National Geographic Traveller India May 2017

M AY 2 0 1 7 • ` 1 5 0 • VO L . 5

I S S U E 1 1 • N AT G E O T R AV E L L E R . I N

MACAO A PROCESSION OF COLOUR

COORG ZAC O’YEAH ON DASARA

MUMBAI INSIDE INDIA’S FIRST POD HOTEL

MADHYA PRADESH IN THE THICK OF A FOREST

It’s always

FESTIVE SEASON AUSTRALIA CONSERVING KOALAS AND KANGAROOS • JAKARTA CAPITAL INVESTMENT

n a t i o n a l g e o g r a p h i c t r av e l l e r i n d i a

MAY 2017

CONTENTS Vol 5 Issue 11

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FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Macao’s vibrant Latin City parade is a surreal introduction to its history

By Diya Kohli

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WHEN MAGIC BECOMES REALISM A summer festival in Denmark brings Hans Christian Andersen’s world of fantasy alive

By Saumya Ancheri

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DANCING IN THE DARK

Mythology gets crazy, colourful, and trippy at Madikeri’s Dasara float parade Text by Zac O’Yeah Illustrations by Charbak Dipta

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LENS AND SENSIBILITY A masterclass on shooting festivals around the world in all their vibrant glory Text and photographs

by Ashima Narain

96 Alibaug, Maharashtra

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MOVE WITH THE MOVING PICTURES Shrines for cinephiles, film festivals also offer the rest of us a bit of everything

By Kalpana Nair

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PLAY WITH FIRE Follow the crowds to these nocturnal fire festivals around the world

JOURNEYS

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LIGHT AT THE END OF THE FUNNEL Celebrating Loy Krathong in Sukhothai, Thailand

By Sugato Mukherjee

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REACHING A CRESCENDO

From Kolkata to Coorg, jazz to Indian classical, these music festivals around the country are worth travelling for

By Varun Desai

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MY FAMILY OF OTHER ANIMALS

From shy bandicoots to adorable koalas, Victoria brims with stories of conservation and rehabilitation

By Sonal Shah

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THE JUNGLE BOOK

Camping in Satpura Tiger Reserve reveals wondrous landscapes and a new perspective

By Kareena Gianani

HIMANSHU ROHILLA

FESTIVE SPIRIT

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VOICES

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46 Superstructures

I S S U E 1 1 • N AT G E O T R AV E L L E R . I N

Basaltic formations meet a minimal aesthetic in Reykjavík’s Hallgrímskirkja church

14 Crew Cut

47 Heritage

16 Traveller’s Check

Can pit stops become destinations too?

18 Wayfaring

Exploring the foundations of faith at a cathedral in Chennai

N AV I G AT E

20 The Insider

Calm meets clamour in Thailand’s vibrant capital

28 The Quest

On the trail of the Vikings from Newfoundland to Norway

32 The Concept

Europe’s first underwater museum throws us in the deep end, Museo Atlántico

34 Off-Season Escape

MACAO A PROCESSION OF COLOUR

COORG ZAC O’YEAH ON DASARA

MUMBAI INSIDE INDIA’S FIRST POD HOTEL

MADHYA PRADESH IN THE THICK OF A FOREST

It’s always

FESTIVE SEASON AUSTRALIA CONSERVING KOALAS AND KANGAROOS • JAKARTA CAPITAL INVESTMENT

On The Cover Every year in December, all of Macao hits the streets for Desfile por Macao, Cidade Latina or Macao’s Latin City parade—a celebration of its multicultural heritage.

Photographer Ashima Narain captures a group of dancers making their way through an enthusiastic crowd that has gathered at Tap Siac Square for the final leg of the vibrant parade.

36 Urban Explorer 40 National Park

A boat trip through the Sundarbans mangrove forests yields many secrets

50 Smart Cities

Futuristic libraries, open-air museums, and avantgarde restaurants: the Danish city of Aarhus loves to spring a surprise

52 My City

Discovering traditional cuisine and hidden haunts in Moscow

54 Road Trip

Coming around the bend in central Oregon, U.S.A.

S M A R T T R AV E L L E R

Checking In

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Cosy up with tiger quolls at Australia’s Great Ocean Ecolodge

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Spectacular lodges, romantic resorts, and historic hotels that inspire us to travel

Soaking in winter-time delights in Sydney Derided for being densely populated, Jakarta could well pull in a crowd

Secrets on the ceiling of Thiruvananthapuram’s Napier Museum

RIDDHI MUKHERJEE (TIGER), PHOTO COURTESY: JAMTARA WILDERNESS CAMP (WOMAN) ASHIMA NARAIN (COVER)

A traveller turns to art for fun and self-discovery

SHORT BREAKS

REGULARS 12 Editor’s Note 122 Inspire 128 Travel Quiz

Stay

118 Camp in style at Jamtara Wilderness Camp 120 Inside India’s first pod hotel in Mumbai MAY 2017 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA

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Editor’s Note |

S HR EEVATSA N EVATI A

OUT OF THE BOX

OUR MISSION

Before epiphanies and selfrealisation, we believe travel should first make real our ideas of fun

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itinerary will be as neatly packed as our design.

That’s a promise we’ll always keep.

Since airlines are usually more exacting about weight than gym instructors, our endeavour will be to never carry any excess baggage, both as travellers and journalists. Before epiphanies and self-realisation, we believe travel should first make real our ideas of fun. Going to a concert or a film festival can be as rewarding as witnessing Loy Krathong, a festival of light in Thailand, or travelling to Macao for its Latin City parade. In this month’s issue, one we have devoted to festivals and festivities, we try and blend the traditional with the contemporary. History fascinates us as much as culture and it is our eclecticism that gives us something to celebrate all year round. More importantly, it helps us travel light.

Hugh of St. Victor, a 12th-century theologian, knew how to stay per tinent a thousand years later. He had once said, “The man who finds his homeland sweet is still a tender beginner; he to whom every soil is as his native one is already strong; but he is per fect to whom the entire world is as a foreign land.” There is more wisdom than judgment in Hugh’s assumption. It is, in the end, our capacity for wonder which makes travel replenishing and joyful. We strive to continuously be surprised by the world, but also by the several homes in which we live. Since souvenirs have regrettably gone out of fashion, we intend to bring back stories instead.

Stories that entertain and stories that make the unknown a touch more accessible. For decades now, National Geographic has delicately unpacked the world for us. Its yellow frame helps give the stories we find at Traveller a perfect box. Our task is cut out. We’ll pack it with care.

National Geographic Traveller India is about immersive travel and authentic storytelling, inspiring readers to create their own journeys and return with amazing stories. Our distinctive yellow rectangle is a window into a world of unparalleled discovery.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | MAY 2017

BILLION PHOTOS/SHUTTERSTOCK

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ears ago, I heard a well-travelled musician say that men are defined by the manner in which they pack their bags. I have since been obsessive about my boxes. My shirts are always neatly folded.

My several wires—chargers for iPods and iPads, phones and Kindles—have their dedicated pouch. Even my portable speakers have their own compartment. When put through X-ray machines, I hope their operators will be stunned by the symmetry of my packing, but airport employees unfortunately like keeping their wonderment to themselves. When journeying to lands and countries that are unfamiliar, travel can sometimes seem unnerving, so a precisely packed bag or case is assuring. You’ll know where things are.

Buying tickets and planning itineraries leaves me excited, but only when I empty my cupboard to make its contents luggage do I really start to inhabit two places at once. While travel helps disrupt the ever yday, breaking monotony and habit, it also makes discovery possible. Being foreign can help us learn who we are and being away often gives us a checklist of what we miss and love most about home. The transference of my belongings helps pre-empt this transition. Departure makes imminent an arrival.

In the last month, we at National Geographic Traveller India have found ourselves packing our own little box. Members of a new team, we have chosen from the abundant experience of our predecessors their best and most proficient editorial practices and intent. We have, however, left some room for the shopping we hope to do once we dig in our heels. (We’re young. We like things that are new.) In the pages of this magazine, you’ll continue to find maps to places that urgently demand exploration. As we try and make your trips more frequent, we’ll also ensure your experience of reading us and our writers will be an escape in itself. You will get tips on where you can stay, what you can eat, and what you should do. Your

CREW CU T

Down to a Fine Art ART ASTONISHES AND ENTERTAINS. SO DOES TRAVEL. TOGETHER, THEY LEAD TO SELF-DISCOVERY

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n 2015, I walked into the glass building of Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario only because it coolly curved 600 feet along a street I happened to pass. It was my first day in the country, and entering some place that resembled a canoe or a silvery spaceship seemed like the wise thing to do.

Inside, I looked at the works of Emily Carr, a trailblazing Canadian artist I’d never heard of. But her dramatic paintings of moist rainforests, brooding cedar trees, and old brave totem poles told me stories of a Canada we rarely see: a land of rich but fast disappearing indigenous cultures, way beyond its first-world shininess. Carr’s fierce art protested against European settlers erasing her homeland’s cultures. Slowly, Canada’s newness slipped away and I didn’t feel as much of a stranger.

Until late last year, I’d travel for unforgettable places and people. I savoured the getting away, and the arriving at a place where foreign tongues fill a bistro during breakfast. I travelled for boisterous cities, camped in wild forests, or followed a lover to new lands. But things changed last October, when art began ruling my itineraries in Paris, Barcelona, and Amsterdam.

From being quarter-day plans squished between long spells of roaming a city, museums became delightful dawn-to-night affairs in themselves.

I discovered, for instance, that being in the Louvre building is like being all over the world at once. One never knows what one might find. My interactive Nintendo guide took me to a corner of a room where a marble sculpture of a woman stretched out on a mattress, a lone flimsy sheet wrapped around her left leg.

She was dreaming. The eroticism, her sinuous grace was palpable; until I walked over to the other side and realised that “she” wasn’t a woman. It was the androgynous figure of Hermaphroditos, carved as if to half-shock, half-tease a viewer. It was made between the third and first centuries B.C., yet there I was, abashed and amused by the effect it was having on me.

Someplace else was a painting of a man dressed in a frilly redand-black costume. He smiles mischievously at someone we cannot see; his eyes are crinkled, and face flushed. The merriment exuded by the “Buffoon Holding a Lute,” by Dutch Golden Age

Kareena Gianani is Senior Associate Editor at National Geographic Traveller India. She loves stumbling upon hole-in-the-wall bookshops, old towns, and owl souvenirs in all shapes and sizes.

painter Frans Hals can ward off the greyest of moods.

Paris’s Musée d’Orsay, on the other hand, is a map of what the city was like at various points in time. The nightlife and show business of Paris in the 19th century are brought to life by the works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Edgar Degas’s “The Ballet Class” is a window into the moods of Parisian ballerinas once they’re off the stage. One scratches her back absentmindedly, others only half-listen to their ballet master. Here, centuries collide and Paris’s many histories move about freely. In the evening, strains of waltz filled this railway-station-turned-museum and at least 80 dancers filled the atrium for a spectacular surprise.

Isn’t this what we travel for? To be astonished and entertained; tickled and thrilled, mostly by people we will never meet? Given the range of discoveries it entails, art doesn’t feel very different from travel itself. And while it is a great way to see the world, it is also a way to see myself. Being in Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, for instance, had the most cathartic effect on me. I went chasing a teenage favourite and found myself wrapped in the life stories of the artist’s hope, tragedy, and great perseverance. In the Rijksmuseum, watching a local art student sketch Johannes Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid” calmed me as much as the original painting itself. I also discovered that artists who hang out in museums make for great conversation: Louvre turned extra special after I met a Portland-based artist and we sat on a bench thumbing through his sketchbooks filled with Michelangelos, da Vincis, and other works I’d never have checked out if I were alone.

If you, like me, ever feel slightly daunted by museums, step into Room 19 of Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. There is a man’s head poking from the floor.

The life-size wax sculpture rises from a gaping hole in the ground, looking inquisitively at a roomful of Dutch Romantics around him.

Fifty-six-year-old Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan created this installation because he still feels like an outsider in the art world.

Yet he breaks new ground, literally.

Travelling for art, above all, is a reminder of what is most important to me: to seek beauty and joy, and to be playful while I can. There is no such thing as being too happy, too emotional, or too moved by an artwork. They are safe places. MAY 2017 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA

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PHOTO COURTESY: MAURIZIO CATTELAN, UNTITLED (MANHOLE), MUSEUM BOIJMANS VAN BEUNINGEN

Voices |

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NATI O N A L PA R K

In the Eye of the Tiger A BOAT TRIP THROUGH THE SUNDARBANS MANGROVES YIELDS MANY SECRETS TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY RIDDHI MUKHERJEE

The lush mangroves of the Sundarbans teem with creatures big and small, like the rhesus macaques and the brown-winged kingfisher (bottom).

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ver since I read Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide as a boy, I’ve been fascinated with the Sundarbans. I first visited the national park in 2015, and have been back many times since. On Google Maps, the mangrove forest appears as a small patch of green along the coast, crisscrossed by veins of blue. But once you get to Godkhali Ghat ferry point and set off in a boat, the Sundarbans emerge as an immense, mysterious jungle, a birthplace of myths that is ruled by tigers.

The boat trip I took on my last visit to the Sundarbans yielded some amazing wildlife encounters, thanks to my crew,

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especially my guide Mrityunjay Mondal.

On the second day, Mrityunjay was scanning the forest from the Sudhanyakhali watchtower with his binoculars, when he spotted a rare and elusive leopard cat. We watched the graceful feline for a few seconds before it vanished into the forest. I also managed to photograph the seldom seen green-bellied malkoha from the same spot.

Another day, we heard a tiger growling near the Panchamukhani Zone while sitting down to lunch.

Ignoring our food, we scanned every inch of the mangrove thicket. Suddenly, another tiger’s call pierced the air. My guide guessed it might be a mating pair. The tension grew as our boat cruised slowly

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forward. Suddenly, about 30 feet away from us, behind the scraggy trees, was an immense male Bengal tiger. He let us photograph him for a leisurely 10 to 15 minutes before ambling into the forest.

Sticking to the middle of the river, we soon spotted a large female with a tawny coat, who prowled along the banks before disappearing into the thicket.

Their intermittent roars continued, and later in the day we heard them chasing a group of chital.

Another evening, just as we left the protected area around teatime, Mrityunjay spotted two huge saltwater crocodiles swimming towards us at an incredible pace. Soon, they were right beside our boat, swimming behind each other or side by side. Then, amazingly, the trailing crocodile gained speed,

catching the other one by surprise. All hell broke loose and the river turned turbulent as the titans engaged in a dramatic fight. I teared up in gratitude for having witnessed this when it came time to say my goodbyes to the crew.

EXPLORE

Because of the muddy terrain, the only way to explore the park is by boat. Due to safety reasons walking in the forest is prohibited, except for around the watchtowers, with a guide as escort.

The forest department issues dawnto-dusk permits for the forest’s various zones: Sajnekhali, Sudhanyakhali, Pirkhali, Lebu Khali, Bonbibi Varani, Panchamukhani, Netidhopani, Dobanki, Sarakkhali, and Choragaji. It is common to see many other boats as well in these open parts of the forest.

The landscape—a blue sky reflected on dark green waters—does not vary much between these zones, but each has its own charm. The Sudhanyakhali Watchtower is a well-known vantage point, located about 25 kilometres from Canning and accessible by boat. Visitors can catch the sunrise and then pray for a tiger sighting to the forest goddess Bonbibi at a shrine located at the tower’s base. At the Dobanki Watchtower, a canopy walk allows visitors a closer look at the mangrove vegetation and habitat. Guided village walks are also recommended. At sunset, visitors must return to their resorts or specified spots where boats can drop anchor for the night.

WILDLIFE

Though the Bengal tiger is king of the Sundarbans, there are many other species of beasts and birds in this rich habitat. Others felines include the leopard cat, fishing cat, and jungle cat.

Chital deer, rhesus macaques, and wild boar hide among the trees, and water animals include otters, water monitor lizards, Irrawaddy dolphins, Gangetic dolphins, and saltwater crocodiles.

There are also elusive snakes and colourful birds of all sorts.

A dedicated naturalist and wildlife photographer can make spotting animals much more rewarding. Way2Wild organises nature study and photography tours with experienced trackers and naturalists (www.way2wild.in; `13,500 per person for a 2-night/3-day photo

A boat safari (top and middle right) in the Sundarbans gets you a front seat to all the action, be it spotting a red-tailed bamboo pit viper (middle left) at the Sudhanyakhali watchtower, or watching a vicious fight between saltwater crocodiles (bottom).

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HER I TAGE

Culture is Looking Up MORE THAN ITS ARTEFACTS, THE NAPIER MUSEUM IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM IS WORTH VISITING FOR ITS MESMERISING CEILING BY SUDHA PILLAI

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ummers can be ‘hot as Hades’ in Thiruvananthapuram in God’s Own Country, except in one place in the city—the Napier Museum with its natural air conditioning. Right then, though, standing in the middle of this landmark building in the city, I could hear my friend’s voice in my head: “Don’t forget to look up at the ceiling,” he had said.

When you think of overwhelming ceilings, you think of the Sistine Chapel or the Blue Mosque in Istanbul or the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo. Museums usually do not feature on the list. The only deviation is the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne: its 200-footlong ceiling is made of 10,000 pieces of hand-cut glass in 50 different colours.

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At Napier, I find myself with my mouth agape at hand-painted frescoes on the coffered ceiling of one of the oldest museums in the country.

Situated inside a garden spread over 55 acres, the Napier Museum was established in 1857, and in 1880 the old building was demolished and a new structure built by Ayilyam Thirunal Maharaja of Travancore. It

I walked around the museum and discovered art and history in nooks and corners, roofs, balconies, and ceilings. It was like finding forgotten ancestral treasures in the attic

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was designed by the English architect Robert Chisholm who was sent to ‘Trevendrum’ by Lord Napier, the Governor General of the then Madras Presidency. ​Chisholm conceived a museum based on the local architectural style.

However, Kerala’s native architecture has for long been influenced by the cultures of its trading partners— Chinese, Japanese, Arabs, Europeans and so on. Hence Chisholm’s ‘native design’ was, in fact, a combination of Kerala, Chinese, Italian, and Mughal architecture. It can be seen in the Gothic roof, minarets, hand-painted frescoes and extensive ornamentation of the museum. This dreamy, romantic, and fusionistic style is known as

TSCREATIONZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

The 19th-century design of Thiruvananthapuram’s Napier Museum is an amalgam of Kerala, Chinese, Italian, and Mughal architecture.

Indo-Saracenic (Saracenic is derived from the word Saracen, an archaic name for Muslims given by the British).

Also known as Indo-Gothic, it was the style of architecture used by British architects in late 19th century India.

It drew elements from native Indian architecture and combined it with the Gothic revival style favoured in Victorian Britain. But even with so many styles and influences in play, Napier Museum did not end up a mish-mash of a museum. Only to the destitute of vision, the museum might be a garish amalgamation.

Aeons ago, a visitor told a curator of the Napier Museum: “I suggest you remove all the artefacts from this building. Because the building itself is an

elegant object d’art and should be viewed singularly without any distractions.” I concur. For the next couple of hours, the rare artefacts, idols, carvings, coins, and paintings in the museum became invisible to me. Craning my neck upwards, I walk around the museum to discover art and history in nooks and corners, arches, balconies, and ceilings.

It was like finding forgotten ancestral treasures in the attic. Riches wrapped in fables and fantasies, waiting to reveal themselves to those who come looking.

The museum has three massive halls connected by long corridors. The walls are striped—in pink, blue, yellow, and cherry red. They augment the scalloped arches in banana yellow colour with red, white and pink latticework. It is

a cornucopia of colours; as exciting and eye-popping as a chilled glass of falooda on a hot summer afternoon.

Wide balconies flank the central hall at both ends, and they are supported by wooden corbels that have intricately carved yalis or dragons. Stained-glass windows stipple the walls throwing up magnificent play of light. The ledge above the doors carries the statues and carved figurines of goddesses. Floral motifs embellish the friezes on the walls. These are interspersed with the design of Valmpuri shankhu or the conch shell of Lord Vishnu—the deity of the royal family of Travancore and also the royal insignia.

By now, there should be a crick in my neck. But I don’t feel it as I get

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SUDHA PILLAI

Napier museum’s facade features many interesting minute details like oriel windows that are supported by carved wooden horse corbels (left).

Inside, the historical artefacts (bottom right) battle for attention with the vaulted ceiling adorned with handpainted frescoes (top right).

In Focus | FESTI V E S PI R I T

FANTASTIC

Beasts

AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Macao’s vibrant Latin City parade is a surreal introduction to its history

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By Diya Kohli

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Macao’s annual parade sees over 50 crews from Macao, mainland China, Latin America, as well as Europe.

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The Ruins of St. Paul includes a Jesuit complex as well as the facade of the 17th-century Mater Dei church, one of the most iconic structures of Macao. This forms an apt backdrop for the theatrics of the parade.

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In Focus | FESTI V E S PI R I T

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Native American chief complete with his feathered war bonnet was standing two feet from me posing for a selfie with a Chinese grandma, beaming in spite of two missing front teeth. Across him, two beautiful boisterous ladies in their big hooped skirts were bantering with a petite fellow who had a giant Venezuelan flag draped over his shoulders. I pinched my arm to make sure that I was really wide awake and standing in a hotel lobby in Macao. It seemed like the perfect surreal beginning to the day of Macao’s Latin City parade.

Macao is a Janus-faced city, with one face turned towards its past and the other towards a glittering future. Since my arrival I had done the regulation sightseeing tours, museum visits, even an obligatory Cotai Strip casino tour. However, it was the parade that brought it all together for me. The mixed crews with their vibrant costumes and multitude of languages seemed to be in sync with the city’s multifaceted identity. As the day unspooled through colour and music, what amazed me the most was the gusto with which the event celebrated the region’s cosmopolitanism and its Portuguese, Chinese, and Macanese heritage.

A view from the top made the parade look like the sparkly trail of a giant comet. And as I followed a train of strange and beautiful creatures, from the ruins of St. Paul’s to Tap Siac Square, I ended up collecting bits of Macao’s past like pieces of confetti saved after the last wedding hurrah.

The Portuguese arrived on Macao’s shores in the 1550s and over the centuries, they left an indelible impression on the region’s cultural identity right up until they finally left in 1999. The first Desfile Por Macao, Cidade Latina (Latin City parade), was held in 2011, and has since continued as an annual event that commemorates the city’s handover from Portugal to China.

Interestingly, what the parade celebrates is the melding of the MAY 2017 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA

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ASHIMA NARAIN

The Countdown

In Focus | FESTI V E S PI R I T

SHRINES FOR CINEPHILES, FILM FESTIVALS ALSO OFFER THE REST OF US A BIT OF EVERYTHING

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Move with the Moving Pictures

â– WO RLD

This month, I am off to Cannes. I like throwing that phrase around casually.

DENIS MAKARENKO/SHUTTERSTOCK

For a second, it sounds oh-so-glamorous. Right now you are probably thinking of a montage of scenes centred around yachts, beaches, and champagne. Please allow me to derail that train of thought. I am a programmer who attends the Cannes International Film Festival to scout for films and meet the people who are in the business of making and selling them. I have never come within hugging distance of any major Hollywood star there (although last year I did see the back of Ryan Gosling’s head, walking a mere 400 metres from me). The one time I got onto a yacht, I got seasick and I may have had to get into a staring match with some doormen to enter the many luxury brand stores that line the Croisette. So when I say Cannes, the picture in my brain is nothing like the one in yours.

Film festivals are like that. Poised right at the intersection of cinema, glamour, travel, and food, they are connected to the cities they inhabit, yet they have their own energy, vibe, and ideology.

I highly recommend trekking to the ones listed here to experience why thousands of people migrate to them every year, almost like devotees who find themselves on a pilgrimage.

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Journeys |

INTO THE WI L D

The “Penguin Parade” at Phillip Island gathers a group of enthusiastic viewers who wait at sunset for a glimpse of little penguins returning to their burrows.

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â– AUSTRALIA

FAMILY

OF

OTHER

From shy bandicoots to adorable koalas, Victoria brims with heartwarming stories of conservation and rehabilitation

BY SONAL SHAH

PHOTO COURTESY: PHILLIP ISLAND NATURE PARK/VISIT VICTORIA

MY

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Short Breaks |

STAY

I,POD IN A COMFORTABLE SPACE-AGE COCOON AT INDIA’S FIRST POD HOTEL | BY RUMELA BASU The 124 Classic Pods at Mumbai’s Urbanpod are cosy, compact, and equipped with everything a traveller might need for a night in. The fact that they resemble the props of a sci-fi film is only an added advantage.

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for the headphones that are hanging on the far left corner near my head, a digital clock, and touch-operated controls for all the lights. Tucked right under this edgy techie display is a small Godrej locker.

The inner astronaut in me sighs wearily as I settle back on the pillow and pick up my laptop.

Little blue LEDs along the panel indicate the brightness of the lights around the mirror and on the ceiling. I fiddle with it to let my pod be bathed in a mellow bluish-white glow.

The little world created inside is in sharp contrast with the one outside the hotel. Urbanpod’s location—the busy area of SEEPZ Andheri, right beside a bus depot—is as nondescript as can be.

Offices and shops line the bustling road in front of the building where the hotel is housed. Only after stepping off the elevator on the first floor

URBAN

` POCKET-FRIENDLY PHOTO COURTESY: URBANPOD

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am an astronaut. Not really, but I feel like one as I look into the circular mirror inside my little pod-room in Mumbai’s Urbanpod. I left my shoes in the shoe locker as soon as I entered the hotel and now I’m crawling into my bed inside a capsule-like pod. I sit there taking in my cosy surroundings. There is a lot of white, from the sheets and the pillow to the interiors of the pod. The lights are a bluishwhite, unlike the amber ones usually found in hotel rooms. It gives an illusion of more space and makes the pod look a little clinical. I touch the tiny icon on the console-like set-up to my left and the ceiling light flickers on. This console is right below my mirror that looks like the peaceful cousin of HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey’s electronic antagonist. There are two USB ports, a socket for plugging in my devices, another

■ M AHARAS HTRA

MAHARASHTRA Urbanpod, Mumbai

THE VITALS Getting There Urbanpod is located in SEEPZ in Andheri, Mumbai. The international airport is about 15 min/5 km south of the hotel. The closest railway stations are Bandra railway station (30 min/35 km south) and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (1.5 hr/35 km south).

Accommodation Urbanpod has 140 pods and rooms.

The Classic Pod is a single-occupancy pod located within a room with 12-18 other pods.

Showers are separate.

There are 124 Classic Pods. Of these, 18 are only for women and housed in one room.

The bathrooms are also accommodated within the same space. The second kind, the Private Pod, is not located in a shared space and has some extra space outside. There are six of these in all. The 10 suites are regular rooms with a queen-size bed, television and locker.

Meals are served at the café and guests are advised not to eat inside the pods. (www. theurbanpod.com; pods from `1,800; suite doubles `3,200.)

Urbanpod’s pods (top), housed in clusters of 12-18 within a large room, and 10 pod-suites (middle) are located on one floor; Meals packaged like take-aways are served in the hotel’s sunny café (bottom).

MAY 2017 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA

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PHOTO COURTESY: URBANPOD

and entering through the double glass doors does the sense of being in a hotel kick in. And one floor of a building is all that it occupies. The pods are located in clusters of 12 to 18, most of them in a large room with one main door and some along the hallway. Travellers flitting in and out of the city for work would probably find a comfortable space here.

At around 7 p.m., I am asked to give my preference for dinner. The café outside serves packed meals that come from a kitchen located a few kilometres away. Simple Indian, Asian, and European meals with vegetarian and nonvegetarian options make up the menu. I am informed that my dinner will arrive in the next hour and a half or so and I decide to make my way to the shower. The bathrooms, separated from the pods, are located in one section at the end of a long corridor. Since I am put in a ladies special pod— one in a cluster of 18—my bathroom is within the same room as my pod.

While I have a lot of privacy, because the ladies pod is relatively empty, a shared space like the Urbanpod may not be the best fit for every traveller. However, if you are a backpacker and would return to your room only to find some peace and shut-eye, then the pod may be a good idea. It also helps that this little cocoon looks snazzy. Mulling over my next backpacking trip, I head out to the café for dinner. My Asian meal of rice and chicken comes in a take-away box, along with cutlery in a transparent pouch. If I was airborne, this would feel like a lavish meal on a flight.

As I crawl into my pod at the end of the day, I think about whether I’d like to return to Urbanpod.

I live in Mumbai and often feel like getting away from the din. Most times there is an urge to be closer to nature and get a room with a view that soothes the eyes, but once in a while I wouldn’t mind being left on my own.

However, this might not be an experience suitable for everyone. If you are expecting 24-hour room service, or are over about 6’3”, then you might want to reconsider staying here. One of my main concerns when checking into Urbanpod was claustrophobia but I didn’t need to worry as I have almost a foot of headspace and a lot more leg-space inside. In the beginning I did consider checking into a private pod, which is located away from the cluster—a solitary pod in one room that also has some space outside its sliding door. I was also given the option of a suite, with a queen-size bed and a large window. It, however, seemed only fitting that I give the pod a shot.

Turning in for the night, I find myself planning a getaway, or “podation” as I call it. I think about an upgraded business-class flight experience. It looks a lot like my pod.