ISTANBUL Where East Meets West
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17 28 Beaches Scenic, and Beyond surreal GOA LEH JUL/DEC 2018 PLAY | EAT | SHOP | RELAX | EXPLORE ISTANBUL Where East Meets West MYSTIC MOUNTAINS GANGTOK Monsoon 2018 Take your membership CONTENTS to the PLATINUM LEVEL FEATURES RCI Platinum® is the highest level of membership 06 Lisbon offered by RCI®, which provides you with a range The hidden charms of Lisbon of valuable benefits, in addition to those which 12 Istanbul you already receive as a RCI® member. Where east meets west A week with RCI 17 Goa Beaches and beyond 20 Pondy French connection 23 Coorg Offbeat travel 28 Leh Scenic, surreal 31 Gangtok GUARANTEED DISCOUNTS: Save up to r3,000 on on services at elite Plaza Premium Lounge at Mystic mountains r Exchange Holidays, 1,500 on Exchange Split Week Bengaluru, Hyderabad and New Delhi airports. 36 Puri Holidays and 10% off on Extra Vacations GetAways*. Temple town PRIORITY ACCESS: Get priority access^ to FREE UNIT UPGRADES*: Complimentary last inventory available at high–demand destinations. 39 Munnar Nature therapy minute upgrades when you take an Exchange Holiday. FOREX SAVINGS: Get exclusive benefits on the 43 Mussoorie The perfect hill break purchase of foreign exchange and other benefits DEPOSIT RESTORE#: Deposit a week up to 6 from Centrum Forex. PG.19 months and receive full Deposit Trading Power. Wish you were here CITY DISCOVERY: Get a special 20% off on airport GUEST CERTIFICATE*: Save up to 50% when you transfers, city tours, restaurant booking etc. Feed your 26 Switzerland gift a RCI® holiday. adventure spirit Off the beaten track 50% OFF: Get a 1–year subscription to Travel + LOUNGE ACCESS: Get an exclusive 35%* off Leisure Magazine at 50% lesser. by taking a trip to the majestic Also in this Issue PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP FEE Dudhsagar falls. 11 Editor's Pick 34 The Interview 46 In the Spotlight: Croatia 1 2 3 4 5 48 Fee Reckoner Year Years Years Years Years r4,199 r7,169 r10,029 r12,719 r14,779 51 New Resorts 54 Member Speak *RCI Platinum® membership and benefits are subject to terms and conditions. Fees mentioned are exclusive of taxes. Applicable taxes will be charged extra as per government regulations. Please call the RCI member helpline for details. RCI reserves the right to modify/withdraw Platinum membership/Platinum benefits without prior notice. ENDLESS VACATION | 3 RCI Member Helpline Toll-Free (all India): 1.800.419.2131 Website: RCI.com Editor’s TRC Affiliations NOTE DISCOVER ROYALTY AMIDST Get set, slow down! Moving on to Europe, Lisbon reveals its hidden charms, again Good things come to those who only to the serious seeker, on MODERN LUXURY wait; from the photographer Pg. 06. Check out the fascinating who waits hours on end to get city of Istanbul in pictures, on a perfect shot of Aurora borealis Pg. 12. Also, read about a member to the people who lineup outside who travelled across the world the barbeque joint in Texas at and published a book chronicling 4 a.m. The same is true for those her journerys. who go on vacations. No matter where you wish to That’s why we bring you A Week travel, I hope you will find this With RCI—a 7-day travel itinerary edition of Endless Vacation to some of the best destinations inspiring. in India. Admit it, it’s impossible to do Goa in two days or uncover Finally, don’t forget to follow us the wonders of Leh in three. Give on Facebook to get your dose yourself ample time and you may of travel inspiration and other discover more than what you exciting updates. actually came for. Slow down and savour the good A week into Goa (pg. 17) and you times with your loved ones. will realise that beaches are not the only thing famous there. Stay longer in Puri (pg. 36) and you Happy holidays! may want to take up the art of applique work in Pipli. Pondy’s Ramada Resort Kumbhalgarh - DB39 (pg. 20) French culture and aura convinced some folks to move Aruna Jathar Spread over 6 acres, Ramada Resort Kumbhalgarh brings the finest in royal hospitality with its traditional there permanently. Truly, wonders ethos and modern comforts all under one roof. await those who slow down. This serene hideaway offers the ultimate in privacy and relaxation with accommodation in Regal Suites and Pool Villas. The swimming pool has a mocktail bar, coffee shop and a spa. Pangat, the resort’s multi-cuisine restaurant offers the finest in vegetarian cuisine. Jain food is arranged on request. The Kumbhalgarh Fort is easily accessible from the resort. 4 | JUL - DEC 2018 Destination | Lisbon Lisbon | Destination The Hidden The stars are aligning for the Portuguese capital. Charms of Here’s what we discovered Lisbon about Europe’s best-kept secret. One of Europe’s more affordable capitals, Lisbon Lisbon is an unpretentious beauty, a place where you can sit at a café sipping a two-euro glass of wine from a vineyard in the Douro Valley while marveling at centuries-old buildings clad in patterned tiles, or azulejos. Many travelers pass Peering down at the entrance through the city on their way to the beaches and to St. George's Castle from the villages of southern Portugal’s Algarve coast, but ramparts above. it is well worth a stay of two or three days. The Above: One of Lisbon's old- fashioned trams. city is small (about 6,00,000 people) compared St.George's Castle St.George's with other Western European capitals but no less rich in history: Romans and Moors first laid claim to Lisbon, and it later rose to prominence thanks to explorers such as Vasco da Gama, who blazed trade routes to Africa and India during the Age of Discovery. Today, Lisbon is undergoing a revitalization but remains mostly free of global chains. Another delightful surprise: Almost no one walks around with a smartphone in hand. Even then it’s presumably to snap a photo of the light that filters through one of the city’s older districts, such as the maze-like Alfama, which extends to the Tagus River. Lisbon grew up along its banks, and then in the 19th century the city grew inland, and neighborhoods, such as Príncipe Real and Chiado, emerged. Get to know them and you may find that you too want to keep this once- sleepy city all to yourself. 6 | JUL - DEC 2018 ENDLESS VACATION | 7 Destination | Lisbon Lisbon | Destination The Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara garden, in Prícipe Real. uses a wooden clip to expand the glove’s fingers, mists baby powder inside and then instructs you to prop your elbow on a small pillow so she can pull the glove over your hand. For a pick-me-up of a different sort, stop into one—or both— of the city’s sweetest spots: Manteigaria (2 Rua do Loreto; 011-351-213-471-492), where you can savor a tiny warm-from- Soaps and creams on display at The triumphal Rua Augusta Arch on Praca do Comércio fronts the Tagus River. the-oven pastéis de nata (a Chiado's Claus Porto, a jewel box of a shop where the cabinets are original traditional Portuguese egg- to the space's former incrarnation as a pharmacy. in the breeze, and largos (small custard tart) while you watch Alfama & Mouraria Chiado At (21 squares), where clusters of tables dozens more get made through 21 PR Concept Store Praça do Príncipe Real; 011-351- Alfama was once a bustling invite you to sit down for coffee Lisbon’s most cosmopolitan a glass partition, or Landeau 213-469-421), you’ll find brightly sailors’ quarter. One of its highest or wine. neighborhood lies west of (103 Rua Rodrigues Faria; 011- points affords a panoramic view Alfama and is lined with restored 351-917-278-939), where slices colored women’s clothing from In the neighboring Mouraria (or over the city and the Tagus 18th-century buildings. There of dense chocolate cake are the Portuguese women’s fashion “Moorish quarter”), you can pop River and is a great way to get are international brands here, precise, thin and decadent. label Meam, plus leather shoes, oriented. To get there, catch a into A Vida Portuguesa (23 Largo but you’re better off sticking quirky jewelry and silk scarves. Tram at 8:30 in the morning— do Intendente Pina Manique; to the more unique shops. Tiny Príncipe Real Work up an appetite wandering you’ll sit alongside locals as it 011-351-211-974-512) to browse Luvaria Ulisses (87 Rua do Leafy gardens, colorful 19th- through the surprisingly hidden rumbles uphill—to arrive at St. made-in-Portugal products, Carmo; 011-351-213-420-295) century mansions and lots of 17-acre Botanical Garden (58 Rua George’s Castle (Rua de Santa from notebooks by Emílio Braga, has been selling nothing but shops make this neighborhood da Escola Politecnica; 011-351- Cruz; 011-351-218-800-620) when a family company that’s been buttery leather gloves in neutrals set back from the river pleasant 213-921-800), lush with ancient it opens at nine (crowds usually making them by hand since 1918, and jewel tones, like emerald for a stroll. Wonderfully palms. You can’t go wrong at don’t start swarming the entrance to wall-mounted swallows made and cherry red, since 1925. cluttered with chandeliers and the intimate Taberna da Rua das Rich chocolate cake is pretty much the until about 10). Here, 11 towers from ceramist Bordalo Pinheiro’s When you’re ready for a fitting, only thing on the menu at Landeu.