August 2009

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA

WORLD’S BEST AWARDS 2009 T+L REVEALS THE BEST IN HOTELS, AIRLINES, CRUISES, SPAS AND MORE

SOUTHEAST ASIA

AUGUST 2009

World’s Best Awards • Cape Town • Mumbai • Siem Reap • Venice • Burma

Venice 47 TOP IDEAS FOR SLEEPING, EATING, PLAYING MUST VISIT FASHION FINDS IN MUMBAI

Hong Kong AUGUST 20 09

Six chic eats for less

Plus: Travel tricks to save you time and money

travelandleisuresea.com SINGAPORE SG$6.90 ● HONG KONG HK$39 THAILAND THB160 ● INDONESIA IDR45,000 MALAYSIA MYR15 ● VIETNAM VND80,000 MACAU MOP40 ● PHILIPPINES PHP220 BURMA MMK32 ● CAMBODIA KHR20,000 BRUNEI BND6.90 ● LAOS LAK48,000

Privilege knows no boundaries.

Carried by the Global Elite, the world over.

By invitation only.

For expression of interest call Singapore: + (65) 6295 6293 Hong Kong: + (852) 2277 2233 Thailand: + (66) 2273 5445

EXCLUSIVE OFFERS FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS® PLATINUM CARDMEMBERS Take advantage of two “never-before” Orion exclusive offers—a short-haul, four-night voyage in September between Bali and Singapore, and a three-night-stay package during the 2009 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX

Custom-designed for expedition cruising, Orion, Australia’s only five-star purpose-built expedition cruise ship is the epitome of elegance. Her luxurious appointments mean she is more mega-yacht than a cruise ship and her guests are few; just 50 couples, all cared for by a crew of 75. After Singapore, Orion’s inaugural voyage to this region visits Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, with two 11-night expeditions to Ho Chi Minh in September and October. Orion then heads to New Zealand and the Antarctic in December and January featuring extraordinary wildlife on the “path less traveled.”

4-Night Bali–Singapore (19–23 September 2009) Slip away for a short break with an itinerary not offered by any luxury cruise liner and get savings of up to 60%* per night when compared to other packages. Days at sea will be spent enjoying the range and caliber of Orion’s onboard recreational facilities including spa, sauna, massage and more. From award-winning gourmet menus to pampering at the beauty salon, you will rediscover your capacity for relaxation and indulgence.

CATEGORY Category B Stateroom Category A Stateroom Junior Suite Deluxe Suite Balcony Suite Owners Suite

RATES $1,160 $1,345 $1,600 $1,750 $2,090 $2,430

3-Night FORMULA ONE package (25–27 September 2009) Experience the FORMULA ONE thrill while staying on Orion. This five-star mega-yacht, which will be acting as a floating hotel while berthed at the Singapore Cruise Centre @ HarbourFront during the 2009 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX. CATEGORY Category B Stateroom Category A Stateroom Junior Suite Deluxe Suite Balcony Suite Owners Suite

RATES $1,455 $1,695 $2,010 $2,205 $2,625 $3,045

Rates are all in AUD, per person for three nights based on twin share.

Rates are all in AUD, per person for four nights based on twin share.

Terms & Conditions: Offer is exclusive to American Express Platinum Cardmembers, booked through Platinum Card® Service and applies to new bookings only. Rates are in AUD and are per person based on twin share. Bali-Singapore voyage rate does not include airfare from Singapore to Bali. Formula One package price does not include tickets to 2009 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX. *Savings are derived from package rates offered by similar cruise operators and correct at the time of printing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ABOVE EXCLUSIVE OFFERS OR TO MAKE A BOOKING, CALL THE PLATINUM CARD® SERVICE: SINGAPORE: +(65) 6392 1177 HONG KONG: +(852) 2277 2233 THAILAND: +(66) 2 273 5599

Special Promotion

This September, We Will Present A Glorious Season Like No Other Strap yourselves in for the world’s only FORMULA ONE night race in multicultural Singapore this year. The city is gearing up with top-notch experiences, all to run in conjunction with the Singapore GP Season. So come join us for a thrilling ride in Asia’s most happening city!

“When I originally suggested the notion of Grand Prix racing under lights, people had thought I had gone mad. But the whole Singapore experience has raised the standards for everybody.”

FORMULA ONE MANAGEMENT PRESIDENT

BERNIE ECCLESTONE

“As an avid FORMULA ONE fan, I truly enjoyed the first ever night race in Singapore. Having visited some FORMULA ONE races around the world, the Singapore race stood out for me. As a night race held on the streets, it was also distinct and unique. It was nothing less than spectacular. In my opinion, we have only seen the beginning.”

“Singapore is a world renowned destination with a vibrant and sophisticated image… I was immediately impressed by the welcome I received when I first traveled to Singapore to investigate the possibility of hosting an Amber Lounge party…It was a fantastic launch weekend for our new venue in 2008 and I’m expecting that Amber Lounge Singapore in 2009 will be even better.”

CEO OF PKH PTE LTD

FOUNDER OF AMBER LOUNGE

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF ALLDRESSEDUP AND THE LINK GROUP, SINGAPORE

PETER KNIPP

SONIA IRVINE

TINA TAN-LEO

“The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix has certainly given our city an excitement, buzz and global recognition. We have set the bar high with a unique night race and international celebrities adding to the style and glamour quotient. I can’t wait for the 2nd season in September!”

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(Contents)08.09

115-136 Features 116 On the Scenic Side Driving Sumatra’s west coast, GARY JONES discovers rural Indonesia has its own soundtrack.

Photographed by MARK EVELEIGH. GUIDE AND MAP 123 124 Best of Venice The ultimate guide to the city of 8

canals. VALERIE WATERHOUSE opens her little black book on Venice to share the top places to eat, shop and see. Photographed by MARTIN MORRELL. MAP 135 136 Cape Town’s Edge How does a place best known for its beaches, mountains and vineyards develop a progressive design scene?

MARIA SHOLLENBARGER uncovers the answer in Africa’s creative capital. Photographed by DOOK. GUIDE AND MAP 145

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Special ● World’s Best > 101 In Travel+Leisure’s annual poll, we asked our readers to rate the best hotels, cruises, airlines, outfitters, cities, islands and more. The votes are in! Here, we spotlight this year’s winners, as well as properties around the world where you’ll find great value. Once again this year, hotels and resorts from across Asia fare well, with entries from most countries in the region.

MARTIN MORRELL

>124 Venice at its absolute best.

WORLD’S BEST AWARDS 2009 T+L REVEALS THE BEST IN HOTELS, AIRLINES, CRUISES, SPAS AND MORE

(Contents)08.09 Departments 12 14 18 20 22 24 27 146

SOUTHEAST ASIA

AUGUST 2009

Venice 47 TOP IDEAS FOR SLEEPING, EATING, PLAYING MUST VISIT FASHION FINDS IN MUMBAI

> 64

Hong Kong Six chic eats for less

Plus: Travel tricks to save you time and money

travelandleisuresea.com SINGAPORE SG$6.90 ● HONG KONG HK$39 THAILAND THB160 ● INDONESIA IDR45,000 MALAYSIA MYR15 ● VIETNAM VND80,000 MACAU MOP40 ● PHILIPPINES PHP220 BURMA MMK32 ● CAMBODIA KHR20,000 BRUNEI BND6.90 ● LAOS LAK48,000

Cover

Destinations Editor’s Note Contributors Letters Best Deals Ask T+L Strategies My Favorite Place

Asia’s major cities make their mark in this year’s World’s Best Awards. Illustrated by Wasinee Chantakorn.

> 81

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36 Newsflash How to enjoy the F1 as it roars into Singapore, deluxe takes on street fare, Asia’s new city hotels, and China’s most controversial artist.

42 Eat Dining out at five new restaurants in Hong Kong that won’t break the bank.

BY LAURA MILLER 44 Books Three Chinese novels add to the country’s literary tradition.

BY MANUELA ZONINSEIN 46 Classics When in Chiang Mai, be sure to order a bowl of khao soi, the city’s signature dish. BY AUSTIN BUSH 53 Quick Getaway Two hours from Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh provides a memorable glimpse of history. BY ROBYN ECKHARDT 10

69-70 Stylish Traveler 69 Icon Schwinn’s folding bike. By KATHRYN O’SHEA-EVANS 70 Shopping From semiprecious stones to delicately embroidered caftans, Mumbai has style seekers taking notice. BY TANVI CHHEDA

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75-96 T+L Journal 75 Driving On a road trip along Ireland’s west coast, MICHAEL S. CAIN discovers that the more things change, the more (thankfully) they stay the same.

81 Cityscape The Alexandria Library, successor to an ancient marvel, intends nothing less than to change the Middle East’s mind-set.

BY MICHAEL J. WISE 86 Portfolio Having spent the past 15 years documenting the oftenforgotten country, photographer NIC DUNLOP reflects on his experiences in Burma.

96 Outdoors Off in an undiscovered corner of Thailand, a small town preserves its simple way of life.

BY AUSTIN BUSH

C L O C K W I S E F R O M FA R L E F T : N A N A C H E N ; J O S É B E R N A D ; L I V I A C O R O N A ; F R A M P E T I T ( 2 )

35-64 Insider

56 Check-in Singapore can be tough on budgets, so we dug up six wallet-friendly accomodations. BY JENNIFER CHEN 60 Restaurants Uncovering Siem Reap’s burgeoning dining scene. BY NAOMI LINDT 62 First Look Delivering seclusion at a new resort in the Maldives. BY CHRIS KUCWAY 64 Where to Go Next Forward-thinking design and centuriesold architecture meet up in Lisbon.

BY MARIA SHOLLENBARGER

(Destinations)08.09 Venice 124

Alexandria 81 Nan 96 Sumatra 116 Mumbai 70

Cape Town 136

World Weather This Month -40oF -20oF -40oC

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Issue Index Shanghai 40 Tokyo 36

THE AMERICAS Jamaica 37 New York 37

EUROPE Ireland 75 Lisbon 64 London 37 Venice 124

ASIA China 44 Maldives 62 Mumbai 70

AFRICA Alexandria 81 Cape Town 136 South Africa 104

Currency Converter Singapore Hong Kong Thailand Indonesia Malaysia Vietnam Macau Philippines Burma Cambodia Brunei Laos US ($1)

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1.46

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8,517

Source: www.xe.com (exchange rates at press time).

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AU GUS T 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

M A P BY E T H A N CO R N E L L

Sumatra 116 Thailand 46 Vietnam 37, 146

SOUTHEAST ASIA Bangkok 40, 41 Burma 86 Hong Kong 38, 42 Ipoh 53 Nan, Thailand 96 Siem Reap 60 Singapore 36, 38, 56

(Editor’s Note) 08.09

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Matt Leppard (far right) and Robert Fernhout (center) accept the award for magazine design.

HIS IS AN ISSUE ALL ABOUT WINNERS. First, I’d like to congratulate

my team—especially the art department—on winning the Excellence in Magazine Design from the Society of Publishers in Asia Awards 2009 for our anniversary issue last December. Said the judges: “The innovation, complexity and photo editing make it outstanding ... A really strong design, dealing with a lot of editorial complexity in an elegant way.” Of course, we like to think of every issue that way, and hope that this is the first of many awards we’ll be winning over the coming years. But we don’t make the magazine to win awards—we make it for our readers.

And like last year, we are inviting all of you to let us know what you think about the magazine. Please do take time out to complete our reader survey—details are on page 45—and you stand the chance of winning a stay in one of Thailand’s most prestigious hotels, Four Seasons Bangkok, as well as three free issues.

This issue also sees the publication of the World’s Best Awards 2009. These, the travel industry’s highest accolades, are chosen entirely by readers, including those of international editions of Travel + Leisure. That means you! If you took part in the survey earlier this year, your votes will have counted towards the final results, which this year saw some notable Asian winners, with Bangkok third in the best city category and Luang Prabang at number 7. Singapore Airlines, meanwhile, was named Top International Airline. But I do hope you take a look through the full listings, bearing in mind that these really are reader-chosen—and I cannot think of a better recommendation to help you plan your next trip. Elsewhere in the magazine, we present 47 top tips for what to do in Venice (“Best of Venice,” page 124) as well as affordable eats in Hong Kong (“Cheap, Chic Eats in Hong Kong,” the magazine—and remember: you’re in world-class company!—MATT LEPPARD TRAVEL + L EISURE EDITORS, WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE THE INDUSTRY’S MOST RELIABLE SOURCES. WHILE ON ASSIGNMENT, THEY TRAVEL INCOGNITO WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND DO NOT TAKE PRESS TRIPS OR ACCEPT FREE TRAVEL OF ANY KIND.

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AU GUS T 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

C H E N P O VA N O N T

page 42) and stylish hotels in Singapore that won’t break the bank (page 56). Enjoy

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ART DIRECTOR FEATURES EDITORS

Matt Leppard Fah Sakharet Jennifer Chen Chris Kucway

ART EDITOR DESIGNER EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Ellie Brannan Wannapha Nawayon Wasinee Chantakorn

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS / PHOTOGRAPHERS Paul Ehrlich (editor-at-large), Brent Madison, Adam Skolnick, Robyn Eckhardt, Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Lara Day, Naomi Lindt, Cedric Arnold, Steve McCurry, Peter Steinhauer, Nat Prakobsantisuk, Graham Uden, Darren Soh

CHAIRMAN PRESIDENT PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

PUBLISHER DIRECTOR SINGAPORE / ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS CONSULTANT, HONG KONG/MACAU INTERN CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION GROUP CIRCULATION MANAGER

J.S. Uberoi Egasith Chotpakditrakul Rasina Uberoi-Bajaj

Robert Fernhout Lucas W. Krump Pichayanee Kitsanayothin Michael K. Hirsch Kin Kamarulzaman Shea Stanley Joha Djalmetov Gaurav Kumar Kanda Thanakornwongskul Supalak Krewsasaen Porames Chinwongs

AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING CORPORATION PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, MARKETING & SALES EXECUTIVE EDITOR, INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS AND CONTENT MANAGER

Ed Kelly Mark V. Stanich Paul B. Francis Nancy Novogrod Jean-Paul Kyrillos Cara S. David Mark Orwoll Thomas D. Storms Aneesa T. Waheed

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA VOL. 3, ISSUE 8 Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia is published monthly by Media Transasia Limited, Room 1205-06, 12/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2851-6963; Fax: +852 2851-1933; under license from American Express Publishing Corporation, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Produced and distributed by Media Transasia Thailand Ltd., 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75/8 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoeynue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel: +66 2 204-2370. Printed by Comform Co., Ltd. (+66 2 368-2942–7). Color separation by Classic Scan Co., Ltd. (+66 2 291-7575). While the editors do their utmost to verify information published, they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy.

This edition is published by permission of AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING CORPORATION 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America.

Reproduction in whole or in part without the consent of the copyright owner is prohibited. © Media Transasia Thailand Ltd. in respect of the published edition.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription enquiries: www.travelandleisuresea.com/subscribe

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(Contributors) 08.09

Laura Miller South African by birth, Miller discovered she couldn’t compete with the quantity of food her three brothers ate, so she’s focused on quality ever since. Based in Hong Kong, she takes pleasure in finding secret spots (“Cheap, Chic Eats in Hong Kong,” page 42).

“Step outside Hong Kong’s five-star hotels and you’ll find a foodie’s paradise that is free of Michelin constraints and is affordable to boot.”

Valerie Waterhouse

Since the Italy-based writer has been to Venice more than 30 times, she was ideal for this month’s story (“Best of Venice,” page 124). Though she insists every trip brings new discoveries, her favorite pastime remains the same. “Get the frontrow seat on a vaporetto (water bus) and go along the Grand Canal. You’ll feel like it’s just you and Venice.” Waterhouse also writes for Wallpaper and Elle Décor.

Above: Moulmein, Burma in 1996.

Below: Nic Dunlop at work in Burma.

Tanvi Chheda From South African vineyards to the bazaars of Istanbul, Los Angeles–based Chheda (“Mumbai’s Moment,” page 70) is a serial shopaholic and writer who never passes up the chance to find the perfect shawl or bottle of Pinot Blanc. Born in India, the former assistant editor at T+L (U.S.) has counted Mumbai, Muscat, New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C. among the places she has called home.

A BOV E , F RO M TO P : N I C D U N LO P ; CO U RT ESY O F N I C D U N LO P B E L O W, F R O M FA R L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F L A U R A M I L L E R ; C O U R T E S Y O F VA L E R I E W AT E R H O U S E ; C O U R T E S Y O F TA N V I C H H E D A

Nic Dunlop, who photographed this month’s portfolio (“Burmese Years,” page 86), is working on a documentary called Burma Soldier. “One of the problems with Burma, and a rationale for the film, is that the military is so unknown,” notes Dunlop who says that fact needs to change. “I hope that with the documentary and through my book, we can inject more nuance into the debate. The generals are not going to change through moral condemnation alone. They don’t care what their own people think. Why should they care what we think?”

(Letters)08.09 are things we never thought about. I do think the section on kid-friendly resorts could have been more extensive.

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— M A R I LY N

GOON, SINGAPORE

STEAL A few of our favorite hotel products that are yours for the taking.

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11 1 CUSTOMIZABLE STATIONERY Chateau Marmont, Hollywood. 2 MALIN + GOETZ “MOJITO” SOAPS with lime and rum scents, Condesa DF, Mexico City. 3 PENCILS

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made from recycled CD cases, Andaz Liverpool Street and Andaz West Hollywood. 4 MILLER HARRIS SHAMPOO with Marché au Foin scent, created exclusively for the Haymarket Hotel, London. 5 CERAMIC DOG BOWL Sunset Tower Hotel, West Hollywood. 6 REMÈDE TOILETRY SET with polyvinyl case, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. 7 CLOTH SLIPPERS Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. 8 KAMA AYURVEDA BATH PRODUCTS with organic herbal ingredients and citrus fragrance, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.

9 WICKER BEACH bag woven by artisans, Zoëtry Paraiso de la Bonita, Riviera Maya, Mexico. 10 SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI GLYCERINE SOAPS Bauer Hotel and Bauer Il Palazzo, Venice. 11 TERRY FOAM-AND–RUBBER FLIPFLOPS Hotel Guanahani & Spa, French West Indies.

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LETTER OF THE MONTH Thick as Thieves

What a relief it was to read Lynn Yaeger’s story about stealing from hotels [“Suite Temptations,” July 2009]!

Though I’ve never swiped sheets or a shoe tree from a hotel, I have taken my fair share of toiletries. It’s nice to know I’m in good company. It’s stories like Yaeger’s that make your magazine stand apart: a sense of fun and a willingness to take on subjects that most want to stay hush-hush about.

—WENDI

LEE, SINGAPORE

Kids Welcomed Too Thanks so much for the section for families [“Asia’s Kid-Friendly Secrets,” June 2009]. The page about animal sounds had our kids in stitches, those

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Times Are Changing Wow, cheap beach stays just got a lot more expensive than during my university days of grass huts and slightly chilled beers [“Affordable Beach Resorts in Southeast Asia,” and “Best Kept Secrets,” June 2009]. I never imagined spending US$100 for a bed near a beach, let alone double that.

Still, I now have a new list of places I want to visit before leaving Asia, so thanks for that.

—NICHOLAS

B O LT , BA N G KO K

The City that Eats You should have written more about food in Hong Kong; it’s the biggest reason to visit this great city [“Eat Drink Shop,” July 2009]. There’s never a shortage of interesting places to eat with friends here. We’re always working over a meal. And you can’t walk 10 meters without seeing food.

— LU C A S

C H A N G , H O N G KO N G

Corrections: In our June issue’s guide to zoos and aquaria, we incorrectly stated that the Hong Kong-based Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden’s total area is 65 hectares and that the height of Kwun Yum Shan is 549 meters. In fact, they are 148 hectares and 552 meters, respectively. Also, in our July issue, we incorrectly stated that the Amantaka in Laos comprised 32 buildings. It should have read 15 buildings. We regret the errors.

E-MAIL T+L SEND YOUR LETTERS TO EDITOR @ TRAVELANDLEISURESEA.COM AND LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON RECENT STORIES OR NEW PLACES TO VISIT. LETTERS CHOSEN MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE. THE LETTER OF THE MONTH RECEIVES A FREE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO TRAVEL + LEISURE ( SOUTHEAST ASIA ONLY).

READER OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN LETTERS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF TRAVEL + LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA, MEDIA TRANSASIA LTD., OR AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING.

(Best Deals) 08.09 The Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor.

From urban escape to seaside hideaway, six great bargains American Express Summer Promotion for card holders at all Raffles Hotels & Resorts (1506/870-6794; raffles.com/amexsummer). What’s Included 20 percent off the best available rate at Raffles Beijing Hotel and 15 percent off the best available rate at all other Raffles hotels and resorts; daily breakfast; late check-out at 3 P.M. (upon availability); complimentary stay and breakfast for two children below the age of 12; a special spa offer (Raffles Beijing offers high tea in lieu); and a eco-minded present or activity. Cost For August: Raffles Singapore: from US$386 per night; Raffles Beijing: from US$165; Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor: from US$155; and Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh: from US$140; offer available through October 31. Savings Up to 20 percent.

■ MALAYSIA Deluxe Suite Dreams package at the Hotel Maya (60-3/2711-8866; hotelmaya.com.my) in Kuala Lumpur. What’s Included Daily breakfast; early check-in from 7 A.M.; free Internet; free pressing of up to five pieces upon arrival; free calls to local landlines; and a free cocktail. Cost RM588 per night, through December 31. Savings 55 percent.

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■ CAMBODIA Angkor Getaway package at Hôtel de la Paix (855-63/966-000; hoteldelapaixangkor.com) in Siem Reap. What’s Included A two-night stay; daily breakfast; a set dinner; and early check-in and late check-out (upon availability).

Cost From US$246 per night, through December 31. Savings Up to 39 percent.

■ INDONESIA Romantic Escapade Package at The Laguna (62-361/771-327; luxurycollection.com/bali) in Nusa Bali. What’s Included Accommodation in a Deluxe Lagoon Access room; return airport transfer; daily breakfast; a beachside dinner; a massage for two; and late check-out (upon availability). Cost US$285 per night, three-night minimum, through December 20.

Savings 28 percent.

■ THAILAND Last Minute special at The Racha (6676/355-455; theracha.com) in Phuket. What’s Included Special rates for bookings made within 14 days of arrival and daily breakfast.

Cost From Bt4,830 per night, through October 31. Savings Up to 30 percent. ✚

AU GUS T 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

VIETNAM The Summer Beacon package for T+L readers at the Princess D’Annam Resort & Spa (84-62/368-2222; princessannam.com) in Phan Thiet, Vietnam.

What’s Included A twonight stay in a Mandarin Suite; daily breakfast; an hour-long massage for two; a set dinner; and free Wi-Fi. Cost US$633, through September 30. Savings 58 percent.

The reception area in the Princess D’Annam Resort & Spa, Vietnam.

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E SY O F R A F F L E S H O T E L S & R E S O R T S ; C O U R T E SY O F P R I N C E S S D 'A N N A M R E S O R T & S PA

DEAL OF THE MONTH

My wife and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in

AFTER BOARDING A FLIGHT, I WAS DELAYED FOR SIX HOURS DUE TO A STORM. WHAT ARE PASSENGERS’ RIGHTS IN SUCH A CASE? —TERRACE NICHOLSON, HANOI

A:

In general, flight delays are covered by something called Rule 240, which takes into account delays or cancellations due to factors beyond an airline’s control, such as inclement weather. The catch is that each airline interprets the rule differently. The same holds true for onboard delays. In general, it’s best to find out if an airline has a specific policy as to how long a delay can be.

In practice, few do. If your flight is delayed after you’ve boarded, the very least an airline should do is keep passengers informed and, if they don’t, demand to see the chief purser for some immediate answers.

Bangkok this October. Where should I take her for a day full of surprises?

— JEAN-LUC PELING, SHANGHAI

First off, you might want to check in at The Sukhothai (66-2/870-222; sukhothai.com), still one of the city’s most luxurious and romantic hotels. It’s currently offering a Deluxe Suite Weekend Retreat package for Bt10,650 a night that includes the hotel’s wellknown buffet breakfast, which is definitely worth lingering over. A spa treatment is never far away, so hop in a limousine and head to Divana Nurture Spa (66-2/261-4818; divana-dvn.com) on Sukhumvit Soi 35. There, indulge in the 100-minute Siamese Scent treatment for Bt1,450 per person, which includes a pepper-berry foot soak as well as a Siamese massage. The treatment is said to stimulate your blood circulation. Come evening, there’s no shortage of excellent places to eat, but if Italian food is on your mind, a great choice is La Bottega di Luca (66-2/204-1731) on Sukhumvit Soi 49. Homemade pastas, a long and healthy list of red and white wines, and the inevitable grappa nightcap are all on order here.

I’m visiting Hanoi in September.

Can you recommend some good restaurants there?

—MARY KHAW, HONG KONG

There are tons of good eateries in the Vietnamese capital, some new, some old standbys. Green Tangerine

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(48 Hang Be St.; 84-4/825-1286), for one, is the brainchild of a French-born Vietnamese chef who specializes in creating French dishes using local herbs and seasonings. Didier Corlou’s Verticale (19 Ngo Van So St.; 84-4/9446317) is a local institution and offers an excellent tasting menu, while Wild Lotus (55A Nguyen Du St.; 84-4/9439342) offers a modern take on Vietnamese food without forgoing favorite local dishes. Much more basic but also worth the effort, Bun Cha (20 Ta Hien St.; no phone) is one of many restaurants serving bun cha, barbecued minced pork balls in fish sauce that can be mixed with vermicelli noodles, lettuce, mint and bean sprouts. Just get there before noon as the food runs out before the customers.

I recently had my purse stolen while traveling and a lot of trouble afterwards replacing credit cards on the road. Any suggestions for making this bad situation better?

—LOUISE TSANG, BANGKOK

It used to be enough to photocopy your personal details, but these are of little use if they’re at home and you’re not.

In this day and age, it’s best to scan your passport, credit- and charge-card information, and any relevant contact numbers, then e-mail this to yourself before you travel. In the worst-case scenario, at least you’ll have access to the relevant copies with the help of your e-mail. That said, still leave photocopies with a family member or friend when you’re away from home.

E-MAIL T+L SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO TLEDITOR @ MEDIATRANSASIA .COM. QUESTIONS CHOSEN FOR PUBLICATION MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE .

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I L L U S T R AT E D BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

Q:

(Ask T+L)08.09

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Strategies

2009

Tech Guide

T+L spotlights 18 gadgets that will change the way you travel.

By TOM SAMILJAN. Photographed by JAMES WOJCIK KODAK ZX1 POCKET VIDEO CAMERA Pros This pocket-size camcorder–camera takes crisp high-def video, and uploading to YouTube is easy thanks to the built-in USB connector. Cons An 8GB memory card takes only one hour of HD video, and the camera’s still-picture quality isn’t great. Bottom Line It’s ideal for filming quick movies, but keep your point-and-shoot. kodak.com.

PANASONIC LUMIX G1 Pros The first digital camera with interchangeable lenses that has the precision of a professional-grade (12.1-megapixel) SLR model. Plus, it’s super-compact.

Cons It runs through the battery quickly (we took only 250 shots over the course of three days before the camera died).

Bottom Line Great for both professionals and amateurs. panasonic.com.

CAMERAS + CAMCORDERS

FUJIFILM FINEPIX Z33WP Pros Waterproof up to 3 meters, this 10megapixel digicam automatically tags your subjects and has an in-camera tool for uploading images to the Internet.

Cons The camcorder feature takes footage that’s good enough for the Web, but not much else. Bottom Line A waterproof, 10-megapixel, full-featured camera at this price is a steal. fujifilmusa.com.

SONY DSC-G3 CYBER-SHOT Pros A 10.1-megapixel dual-purpose camera with built-in wireless; it lets you upload images and videos to online sharing services such as Flickr from any Wi-Fi hotspot. Cons The touch screen isn’t always responsive, and the Wi-Fi setup can be confusing, even for a techie. Bottom Line High-quality images combined with the convenience of uploading without a laptop or external hard drive. sonystyle.com.

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| travel solutions

NETBOOKS + LAPTOPS

HP MINI 1000 MI EDITION Pros This 10.3-by-6-inch netbook has a fast start-up because of its Linux operating system, and the on-screen tabs for mail, music and movies make for easy navigation.

Cons It’s difficult to type quickly on the keyboard, and the custom interface may turn off purists who like their Windows the traditional way. Bottom Line Impressive performance at a great price. hp.com.

ADAMO BY DELL Pros Though not technically a netbook, this pint-size 13.4-inch laptop almost competes in the category; it has an aluminum-and-glass casing, a highresolution screen, and a dual-core processor for speed. Cons For the sake of slimness, the Adamo forgoes many features you’d expect from a laptop, such as a built-in memory-card slot and a DVD drive. Bottom Line This is the first PC that comes close to the simplicity and stylishness of a Mac. adamobydell.com.

SAMSUNG NC10 MINI NOTEBOOK Pros Despite a compact 10.2-inch screen, the nearly full-size keyboard is a typist’s dream. Cons The actual netbook is slightly bigger than other models and lacks a built-in broadband modem. Bottom Line Our pick for those who work on the road but don’t want to lug around a full-size office laptop. samsung.com.

SONY VAIO SERIES LIFESTYLE PC Pros At 9.65 by 4.72 inches, it’s the smallest of all the netbooks and slim enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Its oblong shape is stylish, too. Cons The built-in pointer stick that serves as a mouse is almost impossible to control, so you’ll need to add a real mouse to make this work. Bottom Line The VAIO has drawbacks owing to its diminutive size, but its portability and sleek design can’t be beat. sonystyle.com.

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PALM PRE Pros Though smaller than a BlackBerry, the Pre still has a big, iPhone-esque screen, a real keyboard and excellent high-speed Wi-Fi that can locate a restaurant on Google Maps when you type in just a few letters. Cons The keyboard is more cramped than the BlackBerry’s, and for now, the number of cool applications pales in comparison with what’s available for the iPhone. Bottom Line An ideal fusion between the business- and e-mail-ready BlackBerry and the fun-loving iPhone (minus the apps). palm.com.

T-MOBILE G1 Pros It’s the first phone to use Google’s new Android operating system, which includes a set of free apps that will soon rival that of the iPhone — Wikitude uses the G1’s GPS to find hotels, eateries and activities near your current location.

Cons You’ll need an adapter if you want to listen to music with your own headphones, and the “missed call” indicator is bizarrely complicated.

Bottom Line The design is bulky, but the Android OS has a big future — if possible, hold out for an updated model, bound to come out later this year. t-mobileg1.com.

BLACKBERRY CURVE 8900 SMARTPHONE Pros All the latest BlackBerry features in a slimmer, 1.2-centimeter-thick package.

Bonus: calls are transmitted via the Internet whenever you’re in a Wi-Fi hotspot, saving you minutes (or roaming charges when abroad). Cons Surfing the Web is slower than on the iPhone.

Bottom Line If you need your cell to double as a work PDA, the Curve is your best bet. blackberry.com.

SAMSUNG MEMOIR Pros This 8-megapixel camera phone has a 6.7-centimeter touch screen that makes taking pictures as easy as it is with a regular camera. Photos can be cropped and edited before being uploaded to the Web or to a computer via Bluetooth, USB or memory-card adapter. Cons A sluggish touch screen makes texting and maneuvering around other functions like GPS, instant messaging and playing music difficult.

The camera lacks an optical zoom, so it’s hard to take quality pictures from far away. Bottom Line One of the best phones for photos on the market. samsung.com.

MOBILE PHONES + PDA’S

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solutions

ACCESSORIES

LINGO XPLORER Dedicated translators are the easiest and most comprehensive solutions for translating on the go. We like the Lingo Xplorer, equipped with both text and audio versions in 14 languages, including French, German, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic. Sure, it’s big, but it’s lighter than most printed phrase books. lingotravel.com.

BOSE MOBILE ON-EAR HEADSET Still the best on the market, Bose’s headphones are compatible with the iPhone and surprisingly good at blocking unwanted noise, without the need for batteries. bose.com.

VICTORINOX PRESENTATION PRO The whopping 32GB USB drive that’s included on this mini Swiss Army knife can hold about twice as much music and video as the biggest iPhone. One caveat: Make sure to pack it in your checked luggage to comply with airport-security regulations. swissarmy.com.

AMAZON KINDLE 2 Thinner (under a centimeter) and lighter (90 grams) than its predecessor, Amazon’s latestgeneration e-reader — with a crisper image, longer battery life and a new text-to-speech feature that lets you turn books, newspapers, magazines or blogs into audiobooks — is the finest of its kind. amazon.com.

KOSS CC_01 EARBUDS Innovative and stylish, these tiny buds adjust to fit any ear and come with a tangle-resistant nylon cord — we just wish the bass had a bit more oomph. koss.com.

DELL WASABI MOBILE PRINTER This portable device (it weighs only 200 grams and is 2 centimeters thick) delivers 5-by-7-centimeter prints of your digicam or mobile phone images via a Bluetooth connection. It lacks high-quality printing capability, but is great for candids. dell.com.

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strategies | smart

traveler went through.” Even if it didn’t, you can still check in there and avoid the long economy-class lines.

HOTELS

5

Combine online research with direct

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Don’t pay extra for Web access.

bookings. My colleague Lucas Krump finds the best hotel rates on sites, then calls the property to ask if they’ll meet or beat that price. He almost always gets the reduced Internet rate, as well as the personalized service that comes with booking directly.

Before you shell out US$20 or more a day, check if your hotel offers free Wi-Fi in its public spaces. Find a full list of the Wi-Fi hot spots in your destination at wi-fihotspotlist.com.

MONEY Avoid ATM fees overseas. Many

10 Travel Tricks to Save 7 You Time and Money Looking to spend less on airfare or skip a long checkin line? T+L’s international editor MARK ORWOLL comes on board this month with his top travel tips.

M

Y NEW PASSPORT IS JUST

two years old and I’ve already run out of pages. I travel. Alot. Here are some of the best tricks I’ve learned along the way.

TRIP PLANNING

1

Book backward for the best prices.

When it comes to finding a great rate, flexibility can make all the difference. Search for deals from your home airport and choose your destination that way. Try websites like bing.com—Microsoft’s search engine— which lets you look for reduced airfares and saves your finds for seven days.

Other places to search in reverse: airfare.com and kayak.com/buzz.

FLYING

2

If you’re traveling in North America, pay less for an upgrade with a Y-up

economy-class fare. You’ll spend about 32

the same as you would for a full-fare coach ticket, but be automatically upgraded to first class upon check-in.

Caveat: Y-up fares are not available on all flights (never for international travel—though there are equivalent Z fares in Europe and Asia) and can be highly restricted, making changes expensive or impossible. Book through a travel agent or use the Y-up tool on farecompare.com.

3

Time your flights to avoid crowded

airports. Travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays for less congestion at the counter and at security, which means smoother sailing to your gate. On other days, early morning flights are your best bet.

4

Avoid long lines at economyclass check-in. Always request an

upgrade when booking a coach ticket.

At the airport, check in at the business class counter to “see if the upgrade

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banks charge a fee for international ATM use and a currency exchange fee.

Ask if your bank has free overseas cashmachine locations or no-fee partners.

GETTING AROUND

8

Know the taxi fare to your hotel.

Call your hotel or the concierge prior to your arrival to determine the average rate from the airport. On my last trip to Shanghai, the taxi driver tried to charge me double the estimated amount. I challenged him—and ended up paying half the inflated price.

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Sometimes hiring a car and driver is cheaper than getting a rental.

Especially in developing countries, consider a chauffeur. Some sample rates (including gas) for 8–10 hours: Bali, US$35; Cairo, US$38; Hanoi, US$42; New Delhi, US$18.

Sleep on the train. If you’re traveling long distances between major cities—especially in Europe— consider an overnight sleeper car.

You’ll save on airfare and hotel costs, and when you wake up, you’ll be arriving at your destination.

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Want to Travel Smarter? Send questions to editor@travelandleisuresea.com.

Illustrated by MATT COLLINS

Northern flavor.

The lowdown on Chiang Mai’s signature dish <(page 46)

Good food cheap.

On a budget?

Where to eat now in Hong Kong <(page 42)

Stayin’ alive.

Six stylishly affordable hotels in Singapore <(page 56)

+

• A colonial-era gem in Malaysia • Guide to Singapore F1 hotels, eats • New urban retreats in Asia

(Insider) Photo credit by tktktk

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: AU ST I N B U S H ; CO U RT E SY O F D I N I N G W O K ; CO U RT E SY O F H OT E L R E ! ; PA B LO A N D R EO LOT T I ; J O S É B E R N A D

Iberian revival.

Explore Europe’s newest hotspot, Lisbon (page 64) >

Where to GoWhat to EatWhere to StayWhat to Buy

FEB MROUNATRHY 2 0 0 7 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M

000

| newsflash A Day at the Races. With the F1 returning to Singapore next month, T+L maps out where to eat, drink, shop and relax along the circuit.

By SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP

PLAY

Dance the night away at 3

DRINK

Located on the fourth floor of the Mandarin Oriental, the 1 Axis Bar and Lounge (5 Raffles Ave.; 65/6885-3098; mandarinoriental.com) draws well-heeled Singaporeans and expats with its great views of Marina Bay and discreetly plush surroundings. For a price, you can join the revelry during race times, when guests will be plied with an unlimited flow of champagne, oysters and canapés (September 25–26, S$350 per person; September 27, S$550). If you’re after an alfresco view, head over to 2 7atenine (#01-10/12 Esplanade Mall, 8 Raffles Ave.; 65/6338-0789; sevenatenine.com; drinks and tapas for two S$68), a trendy waterfront restaurant and lounge that specializes in innovative cocktails and Asianinfluenced tapas, like tortilla sprinkled with bonito flakes.

The Butter Factory

(#02-02–04, One Fullerton, 1 Fullerton Rd.; 65/6333-8243; thebutterfactory.com; cover charge from S$15), a 740-squaremeter club that channels Tokyo, London and New York street culture with its mix of neon lights, quirkykawaii cartoon murals and pixilated art. Hip-hop and rhythm and blues dominate the main dance floor, Bump, while alternative-minded Fash hosts DJ’s spinning indie-rock, electro, pop and punk.

ON THE MAP

4 Swissotel

The Stamford

Millenia Walk

7 8

Marina Square

6

Start Mandarin Oriental

1

The Esplanade

Seating Gallery

5 Singapore Flyer

2 Floating Platform

3

RELAX 5

SHOP

Singapore has a flourishing local fashion scene that’s worth checking out, and along the circuit are a few boutiques featuring some of the city’s brightest design talents. 6 Nicholas (#02323 Marina Square, 6 Raffles Blvd.; 65/63373726; nicholasnic.com) is the eponymous shop of Nicholas Wong, a young designer known for understated, tailored styles. At 7 Abyzz (#01-50, Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Blvd.; 65/6336-9082; abyzz.com.sg), a label by another bright young thing, Desmond Yang, you’ll find dramatic designs with artfully draped jersey. Next door, Beno Asmoro delivers flirty, feminine dresses at 8 Beno (#01-51, Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Blvd.; 65/6884-5506).

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Kenko Reflexology and Fish Spa

(Level 2, Singapore Flyer; 65/65650303; kenko.com.sg) specializes in an unusual—but surprisingly effective—foot treatment. Clients dip their feet into a pool and let thousands of tiny fish nibble away dead skin; it’s exfoliation and massage all in one.

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EAT

Since taking over the kitchen at 4 Jaan (Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Rd.; 65/6837-3322; swissotel.com) last year, Taiwaneseborn André Chiang has earned a following among local foodies for his daringly inventive interpretations of French cuisine such as foie gras à la forestiere—foie gras jelly topped with wild mushrooms on a buckwheat brioche crust with black truffle coulis. As of press time, the restaurant was planning special packages for the races; call ahead to book a table.

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : C O U R T E SY O F 7 AT E N I N E ; C O U R T E SY O F T H E B U T T E R FA C T O R Y; C O U R T E SY O F S W I S S Ô T E L H O T E L S & R E S O R T S ; CO U RT E SY O F K E N KO R E F L E XO LO GY A N D F I S H S PA ; CO U RT E SY O F N I C H O L A S

insider

E AT

The terrace at the Rockhouse Hotel’s Pushcart restaurant, in Negril, Jamaica; the restaurant’s jerk chicken; a chef working the grill.

Local Fare. Dishes inspired by street vendors are popping up on hotel-restaurant menus across the globe. By GISELA WILLIAMS Peninsula New York 700 5th Ave.; 1-212/247-2200; peninsula.com

Brown’s Hotel 30–34 Albemarle St.; 44-20/74936020; brownshotel.com

Rockhouse Hotel West End Rd., Negril, Jamaica; 876/9574373; rockhousehotel.com

Sofitel Metropole Hanoi 15 Ngo Quyen St.; 844/3826-6919; sofitel.com

FAVORITE DISH

Cart hot dog

Fish-and-chips

Peppered shrimp

Pho

WHY WE LOVE IT

Nathan Handwerker made his namesake franks famous on New York City streets more than 90 years ago. Today, Peninsula chef Thomas Piede updates the classic with local sausages and house-made pickled-cucumber relish.

No need to find a pub to satisfy your hankering for this British standard.

Brown’s take, haddock fried in a beer batter and served with crispy fries, pairs well with a glass of white Burgundy.

In Jamaica, bags of peppered shrimp to go are sold on almost every corner. At the Rockhouse’s new Pushcart restaurant, the freshly caught, spiced crustaceans are accompanied by a papaya-andcoconut rum cocktail.

This beef noodle soup — a local breakfast staple — is usually served with herbs such as basil and coriander, but this version also includes scallion bulbs and vinegar.

F R O M L E F T : D AV I D N I C O L A S ( 3 )

THE HOTEL

insider

| newsflash SHOPPING

S T AY

Clockwise from top left: Marmara Antalya, in Turkey; Jumbo Hostel, in Stockholm; One by the Five, in Paris; the dance floor at One by the Five; Jumbo Hostel.

More than two years in the making, ION Orchard — a retail and residential complex on Singapore’s Orchard Road — finally opened its doors last month. There’s the requisite mix of luxury and high-street brands, but it’s the striking architecture that provides the real draw. Created by London-based firm Benoy, the building has already won two awards for its curvy, organic design that includes a glass-and-steel monocoque façade dotted with hundreds of LED lights. Inside, shoppers will find duplex flagship stores for Cartier, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton and Prada. Need a break from the retail overload? Then stop by the 520-square-meter art gallery on level four or the 3,000-square-meter piazza.—S.K.J.

Tea Time Redux

Quirky Hotels You’ve chilled out in an ice hotel, slept in a jail and holidayed in a tree house. What’s next? In Stockholm, entrepreneur Oscar Diös is redefining the term airport hotel with the Jumbo Hostel (4 Jumbovägen; 46-85/936-0400; jumbohostel.com; doubles from US$150), in a revamped 747-200 parked at the entrance to Arlanda International airport. There are 25 pint-size rooms in the jumbo jet, each with a flat-screen TV; a Cockpit suite (original flight controls included); and a retro orange-andwhite café. ● Set on a hill 305 kilometers from Bodrum, the cylindrical annex of Turkey’s Marmara Antalya (136 Eski Lara Yolu, Antalya; 90-242/249-3600; themarmarahotels.com; doubles from US$165) actually revolves, giving all 24 rooms spectacular views of the Taurus Mountains, Turquoise Coast and Antalya’s ancient cityscape. The building can turn 360 degrees in 22 hours or can be adjusted to complete the rotation in two hours. ● Why go out when you can live it up at Paris’s One by the Five (3 Rue Flatters, Fifth Arr.; 33-1/43-31-52-31; onebythefive.com; suite from €960), an over-the-top, single-suite hotel with the vibe of a cabaret club? In addition to the red-velvet-draped lounge, this five-room complex includes his-and-hers boudoirs, a cantilevered king-size bed, and a 12-square-meter private dance floor —R&B sound tracks included.—C AT E S B Y H O L M E S 38

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Hong Kong’s Langham Place hotel (555 Shanghai D R I N K St., Mongkok, Kowloon; 852/3552-3388; hongkong. langhamplacehotels.com) shakes up afternoon tea with four new sets (from HK$189 for two), ranging from an Eastern-inflected meal of Peking duck rice rolls and cold soba to one with haute snacks such as duck liver terrine wrapped in Serrano.

We suggest diving into the calorific deep end with the “Sinful” set, featuring goodies such as éclairs, cupcakes, macaroons, whiteand-dark-chocolate-dipped strawberries, and—in case the sugar rush starts wearing off—Valrhona chocolates.

East

Forever

Sinful

Tomorrow

L E F T C O L U M N , C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F M A R M A R A A N T A LY A ; C O U R T E S Y O F J U M B O H O S T E L ; C H R I S T O P H E B I E L S A ( 2 ) ; CO U RT ESY O F J U M BO H OST E L . R I G H T CO LU M N , F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F I O N O RC H A R D ; CO U RT ESY O F L A N G H A M P L AC E ( 4 )

ORCHARD ROAD’S NEW ICON

insider

| newsflash CHARITY ON THE MENU

ART

40

GOOD TO GO

From top: A dish at Xu, Saigon, part of the Miele Guide Restaurant Month; Zanotti, in Bangkok; pudding from Grissini restaurant, in Hong Kong.

The global financial crisis is devastating the lives of the world’s poorest. According to the U.N., more than 1 billion people in the world go hungry every day. This month, you can do your bit just by dining out. During the Miele Guide Restaurant Month (mieleguide.com/ restaurant-month), more than 50 restaurants around Asia are offering special set menus and dishes—15 percent of the revenues of which will go to initiatives in Timor Leste run the by World Food Programme. So go ahead and order that foie gras without guilt—it’s helping to ensure Timorese schoolchildren get at least one square meal a day.

HOTELS

LUXX XL’s entrance.

Left: The PuLi Hotel and Spa.

NEW CITY HOTELS IN ASIA Recent openings in Shanghai and Bangkok are giving travelers another excuse to book urban getaways. Designed by Jaya Ibrahim, the 229 guest rooms and suites at The PuLi Hotel and Spa (1 Changde Lu, Jing’an District; 86-21/3203-9999; doubles from US$480, including breakfast, mini-bar and Internet) are airy and elegant, with wood floors, cream-and-gray hues and the latest comforts. Helping to sustain that feeling of calm in this city of 19 million are a 500-square-meter spa run by Anantara and a 25-meter infinity pool. In Bangkok, the owners of the groundbreaking LUXX hotel now have a bigger property close to Lumpini Park, LUXX XL (82/8 Langsuan Rd.; 66-2/684-1111; staywithluxx.com; doubles from Bt4,400). As you’d expect from its name, the seven-story property provides more breathing space than its petite predecessor: the 51 streamlined studios and suites start at 33 square meters, with the Suite XL sprawling over 99 square meters (enough room for a walk-in closet and sunken tub). Coming in September: a restaurant serving all-day breakfast and brunch.

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C LO C KW I S E F RO M L E F T: LUX X X L ; DA R R E N S O H ; CO U RT ESY O F M O R I A RT M U S E U M ; CO U RT ESY O F XU R E S TA U R A N T; C O U R T E SY O F Z A N O T T I ; C O U R T E SY O F G R I S S I N I

Portrait of an Artist He’s been called China’s answer to Andy Warhol, but Ai Weiwei—artist, architect, curator, publisher, blogger, fierce government critic and provocateur— ventures into realms far beyond the comfortable confines of pop art. Through November 8, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum (53F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minatoku; mori. art.museum; admission Y1,500) is staging “Ai Weiwei: According to What?”—one of the artist’s largest solo shows to date.

On display are 26 works, including largescale installations and sculptures that tackle China’s thorniest issues surrounding history, identity and politics.

F E S T I VA L

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F I N T E R N AT I O N A L F E S T I VA L O F D A N C E A N D M U S I C ( 4 ) ; CO U RT ESY O F FO U R S E AS O N S BA N G KO K

Bangkok in the Spotlight Epicures and culture vultures in the Thai capital will have their appetites sated in the coming months with two major festivals rolling into town. First up, the 11th International Festival of Dance and Music (September 7–October 17; bangkokfestivals.com; tickets from Bt400) will see performances by acclaimed international artists such as Taiwan’s Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Portugal’s Fado diva, Mariza (see page 66 for more on her), and New York’s all-male ballet company, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, affectionately known as the Trocks. Russia’s Ekaterinburg Opera Theatre returns with performances of Tosca, La Traviata and Madame Butterfly. For one week in October, culinary stars David Thompson, Francois Payard and David Kinch (who beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef earlier this year) will be in town for the 10th Annual World Gourmet Festival at the Four Seasons Bangkok (October 5–11; 155 Rachadamri Rd.; 66-2/250-1000; fourseasons.com). Highlights include cooking classes (Bt1,900) and a market tour with Thompson, whose follow-up to his award-winning cookbook, Thai Food, will be out later this year.

insider | eat

Cheap, Chic Eats in Hong Kong. Still have the HONG KONG

credit-crunch blues? Here, five new restaurants where you can feast well without breaking the bank. By LAURA MILLER

Eating Well for Less From top: The dining room at Mrs Jones; Vietnamese fare at Rice Paper; beef carpaccio at Mrs Jones.

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DINING WOK Hankering for a taste of Chinese-American classics like General Tsao’s chicken? Then drop by this quirky, threestory eatery located in a vintage 1940’s tenement building in Wanchai’s scene-y Star Street area. The ground floor is kitted up to look like a Chinese take-out joint with chefs deftly wielding their woks. On the top floor are a karaoke lounge and a private terrace.

What to Order Forget about getting a taste of authentic regional cuisine and head straight for those ChineseAmerican clichés. Vegetable spring rolls, pan-fried pork dumplings, and sweet-and-sour garoupa are delectable here, as is the moo shu pork—a succulent stir-fry served with paper-thin pancakes. 12 St. Francis St., Wan Chai; 852/28612722; dinner for two HK$400.

MRS JONES A brightly lit space with lemon-hued walls, this casual Italian restaurant might be located on prime real estate, but you don’t need to take out a second mortgage to eat here. Richly colored murals by installation art whiz Steve Yau decorate the walls, while the large windows on the façade overlook picturesque, cobbled Pottinger Street. Swing by on Saturdays, when a jazz band livens up the scene.

What to Order For real value, order one of the 10 pasta and risotto dishes—all priced under HK$95. Vegetarians might favor the ravioli di zucca: plump parcels filled with sweet pumpkin and mascarpone and doused in fragrant sage

F RO M TO P : CO U RT E SY O F M R S J O N E S ; CO U RT E SY O F R I C E PA P E R ; CO U RT E SY O F M R S J O N E S

NAGOMI Meaning “cozy” in Japanese, this tiny eatery consists of just five tables, usually occupied by regulars who order without glancing at the menu. Chef Peter Ri honed in his sushimaking skills at the Island Shangri-La’s acclaimed Nadaman restaurant, and his creations are straight-from-the-sea fresh.

The charming owner, Carlina Yu, is both hostess and waitress, and never forgets a customer’s favorite dishes.

What to Order You can’t go wrong with the rolls, including the spicy tuna maki rolls and the soft-shell crab handrolls.

But the star of the menu is the beef inaniwa udon—silky noodles and tender beef in a fragrant broth that’s guaranteed to fill you up. Ground floor, Yee Fung Building, 1 Village Rd., Happy Valley; 852/2838-3848; dinner for two HK$300.

F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F N AG O M I ( 2 ) ; CO U RT ESY O F D I N I N G WO K ; CO U RT ESY O F B LU E G I N G E R

butter. Omnivores will love the gnocchi al ragù—house-made gnocchi served with a slow-braised lamb ragù. 79 Wyndham St., Central; 852/2522-8118; dinner for two HK$470.

RICE PAPER In Hong Kong, a spectacular view usually means dearer prices. That’s not the case with this stylish Vietnamese spot, which commands a fine vista of Victoria Harbour. Though three years old, the chefs have revamped the menu after a recent trip to Vietnam. Slide into one of the cozy red booths for a romantic tête-à-tête.

What to Order The fresh rice paper rolls are exceptionally good, but the real standouts are the soft-shell crab rolls with smooth avocado and a tangy citrus sauce. The healthy chicken and banana blossom salad is expertly executed here.

Finish your meal with the decadent sticky banana pudding.

Shop P413-418, World Trade Centre, Causeway Bay; 852/28903975; dinner for two HK$380.

BLUE GINGER Tiny and always packed, this Thai eatery has quickly become a favorite among lunchtime diners. Service is rudimentary but efficient: order at the counter and then wait a few minutes for good, well-priced Siamese classics. There’s seating indoors and out, but good luck finding a table.

What to Order Their curries are exceptional, and at HK$45, a real bargain. Choose between red, green, yellow, Panang and Massaman curry with chicken, beef, duck, pork, prawn or fish, then pick your rice—white, red or lemongrassscented. Ground floor, 92 Wellington St., Central; 852/3101-1433; lunch for two HK$90.

Cheerfully Cheap From top: Nagomi, a small sushi spot in Happy Valley; the spicy tuna roll at Nagomi; inside Dining Wok; Blue Ginger in Central fills up at lunch.

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| books

Reading Chinese. Three novels newly translated into English seal the country’s rising reputation as a heavyweight in contemporary fiction. By MANUELA ZONINSEIN

● A bestseller when it was first published in 2004, English (Viking) is a coming-of-age story loosely based on author Wang Gang’s own youth in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, during the Cultural Revolution. Translated by Martin Merz and Jane Weizhen Pan, the book examines one of the most traumatic periods of modern Chinese history through the eyes of Love Liu, the 12-year-old narrator who becomes obsessed with the English dictionary his school’s new English teacher, Second Prize Wang, proudly owns. As Love Liu enters rocky adolescence, his lust is piqued by Ahjitai, a half-Han, half-Uighar teacher who is the novel’s sole Muslim character—an oddity given the setting in Muslim-majority Xinjiang. Still, the novel deftly explores the politics of language during those treacherous times.

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● Five Spice Street (Yale University Press) introduces English readers to Can Xue, the pseudonym of prolific writer Deng Xiaohua. Can Xue, who cites Kafka, Borges and Dante as influences, is known for spinning enigmatic worlds, as she does in this fantastical story of a street in an unnamed city. At the heart of the story—Can Xue’s first novel to be translated into English—is the mysterious Madam X, whose affair with Mr. Q has the locals’ tongues wagging: how old is she? Is he really handsome? What strange rituals are taking place in her boudoir? Cutting through the chaotic din, translators Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping have conjured a tone that’s clear and direct without losing its original lyricism. Can Xue’s bizarre but alluring book takes on various identities: read in snippets, one’s perspective on the world she creates shifts subtly.

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● The genre-bending There’s Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night (Columbia University Press)

embraces stark realism. A series of lyrical vignettes written by Cao Naiqian, the novel is set in a remote cluster of cave dwellings in Shanxi province, near the border with Inner Mongolia. Cao, a police detective in Datong, lived in this harsh, unforgiving land during the Cultural Revolution, an experience that inspired the fictional Wen Clan Caves. It’s a brutal portrayal of village life, with scenes of violence, incest, adultery and other human vices. Cao’s sympathy and lyricism— delicately rendered into English by John Balcom—rescue the novel from Southern Gothic horror à la William Faulkner and produce a powerful testament to the lives of the denizens of China’s hinterlands, far from the glittering coastal cities. ✚

F R O M L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F V I K I N G ; C O U R T E S Y O F YA L E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O L U M B I A U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S

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insider

| classics A Noodle Classic Clockwise from left: A bowl of khao soi; lunch at Khao-Soi Islam; Andy Ricker, a U.S. chef and khao soi connoisseur.

THAILAND

Northern Soul. A visit to Chiang Mai isn’t complete without a bowl—or two—of khao soi. T+L seeks out the best renditions of this classic noodle dish. Story and photographs by AUSTIN BUSH

N

O OTHER DISH SAYS CHIANG M AI

like khao soi, a concoction comprised of egg noodles in a rich curry broth, usually served with chicken or beef, topped with crispy noodles and accompanied by raw shallots, pickled cabbage and a wedge of lime. Though its origins are murky (rival claims stretch from southern China to Burma), khao soi clearly taps into Shan, Chinese and Muslim culinary traditions. To sample the city’s best bowls, T+L hooks up with Andy Ricker, a rising culinary star in the United States whose Portland, Oregon, restaurant, Pok Pok, produces a mean version of khao soi.

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■ KHAO-SOI ISLAM The Place Located along a strip of nondescript halal restaurants near Chiang Mai’s famous Night Bazaar, this veteran vendor dishes up a khao soi that exemplifies the Muslim school.

The Bowl A dollop of curry paste is stretched out by a generous ladleful of hot coconut milk. The noodles are pale and slippery, a stark contrast with the rippling yellow strands typically associated with khao soi.

“I like this style of khao soi, it’s really subtle,” Ricker says. Less refined palates might want to punch up the flavor by adding the condiments on offer: ground roast chili, »

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GRAND HYATT Shanghai

Ten years ago, an iconic building unveiled itself.

Now it is a distinguished landmark in Shanghai Looking for somewhere comfortable, gracious and dynamic in a city such as Shanghai? Then Grand Hyatt Shanghai might be the perfect choice. Since 1999, this hotel has been synonymous with welcoming the rich, the famous and the titans of industry to a place of unsurpassed luxury and service.

Grand Hyatt Shanghai sits atop the city’s most stunning landmark, the Jin Mao Tower, commencing on the 53rd oor and rising to the 87th oor. Located in the Pudong Lujiazhui nancial district—now also a thriving entertainment and shopping district—the hotel offers convenient access to such local attractions as the Oriental Pearl Tower, The Bund and Yu Gardens.

I have become a “loyal fan” of Grand Hyatt Shanghai since I witnessed its growth and development, mirroring the dramatic progress of the city. Ten years ago, when the hotel opened its doors, it took the term “luxury hotel” to a new level. I was impressed by the breathtaking views, not to mention the unique facilities and the décor. All 555 of the hotel’s rooms and suites feature allusions to Shanghai’s Art Deco heritage combined with the essence of classical Chinese style. The hotel also features a dramatic 33-storey interior spiral atrium.

Today, the hotel has become the benchmark of ve-star properties in China. During my many stays, I always received kind and helpful service from the hotel staff, truly making the hotel a luxury property. Thanks to this dedicated staff, the hotel has received countless international awards, including being named among the “500 World’s Best Hotels” by Travel + Leisure and other Travel + Leisure regional awards.

The concierge team has also been recognized as “one of the most resourceful teams in Shanghai” and, in addition to services such as visa arrangements, and bookings and con rmations, also helped me plan sightseeing tours and has recommended some great local restaurants and shopping spots.

Long hailed as one of the nest hotels in the world, I believe that Grand Hyatt Shanghai will continue on its journey over the coming decades. To celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, bring your friends and families to experience the spectacular Grand Room with panoramic city views at rates starting from just CNY1,388 + 15% service charge (minimum two nights’ stay), including a CNY300 F&B credit per stay.

For more information, visit shanghai.grand.hyatt.com

insider

| classics

Chiang Mai’s Cooking Clockwise from right: Deep-frying noodles for the topping; Chiang Mai is the khao soi capital; the noodle assembly line at Khao-Soi Islam.

sliced shallots, a squeeze of lime and crunchy pickled vegetables. 22–24 Soi 1, Thanon Charoenprathet; 66-53/271484; lunch for two Bt100.

■ MAE CHAMPA The Place A popular open-air noodle restaurant that does a few unorthodox takes on khao soi, including a version made with tender pork spareribs.

The Bowl Order the special, and you get a comically immense bowl. The broth here is sweet and pleasingly rich; the coconut cream is almost curdled. It’s served with chicken drumsticks. “This is most similar to the khao soi we do at Pok Pok,” says Ricker. 35/1 Moo 7, Tambon Nong Hoy (located behind Techno Asia University); 66/81-796-7219; lunch for two Bt90.

■ KHAO SOI SAMOE JAI The Place It isn’t exactly the atmosphere that makes this Chiang 48

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Mai institution so popular. Set up like a food court, diners have to exchange cash for tickets.

The Bowl A definitive khao soi. Cooks dilute a thick curry broth with watery coconut milk to order and then add a tangle of homemade noodles. “It’s thick and rich, you can tell they’ve used a lot of curry paste,” Ricker notes. 391 Thanon Charoenrat (near Wat Fah Ham); 66-53/242-928; lunch for two Bt100.

■ KHAW-SOI MRS. SRIPHAN The Place A no-frills, family-run noodle shop just outside the center of Chiang Mai. The Bowl There’s a pleasantly bitter, slightly astringent flavor to the broth.

It’s a bit overwhelming with the chicken, but it turns out to be perfectly suited for the rich beef khao soi. 39 Thanon Koh Klang; 66-53/140339; lunch for two Bt90.

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■ KHAO SOI LAM DUAN The Place Established 70 years ago, this venerable eatery is the city’s most famous khao soi vendor.

The Bowl The khao soi justifies the restaurant’s reputation. We arrive at the end of the day, but according to the owner, Prachuap Mahadilok, that’s to our advantage. “The broth has been cooking all day and it’s thicker and richer in the afternoon,” he explains. After a taste, we’re converted—the khao soi is indeed rich, but is also fragrant and balanced, and fits our notion of how the dish should be. If you like your pasta al dente, you might be perturbed by the texture of the noodles, but, as Ricker points out, that’s what khao soi cooks strive for.

352/22 Thanon Charoenrat (near Wat Fah Ham); 66-53/243-519; lunch for two Bt90. ✚

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NIKKO BALI RESORT & SPA Serenity in casual luxury

N

ikko Bali Resort & Spa is located on the island’s southern coast, in Nusa Dua. With 389 rooms varying from Garden View to Presidential Suites, the resort now features an array of new facility upgrades for its loyal customers from new rooms, to innovative dining concepts, The Shore and Benkay.

The 7th Heaven Room, on the seventh floor of the resort’s cliff tower, is designed for those who are seeking a romantic getaway. On entering, guests will feel the warmth of the fuchsiathemed decoration, juxtaposed with stunning views of the ocean over a spacious private balcony. They will also love the selection of essential oils and DVD player with iPod docking bay, as they bask in the tropical sun.

Meanwhile, the Family Room means that junior guests also get pampered whenever they stay. The Nikko & I is a program created for family travelers, ensuring a fun-filled holiday. Featuring

loads of benefits and activities, every family will get to experience a pleasant stay in the vibrantly colored room with family-oriented facilities, as well as childrens’ playground, Jungle Camp and Kids pool with waterslide.

The Shore is a contemporary dining venue with views over the Indian Ocean. Within a multi-level structure, The Shore incorporates distinct dining concepts that evolve during the day.

From mid-morning, the restaurant serves an extensive menu of lunch items and beverages, as guests soak up the sun around the pool or on the beach.

At sunset, The Shore becomes the coolest spot in which to lounge and chill out. A decadent Champagne Bar, serving fresh oysters and other tasty morsels, also swings into action in the twilight hours. Then, as evening descends, The Shore’s second level opens its doors for a more refined dining experience, with an emphasis on fine food and an exclusive collection of some

of the best old and new world wines.

The new concept of Benkay Japanese Restaurant which recently re-opened at the lobby area offers spacious and sophisticated design, featuring the blend of different materials, from wood and natural stones, a harmony of Asian living: a spacious dining area, with a teppan-yaki counter and several tables that feature a fixed mini stove for those who wish to prepare meals in their own personal taste.

There are also private dining rooms and a sushi bar which offers fresh top quality ingredients. The chef will be ready to serve all guests all sorts of sushi from authentic Japanese style to modern fusion sushi.

Along with numerous restaurants, bars and entertainment centers, as well as MICE facilities, Nikko Bali Resort & Spa is the ultimate choice for your perfect stay in Bali.

For more information, contact: Nikko Bali Resort & Spa, Jalan Raya Nusa Dua Selatan, Nusa Dua 80363, Bali – Indonesia t. +62 361 773377 f. +62 361 773388 sales@nikkobali.com, www.nikkobali.com

Special Promotion

EASY AND INTUITIVE The great thing about the LEGRIA HF20 and HF200 is that they have so many great functions, but are so easy to use! My wife and I, plus our two friends, loved the new user interface and four-way navigation buttons. It’s also amazing how seamlessly we were able to switch between recording, video playback and shooting high-resolution stills.

M

y wedding to my wonderful wife was the happiest day of my life, but things really hotted up on our honeymoon in the south of Thailand—literally! The weather was perfect, the sea aqua-blue, all

surrounded by incredible natural beauty. Well, my wife and I were bowled over, to say the least.

Lucky that I came equipped with the latest Canon LEGRIA HF20 camcorder, while my wife bought her new LEGRIA HF200.

The great thing about Canon is that they really are the image specialists and know exactly how to create great superior quality movies, optimized for HD (and I’m a HUGE fan of HD!). Using my LEGRIA HF20 to capture those magical Thai moments was a breeze. The camcorder is 17 percent smaller than previous models, so it was especially convenient for boat trips and beach scenes. With my 32GB builtin flash-memory storage, I was able

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: © EASTWESTIMAGING / DREAMSTIME.COM (2); © SUNSHY / DREAMSTIME.COM

Magical moments captured by Legria

U N D E R WAT E R S H OT S

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © VMISHAKOV / DREAMSTIME.COM; © ARGONAUTS / DREAMSTIME.COM; © EASTWESTIMAGING / DREAMSTIME.COM

With the optional WP-V1 underwater housing, we were able to capture the natural beauty of the seas around Thailand. The LEGRIA comes with a Special Scene mode, which controls white balance perfectly for underwater shots at depths up to 40 meters. Perfect for diving!

to capture romantic dinners and strolls along the sand without worrying about running out of storage, although my wife preferred to use SD/SDHC removable memory with her LEGRIA HF200.

Of course, great movies start with great images, and another amazing thing about both LEGRIA models is that they take stunning high-resolution 3.3 megapixel stills. But I was mostly interested in capturing our precious moments on video, so the powerful 15x zoom lens with the Optical Image Stabilization function—which ensures sharp images in some of the more challenging conditions you get in the south of Thailand—was

LEGRIA HF 20

perfect. Whether kayaking or walking among huge limestone karsts, these LEGRIA’s were perfect for both of us.

Best of all were two unique functions: Video Snapshot mode and the Pre Record function. In the first mode, we could capture four-second video clips and combine them with music stored in the camcorder’s in-built flash memory or memory card, making instant edited music videos, which was perfect for when our friends joined us. And the Pre Record function ensures you never miss magical moments, since the LEGRIA starts recording in this mode three seconds before you even press the record button. What magical memories we both have now.

LEGRIA HF 200

FA C E T R A C K I N G / S E A R C H The LEGRIA comes with a DIGIC DV III processor. Sounds complicated, but it allowed me to use the face tracking/ search capability, which ensures that videos are in sharp focus. Using face search, faces detected in each video file are detected and displayed as thumbnails, meaning we could search for videos containing specific people!

WP-V1 Underwater Housing

Canon Singapore Pte Ltd (South & Southeast Asia Regional Headquarters) Tel: 65-6799 8888 Fax: 65-6221-2939 www.canon-asia.com

insider

| quick getaway

Step Back in Time. Two hours north of Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh’s historic heart offers colonial architecture and fine Chinese fare. By ROBYN ECKHARDT

DAY 1

■ CHECK IN A bona-fide boutique hotel that’s a 15-minute walk to Ipoh’s historic center, Indulgence Living (14 Jln. Raja Dihilir; 60-5/255-7051;

indulgencerestaurant.com; doubles from RM420) occupies a colonial-style bungalow set amid manicured gardens. Each of the four rooms and three suites is outfitted with comfy beds, flat-screen TV’s and WiFi. The names hint at the décor: the Moroccan-themed Tzarrah, for instance, is awash in gold and cayenne, with an extravagantly tiled bathroom. Downstairs is owner Julie Song’s restaurant, where guests can breakfast on everything from ricotta pancakes to Sarawak-style laksa.

■ A FINE BREW Ipoh-ites kick-start the day with

“white” coffee, an ultra-smooth brew made with beans roasted in margarine. The best cuppa in town is poured at Sin Yoon Loong (15A Jln. Bandar Timah; 60-5/241-4601; coffee RM1.30), a classic koptiam cooled by ceiling fans.

MALAYSIA

■ CIVIC PRIDE Drink in colonial-era architecture

with a stroll around Old Town, home to most of Ipoh’s attractions. Begin at the Moorish-domed train station and work your way east to the imposing Town Hall and neo-Gothic St. Michael’s School.

The striking periwinkle corner shophouse on the edge of the central playing field was once home to F.M.S. Bar & Restaurant, one of Malaysia’s first Hainanese restaurants when it opened in 1906.

■ LOCAL FARE The local cuisine is justly famous, and Restoran Lou Wong (49 Jln. Yau Tet Shin; dinner for two RM20) is the place for Ipoh’s take on Hainan chicken, served with bean sprouts on the side and— instead of the usual rice—hor fun, rice noodles said to derive their trademark slippery smoothness from the local water. Expect to wait for a table; the spot serves upwards of 300 customers a night. »

Photographed by PABLO ANDREOLOTTI

An example of the Sino-colonial architecture in Ipoh. Above: A woman prays at the entrance of Perak Tong.

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| quick getaway

DAY 2

Mixed Heritage From top: Inside Perak Tong; F.M.S. Restaurant, one of Ipoh’s oldest eateries; the Tzarrah suite at Indulgence Living.

■ YUM CHA Linger over a pot of cha wang (“king of teas”) and an endless array of dim sum at Restoran Foh San (51 Jln. Leong Nam; 60-5/254-0308; dim sum for two RM20). Don’t miss the briny prawn and scallop dumplings, and the greaseless stir-fried radish cake. Lin yoong bao—house-made lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk wrapped in delicate layers of steamed dough—rounds out the meal with a sweet note.

■ HISTORY LESSON Learn about Ipoh’s rise—and decline—as a tin-mining town at Museum Darul Ridzuan (2020 Jln. Panglima, Bukit Gantang Wahab;

60-5/253-1437; admission free), a collection of exhibits set in an atmospheric century-old mansion.

■ PLACES OF WORSHIP Buddhist temples tucked

into the limestone karsts on Ipoh’s fringes attract worshippers from around Asia. Begin at Perak Tong (open 8 A.M.–6 P.M.), an extensive complex of temples and grottoes whose walls are covered with intricate murals. Three hundred and eighty-five steps lead to a balconied area with extensive views of Ipoh and beyond. A few kilometers outside the city is the lesspopular Sam Poh Tong (open 8 A.M.–4:30 P.M.), which boasts a lovely garden and vegetarian restaurant.

■ DOWN UNDER DINNER Stay in for dinner at the unpretentiously stylish Indulgence (dinner for two with GETTING THERE Ipoh is an easy two hours by car from Kuala Lumpur. Taxis generally charge RM40 per hour (you’ll have to pay for the return as well). Renting your own car makes explorations easier (avis.com.my).

wine RM350). With its simple wood tables, semi-open kitchen and shelves of colorful crockery, it’s more beachy Australia than small-town Malaysia. A similar vibe infuses the menu, which highlights ingredients from Down Under. Check the board for seasonal specials, such as Tasmanian mussels with tomatoes and fennel, and rhubarb crisp.

DAY 3

■ EDIBLE SOUVENIRS Pack a bag or three of addictively sweet–savory hiong piah, flaky biscuits filled with molasses and caramelized shallots, and dusted with sesame seeds. The version sold at Yee Hup (151 Jln. Sultan Iskandar; 60-5/242-3200), a local establishment, sets the standard.

■ LAST BITE Thean Chun Coffeeshop (73 Jln. Pasar, Old Town; lunch for two RM10), affectionately known as the “Hall of Mirrors” for its reflective wall, dishes out a definitive kai see hor fun, a local favorite consisting of rice noodles in a prawn and chickenbased stock. The saté grilled by a vendor up front is the stuff of local legend.

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| check-in

Six Affordable Hotels in Singapore. Decent, wallet-friendly accommodations are in short supply here, but we discovered some new stylish stays for those on a budget. By JENNIFER CHEN

Outside Wilkie Edge, where the Citadines Mount Sophia is located, left.

Above: At Hotel Re!, kitschy décor livens up the rooms.

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OUTRAM PARK Hotel Re! The 1960’s and 70’s are alive and well at this 140-room hotel housed in a former primary school. Day-glo colors and silhouettes of period pop icons like the Beatles and John Travolta (from his Saturday Night Fever days) adorn the rooms, while iconic chairs by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio reinforce the theme. Contemporary touches include L’Occitane toiletries and free Wi-Fi. Be warned, though, that reasonable rates in Singapore usually mean a tight squeeze. With superior rooms coming in at 14 square meters, it’s worth spending a bit more on the deluxe category.

T+L Tip Some of the rooms have views of Pearl’s Hill Park, or you can pop over to the 2nd floor wine bar—called Re!Wine— where you’ll find an outdoor terrace that faces the park. 175A Chin Swee Rd.; 65/68278288; hotelre.com.sg; doubles from S$118.

ORCHARD ROAD The Citadines Mount Sophia Perfect for those planning a longer stay in Singapore, »

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E SY O F H O T E L R E ! ; C O U R T E SY O F T H E A S C O T T I N T E R N AT I O N A L M A N A G E M E N T

SINGAPORE

The Club. Sunway Resort Hotel & Spaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s promise of a new luxury that is inspiring, modern and appealing.

Find out what else we know at sunwayhotels.com

insider

| check-in this serviced apartment residence is located in the back of a retail–office complex designed by acclaimed local architecture firm WOHA. Photographs by famed photographer Russel Wong and terraces on the 6th and 9th floors give it an edge over other, cookie-cutter serviced apartment choices in the city. In the rooms, expect all the latest conveniences (flat-screen TV’s, full entertainment systems, broadband Internet) amid smart, though somewhat corporate, surroundings. Perks such as daily maid service, breakfast and Wi-Fi come extra.

Still, the location near Orchard Road is hard to beat, especially at these prices.

T+L TIP Stroll over to the artsy hangout known as Old School, where you’ll find galleries, cafés and an art-house cinema. #01-26 Wilkie Edge, 8 Wilkie Rd.; 65/65938188; citadines.com; studios from S$238.

LITTLE INDIA Ibis Singapore Accor’s budget debut in Singapore has earned praise for delivering no-frills comfort and quality service at rockbottom prices. The 538 rooms average a petite 20 square meters, but the uncluttered look and 3-meter-high ceilings keep claustrophobia at bay. Singaporean street food guru K.T. Seetoh masterminded It’s All About Taste restaurant, which serves small plates of hawker favorites like nasi lemak and Hokkien mee; diners can choose between set menus of three to five dishes (from S$15). Save room for the stickily delectable pulut hitam (black rice pudding).

T+L TIP There’s a self-service launderette with coin-operated machines on the third floor—a welcome alternative to extortionist laundry fees. 170 Bencoolen St.; 65/65932888; ibishotel.com; doubles from S$88.

CLARKE QUAY

Singapore on a Shoestring From top: Furama RiverFront was recently renovated; a superior room in the newly opened Park Hotel Clarke Quay; It’s All About Taste restaurant at the Ibis Singapore.

clay–tiled roof and pillars, this three-monthold hotel seems like a throwback. Inside, however, the look is firmly of our times.

Flattering lighting, earth tones, pale wood accents, Fortuny-esque wallpaper and upto-date technology (Wi-Fi access, 32-inch flat-screen TV’s) place it a notch above your standard-issue business hotel. The public areas are equally sleek, though there are plenty of dining choices in the area.

T+L TIP On the weekends, breakfast lasts until 4 P.M. 1 Unity St.; 65/6593-8888; parkhotelgroup.com; doubles from S$198.

RECENT RENOVATIONS Furama RiverFront and the Rendezvous Hotel Singapore A handful of mid-priced hotels has recently undergone makeovers.

At the Furama RiverFront, the superior and deluxe rooms come in neutral tones and start at 28 square meters. 405 Havelock Rd.; 65/6333-8898; furama.com; doubles from S$170. The revamped deluxe rooms at the Rendezvous Hotel Singapore have flatscreen TV’s and comfortable beds. 9 Bras Basah Rd.; 65/6336-0220; rendezvoushotels. com.au; doubles from S$200. ✚

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F RO M TO P : CO U RT E SY O F F U R A M A R I V E R F RO N T; CO U RT E SY O F I B I S S I N G A P O R E ; CO U RT E SY O F PA R K H OT E L G RO U P

Park Hotel Clarke Quay With its turrets, red

insider

| restaurants

Take Your Pick Clockwise from left: A blue cheese salad at Samot restaurant; Café Central’s hearty sandwiches draw tourists; the bar at El Camino; a taco plate at El Camino.

pizzas and pastas with toppings like prawns, chorizo and roast pumpkin, and a handful of Khmer classics.

Guests can lounge in rattan armchairs or dine at one of the mismatched wooden tables, seated beneath Central’s high ceilings and exposed brick walls. The spacious layout is very family-friendly; there’s even a kids’ menu. Northwest corner of the Old Market; 855/17-692-997; dinner for two US$20.

CAMBODIA

EL CAMINO Good Mexican food is hard to find in Cambodia, so this funky little taqueria is a welcome addition. Located on the narrow, bustling lane known as The

Where to Eat Now in Siem Reap. Temples aside, there’s a burgeoning dining scene in this lively town. Here, T+L picks four new palate pleasers.

By NAOMI LINDT

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CAFÉ CENTRAL This spacious, breezy restaurant–café– bar is the kind of place that transitions seamlessly from day to night.

Mornings see patrons sipping cappuccinos—the Lavazza brews are among Siem Reap’s best—and sampling dishes like pesto-andParmesan scrambled eggs and cinnamon French toast, with sunlight pouring in through the huge woodframed windows that face the street.

Come lunchtime, it’s hearty sandwiches—beef and beetroot, chicken BLT’s—and creative salads.

As night falls, the cylindrical lamps that dangle over the bar’s shiny metal countertop provide ambient lighting for dinner, where main courses include

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Photographed by NANA CHEN

Alley and alongside the popular Linga Bar, El Camino’s terrace is a prime spot to people-watch and sip frozen margaritas. The look is rustic Latinchic, with sage-colored walls, garlic and chili garlands, and a sombreroshaped chandelier fashioned from rusted iron and orange light bulbs.

Lining the weathered wood and metal bar are colorful glass jars containing spices like cumin and cayenne pepper, and baskets spilling over with shallots, tomatoes and peppers—the essential ingredients to the fresh Mexican cuisine that emerges from the open-air kitchen. Five varieties of homemade salsa accompany the tacos, burritos and corn chips; more sophisticated dishes include carne asada—chargrilled beef served with roasted red peppers and garlic—and sizzling hot plates of chicken and beef fajitas, accompanied by mushrooms, onions and potatoes.

Wash it all down with an ice-cold Corona or a US$3 shot of tequila.

The Alley; 855/12-718-632; dinner from two US$20.

ABACUS For years, French bistro Abacus and its charming owner, Renaud Fichet, have been known around town for fantastic cuisine, great cocktails and an amiable atmosphere. Facing an expiring lease, Fichet decided to take the restaurant to the next level, partnering with a new chef, Pascal Schmit (formerly of La Résidence d’Angkor), and moving to a larger space. Abacus’s new, lush grounds feature a stylish, glassed-in dining room that uses a minimalist palette of red, white and black; a casual open-air bar; and several outdoor tables set among flickering tiki torches and silk lamps. The new menu, whose daily offerings are written on a large blackboard, ranges from classic French dishes like goat cheese salad, roasted lamb leg and duck breast, to creative Khmer fare, such as fish fi llet

Good Eats From top: Patrons at the bar of Café Central; chef Pascal Schmit of Abacus restaurant shows off his signature dish of duck breast with wild mushrooms; outside Samot.

with tamarind sauce. Make sure to save room for dessert: the chocolate truffle cake with passion fruit coulis is divine. Airport Rd.; 855/12-644-286; abacuscafe.com; dinner for two US$35.

SAMOT Stepping into this intimate spot, whose name means sea in Khmer, is as close as one gets to an aquatic atmosphere in central Cambodia: the walls are baby blue, and brown and white seashells dangle from the ceiling. Owner and chef Patrick Guerry, meanwhile, has concocted a creative menu that includes artfully presented plates like a puff pastry tart with scallops, shrimp, chicken and truffle-flecked cheese, served with pesto, shrimp bisque and a balsamic reduction. The macaroon generously filled with chestnut cream and pear sherbert, courtesy of the popular Blue Pumpkin bakery, is worth every luscious bite. Guerry treats drinks with equal seriousness: each dish is listed with a suggested wine pairing (check out the impressive cellar in back). Meals are served at small tables adorned with white linens and vases containing wild flowers—for the optimal treatment, go for the 10course set menu. The Alley; 855/92410-400; dinner for two US$30.

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insider

| first look

Indian Ocean Isolation. The latest high-end resort to open in the Maldives promises seclusion—and delivers. By CHRIS KUCWAY

MALDIVES

T THE SOUTHERNMOST POINT IN THE MALDIVES, just below the equator, lies Addu Atoll and, within it, the island of Villingili. That’s where Shangri-La has opened its newest resort, a 142-villa affair that utilizes the country’s crystal clear waters regardless of where on the island you stay. The coral-laden sea is most obvious from 60 waterfront villas that extend out over a lagoon where hawksbill turtles frolic alongside swimming guests. Almost a full half of each of these spacious villas is set aside for the bathroom, one that includes both indoor and outdoor showers, opposing sinks and vanities, and a large central tub that just begs to be soaked in. Sliding doors shut the bedroom off from the entrance and bathroom. The bedroom itself, created from a mélange of Indian, Indonesian and Thai designs, is fitted with two iPods and a docking station, a 40-inch television, DVD player and espresso machine. There are plush bathrobes in the closet, but what is unusual is that each villa comes with two lifejackets as well. Look out the window,

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and it’s not so strange. The water villas really come into their own when they step down across two wooden balconies and a net hammock towards the atoll’s rich blue lagoon. There are also beach villas that follow a similar layout, while the resort’s “tree top” accommodations offer 218 square meters of space divided between a bedroom and bathroom, and a separate living room. Between the two buildings is an infinity pool and outdoor deck area that overlooks the Indian Ocean. It’s all as if you’re never meant to leave your villa, and that is the general attitude in the Maldives. Eventually, guests will explore the rest of Villingili, whether along nature trails both on land and in the water, or at a more relaxing pace at CHI, the resort’s spa that specializes in traditional Chinese and Himalayan treatments. The spa itself is located on the highest point of the island, at a not so dizzying 2.3 meters.

Shangri-La Villingili Resort & Spa Addu Atoll, Maldives; 960/689-7888; shangri-la.com; villas from US$1,200.

F R O M T O P : C H R I S K U C W AY ; FA H S A K H A R E T

Water villas at the Shangri-La Villingili. Below: A bathtub built for two.

insider | where to go next

PORTUGAL

followed by adventurous restaurateurs who are looking beyond Portugal’s borders for inspiration. And as the Continent’s capital cities seem to move ever closer to a state of homogeneity, Lisbon remains delightfully free of the signs of global bleed. (There’s exactly one Starbucks downtown, and it opened just months ago). The resulting balance of Old World charm and edgy avant-garde creates a dynamic that’s full of surprises and definitely worth exploring.

Lovely Lisbon. With its forward-thinking design and centuries-old architecture, the Portuguese capital is moving into the spotlight. By MARIA SHOLLENBARGER

L

ISBON HAS BEEN BUSY

lately doing what it does best: embellishing its inimitable, gilded history with world-class venues for contemporary culture, art and dining. Even as Baixa, the city’s cheerfully decrepit 18th-century downtown, applies for UNESCO World Heritage site status, a roster of 64

starchitects—among them Renzo Piano, Santiago Calatrava and local talent Álvaro Siza—are vying to leave their marks on Lisbon’s parks and residential developments. While independent fashion designers and antiquarians still reign in Principe Real and Bairro Alto, interior designers have established themselves in adjacent Santos,

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NEIGHBORHOOD It’s got wider lanes (and less graffiti) than Bairro Alto, its chicly scruffy neighbor, but that doesn’t mean Santos—Lisbon’s burgeoning design district—is lacking in street cred.

Peppered with been-there-forever tapiscos joints and ultra-forward boutiques, the area is the city’s new epicenter of cool. At Paris: Sete (14D Largo de Santos; 35121/393-3170; paris-sete.com), browse shelves lined with compulsory design reading or pick up vintage hand-carved cedar toy cars from TobeUs. O Epicurista (7H Rua do Instituto Industrial; 351-21/3933900; lojadobanho.pt) is where to score rare fragrances from Saboaria Confiança, Miller et Bertaux and Absolument Absinthe, as well as ceramics by Flemish artist Piet Stockmans. Galeria Reverso (3F Rua da Esperança; 351-21/395-1407; reversodasbernardas.com)—at 11 years old, a Santos pioneer—is local Paula Crespo’s temple to contemporary jewelry design.

For a taste of the past, step into Caza das Vellas Loreto (53–55 Rua do Loreto; 35121/342-5387), a shop that has been producing handmade beeswax candles in more or less the same fashion since 1789.

From the tiny septuagenarian woman serving you to the hand-stamped paper bags you leave with, the experience is delightfully traditional. For lunch, join the art students and furniture designers Photographed by JOSÉ BERNAD

The Other Iberia From left: The entrance to Vellas Lorento, a candle store in Santos; inside the design store Paris: Sete, in Santos; a room at Heritage Av Liberdade, an 18thcentury town house. Opposite: On the hilltop Rua Santa Cruz de Castelo.

who gather at Estado Líquido Fusion Sushi (5A Largo de Santos; 351-21/3972022; lunch for two €70) for exquisitely fresh sashimi at tables set on an under-lit glass floor. Come dinner, hobnob with impeccably turned-out locals over thin-crust pizzas at Maritaca (68F Avda. 24 de Julho; 35121/393-9400; dinner for two €17), which manages to feel intimate despite its warehouse-like dimensions.

ROOMS A handful of newcomers have joined hotels like Lisbon’s classic Four Seasons Hotel Ritz (88 Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca; 1-800/332-3442 or 351-21/381-1400; fourseasons.com; doubles from €385), adding new energy to the city. Tiny Vincci Baixa (32–38 Rua do

Comércio; 351-21/881-3190; vinccihoteles. com; doubles from €80) has a bull’s-eye central location in the historic hub and compact but sweet rooms papered in metallic Fortuny designs. The Manuel Salgado–designed Altis Belém Hotel & Spa (13A Rua Castilho; 351-21/3106019; altishotels.com; doubles from €190) combines 50 stylish, color-blocked rooms and suites with a prime riverfront setting and proximity to the Belém Cultural Center (Praça do Império; 351-21/361-2400; ccb.pt).

Traditionalists can book at Heritage Av Liberdade (28 Avda. da Liberdade; 351-21/340-4040; heritageavliberdade. com; doubles from €150), a restored 18thcentury town house with paned French doors and a subterranean pool and

fitness center. It’s a 15-minute walk north from the central districts of Baixa and Alfama, but the recently opened Fontana Park Hotel (2 Rua Engenheiro Vieira da Silva; 351-29/1724207; fontanaparkhotel.com; doubles from €125, including breakfast) has a blend of industrial-chic design (those massive steel beams in the entrance are part of the site’s original factory building) and unassailably gracious service that more than compensates for its slightly off-center location. Hotel Florida (34 Rua Duque de Palmela; 351-21/357-6145; sterlinghotels.com; doubles from €90, including breakfast), conveniently set just below Parque Eduardo VII, has a classic-cinema theme and retrofabulous rooms with Eames chairs, »

LISBON TRIP ESSENTIALS

•

PACK LIKE A LOCAL Lisbonites are almost unfailingly elegant. So wear your walking shoes by day, but bear in mind that Converse sneakers and the like might not make the cut at some of the city’s finer nightclubs. Also, though the afternoons are warm, evenings can occasionally turn quite cool; be sure to bring several layers.

•

LOAD YOUR IPOD Fado star Mariza’s latest album, Terra (4Q/World

Connection), was released stateside in February. Pair it with some classic songs from the late icon Amália Rodrigues (known as the Voice of Portugal) off Art of Amália (Blue Note).

•

READ UP Portugal lays claim to two world-class and wildly different contemporary writers: the Nobel laureate José Saramago and his more earthy counterpart, António Lobo Antunes.

Saramago’s Blindness (Harvest Books) is

a good introduction to his experimental style, while Lobo Antunes’s newly translated The Fat Man and Infinity (Norton), a collection of essays and stories, grapples with Portugal’s sometimes tormented history.

•

CHECK THE CALENDAR Lisbon hosts events year-round, including saints’ days, feiras (fairs), and music, dance and film festivals. For information visit atl-turismolisboa.pt.

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insider | where to go next

The City on High From far left: A thincrust shrimp-and-ham pizza from Maritaca restaurant, in Santos; a streetcar on Rua da Conceição, in Baixa; the view from São Jorge castle, in the ancient Castelo neighborhood.

funky graphic prints and padded white-leather headboards.

FOOD At Bocca (87D Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca; 351-21/380-8383; dinner for two €93), chef Alexandre Silva polishes up rustic Portuguese classics; a fresh risotto layered with crayfish ceviche is a standout. The airy, two-story Ibo (Cais do Sodré, Armazém A; 351-21/3423611; lunch for two €61), on the water with views across the Tagus River, makes a nod to Mozambique—a former Portuguese colony—with piripiri prawns and smoky Zambezi curries. On Rua da Moeda, choose Yasmin (1A Rua da Moeda; 351-21/3930074; dinner for two €60) for modern interiors (Saarinen chairs; graphic wallpaper) and whisper-thin carpaccios, or brand-new Sommer (1K Rua da Moeda; 351-21/390-5558; dinner for two €55) for pan-Mediterranean fare, like linguine with local Serpa cheese and roasted walnuts. Stop at the elegant Verde Perto (26A Rua Costa do Castelo; 351-21/887-0488; lunch for two €4) en route from São Jorge castle; the savory crêpes are generously sized, the hummus is house-made, and the 66

jewelry in the clever wall-mounted cases is for sale. It’s not just because John Malkovich is an owner that Bica do Sapato (Avda. Infante D. Henrique, Armazém B; 351-21/881-0320; dinner for two €70) remains Lisbon’s most talkedabout restaurant. The multi-theme kitchen (which serves everything from sushi to Portuguese comfort food) is inventive, and the space is replete with vintage Midcentury furniture and lowlit corners.

SIGHTS The latest addition to Belém’s sprawling Cultural Center, the Museu Coleccão Berardo (Praça do Império; 351-21/361-2400; museuberardo. pt), opened in June 2007 and houses a 1,000-plus inventory of modern and contemporary paintings, sculpture and videos dating from 1909 (Picasso) to 2005 (Luc Tuymans). Across the square, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Praça do Império; 351-21/362-0034; mosteirojeronimos.pt) offers a glimpse of

LOCAL TAKE Mariza, the iconoclastic diva of Portugal’s traditional Fado scene, moved from Mozambique to Lisbon at the age of three. Here, the singer shares her picks for going out after dark in the city.

•

“I’ve performed at so many wonderful Lisbon venues — from the giant Pavilhão Atlântico arena (Rossio dos Olivais; 351-21/891-8409; pavilhaoatlantico.pt) to the intimate dinner club Clube de Fado (94 Rua São João da Praça; 351-21/885-2704; clube-de-fado.com), in Alfama — that it’s hard to choose a favorite. But one of the best places to listen to Fado is A Tasca do Chico (39 Rua Diario de Noticias; 351-96/5059670), a small beer hall in Bairro Alto that hosts Fado Vadio [Street Fado] nights twice a week. My ideal night out with friends starts with watching the sunset from BaixaChiada’s Hotel do Chiado (114 Rua Nova do Almada; 351-29/172-4276; hoteldochiado. com), followed by a traditional Portuguese dinner of grilled fish with fresh vegetables at the nearby XL (57 Calçada da Estrela; 351-21/397-2486; dinner for two € 58), and then drinks and live music at either A Tasca do Chico or Xafarix (69 Avda. Dom Carlos I; 35121/395-1395), where some of the best local bands play.”

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early-16th-century Lisbon. Built in the ornate Manueline style to celebrate King Manuel I’s AvisBeja dynasty, the monastery’s gabled limestone façade stretches the length of the square. Don’t let the seemingly shady surroundings of Fábrica Braço de Prata (1 Rua da Fábrica do Material de Guerra; bracodeprata.org), in the docklands between Beato and the site of the 1998 Expo, deter you from an evening visit. The 1908 arms factory is home to a cultural center consisting of exposition rooms, a cinema, a bar and café, a bookstore, and a courtyard hosting concerts. The Saturday-at-midnight Fado is a must.

DON’T MISS

•

PANORAMIC VIEWS This city of hills has breathtaking vantage points all around. For some of the best, try Varanda Restaurant (88 Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca; 35121/381-1400; cocktails for two € 25), atop the Four

Seasons Hotel Ritz — set above Parque Eduardo VII. PASTEIS DE BELÉM The city’s famous custard tart is sold in a lot of places, but the freshest come from Confitería de Belém (84–92 Rua de Belém; 351-21/363-7423), a small confectionery near the Jerónimos monastery.

•

•

LOCAL STYLE Bairro Alto’s Rua da Atalaia and

Rua da Rosa are crammed with shops, including boutiques from resident stars Fátima Lopes (36 Rua da Atalaia; 351-21/3240546) and Aleksandar Protich (112 Rua da Rosa; 351-21/322-5199).

•

GINJINHA The pungent morello-cherry liquor — a national icon — is best enjoyed at the venerable, peanut-size bar Ginja Sem Rival (7 Rua das Portas de Santo Antão; 351-21/3468231), near the National Theatre.

•

STREETCARS Be sure

to take a ride on the Elevador da Bica, which plies the steep streets of the Bairro Alto.

SHOPPING

IN

MUMBAI

. . . PAG E 7 0

StylishTraveler A

S ANYONE WHO’S

graduated from training wheels can tell you, a Schwinn makes the perfect traveling companion. Since it was created in Chicago 114 years ago, the bicycle has racked up a range of impressive innovations, from its balloon tire to its rear light.

Hardwired for exploration, Schwinns quickly took off around the nation— generations of youth ran away from home on their Varsities and Fastbacks. Today, the brand’s seven-speed World Folding Bike is ideal for modern trailblazers.

Introduced this year, with a collapsible aluminum frame and a canvas travel case, it rides as smoothly along Chicago’s North Shore as it does on the Rue de Rivoli.

—K AT H RY N O ’ S H E A - E VA N S

REINVENTING THE WHEEL Synonymous with cycling for more than a century, Schwinn proves it’s still on a roll with its seven-speed folding bike. Photographed by NIGEL COX

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stylish traveler

| shopping

Bollywood Style Clockwise, from left: Inside Bombay Electric; bags from Cottons; off the rack at D7; beaded bling at Curio Cottage.

MUMBAI’S MOMENT INDIA

Local design is coming into its own in India’s financial capital, and style seekers are taking note. Here, the city’s top fashion finds. By TANVI CHHEDA. Photographed by FRAM PETIT

Forest Essentials is popular for its home spa products, above. Right: An ornate sari at D7. Opposite: Accessories at Moss.

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Q COLABA On a cobbled street off the main drag of the artsy Colaba suburb is Curio Cottage (19 Mahakavi Bhushan Marg, near Regal Cinema; 91-22/2202-2607), a beloved jewelry emporium. Local fashion magazines have been sourcing pieces from the shop for years—and for good reason.

Choose from ready-to-wear necklaces, bracelets and earrings, as well as strands of turquoise, onyx and carnelian to create your own baubles. A few blocks away, at the loft-like Bombay Electric (1 Reay House, Best Marg; 91-22/2287 6276; bombayelectric.in), located behind the grand Taj Mahal hotel, you’ll find precisely cut, monochromatic basics by Rajesh Pratap Singh, skirts in psychedelic Kool-Aid colors from Manish Arora and pieces by Goan designer Savio Jon. Pick up an “I [Heart] Bombay” Tshirt; profits from their sales go to the victims of the terrorist attacks last November. For more designer threads as well as home furnishings embellished with Indian accents, visit the nearby Courtyard (SP Centre, 41/44 Minoo Desai Marg), a row of boutiques situated around—predictably—a courtyard garden. Standalone stores include Ashish N Soni, who was the first Indian designer to show at New York

Fashion Week; Abraham & Thakore, known for their silk and linen scarves and stoles; and Hot Pink, the second location of the Jaipur store started by French jewelry designer Marie-Hélène de Taillac.

Q OPERA HOUSE, KEMPS CORNER & BREACH CANDY Along New Queen’s Road, in a

commercial section of town named for the old Opera House, you’ll see turquoise-blue painted French doors with the words Neemrana (Ground floor, Purshotam Building, New Queen’s Rd.; 91-22/2367-7780) etched on the glass. Inside, lilac and lemon-yellow armoires are stocked with pastel-hued tunics and feminine, puffed-sleeve blouses in gossamer fabrics like organza and chiffon; owner Rehan Ansari has supplied Saks and Barneys in the past. Another trendy outpost, Amara (1-3-5 Kemps Blvd.; 9122/2387-9687), located in Kemps Corner just north of Opera House, carries plenty of Fashion Week labels and ornate bridal saris, but the accessories— think gold filigree earrings and bandhani (a type of Rajasthani tie-dye) clutches—are the true standouts here. For your ayurvedic beauty fix, head to Forest Essentials (12 Tirupati Apartments, Bhulabhai Desai Rd.; 91-22/3090-8114; forestessentialsindia.com) in the posh residential neighborhood of Breach Candy. The brand’s tamarind sugar scrubs, sandalwood massage oils, and rose and cardamom soaps are made from centuries-old recipes. Also of note: Facial Ubtan, a facial wash made from turmeric, neem oil, saffron and milk powder. »

THE ULTIMATE WEEKEND ESCAPE Enjoy an intimate weekend in romantic surroundings with exquisite service at Kuala Lumpur’s ultimate retreat Weekend Escape starts from MYR 600++ per night BENEFITS Welcome drink and cold towel upon arrival ü Breakfast buffet at The Restaurant Complimentary private bar ü Complimentary dry cleaning, laundry and pressing services All-day coffee and tea at The Lounge ü Evening cocktails and canapés at The Lounge Complimentary wireless and broadband Internet access Club Concierge Services ü Daily newspaper

OTHER PRIVILEGES 10% credit on Food & Beverage at The Restaurant Complimentary scheduled shuttle service to major attractions and shopping malls TERMS AND CONDITIONS This offer is valid until 31st December 2009 Prior reservation is required and subject to room availability Rates are subject to 10% service charge and 5% government tax This offer is not applicable for groups and not valid in conjunction with other promotions

JALAN LAPANGAN TERBANG SAAS 40150 SHAH ALAM SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN MALAYSIA T (603) 7843 1234

F (603) 7846 5443

reservations@thesaujana.com

www.ghmhotels.com

stylish traveler

| shopping

Q BANDRA Once a religious enclave, this northern suburb

Indian-accented footwear galore. Afterwards, refuel at Olive Bar & Kitchen (14 Union Park; 91-22/2605-8228; olivebarandkitchen.com; dinner for two R1,430), just up the street.

Less than a year old, D7 (Turning Point Building, Khar Danda Rd.; 91-22/6679-1551) showcases seven Delhi designers (hence the name) under one roof. Among them, Namrata Joshipura (her A-line skirts are often stocked at New York’s Henri Bendel and Takashimaya) and Neeru Kumar, known for her patchwork and linen shawls. Spread across 278 square meters, the fashion-forward store is attracting everyone from Bollywood starlets to socialites seeking to show off their finds on page three of The Bombay Times.

and its neighbor, Khar, are now more hipster playground du jour. At Cottons (Alexandra Building, St. Sebastian Rd.; 9122/2651-8408), a cult-favorite textile label from Jaipur, browse through hundreds of bright, block-printed tunics in mix-and-match floral and paisley patterns, crushed skirts adorned with mirror work, cloth-covered journals, photo albums and scrapbooks—all embellished with kitschy, ethnic touches. Situated along swanky, tree-lined Union Park, Moss (15A Union Park; 91-22/2646-0707) is a chic, pocket-sized accessories boutique stocking woven wicker clutches, metallic handbags with grommet and Indian tapestry detailing, and

Moss

SHOPS BY NEIGHBORHOOD

Cottons D7

MAI

OPERA HOUSE, KEMPS CORNER & BREACH CANDY 3 Neemrana 4 Forest Essentials 5 Amara BANDRA 6 Cottons 7 Moss 8 D7

Amara 7

COLABA 1 Curio Cottage 2 Bombay Electric

8 6

Bombay Electric

MUMBAI

5 4

3

Forest Essentials 2 1

Neemrana 72

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M A P BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

Curio Cottage

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At McGarrigles Pub, a Sligo favorite, a pint of Guinness. Inset: A driver en route to Corcomroe Abbey, in Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s County Clare.

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IRELAND

Change in the Eire On a road trip in Ireland, MICHAEL S. CAIN discovers the more things change, the more (thankfully) they stay the same.

Photographed by JESSICA SCHWARTZBERG

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Cookie-cutter vacation cottages for rent near Corcomroe Abbey. From above: A bartender at McGarrigles Pub; in Westport’s town center.

T’S BEEN A DECADE SINCE I WAS LAST IN BUNBEG, IN northern Donegal, yet when I walk into Teach Hudi Beag at 10:30 on a Monday night, the pub seems unchanged: the white façade, the dark wood beams, the musicians gathered around a row of low tables to the right of the door. Dark-eyed Hugh Gallagher, the owner, plays fiddle at the head table, and seven or eight other players lean into the circle and ease through a succession of tunes. Soon I am seated among the musicians: a tolerably decent Irish-American flutist with a deep devotion to rural Irish culture, welcomed again into the flow of the tradition. I take out my mobile phone and call my wife, a first-rate fiddler herself and a great fan of the Donegal style, so that she can hear what I’m hearing. It feels like a homecoming.

Last time I was here, I was on a quest to find the pure music of Ireland’s west; this time my mission is more complex. I’ve been hearing a lot about changes in the region—laments of rampant real estate development and a dilution of traditional culture—and have already seen ample evidence of this on a two-hour drive along the coast.

Tomorrow, I will begin a five-day road trip to see it for

I

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myself; tonight, I fall asleep with old Donegal melodies running through my head.

DAY Bunbeg to Dunkineely (116 KM) 1 At noon the following day I meet Gearóid Mooney, son of the legendary Bunbeg fiddler Francie Mooney, for seafood chowder in the stately old Highlands Hotel in Glenties. From there we head to Glencolmcille, in the dramatic coastal highlands of southwest Donegal. The road seems relatively unchanged, and the drive through Glengesh Pass is as hairy and magnificent as ever, with sharp curves, precipitous dips and climbs, and a succession of head-turning views. As we hit the outskirts of Glencolmcille, however, a small crescent of colonnaded McMansions stops me in my tracks. Most new houses I’ve seen in rural areas blend in once the paint fades and the hard edges soften, but these will always look like awkward transplants from Long Island.

In town we rendezvous with Paddy “Beag” Gillespie, a local character and expert guide who leads us down narrow lanes and across boggy pastures to a 6,000-year-old ring fort and a row of 5,000-year-old megalithic graves, then unlocks

The Cliffs of Moher, on the coast of County Clare. Top right: A crossroads in Ballyvaughan. Bottom right: A trad session at Matt Molloy’s, in Westport.

a medieval souterrain (underground hideaway) in the graveyard of St. Columba’s church. All the while, he and Mooney banter about a variety of topics, from the effect of broadband access in the remote hills of Donegal to the exploits of “Anna from Buncrana”—a local garda notorious for her zealous enforcement of drinking laws.

It’s nearly 6 P.M. when I leave for my hotel. I arrive at the Castle Murray House Hotel after dark in a dreadful downpour, and happily while the evening away by the fireplace after a dinner of local seafood prepared by chef Remy Dupuy.

DAY Dunkineely to Sligo (84 KM) 2 Before heading for Sligo, I spend the morning exploring St. John’s Point, where Castle Murray House is located. I drive down the peninsula past new farm buildings, vacation homes and B&B’s, then continue on foot up a narrow track between rocky pastures. A 30-minute walk takes me out to the point, where the lighting effects—clouds, sun, sea, mist, rocks, hillsides—are Turneresque. It’s just me and the cows—and two rainbows before lunchtime.

After stops in Donegal town (for some sweater shopping) and under Ben Bulben (to pay respects at the grave of W. B. Yeats), I arrive in Sligo, a destination enjoying a moment of perfect equipoise, deftly balancing the virtues of the historic provincial town with the excitement of growth. The striking Glasshouse Hotel, which opened in 2007, sits gracefully alongside the River Garavogue, surrounded by 18th- and 19th-century buildings. On a Wednesday evening I find two traditional music sessions: one at McGarrigles Pub on O’Connell Street; the other in the front window of the jampacked Shoot the Crows, on Market Cross. The young musicians are good, and many of the tunes are authentic County Sligo standbys, by turns hard-driving and lilting.

DAY Sligo to Westport (183 KM) 3 In momentary morning sunshine, I head south past rocky dairy farms on the R293, a road flanked by stands of ash, sycamore and beech. On the outskirts of nearly every village I pass through, I note a belt of new buildings gradually thickening around the historic town center. This is not bucolic or beautiful, but it’s hard to see how to avoid it: » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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Irish Cream From top left: Matt Molloy’s pub; mussels in saffron-butter sauce at Castle Murray’s restaurant; Paddy McCullough, a Gweedore local; a traditional thatched cottage in Gweedore; some local sounds at Teach Hudi Beag; the Killaghtee room at the Castle Murray House Hotel.

farming is no longer the dominant source of income around here, and you can’t expect people to choose a drafty thatched cottage to come home to after a day at the office.

My goal this morning is the village of Gurteen and its Ceolaras Coleman Music Centre. A 1999 brick structure in a village of painted stone, the center has classrooms and a 120seat concert hall offering performances by some of the region’s tried and true masters. More and more, the rural traditions of Ireland will be sheltered in places like this.

I chat over tea with the center’s James McCarrick, a tall writer–farmer who has been a close observer of the countryside over the course of several decades. As the generations that handed down traditions in kitchens and parlors fade, he tells me, today’s Irish families are becoming as overscheduled as their American counterparts.

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and mobile phones and broadband access. The country no longer seems frozen in time, and that’s a good thing—isn’t it?

From Gurteen, I head west to County Mayo by way of the beautiful Lough Talt and the Windy Pass through the Ox Mountains. At Bangor, I turn toward Westport and, straight ahead, looms the cone of Croagh Patrick, which thousands of pilgrims climb each year to reach the shrine of St. Patrick.

My own Westport pilgrimage—after a drive through the wilds of coastal West Mayo—is to Matt Molloy’s pub, owned by the flute player of the Chieftains and famous for virtuoso trad sessions. There isn’t one in progress on this Thursday, but in the capacious back room, a pianist, an accordion player and a fiddler are set up on a stage playing ceili-style dance music for a roomful of eager listeners.

DAY Westport to Galway (158 KM) 4 Connemara is the wildest part of Ireland’s wild west, a mountainous region where the bogs are boggier, the crags craggier, the silence silenter. The town of Leenane, clinging

to a strip of land between mountainside and bay, serves as a kind of gateway. When I drop in to a shop to ask for directions to a hiking trail, the man at the counter replies not with a brogue but an Eastern European accent: “Sorry, I not from here. Maybe you ask in pub.”

At Connemara National Park, the parking lot is nearly empty. Though I’m skeptical—the place seems too touristy, too easy, too close to the small but jarring commercial core of Letterfrack—I decide to take a quick peek at the trails before I drive on. After an hour and a half of strenuous walking, I find myself atop the 396-meter Diamond Hill, taking in views of Ballynakill Bay to the west and Kylemore Lough to the north, with the peaks known as the Twelve Pins to the south and east. It’s my first taste of a Connemara hike, and it is exhilarating. The rocks, mottled with lichen and striated with veins of quartz; the sky, once again performing its dramatic mood shifts; and the rampant mountain heath—green and red and brown and purple— combine to create a series of 360-degree panoramas.

DAY Galway to Lisdoonvarna (68 KM) 5 I spend Friday night exploring the streets of Galway City—full of university students socializing well after midnight—then wind my way into County Clare in gray, drizzly weather. After a damp hike in the limestone hills of Burren National Park, I head to the 18th-century spa town of Lisdoonvarna to meet up with Maryangela Keane, a social geographer whose charm is as remarkable as her deep knowledge of the region. She leads me to the ruins of Kilcorney, a 900-year-old church hidden beside a narrow back road, and from there points out an ancient stone ring silhouetted faintly at the top of a hill. Against the misty sky, it looks like an apparition.

From there we move on to Corcomroe Abbey, a 12thcentury Cistercian complex centered on the now-roofless Church of Mary of the Fertile Stone. Just down the road, a half-dozen or so brand-new cookie-cutter bungalows stand single file on a pancake-flat 1,000 square meters, fronted by a sign reading rent an Irish cottage. At the abbey, however, the sense of history and remoteness is not diminished. If anything, the awesome quiet of a place like Mary of the Fertile Stone reduces the affronts of contemporary real estate speculation to a passing joke.

Ironically, the next day breaks clear and sunny. During a twisty climb, I recognize a pull off where I stopped the day before. I park and pick my way through hazel brush to a historical marker, undetectable from the road, identifying the early medieval ring fort known as Cahermore, situated on a hilltop so that its residents could be forewarned of the approach of strangers from land or sea. Today, unlike yesterday, I can clearly see Newtown Castle in the valley, and beyond, Galway Bay. The view is not notably different from what it would have been 10 years ago—or 200.

GUIDE TO WESTERN IRELAND

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5

GETTING THERE It will take a solid five days to recreate this itinerary; Tourism Ireland (discoverireland.com) can help. To reach Bunbeg, fly into Donegal Airport on the daily flight from Dublin. The closest airport to Lisdoonvarna is Shannon, an hour’s drive away.

WHERE TO STAY An Chúirt Gweedore Court Hotel Contemporary country hotel near Bunbeg. Gweedore, Co. Donegal; 353-74/953-2900; gweedorecourthotel.com; doubles from ¤130, including breakfast.

GREAT VALUE

Castle Murray House Hotel St. John’s Point, Dunkineely, Co. Donegal; 353-74/973-7022; castlemurray.com; doubles from ¤130, including breakfast; dinner for two ¤100.

Glasshouse Hotel Swan Point, Sligo; 353-71/919-4300; theglasshouse.ie; doubles from ¤109, including breakfast.

Hotel Meyrick Historic property recently redone by Douglas Wallace, the architects who brought you the G. Eyre Square, Galway City; 353-91/564-041; hotelmeyrick.ie; doubles from ¤165, including breakfast.

Knockranny House Hotel Book one of the oldest rooms, and consider GREAT VALUE

dining in. Castlebar Rd., Westport, Co. Mayo; 353-98/28600; khh.ie; doubles from ¤89, including breakfast; dinner for two ¤103.

WHERE TO EAT Coach Lane Restaurant at Donaghy’s Bar Pub fare and inventive seafood dishes. 1 Lord Edward St., Sligo; 353-71/916-2417; dinner for two ¤76.

Druid Lane Restaurant A cozy haven on a frenetic block. 9 Quay St., Galway City; 353-91/916-2417; dinner for two ¤91.

Monks Bar and Restaurant Superfresh seafood opposite the town pier. Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare; 353-65/707-7059; dinner for two ¤51.

PUBS AND MUSIC Ceolaras Coleman Music Centre Gurteen, Co. Sligo; 353-71/9182599; colemanirishmusic.com.

Matt Molloy’s Music nightly.

Bridge St., Westport, Co. Mayo; 353-98/26655.

McGarrigles Pub Music on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

O’Connell St., Sligo; 353-71/ 917-1193.

Shoot the Crows Music on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Market Cross, Sligo; no phone.

Teach Hudi Beag Music on Mondays and Fridays. Bunbeg, Co. Donegal; 353-74/953-1016.

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cityscape | t+l journal

Read All About It

The high-tech, concrete-and-glass Alexandria Library, successor to an ancient marvel, intends nothing less than to change the Middle East’s mind-set. MICHAEL Z. WISE reports. Photographed by LIVIA CORONA

EGYPT

The façade near the Alexandria Library’s entrance features characters in 120 different languages.

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Period Pieces From left: Outside the library’s planetarium; local women stroll in the city center. Opposite page, from left: Alexandria’s Corniche curves along the Mediterranean; the library’s public computer area, which permits access to 36,000 electronic journals.

P

OISED AMID THE CRUMBLING BUILDINGS THAT

line the beachfront of Egypt’s second-largest city, the hypermodern reincarnation of the ancient library of Alexandria looks as if it dropped from outer space. The disc-shaped design, by Norwegian firm Snøhetta (which also created the bold National Opera House in Oslo), resembles a high-tech, concrete-and-glass rendition of the sun rising over the Mediterranean. Or a massive computer chip lodged on the shore.

The institution it houses is as unusual and as ambitious as the architecture. While the original library functioned as classical antiquity’s leading storehouse of knowledge, the resurrected version has an even more ambitious goal: transforming modern-day Egypt and the Islamic world. But the Bibliotheca Alexandrina—the library is formally known by its Latin name—has its work cut out. Thirty percent of Egyptians are illiterate; the country struggles with poverty.

The government, led by octogenarian president Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled under emergency law for more than a quarter of a century, faces mounting opposition from militant Islamists.

Ismail Serageldin, the 64-year-old, Harvard-educated Egyptian economist who directs the library, calls it a key tool in “a battle for the hearts and minds of a generation of young Egyptians, promoting rationality, tolerance, openness, dialogue and understanding in the face of obscurantism,

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extremism and xenophobia.” Discussing this struggle in his sun-filled office overlooking the sea, Serageldin defiantly proclaims, “I’m optimistic we’re going to win.”

The library opened in 2002 on roughly the same site where its ancient predecessor disappeared 1,600 years ago.

The re-creation, funded mostly by UNESCO, the Egyptian government and other Arab nations, came amid questions about its prospects in a country that limits press freedoms and censors books. Others have wondered whether a brickand-mortar library is still relevant in the Internet era. But this is far more than a repository: the complex also contains four museums, a planetarium, a children’s science center, a library for the blind and seven research institutes. “This was an institution that was born digital,” Serageldin explains.

With 630,000 volumes at present, the collection is more modest than what’s on offer at a small U.S. liberal arts college, and far humbler than that of major American universities. But the library does have access to 36,000 electronic journals—academic, professional, scientific and more—and one of the world’s few databases to be actively archiving every Web page that appears on the Internet.

Foreign tour groups can routinely be found among the youthful students and scholars of all ages eagerly making use of the holdings.

The revived library is already setting new standards for Arab nations, introducing cutting-edge technology. Its

Inside, the soaring main reading room is divided into levels that cascade downward BENEATH a glass canopy

researchers have devised optical character-recognition software for Arabic and are digitizing key manuscripts for dissemination over the Internet. With more than 500 events—lectures, conferences, concerts, exhibitions—and some 1.4 million visitors a year (the U.S. Library of Congress also receives 1.4 million), the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has become a gathering place for scientists, literary figures and other thinkers from around the world.

Serageldin insists that there has been no government interference. And many Egyptian citizens, frustrated by repression and economic stagnation, look to the library as a beacon of hope. “Everybody with a problem in the whole country comes to Dr. Serageldin and asks, ‘Why don’t you do something?’” says Sahar Hamouda, deputy director of the library’s Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (Alex-Med). “He says, ‘I’m not the answer,’ but to be sure, the library is filling an important gap.”

The drumlike exterior wall of the building, clad in gray granite, is inscribed with characters from some 120

languages. Inside, the soaring main reading room is divided into multiple levels that cascade downward beneath a glass canopy, held aloft by slender concrete pillars inspired by papyrus stems. It certainly seems like an anomaly in a teeming city of 6 million people, many of them indigent, that does not even have a local newspaper, but the library aims to restore to Alexandria at least some of its cosmopolitan stature. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., the city became the intellectual capital of the Western world when it drew antiquity’s finest scholars—in large part because of a library that aimed to compile all knowledge. What led to the library’s eventual destruction remains a mystery, though fire, earthquakes and war likely played a part.

The city went into decline in the fourth century A.D. Its fortunes weren’t reversed until Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. The port’s strategic site gave it a key role in late19th-century trade, and Alexandria again became a vibrant, polyglot center. “Five races, five languages, a dozen creeds,” Lawrence Durrell wrote about the city in his Alexandria Quartet novels, published between 1957 and 1960. This diversity, though, suffered with the world wars and Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalist revolution in 1952, which resulted in an exodus of Jews and foreigners. Economic recession after the 1967 war with Israel accelerated the decay of Alexandria’s modern architectural grandeur. » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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The city’s beaches, ancient ruins and hookah-filled cafés are still popular with Egyptians, particularly in the summertime, and local authorities would like to attract more international travelers year-round. But in the city center, horse-drawn carts jostle with Soviet-made taxicabs and rickety trams. Even though the municipal government has made recent advances in cleaning up the garbage-strewn streets, refurbishing ravaged façades and repaving broken sidewalks, the library stands out as a paragon of modern efficiency.

“We wanted to create a building that would provide a sense of pride to a city that has in many ways lost some of its luster,” says Craig Dykers, one of the principal architects with Snøhetta, who has been struck by how many members of the Egyptian general public, in addition to academics and students, are drawn to the new library. “We never planned for that,” he says. “But it provides a calm and comfortable place for serious research as well as everyday use. Alexandria can be so chaotic, with such an enormously energetic culture.

You drive through the streets and you see the muck and the donkeys with televisions tied to their backs, and then you come into this calm, white, simple space with few affectations. You move into the lower area with the information desk and a series of thresholds. It affects your blood pressure. You feel a sense of relaxation—which is hard to get in a place like Egypt.”

Serageldin, drawing on expertise from his 25 years at the World Bank, has also steered the library toward involvement in the local economy and infrastructure. Under an accord signed with the city government to provide advice on urban affairs, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is now helping plan an enormous aquarium on a nearby coastal site and is also working on rebuilding the local film industry, which had thrived in the 1930’s.

These projects come under the purview of Alex-Med, which resembles a hectic architectural firm with models of proposed new and now-vanished ancient structures arrayed around its bustling offices. Ideas range from a scale model of the Pharos Lighthouse, which once stood on Alexandria’s shore and was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, to a redevelopment of the city’s eastern harbor. The library already has plans to expand on both sides of its existing premises, adding exhibition spaces as well as a hotel 84

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for visiting scholars and conference participants.

Debate at library events is described by human rights activists and Western diplomats as open and unrestricted. “We are free to do anything we want,” says Mohsen Youssef, one of Serageldin’s key advisers. Still, while Cairo-based rights advocate Negad Al Borai hails the library as an “oasis of culture, democracy, and free speech,” he and others complain that the Mubarak government has undertaken few genuine reforms since the library’s creation. Youssef responds to such criticism by stressing that “no one is expecting change overnight. It takes a long time.”

There is also skepticism within the institution itself about its ability to touch the masses. To broaden the potential audience, Serageldin intends to build a television studio on the premises to broadcast programs on both Egyptian and foreign channels.

The library does provide access to materials that are hard to come by in Arab countries. Even the works of Salman Rushdie are available—albeit on request from closed stacks.

“Putting The Satanic Verses on the open shelves would guarantee it’s going to be destroyed,” says chief librarian Sohair Wastawy, who’s committed to including a wide range of authors. “If you don’t know what other people think and write, how can you defend any value you have? It’s ignorance not to acquire these things.”

On Alexandria’s street corners, a new Arabic edition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf is on sale—yet the library has already hosted the Egyptian premiere of Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, vividly portraying Jewish suffering in the Holocaust.

“We are working in a country where fanaticism runs rampant,” Wastawy laments. “But we are trying to have an impact. We’re trying to fix Egyptian society through culture and transparency.”

This approach is winning praise from leading foreign peers. “Serageldin has earned the respect of national libraries around the world,” says Mary-Jane Deeb, chief of the Middle Eastern Division at the Library of Congress.

“The spirit of the original library of Alexandria is being recreated.” And it could end up guiding the Arab world toward positive change.

Michael Z. Wise is a contributing editor for T+L (U.S.).

Open Minds Above: The library’s Mediterranean side. Opposite page: The main atrium of the library, a building designed to instill pride in the city.

GUIDE TO ALEXANDRIA WHERE TO STAY Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at San Stefano The city’s most luxurious hotel is a 15-minute taxi ride to the city center. 399 El Geish Rd.; 20-3/581-8000; fourseasons.com; doubles from EGP2,523 (US$450).

Sofitel Cecil The setting for much of the Alexandria Quartet novels, with many rooms overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. 15 Saad Zaghloul Square; 20-3/487-7173; sofitel.com; doubles from EGP847.

GREAT VALUE

GETTING THERE Emirates Airlines (emirates.com) and Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com) fly to Cairo, where there are 2 1/2-hour train connections to Alexandria.

Windsor Palace Hotel Built in 1906, this grand hotel is the place to see Alexandria’s faded glamour. 17 El Shohada St.; 20-3/480-8700; paradiseinnegypt.com; doubles from EGP752.

GREAT VALUE

WHERE TO EAT Fish Market Fresh seafood and panoramic harbor views. The Corniche; 20-3/480-5119; dinner for two EGP196.

Qadoura Casual spot with delicious grilled fresh fish and meze. 33 Sharia Bairam atTonsi; 20-3/480-0405; dinner for two EGP168.

Santa Lucia Plush, decades-old mainstay specializing in Greek dishes. 40 Safia Zaghloul St.; 20-3/486-0332; dinner for two EGP224.

WHAT TO DO Alexandria National Museum Home to Greco-Roman and Egyptian sculptures. 110 Tariq Al-Horreyya; 20-3/483-5519.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina 20-3/483-9999; bibalex.org.

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Armed Forces Day in 2007 at the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new capital. Approximately 15,000 troops took part in what is considered the birthday of the modern army, which has ruled the country for almost half a century.

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Burmese Years Having spent 15 years documenting the plight of the country, photographer NIC DUNLOP reflects on his experiences in Burma

Novice monks at a visit by a general in Shan State in 2005. Generals are regularly, and conspicuously, seen making merit at religious ceremonies throughout the country. The events are televised to demonstrate their Buddhist credentials to the nation.

N EARLY 1992, I VISITED REFUGEE CAMPS ALONG the Thai–Burma border, which looked and felt like large villages. I could wander at will. It seemed a forgotten tragedy, and I had difficulty imagining where these people had come from. All I could see were the mist-covered mountains of the frontier behind. Burma remained a secret.

In Bangkok, I met political exiles, mainly students who had fled the 1989 crackdown. We were the same generation and I remember thinking that I might well have been among them had I been born in Rangoon.

We became friends.

I

It was, and remains, a complicated country, one that I remember thinking, “I’ll never make any sense of this.” So I decided to take my time, to travel the country and learn what I could. Perhaps then I would have a deeper appreciation of its problems and be able to explain something of the crisis.

THERE HAVE BEEN MANY INTERESTING TIMES FOR ME, from watching Aung San Suu Kyi speak to people at her gate, to being berated by a German tour operator in Bagan about how Burma was getting a bad press, to celebrating my birthday by eating frogs on the » 87

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In 1996, this lane in Moulmein was widened to access a new market. Homes were partially torn away, the owners given no compensation.

Burmese are often forced by the junta to vacate their homes with little or no recompense to make way for military or commercial ventures.

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top of a mountain with Karenni insurgents. I remember photographing Aung San Suu Kyi in her home with the senior members of her party. But the last time I was in Burma was surreal. For reasons still unknown to me, I had been invited by the regime to photograph troops on Armed Forces Day. I found myself in a convoy of flashing lights, sitting in a car and looking at people who were forced to stop on the road to let us pass. It was strange to see what it looked like from the other side. And then I found myself among the generals who I’ve heard about for years. They seemed so ordinary, taking pictures of each other with their small digital cameras.

THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS WHY I KEEP RETURNING. I SET ABOUT creating what I hoped would be iconic images of what I felt was important.

And that takes time. So I wanted to get the best pictures I could of Insein prison, the military, forced labor and refugees. I had to keep going back because so much of what is going on is hidden from view.

I also wanted to understand the situation better and photography for me has always been a way to learn firsthand. I remember Aung San Suu Kyi saying, shortly after she was released from her first house arrest in 1995, that it would be a shame if Burma were to slip from the world’s headlines again.

Magazines and newspapers can only cover something if it is accessible or dramatic. What they are unable to cover is the ongoing oppression, and it seemed to me the regime was getting away with it. This was at a time when tourists were starting to go to Burma and some people were saying that things weren’t that bad. But things were indeed bad, and the best way to convey that, I thought, was through testimony and through photographs, which can be hard to refute. I wanted to show what forced labor actually looked like, what spies looked like—in short, to put a face to the dictatorship and show outsiders what it means when people talk of oppression.

IT’S DIFFICULT TO SAY WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR BURMA. THE MILITARY is as entrenched as ever despite protests. They have no desire or need to engage the outside world. The hope that people place in Aung San Suu Kyi is still very much there, but there is a new generation that has grown up knowing little about her. But things do change and not always in ways we’re able to foresee: the Berlin Wall coming down, peace in the Balkans.

Sometimes what looks like a permanent state of affairs can change overnight.

The military has an important role to play and their withdrawal has to be gradual. The trouble is that you have a military state and virtually no alternative, largely because the military has deliberately ensured that it remains that way. What would be tragic is if the military fragmented. Then I think Burma could be plunged into a serious civil war from which it might not recover. So, sadly, in my view, the future remains bleak.

Nic Dunlop is working on a photography book on the country called Burma: Betrayal.

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Burma is home to an array of religious faiths. The majority is Buddhist, with a strong belief in animism and spirit worship. Here, a young Tamil Christian prays at the Salvation Army Church in downtown Rangoon.

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A member of the minority Thet people. Burma is one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most ethnically diverse countries. Tension remains high in many areas, although most groups are in uneasy truces.

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Found across Burma, teashops are traditionally meeting places where much discussion takes place. The regime is constantly watching patrons and conversations are monitored through a network of informers that permeates every strata of society.

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General Than Shwe, the supreme commander of the Burmese armed forces, salutes as troops march past on Armed Forces Day in 2007.

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Buddhist novices at a monastery in Mandalay. Burma was once considered one of the most literate societies in Southeast Asia. Under military rule, many qualiďŹ ed teachers and professors have left the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi at a party executive meeting in her home in 1996. Intelligence agents were posted around her home. Anyone entering or leaving was photographed and followed and, on occasion, arrested.

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| outdoors

Salt of the Earth Off in a distant corner of Northern Thailand, a small, scenic village preserves its simple way of life. Story and photographs by AUSTIN BUSH

THAILAND

TEN YEARS AGO, A FRIEND AND I were trekking in Doi Phu Kha National Park, in the remote northern Thai province of Nan, and led by little more than a hand-drawn map and a brief paragraph in a guidebook, had spent the entire day wandering aimlessly. That afternoon, hungry and shaken, we eventually emerged at our destination, the village of Ban Bor Luang. Then, as now, it appeared to be little more than a single strip of dusty buildings at the edge of the park, but to us who had spent the previous night on the floor of a rural schoolhouse, it was civilization. Most importantly, there was a restaurant. Over a bowl of khao soi, a rich curry noodle

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soup that was welcome after days of sticky rice and instant noodles, we asked about accommodation and were told that there were no hotels. “But I have a house, you can stay there,” suggested the owner of the noodle shop. That night my friend and I rented her place, celebrating our luck with warm beers.

Waking early the next morning, the cold air and long shadows reminded us just how rugged and isolated the area was. Indeed, as recently as the 1980’s, the Thai government actively discouraged people from visiting Nan due to the presence of bandits and Communist insurgents. It’s remote location and exotic reputation were reasons we chose to visit.

Rural Ways Clockwise from left: Working the fields; drying the salt harvest; the quiet countryside around Nan.

The town’s setting, in a valley with the mountainous LAO border to the east, remains unmistakable and dramatic

Failing to find the salt wells mentioned in our guidebook, we followed a stream from one end of town to the other, taking in a crumbling temple, an ancient tamarind tree, old wooden buildings, rice fields and bored-looking buffaloes.

Although these are very much the staples of rural Thai life, we were both struck with the feeling that there was something impalpably unique about Ban Bor Luang, and leaving the village on the only truck out of town that day, we did so reluctantly.

Fast-forward a decade and I have the opportunity to revisit Ban Bor Luang, to discover exactly what is so special about the town, although under very different circumstances.

I’m in Nan, this time to write the latest edition of the very guidebook that had first led me to the village. This time, I drive to Ban Bor Luang and a few changes are immediately apparent. For starters, the roads are now neatly paved and there are signs pointing out various tourist attractions.

But the feel of town appears to have changed little. And its setting, in a long valley split by a stream with the mountainous Lao border to the east and the peaks of Doi Phu Kha National Park to the west, remains unmistakable and dramatic.

I pull into Bo Klua View, Ban Bor Luang’s first and only tourist accommodation, undoubtedly the greatest contrast with my previous visit. From having nowhere to stay a decade ago, the town now boasts one of the most attractive resorts in northern Thailand. Built on a wooded hillside overlooking the village, Bo Klua View consists of 11 bungalows that almost seamlessly blend in with the fruit trees, flowers and organic gardens that serve as their setting.

“We built it close to nature, using local materials, bamboo and red brick, and local style,” explains Toun Upajak, the Ban Bor Luang native who is in charge of the resort. The result is both rustic and chic, an ideal base for a few days.

After settling in and curious to make up for what I had missed the first time around, I head straight for the village’s eponymous salt wells. The town’s colloquial name, Ban Bor Kluea, means “Salt Well Village” and stems from a few ancient wells that produce extremely salty water. On the surface this may seem unfortunate, but for as long as people can remember, the locals have taken advantage of this phenomenon to produce kluea sinthao or “mountain salt.” In the past, the mineral was an important commodity, particularly for those who lived far from the sea. Caravans from remote corners of China would stop by Ban Bor Luang to load up on the “white gold” before returning home.

Nowadays, salt is both ubiquitous and cheap throughout Thailand, and Ban Bor Luang’s monopoly has long since expired, but the residents of the village continue to gather the mineral in the traditional way, both as a commodity and as an important aspect of the local culture.

Near a salt well in the center of town, Sanan Thaseekaew, a lifetime salt harvester, describes how the salty water is » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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| outdoors drawn from deep wells in the center of town and diverted to several processing sites. There, the water is boiled for about four hours until all that remains is an ice-like crust of soggy salt crystals. “When I’m gathering salt I need to wake up every few hours, so I have to sleep in here,” Sanan says of the smoky hut, decorated with little more than an electric fan and a photo of Thailand’s king. As he speaks, he scoops piles of the damp salt into hanging bamboo baskets to drain before being packaged and sold.

These days it is Ban Bor Luang’s natural surroundings, rather than its salt, that attracts visitors. The town is located near two national parks, one of which, Khun Nan National Park, is only a few kilometers to the north. The park is one of the newest in Thailand, as the barely navigable, unpaved road to the visitor center makes clear. After a nerve-wracking ascent that just about exceeds the limits of my tiny rental car, I park and continue on foot, along an ascending 2-kilometer trail that that tops out at a viewpoint overlooking local villages and nearby Laos.

Catching my breath, I’m rewarded with a view that also looks over the trails leading to Khun Nan’s numerous scenic waterfalls, one of which, Huai Tee, consists of six tiers that drop about 110 meters in total.

Doi Phu Kha National Park, named after the 2,000-meter peak that is one of the province’s highest, borders the village to the west, and, at more than 1,700 square kilometers, is the largest national park in northern Thailand. Within its boundaries are patches of old-growth forests, hidden caves and waterfalls, while park rangers lead tours to sights such as chomphu phu kha, a type of prehistoric palm that is only found in Nan and southern China. Doi Phu Kha is also known for its bird watching, particularly between November and February when migratory birds are abundant.

Despite being an officially protected area, man has had a profound impact on the once pristine grounds. A decade ago, we were shocked to see entire hillsides inside the park stripped of trees and replaced with neat rows of corn or cabbage, a phenomenon that continues today. Although this type of agriculture can most likely be traced back to the Htin, Mien, Hmong, Thai Lu and other minority groups who live within the park’s borders, it is hard to lay blame when faced with their generous hospitality. During our trek we stayed with several local families, providing us with a cultural experience that eclipsed even the spectacular scenery.

One night, while staying with a Hmong family, the patriarch proudly gave us a detailed explanation of Hmong traditional medicine with the help of a illustrated text written in the Hmong script. Another evening, as we camped at a rural schoolhouse, a local teacher gave me an impromptu lesson in Thai Lu vocabulary, a dialect spoken throughout Nan.

Within the park’s boundaries are patches of old growth, HIDDEN caves and waterfalls

Rugged Charms From top: Harvesting salt; wildflowers outside Bo Klua View; a peek at Bo Klua View’s natural look.

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Perhaps the park’s remaining truly wild element is the Wa River. In recent years, the Wa has made Doi Phu Kha National Park an increasingly popular destination for those interested in adventure sports such as whitewater rafting and kayaking. “It’s some of the best rafting in Thailand,” boasts Boy, a young guide with Eskimo Roll, a rafting outfit based in Nan. Rapids range from level I to IV, the river passing through intact jungle and remote villages.

A decade ago, a chilly morning walk in Ban Bor Luang imparted the vague feeling that there was something special about the town. But this time around, with several days to explore, it becomes clear to me that a combination of remoteness, a beautiful natural setting and a unique local history lie behind Ban Bor Luang’s rugged charm.

On my last day in Ban Bor Luang, and as something of a nostalgic bookend to my visit, I decide to return to the khao soi stall where I had eaten during my first foray into the region. Recognizing the same vendor, I introduce myself and order a bowl. It is clear she has forgotten about the foreigner who rented her house all those years ago, just as I have apparently also forgotten about her khao soi: when the bowl arrives the broth is cold, the chicken alarmingly undercooked, and oddly enough, there are no noodles. Was the khao soi really this bad a decade ago? It probably was, but I take it as a positive sign that I—not Ban Bor Luang—had changed over the years.

GUIDE TO NAN PROVINCE WHEN TO GO Both Ban Bor Luang and Doi Phu Kha National Park are particularly wet between May and September, and cold from November to January.

WHERE TO STAY Bo Klua View The town’s only accommodation offers 11 stylish bungalows. 66/81809-6392; bokluaview.com; bungalows from Bt1,500.

GETTING THERE By rental car from Chiang Rai, it’s a four- to six-hour drive to Ban Bor Luang. Alternatively, the town is located 95 kilometers from the provincial capital, Nan, which can be reached from Bangkok by PB Air (pbair.com). If relying on public transport, from Nan first take a bus to Pua (Bt50), and then cross the highway for one of the few daily pickups that pass Doi Phu Kha National Park headquarters (Bt40, 1/2 hour, departing at 7:30 A.M., 9:30 A.M., 11:30 A.M. and 2 P.M.) before terminating in Ban Bor Luang (Bt80, one hour).

Doi Phu Kha National Park Bungalow- and dorm-style accommodation is available.

National Park Department; 66-2/562-0760; dnp.go.th; bungalows from Bt300.

Phu Fah Accommodation and food are on offer here, just south of Ban Bor Luang.

Tambon Phu Fah; 66-54/710610; doubles from Bt600.

WHAT TO DO Eskimo Roll This Nan-based outfit conducts rafting trips along the Mae Nam Wa. 40/1 Thanon Norkham, Nan; 66/83902-6111; kayakraft.com; two day trips per person Bt3,900.

T+L T+L

WORLD’S

BEST AWARDS In Travel + Leisure’s annual poll, we once again asked our readers to rate the best hotels, cruises, airlines, outfitters, cities, islands and more.

The votes are in! Here, we spotlight this year’s winners, as well as properties where you’ll find great value now.

E D I T E D BY SA R A H K A N T R O W I T Z

TURN AND OPEN FOR WINNERS >>

Top Cities Overall

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC 1. SYDNEY 84.27 2. MELBOURNE 80.34 3. QUEENSTOWN New Zealand 78.00

1. UDAIPUR India 87.94 2. CAPE TOWN 87.69 3. BANGKOK 86.80 4. BUENOS AIRES 86.22 5. CHIANG MAI Thailand 86.18 6. FLORENCE 85.61 7. LUANG PRABANG Laos 85.45 8. NEW YORK 84.65 9. ROME 84.63 10. SAN FRANCISCO 84.53

AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1. CAPE TOWN 87.69 2. FEZ Morocco 83.82 3. JERUSALEM 83.23 4. MARRAKESH Morocco 82.05 5. CAIRO 77.32 6. ESSAOUIRA Morocco 77.12 7. TEL AVIV 75.96 8. RABAT Morocco 73.05 9. AMMAN Jordan 70.69 10. TUNIS Tunisia 70.12

ASIA 1. UDAIPUR India 87.94 2. BANGKOK 86.80 3. CHIANG MAI Thailand 86.18 4. LUANG PRABANG Laos 85.45 5. JAIPUR India 84.14 6. SIEM REAP Cambodia 83.17 7. KYOTO 83.01 8. BEIJING 82.55 9. HONG KONG 82.23 10. SHANGHAI 81.61

U.S. AND CANADA 1. NEW YORK 84.65 2. SAN FRANCISCO 84.53 3. QUEBEC CITY 83.05 4. CHARLESTON South Carolina 82.80 5. SANTA FE 82.53 6. CHICAGO 82.48 7. SAVANNAH Georgia 79.99 8. VICTORIA British Columbia 79.95 9. MONTREAL 79.84 10. SEATTLE 79.73

UDAIPUR, INDIA

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 1. BUENOS AIRES 86.22 2. OAXACA Mexico 84.01 3. CUZCO Peru 83.40 4. SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE Mexico 82.45 5. ANTIGUA Guatemala 81.05 6. RIO DE JANEIRO 80.40 7. MEXICO CITY 76.49 8. QUITO Ecuador 75.81 9. VERACRUZ Mexico 74.88 10. BOGOTÁ Colombia 74.69 EUROPE 1. FLORENCE 85.61 2. ROME 84.63 3. ISTANBUL 83.90 4. PARIS 82.56 5. BARCELONA 82.32 6. VENICE 81.48 7. VIENNA 81.07 8. PRAGUE 80.73 9. SALZBURG 80.71 10. BRUGES Belgium 80.59

1. BALI 87.41 2. GALÁPAGOS 86.80 3. CAPE BRETON ISLAND Nova Scotia 86.09 4. KAUAI 85.90 5. MOUNT DESERT ISLAND Maine 85.87 6. MAUI 85.48 7. AEOLIAN ISLANDS Italy 85.13 8. MALDIVES 84.43 9. HAWAII 83.92 10. VANCOUVER ISLAND 83.74 ASIA 1. BALI 87.41 2. MALDIVES 84.43 3. PHUKET Thailand 80.93 4. CEBU Philippines 79.68 5. KO SAMUI Thailand 79.29

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC 1. TASMANIA 83.24 2. GREAT BARRIER REEF ISLANDS 82.58 3. MOOREA 79.28 4. BORA-BORA 77.72 5. HUAHINE French Polynesia 76.82

THE CARIBBEAN, BERMUDA, AND THE BAHAMAS 1. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS 77.82 2. BERMUDA 77.35 3. GRENADINES 76.92 4. VIEQUES 75.98 5. ANGUILLA 75.56

CONTINENTAL U.S. AND CANADA 1. CAPE BRETON ISLAND Nova Scotia 86.09 2. MOUNT DESERT ISLAND Maine 85.87 3. VANCOUVER ISLAND 83.74 4. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 80.21 5. SAN JUAN ISLANDS Washington 79.80

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 1. GALÁPAGOS 86.80 2. AMBERGRIS CAY Belize 77.98 3. KUNAYALA ISLANDS (FORMERLY SAN BLAS ISLANDS) Panama 75.39 4. ISLA MUJERES Mexico 74.14 5. COZUMEL 72.33

HAWAII 1. KAUAI 85.90 2. MAUI 85.48 3. HAWAII 83.92 4. OAHU 81.40 5. LANAI 81.11

EUROPE 1. AEOLIAN ISLANDS Italy 85.13 2. DALMATIAN ISLANDS Croatia (Hvar rated separately) 82.98 3. SANTORINI Greece 82.93 4. MADEIRA ISLANDS Portugal 81.85 5. CYCLADES Greece (Santorini rated separately) 81.54

FROM FAR LEFT: © NIELSDESIGN / DREAMSTIME.COM; © ANDREYUSHAKOV DREAMSTIME.COM; DENNIS COELLO; COURTESY OF SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Top Islands Overall

BALI

Top Tour Operators and Safari Outfitters 1. AUSTIN-LEHMAN ADVENTURES 97.34 2. MICATO SAFARIS 97.16 3. KER & DOWNEY 96.54 4. AFRICAN TRAVEL, INC. 95.73 5. COUNTRY WALKERS 95.19 6. CLASSIC JOURNEYS 93.31 7. BOUNDLESS JOURNEYS 92.53 8. GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS 92.33 9. NATURAL HABITAT ADVENTURES 92.15 10. TRAVCOA 91.44

11. INTERNATIONAL EXPEDITIONS 90.75 12. BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON 90.28 13. BIG FIVE TOURS & EXPEDITIONS 89.66 14. WILDERNESS SAFARIS 89.58 15. WILDERNESS TRAVEL 89.48 16. TAUCK WORLD DISCOVERY 89.26 17. ECOTOUR EXPEDITIONS 89.17 18. VIKING TOURS 88.80 19. ABERCROMBIE & KENT 88.05 20. LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS 86.94

OUTFITTERS AUSTIN-LEHMAN ADVENTURES

Top International Airlines 1. SINGAPORE AIRLINES 87.40 2. QATAR AIRWAYS 83.06 3. EMIRATES 82.02 4. JAPAN AIRLINES 80.50 5. VIRGIN ATLANTIC 80.42 6. ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS 79.09 7. CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS 78.86 8. THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL 77.73 9. AIR NEW ZEALAND 76.95 10. ASIANA AIRLINES 76.93

Top U.S. Airlines 1. VIRGIN AMERICA 83.23 2. JETBLUE AIRWAYS 74.61 3. MIDWEST AIRLINES 73.67 4. WESTJET AIRLINES 73.01 5. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 69.71 6. SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES 69.64 7. HAWAIIAN AIRLINES 67.91 8. FRONTIER AIRLINES 65.80 9. ALASKA AIRLINES 65.27 10. USA 3000 AIRLINES 64.76

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

WORLD’S

BEST AWARDS

THE TOP 100 HOTELS Properties in Asia and Africa have been steadily rising in the Top 100 rankings, and this year they have broken all the records: 58 percent of reader favorites are located on the two continents.

Almost one third of this year’s top 100 hotels are located in the Asia-Pacific region, with China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand figuring prominently in the voting. Also scoring well with readers this year are a number of hotels and resorts in India and New Zealand.

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Tanzania 90.97 Istanbul 90.90 Cape Town 90.90 Shanghai 90.82 Franschhoek Valley, South Africa 90.79 Budapest 90.76 Sooke, British Columbia 90.67 Hawaii 90.67 Santa Barbara, California 90.59 Lake Louise, Alberta 90.59 Bangkok 90.55 90.52 Shanghai 90.44 Okavango Delta, Botswana 90.42 Jaipur, India 90.40 Shanghai 90.35 San Antonio, Texas 90.27 Milan 90.16 St. Lucia 90.14 Chobe National Park, Botswana 90.13 Nanyuki, Kenya 90.07 Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 90.00 Udaipur, India 89.87 Jackson Hole, Wyoming 89.87 Èze Village, France 89.85 St. Bart’s 89.76 Thailand 89.75 Maui 89.74 Prague 89.69 Bali, Indonesia 89.69

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89.69 Jaipur, India 89.61 Egypt 89.56 Taipei 89.55 Chiang Mai, Thailand 89.55 Georgia 89.54 California 89.49 Bangkok 89.48 California 89.36 Paris 89.35 Masai Mara, Kenya 89.33 Hong Kong 89.25 Buenos Aires 89.22 Beijing 89.19 Luxembourg 89.08

Throughout the World’s Best Awards, scores are rounded to the nearest hundredth of a point; in the event of a true tie, properties, companies, or destinations share the same ranking.

Great Value icons denote a rack rate of US$250 or less.

O P P O S I T E , F R O M TO P : C O U R T E SY O F B U S H M A N S K LO O F W I L D E R N E S S R E S E R V E & R E T R E A T ; D AV I D C I C C O N I ; C O U R T E S Y O F J A D E M O U N T A I N

South Africa 98.67 Ranthambhore, India 98.00 St. Lucia 97.50 3.

Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 97.50 5.

McKellar, Ontario 95.59 6.

Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 95.52 7.

Chiang Rai, Thailand 95.00 8.

Udaipur, India 94.88 19.

Masai Mara, Kenya 94.82 10.

Kalahari, Botswana 94.72 11.

Buenos Aires 94.68 12.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania 94.63 13.

Okavango Delta, Botswana 94.17 14.

Bluff Bluffton, South Carolina 94.03 15.

Cape Town 93.91 16.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania 93.75 16.

North Island, New Zealand 93.75 18.

Riviera Maya 93.41 19.

Boston 93.40 20.

Bangkok 93.34 21.

Chiang Mai, Thailand 93.33 21.

North Island, New Zealand 93.33 23.

Los Cabos, Mexico 93.30 24.

Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 93.28 25.

Kruger National Park, South Africa 93.15 26.

San Antonio, Texas 93.08 27.

Eastern Cape, South Africa 93.00 28.

Agra, India 92.91 29.

South Africa 92.86 29.

Johannesburg 92.86 31.

Bologna, Italy 92.83 32.

Hong Kong 92.75 33.

Nairobi 92.68 34.

Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 92.68 35.

Hong Kong 92.23 36.

Jamaica 92.19 37.

Maldives 92.14 38.

California 92.07 39.

Kenya 91.86 40.

Egypt 91.86 41.

Oahu 91.81 42.

Negril, Jamaica 91.80 43.

Onzain, France 91.79 44.

Okavango Delta, Botswana 91.71 45.

Montreal 91.47 46.

Wyoming 91.42 47.

Positano, Italy 91.39 48.

Shanghai 91.30 49.

Amboseli Game Reserve, Kenya 91.28 50.

Bhutan 91.25 51.

Sedona, Arizona 91.22 52.

Lower Waterford, Vermont 91.19 1.

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BUSHMANS KLOOF SOUTH AFRICA

JADE MOUNTAIN ST. LUCIA

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WORLD’S

BEST AWARDS

Asian hotels and African safari lodges have topped the World’s Best Awards more often than not, and the winners in 2009 are proof that far-flung experiences continue to resonate with T+L readers. Bushmans Kloof, the highest-scoring World’s Best property of all time, takes the No. 1 spot in Africa and the Middle East, with all-inclusive rates starting at US$323 per person — the best value among its competition.

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Malaysia 90.98 10.

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Chiang Rai , Udaipur, India 94.88 Chiang Mai, Thailand 93.33 Agra, India 92.91 Maldives 92.14 Bhutan 91.25 Chiang Rai, Thailand 91.16

Jaipur, India 90.40 Udaipur, India 89.87 Thailand 89.75

CIT

³ CITY HOTELS Bangkok 93.34 1.

Hong Kong 92.75 2.

Hong Kong 92.23 3.

Shanghai 91.30 4.

Shanghai 90.82 5.

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Bangkok 90.55 90.52 7.

Shanghai 90.44 8.

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Shanghai 90.35 89.69 10.

Taipei 89.55 11.

Bangkok 89.48 12.

Hong Kong 89.25 13.

Beijing 89.19 14.

Singapore 89.02 15.

Mumbai 88.95 16.

Hong Kong 88.93 17.

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Chiang Mai, Thailand 88.60 19.

Bangkok 88.58 Beijing 88.37 20.

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Beijing 87.94 Beijing 87.72 22.

Bangkok 87.69 23.

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Hong Kong 87.67 25.

Hong Kong 87.50

Y HOT

³ LODGES AND RESORTS Cedar Mountains, South Africa 98.67 1.

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Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 97.50 3.

Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 95.52 Masai Mara, Kenya 94.82 4.

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Kalahari, Botswana 94.72 Serengeti National Park, 6.

Tanzania 94.63 7.

Okavango Delta, Botswana 94.17 Serengeti National Park, Tanzania 93.75

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Bali 89.69 Jaipur, India 89.61 Chiang Mai, Thailand 89.55

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O P P O S I T E PAG E , CO U RT E SY O F P E N I N S U L A H O N G KO N G .

T H I S PA G E : C O U R T E SY O F M A N D A R I N O R I E N TA L B A N G KO K

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Ranthambhore, India 98.00

Africa and the Middle East

Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa 93.28 Kruger National Park, South Africa 93.15 Eastern Cape, South Africa 93.00

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South Africa 92.86 Nairobi 92.68

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Kenya 91.86 Okavango Delta, Botswana 91.71 Amboseli Game Reserve, Kenya 91.28 Tanzania 90.97 Franschhoek Valley, South Africa 90.79 Okavango Delta, Botswana 90.42

20. ³ CITY HOTELS 1.

Cape Town 93.91

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Johannesburg 92.86

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Cape Town 90.90

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MANDARIN ORIENTAL BANGKOK

Egypt 91.86 Egypt 89.56

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WORLD’S

Continental U.S. and Canada This year, for the first time, we’ve ranked properties based on size and type. And while California is the No. 1 destination in the region for resorts, New York won by a landslide for its city hotels. The good news for travelers to urban destinations? Twenty-eight percent of city hotels in the U.S. and Canada offer high-season rack rates of US$250 or less. ³ RESORTS (40 ROOMS OR MORE) 1.

Bluffton, South Carolina 94.03 2.

Jackson, Wyoming 91.42 3.

Sedona, Arizona 91.22 4.

Santa Barbara, California 90.59 4.

Lake Louise, Alberta 90.59 6.

Georgia 89.54 7.

Rutherford, California 89.36 8.

Beaver Creek, Colorado 88.45 9.

Aspen, Colorado 88.27 10.

California 88.11 11.

California 88.11 12.

Georgia 88.06 13.

Wyoming 87.97 14.

California 87.81 15.

Nantucket, Massachusetts 87.67 16.

South Carolina 87.50 17.

Alberta 87.40 18.

California 87.22 19.

Naples, Florida 87.16 20.

San Martin, California 87.14 21.

Santa Barbara, California 86.88 22.

Lake Placid, New York 86.45 23.

British Columbia 86.39 24.

Aspen, Colorado 86.33 25.

Dana Point, California 86.23 26.

Lake Placid, New York 86.02 27.

California 85.94 28.

Colorado 85.89 29.

San Diego 85.80 30.

Paradise Valley, Arizona 85.75 Colorado Springs, Colorado 85.65 Duck Key, Florida 85.42 33.

Pasadena, California 85.33 34.

Chatham, Massachusetts 85.28 35.

Irvington, Virginia 85.05 36.

Pebble Beach, California 85.05 37.

Cannon Beach, Oregon 84.79 38.

Big Sur, California 84.71 39.

Colorado 84.68 40.

Rancho Santa Fe, California 84.67 41.

Stowe, Vermont 84.61 42.

Tofino, British Columbia 84.60 43.

Banff, Alberta 84.48

O P P O S I T E PAG E , C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: CO U RT E SY O F E L I OT H OT E L ; C O U R T E S Y O F I N N A T P A L M E T T O B L U F F ; C O U R T E S Y O F L O N D O N W E S T H O L LY W O O D

31.

32.

44.

Arizona 84.44 45.

46.

47.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 84.40 Asheville, North Carolina 84.23 Bonita Springs, Florida 84.17

48.

49.

50.

Florida 83.99 Phoenix 83.91 Park City, Utah 83.89

³ LARGE CITY HOTELS (100 ROOMS OR MORE) 1.

California 92.07 2.

Montreal 91.47 3.

Montreal 91.06 4.

San Antonio, Texas 90.27 5.

Dallas 89.04 6.

New York 88.72 7.

Chicago 88.35

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

BEST AWARDS

88.27 Irving, Texas 87.88 87.57 San Francisco 87.35 87.09 New Orleans 87.06 Chicago 87.06 Montreal 86.93 Seattle 86.81 New York 86.44 Las Vegas 86.37 Chicago 86.35 Dallas 86.32 85.68 South Carolina 85.67 New York 85.64 Washington, D.C. 85.37 85.33 85.31 85.22 Montreal 84.95 New York 84.88 New York 84.86 San Francisco 84.85 Seattle 84.82 San Francisco 84.73 San Francisco 84.72 Philadelphia 84.58 North San Diego 84.43 Miami Beach 84.38 Minnesota 84.34 Santa Monica, California 84.14 Philadelphia 84.13 Vancouver 84.11 Palm Beach, Florida 83.94 83.88 New York 83.88 Washington, D.C. 83.86 Denver 83.75 St. Augustine, Florida 83.71 Las Vegas 83.70 Las Vegas 83.64 83.62

³ SMALL CITY HOTELS (FEWER THAN 100 ROOMS) 1.

Boston 93.40 2.

San Antonio, Texas 93.08 3.

Quebec City 87.08 4.

Los Angeles 86.67 5.

Boston 86.58 6.

Vancouver 85.21 7.

Palm Beach 85.00 Charleston, South Carolina 84.83 Montreal 84.44 10.

Beverly Hills 84.43 8.

9.

³ Inns (FEWER THAN 40 ROOMS) 1.

McKellar, Ontario 95.59 2.

Lower Waterford, Vermont 91.19 3.

Sooke, British Columbia 90.67 4.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming 89.87 5.

Big Sur, California 89.49

WORLD’S

OR

Oahu 91.81 Hawaii 90.67 Maui 89.74 87.65 86.67 Maui 86.48

Maui 85.06 Oahu 84.82 Hawaii 84.71

9.

10.

11.

83.46 Hawaii 83.40 83.10 Maui 82.60 Maui 82.43

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Hawaii 82.40 Oahu 81.84 Kauai 81.13 Hawaii 80.42

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

79.31 Oahu 79.20 78.17 Hawaii 78.14

25.

Oahu 78.03

110

1.

2.

3.

4.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

St. Lucia 97.50 Jamaica 92.19 Negril, Jamaica 91.80 St. Lucia 90.14 St. Bart’s 89.76 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 88.50 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 88.27 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 86.98 Anguilla 86.70 Nevis 86.55 86.36 Turks and Caicos 85.77 British Virgin Islands 85.14 Antigua 84.85 Paradise Island, Bahamas 84.39 St. Lucia 84.32 84.17 Bermuda 83.33 Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands 82.96 Negril, Jamaica 82.90

21.

Oahu 78.70

24.

JADE MOUNTAIN ST. LUCIA

³ RESORTS

5.

6.

86.43 8.

OR

The Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas

Hawaii ³ RESORTS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

ES

T

HALEKULANI HAWAII

R

ES

T

R

BEST AWARDS

Westmoreland, Jamaica 82.29 22.

23.

24.

25.

St. John 82.20 80.64 Montego Bay, Jamaica 80.56 Rose Hill, Jamaica 80.22

R

ROSEWOOD MAYAKOBÁ MEXICO

Mexico ³ RESORTS 1.

2.

Riviera Maya 93.41 Los Cabos 93.30

3.

Isla Mujeres 88.33 Zihuatanejo 88.06

4.

5.

6.

7.

Cuernavaca 87.08 Cancún 86.72

Los Cabos 84.95 84.51

8.

9.

10.

OR

BLANCANEAUX LODGE BELIZE

Central and South America ³ RESORTS San Ignacio, Belize 88.75 Carmelo, Uruguay 87.90

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Chile 87.75 Peru 87.30 Placencia, Belize 85.99 Ambergris Cay, Belize 85.65

6.

Los Cabos 85.42

ES

T

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OR

T

O P P O S I T E PA G E , F R O M L E F T: K AT I E D U N N ; C O U R T E SY O F J A D E M O U N TA I N .

T H I S PA G E , F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E SY O F R O S E W O O D H OT E L S & R E S O R TS ; C O U R T E SY O F B L A N C A N E AU X LO D G E

ES

Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica 85.58

7.

8.

9.

85.20 San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina 83.55

Mazatlán 84.42 Riviera Maya 84.33 Punta Mita 83.30 82.30

11.

12.

13.

14.

Acapulco 82.22 Riviera Maya 82.06

15. ³ CITY HOTELS 1.

2.

3.

4.

10.

Mexico City 87.71 San Miguel de Allende 84.18 Guadalajara 82.58

5.

Mexico City 80.60 Mexico City 78.83

³ CITY HOTELS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Central Valley, Costa Rica 83.16

Buenos Aires 94.68 Buenos Aires 89.22 Antigua, Guatemala 88.59 Cuzco, Peru 87.87 Buenos Aires 86.40 Santiago, Chile 86.08 Guayaquil, Ecuador 84.54 Rio de Janeiro 84.39 Buenos Aires 84.30 Panama City 84.00

Denotes a Great Value.

111

WORLD’S

BEST AWARDS Italy continues to dominate Europe, with the highest percentage of properties on our list (17 percent more than its closest rival, France) and a first-place resort and city hotel. Berlin and the town of Onzain, in the Loire Valley, also nabbed No. 1 spots. Down under, Australia is having a banner year, thanks, no doubt, to its abundance of affordable city hotels (six out of 11!), while New Zealand picked up four World’s Best debuts.

Europe

Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific

³ RESORTS 1.

Positano, Italy 91.39 2.

Evora, Portugal 87.50 Taormina, Italy 86.94 3.

County Kilkenny, Ireland 86.28 4.

Taormina, Italy 86.27 5.

Venice 86.19 6.

Ravello, Italy 86.14 7.

Zermatt, Switzerland 86.10 8.

Gstaad, Switzerland 86.06 9.

St. Moritz, Switzerland 85.42 10. ³ LARGE CITY HOTELS 1.

Bologna, Italy 92.83 Istanbul 90.90 2.

Budapest 90.76 3.

Milan 90.16 4.

5.

Prague 89.69 Paris 89.35 6.

Luxembourg 89.08 7.

Munich 89.04 8.

Budapest 88.73 9.

10.

Paris 88.26 88.11 11.

Galway, Ireland 87.00 12.

13.

Vienna 86.59 London 86.00 14.

Paris 85.62 15.

Florence 86.22

³ CITY HOTELS 1.

Melbourne 87.69 2.

Melbourne 85.95 Sydney 85.80 3.

4.

New Zealand 85.31 Sydney 84.16 5.

6.

Sydney 83.87 Sydney 83.27 7.

8.

Sydney 83.27 9.

82.86 Christchurch, New Zealand 82.43 10.

11.

Melbourne 81.66 12.

New Zealand 80.23 78.00 13.

Melbourne 77.52 14.

Auckland, New Zealand 77.19 15.

Denotes a Great Value.

112

ES

OR

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R

³ INNS AND SMALL COUNTRY HOTELS 1.

Onzain, France 91.79 Èze Village, France 89.85 2.

Positano, Italy 88.75 3.

4.

Ladispoli, Italy 88.31 Taplow, England 88.00 5. Èze Village, France 87.90 6.

Les Baux-de-Provence, France 86.43 7.

Vescovana, Italy 85.77 8.

9.

Capri, Italy 85.44 Gargnano, Italy 83.88 10.

THE LODGE AT KAURI CLIFFS NEW ZEALAND

T H I S PA G E : C O U R T E SY O F K AU R I C L I F FS .

O P P O S I T E P A G E : C O U R T E S Y O F T H E YA C H T S O F S E A B O U R N

³ SMALL CITY HOTELS 1.

89.04 2.

London 88.51 Krakow, Poland 88.04 3.

4.

London 85.88 5.

Rome 85.61 6.

Florence 85.45 7.

8.

Salzburg, Austria 85.21 Rome 84.85 9.

London 84.41 10.

³ LODGES AND RESORTS 1.

North Island, New Zealand 93.75 North Island, New Zealand 93.33 2.

New South Wales, 3.

Australia 88.54 Great Barrier Reef, Australia 86.80 4.

5.

French Polynesia 86.56 Ayers Rock, Australia 84.56 6.

Great Barrier Reef, Australia 83.75 7.

Taupo, New Zealand 83.53 8.

Cairns, Australia 78.97 9.

Rotorua, 10.

New Zealand 77.86

Top Car Rental Agencies

Top Cruise Lines LARGE-SHIP CRUISE LINES 1. CRYSTAL CRUISES 88.94 2. REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES 86.02

1. SIXT 70.83 2. HERTZ 69.51 3. ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR 67.84 4. AVIS RENT A CAR 67.67 5. NATIONAL CAR RENTAL 66.44 6. ALAMO CAR RENTAL 64.40 7. ADVANTAGE 63.40 8. BUDGET RENT A CAR 63.24 9. DOLLAR RENT A CAR 61.46 10. THRIFTY CAR RENTAL 60.38

3. OCEANIA CRUISES 81.78 4. DISNEY CRUISE LINE 79.93 5. AZAMARA CRUISES 78.95 6. CELEBRITY CRUISES 76.70 7. HOLLAND AMERICA LINE 75.92 8. CUNARD 75.84 9. PRINCESS CRUISES 74.24 10. ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL 73.00 SMALL-SHIP CRUISE LINES 1. THE YACHTS OF SEABOURN 87.87 2. AVALON WATERWAYS 87.60 3. SILVERSEA CRUISES 85.67 4. TAUCK WORLD DISCOVERY 84.30 5. LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS 84.11 6. VIKING RIVER CRUISES 83.56 7. WINDSTAR CRUISES 82.23 8. SEADREAM YACHT CLUB 80.52 9. UNIWORLD RIVER CRUISES 79.97

IP C

IS ES

SM

SH

RU

A L L-

10. GRAND CIRCLE TRAVEL 79.07

THE YACHTS OF SEABOURN

111

(T+L)08.09

SATURDAY

AT A MARKET IN

CAPE TOWN. PHOTOGRAPHED BY DOOK

116 Driving Sumatra’s wild WEST coast 124 An insider’s look at the best of VENICE 136 Cape Town: AFRICA’s creative capital 115

ON THE SC

A Batak totem. Opposite page: The dramatic landscape of Samosir, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest island within an island.

ENIC SIDE driving the length of Sumatra along its west coast, gary jones discovers a rural side to Indonesia that comes with its own soundtrack photographed by mark eveleigh

Sumatran Scenes Opposite, clockwise from left: One of many friendly smiles on Indonesia’s largest island; details of the Catholic church on Samosir Island; part of the sweeping landscape of rice paddies; children fishing on Lake Toba.

WE WERE JUST OUTSIDE MERAK, AT THE STERN OF A FERRY, WHEN THE DREAD BEGAN TO TAKE HOLD. Our planned road trip, which would take us the length of Sumatra, the largest of Indonesia’s 17,000-plus islands, might not prove to be as relaxing as we had hoped. This thought consumed us as we crossed the Sunda Strait separating Sumatra and Java. The salty air was spiced with a heady diesel funk leaking from bruise-blue trucks packed in the ship’s hold and with the perfume of clove-infused cigarettes favored by tired drivers. Joining us on deck for a smoke, Jakarta native Budi warned of what he called lawless Sumatra’s malevolent “magicians”—essentially tribal witch doctors—and how they prey upon the unwary. “If they touch you, even tap you on a shoulder, you will fall into deep sleep,” Budi cautioned. “Then, they will take all your money.” We had heard similar rumors. My driving companion Lance was warned of Sumatra’s “jumping squirrels” by his Indonesian co-workers at the Jakarta Globe.

Bandits, they had counseled, wait in tree branches overhanging potholed turns on Sumatra’s jungle roads. When vehicles slow, the squirrels—armed with machetes and firearms— jump. They will steal everything.

Budi’s words made me squirm. What might lie ahead? But, despite the alarming tip-offs and superstitious hang-ups of well-meaning city folk, we were prepared as the ferry edged towards the ramshackle town of Bakauheni. Lance’s nineyear-old Toyota Kijang, the no-nonsense vehicle-of-choice for extended Indonesian families, had just been serviced. We were on a mission: to deliver it safely to a surfing resort on Simeulue Island in northwest Sumatra.

Amid the road maps, sunscreen, bottled water and mosquito repellent, was our soundtrack. Lance’s six-month contract in Jakarta had made him an enthusiast of dangdut, a form of local pop music best described as Prince crossed with Edith 118

Piaf in Bollywood. It’s as catchy as measles and—the aged Kijang lacking a CD player—the glove box was full of cassette tapes of the stuff.

The ferry docked. After a few revs of the engine, we were immediately engulfed in a thick red dust thrown up by the horn-honking and jostling melee. It was time for our Sumatran adventure to begin.

WHILE I’M APPREHENSIVE ABOUT WHAT LIES AHEAD, SELFassured Lance whistles along to the dangdut without a care in the world, and confidently aims the Kijang towards Gunung Tanggamus, one of scores of volcanoes forming Sumatra’s knotty backbone. We plan to cross a saddle-shaped pass and head north to Krui, a coastal township promising fresh-fish dinners and foreigner-friendly losmen. At 1,800 kilometers long and covering an area significantly greater than all of Japan, Sumatra is the sixth largest island on the planet. Our plan is to take scenic west-coast roads during our journey. The route is dominated by sprawling rice fields that appear an unearthly emerald green under the violent tropical sun. First impressions of Sumatra suggest it is significantly less prosperous and wilder, less ordered than Java, but the land is clearly abundant—a rural idyll of cassava, cocoa, papaya and much more.

As dusk settles, however, we trundle into the non-descript coastal township of Kota Agung. Checking into one of its two hotels doesn’t change our first impression.

Without waiting for our order, the teenage waitress serves gnarled fried chicken, grey rice and a watery curry of what might be ox tongue. Then she returns to her schoolwork under a bare light bulb in the corner. We eat without enthusiasm. With the glass-smooth multi-lane highways of Java »

TWISTING ON SWITCHBACKS THROUGH JUNGLE-CANOPIED HILLS, POTHOLES AND GRAVELLY SLOPES REDUCE US TO A CRAWL

The distinct sweeping roofs of Batak houses.

now nothing but a memory, we have only covered two-thirds of the distance planned for our first day on the road.

After a simple—Lance calls it “honest”—breakfast of boiled eggs and gritty Sumatran coffee, we make it to Krui on the coast in good speed and excellent spirits. But the journey is not always painless. Twisting on its switchbacks through jungle-canopied hills, the potholes—often hidden among the shadows—and steep, gravelly slopes reduce the Kijang to a crawl. Squirrels are a worry at that point, but once the cobaltblue Indian Ocean hoves into view, we drive through quaint and compact Muslim villages. Lance is cheered to point out that the houses, though modest, always sport ordered and manicured gardens of frangipani, bougainvillea and jasmine.

Sumatrans, he says, care.

Lance, by the way, is a charismatic fifty-something South African standing almost 2 meters tall. He has a look—bushy grey beard, Dali-esque mustache, neck adorned with trinkets—all his own. And he attracts attention. Once ensconced into Krui’s seafront Sunset Beach losmen, he heads for the beach, which is lashed by frothy waves, and littered with fraying coconut husks and mutated driftwood. As often happens, a coterie of local children soon gathers around him. I, instead, relax in a hammock with a book on how to stop smoking. I quit by nightfall and feel content.

The next two days are not great. The first few hours of the drive are filled with spectacular coastal scenery—perhaps 160 kilometers of sandy beaches and picturesque rock-framed bays without a soul or a building in sight. We are making for Bengkulu City, which has a colorful past. As far back as the mid 17th century, the British East India Company established a pepper-trading center and garrison at Bengkulu (then known as Bencoolen). They constructed imposing Fort Marlborough there in 1714, and today it is a must-see. But we arrive after dark and set off again with the sunrise, so we don’t have a chance to explore its imposing grandeur. Lance has a car-ferry slot booked for the journey to Simeulue. His boat leaves in three days, and we are behind schedule.

Leaving Bengkulu, we do glimpse the fort in the half-light as we dart by. The day is another of intense driving—hour upon hour of dodging chickens, dogs and goats that dart into village roads without warning; of avoiding hijab-wearing Muslim schoolgirls that stroll to school in giggling packs three abreast; of overtaking smoke-belching trucks and mopeds overloaded with families of four or five. Lance taps out a quick-time rhythm on the horn as we fly by.

At one point, the coastal road disappears, though it’s clearly marked on the map. Convinced we have taken a fallacious turn, we veer westward and towards the ocean using the sun as our guide. After 90 minutes of bouncing along pitted mud tracks through dense and grid-like palm oil plantations, and in a perfect Planet Of The Apes moment, we are greeted by crashing waves. But where is the road? There is nothing, right or left, as far as we can see, so we head back in a moody silence.

Time wasted, we are a good three hours from our goal, Painan, by the end of the day, and are compelled to check into the only losmen in tumbledown Kambang. Rooms cost Rp30,000 and are suitably dingy. Our skin is covered in films of sweat, grime and truck exhaust. There is no shower and the mosquito-infested washroom might as well be an advertisement for dengue fever. “Only God Can Judge Me.” So reads the tattoo of what I, if I were judgmental, would call a surly malcontent loitering at the entrance.

With our own tempers fraying, Lance suggests this trip might not be the best time to give up the demon weed, and we do a deal: I’ll go back to the cigarettes if he agrees to taking a later ferry to Simeulue, and we can slow to a more leisurely pace. Done. The dark clouds that had gathered above our heads quickly clear. Noting that our maps date back to 2002, another nagging question looming over the day is also brushed away. The December 2004 tsunami, centered off Sumatra’s northwest coast, likely swept the road away.

Dawn brings a fresh start. Lance insists he enjoyed a wonderful night’s sleep in Kambang. Astonishing considering the karaoke bar next door, and the screeching dangdut until the small hours. After eight hours on the road, however, we have made it to the bustling city of Bukittinggi in the Minangkabau highlands. At 930 meters above sea level, the cool climate is welcome, as is the splendid, Chinese-themed Asia Hotel with its comfy beds and HBO. A refreshing mountain breeze fills the room, as I fall asleep to hooves clacking on tarmac as horse-drawn kalesas pass below.

Bukittinggi is a colorful city that can be explored in a few hours. The Pasar Atas market is a riot of fuchsia, carmine and turquoise fabrics. Fruit stalls are piled high with durian, rambutan, golden berries, jackfruit, water apples and manzana bananas. Roofs are invariably slate-red. A white-washed clock tower, built by the Dutch in 1926, thrusts into the cerulean sky in the central square. Looming in the distance is the active volcano Mount Marapi, encircled by wisps of violet mist.

In the afternoon we make a side trip to tranquil Lake Maninjau, which sits in a 16-kilometer-long volcanic caldera.

Though Maninjau is a center for fish farming, and floating net cages litter its surface, we plump for chicken saté at a restaurant over the water. Lance declares it to be the best version of the classic Indonesian staple he has tasted. Food, in fact, is a highlight of our stay in Bukittinggi. In the evening, with bats flitting overhead and a call to prayer emanating from a nearby mosque, we indulge in tasty beef rendang curries and Mediterranean-style salads at nearby Turret Café.

On the drive to Sibolga, we cross the equator near Bonjol, and pose for clichéd snapshots with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern. Lance, who has never outgrown his wallet-watching backpacker days, upsets the aggressive T-shirt sellers by expressing interest in their cheesy wares then changing his mind. We follow a churning river in which armies of gold panners brave fierce currents in the » 121

A ferry plies Lake Toba. Opposite page from left: A Batak girl sports traditional costume; the highlands are famous for their fertile soil.

THERE IS LITTLE TO DO IN SAMOSIR BUT SWIM IN THE CLEAR hope of striking it rich. They wave and whoop as we pass by, dangdut blaring from the Kijang. The road sweeps past crystal waterfalls and through shady mountain passes as we wend our way back to the ocean.

Guidebooks describe Sibolga as dull. That I don’t understand. I immediately adore the place, but maybe that’s because we have splashed out on the Wisata Indah Hotel, the best in town. It abuts the sea wall, a skimming stone’s throw from where the boisterous young locals gather early every evening to show off with ocean-bound somersaults—flirting Sumatra style. At sunset the sky transforms into a fiery cauldron over the nearby seaside shantytown. When we venture into the city for peanut sauce–coated saté and iced starfruit juice, four kids, impressed by Lance’s beard, follow at a safe distance. “It’s Osama bin Laden,” they shout, pointing at my less than amused travel companion.

On my next to last day, we arrive at Samosir, an island similar in size to Singapore, in the early afternoon. The thing about Samosir is that it’s not on the Indian Ocean but smack in the middle of a 100- by 30-kilometer caldera, Lake Toba, part of a volcano that erupted 74,000 years ago. Scientists believe it was the largest explosion to have occurred anywhere 122

on Earth in the last 25 million years. Ironic, then, that Lake Toba is perhaps the most laid back place I’ve ever visited.

Samosir is the spiritual center of the Batak, a term identifying a number of ethnic clans found throughout North Sumatra’s highlands. The majority are Christian in a nation dominated by Islam, and they smile easily. The Batak’s unique style of building means the island is peppered with cute, raised, colorfully painted houses, with roofs that stretch sharply skyward at the front and the back, swooping down low in the center. There is little to do in Samosir but swim in the crystalclear lake, browse the secondhand bookshops and eat fish.

That suits me just fine. I need a respite from the dangdut tapes.

Lance has to get to Simeulue and his surfing resort, so he’s off on the last stretch of the journey alone.

Over evening cocktails, we come to the conclusion that “jumping squirrels” are a myth, mysterious bogeymen only believed to exist by unworldly city folk. We covered about 2,000 kilometers on Sumatra’s twisting byways without a sighting, and Sumatrans made us welcome every step of the way, always guiding us forward whenever we became lost on the difficult roads. And now I have only one challenge left: to finally quit smoking.

LAKE, BROWSE BOOKSHOPS AND EAT FISH. THAT SUITS ME FINE

GUIDE TO DRIVING SUMATRA (October–March in the north, October– January in the south) and a month immediately following are best avoided due to the possibility of mudslides, burst rivers and damaged roads.

M A P BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

GETTING THERE Assuming driving south to north, entry to Sumatra is best via the Merak–Bakauheni vehicle ferry. The drive to the port at Merak takes two hours from Jakarta. Arrive with good time to guarantee space on the boat.

The journey across the Sunda Strait takes about two hours.

WHEN TO GO The equator bisects Sumatra, so temperatures are consistently hot, except in the central highlands. The May to September dry season is best for driving. The wet season

WHERE TO STAY KOTA AGUNG Setia Hotel No. 294 Jln. Samudra; 62722/210-65; rooms from Rp150,000.

Hotel KS No. 90 Jln. Samudera; 62-722/21287; rooms from Rp150,000.

KRUI Sunset Beach Losmen A comfortable spot

with cheerful staff. Jln. Pantai Wisata Labuhan Jukung; 62-728/519-72; rooms from Rp200,000.

BENGKULU CITY Nala Seaside Cottages Large rooms, each with a small sea-facing terrace and airconditioning. No. 133 Jln. Pantai Nala; 62736/218-55; rooms from Rp150,000.

BUKITTINGGI Asia Hotel Pristine rooms with all the trimmings. No. 38 Jln. Kesehatan; 62752/625-277; rooms from Rp200,000.

SIBOLGA Wisata Indah Hotel Offers an excellent seafront location, though the service can be lackluster. Jln. Brigjen Katamso; 62-631/23688; rooms from Rp 350,000.

LAKE TOBA Samosir Cottages At the lake’s edge, there’s also an excellent restaurant here. Tuk Tuk, Lake Toba; 62-625/410-50; geocities.com/ samosircottage; rooms from Rp100,000.

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Venice BEST

OF

Looking for the ultimate guide to the city of canals?

T+ +L+Italy expert Valerie Waterhouse opens her little black book to share the top places to stay, eat, shop and see right now.

Photographed by Martin Morrell. Styled by Mimi Lombardo

An afternoon gondola ride between Veniceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cortesia and San Paternian bridges. Dress, Tory Burch; shoes, Theory; bag, Stanton Maxwell and Company; necklace, Kara Ross. Opposite: Campo San Polo, the largest piazza on the western bank of the Grand Canal.

Dress and belt, Hermès; sandals, Ralph Lauren Collection.

82 00

MON TH 2 0 0 8| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M

The Skyline Bar, at the Hilton Molino Stucky hotel, above. Right: Taking a break in the San Marco district. Coat, sweater and skirt, Vera Wang Lavender Label; shoes, Brooks Brothers; bag, Stanton Maxwell and Company; earrings, Lia Sophia.

My first encounter with Venice, as a small child, was a whirlwind of candy-colored palazzi, delicate blown glass and narrow streets where you could get lost for days.

There was also a spectacular procession of black gondolas, each bearing mountains of flowers, floating down a canal—part of the funeral, it turned out, of the great composer Igor Stravinsky. Venice has always known how to honor its past. It’s the present—and future—that has proved more unwieldy to negotiate. Today, the city manages to defy being characterized as a historical amusement park, one that’s sinking—literally and metaphorically—under the weight of its history. Witness the new (albeit controversial) pedestrian bridge by Santiago Calatrava that spans the Grand Canal. Or the opening of François Pinault’s Contemporary Art Center, designed by Tadao Ando, in June. There are even plans for architect David Chipperfield to build a modern expansion for the ancient cemetery on the tiny island of San Michele, where Stravinsky was laid to rest. Yet despite these changes, Venice remains, as always, committed to its past. Organizations such as Venice in Peril, Venetian Heritage and Save Venice are leading efforts to make sure the city’s treasures are preserved for future generations. Step into even the smallest of printing or woodworking ateliers, and you’ll find craftsmen working just as they would have generations ago. The addresses on the following pages bring you the best of the city’s traditions and innovations. And while the legendary hotels and landmarks continue to impress, this guide focuses on the lesser-known—and in some cases, more affordable—side of the city: the addresses for family-run restaurants, the workshops and stores, the inns, and the historical sites that I’ve been amassing over the past 20 years. » 127

WHERE TO EAT

VENETIAN CLASSICS The 22 seats at the retro bistro Osteria Alle Testiere (Calle del Mondo Novo, Castello 5801; 39-041/522-7220; dinner for two €93) are among Venice’s most difficult to book. Sommelier Luca Di Vita presides over the tiny salotto, outfitted with an antique marble-topped bar, where he advises patrons on how to pair the best Veneto whites. Piatti del giorno might include sautéed John Dory with lemon and orange, sprinkled with tarragon, and Luca’s homemade ginger-and-vanilla gelato. ● Only those in the know will find their way to Antiche Carampane (Rio Tera delle Carampane, San Polo 1911; 39-041/524-0165; dinner for two €93), hidden within a maze of winding alleys. Over the past couple of years the portions have become less generous, but antipasti such as sour eggplant and creamed codfish are among the best in town. ● At Boccadoro (Campiello Widmann, Cannaregio 5405A; 39-041/521-1021; dinner for two €65), as much attention is paid to the décor as to the food: the sleek dining room has steel-blue walls and photos of Venetian landscapes by local photographer Roberta Riccio. Chef Luciano Orlandi serves regional dishes such as handmade basil tagliatelle with grilled tuna, tomatoes and capers.

AFFORDABLE FARE Run by Damiano Martin, son of the owners of Da Fiore restaurant, the canal-side Il Refolo (Campo San Giacomo de l’Orio, Santa Croce 1459; 39041/524-0016; dinner for two €47), with its 25 candlelit outdoor tables, is the perfect setting for sampling Martin’s savory pizzas. Try the prosciutto crudo, mozzarella and green fig pie, available seasonally. ● If you’re planning a picnic by the lagoon, stock up on provisions at Pronto Pesce Pronto (Pescheria Rialto, San Polo 319; 39-041/822-0298; dinner for two €22). The delicatessen specializes in seafood to go: spiced couscous with mussels and eggplant, oyster platters, and swordfish croquettes.

WORTH THE SPLURGE The best tables at the barrel-vaulted Da Fiore (Calle del Scaleter, San Polo 2202A; 39-041/721-308; dinner for two €186) are on the outdoor balcony overlooking the canal. Just be sure to book these well in advance. Chef Mara Martin’s deceptively simple fare is the main draw here, from plates of deep-fried calamari, scampi and zucchini to a dessert of pineapple soup with mint and fresh berries. ● Chef Corrado Fasolato, at the Michelin-starred Met Restaurant at the Hotel Metropole (Riva degli Schiavoni, Castello 4149; 39-041/524-0034; dinner for two €165), uses fresh regional ingredients for his innovative dishes such as a delicious pearand-sheep-ricotta mousse with raspberry gelée and red-wine sorbet.

WHERE TO SLEEP For years, the grand hotels around the Piazza San Marco have had few rivals. There are two Starwood Luxury Collection properties, the 16th-century Hotel Gritti Palace (Campo Santa Maria del Giglio; 1-800/325-3589; luxurycollection.com; doubles from €485), residence of the former Duke Andre Gritti; and the revamped Hotel Danieli (Castello 4196; 39-041/522-6480; luxurycollection.com; doubles from €380), which now houses 73 » 128

INSIDER PICKS COUNTESS MARIE BRANDOLINI, owner of the glass showroom Laguna B (lagunab.com) ● “L’Angolo del Passato [Campiello dei Squelini, Dorsoduro 3276A; 39041/528-7896] features modern glassware along with rare vintage finds, such as 1940’s glass vases by Carlo Scarpa.” ● “Serious collectors go to

Caterina Tognon’s [Calle del Dose, San Marco 2746; 39-041/520-7859] for paintings and sculptures by top contemporary international artists such as Toots Zynsky and Silvia Levenson.” ● Bruno Amadi

[Calle dei Saoneri, San Polo 2747; 39-041/5238089] crafts beautiful decorative glass objects — starfish, coral, animals and dragonflies.”

F A S H I O N A S S I S T A N T : C A T H E R I N E C R A T E . H A I R & M A K E - U P : M A R Y W I L E S / O N E M A K E - U P. M O D E L : F A B I A N E N U N E S / F O R D M O D E L S

Whether you’re seeking an over-the-top meal with a view of the lagoon, seafood tagliatelle at a low-key trattoria, or Venetian cicheti (tapas), these restaurants turn out the city’s best dishes.

An espresso on the Campo San Fantin, near La Fenice Theater. Jacket, top, brooch and watch, D&G; pants, Lacoste; shoes, Brian Atwood.

One of nine tables at the Osteria Alle Testiere restaurant, near the Campo Santa Maria Formosa, right. Below: Chef Brino Gavagnin’s ravioli with shrimp, pumpkin and ricotta.

The Portego Hall of the Ca’ Sagredo hotel, a 15thcentury palazzo on Venice’s Grand Canal, left.

Above: The hotel’s Presidential suite.

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stylish new suites. Then there’s the Bauer Il Palazzo (San Marco 1413/D; 39041/7022; bauerhotels.com; doubles from €500), with its spectacular terrace bar, the Bar Canale; and of course, the legendary Cipriani (Giudecca 10; 39-041/520-7744; hotelcipriani.com; doubles from €870), whose gardens alone are worth the trip to Giudecca Island. But along with these, a host of intimate properties have been opening in the city, promising top-notch service, often at a more affordable price. ● Opposite the Church of the Frari in the city’s historic center lies the discreet town house–style hotel Oltre il Giardino (Fondamenta Contarini, San Polo 2542; 39-041/2750015; oltreilgiardino-venezia.com; doubles from €150). Beyond a wooden door, a narrow path leads you through a brick-walled garden full of magnolia and olive trees to a stylish six-room villa. Owner Lorenzo Muner has furnished the space with family heirlooms and antiques, including 18th-century oil paintings and a framed vintage Gucci scarf. ● Guests at IQs (Campiello Querini Stampalia, Castello 4425; 39-041/241-0062; thecharminghouse.com; doubles from €265) should expect to be lulled to sleep by the opera-singing gondoliers on the nearby canal. This hidden gem of a hotel, accessible by gondola, is a favorite among privacy-seeking celebs attending the Venice Film Festival. The four large rooms and suites are done up with contemporary furnishings by Moroso and B&B Italia in shades of chocolate, cream and lacquer red. ● A fresco of The Fall of the Giants by 18th-century Rococo master Pietro Longhi flanks an elaborate marble stairway at the entrance to the regal Ca’ Sagredo (Campo Santa Sofia, Cannaregio 4198-99; 39-041/241-3111; casagredohotel.com; doubles from €300), a 42-room palazzo dating back to the 15th century. Book Suite 316, which has frescoes of mythological characters by artists Abbondio Stazio and Carpoforo Mazzetti from the 1700’s. ● The new B&B San Luca (Campo della Chiesa, San Marco 4065/4066; 39-041/2412614; p-places.com; doubles from €165) is a loftlike hotel in an 18th-century palazzo near the Rialto Bridge. The wood-beamed rooms are edgy, but classic: colorful Kartell lights, Venini vases and Starck Ghost chairs are paired with antique wooden dressers.

The hotel’s only real downside is its lack of an elevator, though Paolo will be happy to carry your bags up the three flights of stairs. ● Glamour comes naturally to the Campa brothers, owners of the intimate 12-room Ca’ Maria Adele (Rio Terà dei Catecumeni, Dorsoduro 111; 39-041/520-3078; camariaadele. it; doubles from €220). Their grandfather created the world’s largest Murano-glass chandelier, now in a casino in Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium (a panoramic photograph of the piece is on view in the breakfast salon). Rooms have crystal chandeliers and silk wall fabrics, and bird’s-eye views of the Santa Maria della Salute, a 17th-century church that resembles a tiered wedding cake.

INSIDER PICKS MELISSA CONN, a 23-year resident and associate director of Save Venice, a preservation organization ● “One of my favorite

paintings is Madonna and Child Enthroned, in the San Francesco della Vigna church [Campo San Francesco della Vigna; 39-041/520-6102]. It’s reportedly the only work by 15th-century Greek artist Antonio Falier da Negroponte.” ● “Don’t miss a tour of the

Jewish Ghetto, run by the Museo Ebraico [Campo del Ghetto Nuovo; Cannaregio 2902B; 39-041/715-359].

You can visit three of the five area synagogues, each with its own character and design.”

WHAT TO DO From the 14th-century Doge’s Palace to the stone arches of the Rialto Bridge, Venice has its share of legendary landmarks. While you shouldn’t skip the tried and true, don’t miss the following lesser-known spots and experiences. ● The Museo della Fondazione Querini Stampalia (Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Castello 5252; 39-041/523-4411), which also has a collection of paintings by Pietro Longhi, is a Modernist reprieve from the city’s Gothic architecture. In the 1960’s, the Veneto-based architect Carlo Scarpa refurbished part of the 16th-century palace, incorporating walls of washed concrete and travertine and a tranquil Japanese-inspired garden. ● To teach travelers about the ecological challenges facing the city, the sustainabletourism organization Context Travel (39-06/976-25204; contexttravel.com) organizes » 131

Strolling across the San Paternian bridge.

guided walking tours, where you’ll learn about Venice’s preservation efforts. ● The best way to explore the hidden islands is by private charter. Il Nuovo Trionfo (Cannaregio 6025; 39-041/520-7744; ilnuovotrionfo.it; from €938 per day for 15 to 30 people), a double-masted 1926 sailing vessel, is available for small groups. ● Spend a day visiting the island of Murano, full of tiny boutiques selling delicate glasswares. One of the best is Marina e Susanna Sent (20 Fondamenta Serenella; 39041/527-4665), a favorite of Venice resident Michela Scibilia, co-author of The Comprehensive Guide to the Island of Murano. ● Don’t miss the San Michele in Isola, on the island of San Michele. The tombs of luminaries like Ezra Pound and Igor Stravinsky surround this Renaissance church.

WHERE TO SHOP There’s more to shopping in Venice than kitschy plastic gondolas. The city is brimming with handmade accessories and clothing, along with glass, fabric, leather and wooden goods from local craftsmen.

CRAFTS Architect Francesca Meratti is on a mission to bring Venetian design into the 21st century. Her contemporary boutique Madera (Campo San Barnaba, Dorsoduro 2762; 39-041/522-4181) stocks whimsical porcelain teapots by Verona-based ceramicist Maria-Grazia Perlini; minimalist aprons by Inzu that double as halter-necked pinafore dresses; and finely sculpted wooden bowls from Meratti’s own line. ● Legendary designer Mariano Fortuny assigned the colors for his fabrics’ poetic names: “Rembrandt rust straw and silvery gold,” “Bayou lime green and old ivory,” “seafoam green.” You’ll find these and more at the Fortuny Factory and Showroom (Giudecca 805; 39-041/528-7697), where14,630 meters of Egyptian cotton are handcrafted every year. ● The owners of the 62-year-old workshop Legatoria Polliero (Campo dei Frari, San Polo 2995; 39-041/528-5130) create their unique handmade papers using a collection of 300 antique Asian printing blocks. The duo specializes in notebooks, wrapping paper and photo frames. ● An oarlock might not be at the top of your shopping list, but step inside the woodworking shop Le Forcole (Fondamenta Soranzo, Dorsoduro 341; 39-041/522-5699) and you’re likely to change your mind. Designer Saviero Pastor hand-carves sinuous, oneof-a-kind pieces in walnut, cherry or pear wood. In fact, the works are so stunning, they’ve been snapped up as sculptures by I. M. Pei. ● Senegal-born Moulaye Niang is the city’s first African glassmaker. His store, Muranero (Calle Crosera, Castello 3902A; 39-338/450-3099), sells contemporary jewelry that uses bright colors from his homeland. Best finds: bulbous glass rings in orange and lilac. ● Looking for a hard-to-find edition of John Ruskin’s Stones of Venice? Old World Books (Ponte del Gheto Vechio, Cannaregio 1190; 39-041/275-9456) stocks rare Englishlanguage volumes about Venice bought at auctions and private sales.

STEP INTO EVEN THE SMALLEST OF PRINTING OR WOODWORKING ATELIERS, AND YOU’LL FIND CRAFTSMEN WORKING JUST AS THEY WOULD HAVE GENERATIONS AGO

DRESS LIKE A VENETIAN At the clothing shop Hibiscus (Ruga Rialto, San Polo 1060/1; 39-041/520-8989), you’ll find boho-chic styles such as flared knee-length silk skirts in rouge and rust, and kimono jackets in red and fuchsia. ● During periods of acqua alta (high water), opt for a pair of stylish high-heeled rain boots in splashy red at Dittura Massimo (San Vio, Dorsoduro 871; 39-041/523-1163). ● Milliner Giuliana Longo (Calle del Lovo, San Marco 4813; 39-041/522-6454) has been creating her signature hats in her workshop since 1968. Pick up a brightly colored beret made of rabbit fur and felt. » 133

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Slip your feet into a custom pair of shoes by avant-garde shoemaker Giovanna Zanella (Campo San Lio, Castello 5641; 39-041/523-5500). Her wild designs run the

gamut from lace-up boots in green and pink leather to frog-skin flats.

SWEET TREATS Dried fruits, truffles, 80 kinds of spices and 100 varieties of chocolate fill the shelves at Drogheria Mascari (Calle degli Spezieri, San Polo 381; 39041/522-9762), the best grocery store in town. ● Expect a wait at Alaska (Calle Larga dei Bari, Santa Croce 1159; 39-041/715-211), a hole-in-the-wall gelato parlor where owner Carlo Pistacchi serves up his unusual flavors of gelato—artichoke, fig and ginger. ● Swing by the pint-size VizioVirtù (Calle del Campaniel, San Polo 2898A; 39-041/2750149) for dark chocolates spiced with lavender, cayenne pepper, star anise or cinnamon.

AFTER DARK ●

Visiting Venice without going to Harry’s Bar (Calle Vallaresso, San Marco 1323; 39041/528-5777) is almost sacrilege. Granted, the crowds may be overwhelming, but people-watching doesn’t get better than this: the 1931 venue is a favorite with Alisters, especially during the Venice Film Festival, which runs September 2–12. ● Come nightfall, young locals head to the no-frills bars around the Rialto Market.

Among the most popular is Naranzaria (Erbaria, San Polo 130; 39-041/724-1035), with a bottle-stacked bar, illuminated by Ingo Maurer lights, and outdoor chairs that overlook the Grand Canal. ● Ca’ d’Oro alla Vedova (Ramo Ca’ d’Oro, Cannaregio 3912; 39-041/528-5324) is perhaps Venice’s most authentic osteria. Inside, patrons fill up on Venetian cicheti such as lightly spiced meatballs, a pre-dinner favorite. ● For the best view of the city, head to the Skyline Bar (Giudecca 810; 39-041/2723310; drinks for two €7) in the Hilton Molino Stucky hotel. Here, young professionals and artsy types sip glasses of Campari soda and Prosecco. ✚

VENICE

Venice

INSIDER PICKS CATHERINE BUYSE DIAN, costume stylist for theater, films and operas in Venice ● “The Palazzo Mocenigo

[Salizada Stae, Santa Croce 1992; 39-041/721-798] has an incredible 18th-century clothing collection that includes the fur-trimmed crimson brocade tunics once worn by city councilmen.” ● “To rent a costume for

the February Carnevale, go to Nicolao Atelier [Fondamenta della Misericordia, Cannaregio 2590; 39-041/520-7051], which carries more than 10,000 period pieces.” ● “Venetian movie

costumes often take inspiration from textile company Tessitura Luigi Bevilacqua [Campiello della Comar, Santa Croce 1320; 39-041/721-566; by appointment; fabrics from ¤165 per yard], a historic workshop frequented both

by Vatican priests and fashion designers. Take a guided tour to see how weavers create velvets on 18th-century looms.”

ITALY

M A P B Y YA N I L TA C T U K

Rome

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Inside Ca’ Sagredo’s Portego Hall. Dress and shoes, Tommy Hilfiger; bag, Devi Kroell; earrings, Asha by ADM; watch, D&G.

Justin Rhodes, cofounder of Cape Town’s Whatiftheworld Gallery, with painter Richard Hart’s work on view. Opposite: Overlooking the outdoor terrace — and rooftop Airstream trailer rooms — at the Grand Daddy Hotel, on Long Street in central Cape Town.

EDGE

CAPE TOWN’S NEW

HOW DOES A PLACE BEST KNOWN FOR ITS BEACHES, MOUNTAINS AND VINEYARDS DEVELOP A PROGRESSIVE DESIGN SCENE? MARIA SHOLLENBARGER LOOKS AT A COLLECTIVE OF ENTERPRISING CAPE TOWN LOCALS, FROM FURNITURE MAKERS TO DAIRY FARMERS, WHO ARE TURNING THIS CITY OF LEGENDARY BEAUTY INTO AFRICA’S CREATIVE CAPITAL. PHOTOGRAPHED BY DOOK

Cape Flavors Opposite, clockwise from top left: Desserts by confectionery designer Martin Senekal on display at the city’s Saturday Neighbourgoods Market; chef Luke Dale-Roberts of La Colombe restaurant at his Be’stro stall in the market; a busy Saturday at the Old Biscuit Mill building, where the market is held; preparing lunch at the Sababa market stall.

S SOUTH AFRICA’S FINEST STYLE HOUR TAKES PLACE EVERY Saturday morning on a fairly unstylish stretch of Cape Town’s Albert Road, the main drag in the cheerfully seedy but fastgentrifying neighborhood called Woodstock. The area is separated by several kilometers (and social strata) from the more picturesque districts of beachfront Camp’s Bay or stately Oranjezicht, on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. But walk through the entrance gates of the Old Biscuit Mill, a once derelict factory complex restored in 2006, and suddenly you become part of a legion thronging a hundred-odd stands selling gorgeous food and even more gorgeous objects: fair-trade coffee and handmade silk-and-leather sandals; organic biltong (beef jerky) and block-printed cotton tea towels; Époisses and chèvre frais from Franschhoek, in the neighboring Winelands; and wafer-thin white porcelain tea services. There are bunches of tulips and loose teas piled high, and just down the aisle, artfully arranged, are stacks of brightly colored wool throws felted by hand. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more catholic cross section of people elsewhere in this country: kids in skinny jeans and Vans with asymmetrical haircuts chat with

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dreadlocked vendors over cups of rooibos, while trim, bronzed young mothers playing hooky from the monied southern suburbs mingle with Woodstock’s local population—many of them immigrants from Harare, Athens or Mumbai. Carrying bowls of falafel or Cape Malay curry and sipping biodynamic Sauvignon Blanc, they all browse and buy. Imagine a hybrid of London’s Borough and Spitalfields markets, sun-drenched and cooled by Indian Ocean breezes, with an occasional stream of Afrikaans or Xhosa cutting through a near-constant chorus of “raaaht!” and “yah!” and you’ll have an idea of the scene here at the Neighbourgoods Market.

Conceived and launched in 2006 by Justin Rhodes, a 30year-old American, and his South African partner, Cameron Munro, who met and began dating in New York City in 2004, the market is an offshoot of Whatiftheworld, a design and art collective they founded in 2005. Headquartered in a reclaimed office building just two blocks from the Old Biscuit Mill, Whatiftheworld’s mandate is to cultivate a community among Cape Town’s young furniture-, product- and fashion designers and aspiring collectors. It takes the form of shows held »

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‘NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO LOOK “AFRICAN” TO BE AFRICAN. NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO HAVE THAT EXOTIC ELEMENT TO IT’ Inside the Dorothy Airstream at the Grand Daddy Hotel.

Opposite: An Obama oilcloth designed by Tracy Rushmore for Shine Shine, at the Africa Nova Boutique, in the Waterkant neighborhood.

their efforts—dovetailing as they do with a in Whatiftheworld’s gallery/work space in Wood- Creative Cape From The Africa Nova particularly receptive and enthusiastic mostock (“We loved it here from day one; it reminded left: Boutique; Whatiftheworld ment in the city’s own culture—are transformus of Williamsburg, circa 2002,” Munro says); creative director Liam Mooney with his Charming the way Capetonians view their creative come-one, come-all parties staged all over the city, ing Tressel Table; plates place in the world. from the colorful Cape Malay neighborhood of at Clementina Ceramics, in the Old Biscuit Mill This is not to say that Cape Town has been Bo Kaap to the up-and-coming style district of building; outside the Goldilocks & the Three Bears entirely off the radar of the design industry’s Waterkant; and, of course, the folksy-chic Neightrailer on the roof of the cognoscenti until now; in a very different conbourgoods Market.

Grand Daddy Hotel. text, it’s been a favorite destination of famous Rhodes and Munro also run the Whatiftheworld Design Studio, a small retail space in the nearby East City architects, furniture makers and editors for years. Every Febarea that showcases a rotating collection of furniture, lighting ruary the Design Indaba Conference, founded by the welland other design products by a growing roster of emerging connected local media entrepreneur Ravi Naidoo, draws an South African talents, some of whom have begun garnering all-star lineup to the city for a several-day-long series of talks praise beyond the country’s borders. Friendly and flawlessly and forums. Paul Smith and Ilse Crawford have discussed well-mannered, looking like displaced GQ market editors trends; Basque furniture designer Patricia Urquiola has mused with their tall, snake-hipped good looks and seemingly effort- about the creative process; Financial Times columnist and Monless way with slim trousers and tousled hair, Rhodes and Mun- ocle editor-in-chief (and T+L contributing editor emeritus) ro are the unlikely, but increasingly undeniable, impresarios of Tyler Brûlé has lectured on taking fledgling brands global. Pea developing Cape Town design scene. (Or perhaps not so ruse the crowd at a welcoming party on Clifton Beach, and unlikely: Rhodes actually earned his graduate degree in inter- here are Tom Dixon, Hella Jongerius and packs of other pale, national political science and community leadership.) And prodigiously talented Northern Europeans, smiling weakly 142

L I A M M O O N EY P O RT RA I T BY N I E L RO B E RTS

THAT THESE YOUNG DESIGNERS ARE GAINING TRACTION IN CAPE

TOWN ISN’T SURPRISING ONCE YOU’VE FELT THE BUZZ HERE

under the searing African sun. The conference overlaps for a day or two with Design Indaba Expo, a corresponding fair that features exclusively South African exhibitors. For some, this equals serendipity: in 2007, a porcelain collection by ceramist Michael Haigh caught the eye of Li Edelkoort, the thenhead of Holland’s prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven; Haigh signed a contract with the Conran Shops several months later.

But Design Indaba, as successful as it is, remains a conference for global stars that happens to take place in Cape Town, rather than a forum for Capetonian designers to explore their place, and the mark they want to make, in the international design community. And it’s this distinction that’s putting Whatiftheworld on the map. For years, Naidoo’s twinned events have strived to manufacture a design identity for South Africa from above, as it were, by importing global glamour and coupling it with a call to exercise social conscience. By contrast, Rhodes and Munro’s efforts to simply give goodlooking, well-made local design a place to be seen and appreciated have percolated up from the underground, gained a local fan base, and now placed Cape Town on people’s radars

in a whole new way: as home to a small tribe of designers making world-class furniture and products—no further agenda required. As Haldane Martin, arguably the country’s bestknown furniture designer (his iconic Zulu Mama chair, a tall, elegant form on angled steel legs with a deep basket-weave seat in plastic, is a fixture in showrooms from Los Angeles to Dubai), says, “There’s definitely nothing else like it happening in South Africa.”

Unlike the world’s established design capitals—Amsterdam, Copenhagen or London—Cape Town, and by extension South Africa, lacks almost entirely the traditions of teaching and sponsoring modern furniture and product design for its own sake (not surprising for a country that, until 15 years ago, had rather more pressing goals, like achieving democracy); and despite a millennia-old heritage of craftsmanship, it still lags far behind Europe and the United States in mass-manufacturing knowledge. As a result, until recently it has had no coherent design identity to show the world, beyond what could be inferred from a steadily exported stream of vaguely ethnic Africana—variations on the motifs of basketry, beadwork and woven textiles. » 143

CAPE TOWN HAS BEEN A FAVORITE DESTINATION OF FAMOUS ARCHITECTS, FURNITURE MAKERS AND EDITORS FOR YEARS

But Rhodes and Munro tapped an ideal moment to launch their venture. “The generation of South Africans we’re working with may be the first to be really in touch with international trends and design,” Rhodes says. “As the country has matured, they’ve begun having different conversations, thinking beyond just the sociopolitical implications of their work.”

The locally made aspect is still crucial; but “not everything has to look ‘African’ to be African. Not everything has to have that exotic element to it,” Rhodes says. Above all, “our designers—and we—are interested in making products that stand alone on their aesthetic value: timeless, beautiful design.”

The Whatiftheworld poster child is Liam Mooney, a slight, dark-haired industrial-design grad whom Rhodes and Munro signed two years ago to be the design studio’s creative director.

Elle Decoration South Africa named him Lighting Designer of the Year in 2009, and several international editions of the magazine also ran items on him. His furniture is clean-lined and understated: Rhodes is especially fond of his Charming Tressel Table, made from two carved and cantilevered South African–pine bases and a glass top. But Mooney is best known for his Arc Lamp, a double-jointed wood-and-steel floor lamp that’s both refined and ingenious (and sold overseas—and frequently sold out at Whatiftheworld). Mooney has, in turn, signed young talents with a like-minded aesthetic, which he and Rhodes characterize as “clean, handcrafted, often modular, usually wood.” Among them are Adriaan Hugo, a strapping native of Bloemfontein, in the Free State, who builds tall, slim benches and tables of indigenous cork and white steel as well as graphic storage systems inspired by 1930’s textile prints. Another rising star, the Cape Town photographer and furniture designer Xandre Kriel, produces high-concept, lowtech plywood benches and chairs that recall both Donald Judd and the Eameses. Stop by his stall at the Neighbourgoods Market on a Saturday and you’re likely to find him with his Potlights lamp, which he’s just begun producing exclusively for sale there.

Whatiftheworld’s current focus is making the Neighbourgoods Market experience more exclusive and trader-centric— bringing in items like Kriel’s Potlights. “There’s a studio-visit appeal to that experience we want to build on,” Rhodes says.

“You deal directly with the designer, you’re getting something that’s handmade and limited-edition; it feels both thrifty and insider-y.” Some of the smaller traders at Neighbourgoods have even stopped selling in boutiques to focus entirely on the 144

market, both for the gratification of direct interaction and for the higher returns (Rhodes and Munro charge a flat fee to traders, in lieu of claiming a percentage of profits).

The fact that all of these young designers are gaining traction (and a devoted client base) in Cape Town isn’t that surprising, once you’ve touched down and felt the undeniable buzz here. It’s sometimes labeled the least “African” of African cities (enthusiastically or disparagingly, depending on the labeler). But whatever the opinions or disputes about the authenticity of its current culture, the city’s radiating a palpable hum of cool.

You see signs of this, of course, amid the colorful side streets of Woodstock near the Old Biscuit Mill, where bungalows that once leaned perilously, shedding curls of fuchsia or turquoise paint, now glow from the attentions of recent renovations; and where freshly converted warehouses fly the banners of boutique Web agencies, pioneering antiques dealers, and some of the designers Rhodes and Munro patronize—including Chloe Townsend, a leatherworker trained at London’s preeminent Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, whose Missibaba line of belts, bags and clutches is one of the city’s most sought after; and Stiaan Louw, whose unstructured, billowy menswear recalls Yohji Yamamoto.

Creative energy is also more prevalent than ever along perennially chic Upper Kloof Street, in the well-heeled Gardens district—now positively awash in precious bio-organic cafés whose magazine racks burst with copies of Visi, South Africa’s own design bible, along with the odd issue of V, BlackBook or Case da Abitare. Lilliputian storefronts sell designer bikinis and handmade jewelry (and, for good measure, Adidas Originals and a smattering of Japanese selvage denim).

And it’s gained much ground in the area around Heritage Square. There’s Caveau, for example, the 3-year-old, warrenlike wine bar with an intimate courtyard, where Rhodes, Munro and their friends like to convene, along with Cape Town’s emerging visual artists and prominent art dealers, for generous pours and small plates. The kitchen offers dukkahrubbed ostrich or braised springbok shank if one’s in the mood for something with regional bona fides; or more standard global fare, like seared tuna in citrus sauce or a lamb tagine (both delicious, as is everything on the menu). Around the corner is Birds Boutique Café, a favorite spot for coffee or a quick lunch: the Namibian owners, a mother and her two daughters, prepare all-organic baked goods; the younger

daughter, Frauke Stegmann, one of Cape Town’s emerging graphic designers, creates the whimsically decorated ceramics on which the food is served. Just up the road is Brewers & Union, a beer bar–charcuterie opened in January by the people behind Vida e Caffé, a slick, mini-chain coffee bar with a zealous fan base. Brewers & Union’s terrace out front fills quickly in the after-work hours with small tribes of hipsters who pair the microbrewed ambers and ales with Madeirawine salami wrapped in butterfish carpaccio and grilled chilichocolate beef sausage.

As of last January, though, the best place for visitors to Cape Town to experience the Whatiftheworld effect may well be at the Grand Daddy, a new hotel a few blocks away on Long Street, refurbished by the owners of the city’s longstanding cult favorite B&B, Daddy Long Legs. They approached Whatiftheworld last August to create a collection of mobile “penthouses”—bespoke Airstream trailers with tricked-out interiors featuring all the modern conveniences— originally intended for use as mobile hotel rooms. But when the owners acquired the bigger, more boutique-style Metropole Hotel, which became the Grand Daddy, Rhodes, Munro and Mooney were commissioned to create an entire “trailer park” on the hotel’s roof—comprising several new tongue-incheek themed Airstreams, like Afrofunked (unreconstructed teak paneling, low-slung sofas recalling a 70’s conversation pit) and Love of Lace (a Priscilla Presley–esque fantasy of quilted

pink satin and chandeliers), complete with landscaping, bar and barbecue areas, and white mailboxes posted outside each of the seven trailers. “We’re not really going to be tagged to do some sleek, rich bachelor pad on the waterfront,” Rhodes says. “This hotel was great for us because it’s a public, interactive, freethinking space that’s very Cape Town.” Meanwhile, the Grand Daddy’s owners have plans for several more Airstreams, to be made available for VIP events and short-distance road trips—down the country’s fabled Garden Route, say, or out to the up-and-coming artist communities in the Karoo desert.

Rhodes and Munro take a measured—and modest—view of the success of their efforts, deflecting much of the credit to the people and culture they’ve chosen to be part of. “This country, from a visual, creative standpoint, is like a teenager,” Rhodes says. “It’s emerging, and not quite knowing, so this is a key moment. We work with artists and manufacturers but also sometimes with farmers who happen to have great ideas.”

It’s this most of all that, to them, represents the fruits of their efforts: a community that’s a genuine meritocracy, based on good work for good work’s sake. “There’s so much talent in Cape Town; we saw that from the beginning. And everyone wants the right image of South Africa out there in the world; everyone wants the best of it to be seen.”

Maria Shollenbarger is Europe and U.K. editor for T+L (U.S.).

GUIDE TO CAPE TOWN WHERE TO STAY Cape Grace Fresh from a makeover by local designer Kathi Weixelbaumer, rooms have Cape Dutch antiques and hand-painted fabrics. West Quay Rd., Victoria & Alfred Waterfront; 27-21/410-7100; capegrace.com; doubles from ZAR4,564 (US$566).

Daddy Long Legs Art Hotel 134 Long St.; 27-21/422-3074; daddylonglegs.co.za; doubles from ZAR573.

M A P B Y AYA D S I N A W I

Grand Daddy Hotel 38 Long St.; 27-21/424-7247; daddylonglegs. co.za; doubles from ZAR895.

HOW TO GET THERE Singapore Airlines flies daily to Cape Town via Johannesburg; Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways fly nonstop to Jo’burg.

WHEN TO GO November through late March is peak season. Rains begin in mid April.

One & Only Cape Town The waterfront resort has 131 large, high-tech rooms and restaurants from Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa. Dock Rd.; Victoria & Alfred Waterfront; 27-21/4315800; oneandonlyresorts.com; doubles from ZAR217.

WHERE TO EAT Birds Boutique Café 127 Bree

St.; 27-21/426-2534; lunch for two ZAR121.

Brewers & Union 110 Bree St., Heritage Square; 27-21/422-2770; drinks for two ZAR81.

Caveau Wine Bar & Deli 92 Bree St., Heritage Square; 27-21/4221367; drinks for two ZAR40.

Haiku Asian-inspired tapas restaurant. 33 Church St., City Bowl; 27-21/424-7000; dinner for two ZAR484.

95 Keerom Appropriately, a 100year-old olive tree grows in the middle of this Northern Italian restaurant. 95 Keerom St., Gardens; 27-21/422-0765; dinner for two ZAR403.

Societi Bistro Opt for alfresco dining in the front garden. 50 Orange St., Gardens; 27-21/4242100; dinner for two ZAR403.

WHERE TO SHOP Africa Nova Boutique 72 Waterkant St.; 27-21/425-5123; africanova.co.za.

Clementina Ceramics Old Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Rd.; 27-21/4471398; clementina.co.za.

Missibaba Workshop Unite 3 Selwyn St. Studios, The Palms, 145 Sir Lowry Rd.; 27-21/4611083; missibaba.com.

Neighbourgoods Market Old Biscuit Mill, 373-375 Albert Rd.; neighbourgoodsmarket.co.za; Saturdays 9 A.M.–2 P.M. Whatiftheworld Gallery 208 Albert Rd.; 27-21/448-1438; whatiftheworld.com.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO Design Indaba For upcoming dates, visit designindaba.com.

WHAT TO READ Playing the Enemy by John Carlin (Penguin, US$24.95). An account of how Nelson Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite the country. Soon to be a movie, with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman.

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(My Favorite Place) VIETNAM

Mountain Highs Left: Bobby Chinn at his friend’s retreat in Tam Dao. Below: In a sea of mist.

HANOI: the car horns, the construction, the buying and selling, the talk of money and the greed that comes with it. I can still catch a glimpse of Hanoi’s old charm, and still remember why I moved here 13 years ago. But for a few years now, I’ve been wanting a piece of land, a place to go hide away from the new chaos of Vietnam’s capital.

Tam Dao seemed the best choice. It’s an hour and a half away, 1,000 meters up, mountains, trees, views and crisp, clear air. The fog and mist in winter is a nice contrast to the polluted air, while the cool mountain breeze is refreshing from the burning heat of summer.

A friend bought land and built a place in a village just below the town. It’s Tuscany, Morocco, Japan and California all rolled into one. Like others who book the place, I come to escape. Dug down into the hill, his compound is hidden from view—all you see is a pebble courtyard, and beyond that, the lush mountains and valleys, and the clouds floating by. This

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is where I come to relax, recharge my batteries, and get away from it all.

A traditional Vietnamese wooden house is tucked along a stone wall fronted by a simple Japanese rock garden. I sometimes chill out on the wooden deck, look out to trees and mountains and breathe in with the good and out with the bad. The house has floor-to-ceiling windows to let in the light and the greenery of the vegetable fields that surround it. And there’s a narrow infinity swimming pool, its emerald tiles shimmering under the water. The valley below plays host to rising swirls of fog—it’s like a clichéd Chinese scroll painting coming alive in front of your eyes. Here you sit and listen to frogs and crickets. You watch birds and butterflies. Or you fall asleep among the clouds.

If I can’t get it together to build a place for myself, my friend’s house does the trick. I listen to the wind pushing the clouds outside, and the crackling logs inside the fireplace, or the water dripping in the courtyard. And as they say, I can hear my own thoughts. A treat. A real retreat. ✚

CO U RT ESY O F BO B BY C H I N N ( 2 )

When Bobby Chinn is not hosting two cooking shows on the Discovery Channel or running his restaurant in Hanoi, he tells PAUL EHRLICH, he’s relaxing with his head in the clouds

Calling all shopaholics Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

When you’re a shopaholic, there’s no better place to indulge than in Malaysia. Especially during the annual Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival which runs from July to August. You’ll lose yourself in a nationwide shopping frenzy at the classiest boutiques and trendiest malls. Or discover the joys of bargaining as you get your fix of retail therapy at the many markets here. While visiting, do splurge on local fashion icons like Jimmy Choo, Zang Toi and Bernard Chandran. So come on over for a fashion filled holiday because it’s all here in Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia, Unit 1001, 10th Floor, Liberty Square, 287, Silom Road, Bangkok, 10500 THAILAND Tel: 02-631 1994/02-631 1995 Fax: 02-631 1998 www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my www.virtualmalaysia.com

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