express 1 Horsefair Street Tel. 0116 242 1808 / 0116 242 1805

visit Disneyland, Paris this summer

London Haymarket American Express 30 – 31 Haymarket Tel. 0207 484 9674 / 0207 484 9600 London Credit Swiss First Boston American Express Travel Office C/O Credit Suisse One Cabot Square Canary Wharf Tel. 0207 888 4196 London Holborn Bureau American Express 156a Southampton Row Tel. 0787 260 0528 / 0207 837 4416 London Kensington High St American Express 84 Kensington High Street Tel. 0207 795 6703 London Knightsbridge American Express 78 Brompton Road Tel. 0207 761 7908 / 7900, London American Express 1 Savoy Court The Strand Tel. 0207 240 1521 Milton Keynes American Express 670 Silbury Boulevard Tel. 01908 608 877 Manchester American Express 10-12 St Mary’s Gate Tel. 0161 833 7301 / 0161 833 7301 Nottingham American Express 2 Victoria Street Tel. 0115 924 7705 / 0115 924 7701 Plymouth American Express 139 Armada Tel. 01752 502 707 / 01752 502 702

?

why not

Disneyland® Paris is the ideal place for everyone and for every age! With two Disney® Parks, 14 hotels, three 9 - hole golf courses and Disney® Village - a unique entertainment area filled with bars, restaurants, boutiques and a nightclub, all with the inimitable Disney touch. Come closer, take a deep breath, and see what kind of magic we're cooking up for you!

Contact your nearest Kanoo Travel or Kanoo Holidays office for reservations, information and details on exclusive package offers including airfare. Visit www.kanootravel.com to access a complete description of Disneyland Resort, Paris and all the attractions and special offers planned for this summer.

Sheffield American Express 20 Charles Street, Sheffield Tel. 0114 263 9308 / 0114 263 9305 Southampton American Express 99 Above Bar Tel. 02380 716 808 / 805 York American Express 6 Stonegate Tel. 01904 676 505

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CONCIERGE SUITE DREAMS

SUITEDREAMS PRESIDENTIAL VILLA, THE TAJ EXOTICA, GOA

A private villa at the Taj Exotic in Goa, this Mediterranean-styled beauty is a twobedroomed spot with its own private pool and garden where you can hang out in chilled-out style in a hammock. With your own butler at your beck and call 24 hours a day you may choose to hole up with room service and enjoy the views out over the ocean from your terrace in the evening – but if you’d rather hit a restaurant, you’ll love Alegria, which serves traditional Goan food, or the Mediterranean hotspot Miguel Arcanjo. You can also go low key at the Lobster Shack on the beach, where you can dress down for dinner and enjoy flappingly fresh seafood cooked up on the grill. For an extra slice of local authenticity, make sure to book yourself in to the Jiva spa for a yoga session or some classic Ayurvedic treatments – for an extra treat, have them in one of the open-to-the-air pavilions. And when you’re in the mood for a stroll, take advantage of the baking sunshine and the 56 acres of gardens, filled with glorious displays of flowers and local wildlife. (tajhotels.com)