Travelife Magazine January / March 2009

TRAVELIFE

JANUARY / MARCH, 2009

MAGAZINE

Chasing on a

Roman Holiday

TraveLife visits the locations mentioned in the Dan Brown book and upcoming Tom Hanks film

WIN 2 AIR TICKETS TO ROME! See Details Inside Hill tribes Tips for the Travel advice Israel’s of Vietnam playground Vegas strip from a doctor

Happy Birthday Hawaii 50th state celebrates 50th birthday

Modern Taiwan

Home of an 8,000-Year-Old Culture

You’ll love Israel from the first

“Shalom”.

TM

On the Tel Aviv beach near the ancient city of Jaffa.

Here’s a sunny “Shalom” from Israel’s first family of surfing. Armour Kanzapolski, shown here with two of his children on the beach at Tel Aviv, a city which celebrates its 100th Anniversary in 2009. Behind him is the 4,000-year-old city of Jaffa where it is said Jonah met a whale. Armour is the son of Shamai “Topsi” Kanzapolski who brought surfing to Israel in the 60’s. He is a professional surfing instructor and part of his family’s surfboard industry in Tel Aviv. His goal: to make sure the beaches of Israel are always clean and beautiful, the water free of pollution, and that you’re always welcome to swim, surf and have a glorious time on the beaches of Israel.

www.goisrael.ca 416-964-3784

Annie Tsu Publisher

T

Travel will be easier in ‘09

here’s no doubt 2009 will be a challenging year for the travel industry.

But it will be a great year for travellers.

Because of the uncertain economic times, expect everything related to travel to be discounted — from airfares and resorts to luxury hotels and top-of-the-line cruises.

In fact, I’ll go as far as to say 2009 will be the best year for travel in sometime.

So, where to go? And what destinations will offer the biggest discounts?

Well, Asia and its wide variety of luxury accommodation will be hard to pass up — especially the sun destinations like Thailand, Cambodia, Bali and Vietnam. Even in good times, these destinations are very affordable so now they’ll be offering even bigger bargains.

Ditto for Australia and New Zealand — the combination of a weak economy and their remoteness to the rest of the world will no doubt see them turn to deep discounts to retain market share.

The Middle East, especially Dubai with its over subscription of hotel rooms and resorts, will also be in a deep discount frame of mind.

There may never be a better opportunity to see how the “other half” lives, especially when it comes to cruising. High-end lines like Crystal and Silversea are already offering “50 per cent off regular price” deals and you can bet fares will be discounted even further as the year of economic turmoil unravels.

China and its new hotel inventory built for the Olympics will be hard-pressed to fill up all the new rooms, so expect airlines and tour operators to join forces and offer “once-in-a-lifetime” deals.

Even high-priced European destinations like Rome, London and Paris will be “on sale” in 2009.

In this issue of TraveLife our writers have highlighted the hottest places on the planet to be this year. And in 2009, you’ll actually be able to afford to go.

Inside TraveLife Top 10 beaches for 2009 Page 8

Great Hotels: London’s Gore Page 6 Dr. on call: Travelling while pregnant

Page 13

Hong Kong: It’s a thrill ride Page 14 Vietnam: Visiting the Hill Tribes Page 17 Las Vegas: 10 inside tips Page 20 Cover: Movie madness grips Rome Page 22 Cruising: Silversea tops the list Page 32 Golf: Top 18 destinations for 2009 Page 36

Eilat is Israel’s sun capital

Taiwan: An 8,000-year-old culture Page 38

Page 10

Cece Scott: In the picture Page 41 Singapore: A living history Page 42

Happy Birthday Hawaii See pages 26 - 31

PUBLISHER: Annie Tsu EDITOR/SENIOR WRITER: Marc Atchison ASSISTANT EDITOR: Claudia Tsang DESIGN: Peggy Cheng CONTRIBUTORS: Jane Holt, Janice Lees, Joey Murphy, Geordie P. Hinchcliffe,

June Kuniyoshi, Dr. Nicholas Pairaudeau, Cece Scott,

Paolo McDuff ADDRESS: TraveLife, 15 Kern Road, Toronto, Ontario, M3B 1S9

Taking a look Down Under Page 34

THE COVER Thanks to Sony Pictures for the film poster for the upcoming movie Angels & Demons

Angels & Demons

Contest Win 2 roundtrip air tickets to Rome, courtesy of Air Canada, and visit the sites used in the upcoming Sony Pictures movie

Presented by:

Enter online at www.jetsettravel.ca

Contest closes March 15, 2009 Winner to be announced in April issue of TraveLife Go to www. jetsettravel.ca for contest rules

Green: PMS 376 Blue: PMS 632

CMYK Green: 50/0/100/0 Blue: 92/0/15/5

TraveLife - 06

A Gore-geous property

Trevor, the head concierge at the Gore, looks spiffy in his bowler hat, left, and the reception area and rooms are just as welcoming to those who visit.

This historic London hotel is where Judy Garland’s ruby slippers greet guests

By Marc Atchison

L

ONDON - The woman at reception teased me with the idea that maybe the “Judy Garland Room is available.”

“Imagine, me sleeping in Judy Garland’s bed,” I announced to my fellow check-ins.

“You wouldn’t be the first bloke to sleep in her bed,” came a voice dripping with sarcasm and belonging to the Gore Hotel’s witty concierge, Trevor.

“So sorry sir,” chimed in the charming receptionist as I jokingly stared down Trevor for his slur against the former Hollywood songbird, “but the Garland Room is occupied tonight, but you’ll like Room 305 – it’s very comfy.”

It’s hard not to like every room at the stately Gore Hotel, a Victorian-style delight at 190 Queen’s Gate in one of London’s most fashionable districts, wedged between Knightsbridge and Kensington, close to Hyde Park.

The Gore, which was opened in 1892 by Ada and Fanny Cook – relatives of legendary English explorer Captain James Cook – sits around the corner from Royal Albert Hall, the theatrical palace named for Queen Victoria’s beloved Prince Albert, where Garland played regularly.

Garland made the Gore her home base when in London and the hotel owners honoured the American icon by naming one of its lavish suites after her. The room is pure Garland – bathroom mural of a Roman chariot in hand-painted tiles; a gilt wood bed; a wide range of Judy’s films; and even a pair of ruby red slippers.

But Garland was not the only celebrity who liked staying at the Gore.

The Dame Nellie Melba Room honours the English entertainer, who also performed regularly at the Royal Albert, and is decorated lavishly with a recessed bed lined with pleated silk, French chaise lounges and leopard-print armchairs. A life-sized portrait of Dame Melba – melba toast was named after her – hangs in the hotel’s Green Room, a parlour where guests gather to read newspapers or sip tea around a roaring fire.

The most impressive of all the Gore’s 50 guestrooms is the Tudor Room.

Passing through the room’s entrance was like entering a time capsule – it feels like you’ve been transported back to the Tudor Period (1485 to 1603). The room looks like something Henry VIII might have fancied – a huge cast iron bath with a carved copper shower screen dominates the snug bathroom; light streams through original stained glass windows; silk coverings drape the dark oak four poster bed and an imposing fireplace fills the room with a glow.

The Tudor Room even comes with a minstrel’s gallery, reached through a secret passage cut into the room’s wall.

“I tell guests we don’t supply the minstrel,” smiled Trevor.

Like other properties of its era, the Gore is more museum than hotel – its walls James heavy with paintings, etchings and a rare copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Even after a $6 million refurbishment, the Gore retains its historic charm and could easily double for a period movie set – and usually does.

“Many films and television shows have been shot here,” said Trevor while passing the Green Room, where a BBC crew was filming.

A popular gathering spot at the hotel is Bar 190, a dignified drinking establishment offering lots of snuggle spaces and an interesting history of its own – the cozy bar is where the Rolling Stones launched their “Beggars Banquet” album in 1968. The room, where tapas delights are now the order of the day, is open to 3 a.m. – “it sometimes stretches to 4 (a.m.), though,” Trevor informed – and is dominated by a long oak bar and “Cinderella’s Carriage” – an elaborately decorated raised seating booth at the back of the bar which is recessed into mahogany-paneled walls.

“Many marriage proposals have taken place in that carriage,” said Trevor.

The Gore experience comes at a price - starting at about $300 a night – but the experience is priceless.

For more information on the Gore Hotel, go to www.gorehotel.com or call +44 (0)2075846601.

07 - TraveLife

LIFE’S A BEACH TraveLife’s Top 10 beaches for 2009

TraveLife - 08

With freezing weather comes thoughts of warm destinations and soft, sandy beaches. So, the beach bums at TraveLife sat down and compiled a Top 10 list of beaches - places around the world where they’d most like to chill out in winter – as a guidepost for those considering a winter getaway. So, here are TraveLife’s Top 10 beaches and the reasons our beach bums like them:

1

Intendance Bay Beach, Mahe Island, Seychelles There are 115 islands that make up tiny Seychelles, the former slave colony that sits in the middle of the Indian Ocean off Kenya. So, as you’d expect, there’s plenty of beaches and they’re all natural beauties. What we like most about Intendance Bay is its remote location on the northern side of the island. Here you can sunbath in the nude or go skinny dipping in the azure waters and the only audience you’ll have are the giant sea turtles.

3

Crane Beach, Barbados How can you pick one Caribbean Beach over another?

Once you see this pink beauty, we think you’ll agree it’s the best you’ll find in these parts. Crane Beach is within a 10 minute drive of the country’s international airport and is located in one of the most historic areas of the island nation, right next to the Crane Hotel, the first resort complex ever built on Barbados. Vacationers have been swimming in the Crane surf since 1887 when the original Crane Hotel first opened.

4

6

Fort DeSoto Park Beach, St. Petersburg, Florida Fort DeSoto Beach is regularly rated the top beach in the U.S. and it’s a well-deserved honour. Fort DeSoto, site of an historic Civil War outpost, features several excellent beaches but the one known as North Beach is recognized as the best. It makes our list because it doesn’t look like your typical, overcrowded Florida beach.

7

Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia This suburban beach is often an afterthought for visitors to Australia’s largest city. The more popular Bondi Beach is favoured by most visitors. Manly, on the north end of the city, is not only a better quality beach but it’s far less commercial. It’s also an access point to Sydney’s Northern Beaches, a strand of magnificent coastline that offers some of the best surfing in the world.

8

Coral Bay, Perth, Australia Since you’ve travelled all the way to Australia, why not take full advantage of your stay and fly west to Perth where you’ll find amazing Coral Bay. The remote beach is the closest access point to Ningaloo Reef, one of the most easily-accessed coral reefs in the world. You can expect to see over 250 species of corals and a range of wildlife from manta rays to dolphins as you snorkel.

9

Horseshoe Bay Beach, Bermuda Horseshoe Bay is one of the smallest stretches of beach in the world but one that offers some of the biggest thrills.

Hidden coves invite lovers to embrace on baby powder soft sand. Located in Southampton, the most picturesque part of this postcard beautiful island nation, Horseshoe is a sheer delight. It’s also one of the few beaches with lifeguards on duty all summer.

Laguna Beach, Phuket, Thailand Picking the top beach in Thailand is like trying to choose the winner of a Miss World beauty contest.

The country is full of contenders, with the Phuket area offering at least 10 candidates. Patong Beach, Kata Beach, the pristine beaches of offshore Phi Phi Island and Kata Beach are all list worthy, but the one that caught our attention is the sandy stretch of paradise located at Laguna, about a half hour’s drive from Patong. The beach there is perfect for family fun.

Wainapanapa Black Sand Beach, Maui, Hawaii Hawaii’s treasured island Maui is ringed by a 200 kilometre-long coastline and over 50 kilometres of beaches. The beauty of Maui, though, is that it’s blessed with a number of “secret” beach spots that are a bit off the beaten track. One of those is Wainapanapa Beach, located not far from the secluded town of Hana, the historic village where Maui’s first resort was built and still remains active today. The most striking feature of Wainapanapa Beach is its black sand - tiny pebbles that were left behind as hot lava from ancient volcanoes made its way to the sea.

Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Life’s a beach in Brazil and especially Rio. There are dozens of gorgeous pure white beaches located along Rio’s lovely coastline and any one could qualify for this list. However, none come close to Copacabana. Its four-kilometre-long stretch of sandy real estate may be the most famous beach in the world, as well. Here, every New Year’s Eve, over two million people gather to bring in the New Year with samba parties and worldrenowned entertainers. But, hey, why wait for New Year’s?

2

5

10

Rossnowlagh Beach, Donegal, Ireland Who says all Top 10 beaches must be located in tropical climes? Certainly not TraveLife. Which is why Rossnowlagh Beach, located in this northern part of Ireland, makes the list. The cool waters of the Atlantic makes the beach only accessible from July to late September and it’s the best time of the year around there.

The nearby Sandhouse Hotel is a TraveLife favourite.

09 - TraveLife

Israel’s

SUN CAPITAL The Red Sea town of Eilat is the country’s Miami Beach

TraveLife - 10

By Joey Murphy

E

MARC ATCHISON PHOTOS

Eilat’s Red Sea aquarium, above, is considered one of the best in the world, offering visitors a chance to see marine life swimming amid the coral reefs that dominate the city’s harbour.

The streets of fun-loving Eilat are filled with marine art, far left, which are no match for the stone monuments Mother Nature carved nearby, like one called the “Mushroom,” left.

ILAT, ISRAEL – This tiny resort city has always been a desired destination.

In fact, in the closing days of Israel’s 1949 War of Independence with its Arab neighbours, a push was on by all sides to claim this magical sun-drenched city that drifts off into the Red Sea for their very own.

In what has become historically known as Operation Ovda, Israeli troops made a mad dash for Eilat to hoist their country’s flag over what was designated to the Jewish state as part of the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan.

However, when the troops arrived, much to their dismay, they realized they had forgotten to bring a flag.

Unfazed, members of Israel’s renowned Negav Brigade improvised; taking pen to paper to create an “Ink Flag” which they raised over what was then just a border outpost. It has since become the nation’s sun and fun capital.

Nowadays, troops of tourists march into this city of 55,000 regular inhabitants, whose ranks swell by 10 times that number in peak seasons.

There’s no doubt Eilat is the hottest destination in Israel – for many different reasons.

It seldom rains here – 12 days a year – and the temperature rarely dips below 21C, even in winter. And 40C days in the summer months are the norm, turning the Red Sea water into a giant Jacuzzi.

And Eilat’s nightlife rocks to a Mediterranean beat – the clubs and seafood restaurants that line the neon shoreline are filled with music and laughter well into the wee hours of the morning.

Eilat – the name roughly translated from Hebrew means “ram” – is sandwiched between Jordan and Egypt and on a clear day you can even see Saudi Arabia. It’s the southernmost point in Israel, an hour’s flight from Tel Aviv, and has played a major role in the country’s history, dating back to the time of King David, who established a defensive shield here. King Solomon stationed his naval fleet here and the Queen of Sheba supposedly passed through Eilat on her way to see the King of Jerusalem.

As we looked out from our luxurious King David hotel room – the resort is a 5-star beauty equal to any in the world – we see the sprawling Jordanian port city of Aqaba, which entices us to visit.

However, we quickly realize, pulling ourselves away from Eilat and its many wonders won’t be easy.

Attractions like the city’s world-renowned aquarium – the best we’ve ever seen – featuring the top underwater preserves in the world; its awesome beaches; nearby Timna Valley National Park; and Kings City, a theme park retracing the ancient past; will keep us busy during our short visit.

On our drive from Tel Aviv – flying is much faster but the 5-hour drive from Tel Aviv through the remarkable Negav Desert and its many wonders is well worth the effort if you can afford the time – our guide Ora insists we stop at Timna Valley, located 27 kilometres north of Eilat.

We’re glad she did.

The stone forest is one of the most remarkable sights you’ll ever see – a place of ancient copper mines first discovered by the Egyptians and later run by King Solomon. Many of the mine entrances are still visible and the remarkable canyon is filled with many odd-shaped mountains. The most famous rock formations 11 - TraveLife

found here include “The Mushroom” because of its fungilike shape, and “Soloman’s Pillars”, which rise high into the always-present azure sky like giant skyscrapers. It’s no wonder the park, which features an artificial lake, has become a favourite for hikers, Jeep tours and camel rides.

Nearby, the Hai Bar wildlife reserve is home to many rare and endangered desert animals, like leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, gazelles and ostriches. Soon after our arrival in Eilat, Ora tells us we have time to visit the city’s aquarium, so we dash off along the city’s lovely promenade and join a long line at the entrance.

The aquarium is unique in that it allows visitors an underwater view of local marine life because it’s built 15 feet under the tranquil Red Sea. You come face-to-face with everything from venomous lionfish to moray eels to sharks, seal turtles and a kaleidoscope of brightly-coloured small fish during your stay in this remarkable sea world.

Not surprisingly, Eilat – its sister cities in North America are Los Angeles and Toronto – is also a favoured destination for divers. The coral reefs found in the Gulf of Eilat are among the best in the world. Non divers are offered the chance to see the reef from the comfort of a submarine, which can hold 50 people and dives 200 feet below the surface.

A recent addition to Eilat is Dolphin Reef, which allows you to swim and dive with the playful mammals.

One thing few people know about Israel is that it’s a bird watcher’s paradise, a landing spot for migrating birds from Europe to Africa – and Eilat is ground zero. About one billion birds traverse this area each year, making Eilat the site of one of the greatest concentrations of migrating birds in the world. The best times to see the birds are from September to November when they leave Europe for Africa and between March and May, when they make their return flights. Not TraveLife - 12

Eilat is home to some of the finest resorts in Israel, with the King Herod hotel, top, offering five-star comfort and million-dollar views of the harbour and beach. The local Bedouins,above, are happy to pose for pictures. surprisingly, Eilat is headquarters for the International Bird Watching Center.

You don’t have to be a biblical scholar to enjoy Kings City.

It’s just a fun place to spend an afternoon and get acquainted with ancient kings – played by actors – and explore the manmade caves and lakes that dot the site.

There’s always a party atmosphere hanging over Eilat, a city that has often been compared with Miami Beach.

Miami Beach wishes it looked this good.

Info on Israel: www.goisrael.ca Tour East Holidays offers holidays to Israel starting at $1,500 - www.toureast.com

Doctor on call

Sound advice about travelling while pregnant Dr. Nicholas Pairaudeau, 2nd right, has been a consultant obstetrician at North York General Hospital since 1976. He shares his thoughts with our readers on when they should and should not travel while pregnant.

By Dr. Nicholas Pairaudeau Should you take a pregnant pause from travelling just because you’re pregnant?

Family doctors, or specialists, are frequently asked questions about travelling while pregnant, but physicians normally give short answers like “it’s okay to fly up to 36 weeks, but after that stay at home.”

Many organizations have published opinions about travel in pregnancy, and they all seem to be fairly supportive.

As a consultant obstetrician at North York General Hospital since 1976, I have seen many patients who have asked if it is safe to travel in pregnancy.

My response is always “why are you travelling?”

My reasoning focuses on the motivation for the holiday, need to go, and possible risk to the mother and the baby while travelling.

Though travel is fairly safe, things can go wrong. It is a well known fact that pregnancy is associated with an increase in some conditions such as blood clots in the legs and lungs, and that flying can make matters worse.

It is also important to ascertain how safe the holiday destination is for a pregnant woman. Many tropical areas are associated with diseases that are not known in urban areas like Canada. Sanitation is often not good, and the quality of medical care is below that which is expected by Canadians.

For patients who have to travel because of a family emergency, I ascertain which trimester they are in, and will go through the issues that might be important for them to know while away.

Trimesters are the three divisions that pregnancy is

divided into. From conception to 14 weeks: first trimester; 14 weeks to 28 weeks: second trimester; and 28 weeks to delivery, third trimester.

In the first trimester, maternal medical problems such as hyperemesis (nausea and vomiting) maybe a problem. It is important to establish the pregnancy is going well, as a non-viable pregnancy is fraught with miscarriage. There are many tests that are done in the first trimester, and that it is good to have these results in hand before embarking on a big vacation. You should also have an ultrasound as well as blood tests before you leave.

Pain and bleeding can occur at any time, and that can be another serious problem while you’re away.

In the second trimester, the risk of having a premature baby starts to rise. It is generally conceded that travelling is best between 20 to 28 weeks, assuming all your tests are good.

The issue of travelling in the third trimester depends on the need to travel. Though air travel restrictions are commonplace, check with your airline before you go - the onus is on you and your health care provider.

Insurance will normally cover pregnancy to 28 weeks, but insurance companies may well exclude pregnancy later for obvious reasons. A birth of a baby at 32 weeks can be horrendously expensive. Your doctor may be reluctant to sign a health certificate, since if anything goes wrong he may be liable for your expenses.

So, here’s a few questions to ask yourself before heading off on vacation: Why you are going, and is it necessary?

If you are to do tests, can you get the results before you go? And if treatments are necessary, will you cancel the trip and will the insurance company pay?

Can the trip wait until a safer time in the pregnancy - at 20 to 28 weeks?

Can you put off the trip until after the baby is born?

Are you prepared for illness while travelling and at your destination and can you get treatment?

Can you put off that business trip?

Did you check with your health care provider before you paid for the trip?

Did you check with international medical advisory services for vaccinations or other medical assistance that can make the trip safer?

Have you gone to the web and searched out the answers to your particular trip?

Does your family know of the risks of travelling? Many a time other family members are involved and that can incur larger costs if things go wrong.

When you can answer all these questions, then it is time to speak to you travel advisor. All reputable travel organizations will help in sorting out not only the tickets and bookings, but also advise on medical insurance matters.

Make sure that your doctor is up to date on medical issues surrounding travel. Always take a reasonable approach, delaying the trip if need be. And remember, those exotic places will be there long after you’ve had your baby.

Bon voyage.

13 - TraveLife

Hong Kong’s

THRILL RIDES

One of the world’s most expensive cities offers tourists the cheapest public transit so get ready for the ride of your life

TraveLife -14

PHOTOS COURTESY HONG KONG TOURISM BOARD

The Peak Tram, opposite page top, is one of the city’s most popular forms of transportation, taking visitors to the top of Victoria Peak, where they get breathtaking views of the city skyline. The local double-decker trams, above and left, take you keep into Hong Kong’s inner city, where life has not changed much over the decades. The iconic trams are inexpensive to ride.

By Geordie P. Hinchcliffe

H

ONG KONG – In a city where some of the world’s most expensive hotels and real estate can be found, visitors are rewarded with some of the cheapest public transportation on the planet.

For instance, single-ride subway fares start at $3HK ($0.46 Canadian) while the city’s famed Star Ferry, which connects Hong Kong Island with mainland Kowloon, costs about .50¢ each way – the breathtaking views one gets from the ferry’s deck of the city’s amazing skyline, harbour and surrounding mountainous beauty are free.

However, the most exciting – and cheapest – thrill rides visitors to Hong Kong get are aboard the city’s legendary trams.

For just $2HK ($0.31 Canadian) you can hop aboard a piece of Hong Kong history, the iconic double-decker trams, that slowly weave their way through the city’s modern financial district and into the bustling local shopping areas where life has changed little over the 100 years the trams have been running.

The clattering, little trolleys are no match for the city’s fast-paced subway system but they do bring you up close to Hong Kong’s exciting inner city, and some incredible shopping bargains at neighbourhood stores in places like Happy Valley.

The double-decker trams offer just six routes and only 30 kilometres of track but the 163-trolley fleet

accommodates 240,000 commuters daily.

A visit to Hong Kong would not be complete without a trip aboard the Peak Tram, the legendary funicular which carries both tourists and residents to the top of Victoria Peak and the most spectacular skyline view in the world.

The Peak Tram, which costs $30HK ($4.70) for a return trip, makes four stops along its route and is actually owned by the city’s famed Peninsula Hotel. It was first opened in 1888 and covers a distance of just 1.4 kilometres but it may be the best 1.4 kilometres on the planet.

As the tram slowly climbs from the city’s Central District to Victoria Peak, it cuts through dense foliage and a forest of tall buildings before reaching its terminus located at the base of the city’s newest icon, the Peak Tower.

For another cheap thrill ride, consider going to Stanley Market aboard the 260 bus – but make sure you get a front seat atop the double-decker behemoth and hold on for dear life.

For just $10.60HK ($1.65) passengers take a roller coaster ride past Repulse Bay and the million-dollar homes that line the route.

Public transportation in Hong Kong is clean, efficient and safe, no matter what time of day or night.

And, it may be the best bargain in the world.

Tour East Holidays offers air-inclusive trips to Hong Kong.

For information, go to www.toureast.com

15 - TraveLife

Green: PMS 376 Blue: PMS 632

www.jetsettravel.ca

CMYK Green: 50/0/100/0 Blue: 92/0/15/5

Travel more ... pay less Lowest Airfares in Canada Book Online for Special Airfares, Tours & Packages Canada’s Leading Online Travel Agency with Millons of Discounted Airfares to Worldwide Destinations and Hotel Rates.

Call 1-877-929-6661 10 Ravel Rd, Suite 4, Toronto, ON M2H 1T1

Tico # 4671319

Vietnam’s

Tribal People

In the mountain rice paddies of secluded Sapa, the hill people work as their ancestors did 5,000 years ago 17 - TraveLife

MARC ATCHISON PHOTOS

Vietnam’s hill people toil in the rice paddies before heading off to local markets to sell their crafts to tourists, below.

By Jane Holt

S

APA, VIETNAM – The gentle swaying of the Victoria Express rail car awakens me in the early hours of the morning – when the darkness of night begins to give way to the beginning of day.

Billowing black mountains silhouetted against a moonlit sky reveal themselves when I peer through the car’s picture window as the train cuts through Vietnam’s dense jungle en route to this northern outpost, renowned for its dramatic mountain landscape and tribal hill people.

It’s not yet 5 a.m. but already men riding water buffalo head for terraced rice paddies for a long day’s work and women wash clothes in the dimness of the morning.

A knock at the cabin door tells me its time to gather my belongings in preparation for our arrival at Lao Cai, the city closest to remote Sapa and the capital of the northern province, also known as Lao Cai, which is home to 24 of the country’s 54 hill tribes.

As I emerge from the station, a scene of chaos greets me. Taxi drivers, offering transport in cars, trucks or on motor scooters, vie for business by shouting at potential customers, many of them backpackers who ask where they can find the local bus to take them to Sapa, 33-kilometres away. Through the confusion, I see my name printed on a piece of cardboard, which is being held aloft by a man who seems oblivious to the chaos. I approach the man with the brush cut and introduce myself.

“Greetings, my name is Tuyen Khac Nguyen and I will

TraveLife - 18

be your guide in Sapa,” replies the man from the Victoria Resort and Spa, my home base during a two-day stay in Sapa, a word which means “land of sand.”

We pile my belongings into the guide’s Korean-made 4x4 and he suggests I call him “Khac, because it is much easier for foreigners to say,” before we drive out of Lao Cai, a border town that sits directly across the Red River from China.

The winding, twisting mountain road that connects Sapa and Lao Cai takes a steady hand on the wheel and nerves of steel to navigate. But Khac seems to know every bump and turn and casually manoeuvers his way around obstacles, like slow-moving scooters, broken down trucks and stray water buffalo with the ease of a man who has made this drive many times before.

Not long after leaving Lao Cai, the dramatic terraced rice fields the hill people have carved into the steep mountain slopes come into view.

They are simply breathtaking.

A few minutes later, I get my first sighting of a hill tribe woman, bedecked in full native costume with a baby strapped to her back and carrying yarn made from hemp which she weaves into fabric to make her family’s clothes.

Khac explains the woman wearing a black scarf around her head belongs to the Black Hmong, one of six Hmong tribes that dominate this lush agriculture area.

“There are Black Hmong, Red Hmong, White Hmong, Chinese Hmong, Green Hmong, and my favourite, the Flower Hmong – they wear the most colourful costumes,” Khac tells me.

“The Hmong women bring up the children, work in the rice field, do all the cooking and house chores and make all their own clothes. If the family has a horse, then the Hmong man rides the horse and the woman always walks behind with her children. It is the way of the Hmong people. The Hmong man only gets drunk on rice wine,” laughs Khac.

As she passes, I see the woman’s weathered face is marked with deep lines, her dark skin is as rough as leather and she walks stooped over, suggesting she is old.

“Not old,” says Khac. “Maybe 40. Working stooped over in the wet rice fields and heat all day makes them look much older – they all have back problems.

“Most Hmong women get married by the time they are 14 or 15 – they have their first child a year or so later

and they usually have between five to eight children – the family needs a lot of help growing the rice and corn they live on,” Khac tells me.

The Hmong women and their children carry on the tradition of wearing the heavy native costumes of their ancestors, complete with leggings that are worn at all times of the year, including Vietnam’s stifling summer months. Hmong men, on the other hand, wear westernstyle clothes.

My Swiss-style resort is perched atop a hill overlooking charming Sapa, whose town centre is dominated by a Catholic church built during France’s Indochina occupation. It’s still quite early so the streets of this town, that sits 1,600 metres above sea level, are relatively quiet.

The resort is the only modern building in Sapa.

Khac suggests I get some rest before our first tour of the area – “a 2.5 kilometre valley walk through terraced rice fields to a Hmong village.”

The prospect of going to a Hmong village and meeting Vietnam’s native people, whose ancestors came from China about 5,000 years ago, has me waiting in the lobby a half hour before Khac’s return. Khac, now accompanied by another man who acts as his copilot, drives to a high spot on a road just outside Sapa where a group of Hmong women greet us.

No sooner do we begin our trek when three young Hmong women approach us, pushing handmade crafts – silver jewelry, colourful bags, brightly decorated wall hangings and their traditional clothing – at us.

“You buy from me?” says one.

Then another adds: “You buy from me?”

Soon, they’re all asking: “You buy from me?”

We are surprised by their excellent knowledge of English.

“We learn English from tourists,” says one of the women – an 18-year-old who is pregnant with her second child.

As we walk, the women tell us of their rituals and customs and dispense with the hard sell after we agree to buy something from them at the end of the walk.

One of the women – her name sounds like Lily – says there are over one million Hmong people living in Lao Cai province and her Red Hmong tribe shares the village with their rivals, the Black Hmong.

Khac later tells me the Red and Black Hmong were fierce opponents at one time but were ordered by Vietnam’s communist leaders to get along.

“They (rival Hmong tribes) never marry each other – they barely speak,” says Khac as we come upon a group of Black Hmong women standing knee-deep in a muddy rice terrace, churning up the soil with their bare feet.

It takes two years of hard digging to create one of the rice terraces, which dominate every inch of the region.

There are no modern conveniences here and the water buffalo, covered in mud to protect them from insects and the blistering sun, serve as the workhorse of the rice paddies.

With the three women still in tow, we finally reach the

A woman sells produce in the market at Can Cau. village, where the modest homes are made of mud and straw and feature one large room divided into sections where two or three families live.

Each of the delightful women displays a gold tooth when they smile – a symbol of wealth within their community, according to our guide. Lily has two gold teeth.

“The last hill tribe was discovered in 1996 by a Vietnamese army officer near the Cambodia border,” says Khac. “There were only 120 Rucs when they were first found running around the jungle naked, but there are over 500 today”.

Besides their headdress, another way you can tell the tribes apart is that some, like the Red Hmong women, shave their foreheads back several inches because, they say, it brings them luck.

The rich, sandy soil around Sapa supplies the Hmong people with the perfect land on which to grow their rice and corn, the main staples of their diet.

Each day, in the communities surrounding Sapa, markets are held and the Hmong people show up selling crafts and vegetables. One of the most amazing markets is held each Saturday in remote Can Cau, a three-hour drive from Sapa. Can Cau is reached after navigating a treacherous stretch of highway that winds through some of the most jaw-dropping landscape on Earth.

After finishing our valley trek, the three Hmong women remind us of our promise to buy something. We fork over $20 and get more than we can carry – wall hangings, silver jewelry, a couple of handbags and other trinkets.

“You come back again,” says Lily. “We never forget you.”

As we climb into Khac’s car, I hear Lily say to a new customer, “You buy from me?”

Tour East Holidays offers fully escorted trips to Vietnam for as little as $3,900, including airfare.

Go to www.toureast.com 19 - Travel Life

Inside straight talk about

Las Vegas 10 tips that will make you a winner before you even reach the casinos

TraveLife - 20

TraveLife’s June Kuniyoshi has been a regular visitor to “The Strip” for the past decade and shares her inside info on everything from cheap hotels and restaurants to $9-a-day rental cars

1

Rental cars come in handy (taxis in Vegas can be pricey) and can be found for as little as $9/day at priceline.com and other travel discount sites. Other reasons to hire a car in Vegas: day excursions to malls and other points of interest at your own convenience; when you check out of your hotel at 11 a.m. you’ll have a safe place to keep your bags before boarding your plane back home. All hotels in Vegas have free valet parking but, of course, tips are expected when picking up your car.

2

Hotels can be booked for as little as $29 a night for lower tier properties such as Stratosphere and Tropicana during the off season. Top tier hotels such as Bellagio and Wynn can be booked for as low as $159 (off-season of course). But beware!

Vegas hotels fluctuate with the supply and demand theory and can be priced as high as $500/night (during large conventions and holidays). Before booking value-priced hotels, check the location because cheaper hotels tend to be off The Strip and you could end up 20 minutes away from the action. Don’t be shy to ask for an upgrade when checking in - you could end up with a killer 1,500 square foot suite, as I did recently, for the same price.

3

Shopping on The Strip is fantastic, from the high-end stores such as Hermes, Channel and Prada, to the usual suspects like Gap, Bebe and Coach. Both types can be found at Ceasar’s Palace.

Hidden Gem: Las Vegas Premium Outlets, 875 S. Grand Central Parkway. There you’ll find designer stores offering items at less han than original price.

4

Dining in Vegas is no longer cheap. Long gone are the days of the $5.99 buffet. This is now home of the “fine-dining foodie” where noted chefs Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse strut their strudels. Even buffets start at about $10 for breakfast and $30-plus for dinner. Head for the Grand Lux Cafe at Palazzo, P.F. Chang’s at Planet Hollywood and Pink Taco at the Hard Rock Hotel for affordable middle-class fare. If you are the type that is willing to spend a small fortune on meals try STACK at the Mirage, Little Buddha at the Palms and Sensi at the Bellagio.

Most hotels also offer mall-style food courts in case you lose all of your money gambling.

5

Entertainment in Vegas is never-ending. Too many shows to name but “The Beatles Love” show by Cirque du Soleil is truly breathtaking and my favourite in Vegas. Check lasvegas.com for a complete list of shows. Hidden Gems: the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay and the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel are the best venues to catch a concert. Each holds a maximum of 2,000 and draws the biggest bands in the world, including the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, the Killers, Depeche Mode and Metallica.

6

Drinks, like food, are not cheap in Vegas, although deals can be found. Expect to pay between $8 and $15 per cocktail.

Drinks in a casino CAN be free if you are gambling, but remember, the lower the bet, the less likely a server will be in that area of the casino. They usually hang around table games, though. Big tips also insures their reappearance. Hidden Gem: Fat Tuesdays margarita bars, located in a variety of hotel shopping areas, have the most potent $1 Jello shots.

7

Club life is extreme but not for the faint of heart. Cover charges can be as high as $50 – after a one hour wait in line. To avoid both of these party killers make friends with hotel employees who might have connections at clubs, and talk to the club promoters that walk The Strip. They can put you on guest lists. It also helps to be a young, attractive woman because promoters are told to fill the clubs with beautiful people.

Remember to dress to the nines as the hot clubs in Vegas, such as Pure, TAO, Jet, Tryst and LAX, can rival any in L.A., South Beach or New York.

8

Gambling should be played at a level you are comfortable with. Don’t get bullied into playing for more money than you’re prepared to spend. Set yourself a gambling fund before you arrive and stick to it!

Quick tips:

a) Don’t be fooled by 1 cent and 5 cent slot machines. They always have jackpots flashing above them that require you to play $1 to $2.50 minimums per spin. You’re better off playing a 25 cent machine that requires 3 coins per spin to win jackpots. b) When playing table games, ask players who look like they know what they are doing for help. It is usually in their best interest to help you as most table games are set up as players vs. the dealers/house. c) If you win large, make sure you tip the dealer as they are payed relatively low wages and tips are pooled together and split among all the dealers.

Note: In the case of large wins, $1,200 on slot machines and about $10,000 on table games, the IRS (U.S. taxman) will take up to 30 per cent on the spot. When you get back to Canada you can contact IRS agents in Toronto and get a “W7” form, which will get most of the tax back.

9

Attractions worth checking out around Vegas include The Pirate Ship Show outside of TI , the Lion Habitat at the MGM Grand, the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio and the grandest of them all, the Fountains at the Bellagio.

Thrill seekers should not miss the rides atop of the Stratosphere, especially the Big Shot, a “Drop Zone-type” ride on the 113th floor of the building. My “Plain Weird Award” goes to the Lake of Dreams at the Wynn and the strange head that pops out of the water.

10

When in Vegas, kick back, relax and tan. At least eight months of the year, temperatures range between 25C to 40C, so pools are good places to see and be seen. Nothing can top the majestic pools at the Bellagio or Wynn but Mandalay Bay offers a real sand beach complete with a giant wave pool, the only one of it’s kind on The Strip. Young Hollywood stars can be spotted hanging out pool side at the Palms or the Hard Rock Hotel.

Actually, if you want to party at a pool, the Hard Rock offers a party called “Rehab” every Sunday, from April to September.

Cover charges apply, but this is one of the only hotels that allows guests not staying at its property to lounge around its pool.

21 - TraveLife

Movie

madness grips

Vatican TraveLife - 22

MARC ATCHISON PHOTOS

St. Peter’s Square, above, plays a leading role in the much anticipated movie Angels & Demons, starring Tom Hanks.

Rome’s churches play a leading role in Tom Hanks’ film Angels & Demons

By Marc Atchison

V

ATICAN CITY – This holy city is bracing for an onslaught of international visitors the likes of which it has never seen.

Not even conclaves, those most secretive of meetings held to elect a new Pope, have generated this much interest in the Holy See. What’s prompting this Vatican City frenzy is the soon to be released and much anticipated movie Angels & Demons, the prequel to the hit film The Da Vinci Code, both adaptations of Dan Brown’s gripping novels of the same names. For the record, Angels & Demons actually preceded The Da Vinci Code to book stores and was only considered film worthy by Hollywood after The Da Vinci Code raked in over $200 million at the box office.

In Angels & Demons, the main character, academic sleuth Robert Langdon, to be played once again by Tom Hanks, is called upon to save Vatican City and its untold riches from being blown off the face of the Earth by an ancient scientific cult, The Illuminati, which has some serious issues with the church.

In a mad dash across Rome to find the cult’s four “Alters of Science” – to be used as alters of sacrifice for the four cardinals kidnapped by the group’s “Hassasin” – Langdon and a few friends must reach a canister containing a potent but unknown substance called “antimatter” – its destructive force

makes even the largest atomic bomb look like a firecracker – while a doomsday clock ticks down.

Langdon’s chase takes him to several of Rome’s most historic churches, where The Illuminati has promised to leave the cardinals’ dead bodies before blowing up St. Peter’s Basilica and all around it as revenge for what the cult believes was the church’s mistreatment of scientists over the ages.

Just as The Da Vinci Code attracted the curious to the places in England, Scotland and France mentioned in Brown’s novel and used as locations in the movie, Italian tourist officials are anticipating a similar response from readers of Angels & Demons, the better of the two books in this humble critic’s opinion.

So, hating crowds as I do, I decided to get a head start on Dan Brown’s many fans well before the movie’s release date – May 15 – and headed off to Rome to search out the churches mentioned in the book. Just like Langdon, I only had a few hours in which to locate the churches and study their many riches.

There was no time to waste.

First stop, the amazing Pantheon, a former Catholic church and the oldest domed structure in Rome, where Langdon thinks the Hassassin is holding the cardinals.

A beam of sunlight streaming through the Pantheon’s famous oculus when I arrived highlighted some of the ornate crypts laid out neatly around the simply decorated landmark, which was 23 - TraveLife

The Swiss Guard, top, are called upon to defend the church in the movie while Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, above, which is located next to the world famous Pantheon, opposite page, is where a murder victim is found.

TraveLife - 24

built in 31 BC to honour all gods and rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian after a fire in 126 AD. In the 17th century, legendary Italian artist Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini – despite creating many priceless works for the Catholic church the book reveals him to be a scientologist and an Illuminati member whose secret landmarks Langdon must find and decode in his search for the cult’s secret lair – had some of the Pantheon’s bronze melted down for use in his famous baldachin above the high alter of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Pantheon’s crypts contain the remains of some of history’s most famous characters – Victor Emanuelle II, his son Roberto and the great Italian artist, Raphael, who died at the age of 37 from pneumonia.

I jump ahead of the storyline at this point – the place where the fourth cardinal is murdered, Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers), sits directly across from the Pantheon in the Piazza Navona, so, since I’m here ...

I’m told by a local woman who was soaking up Rome’s midday sun in the piazza that it once served as Rome’s market (circa 15th century).

Bernini’s ornate fountain stands as the piazza’s centerpiece, surrounded by other great works from Francesco Borromini, Girolamo Rainaldi and Pietro da Cortona. The square contains two other fountains and an Egyptian obelisk.

This is not the first time the piazza has been used in a film. Scenes from the 1990 remake of the Hollywood classic Coins in a Fountain were shot here and director Mike Nichols used it in his movie adaptation of Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch 22. Angels & Demons’ director Ron Howard used the southern section of the Piazza Navona to shoot scenes for the upcoming movie.

Although not mentioned in the book, a church located around the corner from the Pantheon, the Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Basilica of St. Mary over Minerva), is well worth deviating from your Angels & Demons tour to visit.

It proved an unexpected surprise and even came with a Bernini statue – a cheery baby elephant carrying a small Egyptian obelisk on its back – that the great sculptor erected in 1667.

Resting beside the main alter in the ornate Gothic church - the only one of its kind in Rome – stands a magnificent marble statue, carved by the hands of none other than Michelangelo, called Statua del Redentore (the Rising Christ). In a glass coffin under one of the church’s alters rests the remains of St. Caterina (St. Catherine). Two other crypts in the church contain the bodies of two popes, Leona and Clemence VII. Several cardinals and bishops rest beside the popes, both of whom came from Italy’s famed Medici clan, who counted four popes on their family tree.

It was in the Dominican monastery adjoining Santa Maria that the astronomer Galileo was tried for teaching that the Earth revolved around the sun. He was forced to recant and retire.

Next, I headed across town to the Piazza del Popolo (the People’s Square) home to an opulent church called Santa Maria del Popolo. It’s located in the northeast corner of the great square, which contains part of the original Roman Road. Ironically, the square was once used as a place of public executions, the last one occurring in 1826 – that is until Langdon finds the mutilated body of one of the four cardinals in the church.

Santa Maria del Popolo, first built in 1099 and refurbished many times by several prominent designers, including Bernini, is an excellent example of Italian Renaissance architecture and a storehouse of historical riches.

The church’s great dome is decorated with Raphael’s moving mosaic

“Creation of the World” and canvases by Caravaggio (“Crucifixion of St. Peter” and “Conversion on the Way to Damascus”) as well Carracci’s “Assumption of the Virgin” hang on the walls. Bernini placed several of his more famous sculptures in the church, including “Daniel and the Lion.”

It’s hard to tear myself away from Santa Maria del Popolo but time was a factor and there was still much ground to cover, including the place Langdon found the second dead cardinal, St. Peter’s Square.

A long line of visitors stood patiently in a searing heat waiting to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, the centerpiece of the great square redesigned by Bernini in 1656. The square is filled with 136 statues, including great works like Bernini’s West Ponente, where in the book the second cardinal is found slain. The square is dominated by 288 columns, 144 pillars and thousands of tourists most days.

By the way, Langdon’s love interest in the book enters St. Peter’s Basillica wearing shorts – don’t even try it. Shorts are totally banned.

The West Ponente relief is elliptical, about three feet long and carved with a rudimentary face – a depiction of the West Wind as an angel-like countenance. Bernini drew a powerful breath of air blowing from the angel’s mouth outward, away from Vatican City, another signpost Langdon is supposed to follow to the next victim.

From my vantage point, I can see the shutters on the Pope’s apartment, the focal point of much of the book’s drama and intrigue.

The two main statues located in the square are of St. Peter, the first pope, and St. Paul, both executed – St. Paul was beheaded and St. Peter crucified like Christ – on this very spot. St. Peter’s remains now rest below the lavish main alter of the massive church, the biggest in the world.

Obelisks play a starring role in Angels & Demons – Bernini used them as markers for Illuminati members to follow en route to the group’s secret lair – and St. Peter’s Square has probably the most impressive of all, an Egyptian beauty placed in the Holy See by none other than Caligula, the enfant terrible of Roman emperors.

In all, there are 15 obelisks scattered about Rome, most hidden behind the locked gates of the city’s elite.

Our long line slowly pushed forward but with so much going on in the great square, I hadn’t noticed we had arrived at the awesome entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica, often called the most beautiful building in the world and one jammed-packed with priceless art created by a Who’s Who of history’s great painters and sculptors.

I rushed to the front of the great church where four twisted black marble columns hold up the golden canopy covering the main alter, under which, six metres down, St. Peter’s remains rest.

As mentioned in the book, the alter is surrounded by 99 golden lanterns but what Brown does not tell readers is that the lamps are fuelled by olive oil donated each year to the Vatican by selected Italian towns.

St. Peter’s tomb is off limits to everyone – the closest encounter worshippers get is if they line up to touch

the feet on a bronze statue of the first pope, which sits off to the right of the main alter. Because so many have touched the statue over the centuries, the feet have been worn down and the once detailed toes have practically disappeared.

Santa Maria della Vittoria is the last church I visit.

The small basilica located on Via Settembre was started in 1605 and houses one of Bernini’s most beautiful and controversial works, an erotic sculpture called Ecstasy of St. Teresa.

Langdon finds the fourth and final cardinal hanging in the middle of the church, his body engulfed in flames.

This is also where Langdon is confronted by the Hassasin. Ironically, the great Santa Maria della Vittoria suffered damage in an 1833 fire and required much restoration. Its façade was first erected between 1624 and 1626 and it contains great works by many noted Italian artists.

However, it’s Bernini’s masterpiece that dominates the church’s Cornaro Chapel. It depicts a moment described

by St. Teresa of Avila in her autobiography where she had a vivid vision of an angel piercing her heart with a golden shaft, causing her great joy and pain. The contorted posture and repose Bernini sculpted leaves one with the impression that the encounter was more passionate than painful and visitors are mesmerized by the saint’s voluptuous trance.

There are 935 churches in Rome and I think I passed every one of them on my search for the five places mentioned in Angels & Demons.

Suffice to say Angels & Demons is as gripping as anything Dan Brown has written and it has a rock-solid ending.

25 - TraveLife

Happy birthday Hawa

America’s 50th state gets set to celebrate its 50th anniversary of statehood and it has lots to celebrate, including being the boyhood home of President Obama

TraveLife - 26

27 - TraveLife

By Marc Atchison

K

ONA, HAWAII – There’s an air of excitement sweeping across the majestic Hawaiian Islands these days as the 50th state gets set to celebrate its 50th anniversary of statehood throughout 2009.

The eight volcanic islands that make up America’s most beautiful state were welcomed into the union in 1959 along with Alaska, the latter becoming the 49th state early in 1959 while Hawaii was admitted later, on August 21 of that year.

In addition, the spotlight has been on Hawaii ever since native son Barack Obama was elected America’s first black president in November, and a steady stream of the curious have invaded Honolulu, his birthplace, ever since.

However, the Hawaiian Islands were born long before the United States was a twinkle in the Founding Fathers’ eyes – a rupture in the Pacific plate between 70 million and 100 million years ago forced hot magma to gush to the ocean’s surface and form what now is America’s island paradise.

And the state continues to grow – the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii, a.k.a. the Big Island, continues to spew an estimated 3,800 litres (1,000 gallons) of molten lava through its active vents every second, thus creating more land surface which should be ready to use as resort property in a few thousand years once it’s cooled down. More than 1.5 billion litres (two billion cubic yards) of lava rock have come from this eruption, which started in 1983.

So, for those wanting to see how Hawaii was formed in the beginning and what it has become today, there’s no better place to visit than the Big Island, which, as its name suggests is the largest in the eight-island chain.

As our Hawaiian Airlines plane touches down in Kona, the unofficial capital of the western side of the Big Island – Hilo is the top dog on the eastern portion, where most of the volcanic activity takes place – we are

TraveLife - 28

greeted by a sea of black land as far as the eye can see.

The black lava rock that covers this part of Kona was the result of an 1801 eruption of the great volcano Hualalai, named after the wife of an ancient Hawaiian mariner. The molten lava that spilled from Hualalai, which sits 2,500 metres (8,271 feet) above the Pacific, shaped the delta in which Kona International Airport and most of the island’s resort properties now sit.

The most sought after holiday destination in Kona is the Four Seasons Resort, not just because it offers luxurious accommodation and great service, but also because it preserves and promotes much of Hawaii’s culture and heritage on site.

We are quickly introduced to Hawaii’s culture – past and present – as we make our way to our seaside suite when we notice surfers navigating the large waves that roll ashore on the resort’s lava covered beach.

“Do you know,” says our porter Joe, “that when Captain (James) Cook discovered Hawaii (in 1778) he sent word back to England that people here could walk on water. They were actually the earliest surfers.”

Today’s surfers congregate on the public beach outside the Four Seasons early each day to take advantage of the high surf, which also carries huge sea turtles onto the beach where they rest under a relentless sun – Kona gets less than 304 milliliters (12 inches) of rain a year. Guests are encouraged to look at the massive turtles – but from a safe distance.

“The turtles are very much a part of our heritage – we are seafarers and we respect all creatures from the sea,” says Joe, a fifth generation Hawaiian, who encourages us to visit the resort’s cultural centre, where a delightful man named Uncle Earl and his staff educate visitors on the ways of their people and the land that has been formed over time

The sunsets on the Big Island are romantic and fascinating, as are the giant sea turtles that crawl ashore each day to catch some sun and some rest.

MARC ATCHISON PHOTOS

When Captain James Cook discovered Hawaii, he thought people could walk on water. They were actually surfing, which they still do today.

by the island’s five volcanoes.

It’s Uncle Earl who suggests we hire a car and explore the Big Island because “what you see at the resort is just a sampling of the many wonders you will find on Hawaii.”

Each morning during our threeday stay, we hop in our Mustang convertible to explore different parts of the island and we quickly discover the Big Island has changed little over the centuries.

Day One: At Uncle Earl’s suggestion, we take a leisurely drive from the Four Seasons along Kona’s Queen Kaahumanu Highway (Route 19) south until it intersects with Highway 190, better known as the Mountain Road, to lovely Waimea, where many Hawaiians live.

The highway twists and turns through a lush tropical forest and in the distance we see the snow capped peak of Mauna Kea, which, at 4,200 metres (13,796 feet), is the tallest of Hawaii’s five volcanoes. Mauna Kea is where island residents go to experience snow – the summit is covered most of the winter – and some skiing actually takes place there. The mountain is also home to the world’s most powerful telescopes, the largest adze quarry in the Pacific, and Waiau, the highest lake in the world.

Waimea is also the gateway to the island’s fertile ranch country, where cattle graze at the base of the Kohala Mountains, and we pay a quick visit to the Parker Ranch, the largest of its kind in the United States. The Waimea area gets the most moisture on Hawaii.

The mountain highway connects with the Queen Kaahumanu Highway again at Waimea and we make our way

back to the Four Seasons Resort along the coastal Highway 19, where many of the island’s top resorts are grouped between lovely Kawaihae and Kona.

A number of state parks, wonderful beaches and historic sites line our route before we get back to the resort.

Day Two: We’re up early because Uncle Earl tells us the drive along Highway 11 to Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park in the Puna District near Hilo is long and full of sites where we must stop.

Highway 11 cuts along Hawaii’s rugged west coast where much of the island’s famous Kona coffee is grown in places Keauhou, Napoopoo and Captain Cook, the town named after the first European to visit Hawaii and where a simple monument him honouring stands.

The rich volcanic soil here is perfect for the coffee locals call “Lava Java” and which is now shipped all over the world.

A number of beautiful bays and pristine beaches supply us with lots of eye candy during our journey which takes us through the lava desert called Kau and past the “Great Crack,” a blemish left on the land near Kapaoo Point by a large earthquake. Highway 11 turns into Volcano Highway at Pahala and leads to the Kilauea caldera, which at 1,240 metres (4,078 feet) above sea level is the youngest of the island’s five volcanoes.

Kilauea has erupted intermittently since 1983, making it the world’s most continuously active volcano, which has added 200 hectares (500 acres) of landmass to the island.

There’s so much to see and do in this area we decide to book a room

at a Hilo hotel and stay in the area overnight so we don’t have to retrace our steps from the Four Seasons the next day. While the highways on the Big Island are all excellent, they are narrow and cut through small villages, thus reducing progress to a snail’s pace at times.

Day Three: Highway 130 is another coastal road that cuts through Hilo, and leads to some dramatic ocean views between Hilo Bay and Onomea Bay, a four-mile stretch that offers vistas a chance to see whales slipping through the gentle surf just offshore and leads to the area’s famed waterfalls. Rainbow Falls, located just outside Hilo, is an awesome sight to behold. Part of Highway 130 has been made impassable by the lava flow from the Pu’uoo volcano vent, which is an awesome sight in the early evening, when the red-hot lava seeps into the sea.

By the time we have to turn in the Mustang, we have covered much of the Big Island but we realize there is still much more to discover.

“Guess you’ll have to come back next year and explore some more,” says Uncle Earl as we bid him farewell at the Four Seasons Resort’s cultural centre.

One thing is certain – the Big Island has some pretty big thrills.

The Four Seasons Resort at Hualalai on the island of Hawaii is a 5-star plus hotel that offers special throughout the year. Go to www.fourseasons.com/hualalai/ to find out more about their special offers

29 - TraveLife

By Marc Atchison

K

ONA, HAWAII – I cringe every time I hear the words “Jack Nicklaus-designed” and “resort golf course” used in the same sentence.

This 18-plus handicap, who likes to golf while on vacation, has never met a Jack Nicklaus-designed resort course I liked.

In my opinion, the Golden Bear makes all his resort courses too hard for the average vacationing golfer – 20plus handicaps – who represent 90 per cent of those playing the game. He likes to punctuate his designs with too many bunkers in landing areas and too many long carries – hey Jack, we’re here to have a good time, not a long time.

However, I changed my mind when I landed in this lavacovered paradise on Hawaii’s Big Island and checked into the Four Seasons Resort at Hualalai.

That’s where I met a delightful man named Sid, who happened to be the “cart guy” at the resort’s Haulalai Golf Club, one of Nicklaus’ signature courses and home to an annual PGA Champions (senior) event each January.

All those abovementioned factors suggested I should avoid letting Nicklaus torture my ego once again and instead just hang around the Four Seasons’ delightful beachfront and pool bars during my stay.

Sid suggested otherwise.

“I can assure you this Nicklaus course is very playable – you’ll regret not playing this beauty,” said Sid, who enticed me with a sampling of cookies they hand out after the front nine at Hualalai.

Being the glutton for punishment I am, I arrived at the Hualalai clubhouse bright and early the next morning and Sid was there to greet me with cookies and the promise of “the best Bloody Mary on the island served off my cart” later.

“We refer to our Bloody Mary as a golfer’s lubrication,” said the cheerful Sid. With only a week to go before the PGA seniors teed off on this 7,117-yard championship course, the greens were set up lightening fast and the rough had been allowed to grow to tournament length.

Gulp! This, I thought, is going to be a long day.

Nicklaus starts tourists off at Hualalai with a trio of par-4s with lots of left-side fairway bunkers, naturally, but plenty of escape space on the right side, as well. Two bogies and a par later, I’m starting to agree with Sid that this course is very playable.

As well, the manicured emerald fairways and caramelbunkers jump out against the black lava canvas they sit on.

To his credit, Nicklaus and his design team did not disturb the precious lava rock the course is built around. This is eye candy that keeps getting sweeter as the game progresses.

The first par 5 is the 7th hole, a 538-yard treasure that requires hitting your tee shot to an opening in a lava wall and then punching your next shot through the opening while trying to avoid strategically-placed bunkers in the landing areas on both sides of the fairway. Walking away from this

TraveLife - 30

green with a par, which I did, makes you feel like a million bucks.

While the lava fields are as intimidating as they are beautiful, they rarely come into play during your round.

An unexpected but very satisfying 43 after nine, along with one of Sid’s Bloody Mary’s, a couple of cookies and the promise of some great ocean holes ahead, is all the encouragement I need to continue my round on this wonder Jack Nicklaus resort design. Okay, I have to admit, after nine I’m reassessing my opinion of Nicklaus’ resort courses.

Obviously, the Golden Bear must have been in a good mood while here – a stay at the Hualalai Four Seasons will do that to people.Three pars on the first five holes on the back nine – including a par on the par-3 12th, which has a bunker in the middle of the green (nice touch Jack) – has me dancing on the fairways and looking forward to the first ocean hole of the day, the 15th.

A course for all seasons

Nicklaus’ Four Seasons layout on the Big Island is full of big thrills

Hitting shots off the 17th tee into the azure Pacific Ocean at Nicklaus’s Four Seasons Resort course is one of the biggest thrills on the Big Island.

ANNIE TSU PHOTOS

That tricky Nicklaus set up the 15th tee box right in front of a small lava mountain with lots of bunkers behind it down the left and right side. Avoiding what my playing partner calls “those course design flaws”, rewards me with an easy lay-up to a well guarded but fairly flat green and another par.

Hey, what’s so hard about this course?

The par-3 17th, a 164-yard gem, and its Pacific Ocean backdrop is, in my opinion, the course’s signature hole, and a hole whose play is dictated by the winds blowing off the azure sea. Luckily for me, the calm wind allows my drive to drop 10 feet from the flag and I walk off with another par.

The 18th – a par-4, 366-yard beauty, is a fine finishing hole with lots of bunkers and a pond down the left side but plenty of landing space on the right, where million dollar-plus homes line the fairway. Actually, entry-level homes at the Residences of Hualalai start at $1.6 million and go well north of $30 million.

The golf is a lot more reasonable – $250 a round in the

winter months for all-day play. Yes, you can play an early morning round, have lunch, spend some time at the pool, and return for a twilight round – all for one inclusive price.

As I putted out on 18 – finishing the back nine in 39 for a remarkable 82 – Sid was there to greet us.

“Well,” chided Sid. “I only have one question for you Sid,” I said. “Are there anymore Nicklaus-designed resort courses on the island I can play?”

NOTE: Guests at the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort can play the Nicklaus course as well as its ultra-private neighbour designed by another PGA great, Tom Weiskopf. Just to let you know how exclusive these courses are, the membership fee is $250,000 and the annual dues are $28,000.

31 - TraveLife

COOL CRUISES Silversea earns our No. 1 rating for 2009 with an outstanding array of luxury ships and cool destinations TraveLife - 32

PHOTOS COURTESY SILVERSEA CRUISES

By Paolo McDuff

T

here’s lots of cruise lines. There’s only one Silversea.

Pity!

Miami-based Silversea is the Rolls-Royce of cruise lines and a perennial winner in “the Best of this and the Best of that” award categories handed out annually by travel magazines, including TraveLife.

In TraveLife’s opinion, there’s no better cruise line afloat – in any category.

There are many reasons why TraveLife makes Silversea its top line – 6-star service, luxury everything, state-of-the-art ships, no tipping allowed, spacious suites, Michelin-star-quality meals – but we go overboard in our praise because of the company’s destination offerings.

For a little company– five ships now and one (the Silver Spirit) coming onboard early in 2009 – Silversea sure gets around, offering voyages to all four corners of the world.

In fact, Silversea’s smaller ships go where few others cannot – into shallow harbours like Italy’s romantic Portofino, for example. And now, some of the coolest places to visit on Earth.

Silversea recently announced that the Prince Albert II, the latest addition to its fleet, will head for the Arctic June 1 and will operate nine expeditions there before heading south to spend the fall and winter exploring Antarctica.

“We believe there is a strong market demand for this

type of product and we are encouraged by the extremely positive response of our guests who visited the region this past summer during the Prince Albert II’s inaugural season,” said Amerigo Perasso, Silversea’s president and CEO. There’s a great demand right now among travellers to see the coldest regions of the planet – before global warming melts them.

Besides the comfort of their ships, Silversea passengers will be accompanied by a veteran Arctic expedition team made up of lecturers and naturalists, including geologists, ornithologists, biologists and historians.

Robert Peary wishes he had this entourage when he explored the Arctic in the late 1800s.

Passengers will be able to see polar bears playing on ice floes, puffins bathing in the sea and walruses soaking up the sun all from the comfort of their stately rooms.

Silversea is offering 7-day voyages as well as 10 to 16-day voyages that sail into the farthest corners of the frozen world.

To find out more about Silversea’s Arctic and Antarctica sailings, or any of their other industryleading tours, go to www.silversea.com

33 - TraveLife

Going

DOWN UNDER DOWN UNDER

Divers and snorkelers head for Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in Queensland for the thrill of a lifetime swimming with sharks, turtles and living coral TraveLife - 34

A

IRLIE BEACH, AUSTRALIA — Going down under the Great Barrier Reef while you’re Down Under is something most visitors put at the top of their “to-do list” while in Queensland.

The Reef, one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, is a sight to behold — either above or below the water.

Pilgrim divers — around 5,000 annually — make the trek to the Reef, considered the Mecca of diving. Many, like Keith Payne, never leave.

Payne took his passion for the sport to the extreme and now owns a company called Pro Dive Whitsundays in Airlie Beach that offers dive trips to the Reef.

Payne’s firm boasts one of the largest instructor training facilities in the world outside of the United States.

There are many places where diving is possible in Australia — like Townsville in Queensland and Cairns farther north — but Airlie Beach is where the Reef is

located, so need we say more?

Payne says many “holiday” divers get their feet wet for the first time in the azure waters surrounding the Reef and almost all do fine, despite expressing initial panic.

“It’s totally normal for people to be apprehensive, but those concerns dissipate with time,” said Payne. “I’ve seen people out of shape come in here (to his dive shop) who were not very good swimmers, but did fine underwater. I’ve also seen very athletic types walk in who panicked and couldn’t concentrate underwater. It’s all a matter of relaxation.”

The biggest concern of rookie divers, according to Payne, is coming face-to-face with a shark. He just laughs. “We’ve never had a problem with sharks. Sharks are curious but nonaggressive. It’s only the Great Whites that don’t play by those rules.”

Payne’s company offers a five-day dive trip on one of Pro Dive’s two vessels, the Ocean Pro or the Oceania. The trip begins with a two-day dive course that sets scuba rookies on their way to their certification as a PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) open water diver. The cost is about $450 (Canadian), which includes all meals on board and the use of dive equipment.

After the completion of two days of exams and pool training, it’s off to the outer portion of the Reef for the four mandatory training dives to gain certification, and then four extra dives for fun and experience.

Once in the water, dive students are drilled on various techniques for emergencies, maintaining buoyancy and ways to enjoy the underwater kingdom.

Once certified, the fun really begins for divers. Exploring the Reef is a chance to see some of the most beautiful marine life imaginable - turtles, stingrays and yes, even a shark. Don’t worry, the most common sharks in this area are tiny Reef Sharks which are more frightened of you than you are of them. For peace of mind, though, just don’t watch the movie Jaws before a scheduled dive.

What many don’t realize is that the Reef itself is alive. Coral is a living organism and is well worth a look for its colours and interesting shapes. Quality of visibility is usually never in question on the reef.

There’s even night dives and the Reef takes on a very different look. Corals open to expose their effervescent colours and the predatory animals that hide themselves during the day emerge to hunt and provide the opportunity for divers to view their habits. Disorientation is a problem at night, but really only adds to the thrill of the dive.

The sense of accomplishment that accompanies completing an open water scuba dive course is truly satisfying.

For information on Pro Dive Whitsundays in Airlie Beach go to www.prodivewhitsundays.com For information on Queensland, go to www.destinationqueensland.com Tour East Holidays offers trips to Australia starting $4,400 - www.toureast.com

35 - TraveLife

Top 18

Golf destinations for 2009

TraveLife - 36

Looking for a place to play golf this year?

We offer 18 suggestions and some are surprising

1

10

2

11

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.: There’s not a better golf course in the United States than Pete Dye’s Ocean Course located on this fantasy island and that’s why it’s our top destination pick.

VIETNAM: It’s not a misprint. The communist stronghold has just been voted the “No. 1 up-and-coming golf destination in the world” and the new courses around Denang are simply spectacular.

3

SCOTLAND: Forget St. Andrews. Too expensive. Too snobbish. Instead, look to the other side of the Firth of Forth where the East Lothian region offers lots of links-style courses — many better than St. Andrews — and with greens fees you can afford.

THAILAND: If you’re looking for a holiday with guaranteed great weather and golf, this is the place.

Courses in resort areas like Phuket are stunning. Hotels, food and golf are all top rate and very affordable.

ONTARIO: You don’t have to go far to find great golf here. A short drive south to the Niagara region or north to Muskoka will introduce you to outstanding courses framed by charming landscape. NOTE TO CLUBS: Drop your greens fees!

12

BAHAMAS: Caribbean golf comes at a high price but some courses offer lots of value for money. Example: The Abaco Club in the famed Abaco region of the Bahamas.

This is, without doubt, the best course in the Caribbean.

4

13

5

14

6

15

7

16

8

17

9

18

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Canada’s smallest province is big on golf — now a $100-million a year industry for the province which has produced some of the finest courses in the country.

FRANCE: Golf here is magnifique! Especially in the south, just outside Cannes and Nice, where courses designed by Robert Trent Jones (St. Donat) and Gary Player (Taulane) are among the best in Europe — and come with reasonable greens fees, too.

DUBAI: This Arab kingdom qualifies as the world’s biggest sand trap — but around the sand is built some lush golf courses. Dubai Creek and Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis are excellent but The Montgomerie golf coures is the one we liked most.

IRELAND: Just like Scotland, you can find values here but stay away from the Lahinchs and Ballybunions and instead go off the beaten track to charming places like Ardglass in County Down — our personal favourite.

WESTERN CANADA: British Columbia and Alberta have a great collection of courses and the best are huddled in the provinces’ resort areas — Whistler and Banff. The Arnold Palmer-designed Whistler course and the Stanley Thompson gem known as Banff Springs are must plays.

PORTUGAL: With the Caribbean becoming too expensive, golfers are looking for winter alternatives and this country is now a hotbed for enthusiasts. Courses around Lisbon are excellent and far cheaper than those in the Algarve.

WEST VIRGINIA: The American coal-mining Mecca has turned some of its old pits into amazing golf courses — our favourite is the Pete Dye Course — and the hospitality here is second to none.

QUEBEC: The winter wonderland known as MontTremblant has transformed itself into a summer paradise for golfers with a collection of great courses that all come with stunning views. Le Geant (the Giant) remains our favourite.

CHINA: There are more golf courses being built there than anywhere else in the world. The Mission Hills complex in Shenzhen offers 216 holes all designed by an all-star cast of players and designers like Palmer and Nicklaus and soon even Tiger Woods.

VIRGINIA: The seven courses around historic Williamsburg are all fabulous — championship in every way. We highly recommend Kiskiak, Briskshire (a Curtis Strange design) and Kingsmill.

NORTH CAROLINA: This state offers just as many golf thrills as its southern cousin but courses around historic Ashville, stately Pinehurst and along the Atlantic Coast are as good as golf gets.

BERMUDA: How good is the golf here? Well, even the island’s nine-hole course, a gem that sits in the shadow of Fairmont’s pink Southampton Princess Hotel, has received top recognition for its challenge and good looks from all major golf rating magazines. The island’s other seven championship courses are even more impressive.

37 - TraveLife

TraveLife - 38

Ancient Culture in a modern land Taiwan’s aboriginal history dates back 8,000 years and it’s still alive and doing very well today

39 - TraveLife

By Paolo McDuff

W

ULAI, TAIWAN — Two unsuspecting tourists are coaxed on stage by some lovely local dancers and allow themselves to become part of the show at the Aboriginal Heritage Centre.

The two men are told to get on their hands and knees, drink tea from a bowl and then are spanked with a brush.

The audience howls with laughter.

Then, a chair is strapped to their backs on which one of the female dancers sits. The men are then expected to get to their feet and walk across the stage with the slight women and chair teetering on their backs.

The more athletic of the two tourists gets to his feet without a problem; the other grimaces and groans and the audience claps their encouragement. When both are standing upright, photographs of the men carrying the women are taken and the audience applauds. The show is over.

Lee, the man who accompanied us to this aboriginal village, located 30 kilometres southeast of Taipei, pokes me and says: “Those tourists probably don’t know it but they just got married. That (dance) is part of the aboriginal marriage ceremony.”

You may not want to get married in Taiwan, but you’ll find it an easy country to fall in love with. In fact, it was love at first sight when I arrived in Wulai, where about 3,000 members of the Tai Ya tribe still live and where aboriginal history can be traced back 8,000 years.

Lovely Wulai, nestled in majestic mountains where hot springs and an 80-metre-high waterfall dominate the landscape, has become a favourite with weekenders from Taipei. But it also offers oversea visitors a glimpse into the

1-800-525-3663 www.ar.jal.com TraveLife - 40

PHOTOS COURTESY TAIWAN TOURISM BOARD

Tour East Holidays offers packages to Taiwan starting at $380. Go to www.toureast.com for information

country’s intriguing culture.

Contrary to popular belief, Taiwan was well settled before the first Europeans (the Dutch) arrived in the 17th century.

The Austronesian people were here 6,000 years before Christ was born and 260,000 aboriginals still inhabit one of the most modern countries on Earth.

And while the bustling markets, high-end shopping districts and nightlife of Taipei are what many foreigners come to enjoy, small aboriginal villages like Wulai are what intrigues us most.

An ornate archway greets visitors at the entrance of Wulai, where traffic is banned.

The main street bustles with souvenir shops selling aboriginal handicrafts.Children holding colourful umbrellas play between the massive boulders that protrude from the shallow river where crayfish and rainbow trout are abundant.

A bridge that crosses the river leads to the entrance of the national park where visitors board a gondola for breathtaking views of Wulai Falls — the largest of many waterfalls in the area — and the surrounding gorge.

Tiny Wulai is dominated by hot spring hotels and public baths where visitors soak in medicinal waters which, according to local legend, cures everything from sore backs to sore toes.

The gondola takes riders to the top of Wulai Falls and the entrance of a hotel, conference centre and the Yunxian playground — a nature park with beautiful gardens, paddle boats, nature trails and even a natural obstacle course which children seem to love.

Wulai is often called the Coney Island of Taiwan and is easily accessible from Taipei by local bus. Many Taipei hotels even offer shuttle service to Wulai.

Taking shots with Cece Cece Scott is a well-known freelance writer and photographer whose work has appeared in many Canadian publications. She shares her photographic tips with readers so they can take better pictures while on vacation.

Tips to pack away in your photo bag

By Cece Scott

Y

ou are pumped.

Your e-ticket and boarding pass are printed, the zippers on your luggage are strained tighter than a pair of jeans at a Weight Watchers meeting, and your fake and bake tan is ‘bueno’.

You are ready to record every sun-filled moment, every swim up bar, every flower-bedecked drink and every fireball sunset with your camera so you can show your friends on future winter nights.

But how do you make sure those random shots you take measure up to the memories you want to document?

There are three key things to remember to make sure your upcoming trip is an excellent photographic experience.

1- Before you go, assess your equipment. If you are shooting digital, ask yourself if you have a back up battery and a second memory card? (The number of times I have heard people curse in disappointment because their battery is dead or their memory card is full is unbelievable.)

If you are still shooting film, (I am a diehard film disciple), make sure you have lots of it at different ISO speeds. To ensure film does not suffer from exposure in the airport x-ray screening process, bring your film in your carry on. Take the film out of its canister and put it in a clear plastic bag, (medium to large Ziploc bags work well), and politely but firmly request that an agent conduct a hand inspection.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) screening officials are “encouraged to comply with the

request provided that it does not compromise or jeopardize CATSA’s air security policy and procedures.

While film under ISO 800 is supposedly not affected by x-ray screening, it is still highly important to protect when going to a location, and certainly tantamount when bringing your images back home.

2- Give some thought to the kinds of images you want to take, both along the way as well as at your destination. Do an online search of the area you are travelling to and see what photographic excitement you can document while you are there.

3- When shooting digital, the ease of snapping everything that moves is tempting. Shooting digital is fun, it’s instant, it snaps the moment without too much thought or planning as to how the image is going to turn out. However, try being aware, attentive; spend a few minutes of every vacation day looking around; not only at the obvious but also for the not so obvious; the black blob, that is a sloth, hanging motionless from a oversized tree limb; the mocking face of a spider monkey sucking on a beer can stolen from a tourist’s cooler bag.

Instead of just taking pictures, try making them.

Once you’re home, activate your photo journey in a timely manner. Don’t plan to do it, do it! Select your favourite images and archive them in an album or on a CD. NEXT ISSUE: Cece looks at what cellphones take the best pictures. Contact Cece Scott at latchscottphotoandwriting@gmail.com 41- TraveLife

Singapore

Opening the doors on Raff les’ history TraveLife - 42

Singapore Sling recipe • 30ml gin • 15ml cherry brandy •120ml pineapple juice • 15ml lime juice • 7.5ml Cointreau • 7.5ml Dom Benedictine • 10ml Grenadine • A dash of Angostura bitters • Garnish with a slice of pineapple and cherry

MARC ATCHISON PHOTOS

A bartender at Raffles first served the Singapore Sling in 1910 and it has now become very much a part of the historic Asian city.

Fabled hotel has many stories to share with guests

By Claudia Tsang

S

INGAPORE – Few hotels employ a resident historian. But then again, few hotels are as historic as this city’s famed Raffles.

Leslie Danker, the historian, pulls his slight frame onto a stool in Raffles’ Writers Bar and tells a scribe all there is to know about this, the most treasured hotel in Asia – a place where many of the suites are named after the famous writers who once sat where Danker now sits.

Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham …

“Oh yes, all the great writers have stayed here,” Danker informs me. “Somerset Maugham stayed with us three times and it was here that Kipling wrote From Sea to Sea,” says the man who has held his present job for 34 years and leads twice-a-day tours of the palatial property now registered as a national landmark.

The colonial-style property, recently purchased by the prestigious Fairmont Hotel chain, was first opened in 1887 by three Armenian brothers – the Sarkies – as a 10-room bungalow off Beach Road – “when there was still a beach here,” says Danker about an area of Singapore where reclaimed land has pushed the water’s edge well away from Raffles’ main entrance.

Raffles, named after Singapore’s founder, an Englishman named Sir Stamford Raffles, is a place where not just famous authors, but a Who’s Who list of nobility, including Queen Elizabeth, along with the kings and queens of stage and screen have stayed while visiting this intriguing city state.

If only the walls could talk in this hotel. But who needs walls when Danker is only too eager to reveal Raffles’ secrets to a stranger.

“Come with me,” says Danker as I follow him onto the handsome white porch that wraps around the front of the hotel. The man who first started here as a bellboy is now called upon to indoctrinate new staff “because new

employees must appreciate and understand the history of Raffles to enjoy working here.” He leads me up a main floor ramp and into a room filled with billiard and dining tables.

“This is the famous Bar and Billiard room,” says Danker.

“Did you know why it’s famous,” asks Danker who doesn’t give me a chance to answer before continuing … “because this is where a tiger was shot and killed – right under this billiard table.”

The story goes: One day in 1902 “the last wild tiger in Singapore” ran into the then open-air billiard room, was cornered under the gaming table and then shot by a “brave” patron.

At least that’s the official story. Danker has a different version.

“The frightened tiger actually belonged to a native show but had wandered off and sought refuge under one of the tables. It was shot and killed by an overzealous drinker.

“It was like shooting fish in a barrel,” Danker smiles.

The next place Danker shows me is the legendary Long Bar on the hotel’s second floor where the famous Singapore Sling cocktail was first poured by an inventive barman named Ngiam Tong Boon in 1910.

“Boon’s original sling recipe is safely locked away in one of our museum’s display cases,” says Danker, who insists we try one of the potent pink coloured drinks, originally created to lure more females into the Long Bar, before heading to the third floor museum.

The Long Bar has become one of the most popular gathering spots in Singapore with tourists. Large ceiling fans cool customers who crack peanuts and then discard shells onto the floor – the only place in squeaky-clean Singapore where littering is allowed.

The three-tiered arcade where the hotel’s bar, some restaurants, high end shops and museum are located overlooks Raffles’ courtyard where fountains and palm trees cool those who seek shelter from Singapore’s sweltering heat. Danker lowers his voice as we enter the museum, 43 - TraveLife

The colonial Raffles property, above, is named after noted Englishman Sir Stamford Raffles, who helped modernize the former Chinese fishing village and whose imposing white statue, right, still casts a long shadow over the city. located across from the hotel’s beautifully decorated 388seat Victorian theatre.

“The museum opened three and a half years ago,” says my guide as we scan the rooms filled with weathered photographs of former guests, old trunks and suitcases, and many books that either refer to Raffles or were written in the hotel by the likes of Kipling.

“When word got out that we were starting the museum, former guests sent us artifacts and each year we receive more and more,” notes Danker.

On the way back to the Writers Bar, located off the hotel’s sun drenched plantation-like lobby, the historian points to one of the 12 suites named after famous people. Raffles only offers suites – 103 in all. They come stuffed with comfy overstuffed furniture, modern electronic features, and a butler, who jumps to your every command.

Tropical hardwoods and exquisite carpets – over 700 handmade Persian masterpieces, to be exact – are featured in the rooms and public areas and give Raffles that homey feel.

“That’s why we get so many repeat guests,” says Danker.

“They feel like this is home – their residence.”

Over 70 per cent of Raffles’ guests are of the leisure variety but the hotel is adding more and more features to attract business clients.

Raffles is also home to some of Singapore’s best restaurants – places where the rich and powerful gather. A top among that impressive list is Raffles Grill, where fine French cuisine is accented with the freshest tropical fruits and vegetables.

Danker insisted we poke our heads into the Grill, which overlooks the hotel’s lush tropical gardens.

A large silver serving dish sitting on a cart, one big enough to hold an oversized turkey, caught my eye as we looked around the impressive room.

Without hesitation, the informative Danker had another story at the ready relating to the gleaming piece of history.

“During World War II, Singapore was occupied by the Japanese, which made Raffles its headquarters. The serving dish was one of the hotel’s original pieces and staff feared it would be taken by the Japanese when they left. So they buried it in the hotel garden until after the war,” Danker tells me. “It now stands as a symbol of freedom.”

After the war, Raffles was used as a transit camp for prisoners and then in 1987, the government declared it a national landmark. In 1989, the hotel was closed during a two-year refurbishment project, one that added the arcade, brought the hotel up to modern standards but, in looks, returned it to its glory days of the late 1800s.

One of the great traditions at Raffles, Danker tells me, is its New Year’s Eve party.

“It’s held in the main lobby,” says the historian, “and families come from many different countries to be part of the tradition.”

The lobby is bathed in natural light and accented with colonial furniture and large floral displays.

Tropical birds, which sneak in when the doors are opened fly freely about the distinguished entrance with the gleaming white marble floors.

Staff is friendly and the jovial doormen, in their traditional Singaporean garb, are often asked to stand straight and tall and have their photographs taken with giggling tourists.

They’re always accommodating, especially to those who are not staying at Raffles.

“Raffles is as much an historic site as anything in Singapore,” says Danker.

Go to www.raffles.com for more on this Fairmont Hotel Tour East Holidays offers tours to Singapore starting as low as $2,199 and can arrange an upgraded stay at the legendary Raffles Hotel.

Go to www.toureast.com for more information.

45 - TraveLife

Hop aboard

Tour East Holidays

Come with us to China, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, Indochina, Japan, Australia or wherever you want to go

...and enjoy the ride

www.toureast.com