National Geographic Traveller India April 2016

A P R I L 2 0 1 6 • ` 1 5 0 • VO L . 4

LA VIDA LOCAL

ESCAPE FROM ROUTINE TO COSTA RICA

SHAOLIN SUMMER

KUNG FU AND CONFUCIUS IN CHINA

ISSUE 10

OFF THE

GRID Journeys of discovery into the new and unfamiliar

PLUS DIY GUIDE TO TREKKING TO THE EVEREST BASE CAMP

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

april 2016

Contents Vol 4 Issue 10

o f f th e g r i d

Through kung fu training and Confucian wisdom, a struggling mother and daughter learn how to roll with the punches in China

By Kaylie Jones

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Top of the World

After the disastrous earthquake that rocked Nepal last April, the Everest Trail is open again. Here’s a DIY guide to trekking to the Everest Base Camp

By Natasha Sahgal with Niloufer Venkatraman

88 Everest Base Camp trail, Nepal

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La Vida Local

A family escapes New York to embrace the native way of life on Costa Rica’s mellow coast, and discovers the joy of simple ways Text By Johanna Berkman Photographs By Krista Rossow

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It Takes a Village

An American cuts off ties for a month in Papua in Indonesia, and leaves with deeper connections than he imagined possible Text & Photographs

By Carl Hoffman

kat palasi/majority world/dinodia

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Shaolin Summer

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voices

A P R I L 2 0 1 6 • ` 1 5 0 • VO L . 4

ISSUE 10

62 Taste of Travel

Boutique foods and a craft beer wave redefine Wellington in New Zealand

22 Inside Out

An artist’s rendition of the human form helps a traveller appreciate imperfect bodies Under the blanket of night-time travel, new sights come to light

n av i g at e

26 The Neighbourhood

Seoul’s Myeong-dong is the epicentre of the battle against ageing

34 Heritage

Beyond the obvious attraction of birding, Bharatpur has a rich history

38 Book Extract

Valmik Thapar’s Winged Fire documents avian encounters through the ages

44 Geotourism

S h o r t B r e a ks LA VIDA LOCAL

ESCAPE FROM ROUTINE TO COSTA RICA

SHAOLIN SUMMER

KUNG FU AND CONFUCIUS IN CHINA

OFF THE

GRID Journeys of discovery into the new and unfamiliar

PLUS DIY GUIDE TO TREKKING TO THE EVEREST BASE CAMP

On The Cover Photographer Ramiro Olaciregui captures a pair of children playing at Nahuel Huapi Lake in Argentina’s remote Patagonia region.

This month’s theme explores how travellers increasingly undertake journeys of discovery to new and unfamiliar places, seeking to immerse themselves in an off the grid experience.

From Delhi

114 Holy ghats and cool cafés in the temple town of Pushkar

Stay

118 Colonial charm and gastronomic delights at a Shimla homestay 120

A forest lodge in Tadoba is an antidote to the maladies of the urban jungle

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Blooms thrive in Jodhpur’s Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park

48 On Foot

Reliving 1,000 years of Delhi’s history at the Mehrauli Archaeological Park

54 Local Flavour

Kithul treacle from the fishtail palm is a sweet Sri Lankan secret

56 Around the World

From Addis Ababa to Stockholm, six ways to enjoy a cup of coffee

58 Detour

The ski resort of Le Châble in Switzerland, without the skiers

regulars 16 Editor’s Note 18 Notebook 122 Inspire 128 Strange Planet april 2016 | national Geographic Traveller INDIA

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lucas vallecillos/age fotostock/dinodia (street), photo courtesy: positively wellington tourism (beer), hira punjabi/lonely planet images/getty images (owl), Ramiro Olaciregui/moment/getty images (cover)

24 Crew Cut

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CREW CU T

Night-Time Revelations

Saumya Ancheri is Assistant Web Editor at National Geographic Traveller India. She loves places by the

sea, and travels to shift her own boundaries.

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ast August, my family and I spent a day at the Periyar Tiger Reserve. By the time it was sundown, we’d hiked, boated, picnicked, and been sucked on by leeches. But it was only close to midnight, on a three-hour hike through the jungle with forest guards on their night patrol, that I felt like I’d finally slid under the forest’s monsoon skin.

At first, my urban self had struggled to sprout jungle roots.

I had teetered on narrow, slippery embankments with only my father and two armed guards as a buffer against creatures on the prowl. Every few feet, the forest flitted between nutty and floral scents. And then, our swinging flashlights revealed a bloom that only unfurled in the dark, the gently falling rain, a sandalwood tree split by lightning, an owl’s giant sweeping wings, and deer that couldn’t hide their curiosity even as they warned us away with their air-horn bark. Bursting with excitement I coaxed the guards to switch their flashlights off for a few seconds. Though we weren’t entirely swallowed by darkness, for a few moments I felt the bigness of the forest move in.

When we travel, the day has its brightly lit delights, and the sense of endless hours to attend to all that beckons. But come twilight, the same terrain attains a shape-shifting quality.

Night-time offers a sense of intimate knowing, when our senses are heightened, almost as if nothing can be taken for granted in the dark.

The surreal quality of nighttime discovery came to me again when I was in Ahmedabad recently. I had topped my whirlwind visit with a guided night walk through the city’s old pols, or residential clusters.

Our tour guide took us through a restored haveli, its traditional architecture designed to keep it naturally cool and carefully conceal valuables behind, say, a wall mirror. Then he took us through the intermittently lit streets of old Ahmedabad. The pols were quiet, the only noise was our chatter, as the steady flashlight lit up chalkboards displaying neighbourhood notices. I felt nostalgic for a past I hadn’t experienced as I saw the decaying mansions, and

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encountered secret passageways once used as escape routes in case of an attack. The night walk allowed me to slow down and become familiar with the turn of each street, alive to its pulse.

We moved on to the illuminated chaos of Manek Chowk— vegetable market by morning and jewellery hub by afternoon.

Its streets were taken over by food stalls by night. The chowk sits around the mausoleum of Ahmedabad’s founding ruler, Ahmed Shah. Inside the mausoleum, in a drab room located up a steep flight of stairs, two brothers played the shehnai and beat large drums in a 600-year-old tradition that has outlasted its purpose: announcing the daily opening and closing of the walled city’s gates. Standing there, immersed in the homage to a longgone king, I felt I had slipped into one of the secret pockets of the city’s ancient, thriving heart. In that night-time glimpse of history in loop, Ahmedabad revealed itself to me as a city at once old and new, a city remembered and renewed.

What is it about the night that loosens the tightly coiled urges of the day? Why do night-time strolls unwind the passage of time or the boundaries of place and memory?

When returning to my home city of Mumbai a few years ago after living elsewhere, I found myself walking around darkening streets in a daze.

The twilit lanes had a surreal texture that made me feel like I had never really left, that I had returned each night to roam the streets in my dreams.

Every traveller has a moment, while unpacking a bag or waking up in a strange hotel bed, of not knowing exactly which room or which country one is in. That transient state is similar to the masquerading quality of the night—its anonymity concealing and revealing what it wishes.

Night travel can feel intoxicating because it brings a sense of probing the hidden, whether you are in a concrete jungle or a moonless forest.

Wanderings at night allow the erasing of boundaries, painting me into the picture, even as I feel disoriented with images and sensations that question what I saw by the light of day.

lisa berkshire/illustration work/getty images

Under the blanket of darkness, new sights come to light

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AROU N D THE WO R L D

Caffeine Kick From Addis AbAbA to stockholm, six wAys to drink A cup oF coFFee BY Meredith Bethune sweetened condensed milk and coffee to make yuanyang. Across the Pearl River Delta in Macau, World Record Coffee has served it for 45 years with a traditional accompaniment—charcoaltoasted bread drizzled with more of the syrupy milk.

ROME, ITALY Espresso gained popularity after manufacturer La Pavoni perfected the machine in 1905. Forcing scalding water through fine grounds produces a concentrated brew with a layer of crema on the surface. At Sant’Eustachio Il Caffè near the Pantheon, Romans have sipped espresso since 1938.

a traditional coffee ceremony only in private homes. It involves roasting the fresh beans over coals and brewing the grounds three times while burning incense. But modern Addis Ababa residents drink black coffee or even a macchiato at family-owned Tomoca in the bustling Piazza neighbourhood.

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM The

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN Sweden is one of

French introduced coffee to Vietnam in 1857, so this creamy drink is a vestige of its colonial past. Each cup is brewed with a single-serving metal filter (called a phin) resting on a cup that cradles spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk.

The mixture is stirred and poured over ice. Try it on the patio at Trung Nguyen coffee, one of the country’s largest chains, overlooking busy Pham Ngu Lao Street.

the largest coffee consumers worldwide, possibly due to the tradition of fika. The daily coffee break paired with a snack can take place at home, at work, or at a café like Vete-Katten in Stockholm.

Its cinnamon buns or award-winning semlor (buns filled with almond paste and whipped cream) pair perfectly with a warm mug of drip brew.

country of origin, visitors can experience

MACAU, CHINA Black tea, a remnant of English rule in Hong Kong, is filtered through a cloth and combined with

TIM E WHITE/GETTY IMAGES

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA In coffee’s

CHENNAI, INDIA Dating back to the 16th century, kaapi, or degree coffee has been the drink of choice in most of south India. Strong, sweet, and ever so light, Indian filter coffee is as much about preparation as it is about flavour.

A strong decoction is brewed in a metal filter and then mixed with boiling milk.

Then, it is poured from a height and cooled, and frothed with the individual flourish of the maker. The drink is served in a stainless steel or copper glass placed inside a davara (metal bowl). Try the version at any of the Adyar Ananda Bhavan outlets in Chennai.

A frothy ethiopianstyle macchiato in Addis Ababa.

April APRIL 2016 | national NATIoNAL Geographic GEoGRAPHIC Traveller TRAVELLER INDIA

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History’s Mysteries Mehrauli Archaeological Park is a wonderful hodgepodge of 1,000 years of Delhi’s history By Diya Kohli to 1526, and are invaluable in piecing together the history of that period.

I feel connected to this archaeological park by virtue of simple things. The house where I lived is a little over three kilometres away and the old walls of Mehrauli extend right up to the boundary of my sleepy housing colony. As a newcomer to the city, its presence gave me a sense of history and belonging, serving as a reminder that Delhi has been settled by migrants for centuries.

It was a late autumn morning when I first visited this park as part of a walking tour and it immediately held me in thrall. Unevenly maintained, it is a space where dogs poop over medieval ruins, kids play hopscotch on centuries-old courtyards, squatters warm themselves over campfires, and religious groups lay claim to ancient places of worship. Here, history is like a well-worn shoe.

Shadow of the Past

My guide, an enthusiastic student of history, spurred my imagination through her vibrant retelling of the founding of the Delhi Sultanate. I’ve always been fascinated by this period of history with its rags-to-riches stories of slaves who climbed the ranks to found the Mamluk dynasty that ruled much of the subcontinent. Mehrauli is the best place to relive the manifold legends of

The tomb and mosque of Jamali-Kamali is one of the best examples of Indo-Islamic architecture in the Meharuli Archaeological Park. It incorporates a multitude of styles including Islamic inscriptions, Rajasthani jharokhas (balconies) as well as a Star of David.

A

nondescript gate opposite Delhi’s Qutub Minar metro station opens into Mehrauli Archaelogical Park, a magnificent resource of medieval India.

First populated in the eighth century, Mehrauli was one of the original cities that became the city of Delhi. The 100-

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odd structures in this park, spread over nearly 200 acres, span many centuries and iterations of the city. They reflect a vast timeline, populated by motley characters including kings, saints, lovers, and eccentrics. Many of them date to the reign of the Delhi Sultanate kings, who ruled over large areas of India from 1206

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Mehrauli, Delhi The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Qutub Minar next to the park looms tall over the entire Mehrauli area. This victory tower from the Delhi Sultanate era is among the tallest in India.

poonamparihar.com/Moment Open/getty images

ATLAS

lady’s dresser or a cook’s shelf of spices, Nature is reclaiming everything and threatens to colonize the old walls, and turn the ruins into something more alive. Like ghostly hands reaching out, tree branches cast long shadows on tombs.

It is perhaps this proximity between the living and the dead that has given rise to modern rumours of this complex being haunted. The most common tale is about the smell of sandalwood agarbattis that permeates Balban’s tomb occasionally, though none are lit there.

However, all that assailed my nose during my visit was a strong whiff of cow dung.

Love stories and Djinns

From Balban’s tomb, we walked west on a trail that winds through the park for about 200 metres, to reach the most beautiful and well-maintained of the park’s monuments, the tomb and

mosque of Jamali-Kamali. Built by the followers of the 16th-century Sufi mystic and poet Jamali, this mausoleum is believed to resemble the inside of a jewellery box. Admiring its domed structure and lovely blue and red stucco work, I was reminded of the little mother-of-pearl inlay boxes that I loved collecting as a child.

A silence descended among our chatty group as we entered the tomb. Ghost hunters list the tomb of Jamali-Kamali among Delhi’s most haunted places.

Visitors claim to sense djinns with malevolent intentions. Some report having perpetual nightmares after entering this place, while others claim to have been slapped by invisible spirits.

For hyperactive imaginations like mine, these tall tales add another dimension to the visit.

More than the architecture, I was interested in the two tombs in the monument, especially the unmarked

During the 19th century, Englishman Thomas Metcalfe favoured Dilkusha with its gardens and water features for romantic retreats (top left); Balban’s tomb is remarkably well preserved despite being open to the skies (right); The enclosed Jamali-Kamali tomb usually has a guard outside, no doubt to dissuade ghost hunters who are drawn to the site’s rumoured hauntings (bottom left). april 2016 | national Geographic Traveller INDIA

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dbimages/alamy/indiapicture (Dilkusha), ashoo sharma/indiapicture/dinodia (Balban’s tomb & Jamali-Kamali tomb)

the Delhi Sultanate from the first sultan, Qutubuddin Aibak, to Ibrahim Lodi, the last. The first monument that I saw on my walking tour was the 13th-century tomb of Ghiyas ud din Balban, one of the dynasty’s most powerful rulers. The impressive arches on this structure set new standards for the Indo-Islamic architectural style. The tomb itself was open to sky and enclosed within walls, now in ruins. Neighbouring it, through an elaborate arched gateway, is the tomb of Balban’s son, Khan Shahid.

Between the two tombs lay the remains of a 16-17th century human settlement. Sunbeams filtered through gaps between the old stone. Even today, toys and earthen pottery continue to be discovered here. I climbed two steps of a ruined staircase leading nowhere and wondered about this close proximity between the tombs and homes that are nearly as old. Errant creepers popped up in ruined niches that once housed a

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Rajon ki Baoli, constructed during Sikandar Lodhi’s reign, was meant for the use of rajmistries or masons who lived and worked in this area.

An Englishman’s Folly and Wells of Wonder

In front of the tomb of the Sufi saint is a manicured lawn with structures that rather oddly blend Indo-Islamic and Victorian architecture. The architect of this puzzling space was Sir Thomas Metcalfe, baronet and agent of the governor general of India at the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar between 1842 and 1844. A bonafide eccentric, he turned the tomb of the Mughal general Quli Khan into a pleasure retreat. According to our guide, Metcalfe was known for his follies, both real and architectural.

Here, he built several extravagant and

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ornamental pavilions to adorn the extensive gardens. The house itself was called Dilkusha, meaning that which pleases the heart. With its luxurious sprawling lawns and rest houses, and spectacular views of the Qutub Minar, Mehrauli was quite the retreat from Old Delhi’s chaos.

Returning to Jamali-Kamali’s tomb, we walked west for six minutes to two stepwells, Gandhak ki Baoli and Rajon ki Baoli. Though constructed 300 years apart, they are similar in size and scope.

These stepwells were designed as places for people to bathe and congregate at, and gain respite from the hot summer sun. The source of the 13th-century Gandhak ki Baoli, among the largest of Delhi’s stepwells, was a sulphurous spring (gandhak means sulphur). The 16th-century Rajon ki Baoli is a grander edifice with arched halls that bear inscriptions from the Koran. Climbing down its steps I admired its intricate masonry while my group walked on to the next monument. My musing was interrupted by shrieks of “OUTTT” from children playing gully cricket just outside. I found myself not really

national Geographic Traveller INDIA | april 2016

wanting to catch up with my group any more, as I was exactly where I wanted to be—at the perfect intersection between the past and present.

Mehrauli Walks INTACH Walks INTACH organizes expert-led weekend walks to Mehrauli Archaeological Park (www. intachdelhichapter.org; book by filling form on website; `100 per head).

India City Walks The two-hour-long Inception of Delhi walk covers the park as well as the surrounding Mehrauli village area (www.indiacitywalks.com; `1,000 per head).

Delhi Heritage Walks with Sohail Hashmi Writer, academic, and historian Sohail Hashmi is a fount of knowledge on the old cities of Delhi (www.facebook.com/ DiscoveringDelhiWithSohailHashmi; `500 per head for groups of up to 10 people. Costs for customized tours are higher).

Delhi Heritage Walks organizes a weekend walk at least once a month to Mehrauli Archaeological Park (www.delhiheritagewalks.com; 2 hr; `500 per head).

jeremy graham/alamy/indiapicture

tomb of “Kamali.” There has been much speculation about the identity of this unknown figure. The tomb has been said to belong to Jamali’s wife, close friend, disciple, or even his male lover. Of these, the tale of a Mughalera forbidden love story between two men has captured the imagination of many. Whatever the truth, the idea of a “forever after” love in Mehrauli’s hodgepodge history and politics found a happy believer in me.

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LOCA L F L AVOU R

Sweetening the Deal The fishtail palm’s inflorescence is tapped for its sugary sap which makes a sticky treacle as well as solid jaggery; A jar of fresh kithul treacle (bottom).

S

everal years ago, on my first-ever visit to Sri Lanka, I remember enjoying one particularly memorable meal at Beach Wadiya, a glorified seaside shack in Colombo. An apt introduction to the unhurried pace of life in the island I would eventually call home, the meal stretched over several hours and multiple courses of freshly prepared seafood. But the fondest memory I have of that day is of the final course: a generous scoop of chilled yogurt, sweetened with a drizzle of what

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I thought was honey. It reminded me of my childhood fixation with curd sweetened with sugar. It wasn’t until years later that I found out that the simple dessert was in fact a national obsession, and that the syrup was not honey at all. It was kithul treacle, one of Sri Lanka’s best-loved secrets.

Derived from the sap of the fishtail palm (locally known as kithul) that grows widely all over the Indian subcontinent, kithul treacle is a smoky, amber-coloured sweetener that could be

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | APRIL 2016

considered Sri Lanka’s answer to maple syrup. It tastes flowery, like single flora honey, yet not as cloying, and with an undertone of warm spice like that of mulled wine. The secret of its unique flavour rests in the fact that it is produced from the sap collected from its flowers. Like other palm products from the subcontinent, the supply of kithul treacle hinges on the dexterity of skilled tappers, who climb trees that can grow over 20 feet high. Armed with traditional wisdom about when the trees bloom (only once in their life) and form sap, tappers make a cut at the base of the stalk bearing clusters of flowers.

A pot is tied to the tree to collect the precious sap, which is then thickened and purified over a wood fire before being bottled.

Like the Bengali winter favourite nolen gur, a toffee-like liquid jaggery extracted from the wild date palm, Sri Lankan kithul is also a muchloved local delicacy. A complex and flavourful substitute for sugar, kithul is a quintessential part of Sri Lankan sweets such as pani walalu, a squiggly, jalebilike sweet made of urad dal and rice which is dunked in treacle, and konda kevum, a spongy, deep-fried cake like the South Indian appe or paniyaram, flavoured with treacle instead of sugar.

Kithul is now a staple in my pantry, I drizzle the treacle generously over pancakes or sliced strawberries for dessert. And when visiting friends ask me what to take back home, I urge them to tuck a bottle of kithul into their suitcase—in my book, it is a souvenir of Sri Lanka like no other.

THE VITALS Kithul treacle is available year-round at most major supermarkets. However, commercial brands are often diluted and taste sugary. Good-quality treacle is expensive, but worth the premium.

Outlets of Laksala, the government handicrafts emporium, and the Good Market store in Colombo are reliable places to find good quality treacle. At Laksala, the premium variety sells at LKR2,400/`1,140 for 300 gm.

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FLPA/INDIAPICTURE (TREE), BENJAMIN BALFOUR/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE (TREACLE)

TAPPING INTO A SWEET SRI LANKAN SECRET BY VIDYA BALACHANDER

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Tast e o f Trav el

The “Beer is Love” mural at hipster Golding’s Freedive bar, is an iconic piece of art for those familiar with the Wellington craft beer scene.

Hops, Beans, and Treats Boutique foods, a craft beer wave, and a hipster coffee culture redefine New Zealand’s capital city By Malavika Bhattacharya

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from Martinborough, created especially for a chef ’s dessert,” he says. With the texture of silk and the briny flavour of olives, this ball of sunshine is the perfect introduction to Wellington’s culinary scene (gelissimo.co.nz; Taranaki Wharf; starting from NZD4.5/`204).

Through this excursion with Zest Food Tours, I’m privy to unique flavours that I might have otherwise missed. When I ask where I can actually order this wonderful creation, I’m directed to the Italian restaurant Scopa Caffé Cucina on Cuba Street (scopa.co.nz).

For any food lover who visits Wellington, Cuba Street is a point of convergence. A five-minute walk from the waterfront, this bohemian artery in the city’s compact centre, though only two kilometres long, is a hub of vintage stores, trendy cafés, bookshops, and buskers. Fringed leather, outlandish cowboy boots, and vintage clothing adorn

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shop windows at stores like Hunters & Collectors and Ziggurat. Slow Boat Records, with its massive collection of new and second-hand records, is a vinyl geek’s dream. This area is also packed with independent food businesses, artisanal coffee makers, craft beer bars, and trendy nooks and crannies. the vitals Zest Food Tours A walking food tour covers both Wellington establishments and little-known businesses (www. zestfoodtours.co.nz; a 3.5 hour Capital Tastes food tour costs NZD179/`8,112 per person and needs a minimum of 2 people).

Craft Beer College Sign up for a tasting tour with a local beer aficionado to discover Wellington’s craft beer scene (www.craftbeercollege.co.nz; set tastings start at NZD44/`1,994).

photo courtesy: wellington tourism

W

ellington’s curved waterfront runs along Cook Strait, which separates New Zealand’s North and South Islands. On a chilly summer morning in December, the blue waters are ruffled into a million folds. Windy Wellington lives up to its moniker. I determinedly stick my face into the breeze, defying the Medusa hairdo I’m sporting, and let my guide from Zest Food Tours lead me towards a morning sugar fix.

We begin our food tour at Wellington’s fabulous waterfront. At Gelissimo, one look at the pastel-coloured gelato flavours on display and I’m ready for a tasting. I try the green mint and chocolate chip gelato and a blood-red raspberry and elderflower sorbet—both bursting with flavour. Owner Graham Joe then hands me a scoop of pale yellow gelato from a tub that isn’t on display.

“It’s an olive oil gelato made with olives

Gutsy Gourmets

Eva Street, just off Cuba Street, is a graffiti-splattered lane housing some of Wellington’s coolest institutions. I step into Wellington Chocolate Factory and am transported into the Roald Dahl classic. The air is heavy with the scent of roasting cacao. Gunnysacks with organic beans from Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Samoa are stacked on the floor. Behind glass walls, molten chocolate bubbles and churns its way through elaborate machines. I taste a raw cacao bean and bits of chocolate as a staffer takes me through the different varieties. The Peruvian bar is made with high-quality criollo beans from trees in 2,000-year old Peruvian forests, and has undertones of raisin and apricot. The Dominican Republic bar is of 70 per cent single-origin cocoa, bitter with a citrus undertone. Chocolate appreciation, I realise, is as serious an art as wine tasting (www.wcf.co.nz; 5 Eva Street; a small bar of chocolate starts at NZD4.9/`220).

Across the street, a white cloth sign

saying “Peanut Butter” flutters above a street-level window. Fix & Fogg is an independent peanut butter factory named after Detective Fix and Phileas Fogg from Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. I peep through the window and see a handful of people in chefs’ aprons grinding, mixing, and bottling. One of them pokes his head out and offers me generous scoops to taste from the four jars on display: smooth, crunchy, dark chocolate, and smoky chilli. This little outfit offers tastings and sells jars right out of their shop window (www.fixandfogg.co.nz; 5 Eva Street; 375g jars from NZD8/`362).

At the other end of the lane, somewhat confusingly also known as Leeds Street, the Red Rabbit Coffee Co. brews coffee from its speciality roasted beans (redrabbitcoffee.co.nz; Unit 6G, 14 Leeds Street; coffee from NZD4/`179). Pair your cuppa with iconic salted caramel cookies from the Leeds Street Bakery next door (leedstbakery.co.nz; cookies NZD4.50/`200).

The Real Ale

Over a glass of Bobby Leach’s Mandarin Comeuppance (a fruity blonde ale), I discuss Wellington’s vibrant craft beer scene with Phil Cook of Craft Beer College, an outfit offering beer tastings, with which I’m taking a tour. “Things have really kicked off in the last five years or so,” he says. Wellington’s image as a

political centre has received a makeover in recent times, as the spate of boutique craft breweries went from five to 14 and over 20 dedicated beer bars mushroomed (www.craftbeercollege.co.nz).

Behind a nondescript door adjacent to the bakery is Golding’s Free Dive—a quirky beer bar where hipsters flock for ever-changing beers on tap and an utterly mad vibe. Skis are suspended from the roof, upturned buckets double up as lampshades, and the walls are covered in murals (goldingsfreedive. co.nz; 14 Leeds Street; a mug of Pilsner costs NZD10/`453).

Tuatara Brewery was among the pioneers on the scene, established in 2000, and named for the native reptile found in these parts. The Tuatara Iti beer I’d tried the previous night came in a bottle with spikes down the neck—a homage to its namesake and a creative marketing tactic (www.tuatarabrewing. co.nz; 7 Sheffield Street, Paraparaumu; an hour-long tasting costs NZD35/`1,586 per person and needs a minimum booking of 8 people).

Phil takes me to Garage Project, another front runner in the brewing space. Located in an old petrol station in the grungy Aro Valley area, this microbrewery burst onto the scene in 2011 with innovative flavours and a new beer every week for six months. Brewing is in full swing: shiny vats are bubbling

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Louise Hatton (cafÈ), malavika bhattacharya (coffee & food)

Fix and Fogg’s peanut butter factory and store (left) is inspired by the journeys of Phileas Fogg, a wealthy English philanthropist, and Scotland Yard detective Mr. Fix from Around the World in Eighty Days; The traditional Greek biscuit, Koulourakia (right), available at the Mojo roasters, is made with spices and sesame seeds; A tasting plate of local best buys (below) assembled by Zest food tours at the Moore Wilson grocery store.

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and spewing yeast. At the attached cellar door—a term I’ve previously only associated with wineries—there are a handful of beers on tap to taste and a wall lined with glass flagons to purchase. Locals stream in and out, refilling their containers with watermelon lager and Venusian pale ale. I taste a chilli chocolate lager called Day of the Dead, a dark, full-bodied beer with a lingering spicy flavour (garageproject.co.nz; 68 Aro Street; starts at NZD8.5/`385 for a 330ml can). Across the street at their relatively new bar, 91 Aro Street, I’m handed a delicate goblet of what looks like a pale rosé. The tap it’s poured from is labelled Rosé de la Vallée, but this is a beer bar, so, what am I drinking? Reading my confusion, Phil explains that this Pilsner infused with Pinot grapes from nearby Martinborough really blurs the lines between wine and beer.

Winding our way around the neighbourhood, we come upon the mustardcoloured facade of the Little Beer Quarter, a charming beer bar with an old-world English feel and 14 rotating beers on tap. I try a Pilsner by Panhead, another one of Wellington’s breweries (littlebeerquarter.co.nz; 6 Edward Street; starts at NZD8/`362 for a mug of

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ale). Outside, a sign bears the logo of the Yeastie Boys, an independent craft brewing outfit, named after the American hip-hop band Beastie Boys.

For beer nerds like me, this tour is made better by the marvellous wordplay, history, and the stories of the places we visit. Garage Project’s Aro Noir, for instance, gets its name because it is brewed on the “dark side” of the suburb of Aro Valley, which doesn’t receive sunlight; their Trip Hop incorporates three different kinds of hops, and the brewer

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is a fan of an electronic music style with the same name.

A few streets away at airy brewpub Fork & Brewer, Kelly Ryan, the in-house brewer, offers me a glass of cherry coloured liquid. “There was a raspberry explosion yesterday,” he says, showing me images on his phone of bright red splatters along the walls and floor of his brewing space. I taste the raspberry blend he’s experimenting with; it definitely has promise. Then I taste a sour Pilsner called Tainted Love, infused with passion

malavika bhattacharya (brewery), douglas peebles/age fotostock/dinodia (visitors)

91 Aro Street by the Garage Project brewery has a rotating menu of 20 beers on tap (top); Cuba Street with its hip craft beer bars and al fresco cafés is a Mecca for food lovers (bottom).

Bean to Brew

The Kiwi preference for specially crafted beverages extends to the coffee scene as well. With over a dozen roasteries in the city, speciality coffee is the norm. The 13-year-old Mojo HQ and Roastery, run by a second-generation Greek family, is something of a Wellington institution.

The boutique roastery operates over 20 cafés within the city. Their roasting operation, housed in the red-brick Shed 13 along the waterfront, is open to the public. Here, I see a batch of beans being roasted while sipping a freshly brewed flat white—a Kiwi staple consisting of steamed milk poured over an espresso shot—accompanied by a buttery koulourakia or Greek wine biscuit (www. mojocoffee.co.nz; Shed 13, Kumutoto Plaza, Wellington Waterfront).

Flight Coffee is another among Wellington’s speciality coffee roasters, using beans from Kenya, Colombia, Ethiopia, etc. The Flight Coffee Hangar is their flagship café, housed in a former parking lot with pale wood interiors,

Max Patte’s iconic “Solace of the Wind” sculpture leans into the harbour near Wellington’s Te Papa musuem (top); Nestled in the heart of Cuba Street, Iko Iko is a store filled with curiosities, stocking everything from local handicrafts to quirky toys (bottom).

a glass frontage overlooking the street and a high footfall of hip locals. Coffee roasting is a complex science and Sarah, the lead barista, shows me a chart that ranks various aspects—flavour, acidity, aroma—on a ten-point scale. ( flightcoffee.co.nz; 171 -177 Willis Street; Coffee Three Ways costs NZD14/`634; espresso NZD4.5/`204.)

I order Coffee Three Ways—a sampler featuring the same bean brewed in three different styles. It arrives on a wooden board, a trio of little cups containing an espresso, a flat white, and a dark cold drip, all brewed with Ethiopian beans. This artisanal presentation is unsurprising of course. In Wellington, brewing is serious business.

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photo courtesy: wellington tourism (waterfront), oliver strew/Lonely Planet Images/getty images (store)

fruit and juniper berry. I think I’ve found my favourite ( forkandbrewer.co.nz; 20A Bond Street; starts at NZD9.5/`430 for a 425ml glass).

In Focus | Off t he Gr i d

By Natasha Sahgal with Niloufer Venkatraman

Top of the

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■ n e pal Guests enjoy panoramic views of Everest and its surrounding peaks from the terrace of Everest View Hotel, located at a height of 13,000 feet. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this is the world’s highest luxury hotel.

egmnot strigl/image broker/dinodia

After the disastrous earthquake that rocked Nepal in 2015, the Everest Trail is open again, welcoming visitors to the high mountains. Here’s a DIY Guide to trekking to the Everest Base Camp

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In Focus | Off t he Gr i d

Three years ago,

I completed a solo trek to the Everest Base Camp (EBC) in Nepal. It took a lot of planning, motivation, and muscle ache to complete the trip, but it was worth every minute. The varied experiences I had over the course of the two weeks I was in the Himalayas, made it eminently memorable. For me, this wasn’t just a walk in the mountains. It included a thrilling plane ride where I admired the Himalayas from up above, and a glimpse of Sherpa life and culture up-close.

Though I had the satisfaction of getting near one of the world’s most famous peaks, I was also acutely aware of the dangers of travelling into the high mountains.

Everest Base Camp is the site where mountaineers who intend to summit Mount Everest (called Sagarmatha by Nepalis and Chhomolungma by Tibetans), set up camp and live for a few months during the summer. This is where they acclimatize and prepare for ascents to the summit of the world’s highest peak. Non-climbers like me, can comfortably walk up to this point without supplemental oxygen or specialised climbing equipment. The excellent infrastructure along this trekking route makes it easy for a visitor to trek from one lodge (often called a teahouse in Nepal) to the next. Here’s a breakdown of how to plan, begin, and complete the trek.

WHAT KIND OF TRIP?

Decide what kind of trip you want. There are three ways to do this trek.

Solo In the Nepal Himalayas it is safe and fine to be walking on trails alone, so long as you don’t veer off the trodden paths.

Tip Whether travelling solo or with a porter, consider joining up with other solo travellers to walk together for a day or two, then with others for another few days, so you have company walking.

With a porter or guide, or both Note that often porters will walk way ahead of you and reach the day’s destination hours before you have. They will carry your backpack and get it to the next destination, but beyond the basics, they usually don’t take the place of a guide. A guide will and should stay with you the entire duration of the trek.

With a trekking company Join a group trek if you are not confident about planning and walking alone.

Treks are usually inclusive of food, accommodation (tented or teahouse), guides, and porters. There are hundreds to choose from, many based in Thamel.

Prices start at `60,000 and can go up to `4,00,000 for a luxury trek that includes

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three-course meals, personal guides, and helicopter drops.

TIME OF YEAR

Plan the trip at least three months ahead, so that there is enough time to prepare and train. March to May is very comfortable weather-wise, though there may be days of rain. October to early December is colder, but the skies are clearer, making it the best time for views and photography.

Fitness training

Almost anyone can do this trek with the right training and planning. At various times, trekkers have spotted a person with a prosthetic leg, a 75-year-old, and even a group of blind trekkers. While the trek to EBC does not require technical mountaineering or rock climbing skills, one does need to be reasonably fit. The daily routine involves walking for at least 4-7 hours a day; there are days when it’s almost all uphill. Whether you choose to carry your own backpack or hire a porter, training is mandatory. If you plan on carrying your own pack, make sure you acquire it early and train with it loaded up, as if it was the real trek. Start training

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Expense Stats Flights and Airport taxes `40,000 (or as little as `20,000). This is where you can save the most if you plan ahead and if you are flexible enough with your schedule to be able to buy the Nepali rupee value fare to Lukla (see Getting There).

Stay and Food In Kathmandu, stay and food for 4 days should cost under NPR9,000/`5,630 (can be done for less).

Trek Plan to budget about NPR4,000/`2,500 per day (can be done for less if you stay in dorms with shared facilities).

Porter NPR15,000/`9,384 for the whole trek.

Permits/park entry NPR2,100/`1,313 Miscellaneous NPR5,000/`3,128 Total Approximately `1.25 lakhs (without required personal gear).

Facing page: andrew peacock/aurora photos/corbis/imagelibrary (painting), saiko3p/Shutterstock (monastery)

BEFORE YOU GO

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Along the trail travellers encounter Buddhist chortens, prayer flags, and paintings of the Buddha’s eyes (top) at various points; Evening prayers at Tengboche monastery (bottom).

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In Focus | Off t he Gr i d

Trekkers sit outside their tent overlooking Namche Bazaar, a village in the Khumbu area, regarded as a gateway to the Everest. It is easy to spend a few days here, acclimatizing to the altitude at one of numerous lodges, available in every budget bracket.

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Traditionally, Sherpas believed that some mountains were gods’ abode and must not be intruded upon. And so for generations they never attempted to climb Mount Everest, until a steady stream of climbers from the West made mountaineering a profitable enterprise.

aaron huey/national geographic creative/corbis/imagelibrary

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t e x t A N D P h oto g r ap h s

Inheritors of an ancient lifestyle, villagers manoeuvre a dugout canoe in Papua, Indonesia.

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by CA R L H O F F M A N

It Takes a Village A month with natives in the jungles of New Guinea opens a visitor’s eyes—and heart

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t h e g r e at a dv e n t u r e

In Focus | Off t he Gr i d

T

he town of Agats perches at

the edge of the known world, the only place within 25,000 square kilometres of mud and jungle on the southwest coast of the western Pacific island of New Guinea that is even tenuously connected to anywhere else. There are no roads, no cars, just rickety boardwalks elevated over wetland, and it’s here, right after dawn, as mist rises from the night’s rain and the tropical colors of the blue river and green jungle are still rich, that our eyes meet—and we do a double take.

His are small and brown. He is barefoot, his hair sticks up in tufts, and his septum has a hole the size of a dime. He reeks of sweat and smoke. A handwoven bag adorned with feathers dangles over his chest. He looks feral, and in a way he is. His name is Kokai, and he is an Asmat tribesman from the village of Pirien, where there are no artificial lights, no cell signals. We met when I visited his village a little over two years ago. I have learned some Indonesian since, and we chat. He tells me he came to see his son but can’t get home, doesn’t have the money. I’ll pay for a boat back, I say, if I can come live in Pirien with him for a month.

It’s that simple.

We travel for many reasons: to escape, relax, learn, startle ourselves, sometimes to meet new people, sometimes to get away from familiar ones. But as visitors, we touch only the surface of a place. This time I’m travelling to be alone, to leave behind everything I know and use to define myself, and immerse myself in a village, a culture, without any filters or supports, in order to know it, feel it, subsume myself in it. Some anthropologists have done that, including Tobias Schneebaum in the Amazon and Jean Malaurie in Greenland. Only by going alone, with no connections, no alternatives, can I hope to enter a place and culture that is inaccessible not just in geography but in spirit.

I have to stay long enough that I go from being alone to being accepted—if that’s even possible.

So one day I’m alone in Agats, which isn’t really being alone: My phone buzzes with incoming texts, diners fill the little restaurants, and there is a good chance I could get a seat, if I wanted, on one of the boats headed to the airstrip to the north.

The next day I’m alone in Pirien, at Kokai’s tiny, smoky house, the boat that got me here drifting away. I’m encircled by a crowd of 50. This is a completely different kind of alone; I’m cut off from everything and everyone I know, surrounded by unfamiliar men, women, and children. I’m in a sea of otherness, with no control over anything. Pirien has no road, no electricity, no plumbing, no store. No one speaks a word of English. It’s total surrender to absolute foreignness, to a remote community of former cannibals.

In a lifetime of travel, this is the most intense thing I’ve done.

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Feathers, seeds, and dog teeth adorn Asmat tribesmen, who still adhere to traditional ways.

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Short Breaks |

stay

Wild Remedies At a forest lodge in Tadoba, an antidote to the maladies of the urban jungle | By neha sumitran

W

ithin 30 minutes of entering The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge, we have seen three tigers. There’s a painted portrait of the big cat by the reception, a miniature brass sculpture on the door to my villa, and a gorgeous, life-size mural of Shere Khan in my bathroom, just above the wooden treasure chest that holds the hand towels, face towels, and fluffy full-body towels.

A few feet from the chest in the spacious bathroom, is a glass door that leads to an al fresco porch with a bathtub surrounded by bamboo plants. It’s the perfect place to unwind after a dusty evening safari. Better still, the tub is large enough for two.

Like our room, the rest of The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge is designed to deliver a luxurious and immersive experience of the outdoors. The resort has a mix of villas, chalets, and rooms, and is a 10-minute drive from

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the Korala Gate of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, spread over 1,700 square kilometres in eastern Maharashtra. The tiger is the star attraction of the national park, and of the lodge. There are stripes everywhere: on the upholstery, on the covers of photo books in the library, even on the paved paths that connect the villas in the lodge.

Breakfast at the lodge is served on an outdoor deck with a view of the village lake and its many inhabitants— kingfishers, cormorants, egrets— swooping in and out of the water.

Buffet lunches are laid out in the handsome dining room, which has a vibrant wall mural of leopards, sambar, and langurs. At tea time, guests are encouraged to go up to the machan, which has sweeping views of the lake, cotton fields, and villages nearby.

Keen to see the animals in the flesh, we rose early on Saturday for the morning safari, with our guide Akshay, the resort’s chirpy naturalist

wildlife

`` luxury

photo courtesy: Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge (cottages), neha sumitran (bird)

The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge (top) combines the thrills of a safari holiday with the luxuries of a boutique hotel. It is a 10-minute drive from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, home to big cats like the tiger and leopard, and smaller creatures like the bee-eater bird (bottom).

■ m aharas htra encounter the star of Tadoba: Maya the tigress and her three cubs rolling around like puppies. The animal sightings were thrilling, of course, but just being in the forest, far from the city’s blaring horns, WhatsApp notifications, and decisions about bills, meals, and meetings, was rejuvenating. We returned to the resort ravenous and beaming from the morning’s experience.

Meals at The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge are rather elaborate buffet spreads, with lots of North Indian fare. The kitchen serves up an especially good jungli maas (mutton cooked in red chillies and ghee) and a variety of crisp, tandoori parathas, with generous lashings of butter.

Lunch is generally the heaviest, designed to ensure that guests nap for a while after, which is exactly what we did. We woke up in time for a long soak in the tub, and spent the rest of the evening stargazing while lying on our backs on the grassy porch of our villa.

By early Sunday evening, when we had to leave to catch our flight back to Mumbai, we were relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take on the urban jungle we call home.

The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge

ì

Mumbai

Getting There The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge is 7 km/10 min from the Kolara Gate of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in eastern Maharashtra. It is 115 km/2 hr from Nagpur, which has the closest airport. Mumbai is a 90min flight from Nagpur.

The closest railway station is Warora, 40 km/1 hr by road.

Accommodation The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge has lakeside villas ideal for couples, and chalets with connecting rooms that are suited to families with children. The rooms in the chalet can be individually reserved.

All accommodation is luxurious. The lakeside villa has a four-poster bed, and a porch. The roomy bathroom has a rain-shower cubicle (great for a hot, post-safari shower), a counter of Kama bath products, and an open-to-sky bathtub.

The Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge does not serve alcohol. (www. bambooforest.in; doubles from 20,000, including all meals; safari costs extra.)

Between 30 June-30 Sept (monsoon), safaris run only when weather conditions permit.

Most guests spend their mornings on safaris, and their evenings discussing tiger (top right) and deer (top left) sightings at the resort’s outdoor restaurant (bottom) over meals of indulgent North Indian fare.

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photo courtesy: Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge (restaurant), neha sumitran (tigets & deers)

from Bengaluru. Wrapped snugly in blankets in our souped-up safari jeep, we watched shades of pink creep into the inky sky, and the forests of Tadoba slowly come to life. Unlike jungles along the Western Ghats, Tadoba barely has any green in the months preceding the monsoon. We drove past swathes of platinum-blonde grass on mud tracks the colour of rust, scanning the bamboo thickets on either side for pug marks, birds, and other animals. Within the first hour, we saw a handsome barasingha male, a sloth bear digging into a termite hill, and a peacock trying (and failing) to woo two unimpressed peahens by a waterbody.

For breakfast, we parked near a forest guest house in the national park, in the raucous company of jungle crows that seemed to have much to chatter about. In jeeps around us, families sipped from juice boxes, munched on sandwiches, and examined the photos they’d taken on their cameras. Everybody was caked in dust, just a little bit sweaty (the sun is fierce after 9 a.m.), and looked as happy as the squirrels running up and down the trees.

The following day, we were lucky enough to