COMPASS by COX & KINGS TRAVEL
Griff Rhys Jones In Petra Penguin CLASSICS Falklands’ wildlife
New culinary holidays – with the experts Holidays featuring former MasterChef MasterChef Travel is an inspiring new collection of culinary holidays, revealing contestants in 2014 the wonders of the world’s great food destinations in the company of experts Andrew ‘Koj’ Kojima – Thailand Simon REEVE and fellow food lovers. Masterchef Travel holidays are not competitive – they Ash Mair – Spain are an opportunity to spend time with local experts who share their passion for Dhruv Baker – India & Mexico cooking and provide an authentic understanding of their region’s cuisine. The “I’m ridiculously lucky” James Nathan – Vietnam holidays also include plenty of time for exploring many of the countries’ most Keri Moss – Turkey & Morocco captivating sights. Larkin Cen – China A number of holidays also feature MasterChef personalities and on the right is Sara Danesin Medio – Italy LET’S DRIVE a list of former MasterChef contestants who will be taking part in trips in 2014 and the destinations where you can join them. Coastal Canada
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Welcome to Compass
There’s truth in the old saying travel broadens the mind: experiencing other cultures and climates inevitably makes us look at our own lives with new eyes. But sometimes it is the destination as much as our perception that changes, and in this issue of Compass we take a fresh look at some of these exciting places.
The Falkland Islands for example. Most British people immediately think of the 1982 invasion, but dubbed the Galapagos of the South Atlantic, this sprawling archipelago is re-emerging as an exciting wildlife destination, as Mark Stratton discovers (p53). For many years Ethiopia remained off travellers’ itineraries, but as the country’s magnificent Unesco-listed Omo valley becomes increasingly popular, Sue Watts reports from Ethiopia’s newest destination, Bale Mountains National Park (p44).
When I met Simon Reeve recently he was just setting off to Ethiopia, for part of the Sacred Rivers series he’s currently filming for the BBC. It was fascinating to hear how he went from being an investigative reporter to one of the BBC’s star travel presenters (p14). And just as interesting is legendary comedian turned travel presenter, Griff Rhys Jones, who enjoys a dusty adventure in Petra for Compass (p28). There’s also MasterChef: The Profesionals winner Ash Mair explaining his love of Basque cuisine (p80).
Elsewhere in this issue, we float down the Mekong delta (p38), spend a perfect day in India (p48), take a leisurely drive along Atlantic Canada’s coastline (p60), and share our water with naughty monkeys in Indonesia (p58).
Along with a round-up of all the latest books, gadgets, travel news and competitions, the spring issue of Compass is packed with information and inspiration. And wherever your inspiration takes you, please write and tell us about it, we love to hear from you.
Jennifer Cox, Editor
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 3 Contents | SPRING 2014
Contents Spring 2014
34 60 Journeys Life
22 SPAIN | 48 hours in Malaga 48 INDIA | India in a day 14 GUEST TRAVELLER | Katie Parsons explores one of the Stephen McClarence suggests Simon Reeve world’s oldest cities some of India’s most memorable On why he will never follow in experiences Michael Palin’s footsteps 28 JORDAN | Into the valley Griff Rhys Jones marvels at the 53 FALKLAND ISLANDS | Animal 66 ART TOURS | History island marble of Petra antics of the South Atlantic Andrew Allen reveals Sicily’s Arabic Mark Stratton on the Galapagos of and Norman influences 34 COOK ISLANDS | the South Atlantic Desert island discs 80 FOOD | Ash Mair Aaron Jennings finds there’s more 58 INDONESIA | Journey to the MasterChef Travel’s Basque expert than picture perfect beaches centre of the earth on Spanish cuisine Sasha Wood discovers the delights 38 VIETNAM | Delta force of Java and Bali 86 UK | Step back in time Liz Boulter savours one of Asia’s Christopher Somerville on the most fertile regions 60 CANADA | Home from home Gower peninsula, south Wales Paul Wade explores the coastal 44 ETHIOPIA | Beauty and the beast delights of Atlantic Canada 98 ONE GIANT LEAP Sue Watt discovers the African English National Ballet dancer nation’s indigenous wildlife Zdenek Konvalina travels to California
4 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL Contents | SPRINg 2014
DON’T Simon Reeve Ash Mair Ben Kane MISS... p14 p80 p70
80 44 26 News & views Reviews
7 DEAR COMPASS 90 CHARITY SPOTLIGHT | 72 BOOKMARK Your letters and stories Sporting chance From survival stories to celebrating Sonya Timms on Magic Bus in our beautiful planet 8 NEW DIRECTIONS Mumbai’s slums What’s new at Cox & Kings 77 WANTED ON VOYAGE 92 SOMETHING TO DECLARE A little luxury for your carry-on 18 THE HOTLIST Michael Booth considers The best in travel this season Danish happiness 77 BEAUTY SPOT Rejuvenation for springtime 26 SIX OF THE BEST | 94 BEHIND THE SCENES Local markets The timeless appeal of 86 A TASTE OF THE WORLD Our experts pick their Tower Bridge Wines from France and favourite haunts South Africa
70 COMPASS POINTS Ben Kane on how he brings Competitions ancient Rome to life 12 TRAVEL IN FOCUS 80 NOT TO BE MISSED Winning images and your chance Forthcoming events around the UK to win next time & the latest food news 77 BAG IT Win a Briggs & Riley suitcase
96 COMPASS CROSSWORD Cryptic brainteaser
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 5 EDITORIAL | SPRING 2014 Compass Contributors SPRING 2014
From Not the Stephen Author Michael Ben Kane Nine O’Clock McClarence Booth’s books was born in News and Smith is an award- include: Just Kenya, raised and Jones to winning As Well I’m in Ireland and Three Men in travel writer, Leaving, which worked as a a Boat and scaling 15 British contributing regularly to The saw him travel to Istanbul vet before travelling the peaks for Mountains, Griff Times and Daily Telegraph. and back in the footsteps world indulging a passion Rhys Jones has enjoyed a Specialising in the UK’s small of Hans Christian Andersen; for ancient history. Author long career as a comedian and market towns and gently Sacré Cordon Bleu, a Parisian of the best-selling Forgotten thoughtful traveller. Having just fading seaside resort, Stephen cooking memoir; Sushi and Legion and Hannibal series explored his Welsh roots for is also a big fan of India, Beyond, a food journey of historical adventure novels, ITV and accompanying book which he has visited more through Japan; and Eat, Pray Ben’s books are born from Insufficiently Welsh, Griff takes than 20 times. Preferring Eat, nominated for British his obsession with Roman time out to discover the rosy byways to highways, in this Travel Press Award in 2013. In history. And roaming history delights of Petra for Compass issue he shares his favourite Something To Declare (p92), … as he explains in Compass (p28). spots (p48). Michael probes the Danish Points (p70) happiness myth. www.benkane.net Liz Boulter has worked for the Guardian’s michael-booth.com @BenKaneAuthor Saturday Travel section for 14 years, regularly @themichaelbooth Facebook.com/benkanebooks writing travel features for its pages, as well as its Sunday sister title the Observer. Specialising in southern Europe and Asia, in this issue of Compass, Liz floats along the colourful waterways of the Mekong delta (p38). The Compass Team
EDITOR Jennifer Cox STAFF WRITER Katie Parsons ART DIRECTOR Joanne Francis DESIGNER Ines Menendez PUBLICATIONS & WEB EDITOR James Innes Williams COMPASS ONLINE Kimberley Hay ADVERTISING Mark Stacey ILLUSTRATIONS Matt Broersma WITH THANKS Philip Hamilton-Grierson, Nigel Hosking, Sasha Wood, On the cover GENTOO PENGUINS, Eleanor Day, John Patterson, Balaji Kandasamy, THE FALKLAND ISLANDS Peter Hilton, Louise Stanion, Neill Prothero, Katie Liddell, Thomas Saunders, Jonathan Fitzsimmons, Ellen Cross, Vessela Baleva, Michael Allford and Sara Danesin Medio PRINTER Colophon www.colophon-uk.com IMAGE CREDITS Nick Gregan (www.nickgregan.com), William Whitford, Eleanor Scriven, Robert Harding, istockphoto, Bigstock and Shutterstock Editorial enquiries [email protected]
Compass is published by Cox & Kings Travel Ltd, 6th Floor, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4EE. W: www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass T: 020 7873 5000 F: 020 7630 6038.
6 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL dear compass | NEWs & VIEWS Dear Compass...
star letter Dear Compass, My husband and I are lucky enough to take one big holiday a year with Cox & Kings, it’s the highlight of our year and we spend many months looking forward to it. This year we’re going to Brazil. We’ve partially been inspired by Michael Palin’s excellent BBC series, but we’ve dreamed about seeing the Amazon for years. It occurred to me that much as we enjoy travelling, we enjoy thinking about travelling just as much. Part of our New Year ritual is pulling out all the travel articles we’ve clipped over the previous year and laying them out on the dining room table with a map of the world. We then open a bottle of wine and – argue would be putting it too strongly, let’s say debate … – all our possible holidays. We draw up a short list. By the end of February, after two months of weighing up the merit of temples and markets and trains through stunning landscapes, we have chosen our destination. Then the planning and anticipation begins in earnest. Compass magazine is part of that ritual – in fact Louise Stanion’s starlit journey in Botswana came a close second! So thank you for the inspiration, and another exciting adventure to look forward to. Barbara Wilson, Kent
Dear Compass, Dear Compass, What a lovely idea to meander slowly Further to Nigel Tisdall’s column along a canal while being treated to and Paul & Mary Santer’s subsequent gastronomic delights [Winter 2013-14]. letter on the perils of jet-lag and hi- The culinary delights of a country are tech hotel rooms … My husband and just as great an attraction as the classic I recently returned from Melbourne, sights. It can’t all be medieval castles Australia, where the hotel put a call Dear Compass, and expansive landscapes – my knees through to our room. I was on the My wife and I just returned from won’t allow it. A couple of weeks ago my balcony, but could hear my husband’s southern India, what an extraordinary wife and I had a very enjoyable weekend frustrated attempts to pick up the part of the world, so different from in Madrid with some American friends. phone. I came into the bedroom to areas like Rajasthan. We took an What a joy, to ‘meet halfway’ and talk find him with the television remote extra case with us, filled with books about the old times while browsing the control to his ear. and clothes our grandchildren no longer tapas in Mercado San Miguel, indulging Sarah Vine, via email. needed, and dropped them in the tasting menu at Lúa, dipping off at a local school. It was humbling churros in hot chocolate for breakfast, how gratefully they were received. I and eating like a local – Basque sidra Dear Compass, would urge all your other readers to and steak – at Zerain. Yes, culinary I was delighted to see your article on do the same. camaraderie is the way to go. Oman in the last issue. My wife and I Mr H Montfort, via email Best wishes, have been considering going back to George Weinberger the Middle East, but the recent troubles Thank you for getting in touch with have made us wary. your excellent suggestion Mr Monfort. Thank you Mr Weinberger. If you are Donations like these not only make a looking for another gastronomic short Your article quelled any fears we genuine difference to local lives, but break, I recommend Spain’s Basque did have, and we can now picture create special memories as we are region, as described by MasterChef ourselves on a Middle Eastern welcomed into communities. Editor winner Ash Mair on page 80. Editor. adventure in Oman, driving the desert highways and coasts, and exploring at our own pace. We certainly enjoyed our holiday to the Middle East 15 years Wherever you’ve been or wherever you’re going, we would love to ago, and are now looking forward to hear from you. Write to us at: Dear Compass, Cox & Kings Travel, 6th Floor, going back. 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4EE or email [email protected]. The star letter will win a £50 John Lewis voucher. * Mr Jeffrey Moss, Surrey
www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass COMPASS 7 Cox & Kings | News & views NEW D irections
Nigel Hosking leads the teams responsible for creating our range of exciting travel experiences. Here is his pick of some of the new ones for spring 2014.
INDIA | Indian Odyssey
The sights, sounds and sense of adventure … travelling through India by train is an experience like no other. Deccan Odyssey is the perfect luxury travelling home from which to see India’s colourful countryside, arriving into a different town each morning. This itinerary starts in pulsating Mumbai, stopping for the cave temples of Ajanta and Ellora, the forts and palaces of Rajasthan, the wildlife reserve of Ranthambore and the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra, before ending in Delhi.
Indian Odyssey is available as a private Deccan Odyssey journey – 11 Days / 9 Nights from £3,495.
Antonine Baths, Carthage Calabash Hotel, Grenada
ART TOURS | Tunisia: Crossroads RELAX COLLECTION | of the Maghreb Granada: the ‘Spice Island’ Our tour of Tunisia visits many of the country’s most Granada is one of the Caribbean’s most picturesque islands, famous archaeological sites, including the ancient city of with its rainforests, waterfalls and lakes. The capital of St Carthage. However, all our expert lecturer-accompanied George’s provides a colourful backdrop to the delightful tours include some very special features. On this occasion harbour. Calabash Hotel is an exclusive retreat featuring one of the specials is a private curator talk in the Bardo just 30 suites set in tropical gardens. For the foodies, I can Museum in Tunis, offering valuable insight into some of recommend the Gary Rhodes restaurant, breakfast served the world’s largest, best-preserved Roman mosaics and on your private terrace and hors d’oeuvres delivered each Phoenician finds. evening to your room.
Tunisia: Crossroads of the Maghreb is available as an Calabash Hotel, Grenada – 9 Days / 7 Nights, all inclusive escorted group tour – 8 Days / 7 Nights from £1,445 from £1,745.
8 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL Cox & Kings | News & views
Africa | Art Safaris
Brand new to Cox & Kings is an exciting series of tours that combine travel, art, adventure, inspiration and Topkapi Palace fun: joining a small group painting and sketching the stunning wildlife MASTERCHEF TRAVEL | Flavours of Turkey and landscapes of Botswana, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia. These As one of our new collection of escorted culinary holidays, this tour explores tours will suit both beginners and the delicious range of flavours and cuisine, straddling east and west, found in the experienced artist, and are Istanbul. Join Keri Moss, MasterChef: The Professionals joint winner discovering accompanied by a team of tutors. the ancient spice and fish markets, as well as exploring the city’s landmark sights, such as the Topkapi Palace. Art Safari: Large, Grey & Unmistakable – Zambia is available as an escorted, Turkey: Legacy of the Ottomans is available as an escorted group tour – non-exclusive group tour – 10 Days / 5 Days /4 Nights from £1,195. 7 Nights from £2,895.
St Petersburg Banff National Park Jaguar, Pantanal
SINGLE CANADA | Highlights LATIN AMERICA | TRAVELLERS | of Western Canada Brazil, naturally! Majestic Russia As the world’s second largest While all eyes may be on Brazil due Our new collection of group tours country, it can be hard to know where to the upcoming World Cup, look is especially created for single to start exploring and experiencing beyond the football frenzy for an travellers who enjoy exploring Canada’s extreme diversity. A itinerary that samples the natural fascinating parts of the world in the perfect introduction is our highlights highlights of this immense country. company of like-minded people. tour of the west. Spend time in Combine a de rigueur stop in For all tours we guarantee single the vibrant, cosmopolitan city of glamorous Rio de Janeiro, with the occupancy of double rooms, as well Vancouver, marvel at of the world’s magnificent Iguaçu Falls, then visit as a fascinating experience to share: most spectacular rail rides on board the Amazon river and steamy jungle such as this programme to Russia, the iconic Rocky Mountaineer, and near to Manaus, and search for visiting its two greatest cities: enjoy discovering Alberta’s mountain wildlife in the vast Pantanal wetlands. Moscow and St Petersburg. towns of Jasper and Banff. Brazil: Wildlife, Waterfalls & the Majestic Russia is available as an Highlights of Western Canada is Amazon is available as a private escorted group tour – 7 Days / 6 available as a private journey – 9 journey – 13 Days / 11 Nights from Nights from £1,525. Days / 8 Nights from £1,945. £4,095. >
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 9 MORE TO SEE
MORE TO DO
MORE TO REMEMBER
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FAR EAST | Off the Beaten Track in China For those looking to explore lesser- known, ethnically diverse parts of China, we have a new tour focusing on Yunnan province, home of the legendary Shangri-La. With stunning scenery at Jade Dragon Snow Mountains and Tiger Leaping Gorge set with stark Tibetan temples, this itinerary moves far from the usual tourist trails.
Yunnan Explorer is available as an escorted group tour – 11 Days / 9 Tiger Leaping Gorge Nights from £2,995.
MIDDLE EAST | Jerusalem Short Break I’ve never forgotten my first visit to this extraordinary city: it has an atmosphere, a sense of history unlike any other city I have ever visited. Whether you’re discovering or rediscovering this ancient city, delight in a walking tour of Jerusalem’s old city: taking in the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple Mount, the Room of the Last Supper and the Western (Wailing) Wall.
Jerusalem city break is available as a private journey – 4 Days / 3 Nights Western Wall, Jerusalem from £975.
NEW ZEALAND | South Island Explorer The South Island of New Zealand offers a wealth of dramatic landscapes, with snow-capped mountains, stunning coastlines, tumbling glaciers and tranquil fiords. Our self-drive option includes the island’s historic cities and small towns, as well as scenic Abel Tasman National Park, Milford Sound and whale watching in Kaikoura.
South Island Explorer is available as a Self-Drive Private Journey – 16 Days / 15 Nights from £1,995.
Milford Sound
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 11 TRAVEL IN FOCUS | competitionS
WINNER: PLACES Peter Clarke Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar TRAVEL p h o t o GR a p h Y IN FOCUS COMPETITION
WINNER: WILDLIFE David Weightman Flamingoes, Chile
12 TRAVEL IN FOCUS | competitionS
WINNER: QUIRKY Jeff Hughes Hluhluwe-iMfolzi Park, South Africa
This month our winners receive a £50 John Lewis voucher with the runners-up receiving the new Galapagos with David Attenborough DVD. Next month’s winners will receive a £50 John Lewis voucher with the runners-up receiving National Geographic’s Dawn to Dusk photography book. HOW TO ENTER: Images must be taken in a destination featured by Cox & Kings and accompanied by a 40-word description. To enter, please visit www.coxandkings.co.uk/ compass. The deadline for entries is 30 April 2014 and the winning images will be published in the summer issue.
EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR COMPASS READERS Share your amazing travel stories with a professionally printed and bound photobook from BobBooks.co.uk. Create a unique travel diary with your own collection of beautifully printed images to document that amazing journey ... You can even share and sell your creations via the online Bob Bookshop. Creating your professionally bound book is as easy as 1, 2, 3 ... 1. Download our free Bob Designer software www.bobbooks.co.uk/download or select from our other book designing options. 2. Choose from their range of products and design your book using as many images and text as you like. Prices start from £14.99. 3. Follow the checkout to order your book and in 7-10* working days you’ll receive your beautifully bound book. If you cannot wait to win, Bob Books is offering a 20% discount to all Compass readers. All you need to do is enter the code COX&KINGS when placing your order.
*Please allow 10-12 working days for production and delivery of Photographic paper products and large format books. Delivery WINNER: PEOPLE times for locations outside of the UK will be longer. **Discount code must be entered during checkout to receive your 20% Neil St John discount. Offer valid on photobooks and calendars only. Not valid Girl in Cambodia on flickbooks, P&P, Design Service costs, gift vouchers or Bob Bookshop orders. Expires 31 March 2014.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 13 GUEST TRAVELLER | LIFE
14 Simon Reeve © Nick Gregan (www.nickgreganphotography.co.uk) GUEST TRAVELLER | LIFE
Pilgrim’s Progress
Compass editor Jennifer Cox meets BBC travel presenter Simon Reeve, a man on a mission.
Former Sunday Times investigative than most television travel presenters: you reporter turned award-winning BBC wrote the first book exposing al-Qaeda travel presenter Simon Reeve is a born and predicted the bombing attacks of adventurer. His career has seen him lap 9/11. How did that come about? the world three times, during which he’s been arrested by the KGB for spying in SR: I left school with hardly any a non-existent country and dined on qualifications. I was on the dole and penis soup in Madagascar (delicious ran charity shops, then in 1991 I got apparently). Compass editor Jennifer Cox a job in the post room of The Sunday meets the man who wrote the ground Times. It was a very meritocratic place, breaking book on al-Qaeda and battled and health and safety rules weren’t as soggy bottoms on The Great Comic evident as they are now: I quickly went Relief Bake Off, to hear why he will from photocopying clippings and making never follow in Michael Palin’s footsteps. phone calls to: ‘Oh there’s this Lebanese arms smuggler, if you can just follow him Jennifer Cox: What’s keeping you busy at from Gatwick airport…’. There were the moment? periods where I was sorting the post for eight hours a day, then spending another Simon Reeve: I was just in India eight on investigative work. It was fun, recording a new telly series called Sacred exciting, a wonderful place to learn: it Rivers, following the Ganges across was my university. northern India. It’s a three part series: Ganges, Yangtze and ... hopefully the JC: Then in 1993 the World Trade Center Nile. We’re meant to be going in three was bombed in New York. weeks, visiting Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt – depending on insurrection and SR: Yes, it was a massive attack that civil war. has largely been forgotten now. I started investigating the same day. After the JC: You’re probably less fazed by civil war Sunday Times lost interest, I carried
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 15 GUEST TRAVELLER | LIFE
on: thinking there’s more to this. I was young, full of enthusiasm, so I spent five years investigating and researching what we now call al-Qaeda.
JC: Sounds pretty dangerous.
SR: At the time it was more a case of there being crazy blokes out there who weren’t mad keen on west London amateur boy reporters asking difficult questions. I was investigating people associated with al-Qaeda who’d fought in the war in the Balkans – former Yugoslavia – now hiding out in Bologna. I remember being in a room with them clearly talking about whether or not to kill me... There were terrifying moments, but there were incredible moments too: I was a 20-something Brit kid being given classified information by James Bond type characters in the CIA and the Australia with Simon Reeve Pentagon, Pakistani FBI, militants … as no one else was asking them about it. it was as interesting and informative last few weeks the BBC has broadcast: JC: But you joined the dots and in as anything I’d done. Pomposity might Australia With Simon Reeve, Pilgrimage 1998 published The New Jackals, the have initially discouraged me from With Simon Reeve, The Tea Trail With first detailed investigation into Osama embracing the jollier aspects of travel, Simon Reeve, The Coffee Trail ... You Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, in which you but adventure and unfamiliar experiences started out visiting countries few of us predicted a massive terrorist attack are fundamental parts. There’ll always be had been to, now you’re making series against the US. Three years later 9/11 people who just want to lay by the pool about places like Australia. Did you run happened. and top up their tan, but it won’t last or out of off-the-beaten-track countries (in linger in the memory as much as if you 2006’s Equator alone you visited 18) SR: Yes. My phone started ringing before meet local people, try dodgy local food... or is it that you’ve developed a style – the second tower had been hit and didn’t destination, issues and journey – which stop for about two years. JC: Penis soup? [2008 in Madagascar, works in mainstream destinations too? filming the BBC seriesTropic of JC: Fast forward to current times, and Capricorn] SR: Incorporating travel with issues can that mix of boyish curiosity and harder- certainly appeal to a mainstream as well edged reporting is evident in your SR: Yes, I used to write books about as a niche audience. But yes, after Stans, television travel series: it’s not all meeting terrorism, now I eat penis soup on the in 2004 I made Places That Don’t Exist: colourful quirky local characters, you telly. But it’s fun, completely memorable a series about cool countries no one had highlight serious issues too. and I have travel tales to bore my son heard of – that don’t have a seat in the with for the rest of his life. United Nations – which I absolutely loved. SR: That’s certainly what the BBC and I set out to do: initially travelling to JC: You are extraordinarily prodigious: JC: Even getting arrested by the KGB strange parts of the world that we don’t presenting a major television travel series [for allegedly spying in Transnistria, a know enough about, and finding out every year for the last 10 years, bar separatist region of Moldova)? more about them. two. One was 2007, was that when you caught malaria? SR: Well, it’s a story now, I didn’t like it JC: Meet the Stans in 2003? at the time. SR: No that was marriage. SR: Yes, my first telly series was about JC: It’s only an anecdote when the the ‘stan countries of central Asia: JC: So 2011 was the birth of your son? dust settles. Kazakhstan, Kurdistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan wouldn’t let SR: Yes. Though you probably shouldn’t SR: Exactly. But no, we shifted from us in unfortunately. From the very first draw attention to the number of series Places That Don’t Exist going out on day it was wonderful, fascinating, a great I’m doing: I don’t want the BBC to think a late slot after Newsnight, to Equator adventure, and I knew that my career I’m on the telly too much. going out in prime-time, shot by a proper was taking a different turn from the very camera man who filmed it beautifully. serious journalism I had been doing. But JC: I think it’s a bit late for that: in the Trading on the allure of sunshine, tropics,
16 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL GUEST TRAVELLER | LIFE
beaches, we lured – to put it bluntly – But seriously, I don’t think he’s got we were working with. It was a lump in in an audience to tell them interesting anything to worry about: he’s a professor the throat moment, thinking this is as stuff. Indian Ocean [2012] and Australia for god’s sake. close as I’ll get to paradise. [2013] were other classic examples of that: it’s a means of telling stories, JC: What has travel taught you? JC: Worst travel moment? wrapped up in a journey. SR: Gobsmacking amounts about the SR: When I thought I was dying from JC: Where do you get your ideas from? world: about the challenges facing the malaria in Gabon, west Africa. It wasn’t people of Paraguay, the uplifting stories good – vomiting blood, temperature, a SR: I’ve got a giant map of the world of the nation of Somaliland. It’s taught touch off brain damage – I didn’t think it on my desk and I sit there and think: me a lot about us as well: how – beyond would end pleasantly. ‘Hmmmm, where has Michael Palin avoiding war and having enough food been?’ Because that’s out immediately. on the table – we are all searching for the JC: You said in your most recent BBC I’m not going to do a series on the same purpose or meaning in our lives. series Pilgrimage, ‘’Every journey needs a Himalayas or the Sahara, I’ve got to I’ve had plenty of time to sit around touch of jeopardy, it helps you feel alive’’. come up with something different. campfires with indigenous people talking about what motivates them to get up in SR: Did I say that? What an idiot. But we JC: Was Michael Palin an inspiration? the morning; hunting for food; why they do live very safe lives nowadays. When have that ceremony … Just as I have you’re out of your comfort zone – it SR: Completely. I grew up in Acton, west sitting in a pub with mates asking them doesn’t have to be physical danger, it London, and didn’t get on a plane until the same sort of questions. can be testing your taste buds – it makes I started working. I don’t come from travel more memorable, more special. a travelly background, but I watched JC: What has it taught you about baking? And you’ll come back with not just a tan Around The World in 80 Days and it In 2013 you competed in The Great but a new take on your fellow humans, a was very different to other TV travel Comic Relief Bake Off. new realisation how delicious penis soup programmes. It wasn’t patronising, or bats’ eyes can be. talking slowly and loudly to strange, SR: I honestly thought, not having seen foreign people, it was sitting down on the programme, that you just turned up JC: You’re a father now. Is there anywhere their level, putting his headphones on and were taught to make something. Then you’ve been on your television travels that them and letting them listen to his music. several weeks before, I was in Australia you’d like to return to with your son? It was ignoring the barrier of language and these emails started arriving asking and race and treating everybody as a what I was making, what ingredients I SR: I’d love him to see the world the fellow brother and sister. We try and do needed … it was bonkers. Then my wife way I’ve been privileged to see it. We the same, that’s why this stuff matters: explained the idea is: you turn up, make live at a fortunate glorious moment, ok, they’re in Somalia or Paraguay but a fool of yourself, everyone is amused, and people forget how damned lucky we’re connected. Yes it’s a long way but, everyone goes home happy. we are to be able to hop on a plane believe me, it can have an impact on us. and go to the other side of the world, JC: And you succeeded beyond your or travel within Europe. It’s something JC: Do you feel this is now the wife’s wildest expectations. our ancestors could only have dreamt responsibility of a travel presenter, to of, and our descendants will think was raise awareness? SR: I haven’t done a lot of baking, and a gobsmacking luxury. I would like to frankly that became extremely clear to take my son to Bangladesh. I would like SR: There is a fundamental responsibility everyone concerned. Though to be fair him to see the colour, the vibrancy. The when you’re making telly programmes to a couple of my fellow contestants had challenges that face most people on this get it right, and reflect the reality as I find practised: Warwick [Davis} had seriously planet, how they have to struggle and it. It can be quite a burden if I’m honest, practised. And Duncan – Dragon’s Den adapt to survive – even flourish – even and there are lots of times when I don’t Duncan [Bannatyne] – had got his butler when they don’t have fresh water coming feel we get it right. I’ve wrestled with that. to whip up a few recipes for him. That’s out of the tap. I think it would help him The responsibility is not just to give people a bit unfair. And I’m sure Warwick took feel a little bit more fortunate about his what they want but help guide or educate my sieve at a really crucial moment, thus blessed existence having been born on them so they’re properly informed. That sabotaging my cake making process. this little island with a British passport. probably sounds very pompous. I also plan to take him up mountains. I JC: Top travel moment? love climbing to the top and looking at a JC: You mentioned wrestling … David view. I’d love to do that with my son. • Attenborough and Michael Palin are SR: When I was growing up in grey getting older and the BBC must be on the Acton, I had a poster on the ceiling of lookout for the next Everyman Traveller. this perfect tropical beach: glorious Sacred Rivers will be broadcast Do you think it will come to a fight white sand, beautiful blue sky, palm tree on the BBC later this year. For between you and Professor Brian Cox? hanging over the glorious sea … I found information on Simon Reeve and his that beach in the Maldives, a private travels, go to shootandscribble.com or SR: I could take him, I’m from Acton. island owned by the conservation guide follow him at @Simon_Reeve
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 17 SPRING HOTLIST | NEWS & VIEWS
SPRING 2014 HOT LIST Katie Parsons rounds up the best new hotels and events launching this spring.
Don’t look down
A whopping 280 metres above the Sunwapta Valley between Banff and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies, the Glacier Skywalk offers completely unique and utterly spectacular views. Not for the faint-hearted, the glass- bottomed semi-circular walkway, which opens in May, juts 30 metres out from the sheer rock face. From ancient trees in glacial valleys below to ice-capped mountain peaks above, the walkway gives a thrilling bird’s-eye view of the glacial landscape. See glacierskywalk.ca
© Brewster Travel Canada
Fabulous Fabergé Commissioned by tsars and acquired by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, a private collection of Fabergé eggs has just gone on display in St Petersburg’s restored Shuvalovsky Palace (formerly the House of Friendship). This new Fabergé museum displays nine of the eggs, once Easter gifts by the royal family, as well as more than 4,000 pieces of fine art. One of the jewelled eggs was a gift from the last tsar to his mother, and is decorated with the portraits of Nicholas II and his heir.
18 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL SPRING HOTLIST | NEWS & VIEWS
© Juan Jaeger
© Juan Jaeger
© Juan Jaeger
© Juan Jaeger Parklife A new national park has been created in the southernmost tip of Patagonia, on the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego. Meaning ‘deep bay’, Yendegaia National Park includes the dramatic Stoppani Glacier estuary, which flows towards the infamous Beagle Channel. Forged by glacial forces, the landscape features a wide valley and marshy delta, now home to a diverse range of flora and fauna including leopard seals, elephant seals, foxes, giant petrels and giant woodpeckers.
Jewel of the East Kolkata’s (Calcutta) newly opened LaLit Great Eastern hotel has fantastic pedigree. Built in 1841, it was Asia’s first luxury hotel: beloved by Kipling, it was known as the ‘Jewel of the East’ and ‘Best Hotel East of the Suez’. Sensitively restored (including a 120-year-old oven in the Great Eastern Bakery) and set in exquisite one-hectare grounds, the newly opened LaLit Great Eastern combines Victorian, Edwardian and modern architecture, with the heritage wings being reminders of the British colonial era.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 19 SPRING HOTLIST | NEWS & VIEWS
Room with a view? Set 2,000 metres above sea level, Alila Jabal Akhdar (meaning ‘green mountain’ in Arabic), occupies a spectacular position atop Oman’s Al Hajar mountain range. Overlooking a dramatic gorge, the new sleek, design-led hotel is a couple of hours’ drive from Muscat and offers unparalleled views across the region’s rugged landscapes. Perfect for honeymooners, nature lovers or just those seeking a stylish escape from the desert heat.
A Thai retreat Featuring a 100-metre infinity pool, Shambhala wellness centre and a quiet eastern island-side setting, the new Point Yamu by COMO is unlike any other hotel in Phuket. Featuring the deft touch of award- winning interior designer Paola Navone, both public and private areas fuse natural material with flashes of colour to create airy-uncluttered spaces. Most bedrooms feature private terraces with views across the dazzling azure waters of Phang Nga bay to the Andaman Sea.
20 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL My travel wishlist 2014
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48 IN Malaga Katie Parsons explores a city worth turning left out of the airport for.
Malaga
1. WHY BOOK NOW and coastline, and is a perfect spot to watch With more than 300 days of sunshine a year, the sunset with a glass of wine in hand. this city – better known for its airport than its sights – is a perfect weekend spot for those 4. KNOWN FOR needing a quick blast of culture and vitamin D. Being the gateway to the Costa del Sol and Andalucía. Most flying into Malaga turn right for 2. GET YOUR BEARINGS the beach resorts, rather than left to Malaga: Founded by the Phoenicians and set between birthplace of Picasso and a charismatically the mountains and the Med, Malaga’s main classic Spanish city. sites are in the compact harbourside historic centre. With pedestrianised Plaza de la 5. WORTH WALKING Consticución at its heart, narrow passages If you’re not staying at the parador, take a taxi snake off in every direction. Malagueta is the or bus to the adjoining Castillo de Gibralfaro. popular beachfront area. Wander along the castle ramparts, down the steep hill back into the town and visit Spain’s 3. CHECK IN best-preserved Alcazaba, an 11th-century For a room with a view, try the Parador Moorish palace. Its bougainvillea–lined pathways de Malaga Gibralfaro. At the top of Mount wind up past patios and elaborate fountains Gibralfaro, it offers fantastic views of the city to the palace quarters at the top. At its base, Patio in the Alcazaba, Malaga
22 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL Malaga | JOURNEYS
Malaga Cathedral Wine barrels at El Pimpi, Malaga
the newly restored Roman amphitheatre holds is a local speciality but don’t miss the cured 14. OUT OF TOWN open-air performances throughout the summer. hams and tortilla. Calle Moreno Monroy, Plaza An easy day trip and just an hour’s bus ride Uncibay and the passages of Calle Fresca have from Malaga, Nerja is a charming white-walled 6. QUICK LUNCH plenty of good spots. End with some Malaga town perched on cliffs above its sandy beaches. El Pimpi is an institution popular with Malagueños Dulce, a sweet fortified wine, back in El Pimpi. Alternatively, the cities of Granada, Seville and and tourists alike. Recently expanded to a Cordoba can be easily reached by train or car. vine-covered terrace below the Alcazaba, El 11. EASY LIKE… Pimpi serves authentic tapas and local wines. Join the locals on Sunday and head to church. Need to know: Inside, 1920s flamenco posters line the walls, An ostentatious confection of marble, gold and visitors line up to be photographed in front and precious stones, Malaga’s cathedral was MALAGA of wine barrels signed by Antonio Banderas ‘completed’ in 1782, though still lacks its THE BACKGROUND (another of Malaga’s famous residents) and south tower (hence its affectionate nickname: Location: On the Costa del Sol in southern Picasso’s granddaughter. La Manquita, the one-armed lady). Closed to Spain, Malaga is 100km east of the tourists on Sundays, you can only visit if you Strait of Gibraltar at the feet of the Montes 7. CULTURAL AFTERNOON attend a service. After, stroll through the Parque del Malaga. The excellent Picasso Museum houses more de Malaga gardens wedged between the two Languages: Spanish. than 200 original pieces of Picasso’s work. busy roads that head to Malagueta. Asian Population: 1 million (2012). Learn more about the artist at his childhood bamboo forests, Mexican palms and Australian Time zone: GMT +1 hour. home, now a museum, on Plaza de la Merced: rubber plants are among the subtropical trees. Currency: Euro £1 = €1.21. featuring personal affects as well as pieces from Visas: No visa required for EU passport his private collection. During the summer, bull 12. WINDOW SHOPPING holders. fights take place most weekend evenings in the Well-known brands, perfumeries and a good 19th-century bull ring in Malagueta. mix of independent shops line Marques de POTTED HISTORY Larios, the main pedestrian street that runs from With a history spanning 2,800 years, Malaga 8. COCKTAIL HOUR the Alameda to Plaza de la Constitucion. Don’t has a claim to be one of the world’s oldest Try tinto de verano – a thirst-quenching mix miss the narrow lanes that wind off either side: cities. Founded by the Phoenicians in the of red wine and lemonade – or sangria: the the 19th-century town houses are now filled seventh century BC, the city has since cocktails of choice for Malagueños. with small boutiques and cafes – a perfect place been inhabited by the Romans, and then to rest weary feet and people watch. the Moors. The region flourished in the 9. DRESSING FOR DINNER Islamic era, as the chief port of the Emirate of Granada. Since the 1950s, Malaga’s Malagueta’s new Muelle Uno harbour 13. DON’T MISS economy has benefitted considerably from development has numerous bars and Semana Santa, the week before Easter, in mass tourism in the resorts of the Costa restaurants, most featuring the excellent Malaga is among the most celebrated in Spain. del Sol and is beginning to be known as a local seafood. For fine dining, try Jose Carlos Malagueños line the streets carrying candles, cultural destination in its own right. Garcia Restaurante or La Surena, or Bodega waving incense and applauding as enormous Quitapenas for a more casual dinner. floats and icons – some weighing more than TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS 5,000kg – are carried past in long processions. Recommended tour: Malaga short break: Led by local religious brotherhoods, participants 10. NIGHT ON THE TOWN A 4-day / 3-night short break at the Silken Instead of a bar crawl, try a tapas crawl. Starting wear distinctive nazareno robes – a tunic, a Puerta Malaga is from £425 per person with on Calle Granada, try a couple of tapas dishes hood with a conical tip used to conceal the flights, transfers and breakfast daily. wherever you can find a seat: grilled seafood wearer’s face, and sometimes a cloak.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 23 SIX OF THE BEST | NEWS & VIEWS
Six of the best… local markets
24 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL 1 SIX OF THE BEST | NEWS & VIEWS
2
Katie Parsons one two asks Cox & Kings Amphawa floating Padova market, experts about their market, Bangkok, Italy Thailand by Sara Danesin Medio – favourite markets. by Michael Allford, MasterChef UK 2011 finalist Far East expert “Whether selling food, For fresh and local seasonal produce, jewellery, antiques or Drive an hour outside Bangkok to find I can’t think of anywhere better than handicrafts, the irrepressible a floating market genuinely used by the market in Padova, where I grew up. heart of a city beats in the locals. This bustling weekend market Open every day except Sunday, I still local market. As well as has a fantastic atmosphere and is a great love to go back with my parents when I soaking up the sights and place for foodies. go home. Palazzo della Ragione, a grand arcaded building, is the best place to sounds, and sampling local Go with an empty stomach and try some start. The open passages house butchers, food, I always try out my of the different regional foods and snacks cheese stalls and fresh pasta shops, while haggling skills: it’s a great on sale. the Piazza delle Erbe is mainly fruit chance to chat to local and vegetables. The stall holders are vendor and satisfying to feel Food stalls selling local specialities and passionate about their wares and give you’ve walked away with quirky shops are squeezed along the tips on how to prepare their ingredients. boardwalks and colourful long tail boats It certainly beats the supermarket. a bargain (even if you later moor along the canal with barbecues discover you haven’t). Here, on board brimming with fresh seafood, Join Sara on MasterChef Travel’s Cox & Kings experts share exotic vegetables and fruits. tours in Italy. Find out more at their favourite local markets.” mastercheftravel.com.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 25 ASKHAM HALL Askham Hall is a stunning Grade I-listed Pele Tower set in the Lake District’s unspoilt Lowther valley and which dates back to the 12th century. Recently transformed from a stately family home into a unique and contemporary stylish retreat, it is welcoming guests to relax and explore its beautiful interior and surroundings.
The former family home of erstwhile Cox & Scandinavian style private spa with a sauna, Lowther, who is passionate about his herd of Kings product manager Marie-Louisa Raeburn, outdoor heated pool and treatment room takes shorthorn cattle, work together with the cycle Askham Hall offers a new style of hotel for the guests’ relaxation to the next level. of the seasons to produce a menu bursting area and follows the transformation of the nearby with fresh seasonal produce – all sourced sister establishment, the award-winning George Set in the heart of an incredibly productive from the Lowther Estate, and surrounding farms and Dragon country inn, which specialises in area for wild food, it features a Grade II- and woodland. delicious produce fresh from the family estate. listed garden, replete with stunning features, a wonderful vegetable patch and views over the Rooms start at £150 per night including For guests, a luxurious, intimate, unpretentious River Lowther and beyond. Meanwhile, animals breakfast and dinner is from £45 per person. home-from-home awaits, its 13 rooms gambol in the surrounding fields. Renowned matching modern furnishings and decorations head chef Richard Swale (la Maison de Marc For your chance to win a 2-night stay, visit with the charm and character of the historic Veyrat, Annecy, Noma, and a protégé of www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass. Owned house. Bohemian in style, it is the antithesis Anthony Demetre and John Burton Race), head and managed by Marie-Louisa Raeburn and of the traditional country house hotel and a gardener Colin Myers and co-owner Charlie her family.
www.askhamhall.co.uk 01931 712 350 • Askham Hall, Askham, Nr Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2PF
Askham Hall FP Advert - COMPASS.indd 1 07/03/2014 13:24 SIX OF THE BEST | NEWS & VIEWS three T-Nagar market, Chennai, India by Roop Kumar, India expert
No Chennai bride would consider her wedding preparations complete without visiting this market to buy her gold jewellery and saris. I spent hours here with my sister to find the perfect sari for her wedding. A Kanchipuram silk sari can cost anything from £500 to £10,000 with gold and silver threads interwoven with the finest silk. The colours are magnificent. For tourists, this is the best place to buy jewellery, either something custom made or chosen from one of the thousands on offer.
3 four five six Mercato, Addis Adelaide Central Surquillo market, Ababa, Ethiopia Market, Australia Lima, Peru by Jonathan Fitzsimmons, by Ellen Cross, by Vessela Baleva, Africa expert Australasia expert Latin America expert
As the largest open-air market in all South Australia is possibly Australia’s Peruvian food is definitely flavour of of Africa, the Mercato in Addis Ababa finest food and wine producing state, the month, and there’s nowhere better is the best definition of ‘a feast for all and if I am ever passing through to experience it than in this central the senses’ I’ve ever come across. You Adelaide I always head to its Central Lima market where Peruvians do their can buy anything and everything. For Market to stock up on local goodies. daily shop. Produce from all over the me, the best of the market is found Kangaroo Island brie and Pheasant Farm country is sold – fish from the coast, by wandering the alleyways: past pate by Maggie Beer from nearby Barossa tropical fruits from the Amazon, meat ironmongers welding by your feet; the Valley are two of my favourites. The from the Andes, and hundreds of recycling area where old tyres are turned stalls offer plenty of tastings, but the best different vegetables – so you can see into sandals and tin cans are made into way to discover the market is to go on the enormous variety that exists in trinkets; and sections for all sorts of a guided tour with Mark Gleeson who the country. I’m always amazed by electrical goods. Don’t leave without has been a trader and chef there for more how many different types of potato sampling some freshly brewed coffee. than 20 years. exist in Peru. •
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 27 JORDAN | JOURNEYS
Siq passage, Petra
Comedian and Great Welsh Adventurer Griff Rhys Jones marvels at the marble of Petra. Into the Valley
28 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL JORDAN | JOURNEYS
Petra by candlelight
were Perhaps in the past, I once speculated, ancient Nabateans Thereonly had littered this way with five ways into the ancient city adverts, shops, beggars, of Petra – crouching secretly guides or kiosks. I hoped as it does in its mountain they hadn’t. I fancied they bowl – and we took the best of knew the strength of its effect. them: straight down the gorge, Except that, as we turned a or siq (narrow crack in the corner, the ancient city’s most rock). I recommend it. Even if celebrated carved edifice you arrive in Jordan by hippo, emerged through a fold, like a those final two kilometres will sculpture shrouded in curtains be dramatic, awe-inducing and of stone. This was the fabled unrepeatable. (Though, er… Treasury: the one that appears we did repeat it, actually: the on all the posters, lit solely by following day.) hundreds more candles.
We arrived late. It was getting We were ushered to plastic dark. We had been advised mats like infant children to sit that we ‘had to do’ the directly on the sand in front candlelit tour. There was an of this marvel. The towering, expectant, theatre-crowd broken pediment, framing the audience at the gate. We giant urn and the elaborate shuffled on down towards Corinthian capitals, were the ruined city in a buzz of surprisingly delicate. Attendant expectation. statues have worn or been chipped away, but the carving The rough road at the head is protected by the architraves. of the valley was, indeed, lined It is sharp and detailed: a with candles, neatly set in parody of Hellenic effulgence, “The ancient city’s most celebrated paper bags. Guided by these looming out of the night. nightlights, we trudged down a carved edifice emerged” ravine under a fortuitous super- The Treasury is not in fact a moon, entering a towering, treasury at all. It was built as the shadows deep in the Refugees were seeping twisting, narrow canyon – a tomb, probably by a king, rear of the chasm, picked through the borders into actually more a cleft or crack. and certainly one who wanted its way through the candles Jordan. In Petra, one of Within this narrow defile, to pay tribute to the stylistic and stalked through the Jordan’s major tourist the stars seemed to swivel hegemony of the Greeks. It motionless, seated crowd. attractions, this was nothing above our heads. The sky looked like a special effect. new. The first mention of Petra was cut into patches of black. The complicated, pillared The pipes wailed on. A small calls it a safe haven. Those glowing candle-bags edifice appeared to have child started singing: “happy lit a perfect, flat, clean floor, pushed itself out of the rock. birthday to you”. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek twisting gently through the It had been carved entire. historian from around the siq, sometimes little more than As one, we visitors gazed Then it was finished. We time of Christ, described how 4 metres wide, occasionally in wonder. turned around and walked Antigonus Monophthalmus opening up to the size of a back; a restrained and modest (Antigonus the one-eyed), a tennis court; hemmed by It was miraculous. son-et-lumiere. satrap of Alexander the Great, walls of rock too high to sent expeditions against the glimpse the top. Suddenly there came a sound The following morning, in Nabateans in 312BC. “Petra,” of pipes, so loud I assumed daylight, I settled down to the Diodorus explained, “had Nobody shouted. Some even that it was recorded, but then Jordan Times. The Middle offered the fleeing people a resisted taking flash photos. I made out a man sitting in the East, I read, remained in refuge”. His account informs The flat concrete floor gave middle of the field of candles, ferment. Bombs had been us that the rocks of the gorge, way to areas of worn pavers. playing. As he warbled, and exploding in Damascus the this desert fastness, had They were of marble: a stone the cliffs alone amplified his day before. A ceasefire was been a hidden place since the imported into a place of stone. music, a cat came out of breaking up across Syria. earliest times.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 29 JORDAN | JOURNEYS
Over the next 500 years, the refuge in the desert became a city, a place of safety and a place of mystery too. Little is really known about the ancient Nabatean people who built it. And I rather like that.
archaeology has pieced But together some useful stuff about the Nabateans. We know that there are Syrian, Egyptian and Greek influences here. We know that the Romans built a great road that linked the eastern cities and this pink city in the ravine. They also constructed a slightly smaller high street for the town itself. It seems that Petra grew to be prosperous thanks to caravans traipsing in from the east, bringing frankincense from Yemen. We know all this and not much more.
We went back after that breakfast and repeated our arrival. And this time the whole city unveiled itself.
Last night’s shadowed gulf beyond the Treasury expanded, in the daylight, into another gorge. This was lined with streets of cavernous tombs, one above the other. Few of these are Greek fancies. They are mostly blockish, rhomboid things: semi-Egyptian or Assyrian openings to the underworld.
The living Nabateans of Petra worked out their daily existence where we walked, on the floor of the valley, overlooked by the death houses of their ancestors. In fact, little of their own city survives. The afterlife was a long business after all. The dead seemed to have demanded the best locations and the strongest buildings.
30 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL JORDAN | JOURNEYS
We trudged onwards into a wide central street. On one side stood Brown University’s reconstruction of the Great Temple: discs of fallen supports slung to one side like a giant’s ethnic jewellery.
A block further, the temple of the local god and king, Qasr al-Bint Far’oun. Blank, triangular and monolithic. It is the only major building to survive the earthquakes. And, at this place, where there is the least to see, stands the real lost centre of Petra. The houses have crumbled into a massive hillside of fallen stone. The streets, markets, houses, temples and colonnades of the Nabatean people are buried here. Tens of hectares of city lie where they fell.
There were more tourists now in the midday heat. We had The Treasury, Petra lost some of the hushed awe of the night. I began to envy the Swiss pioneer Burckhardt: “We arrived at what is actually he ‘rediscovered’ this place in 1812. The locals believed the a snapshot in time.” tombs were packed with the pharaoh’s treasure, guarded by djinns. The bedouin shot geologically. The valley walked back up to the Ottoman long rifles at the breaks, fractures, furrows gates. Modern Petra (Wadi carved stone urn on top of the and collapses. Nothing grows Musa) climbs up the hill and Treasury trying to release the on the slopes and the bare I recommend you do the gold. You can still see the shot rock forms into jags and same. There is a good local marks. Any strangers were shards, crests, dips, splinters restaurant up the top, near believed to be there to steal it, and pinnacles. the spring, called the Heritage probably by magic. But, as a Experience. result, Burckhardt pretty much We arrived at what is actually had it to himself. a snapshot in time. The rock Just remember, though, as is palpably wearing away. you brush at your clothes, that you, Nothing seems to move, the thick dust clinging to your Petra but everything is decaying. shoes is part of Petra itself. Mind was Imperceptibly the heat, the The city is not in fact going never easy to get to. It sits in wind and the scarce rain are to be there forever, but, on a cleft in Mount Hor, high up cracking and crumbling this the other hand, probably long and to the south of the Dead cake of pressed sand and enough for you to visit.• Sea. The day before, on the the city with it. Earthquakes way there, as we took the fast, have thrown down parts of A Great Welsh Adventure snaking road from 300 metres the mountains and rearranged with Griff Rhys Jones below sea level to the rose- others. Rocks are balanced screened on ITV in February pink range, we felt as if we waiting to fall. and his accompanying book Insufficiently Welsh (Parthian were mounting into nothing. Books, £14.99) is out now. Nabatean Corinthian Tomb, Petra There is plenty to marvel at We finished our tour and
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 31 jordan
tr aV E L E x per i e n c e d
Fa c E To Fa c E WITH JORDAN
Cox & Kings’ journeys to Jordan reveal the full depth of its history and the wild beauty of its landscapes. Discover Mount Nebo where Moses first viewed the Holy Land, the Roman site of Jerash and the crusader castle of Kerak. Bathe in the curative waters of the Dead Sea, drive into the desert wilderness of Wadi Rum and, greatest of all, clamber over the ancient rock-hewn city of Petra.
• Small Groups & Tailor-Made Travel • Highest Quality Services • Unrivalled Experience • Exceptional Value • Expert Planning • Personal Service
8-DAY JORDAN TOURS FROM ONLY £1,470
www.coxandkings.co.uk/jordan
To speak to an expert or request a brochure, please call 020 7873 5000, quoting reference COMPASS Petra, Jordan Petra, jordan
JORDRepeatAN | tra titlevel notes here
> All you need to know: JORDAN by Cox & Kings Middle East expert Peter Hilton
THE BACKGROUND LOCATION In the heart of the Middle East, Jordan borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west. LANGUAGE Arabic. POPULATION 6.5 million. TIME ZONE GMT + 2 hours. CURRENCY Jordanian dinar (JOD) £1 = 1.18 JOD. VISAS Can be obtained on arrival in Amman. SET YOUR COMPASS POTTED HISTORY Founded as a modern state in 1921, Jordan was recognised by the League of Nations under the British mandate in 1922 as the Emirate of Transjordan. Petra Half-built, half-carved into the In 1946 Jordan became an independent sovereign state, officially known as the rock, and surrounded by mountains, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Petra is one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites. TOP TIP Be sure to experience ‘Petra by candlelight’, when the light The Dead Sea Nine times saltier than of 1,800 candles and the calm of the night make for a haunting and the sea, the water’s high density allows *memorable visit. swimmers to float like nowhere else. Wadi Rum Famous as the territory of BEFORE YOU TRAVEL WHAT TO WATCH Lawrence of Arabia, explore this dramatic WHEN TO GO Lawrence of Arabia landscape by 4x4 or, for the adventurous, Jordan has a classic desert climate, with The 1962 British classic, directed by on the back of a camel. hot days, cold nights and cool winters. David Lean and starring the late Peter Jerash Built over 2,000 years ago, the Can be visited year round, but the August O’Toole in the title role, features some ruins of this Graeco-Roman city include heat should be avoided. great shots of Wadi Rum. many well-preserved Roman structures.
Madaba This town is best known for WHAT TO READ FIND OUT MORE its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, A History of Jordan uk.visitjordan.com especially a large map of the Holy Land. by Philip Robins The official website of the Jordan Tourist A study of the political history from Board, this site offers extensive information the 1920s, this book is a compelling on planning your trip to Jordan. Holiday Inn, Dead Sea account of one of the Middle East’s most A 2-minute walk from the shoreline, this important nations. BEING THERE contemporary resort hotel provides an WHERE TO STAY excellent setting to enjoy the Dead Sea Seven Pillars of Wisdom Petra Guest House, Petra experience. by TE Lawrence Just 100 metres from Petra’s gateway, This classic text is both a memoir by this 60-room hotel affords comfortable Marriott, Amman Lawrence of Arabia, a fascinating and accommodation and is home to the This renowned 5-star hotel is located controversial figure, and an account of the atmospheric Cave bar. in the capital’s Shmeissani business Arab revolt against the Turks during the district, with easy access to Amman’s first world war. historical sites.
Married to a Bedouin WHAT TO EAT by Marguerite Van Geldermalsen Olive oil, herbs, garlic, onion, tomato and A fascinating insight into the world of lemon are typical flavours in Jordanian the bedouin, by the wife of a bedouin cuisine – try Mansaf, the national dish souvenir-seller, describing her travels in made with lamb cooked in a sauce of the Middle East in the late 1970s. fermented dried yoghurt, served with rice.
TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS THROUGH A WRITER’S EYES RECOMMENDED TOUR “Nowhere more than in Jordan have Splendours of Jordan – 8 days / 7 nights I felt a sense that this is where the from £1,545 per person. world began” Explores Jordan’s culture and Edward Heath, Travel, People and landscapes, visiting Petra, Wadi Rum and Places in My Life, 1977 Wadi Rum the Dead Sea.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 33 THE COOK ISLANDS | JOURNEYS
Desert island discs Aaron Jennings, former Cox & Kings Australasia & Pacific product manager, finds there’s more to the Cook Islands than postcard-perfect beaches.
34 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL THE COOK ISLANDS | JOURNEYS
Rarotonga
www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass COMPASS 35 THE COOK ISLANDS | JOURNEYS
ne-man welcoming committee Jake Numbanga stands on top of the luggage carousel at Rarotonga airportO singing and strumming on his ukulele. Now in his 70s, Jake has been serenading visitors to this pretty Polynesian corner of the Pacific Ocean for longer than anyone can remember. It almost seems a shame not to linger for our luggage troubadour’s performance. But instead, bathed in tropical heat and the heady-scent of the gardenia, jasmine and hibiscus garlands draped around our necks – we emerge blinking into a remote Beautiful palm fringed tropical paradise. beach, Rarotonga
East of Tonga and Samoa and more than a very different island altogether. 1,300km west of Tahiti, the Cook Islands Protected by a reef wall enclosing are a collection of disc-shaped desert a shallow moat-like lagoon islands scattered across an area the size overlooked by low limestone cliffs, of western Europe. Accessible from either Atiu was born from a volcano side of the Pacific, the Cook Islands are a that sank beneath the waves, direct 4-hour flight from New Zealand or later re-emerging as an island of a 9-hour flight from Los Angeles. views of Rarotonga’s verdant crags and fossilised coral. About half the size of aquamarine borders. Instead I plump Rarotonga, Atiu’s fertile volcanic soil has Once here, it doesn’t take long to for the gentler natural cures tour. A produced a lush rainforest and profusion discover that – more than just picture- font of local knowledge, Pa delights in of crops including rich gourmet coffee. perfect beaches and colourful sunset explaining the curative properties of cocktails – these 15 coral cayes and the various plants lining our route. The “the island is pitted with an volcanic nubs offer a landscape of hidden ubiquitous chilli pepper for example, intricate maze of coral caves caverns and unspoilt jungle, home to rubbed on to mosquito bites soothes the unique local wildlife and a thriving itch, while inhaling the scrunched-up and raised limestone crags” traditional Polynesian culture. leaves eases asthma and anxiety. Known as the ‘island of birds’, Atiu Dominated by a once mighty volcanic I spend the rest of the day exploring is home to 11 native bird species that pyramid, now time-worn to sawtooth the island’s cultural landscape. Back in flourish in its isolated forests. But it is peaks and razorback ridges covered in the capital Avarua, I take an afternoon in the island’s notable caves, inset with lush green vegetation, Rarotonga is the stroll around the wharf-set Punanga natural pools pierced by stalactites and largest of the Cook Islands. Size is relative Nui Market. The colourful stalls sell stalagmites, where one of the world’s though: it takes a mere 45 minutes to everything from local fruits noni, papaya rarest and most fascinating birds is to drive from the capital Avarua, around and arrowroot to rare black pearls, ei be found. The tiny kopeka swiftlet is the 32km circular coastal road, before katu (fragrant floral headdresses) and indigenous to Atiu, and flies in and out returning to where you started. With only pareu (sarongs, as sported by Pa). Later of the island’s pitch-black caves using two main roads, getting lost is impossible. that evening, at the Te Vara Nui cultural bat-like sonar. Which is why I give the car a miss, village, I take my seat for an evening opting instead to explore the hinterland performance of traditional local dances. I join British ex-pat and local guide rainforest and waterfalls by foot. It’s striking in every way. The stage is Marshal for a trek through the rock- set over a small lake surrounded by lush strewn jungle in search of kopekas. “more than just picture- waterfall gardens and features several A sweaty half hour later we arrive at perfect beaches and circling vakas (wooden canoes) carrying the yawning mouth of a cave and are tribal dancers. The rapid drumming thrillingly rewarded almost immediately. colourful sunset cocktails” accompanies a riot of fire dancing, A flock of tiny kopekas come into swaying hips, coconut shell tops and view, bursting from the caves into the My guide is Pa, a dreadlocked herbalist flowery regalia. This is South Pacific’s bright daylight, tweeting as they go in (and star of an illustrated children’s Bali Ha’i and a memorable final evening search of food. Marshal explains that, book) who offers guided nature walks on Rarotonga. when the kopekas return, once inside of the island. I have the option to take the cave, the birds’ sonar kicks in and Pa’s 3.5-hour guided trek right across Early the next morning I board a light tweets are replaced with rapid clicks. the island’s wild interior, culminating in aircraft and, a 45-dreamy-minute glide Extraordinarily, he says nobody has ever a steep climb up a pillar of rock known 187km north-east across the wide blue seen a kopeka land outside the cave, as the needle, to enjoy the stirring Pacific expanse later, touchdown in Atiu: possibly because their wing structure has
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THE cook islands | travel notes Penrhyn Atoll
Rakahanga Atoll Pukapuka Atoll Manihiki Atoll evolved to drop into flight from nests on NORTHERN GROUP the cave ceiling and won’t allow them All you needNassau to know: to take off from the ground. Shining a Suwarrow Atoll torch on the jagged limestone coral roof, cook islands we watch as the birds zip in and out. To my surprise, one flash of the torch on SOUTH PACIFIC the wall reveals a large red claw crab. THE BACKGROUND SET YOUROCEAN COMPASS It would seem we are not the only fans: LOCATION Located in the middle of Marshall explains that the crabs are a the South Pacific about 4 hours flight predator of the kopekas. from Auckland and 9 hours 30 minutes Palmerston Atoll from Los Angeles. In Atiu’s picturesque jungle interior, I LANGUAGES English and Cook Aitutaki Atoll Manuae Atoll Mitiaro settle down in Atiu Villas for my own Islands Maori. SOUTHERN Atiu Ma’uke feast: banana pancakes, raw tuna in POPULATION 18,000. GROUP v coconut sauce and cassava chips served TIME ZONE GMT +11 hours. Rarotonga on banana-leaf platters. Then, after a CURRENCY New Zealand dollar. Mangala tuneful, tribal show of Polynesian music VISAS No visa required for British – more drums and ukuleles – I head for passport holders. Rarotonga This rugged green island is an important cornerstone of local life: POTTED HISTORY First settled by surrounded by a lagoon that extends to a tumunus. The Cook Islands’ closest Polynesian’s around 1500BC, Captain the reef, which then slopes steeply to thing to a pub, a tumunus is a small James Cook came across some of the deep water. wooden shack that serves coconut shells islands in 1777, which led to Christian Aitutaki Warm, crystal clear waters fill the filled with traditional bush beer: an missionaries arriving in 1821. The triangle-shaped atoll renowned as one of often home-brewed beverage made from missionaries repressed the traditional the world’s most beautiful lagoons. oranges or fermented bananas. It was cultures and have left lasting impacts Atiu Atiu has deep underground caves, certainly an original take on the standard still seen today across the islands and coastal forests, swamps and lakes, and sunset cocktails. their people. as a result the island’s wildlife is rich with endemic species. Another short ocean hop and I arrived TOP TIP Visit Rarotonga’s Punanga on Mangaia, an island that claims to be Mangaia Considered to be the oldest Nui Market on a Saturday morning to the oldest land in the entire Pacific. The island in the South Pacific, the landscape discover fantastic local handicrafts,* has a volcanic plateau ringed by high island is gloriously under the standard fresh tropical fruit and traditional cuisine. fossilised coral cliffs and ancient caves. tourist radar: a fact made clear by my welcome. A local dressed as a traditional Mangaian warrior along with the island’s BEFORE YOU TRAVEL FIND OUT MORE mayor and several tourism students all WHEN TO GO www.cookislands.travel turned out to greet me. The Cook Islands have consistently The tourist board website has a wealth of tropical weather throughout the year, additional information available. Unlike the rest of the islands, Mangaia making it a great destination at any time. is littered with the remains of ancient maraes (temples), and its inhabitants WHAT TO READ TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS consider themselves indigenous. The An Afternoon in Summer: My Year on RECOMMENDED TOUR Cook Islands’ oldest church, a white- a South Sea Island, Doing Nothing, Cook Island Discovery – 13 days / walled relic of the missionary days, and Gaining Everything, and Finally Falling 12 nights from £3,695 per person. the new Museum of Culture and History in Love by Kathy Giuffre A private journey incorporating featuring historical photos and cultural In an attempt to escape from her stressful Rarotonga, Aitutaki and Atiu. artifacts, offer valuable insight into the life as a single working mother of two island’s little-known past. young boys, Kathy Giuffre books a year- long trip for four in a tropical paradise. Similar in topography to Atiu, the island is pitted with an intricate maze of coral BEING THERE caves and raised limestone crags rising WHERE TO STAY more than 4,500 metres and forming a Pacific Resort Rarotonga barrier around the island. Exploring the This idyllic property is set on Muri Lagoon, interior is like travelling back to a land by one of Rarotonga’s most beautiful and untouched since the beginnings of time. scenic beaches. Aitutaki It makes a fitting place to end my Cook Islands adventure: on the oldest of the Pacific Resort Aitutaki islands, first sighted by Captain Cook in Located on the western shores of 1777, and where visitors interested in its Aitutaki, Pacific Resort Aitutaki provides history – both indigenous and colonial – quality accommodation and first-class as well as those stunning landscapes, are service in an idyllic location, ideal for a welcomed as friends. • romantic getaway.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 37 MEKONG DELTA | JOURNEYS
Mekong delta
igns that the Mekong delta is different from the rest of Vietnam are visible in every cafe and roadsideS restaurant along the main National Route 1A road south-west from Ho Chi Minh City. As well as the usual chairs and tables, every establishment Delta has an area set aside for snoozing, with a dozen or more hammocks slung from trees or specially erected posts. And come midday most of those hammocks will be filled with drivers enjoying 40 winks and a relaxing break on their journey between the capital and the rich Force agricultural land of the delta. A lazy cruise along Vietnam’s Mekong delta allows the Guardian’s Liz Boulter to savour the Such restfulness is unusual in industrious and entrepreneurial Vietnam, the most flavours of one of Asia’s most fertile regions. capitalistic communist country you’ve
38 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL MEKONG DELTA | JOURNEYS
“A day trip is nowhere near long enough to do this fascinating and scenic area justice”
ever seen. But the Mekong delta is A day trip is nowhere near long enough Though its image is of sleepy backwater, regarded as somewhat different from to do this fascinating and scenic area the delta is actually densely populated, areas further north: its people are said to justice: you need to stay at least a night, home to more than 17 million people, most be laidback, live-for-the-moment types; and where better to sleep, in this watery of them famers or fishermen. And it can life there easy, thanks to super-fertile land land, than rocked in one of the nine arms feel as though most of them are out on and rivers teeming with fish. of this generous river? the water at once. On the river near My Tho I watched bright-blue fishing boats A 2-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City, ruises from this edge of the delta heading east to the South China Sea (good through lush flat rice paddies, plus the range from an overnight pootle for squid) and others on their way back, odd small field of other-worldly lotus with a couple of stops to a week- their catch alive and wriggling in onboard flowers, is My Tho: gateway to the delta longC expedition all the way into Cambodia, tanks. Standing on the back of small, and a busy trading town. but all offer a beguiling mix of interest and flat-bottomed sampans, diminutive women relaxation. Stow your things in a comfy en expertly navigated the channels using long South and west from here as far as the suite cabin then kick back on a sundeck crossed oars, and barges trundled by, piled Gulf of Thailand stretches the web of lounger. It’s probably not worth getting with rice husks, fuel for the huge beehive- waterways that makes up the Mekong that novel or Kindle out of your case: there shaped brick kilns that dot the landscape. delta, an area of at least 39,000 sq km will always be something engaging to A water-borne funeral passed on the other (bigger than Belgium, though the size watch on the river, or a glorious sunset on side, with a singing Buddhist monk and varies according to tides and flood levels). which to feast your eyes. mourners all squeezed on deck. >
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MEKONG DELTA | JOURNEYS > More than half of Vietnam’s rice and produce is grown here. As well as green paddies, you can gaze on orchards, sugar-cane fields, vegetable gardens and – a relatively recent innovation – fish farms. And the power behind this storm of productivity is the mighty Mekong itself, the longest river in south-east Asia and the 12th longest in the world. From its source more than 4,350km away on the Tibetan plateau, it runs through six countries, gathering as it goes a glorious soup of mud and silt that makes the delta the fertile rice and food basket that it is. Rice fields, Mekong delta “Cruises range from an overnight pootle with a couple of stops to a week-long expedition”
Forget sparkling clear blue water though. That nutritious alluvial soup makes the Mekong resemble more the river of chocolate in Willy Wonka’s factory – but then there is something very pleasing in cruising along on what looks like melted Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. Local folklore has it that if ever the Mekong stops being brown, its people will go hungry – and it’s no doubt right.
or a closer encounter with delta life, many cruises will include a visit to a family farm. In Vinh Long province, aF group of us took a sampan ride to shore, then a short walk to the house of the Cam Mekong delta life family. Tourists are rare enough in quieter parts of the delta to draw an excited hello from passing kids, and a fisherman snapped a picture of blonde me with his phone. Along the way our guide pointed out all the things that could be either eaten or made into something useful for house or farm. Leaves, herbs and vegetables for soup; coconut leaves for roofing; banana bark for making rope; the ubiquitous floating water hyacinth for baskets, mats, and furniture.
And then there was the fruit – jackfruit in particular grows abundantly, dangling from its tree like some strange excrescence. On the terrace of their pleasant house, Mrs Cam served us mounds of home-grown pomelo, mango, Navigating the channels, Mekong delta
40 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL MEKONG DELTA | JOURNEYS
pineapple and the weirdly chewy jackfruit. Cruise News Dipping chunks of fruit into little mounds “Standing on The next 18 months sees the launch of salt and chilli powder made a taste the back of of several new luxury cruisers, sensation that I loved – though my own sailing the classic Mekong river route family were less than convinced when I small sampans between Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City repeated the idea on our return. diminutive and Cambodia’s Siem Reap. More popular back home was the women expertly confectionery I picked up in the appealing town of Cai Be, where riverside merchants’ navigate the houses open on to the street at the front and the river at the back, to handle goods channels” arriving or leaving by boat or road. The doi moi economic reforms of the 1980s have palm trees and still water, then settled on seen rice production here soar beyond deck with a cup of tea and watched as, what the local market could absorb. But on a wide stretch of water outside the city the ever resourceful Vietnamese just of Can Tho, an impressive metropolis of devised new products for new buyers. vibrantly painted boats heaved into view. The Aqua Mekong by Aqua In workshops around the town, yet Expeditions is a 20-suite vessel, more comestibles were being produced: Not a tourist market, more the equivalent the third and latest in the Aqua several varieties of rice pancake that are of New Covent Garden, Cai Rang sees Expeditions fleet. Marking a new exported all over Asia, sticky puffed rice farmers and wholesalers by the thousand standard of luxury on the river sweets, banana and coconut candies and bring in bananas, mangos, onions, and designed by Vietnam based sesame and nut brittles. All delicious, and sweet potatoes or whatever by the large British architect David Hodkinson eminently packable. boatload: a solitary sample on a spike at of Noor Design, the boat uses the back advertising their wares. This is local sustainable materials and a whole floating civilisation: families live artisan touches to create a floating “This is a whole on their boats, with dogs, pigs, chickens boutique hotel. and grandma, and smaller traders nip floating civilisation: about in sampans, as do the businesses Le Tamarin by Mekong Secret families live on that serve them: a barbershop boat, a Cruises will feature a sleek, hi-tech, waterborne corner shop selling toiletries environmentally conscious design. their boats, with and cigarettes, a teashop boat, a noodle The small craft allows passengers stall boat… Even the man from the town to embark direct from the port in dogs, pigs, chickens hall buzzes about, collecting fees from Ho Chi Minh City, and the sundeck and grandma” each seller. roof folds away to navigate the Mekong’s small tributaries. Intrepid travellers can get down amid ai Be is home to one of the the throng on small taxi boats, but with region’s many floating markets, the sun up properly now, I was content but the biggest is further west on to watch the trading frenzy from the theC Cai Rang river. This is where being on deck. Besides, gazing at so much prime a cruise really comes into its own, for the produce so early in the morning made my market starts early and landlubbers might thoughts turn to my stomach. I’d seen have to be up at 5am to get here in time one of the crew haggling with a wizened to catch it. I dragged myself out of the lady for a basket of eggs and some comfortable bed in my cabin just before fragrant pineapples. Wonder what’s on 6.30am in time to see the sun rise over the menu for breakfast… •
Haimark Luxury River Expeditions is adding a new vessel to their fleet, the 12-cabin Mekong Princess. Launching in September 2015, this luxury spa-concept cruiser will depart weekly from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, offering an extensive wellness programme including a complimentary spa treatment. All suites have floor-to- ceiling windows, large, panoramic verandas with patio furniture and marble bathrooms. Boats, Mekong delta
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 41 vietnam Artistic rendering of Aqua Mekong, set to launch in 2014 .
eru's Amazon River like no others and
River and Cambodia on the historic Mekong Mekong will set sail between Vietnam P in 2014, the new 20-suite Aqua Amazon and Aria Amazon explore the world's greatest rivers. The Aqua leader in luxury small ship cruising on Aqua Expeditions is a recognized vietnam
VIETNAM | travel notes
> All you need to know: vietnam by Cox & Kings Far East expert Neill Prothero
THE BACKGROUND LOCATION Vietnam is located on the east of the Indochina peninsula in south-east Asia, bordered by China to the north, Laos to the north-west and Cambodia to the south-west. LANGUAGES Vietnamese. POPULATION 90 million. TIME ZONE GMT +7 hours. CURRENCY Vietnamese dong (VND / ¥). £1 = ¥34,387. VISAS Visas are required for entry into Vietnam. POTTED HISTORY Ruled by Chinese dynasties from 111BC until 938AD, Vietnam entered a period of independence that lasted to the mid-19th century when it was SET YOUR COMPASS colonised by France. The French were expelled by the Japanese during the second world war and, post-war, Geneva Accords led to partition, which in turn led to civil war Mekong delta The delta is Vietnam’s between the south and the communist north. The US later entered the war on the side ‘rice bowl’, with fertile farmland of southern Vietnam, finally withdrawing in 1973. The war ended later in 1975, with a interlaced with thousands of reunified Vietnam suffering internal repression until economic reforms in 1986 began a waterways and tributaries of the period of growth that continues today. Mekong, known locally as Cuu Long, or the ‘River of Nine Dragons’ Hanoi The capital city, Hanoi lies in the TOP TIP The best way to explore the Mekong delta is on a luxury multi-night cruise, Red River delta region with maze-like which provides a perfect way to see off-the-beaten track areas of Vietnam and learn backstreets full of street stalls, temples *about daily life in the delta from the comfort of a luxury ship. The most common route travels all the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap for the Angkor temples, and lakes. but shorter cruises are also available. Hoi An This ancient town has been a major trading centre since the 16th century, and has a distinct Chinese BEFORE YOU TRAVEL The Scent of Green Papaya atmosphere with low tile-roofed houses WHEN TO GO This Vietnamese-language film depicts and narrow streets. Northern destinations, such as Hanoi and the life of a young servant girl growing up Ho Chi Minh City Also known as Sapa, are best in October, November and in pre-war Vietnam. Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is a modern December, when it is dry with clear skies. city and the largest in Vietnam, with The central coast from Hué to Nha Trang FIND OUT MORE foreign restaurants and office blocks, is best from January to July, and Ho Chi vietnamtourism.com and also some colonial buildings. Minch City and the Mekong delta in the A wealth of information on Halong Bay Located north-east south are ideal from November to March. accommodation, culture, nightlife and of Hanoi, Halong Bay is a densely destinations. concentrated zone of stone islands, WHAT TO READ world famous for its spectacular Quagmire: Nation-Building and Nature in BEING THERE scenery of grottoes and caves. the Mekong Delta by David Biggs WHERE TO STAY From the struggles of colonialism to the Nam Bo Boutique Hotel cold war and the present day, this book The Nam Bo Boutique Hotel is a small THROUGH A WRITER’S EYES provides an environmental history of the all-suite hotel located in central Can Tho, “Each bend of the Mekong as added major role the delta played in Vietnam’s with panoramic views over the Mekong to my map seemed an important turbulent past. river. The seven spacious suites are geographical discovery. Nothing could furnished in a traditional style. There distract me from this abiding concern. It Ho Chi Minh City & Mekong Delta is a choice of two restaurants serving came to possess me like a monomania. I (Footprint Focus Guide) by Claire traditional Vietnamese and western was mad about the Mekong.” Boobbyer Featuring practical advice dishes, as well as a rooftop lounge. Francis Garnier, 1866 and tips on what to do and see, this is a thorough, yet concise guide to this Victoria Chau Doc Hotel fascinating region of Vietnam. The colonial style Victoria Chau Doc Hotel TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS is perched on the banks of the Bassac RECOMMENDED TOUR WHAT TO WATCH river affording great views of daily life, and River Journey on the Mekong – 15 days The Quiet American is an ideal base to explore the fascinating / 12 nights from £3,695 per person. The 2002 film adaptation of Graham Mekong delta region. Facilities include Explore one of the world’s great rivers on Greene’s love story, set in 1950s Saigon, a private jetty, swimming pool, business this 7-night cruise from Ho Chi Minh City stars Michael Caine. centre, bar and French restaurant. to Angkor Wat.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 43 ETHIOPIA | JOURNEYS
Simien mountains
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Beauty In Ethiopia’s little-visited Bale and the Mountains National Park, travel writer Sue Watt discovers indigenous wildlife ranges from the heart-stoppingly Beast elegant to the downright ugly.
Wolf Bale Mountain >
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 45 ethiopia
ETHIOPIA | JOURNEYS > here’s a strange beauty in the bleakness of Sanetti plateau. At more than 4,300 metres high, a vicious wind careers across Tulu Dimtu, the highest point in Bale Mountains National Park, and my cheeks are almost burning from the bitter chill. Below sprawls a lunar landscape ofT grey, mauve, green and white, dotted with glacial boulders that have tumbled down its slopes across the millennia. The only living organisms seem to be the enigmatically-named ‘everlasting flowers’ – like tiny dried daisies – and giant lobelia, akin to weird stunted palm trees. It looks barren, devoid of life, yet this plateau is home to the largest population of the world’s rarest canid, the Ethiopian wolf.
About 450 wolves roam Ethiopia’s highlands, 230 of them living on this desolate plateau: the world’s largest Afro-alpine habitat. The national park is also home to Ethiopia’s newest lodge. Owned by former British Army officer Guy Levene and wife Yvonne, Bale Mountain Lodge aims to protect the region’s fragile wolf population, an aim that has become their overwhelming passion.
In a country of more than 90 million people, Bale Mountains National Park is suffering from a human population encroachment that endangers its indigenous wildlife. With a percentage of the lodge income going to the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, Guy realised they needed local people Aregash village on side to help save the park. He explained their ethos: “We are the first concession granted inside a national park in Ethiopia. Conservation is our key driver. But we’re conscious of the need to ale Mountain Lodge sits in the Katcha clearing marry our plans with the needs of the local population and make within Harenna Forest, offering views of glades tourism an integral part of their lives: reducing negative activities and mountains ripe for exploration. From here, like deforestation and overgrazing from livestock. We want them it is possible to drive to the lively market town of to realise we’re good for Bale, and good for Ethiopia.” Dola Mena that sees few tourists, or hike, fish or go birding (the national park is ranked the fourth Bale became a national park in 1969, but until recently bestB birding area in Africa). But most come to see the Ethiopian accommodation options have been limited to just a handful wolves on Sanetti plateau. of local hotels. Out on a limb to the south-east of the country, the region has perhaps understandably been neglected on tour There are other residents on Sanetti, notably the distinctly itineraries. Most travellers to Ethiopia visit its northern circuit, ugly, but ubiquitous giant mole rat, a favourite wolf snack. With including the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the obelisks of about 5,000 per square kilometre, the ground almost wobbles Axum and trekking in the Simien mountains. But Bale Mountain with their constant digging and burrowing, as they chuck out Lodge is one element of a new circuit exploring lesser-known earth and bob in and out of their holes. areas in this extraordinary country. Resembling large foxes, Ethiopian wolves are also relatively Our itinerary includes the charming Aragesh Lodge in Yirg visible on this vast, flat expanse. Even in the distance, these Alem with an early morning guided walk around the local village; rare animals looked elegant and exquisite. We see our first a visit to the Unesco world heritage site of Konso, ancient tribal within minutes of arriving at Sanetti: lying in the sun cleverly traditions set among fortressed villages and spectacular terraced camouflaged by rocks dusted with russet-coloured lichen. hillsides; and the aptly-named Paradise Lodge in Arba Minch Moments later, our second wolf appears on the horizon, trotting with views across the lakes and forests of Nech Sar National in with a giant mole rat the size of a cat swinging from its jaws. Park. But Bale, with its fascinating wildlife, is our highlight. Throughout the morning, we see more, either hunting alone or sleeping off a hearty mole rat meal. Around 78 mammal species and 300 bird species live in this 2,200 sq km park, and Ethiopian wolves aren’t its only unusual Fittingly, our best sighting comes just as we are leaving. residents. In the juniper woodlands of Dinsho, we see mountain Driving out of the park, I spot a young wolf standing quietly at nyalas with their impressive twisted horns and shy Menelik’s the side of the road. We stop and watch him as he watches us, so bushbucks, both antelopes endemic to Ethiopia. In the Harenna close I could reach out and stroke him. His luxuriant rust coat Forest, black-maned lions and a pack of 20 African wild dogs looks thick and soft. On full alert, he stands perfectly still, his have been sighted, along with a black leopard. A new species of ears prone, his pert black nose twitching for scents, and his deep snake has recently been discovered, and there could be all kinds amber eyes staring at us inquisitively. It seems hard to believe of weird and wonderful creatures living here: dense and draped so few of these wolves survive: I leave fervently wishing Guy’s with moss and lichen, this fairy-tale forest is mostly unexplored. dreams of saving Bale and its beautiful wildlife are realised. •
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ETHIOPIA | travel notes
> All you need to know: ETHIOPIA by Cox & Kings Africa expert Louise Stanion
THE BACKGROUND LOCATION Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north and north-east, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. LANGUAGES There are 90 individual languages spoken in Ethiopia, most of them belonging to the Semetic or Cushitic branches of the Afro-Asiatic family. POPULATION 93.8 million (2013). Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in SET YOUR COMPASS the world and the second-most populated nation on the African continent. TIME ZONE GMT +3 hours. Simien mountains The Simien range CURRENCY Ethiopian Birr (ETB) £1 = ETB 32.1668. consists of serveral large plateaux VISAS Visas are required for entry. Ideally obtain prior to departure. divided by large river valleys and is one of POTTED HISTORY Ethiopia is widely considered the region from which Homo sapiens Africa’s largest mountain ranges. Three first set out for the Middle East and beyond. Tracing its roots to the second millennium of Ethiopia’s endemic large mammals BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. Alongside Rome, Persia, China and are resident in the Simiens; the gelada India,the Kingdom of Aksum was one of the great world powers of the third century. In the monkey, the Walia ibex and the rare Ethiopian wolf. fourth century, it was the first major empire in the world to officially adopt Christianity as a state religion. Ethiopia derived prestige for its uniquely successful military resistance during Axum A small and lowly town the late 19th-century scramble for Africa, and subsequently many African nations adopted surrounded by dry hills, Axum is the the colours of Ethiopia’s flag following their independence. Ethiopia was the only African reputed home of the Queen of Sheba, country to defeat a European colonial power and retain its sovereignty as an independent the Ark of the Covenant and the country. It was the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations magnificent stele. and the UN. In 1974, at the end of Haile Selassie I’s reign, power fell to a communist military Lalibela Lalibela, the ‘New Jerusalem’, junta known as the Derg, backed by the Soviet Union, until it was defeated by the EPRDF. was built by King Lalibela ‘with the help of angels’ in the 12th century, and is TOP TIP For an added cultural slant, try to time your visit to coincide with one of Ethiopia’s a world heritage site comprising 11 many festivals such as Timkat (Epiphany) celebrated in January, Meskel celebrated in incredible rock-hewn churches. November and Tsion Mariam celebrated in November. * Bahir Dar This large town is on the southern shore of Lake Tana and has BEFORE YOU TRAVEL BEING THERE palm-lined avenues and pretty lakeside WHEN TO GO WHERE TO STAY vistas. Nearby is the Blue Nile Falls and The best time to visit is between October Simien Mountain Lodge some impressive island monasteries, and June (dry season). From July to The Simien Mountain Lodge is the highest accessed by boat. September the temperatures are higher hotel in Africa at 3,260 metres. This is an Arba Minch Arba Minch is situated and the rainfall is greater. Bring a sweater eco-friendly lodge built at Buyit Ras with by Lake Chamo and Abaya, the most all year round because of the elevation. wonderful views across the mountain range. southerly of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley lakes. It is the base to explore Chencha, home to WHAT TO READ Aregash Lodge, Yirgalem the Dorze people (famed for their beehive shaped houses and their weaving skills) The Sign and the Seal by Graham Aregash Lodge consists of 10 tukuls built and Nech Sar Park. Hancock This is a lively account of the in the style of a local Sidama village. The Ark of the Covenant’s alleged arrival decor inside is of a traditional Sidama in Ethiopia. An entertaining work that style, with vibrant colours and furnishings. WHAT TO EAT captures the imagination. Try injera which is ‘tef’ (a nutty tasting Kuriftu Resort & Spa, Bahar Dar grain) fermented for three days and Ethiopia – Culture Smart! The Essential Situated on the shores of Lake Tana, the served as a large circular bread with a Guide to Customs & Culture by Sarah Kuriftu Resort has 28 stone bungalows sour taste and a foam rubber texture. It is Howard This book provides essential set in gardens by the lake. Each room is usually accompanied by meat, vegetables information on attitudes, beliefs and decorated in a traditional Ethiopian style and Kai Wat (hot and red) or Alicha Wat behaviour in Ethiopia, ensuring that you and has a four-poster bed. (yellow and bland). Not everyone’s cup of arrive at your destination aware of basic Mole rat tea but a truly traditional dish. manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. This concise guide will tell you what to expect, how to behave, and TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS how to establish a rapport with your hosts. RECOMMENDED TOUR Ethiopian Odyssey – 14 Days / 11 Nights FIND OUT MORE from £2,875 per person. whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ET/ Included is Addis Ababa, the Tigray Ethiopia is the first African Nation to have region, Axum, Lalibela, the Simien nine world heritage sites. mountains, Gondar and Bahar Dar.
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Orchha
Indini aa day
48 Kaziranga india | JOURNEYS
n Sunrise in Kalimpong n Busy mornings in Belgaum n Cowdust time in Gujarat The frontier town of Kalimpong, 1,200 Few tourists visit Belgaum; they have no ‘Cowdust time’ is twilight, the time of day metres up in the Himalayas, was a staging reason to. But one foggy weekend, when – literally – the cows come home post for mule trains between Sikkim, on a literary whim, my wife and to their villages from pasture. It has a Bhutan and Nepal. Such memories are I flew down from Delhi to this strangely meditative atmosphere, as the cherished at the Himalayan Hotel, with unassuming little town in Karnataka, day winds down, green parakeets roost its photos of Everest expeditions (and not far from Goa. We were on the trail in neem trees, children play and women its hot water bottles). Start the day with of the former residents who inspired prepare the evening meal, wood smoke a tray of tea on the veranda. Swathed the characters of Tusker and Lucy in wreathing across the fields. We found it at in shawls, watch the sun’s first rays hit Paul Scott’s poignant novel its most evocative in a village near Anand, the snows of Kanchenjunga, the world’s Staying On. It was a chance to settle a small town in the state of Gujarat. third highest mountain. Then, take an into the charm of small town life
exhilarating ridge walk to a hilltop and to enjoy the serendipity of being n Rooftop dinner in Pondicherry Buddhist monastery where mist swirls somewhere so remote from Puducherry’s Rendezvous Restaurant and monks turn creaking prayer wheels. the mainstream. is probably the nearest thing in India to a French brasserie. It owes its Gallic style – sole meuniere, escalope of veal, India’s glorious sites are legendary. But The crepes suzette – to the town’s history as a French colony. Down on Tamil Times’ Stephen McClarence suggests some Nadu’s Coromandel Coast, Pondy is half languidly French – croissants, of India’s most memorable experiences are boules, gendarmes in kepis – half busily Tamil. Dine on the roof terrace at the to be found in India’s quieter attractions Rendezvous, where fans whir, wine corks Over the course of 20 trips, my wife Clare and I have had many pop and 50s jazz plays. Then head for the seafront fairground. This is a town special times in India, some of them a long way off the beaten for unwinding. track. So here’s a round-the-clock round-up of ten of our most
memorable experiences and favourite places. n Late trains in Lucknow I’ve picked Lucknow because that was where, at midnight, a white-haired old
n Early morning elephants n Lunch bowl in Delhi man once sat cross-legged on the station at Kaziranga Away from the city’s famous sights, my platform and played wistful flute music In the shimmering freshness of an Indian perfect Delhi afternoon starts with lunch to entranced waiting passengers. But dawn, an elephant safari in Kaziranga at Khan Market (the most upmarket of any railway station, with their crowds, National Park can be magical. It’s in lush markets). Then a leisurely stroll though ceaseless bustle and wandering cows, Assam, one of the north-eastern states, nearby Lodi Gardens to Safdarjang’s offers India in miniature. Anticipation which feel physically and spiritually Tomb – both among the capital’s ratchets up into excitement as a train apart from the rest of India. At 6am, calmest places – and, to end, a haircut pulls in and passengers surge aboard for with a background haze of birdsong, the at the Verma salon in the middle-class long journeys. And you’ll sleep well, lulled elephants swish through the long grass. In enclave of Jor Bagh. Nothing is more by the train’s lumbering rhythms. Though the lulling calm, you might glimpse a rare relaxing than having an Indian barber it’s quite possible that after lunch the next one-horned rhinoceros: while it resembles snip away with delicate artistry as a Test day, you’ll climb up to the top bunk and armour-plating on legs, it trots along very Match commentary (in Hindi) patters doze another couple of hours away. daintily. Watch as the orange sun burns from the radio. He can also give you a
gradually through the mist. spectacularly theatrical head massage. n Quiet nights in Orchha Orchha, on a river bend in the central
n Breakfast in Dehra Dun n Bookish afternoons in Ooty state of Madhya Pradesh, was once the We love Delhi, but after a couple of weeks Ooty, or Ootacamund, has been capital of a medieval dynasty. Largely it can be good to get away – and one of unhelpfully renamed Udhagamandalam. abandoned in the 18th century, its ruins the nearest bolt-holes is the hill station of High in the tea-growing Nilgiri Hills of were gradually swallowed by dense forest Mussoorie. We catch the late-night train the southern state of Tamil Nadu, it still and it became an obscure village (Orchha to Dehra Dun, a spruce town 320km has vestiges of its glory days as a tweeds- means ‘hidden place’). One of the old north of Delhi, arriving in time for a and-marmalade British hill station. palaces, the Sheesh Mahal, has been breakfast of omelettes at a small hotel. Visit the Nilgiri Library, a Victorian converted into a charming and friendly Then a taxi for the switchback drive to subscription library piled high with hotel. Nearby country lanes thread Mussoorie, which straggles a ridge 2,100 leather-bound first editions. Then browse through the old city’s ruins to the river, metres up in the Himalayan foothills. Higginbotham’s spacious bookshop with cattle grazing and farmers hand- Once ‘the pleasure capital of the British along the road, and spend an hour in St ploughing their fields. In the stillness of Raj’, it has always felt, as resident best- Stephen’s Church. It’s Cotswoldy and the big-skied night, snatches of village selling author Ruskin Bond once told me, colonial and full of monuments to Brits music drift up to the hotel balconies. ‘a bit raffish, maybe like Blackpool.’ who died young. Here is India at its most peaceful. • >
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india | Travel notes Repeat title here A> ll you need to know: india by Cox & Kings India expert Balaji Kandasamy
THE BACKGROUND LOCATION Surrounded by the continental wall of the Himalaya to the north three expansive water bodies, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Arabian Sea to the west and the Indian Ocean to the south, India is the seventh largest country by area. LANGUAGES Hindi and English are widely spoken. However, given the enormous diversity, regional languages tend to dominate certain geographical areas. POPULATION 1.2 billion TIME ZONE GMT +5.5 hours CURRENCY Indian rupee (INR). £1 = 101INR SET YOUR COMPASS VISAS Required for British passport holders and should be obtained prior to departure from UK. Delhi Abandoned many times and POTTED HISTORY The fall of the Gupta dynasty in the fifth century led to the rebuilt at least seven times, Delhi is home formation of several small princely states. However, the arrival of the Mughals, which to countless wonders. The pulsating was followed by that of the Europeans, changed India’s political history dramatically. old city with its Mughal monuments and teeming markets provides a fascinating contrast to the tree-lined avenues of TOP TIP Enjoy a masterclass in contemporary Indian cuisine, by a top chef, as Lutyens designed New Delhi. he prepares a three-course meal, revealing the secrets of some of his most prized Lucknow According to Kipling’s Kim *recipes, with an opportunity to taste each course. The food will be complemented ‘no city – except Bombay, the Queen of by a selection of lovely aromatic teas. Afterwards, enjoy a sumptuous three-course all – was more beautiful in her garish style dinner at Varq restuarant in Delhi’s Taj Mahal hotel. than Lucknow’. The raj era bequeathed Lucknow many fine colonial monuments including the former Residency and La BEFORE YOU TRAVEL cathedrals and colourful boutiques. With Martiniere College. It was, however, under WHEN TO GO high ceilings, deep verandas, bright the Muslim Nawab’s of Oudh (Avadh) in Autumn (October / November) is the post- tangerine pillars and ochre colonnades, the 18th century that Lucknow reached its monsoon season in India, when the weather this heritage-style mansion features 18 apogee as a political and cultural centre. is mild and the countryside is lush and spacious rooms that echo the distinctive The city famously rose to prominence during the 1857 Indian mutiny. picturesque. The winter months (December Indo-French architecture. to February) are ideal as the weather during Puducherry The charming seaside the day is pleasant (early morning / late Diphlu River Lodge, Kaziranga town of Puducherry (Pondicherry) is a evenings though can be chilly). An eco-resort built on stilts in the middle former French colony settled in the early of green paddy fields, the Diphlu River 18th century. Even though the French relinquished control of Puducherry nearly WHAT TO READ Lodge is set on the edge of Diphlu river, 40 years ago, there are still hints of their Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby which forms the boundary to Kaziranga previous ownership everywhere from the This book describes the 1,900km journey National Park. Managed by Assam Bengal Tricolore fluttering over the grand French down the Ganges that Eric Newby made Navigation, the lodge operates to the Consulate and numerous restaurants with his wife. Starting at Hardwar where high standards of their well-established serving authentic French cuisine, to the river enters the plain, he follows it by cruises on the Brahmaputra and Hooghly. visitors occasionally hearing French being boat, cart and bus to where it enters the The 12 rooms are large, have a rustic feel spoken on the streets. Bay of Bengal. and were designed making use of local Kaziranga National Park Declared a materials and artifacts. game reserve in 1926 to save the greater WHAT TO WATCH one-horned rhino, Kaziranga is one of India: Kingdom of the Tiger WHAT TO EAT the most exceptional wildlife parks in This drama-documentary is largely based Dal bukhara with roti or rice. Slow-cooked the Indian Subcontinent. Set along the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river, on Jim Corbett’s best-seller the Man- overnight in the traditional Bukhara way on Kaziranga is also a habitat for Bengal Eaters of Kumaon. The short-film features the tandoor, finished with tomato, ginger tigers, wild buffaloes, sambars, brief stories about the history of India and and garlic and served with either steamed swamp deers, wild pigs, elephants and the Kumaon region, including the man- rice / pulao or Roti. hoolock gibbons. eaters and the conservation efforts. Gujarat From the famed tribal textiles of Kutch, the barren salt plains of Little BEING THERE TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS Rann and the ex-Portuguese island WHERE TO STAY RECOMMENDED TOUR enclave of Diu, to the hilltop temples of Palais de Mahe, Puducherry (Pondicherry) Princely India – 12 days / 10 nights from Shatrunjaya and the world-renowned A quaint hotel in the heart of Puducherry’s £2,295 per person. This private journey Calico Museum of Textiles in the busy old French quarter, Palais du Mahé is only combines imperial Delhi with the Mughal state capital of Ahmedabad, Gujarat minutes away from the area’s famous splendours of Agra and the highlights of offers a diverse array of experiences and is popular among returning visitors. promenade, historic temples, elegant the former princely state of Rajasthan.
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FALKLAND ISLANDS | JOURNEYS Animal antics of the South Atlantic Travel writer Mark Stratton discovers the Galapagos of the South Atlantic – better known as the Falkland Islands.>
Rockhopper penguin
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here’s a statistic that on the Falkland Islands of cosmopolitanism that extends well beyond stodgy there are 167 sheep for every man, woman stereotypes. Take the cuisine: Chilean and St Helenian and child living on the island. Well if that’s true, residents and workers alike are to be found enjoying then the penguin-per-head count has to be at Stanley’s handful of contemporary restaurants, which least 10 times that. specialise in superb local produce, particularly the seafood. T At the Waterfront Hotel, local lamb is given a spicy Moroccan Walk along any of the island’s pristine beaches and there’s treatment by Chilean long-time resident chef Alex Olmedo. every chance you will encounter an incoming gentoo penguin torpedoing ashore. On land, the coastal plains are pitted with But I was there to see rather than eat the wildlife, and over the burrows of Magellanic penguins, and just when you think the next week of island hopping on a well-established circuit the craggy cliff-tops may be out of bounds, a rockhopper around the archipelago, I spotted an abundance of elephant penguin bounces past like an inelegant kangaroo. seals and gazillions of penguins, seabirds and sea lions.
“just when you think the craggy I flew between the islands by light aircraft. Modern air travel can be so onerous but this government-run air service (FIGAS) cliff-tops may be out of bounds, a is an exhilaratingly scenic experience that requires travellers rockhopper penguin bounces past to arrive 10 minutes before flying and endure scarcely 30 like an inelegant kangaroo” seconds of check-in. With the pilots flying low, it also allows an appreciation of the nuggety cragginess of the Falklands archipelago: a miscellany of indented coves, russet-brown “We’re the Galapagos of the South Atlantic,” an islander tells boggy moorland, bleached beaches, sea inlets, and straggly me shortly after I arrive for a week of wildlife watching. The kelp-fields striping the steely-grey ocean. On one flight, the sunshine is certainly milkier and temperatures somewhat pilot, Andrew, swooped down to follow a large whale. lower than the Galapagos, but close-quarter encounters with the Falklands’ seemingly fearless bird and marine life is ach island offers very different experiences. Some something special to behold. 30 minutes’ flight from East Falkland, private owners Mike and Phyll Rendell run Bleaker Island I had arrived into the Falklands after a couple of nights in as a cattle and sheep farm. Its grazed grasslands Chile’s cosmopolitan capital, Santiago. It’s a pleasing way to teem with birdlife and penguins. British-born Mike break-up the long journey to this South Atlantic archipelago, metE his Falklands-born wife after a spell here serving as a which is spread over 778 islands. Royal Marine. Their lodge is a cosy five-room building with a red iron roof overlooking a sea-inlet. Set on East Falkland – the biggest of the islands, wedded to a protected sea-inlet inland of Cape Pembroke – the capital, The island experience is both simple and homely. After Stanley, (also known as Port Stanley) is a straightforward breakfast – full English of course – I head out with a packed- town of low-rise buildings. If three things have fashioned lunch to hike along the mile-long Sandy Bay beach to watch Stanley’s demeanour since it was established in around gentoo and Magallenic penguins cavorting in the surf and 1843, it is shipwrecks, loyalty to the Crown, and conflict. nursing their chicks.
unken ships can be found all around the For sheer X-factor though, it’s hard to top the puffed-up Falklands. The Liverpool-built Jhelum lies in little southern rockhopper penguins with their spiky quiffs Stanley’s sound while along the waterfront is and yellow eyebrows lingering on the cliff-tops around Long the beefy mizzenmast of the SS Great Britain, Gulch. But watching the 700 or so pairs of these pugnacious which foundered here in the 1860s before penguins hop perilously between ledges then wait to be swept beingS recovered to Bristol for restoration. Equally, sobering into the turbulent swell by large waves is a compelling sight. monuments lay along the foreshore commemorating both the great naval battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914, and of “I hike along the milling Sandy Bay course the conflict with Argentina in 1982. beach to watch gentoo & Magallenic Certainly, Stanley’s Britishness is overt: red telephone- penguins cavorting in the surf boxes, bobbies on the beat, pubs offering fish ‘n’ chips, and fluttering Union Flags. “We’re resolute people, tenacious, When I return to the lodge to be greeted by afternoon tea, proud to be staunchly British, and determined to retain our including homemade coconut-macaroons, I began to fear I right to self-determination,” explained Patrick Watts MBE, my might end up with a girth similar to the star attractions of my guide for one day. He was the radio announcer the day the next island, Sea Lion Island, just 15 minutes’ flight south. Falklands was invaded by the Argentinians. “The island’s name is a bit of a misnomer really, we should But rather than an endearing anachronism, fishing and be called Elephant Seal Island,” explains manager of the 11- tourism has made the Falklands a relatively prosperous room lodge, Jenny Luxton. “We have almost 2,000 elephant place, with Falklanders enjoying the highest per capita seals during peak breeding season between October and income in Latin America. This has brought a measure November on the beaches.” >
54 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL FALKLAND ISLANDS | JOURNEYS
Memorial, Port Stanley Black-browed albatross
“We have almost 2,000 elephant seals during peak breeding season between October and November on the beaches”
Elephant seal (© Eleanor Scriven)
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FALKLAND ISLANDS | JOURNEYS > Sure enough, a 10-minute stroll from the lodge is Elephant “Walk along any of the island’s Corner Beach, overcrowded by elephant seals’ wobbling pristine beaches and there’s every mounds of blubber, some charcoal grey, others caramel- chance you will encounter an brown, wallowing in the sand. I inch closer, unscrewing my long lens for a wide-angled one to accommodate the larger incoming gentoo penguin” 4.5-metre-long, three-tonne bulls into my viewfinder.
Nuzzled closely together they belch and pass wind almost as vigorously as the Falklands’ westerly’s. Sometimes they rear-up in an unlikely burst of energy to confront each other like sumo wrestlers. But that’s way too much effort, and soon they flop back into the sand yawning with fatigue.
Elsewhere on the island I hike to visit a memorial to HMS Sheffield set on a lonely cliff-edge pounded below by white horse surf. She was the first British warship sunk in 1982: struck some 64km offshore by an Exocet missile. The longer I was in the Falklands the more unlikely it felt war could ever have rippled these remote islands’ tranquillity.
ut memories of conflict are inescapable. Flying directly across the archipelago to the scantly inhabited West Falkland, the pilot touches down to collect two fellow travellers on Pebble Island. In May 1982, an SAS unit travelling in kayaks struckB a decisive blow here by covertly raiding a temporary Argentinian airfield and decommissioning its fighter planes.
Gentoo penguins Ship-wrecked boat “The island experience is both simple and homely.”
Shortly after, we land on hilly Carcass Island owned for the past 40 years by farmer Rob McGill and his wife Lorraine. In their farmhouse lodge sheltered by wind-gnarled pines, Lorraine tells me that they struggled to make a living from wool production after buying the farm back in 1976, so started taking in visitors. “When the cruise ships began to visit offshore, we baked cakes for them to come onshore to experience high tea,” she says. “You have to be resourceful to survive here”.
Their cakes are, well, delicious, and certainly gratuitous, given the immense portion of Chilean chef Roldan’s evening beef lasagne. I justify it, knowing I have rugged hikes to see penguins and elephant seals on Carcass to help walk my excesses away. Although, Carcass Island also has a summertime sailing vessel, and I board the Condor to sail across a choppy sea to visit West Point Isle.
On tumbling cliffs near a rocky protuberance called the Devil’s Nose, I spend my penultimate afternoon sitting within a nesting colony of black-browed albatrosses. Seated no more than a few feet from their nests of fluffy grey chicks, when the black-and-white adults unfurl their 1.8-metre “Stanley’s Britishness is overt: wingspan, their vast wings almost brush my face. They are utterly unperturbed by my presence, and so I sit in the sun, red telephone-boxes, bobbies on the soaking up the raw beauty found in the Galapagos of the beat, pubs offering fish ‘n’ chips…” South Atlantic. •
56 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL ISLANDS FALKLAND
FALKLAND ISLANDS | Travel notes Repeat title here
A> ll you need to know: FALKLAND ISLANDS
THE BACKGROUND LOCATION The Falkland Islands is a UK Overseas Territory of 778 islands located off the south-eastern coast of Latin America in the South Atlantic Ocean. LANGUAGES English, although Spanish is spoken among the island’s Chilean community. POPULATION Approximately 3,000. TIME ZONE GMT-3 hours. CURRENCY Falkland Islands pound (FKP) £1 = 1FKP (currencies interchangeable) SET YOUR COMPASS VISAS Not required by UK nationals. POTTED HISTORY The 1982 conflict resulting from the Argentinian invasion brought Stanley This pretty sea-facing town the Falklands to universal attention. After Captain John Strong first stepped ashore hosts two-thirds of the Falklands’ in 1690 the island’s sovereignty ebbed and flowed between the global naval powers. population. A good range of restaurants, But barring the 10-week occupation in 1982, unbroken British sovereignty has been cafes, and pubs, along with a great little established since 1833. Significant naval battles were fought here during both the great museum make it easily worth a day. world wars. Today, tourism supplements farming and a lucrative fishing based economy. Bleaker Island Farming and tourism In 2013, 99.8% of Falklanders voted to remain a UK Overseas Territory. sit side-by-side on this privately owned island in the south-east Falklands. On TOP TIP There’s a local saying about expecting all four seasons of weather in level grasslands, its spectacularly dense one day. With an ever-present wind, it’s important to bring plenty of layers. wildlife includes giant petrels, gentoo and *A good windproof / waterproof is essential as well as thermal Magellanic penguins, and 8,000 breeding base-layers and sturdy boots for uneven ground. pairs of imperial cormorants. Sea Lion Island This nature reserve island in the south-east Falklands BEFORE YOU TRAVEL BEING possesses luxuriant tussock grass. But WHEN TO GO THERE its real appeal are beaches hosting up Summertime (October to March) is WHERE TO STAY to 2,000 southern elephant-seals during the best time to visit. Despite strong Malvina House breeding season, which coincides with a westerly winds, daylight hours are long Hotel, Stanley daring killer whale called Whisky making
and temperatures hover between 10C This long Rockhopper penguin shallow water raids on the pups. and 15C, sometimes reaching 20C. established Carcass Island This hilly island has Summer also coincides with great seafront hotel is been run as a farm by the McGill wildlife activity due to the rearing of probably the best in town, with a good family for more than 40 years. It has a pups and chicks: particularly among restaurant and lively bar. wonderful display of gentoo penguins elephant seals, king penguins, and black- at Leopard Beach and is the base for browed albatrosses. Sea Lion Lodge visiting West Point Island’s 14,000 pairs This 11-room lodge on this small of black-browed albatrosses. WHAT TO READ east Falkland island offers full-board Volunteer Point This is an essential The Battle for the Falklands by Max accommodation, a stone’s throw from the off-road adventure around 3 hours from Hastings & Simon Jenkins main elephant seal beach. Stanley to one of the Falklands’ finest Perhaps the definitive accounts of the beaches where a thousand pairs of 1982 conflict, Jenkins’ insight into the Bleaker Island iconic king penguins rear young between diplomatic machinations throughout the Mike and Phyll Rendell’s five-room November and April. conflict parallels Hasting’s dispatches Cassard House is purpose-built for visitors from the frontline as a correspondent who and is snug with underfloor heating. sailed with the task force. TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS Carcass Island RECOMMENDED TOUR WHAT TO WATCH This working farmstead with a homely two- Falkland Island Encounters – 8 days Search YouTube for Falklands Through storied lodge features great food and fresh / 7 nights from £2,095 per person. Our Eyes – A short film providing cream from owner Rob McGill’s cows. Excursions out of Stanley and 2 nights snapshots of real life, through the eyes of on Sea Lion Island are included. our community. WHAT TO EAT On the smaller islands you should FIND OUT MORE definitely experience a ‘smoko’. Derived falklandislands.com from a cigarette break, it has morphed The official site of the Falkland Islands into a sort of afternoon high tea with Tourist Board is packed full of information homemade cakes. Otherwise the seafood about activities, excursions, and essential is superb, in particular the locally caught information for visitors. Patagonian toothfish and Loligo squid.
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Journey to the centre of the earth From gracious temples to thieving monkeys, Sasha Wood discovers the delights of Indonesian island hopping in Java and Bali.
ruit bats melt into the an acquired taste. One of “the diminutive, Jakarta. Here Java’s cultural jungle canopy and birds the world’s most densely moss-stuccoed and intellectual heart is Fof paradise begin to stir populated places, Jakarta is unmistakable, with classical as, from a serene spot between a sprawling, traffic-clogged Hindu-Buddhist Javanese arts like batik fabric- two bell jar-encased buddhas, city, home to more than nine water temple making and wayang puppetry I watch the sun rise over the million people. However, the to be discovered around every Indonesian island of Java. As opening of a new monorail of Pura Ulun corner. An evening stroll the sun clears the horizon, an system in 2015 should make Danu Bratan down bustling Malioboro almost prehistoric landscape getting around easier, and if Street presents an assortment of steaming jungle unfurls, you have a day in the city, the resembles tiered of jingling gamelan music with mighty Mount Merapi faded colonial ambience of the topiary framed interspersed with food stalls at its heart: rising up from the Dutch East India Company’s selling tasty traditional treats mist-shrouded landscape it settlement of old Batavia against the such as fried rice (nasi goreng) helped shape. (Kota) is well worth exploring. serene lake.” and green coconut rice balls with surprise palm sugar Formed from a series of East of Java centres (klepon). cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, Indonesia’s geographical Indonesia is a set of 17,000 position is a blessing as well Less than an hour’s drive lush tropical fragments as a curse. Nature’s engine from two of the region’s most stretching across the equator has fed a biodiversity second important Unesco-listed sites in south-east Asia. It’s the only to Brazil and living with – the temples of Prambanan world’s largest archipelago volcanoes obviously has its and Borobudur – Yogyakarta and one of the planet’s most advantages for the people is the perfect base for some volcanic zones (the country of Java, where ash fertilises classic sightseeing. Borobudur has more than 150 live verdant terraces that produce sits on a hill opposite Mount volcanoes). And, as Garuda up to three rice harvests a year. Merapi, which is closely Airlines launches a new service The Javanese embrace life with associated with Mount from London to Jakarta at a fatalistic gusto that’s hard Meru – the Hindu-Buddhist the end of May, coupled with not to admire and the island centre of the Earth. A vast regular internal flights to itself seems to embody the collection of ninth-century Bali and beyond, Indonesia spirit of the mythical phoenix, stupas and statues formed is about to become far more rising from the ashes. in the shape of a sacred accessible. mandala (a circle representing So it seems apt that I check infinity), it is south-east Asia’s Set in West Java, the into the colonial-era Phoenix largest Buddhist monument, Indonesian capital, Jakarta, Hotel in the central Javan rivalling Cambodia’s Angkor is nicknamed the Big Durian, city of Yogyakarta (Yogya), Wat for majesty and magic. as like the Asian fruit, it is a 45-minute flight from Prambanan, constructed a
58 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL JOURNEYS | INDONESIA
century later, is a striking to nature, the gods and each Enchanted isle temple of Uluwatu is collection of more than 18 other daily. My guide Natta Bedugul sits aside one the cloaked by jungle and temples, decorated in intricate tells me it is this tradition island’s extinct calderas, overrun with grey bas relief and housing sacred that makes the Balinese so now Bali’s second largest kleptomaniac monkeys. statues dedicated to Brahma, friendly. Fragrant offerings freshwater lake, Danau Out of respect, each temple Vishnu and Shiva. are everywhere: small bundles Bratan. Here, the diminutive, visitor in Java and Bali is of rice, incense and petals are moss-stuccoed Hindu- asked to wear a coloured delicately placed on corners or Buddhist water temple of Pura sarong, but this time, Garden scattered on the ground. Later, Ulun Danu Bratan resembles puzzlingly, we are asked to of earthly as I swim in the languid sea at tiered topiary framed against remove our glasses. The delights Sanur, one drifts towards me the serene lake. Wonderful reason becomes clear as I I fly east from Yogyakarta to on a banana-leaf raft. treks into the surrounding witness a monkey snatch Bali’s new airport at Denpasar. mist-shrouded forests are some sunglasses from an It’s an exquisite journey: Climbing 900 metres through rewarded with stirring views. unwary tourist, another Wordsworth would have run the central Balinese foothills Volcanic peaks loom above the nonchalantly grabbing a bottle out of words had he left the towards Bedugul, I call in at clouds and, below, a swirling of water, unscrewing the cap, Lakes for Bali, so overwhelming Tegal Sari coffee plantation. patterned carpet of deep green and taking a swig. is its natural beauty. We drive Durian, cocoa and mangosteen rice terraces and jungle is laid north to the island’s physical fruit dangle along the pathway, out before me. As the sunset blazes across and spiritual heart, Ubud, and pineapples and snake fruit the Indian Ocean, I take a through a verdant landscape hide in hollows beneath vanilla Although the southern seat to witness the famous of palm-fringed rice paddies. vines. The cacophony of myriad Balinese beaches around Kecak fire dance. We sit At warungs (refreshment insects and endemic birds – Java Kota are heavily developed, entranced as a 70-strong stops) we discover artisan starlings and scarlet-headed the dramatically beautiful throng of sarong-clad men villages, each with their own flower peckers – fills the air. Tanah Lot temple – clinging chant rapidly. Performing specialist craft of stoneware, Unexpectedly, I stumble upon impossibly to a rocky coastal a ritual dance retelling the textiles and wood carvings. one of Bali’s most prized outcrop, 20km south of the epic tale of Ramayana, the Ubud itself offers a satisfying products – kopi luwak – coffee capital Denpasar – is a good evening culminates with a array of shops, boutiques and made from beans that have reason to visit. Further south dramatic explosion of fire galleries in which to buy the passed through civets (a type of to the Bukit peninsula, I against the now indigo sky – crafts; though it is Puri Saren mongoose). Highly expensive, discover even more mystical an explosive end to my time Agung, the royal palace, to the process is said to make it marvels. In a stunning coastal in this volcanically forged which I am drawn. The steps more flavoursome, but having setting atop neatly stacked island paradise. • up to the ornately carved taken a taste, I stick to tea. limestone cliffs, the Hindu 19th century stone gateway are lined with bright flowers, hinting at the exquisite garden of spreading palms, bloom- INDONESIA TRAVEL NOTES laden branches and bushes dotted with sweet-scented THE BACKGROUND frangipani within. Home to LOCATION Indonesia is a the royal family until the vast archipelago of more than 1940s, amid the shaded lotus 17,000 islands to the north ponds and birds of paradise, of Australia, spreading along the king’s Thumbelina-like the equator for a distance of granddaughters perform a 5,000km and separating the delicate, perfectly synchronised Indian and Pacific oceans. pendet dance to a traditional LANGUAGES Indonesian gamelan accompaniment of (Bahasa), 300 regional languages. chimes, bamboo flutes and POPULATION 242.3 million. xylophones. TIME ZONE GMT +7 hours. CURRENCY Rupiah (Rp). £1 = Rp15,148. TRAVEL WITH Known as the land of 1,000 VISAS British passport holders arriving by air can obtain temples, art, religion and a visa on arrival for 30 days, at a cost of $25. COX & KINGS nature are tightly entwined RECOMMENDED TOUR WHEN TO GO Cultural Highlights of in Bali. The islanders practise Indonesia is a good year-round destination, with a warm Indonesia – 14 Days a unique form of Hinduism tropical climate consisting of two seasons; wet (November to / 11 Nights from £2,295. incorporating ancient mystic March) and dry (April to October). Explore the temples, beliefs and elements of museums, colonial towns Buddhism. Every village has FIND OUT MORE www.indonesia.travel – A wealth of information on and natural beauty of Java at least three temples where accommodation, culture, nightlife and tourist attractions. and Bali. they honour their connection
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 59 RATLANTICepeat title CANANDA here | JOURNEYS
HOME fromHOME The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Wade travels around the coastal delights of Atlantic Canada
Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
60 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL ATLANTIC CANANDA | JOURNEYS
four most easterly provinces of Nowhere in North America Canada: New Brunswick, Prince are the ties binding the old world Edward Island, Nova Scotia and with the new so strong as in Atlantic Newfoundland and Labrador. Canada, located on Canada’s The links to the British Isles range spectacular east coast. Here, from history and heritage to music. discover a rich heritage of British, You’ll find it all – along with superb Scottish, Irish, French Acadian and dishes made from local oysters, First Nations, where voices still reflect mussels and lobster – in the towns the home ports of the settlers who and rustic settlements scattered landed here centuries ago. throughout a landscape ranging from rugged headlands and hidden Familiar names, such as Halifax, coves to lush meadows and St Andrews and Windsor dot the dense forests. >
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 61
ATLANTIC CANANDA | JOURNEYS > When to visit? Nova Scotia – shaped fortress that guards the town. Summers are warm in Atlantic Canada, Cover your ears at midday for the daily while autumn brings spectacular colour, Canada’s New Scotland firing of the Noon Gun that thunders as the leaves on millions of trees turn To check out possible family out across the rooftops. to red and gold. But holidays are connections, drop by Pier 21, the about meeting people; in Atlantic Canadian Museum of Immigration There is much more to this lively city: Canada, British visitors are greeted overlooking Halifax harbour. Between local university students ensure the like long-lost relatives – and some turn 1928 and 1971, a million immigrants cosy pubs are also great live music out to be just that! disembarked here. You can use the venues. Tuck into world-class seafood Family History Centre’s database to in stylish restaurants and check out the Just over six hours by plane from the track that long lost great-uncle or war- Seaport Farmers’ Market, a cornucopia UK, Halifax, Nova Scotia is the gateway bride aunt. of veg, cheeses and even Nova Scotia to the Maritime provinces of New wines from the Annapolis valley. Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Halifax played a major role in the Edward Island. The region is small by aftermath of the Titanic disaster South of Halifax, Peggy’s Cove, Canadian standards, but together the and that story is told in the Maritime Mahone Bay and Lunenburg are provinces are as big as New England. Museum of the Atlantic. A young boy’s photographer’s delights, with red- So, pick up a car or an RV (motorhome) shoes and a pair of gentlemen’s gloves painted wooden homes and lonely and spend a couple of weeks following are among memorabilia that transform lighthouses. But for scenic drives, few the coast, hopping on and off ferries a famous headline into personal can match the 300km-long Cabot as you go. Explore the quiet roads, tragedies. But the capital of Nova Trail, looping around the tip of Cape stop in picturesque villages and enjoy Scotia has 250 years of history; you Breton Island in the far north-east of the the great outdoors. can learn more at the Citadel, the star- province. The name recalls the French
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia “Lunenburg is a photographer’s delight, with red-painted wooden homes”
Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick Lighthouse, Prince Edward Island
62 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL ATLANTIC CANANDA | JOURNEYS
St John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador
Whale watching “Whether you drive, cycle or hike, the air is pristine and immigrants, who arrived 300 years ago and whose the views wide-open” legacy includes the massive Louisbourg fortress. Here the year is always 1744: women wear bonnets, soldiers fire muskets and children sing 18th-century French songs. By contrast, the heritage celebrated in the south-west corner of Cape Breton is Celtic. Drive through Dunvegan and Inverness; tour Glenora Distillery, the home of North America’s first single malt whisky; and learn all about high- speed fiddling at the Celtic Music Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick Interpretive Centre in Judique.
Take the ferry from Caribou, NS to inspired the stories, to the souvenir Further down the shore is one of Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island. straw hats with ginger plaits, celebrating North America’s last remaining Anne is a lot of fun. And the musical all coastal wilderness areas, set along about the orphan and her escapades the 16km-long Fundy Trail. Whether Prince Edward Island – has been a mainstay of Charlottetown’s you drive, cycle or hike, the air is summer festival for 50 years. pristine and the views wide-open. Canada’s Gentle Isle And many of the observation areas Smaller than Devon, PEI as everyone To return to the mainland and the are wheelchair-friendly. calls it, is romantic. Encircled by deep province of New Brunswick, drive blue sea and sandy beaches, the island over the dramatic 13km-long But, whatever you do, go out on a has red cliffs, green meadows and Confederation Bridge. whale watch. Seeing one of these sleepy hamlets. Just 150 years ago, aquatic giants leap out of the water is politicians from British North America a real thrill. Sailing yachts and speedy met in Charlottetown, the capital, New Brunswick – Canada’s zodiacs offer regular tours from St for the conference that led to the Andrews-by-the-Sea. This charming creation of Canada in 1867. That story only bilingual province village was settled in 1783 by British is explained in Province House; the It’s easy to identify 250-year-old Loyalists, who fled from the newly- actual event is celebrated with a cycle Francophone Acadian communities; independent United States. Stroll past path – the 300km-long Confederation they fly the French tricolore, punctuated the historic homes; explore Kingsbrae Trail. Along the way are cute villages, with a gold star. Canadians rarely boast, Garden, with its outdoor sculptures; glorious views, craft shops selling but they do like to point out that the Bay and play the 120-year-old Algonquin island-made souvenirs and waterside of Fundy has the world’s biggest tides. golf course, where panoramas of cafes serving delicious chowder. See for yourself at the Hopewell Rocks: Passamaquoddy Bay are the stuff of at low tide, you can walk on the ocean picture postcards. One of the most famous ‘residents’ of floor at the base of sandstone columns; PEI is the red-haired freckled heroine at high tide, you can paddle round their Return to Nova Scotia via the ferry of Anne of Green Gables, created over tops in a sea kayak. Nicknamed the from Saint John to Digby. Drive back a century ago. From the Green Gables Flower Pots, these pillars have been to Halifax through the Annapolis Valley Heritage Place, whose farmhouse carved by tides for centuries. with its orchards and vineyards. >
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 63 CANADA ATLANTIC
ATLANTIC CANANDA | JOURNEYS
Newfoundland & Labrador – welcoming wilderness Newfoundland & Labrador is closer than you think. The Vikings arrived Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland & Labrador in wooden ships but today’s travellers have no excuse with daily direct flights from London in peak season in just five hours flying time, plus ferry service from North Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Newfoundland alone is huge – large enough to absorb Scotland and more. In this vast wilderness moose wander across roads, perky puffins pose for pictures, and close to shore, luminous blue icebergs float majestically southwards. On the west coast, a must is the boat trip on Western Brook Pond, a 16km-long, land-locked fjord in Gros Morne National Park, where 300-metre-high waterfalls streak the towering cliffs.
Way up on its northern shore is the starkly beautiful bay of L’Anse aux Meadows. Here, grassy mounds mark the first European settlement in Canada. The story is told at Norstead, where, alongside a replica 16-metre-long ship, cheerful actors dressed as Vikings build fires, make pottery and spin wool. The small museum boasts 1,000-year-old archaeological finds, including stone oil lamps, a bronze pin for fastening cloaks, bone needles and spindles for spinning. •
Newfoundland & Labrador
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ATLANTIC CANANDA | Travel notes Repeat title here A> ll you need to know: ATLANTIC CANADA by Cox & Kings Canada expert Neill Prothero
THE BACKGROUND LOCATION Atlantic Canada is located on the east coast of Canada, and is made up of the scenic provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Together, the provinces are fringed by perhaps Canada’s most spectacular coastline and every seaside activity you can imagine. Travel to the region is easy with direct flights from London in just 5-6 hours. LANGUAGES English & French. SET YOUR COMPASS POPULATION 2.3 million in Atlantic Canada. TIME ZONE Atlantic Time (-4 GMT) and Newfoundland Time (-3.5 GMT). Halifax, Nova Scotia The capital of Nova CURRENCY Canadian dollar (CAN) £1 = $1.84. Scotia province, Halifax is a coastal city VISAS British citizens don’t usually need a visa to visit Canada for short periods. with a fascinating history, dominated POTTED HISTORY The first part of North America to be discovered by Europeans, by piracy and warring colonialists. Canada’s four Atlantic provinces possess a proud, centuries-old culture that combines a Attractions include the Historic Properties, a collection of restored buildings from the distinct mix of British, Scottish, Gaelic and French customs, creating a unique, tradition- 1800s, and the Maritime Museum of the oriented people. On 1 July 1867, the British North America act established modern Atlantic, with an interesting Titanic display Canada, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined as two of the first four Canadian paying tribute to the three Halifax ships provinces. Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1873 and Newfoundland & that were sent in response to the distress Labrador became a Canadian province in 1949. 2014 marks an important milestone in call from the doomed liner. Canadian history – the 150th Anniversary of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, which Lunenburg, Nova Scotia The largest paved the way to Canadian Confederation.Celebrations are planned throughout the year. of the South Shore fishing villages, Lunenburg, a Unesco world heritage site, was the first British settlement outside BEFORE YOU TRAVEL BEING THERE Halifax. Attractions include the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and the historic WHEN TO GO WHERE TO STAY Knaut-Rhuland House. July and August are the warmest months, The Halliburton, Halifax, Nova Scotia while the autumn months between The Halliburton is a boutique property St John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador St John’s is North America’s oldest port September and October still have spread over three connected heritage city, full of history and character with warm daytime temperatures but smaller townhouses in the centre of Halifax. colourful houses lining steep streets and crowds. The ‘greenest’ time to visit is hidden alleyways. Visit Signal Hill National spring, in late May and June. Whales can Maison Tait House, Shediac, Historic Site, the city’s most famous be seen in various places between May New Brunswick Set in a historic mansion landmark, with interactive displays of the and October, and icebergs can be viewed built in 1911, the Maison Tait House site’s history plus the canons and remains of an 18th-century British battery. between April and July. is located in the heart of downtown Shediac. The nine rooms have individual, Saint John, New Brunswick With a WHAT TO READ traditional decor and modern amenities. population of just under 70,000, Saint Anne of Green Gables John is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick and the only city on by Lucy Maud Montgomery The Great George, Charlottetown, the beautiful Bay of Fundy. Originally a This best-selling 1908 novel recounts Prince Edward Island An award-winning French colony, the city was incorporated the adventures of Anne Shirley, a young historic property, which preserves by British Loyalists in 1785 to become orphan girl mistakenly sent to Matthew the charm, elegance and hospitality of Canada’s first legal city. and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged the 1800s. Charlottetown, PEI Named after King brother and sister who have a farm on George III’s consort, Charlottetown was Prince Edward Island. Leaside Manor, St John’s, the setting for the 1864 Charlottetown Newfoundland & Labrador A former Conference, which led to the birth of WHAT TO WATCH residence of the prominent Parker family, Canada as a nation. Today a provincial The Shipping News Leaside Manor is a heritage building and capital, the small city has a well preserved historical centre and a small-town feel. This 2001 film starring Kevin Spacey the only home of its style in the province. and Judi Dench recounts the story of an emotionally-beaten man who with his young daughter moves to his ancestral TRAVEL WITH COX & KINGS home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life. RECOMMENDED TOUR Canada’s Maritime Provinces (Self-drive) - FIND OUT MORE 14 Days / 13 Nights from £1,695. atlanticcanadaholiday.co.uk This 14-day self-drive Private Journey A wealth of information on takes in Canada’s scenic Maritime accommodation, culture, wildlife Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and destinations. and Prince Edward Island.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 65 SICILY | JOURNEYS History Island Cox & Kings tour leader Andrew Allen reveals Sicily’s Arabic & Norman influences.
Rooftops. Palermo
ake a walk through the introduced oranges and lemons to the so across the sea, while much of Sicilian backstreets of Sicily’s grand island, and produced scholars and poets Arabic is preserved in the language of the capital, Palermo, and you may of international repute. neighbouring Maltese people. Tjust stumble upon an oasis of peace, a lush garden of palm trees and “With its pale sun-drenched A student of the middle ages, with all other exotic plants at the centre of which the rivalry, violence and crusading the lies the medieval church of San Giovanni stone and miniature red period witnessed, may well have expected degli Eremiti. With its pale sun-drenched domes, the building looks as if this Arab civilisation here in western stone and miniature red domes, the it belongs in the Middle East” Europe to meet a sudden and brutal end. building looks as if it belongs not in this The truth, however, was very different – southern Italian city, but, as the above at least for the next century or so. Sicily Victorian author observed, in the Middle The city, with its palaces, baths and was to experience its very own Norman East. Venture into the complex with its madrassas, grew to a size of 350,000 conquest six years after William the charming little cloister and you can find, inhabitants and vied with Arab Conqueror’s northern equivalent. But a joined to the plain yet harmonious nave Cordoba as Europe’s largest metropolis. series of enlightened kings, chief among of this 12th-century edifice, another, Contemporary travellers describe the them the great Roger ll, allowed all of earlier building believed to have once city’s vibrant commercial activity and the the island’s religiously diverse citizens to been a mosque. huge Friday mosque on the site of what remain and prosper. Christians, Muslims is now the Catholic cathedral. Further and Jews lived side by side with a Sicilian For Sicily, the Mediterranean’s largest south, the town of Agrigento, world identity and very few problems. island is not just a beautiful place full of famous for its classical Greek temples, wonderful old buildings and dramatic still preserves the ninth-century Berber And so the visitor to modern Palermo scenery – it is an exotic land with a street plan from a time when it was finds, just a few hundred yards from positively oriental past. For nearly 250 known as Kerkent, while in western Sicily San Giovanni, the imposing bulk of the years Sicily was part of the Islamic couscous remains a traditional local dish. Palazzo Normanni, their powerbase world, an Arab emirate (831-1072) with The whitewashed, cube-like architecture on the island – originally a Phoenician Balharm (Palermo) as its capital. These of that part of the island is strikingly construction and then used as the seat eastern colonists stimulated agriculture, reminiscent of Tunisia, just 160km or of the emir from the ninth century.
66 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL SICILY | JOURNEYS
Inside can be seen one of the undoubted the south of Palermo, where the huge and an even more stunning spectacle gems of European art, the stupendous cathedral of Roger’s grandson William awaits. The shimmering mosaics made Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel), the ll dominates the town’s central piazza up of millions of individual tesserae royal chapel of the Norman kings, begun and all else around, the Mediterranean reveal the whole biblical message and by Roger ll in 1132 and embellished sparkling in the distance. World famous more, beginning with the creation, and with a magnificent series of mosaics by for perhaps the largest cycle of Byzantine- are dominated by the awe inspiring artists probably from Constantinople. era mosaics anywhere in the world, the Christ Pantocrator high up in the apse. Wonderfully eclectic, Arab craftsmen exterior of the building itself presents a As was customary, the scheme features were likely to have been responsible for a ‘donor portrait’ of the king presenting the painted muqarnas ceiling of Nebrodi a small model of his cathedral to the pine as the Siculo-Norman school of art “an exotic land with a enthroned Virgin Mary. The sheer scale and craftsmanship flourished in Sicily positively oriental past” of the decoration, complete with original in much the same way the Hispano- cosmati pavement, was conceived by Moresque style evolved following the this monarch as a direct challenge to his Christian reconquest of Spain. kind of oriental fantasy. The contrasting English archbishop Walter of the Mill stonework and pointed arches of the who was becoming a little too influential The next stop on any itinerary of Islamic-style blind arcading, Romanesque down the valley in Palermo. William Norman architecture in Sicily has to twin towers and intricate bronze doors of created a place that for today’s visitor is be the charming hilltop settlement of the Pisan and Apulian Schools are a true unmissable. Monreale, just a few kilometres to feast for the eye. Enter inside, however, There are other survivals from this period. Further examples of intriguing Norman red-domed churches still exist in Palermo among the crumbling baroque palazzi from the city’s Spanish colonial heyday, the sumptuous Martorana, which today gives its name to the local marzipan sweets in the shape of fruits and vegetables, the most well known. Nearby are the great feudal residences and former pleasure parks. Head off into the mountainous interior and one finds dramatically sited castles, like Mussomeli, with their Arab and Norman masonry guarding passes that witnessed the island’s bloody battles many centuries ago. Even the jet set resort of Taormina, with its iconic Greek theatre and breathtaking views of fiery Mount Etna, has at its heart the Palazzo Corvaja, intrinsically an Arab defensive building, guarding the elegant shops and streets that fan out around it.
Sicily has a wealth of attractions and undoubted natural beauty. Some come solely for the unrivalled classical remains. Many years may now have past but beneath her inspiring landscapes, glorious coastline and 21st century Italian style, still beats an Arab-Norman heart that has flavoured later centuries with its unique culture, sophistication and understanding. •
Andrew Allen will lead Sicily: Crossroads of the Mediterranean, one of Cox & Kings’ expert-led art tours organised on behalf of the Royal Academy of Arts, on 22-30 Sep 2014 & 05-13 Apr 2015 • 9 Days / 8 Nights from £2,195
Apse of church, Monreale
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 67 Art Tours Worldwide Art • Archaeology • Architecture 2014
ATOL 2815 ABTA V2999 New Tours For 2014-15 Cox & Kings is the travel partner for the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) and our programme of small-group tours is open to anyone with a love of the arts; enthusiasts and experts alike. The 2014 collection focuses on the art, architecture and archaeology of many of the world’s most culturally-rich destinations. The tours are accompanied by expert lecturers who help to design the itineraries, give talks along the way and, in many cases, open doors that would normally be closed to the general public..
Europe Italy: Caravaggio’s Rome Jerusalem: The Golden City Albania & Macedonia: Dates: 12 Oct 2014 Dates: 29 Sep – 03 Oct 2014 Cradle of the Balkans Expert: Konstantine Politis Expert: Fenella Billington Dates: 05 Oct – 14 Oct 2014 Jordan: Crusaders, Traders & Raiders Expert: William Taylor Italy: Renaissance Rome Dates: 04-11 Apr & 31 Oct – 07 Nov 2014 Armenia & Georgia: Dates: 07-11 May 2014 Expert: John Winterburn & Neil Faulkner Treasures of the Caucasus & 28 Oct – 01 Nov 2014 Morocco: Medinas, Dates: 12-22 May 2014 Experts: Clare Ford Wille Mosques & Mountains Expert: Andrew Allen & Andreas Petzold Dates: 7-14 Mar & 07-14 Nov 2014 Copenhagen: Danish Art & Design & 06-13 Mar 2015 Expert: Andrew Allen Dates: 17-20 Jul 2014 Romania: Mountains, Expert: Anne Anderson Monasteries & Medieval Castles Oman: Land of Frankincense
Germany: The Masterpieces Dates: 09-18 Oct 2014 Dates: 09-17 Nov 2014 of Dresden, Berlin & Potsdam Expert: Lucy Abel-Smith Expert: Konstantine Politis Dates: 17-24 Oct 2014 Tunisia: Crossroads of the Maghreb St Petersburg: Pictures & Palaces Expert: Tom Abbott Dates: 06-13 May & 18-25 Sep 2014 Dates: 2-7 May & 29 Aug – 03 Sep 2014 Experts: Chris Bradley & Italy: Florence in Focus Expert: Colin Bailey Rowena Loverance Dates: 06-11 Oct 2014 Expert: Fenella Billington Asia Spain: The Art of Madrid & Toledo Burma: Golden Temples & Pagodas Bay of Naples: Dates: 17-21 Nov 2014 Dates: 03-16 Nov 2014 & 01-14 Feb 2015 Pompeii & Herculaneum Expert: Colin Bailey Expert: Julian Brown Dates: : 27 Sep – 3 Oct 2014 China: A Journey & 14-20 Mar 2015 Istanbul: Byzantine through Chinese Imagery Experts: Andrew Allen & Annalisa Marzano & Ottoman Treasures Dates: 05-16 Oct 2014 Ravenna: Mosaics & Marble Dates: 29 Sep – 04 Oct 2014 Expert: Marlies Weston Expert: William Taylor Dates: 10-13Apr & 20-23 Nov 2014 India: Mughal Art & Architecture Experts: Rowena Loverance Dates: 01-14 Nov 2014 & 09-22 Feb 2015 & Sally Dormer Turkey: Classic Anatolia Expert: Diana Driscoll Sicily: Crossroads of the Dates: 04-13 Oct 2014 Laos & Cambodia: Mediterranean Expert: Rowena Loverance Temples & Treasures Dates: 22-30 Sep 2014 Dates: 07-19 Nov 2014 & & 05-13 Apr 2015 Africa & The Middle East 1-13 Feb & 19 Nov – 1 Dec 2015 Experts: Annalisa Marzano Expert: Denise Heywood & Andrew Allen Ethiopia: A Journey through Landscape & Time Uzbekistan: The Golden Italy: Connoisseurs’ Venice Road to Samarkand Dates: 24 Oct – 07 Nov 2014 Dates: 25-29 Oct 2014 Dates: 25 Apr – 6 May & 19-30 Sep 2014 Expert: Sian Walters Expert: William Taylor Expert: Diana Driscoll For reservations, please call 020 7873 5000
For detailed itineraries and prices, please request a copy of the 2014 RA Worldwide Art Tours brochure by calling 0844 576 5518 quoting reference COMPASS, or visit www.coxandkings.co.uk/ra
Statue: Menelaus, Loggia della Signoria, Florence, Italy COMPASS POINTS | NEWS & VIEWS compass points
Sunday Times best- hen I was a kid, I was a just exhibitionism. In late 2008, I gave bit of an exhibitionist. up working as a veterinary surgeon to selling author Ben Kane Although my youthful write full time. My novels are set in brings ancient Rome Wdays have long gone, and around ancient Rome, and most of that streak lives on in me. Three times the characters in my books are soldiers. vividly to life in his a week, you can find me tramping Spartacus and Hannibal the country lanes around where I One of the many reasons I wanted to live, dressed as a Roman legionary. become a full-time writer was so that historical fiction It’s not insanity taking hold, but I could exercise more. As a vet, I’d series. The secret to his training for a march I’m to do in April. always had a ready excuse not to go Together with two other authors, I for a walk or a run. My hours were success? A little mud, will walk more than 170km from too long, or I’d just worked a weekend, sweat and tears… the Augustan amphitheatre in Capua or I was on call, blah, blah, blah. This to the Colosseum in Rome. I should would no longer be the case, I told explain this eccentric behaviour isn’t myself, when I chucked in being a vet.
70 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL COMPASS POINTS | NEWS & VIEWS My world according to Twitter... Fast forward four years however and Apart from the amusement I was things had changed little. In fact, things causing, I found that walking in full were worse than when I’d worked Roman military kit wasn’t only a as a vet. Then at least I had been on good way to get fit. It was also useful my feet all day. Now I was sitting on in learning how the kit worked, …@kirstywark my backside from Monday to Friday, how it felt to wear for long periods, Scottish Journalist and tapping away at a keyboard. and even how it sounded. Most of television presenter my discoveries were revelations and Kirsty Wark is best known ate in 2012, checking while I don’t think my previous for fronting BBC Two’s my ever-increasing age writing had suffered from their lack, current affairs programme Newsnight, but and waistline, I realised I am positive it has improved since. in 2013 she revealed herself a star baker Something had to be done. when she won The Great Sport Relief Bake L Off, and was also voted one of the Top Never one for half measures, I decided The walk we’re to do this year will that Something would be walking be a good deal longer than our last 50 Best Dressed Women Over 50 by the the length of Hadrian’s Wall, in effort, tougher too. Spurred on by Guardian newspaper. full Roman military kit, including Tony’s constant jibes last year about hobnailed boots. To make the affair my 0.5kg chest armour – an accurate Currently with 1,602 tweets and 18,800 seem in some tiny way normal to the replica, I hasten to add – I am to walk followers, here Kirsty shares who she follows rest of humanity, rather than bark-at- as a triarius, the most experienced for news and views the-moon insane, I thought I’d raise type of legionary at the time of some money for charity while I was at Hannibal’s war with Rome. This Sport @Gabby_Logan This woman is it. That, I decided, would be A Good will involve wearing kit that weighs warm funny, smart, oh and she knows a Thing to add to my Something. very nearly 25kg, much of which is shed load about sport. accounted for by a 9.5kg rusty mail One night, after plying two author shirt. Needless to say, I am training World View @alexmassie A writer who friends – Anthony Riches and Russell hard, so that I don’t end up as the is always interesting and witty – particularly Whitfield – with a considerable amount cause for some unfortunate newspaper on Scottish idiosyncrasies, and knows of beer, I asked if they would also like headline: ‘Author collapses in Italy about sport. to walk Hadrian’s Wall? They agreed while walking for charity dressed as without even pausing to draw breath. Robocop’. We’re also having the whole New York Stories @alancumming process filmed as a documentary – Terrific actor, New York stories, and probably The very next morning, I announced think ‘Three Men in a Roman Boat’ knows nothing about sport. our plans on Facebook and Twitter. – without the boat. It wouldn’t do to This was a deliberate ploy: if I backed drop dead on camera either. Cooking @nigelslater Has to be my all out, I would look like a complete time favourite cook and writer on matters loser. As the hangover wore off, the So call it research, call it adventure, food and I love his observations about his life. grim realisation of what I had let call it author eccentricity taken myself in for sank in. I could no to new heights. All I know is that Design @caitlinclem My daughter who longer make excuses not to exercise. sometimes the best way to write loves style and design and who already has All too aware that I would be about Roman legionaries is to walk a newspaper column even though she’s still marching 21-24km a day (for six a mile, or 125, in their shoes. a student. days), wearing about 16kg of kit, I started going for walks around my Kirsty Wark’s debut novel home town. I had to order clothing, You can follow and support Ben The Legacy of Elizabeth armour, footwear and other assorted Kane’s journey @BenKaneAuthor Pringle (Two Roads, pieces of kit too. By the time about uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ £14.99) is out now. two months had passed – in early 2013 RomaniWalk2014 – I could go out fully kitted up as an Kirsty appears at hastatus: a class of legionary from the the Oxford Literary second Punic war, which took place in Festival on 26 March the third century BC. oxfordliteraryfestival.org and the Stratford Upon Avon Literary Festival on 3 May That was when the odd looks really Ben Kane’s latest book stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk started coming my way. I soon grew Hannibal: Clouds used to the questions, ‘Lost your of War is out now legion?’ and ‘Are you one of the 300?’ (Cornerstone, £12.99) Why not follow Cox & Kings? @coxandkingsUK
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 71 BOOKMARK | reviews
DAWN TO DARK Photographs: The Magic of Light
In National Geographic’s latest photography collection, the finest photographers capture the passage of a day, glimpsed from dawn’s first light to the last rays of the setting sun. Showcasing light in all its striking variations, images range from drops of dew glistening in the morning sunlight to a crescent moon framing a gnarled tree. It’s a simple, but striking play on the passage of time and a connection shared by all.
Dawn to Dark Photographs: The Magic of Light (National Geographic, £30)
72 Colleen Pinski | Albuquerque, New Mexico BOOKMARK | reviews
73 BOOKMARK | reviews BookMARK From Africa to ancient Rome, here’s our round up of this spring’s best new titles
The News: Let’s Everland A User’s Explore Rebecca Hunt Manual Diabetes (Fig Tree, £12.99) Alain de Botton With Owls (Hamish David Sedaris Longlisted for the Hamilton, (Abacus, £8.99) Guardian First £18.99) Book Award for America doesn’t do Mr Chartwell, in Best known for national treasures. her second novel his books Religions for Atheists, The Rather than muscular-whimsy of Rebecca Hunt draws upon her 2011 Art of Travel and the best-selling The characters like Stephen Fry and Judy experience of sailing as part of the Arctic Architecture of Happiness, as well as Dench, America prefers her favourites Circle residency. Everland follows two creating the London institution The in the guise of saviours, like Oprah, or Antarctic expeditions, which despite School of Life, here Alain de Botton snarks. Snarks snip and snipe, and the taking place 100 years apart, face gives his latest handbook for life – a grand-snarkster of them all has to be remarkably similar challenges. manual for reading the news. De David Sedaris: a man whose unflinching Botton’s premise is that, although we wit and odd-ball upbringing has made Everland explores the relationships are taught how to interpret works of him a hit both sides of the pond. between group members as they art or Shakespeare, no-one tips us the struggle to cope with the desolate same insights into reading the news. In this latest collection of essays, landscapes, unforgiving climate and Hence, The News: A User’s Manual Sedaris weaves museum visits in generally harsh conditions in which they features 25 typical articles, each with Washington, DC (where he is mistakenly find themselves. an in-depth analysis of their context, handed a fur coat by the cloakroom which topic we enjoy more (and why), attendant: it was like a bear had fainted The two stories running in parallel are and how each could be improved with in my arms) with travels in the company both equally gripping. The modern a dash of wisdom from literature, art, of his long-suffering partner Hugh (If expedition of ambitious researchers far architecture and travel. Maybe not anyone could make his own paint, it from home mirrors its predecessor. But front page stuff, but The News offers would be Hugh). Fans will recognise the reader is kept guessing right until the a thought-provoking, philosophical the essays from the recent BBC Radio end: have lessons been learnt or will the consideration of something most of us 4 series, but will find them nonetheless characters make the same devastating take for granted. enjoyable second time around. decisions? Kimberley Hay Jennifer Cox Katie Liddell
Savannah Diaries Brian Jackman (Bradt Travel Literature, £9.99)
Savannah Diaries is one of a handful of travel literature titles from Bradt, the guidebook publisher. The travel journalist and author Brian Jackman’s accumulated knowledge, experience and travels manifest themself in this collection of diary extracts covering 40 years of his journeys in sub-Saharan Africa. He guides you into Africa’s wild bush to face lions and elephants while enjoying the best eco-lodges in Africa. As he casts off hot air ballooning over the Masai Mara, wildlife viewing in the Serengeti and bush walking in Zambia, it’s hard to imagine a national park in Africa Brian has not been to. His passion and love for Africa is clear, although at times one wildlife viewing experience can blend into another, there is enough varied impala and giraffe sightings to keep you engaged, as well as brief introductions to the safari-guides, scientists and conservationists who shaped sub-Saharan Africa in the last four decades. For safari aficionados this will be a trip down memory lane and for the first timer this is a taste of what’s come. Thomas Saunders
74 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL BOOKMARK | reviews
In and Out of the Kitchen: Series 2 Miles Jupp (BBC AudioGo, £10.99 from audible.co.uk)
If you have found yourself lamenting the demise of half-decent comedy programmes on Radio 4, you are clearly yet to discover the marvellous Damien Trench. Creation of comedy whizz Miles Jupp (Rev, The Thick of It), Trench is the aspiring celebrity-chef whose frustrations and media gripes we follow in In and Out of the Kitchen (with a recipe thrown in for good measure).
It’s splendid stuff – imagine Nigel Slater, if he was even more like Alan Bennett – with Damien and his banker partner Anthony at home in Holland Park, or travelling to the Lake District so Damien can film his ‘Poets and their Palates’ show. JC
Beggar’s Feast Randy Boyagoda (Penguin, £8.99)
An epic, allegorical tale, Beggar’s Feast explores the history of Sri Lanka in the early 20th century, as embodied by one man - the self- named, Sam Kandy. A 10-year- old abandoned by his father to abusive monks, Sam Kandy flees to the streets of Colombo and re- invents himself without so much as a backwards glance. Enemies The Last At Home Boat Home On a journey which takes him Lindsey Davis Dea Brovig to the docks of Sydney and (Hodder & Stoughton, £18.99) (Hutchinson, £14.99) brothels of Singapore, Kandy eventually returns to Sri Lanka: Lindsey Davis’ much-loved character On the wind-swept southern coast a country undergoing similar Marcus Didius Falco is an informer – of Norway, 16-year-old Else is out on the such relentlessly forward-facing or private investigator – sleuthing the icy sea, dragging her oars through the changes. Sam resolves to make murky, murderous underbelly of the waves while, above her, storm clouds his own mark on the world at any ancient Roman empire, in the company are gathering. cost, but faces a challenge at of ambitious senators, drinking-buddy every turn. Vigiles and the emperor’s official spies. Surrounded by mountains, snow and Enemies At Home is the second of the white-capped water, she looks across A Canadian academic with Sri rebooted – or resandaled – series, with the fjord and dreams of escape, as at Lankan roots, this is Boyagoda’s Falco’s adopted daughter Albia now home her father sits with second novel and the character grown up and in charge of her own a jar of homebrew and her mother of Sam Kandy is loosely based on investigations: in this case, a double covers her bruises. his great uncle. murder in which the house slaves are implicated. As ever Davis’ intimate In this dark, atmospheric first novel Boyagoda is an excellent knowledge of Roman history, seamlessly from the Norwegian-born, British storyteller, creating vivid pictures creates a world that is both informative writer Dea Brovig, one night changes which give us cause to reflect and entertaining. In the character of everything in an isolated, God-fearing on the history of a country going Albia, there is the additional enjoyment community where a terrible secret through very real changes. of entering into the less explored lives of refuses to stay hidden. Katie Parsons Roman women. JC JC
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 75 WANTED ON VOYAGE | Reviews Wanted On Voyage Kimberley Hay picks a little luxury to pack in your carry-on to make those long-haul flights fly by.
Holiday In the spotlight … air travel
Preparation Apps The Cachora Alpaca Travel Set by Urbanara A little bit of comfort goes a long way on a lengthy Awesome Note | flight. Made of 100% baby alpaca wool, the eye £2.49 mask and blanket are simply luxurious, and pack up (iPhone, iPad) conveniently in the accompanying drawstring bag. We all make packing lists, and this app aims to make quick £89.00 | www.urbanara.co.uk work of creating, sharing, and keeping track of them. This fully customisable, stylish organiser also synchronises Trakdot luggage tracker with Google Drive so your lists are Lost luggage is a travel disaster, but this handy device accessible from all devices. promises to ease a difficult situation. Packed into your case, GateGuru | Free ` it ‘wakes’ on landing to text you with its current location – hopefully on the luggage carousel where you are waiting. (iPhone, iPad & Android) With live flight arrivals and £79.99| www.trakdotluggage.co.uk departures, plus maps of each airport, ratings of the local amenities and tips from the online Mocks community, you’ll never be bored on Perfect for long-haul leg stretching, Mocks your 3-hour layover again. moccasins are made from light, flexible material, Duolingo | Free with the insoles drawing heat from the body. (iPhone, iPad & Android) Plus, they’re easily cleaned; throw them in the Want to speak like a dishwasher with the rest of the washing up. local in real time? This From £45.00 | www.mocksonline.com clever app teaches you the basics in a wide range of languages, while crowd-sourcing local content, giving GRID-IT! Organiser you the chance to chat with locals, and even help out translating websites This array of elastic straps keeps your techsessories all and documents. Available in Italian, together, so no more rummaging for your earphones or French, Portuguese and more. adapters. Available in a number of sizes and colours, it includes a rear pocket for tablets or laptops. Stylebook | £2.49 From £19.95 | www.onewisemac.co.uk (iPhone, iPad) So you’ve decided where to go – but what about what to wear? This app takes stock of Sennheiser Momentum full size headphones your wardrobe, and helps you to plan These stylish over the ear headphones combine durable stainless outfits in advance. At a glance you can steel with soft leather padding, ensuring your ears won’t ache after see which items match, how many hours of use. The closed back design cuts down on background outfits you can create with a piece, noise, granting you your own world of comfort. then add it to the app’s packing list. £259.95 | www.johnlewis.co.uk TimePIN | Free (iPhone, iPad & Android) We carry so much Gordon Ramsey plane food pack important personal data Not all inflight meals are created equal. on our phones, but a recent report For a more delicious in-flight feast, revealed only a third of us lock them. select from a range of dishes for your The new TimePIN app sets your own three-course, high-flying picnic. pin as the current time and date, so it’s always changing and easy to Currently available from London remember. Super-secure! Heathrow airport only. £12.95 | www.gordonramsey.com
76 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL BEAUTY SPOT | Reviews Beauty Spot Jennifer Cox gathers up the best colours and scents of spring.
Bobbi Brown WIN a Briggs Illuminating Bronzer Soft powder and subtle pearls & Riley suitcase warm cheeks with a delicate wash of shimmering colour, part of the worth £379 pretty Uber Pink Collection. £27.00 | bobbibrown.co.uk
Barefoot SOS Intensive Treatment Oil Boost your complexion from winter into spring with the help of this delicious treatment oil, softening and smoothing skin with the help of Rosa Mosqueta, Argan and Evening Primrose Oils. £28.00 | barefoot-sos.com/pink
Smashbox Always Sharp 3D Liner Smokey eyes are out, defined lines in, with these brilliant new eyeliners by Smashbox. Striking colours in a soft stay-put formula, but best of all, the sharpener’s in the cap so precision’s guaranteed. £16.00 from Travel Retail outlets
Tisserand Aromatherapy Inspired by National Trust Spring flowers are the perfect pick-me-up, Compass, in conjunction with Briggs & Riley, especially in these handy handbag sized is offering the chance to win a hardside carry- roll-ons created by Tisserand Aromatherapy on suitcase worth £379. The Torq Carry- and the National Trust. Four blended scents On Spinner is a stylish and modern design for the senses include: Rose Garden, constructed with a Makrolon® polycarbonate Lavender Walk, Citrus Escape and Cedar material, creating a heavy-duty, but lightweight Retreat. Perfume roller balls £7.00, bath carry-on. With a lockable front-opening oils £11.50 | tisserand.com panel to fit a laptop or travel essentials, plus an internal compression panel that ensures clothes stay flat and wrinkle-free and lifetime M.A.C Mineralize Eye Shadow performance guarantee that covers airline A pretty palette of bronze and golden tones damage, the Torq Carry-On Spinner gives you feature in this glide-on mineralised shadow everything you need, and more. compact. Part of M.A.C’s Fantasy of Flowers From £379 | briggs-riley.com range, we also love the delicately tinted CremeSheen Glass for lips. To win the Torq Carry-On Spinner, £17.00 Mineralize Eye shadow | £17.50 enter the competition at CremeSheen Glass from Travel Retail outlets www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 77 Not to be missed | NEWS & VIEWS Not to be missed SPRING 2013 From poppies and paintings to cycling and centenaries, Eleanor Day picks the best of Britain this spring
Henri Matisse: Dylan Thomas 100 The Cut Outs Wales will be marking the This show highlights the later centenary of their favourite son works of one of the great masters throughout 2014, with special of modern art. When poor health events celebrating the life and prevented Matisse from painting in work of Dylan Thomas. There will later life, he channelled his colourist be guided walking tours around vision into an innovative series of Laugharne, the glorious waterfront paper cut outs. With around 120 location that inspired Thomas’ works from 1943 to 1954 on show, Under Milk Wood (and still this exhibition also features the houses the shed in which largest ever assembled collection he wrote it). There are also a of Blue Nudes. number of festivals and events featuring opera, theatre and Tate Modern, London music commemorating the 17 April – 7 September 2014 poet’s life and work. Tickets £18 | tate.org.uk
Henri Matisse, Blue Nude (I) 1952 Gouache painted Various locations paper cut-outs on paper on canvas 106.30 x 78.00 cm Until November 2014 Foundation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel Photo: Robert Bayer, Basel © Succession Henri Matisse/DACS 2013 dylanthomas100.org
The Centenary King Richard III: Dynasty, Poppy Campaign Death and Discovery The poppy, which thrived in The world was stunned by the the disturbed earth of the discovery of King Richard III’s European battlefields, has remains in a Leicestershire car park become a national symbol of in 2012, and a new £4m visitor remembrance. This campaign centre opening this summer recalls aims to carpet the UK in a sea both the drama of the discovery of red by 4 August 2014, to and the history of this famously mark 100 years since the start horseless king. Housed in the of the first world war. Packets of official Royal British Legion centenary old Leicester Grammar School, poppy seeds are now available from B&Q, for sowing between April and overlooking the excavation site of July. All profits will be donated to RBL. Grey Friar’s Church where Richard’s Nationwide | realpoppy.co.uk grave was discovered, the new museum is one of a number of new Insider view cultural sites opening in Leicester’s The Royal British Legion’s director of fundraising, Charles Byrne: Cathedral Quarter this summer. “The idea to distribute poppy seeds to commemorate the centenary of the first world war originated with Legion members in the Greenhithe Leicester | Opening summer 2014. and Swanscombe Branch and we are delighted that this campaign has visitleicester.info gained nationwide attention. We want to see members of the public making this campaign their own in their local communities, working in collaboration with local government, schools and community groups.”
Glorious Glyndebourne at 80 This year, Glyndebourne marks its 80th anniversary with the staging of three new productions, as well as a series of 45-minute pre-performance talks. Opera fans who can’t make it to Glyndebourne can catch live performances at selected local cinemas, starting with Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier on 8 June. Glyndebourne 2014 Festival | 17 May – 24 August glyndebourne.com
78 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL Not to be missed | NEWS & VIEWS Copper alloy. © The National Museum of Denmark Brooch II, Fyn, Denmark. shaped like a ship, 800-1050. Tjørnehøj On A Plate Fresh and tasty UK food news by Jennifer Cox.
Soaring Spirits Set in western Europe’s tallest building, London’s Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard has to be this Vikings: Life year’s most anticipated opening. and Legend Reservations have just opened for The British Museum opens the booking signature restaurant / lounge new Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery Ting (from 6th May when the hotel with its first major Vikings exhibition opens). And for higher fliers, Gong will in more than 30 years. Among the be London’s highest cocktail bar (with infinity pool) from July. new discoveries on display are For reservations call +44 (0)20 7234 8108 or visit ting-shangri-la.com the longest Viking warship ever or gong-shangri-la.com unearthed and excavations of a mass grave, as well as a number Let Them Eat Cake of complete Viking hoards. Such This May Bank Holiday, English Heritage and finds combined with the latest Foodies Festivals are staging outdoor fine food research shed new light on the festivals at Kenwood House in Hampstead far reaching influence of these and Marble Hill in Twickenham. Pastry seafaring warriors. chefs, chocolatiers, bakers and jam makers will be on hand to offer tips, tastings and British Museum, London demonstrations in the perfect parkland setting. 6 March – 22 June 2014 Adults from £15 per day foodiesfestival.com Tickets £16.50 britishmuseum.org One For The Road Apparently one of the most frequently requested flavours, sweet maker Jelly Belly has just launched a beer flavoured jelly bean. Three years in the … ummm, brewing, the sweet contains no actual alcohol, making it the perfect candy for dry countries.
Oh Goan Fresh from BBC Two’s The Incredible Spice © Welcome to Yorkshire Men, award-winning chef Cyrus Todiwala has opened a new diner Assado, serving Le Grand Depart of Goan-Portuguese spice-infused cuisine in the Tour de France Waterloo, London. The feature dish is the For the first time, the Tour de 21-spiced Xacutti lamb curry France cycle race this year starts Assado.co.uk in Yorkshire, taking three days to pedal down to London, before Fair Share pushing on to France. Although the A new app out this month aims to race starts on 5 July, the 100 days make restaurant bill quibbles a thing of before are being celebrated with a the past, Spleat allows you to open a £2m Yorkshire-wide arts festival. tab, divide up a group bill and pay your Highlights include synchronised share from your phone. cycling by hundreds of LED-suited @SpleatApp cyclists outside the former Tetley Brewery and a team of cyclists Screen Scene pulling a grand piano up the One Aldwych, London has just launched a new agonisingly steep Cragg Vale. season of Film & Fizz, a fun night out that includes a glass of Champagne Lallier Grand Cru, followed by March 27th – July 6th popcorn and a movie in the hotel’s private screening yorkshirefestival.co.uk room, and ending with a three-course dinner. The evening costs £47.50 per adult, and films Le Tour Yorkshire include Gravity and Blue Jasmine | onealdwych.com 5-7 July • letour.yorkshire.com
www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass COMPASS 79 FOOD | LIFE
Basque in the limelight
Ash Mair © Nick Gregan (www.nickgreganphotography.co.uk)
80 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL FOOD | LIFE
Tasmanian-born chef Ash Mair years ago and I’ve been travelling back JC: Does each bar have its own came to prominence in 2011 when, and forth ever since. signature pintxo? with his modern take on traditional AM: Yes, one place we go to all the Basque cuisine, he won BBC’s JC: Your girlfriend Begona is Spanish time has bruschetta with gamba and MasterChef: The Professionals. A AM: Yes, from the Basque region of caramelised onion salsa. Another is passionate chef with a deep love of north-east Spain, she introduced me to well-known for its tortilla – they only cook Spain, Mair has since published My places like San Sebastián. It’s a beautiful two a day, at 1pm and at 6pm. You have Basque Cuisine, as much culinary city, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay to write your name down on a piece of guidebook as cookbook; is about about 20km from the French border. paper, or you don’t get a slice. to open Bilbao Berria, a Spanish It’s probably one of the most amazing restaurant in the heart of London, places in Spain for food. When I started JC: Your cookbook is subtitled A Love and later this year joins the first going you didn’t hear much about it, Affair with Spanish Cooking. MasterChef Travel tour to the Basque but over the last three or four years, the AM: There’s something about Basque region of Spain. Compass editor restaurants have become better known… cuisine that is immensely appealing. Jennifer Cox meets the reluctant star. It’s a cultural thing: people are very JC: The highest density of Michelin- knowledgeable about the food and very starred restaurants in the world? proud of its heritage; each village has its Jennifer Cox: Did you always plan to be AM: Exactly. The Basque Country is own speciality that they believe is better a chef? getting a real reputation as a foodie than any other. It’s hard to characterise Ash Mair: Not at all. When I left school, destination. but it all comes down to doing simple first I worked in an engineering company, things with really good ingredients – and then I studied hospitality: working as a JC: Tell us about the pintxos bars. I’d rather eat an olive than something waiter. I didn’t enjoy it, but found the guys AM: Pintxo [pronounced pincho] is a that’s been reset to look like an olive, if in the kitchen really interesting. I got a job small dish, traditionally served on bread you know what I mean. One stand out working as a kitchen hand and from day with a skewer through the middle. Like dish is hake and clams in salsa verde with one the chef let me cook – I was always tapas, they are part of Spain’s sociable jamon serrano: good seafood, not many getting into trouble for messing around culture: you go out for a glass of txacolí – ingredients – it’s about as Basque as you with sauces rather than washing dishes. the local wine – have a pintxo, talk to your can get. It was one of the dishes I made One day, chef brought in a book by this friends, then go on to another bar. Locals on MasterChef. amazing American chef Charlie Trotter: call this txikiteo, a kind of low-key pub that was the moment I knew I wanted to crawl. You only have one drink and one JC: How did MasterChef: The cook. His food and his food philosophy pintxo in each bar. You often see tourists Professionals come about? were just so inspiring. going into bars and loading their plates AM: The owner of the restaurant where up. You’d never see a Basque person I was working asked if I wanted to JC: What is the food culture like in doing that: they don’t go to pintxos bars go on. I didn’t: national TV … I didn’t Tasmania? for dinner, they go to socialise. want to put myself through that. All the > AM: People enjoy eating in Australia – it’s a very social activity – and there is San Sebastián lots of good local produce. Tasmania in particular is amazing as it’s so clean. Whenever I go back, I notice the different flavours of the food: the minerals, the soil, the air, the water … it’s just so pristine.
JC: Tasman terroir. London must have been a real shock by comparison? AM: It was. I moved here in 2008 and took a job as an agency chef with the catering company Admirable Crichton. I admired their work, and it was exciting: I got exposed to a lot of different styles and techniques, but it was the jobs too. I went to Greece for the Olympics; we also cooked a lot for the royals: Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles in Clarence House. Elton John too. But one day a friend rang me at work and said: “Do you want to go somewhere?” Twenty minutes later he’d booked us on a flight to Spain and we left the next day. I immediately loved it over there: the food, the country, the people, the culture … that was 13
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 81
FOOD | LIFE > attention, why do you think I work out of the way in a kitchen? But a few months later MasterChef rang as someone had dropped out. Three days later I was in the studio, filming … and wondering: ‘what have I done?’ I’d never seen the show and didn’t take it that seriously at first. But after the first episode, I realised I needed to. Some of the other chefs had planned their menus for the entire series, largely featuring French cuisine. I was travelling a lot to Spain at the time so that style of cuisine influenced my dishes. I think that helped me stand out. “Three days later I was in the studio, filming … and wondering: ‘what have I done?’”
JC: And of course you won. Joint 2012 winner Anton Piotrowski said one of the most valuable things about winning MasterChef is the contacts you make? AM: I don’t think anyone goes on MasterChef for the money – unlike Australia there isn’t any – and certainly not for the chance to go on TV. That’s the part that worries us the most, because if you’re a professional chef, and you go on, put your best into it then don’t do well, that’s going to damage your reputation. Chefs go on for the experience, and for the opportunity to cook with Monica Galetti and Michel Roux Jr, that’s what Culinary Passion makes it worthwhile. Also the chance to work in amazing restaurants. When of the Basques I found out we were going to [award- October 2014 Ash Mair © Nick Gregan winning restaurant] El Celler De Can Roca Ash Mair joins MasterChef Travel’s in Spain, I was just so happy: MasterChef Spain: A Culinary Passion of could have left me there and that would JC: You’re also leading the MasterChef the Basques in San Sebastian. have been enough. I’ve followed the Roca Travel tour to the Basque country, which Together, Ash and the group will brothers’ careers for years and to be is a chance for people to try these enjoy a local cider tasting, be there with them, at their restaurant, was dishes at source introduced to pintxos, explore La amazing. After the restaurant appeared AM: Yes, in San Sebastián we will be Bretxa Market and experience a on MasterChef, its website crashed: in visiting the markets, shopping for fresh cooking demonstration with a San one day it booked out for an entire year. seasonal produce, then going back to Sebastián gastronomic society. cook it in a sociedade, one of the local The group will then continue in the JC: You must be hoping your new gastronomic societies. I’m really looking company of local expert guides to London restaurant does as well. forward to that: we’ll all cook together, discover the vineyards and markets AM: It’s very exciting: Bilbao Berria but I’ll have a chance to explain why of Bilbao on the Basque coast. opens next month; we’re just adding the we’re working with ingredients in specific finishing touches. It’s spread over two ways. Then at night we’ll go around the floors, a place where people can drop in pintxos bars trying the house specialities. for a casual glass of txacolí with pintxos It’ll be amazing, going to bars that have and tapas, as well as a more formal been there for years and have a huge dining area serving high-end Basque local following but aren’t in any Michelin and Spanish cuisine. We’re working guide: they’re authentic, true to the local with some amazing Spanish producers character and tradition. bringing over really good wine, cheese, seafood and cured meats from the JC: Ordering off the beaten track? Basque country, the best available. AM: Yes, I can’t wait. •
82 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL recipe | life
Hake & clams in salsa verde with The first time I visited the Basque region of Spain, my introduction to the cuisine was Merluza en salsa verde served by my girlfriend’s mother jamón for lunch. Hake in salsa verde typifies the style of food that is eaten every day at home throughout the Basque region. Often a dish like this will be just one of three or four courses eaten for lunch. This dish works Serrano equally well with other white fish such as cod, pollock or monkfish. INGREDIENTS METHOD Serves 4 as a starter Place the fish stock into a pan, cover and Put the hake in the pan with the sauce and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add the cover with a lid. Cook for 4-5 minutes, gently 250ml (8½ fl oz) fish stock clams, cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes or shaking the pan once or twice. Use a spatula 20 clams, purged (see note*) until all have opened. Drain through a fine to turn the cutlets, then scatter the parsley, 30ml (2 tablespoons) light olive oil sieve and reserve the juices, discarding any peas and clams around the fish. Replace the 50g (¾ oz) serrano ham cut into clams that have not opened. lid and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until pea-sized dice the hake is cooked. Serve straight from the Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan 2 garlic cloves, peeled & finely diced pan or transfer the cutlets to a serving dish over medium heat. Add the ham and gently ½ small onion, finely diced and pour over the sauce and clams. sauté until just starting to colour. Add the 1 teaspoon plain (all-purpose) flour garlic and onion and continue cooking until *Clams and cockles should be purged before cooking 80ml (3fl oz) dry white wine to remove any sand and grit. Many fishmongers sell soft and translucent. Sprinkle over the flour clams and cockles already purged so ask when Coarse sea salt and stir to combine. Pour the white wine into buying, though you can easily do it yourself at home: 4 hake cutlets, skin on, each about the pan, reduce the liquid to a glaze then Whisk 30g (1oz) of fine sea salt into 1 litre (1¾ pints) of 160–180g (5oz) slowly add the reserved clam cooking liquid, cold water until dissolved. Place the clams or cockles in a bowl, pour over the salt solution then sprinkle ½ cup loosely packed parsley, whisking to stop any lumps forming. Bring over a handful of rolled oats or flour. Refrigerate for stems removed and finely chopped the sauce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 at least 5 hours and the grit will be expelled from the 55g (2oz) peas minutes. Season to taste. shells. Drain and rinse in cold water before cooking.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 83 Wine club | reviews
A T aste of the W orld
Naked Wines is Cox & Kings’ wine club partner. An online retailer, Naked Wines invests in independent wine makers to source delicious wine at the best possible prices. The result of connecting wine makers and wine drinkers through direct funding and honest feedback is a website full of delicious and affordable wines.
84 Wine club | reviews
Carmen Stevens’ Angels Reserve Chenin Blanc 2013, South Africa, 14% Chenin blanc, originally from the Loire valley in France, is one of the most popular grape varieties grown in the New World wine regions, and is thought to have been introduced to South Africa in the mid to late 17th century, where it is now prolific. Over that time though, it has, to all accounts, forged a reputation as a little middle of the road. However, the neutral palate allows the winemaker to give the wine their own treatment and an expression of terroir.
Carmen Stevens is one South African winemaker who knows how to make the most of this opportunity. Crisp and clean, this delicious wine hints at apple and pear, with a smooth almost creamy texture. It’s a versatile wine, perfect with a light fish dish and likely to work with almost anything, just don’t overpower it. A perfect springtime tipple, it has a nose of freshly cut grass followed by an explosion of citrus on the tongue, and then a desire for more. James Innes Williams
Virgile Joly Ventoux 2012, France, 14% As cycling aficionados know, Mont Ventoux is a 6,000ft cone rising from the Provencal plains. A regular and much feared feature of the Tour de France, it is a monstrous climb, representing prolonged agony whose only reward is the relief of finishing. As such, it could not be a less suitable name for this easy-drinking, free-wheeling red wine.
Conversely, if you say the name of its maker, Virgile Joly, in your best French accent, you will find that it shares many of the wine’s characteristics – smooth on the tongue, full of French flair, light and not overly serious. Monsieur Joly is actually a highly talented organic wine maker, from a family of Languedoc vine growers. Made from grapes grown in his grandfather’s old vineyard, this grenache and syrah blend is a beautifully balanced wine full of smooth, plummy flavours, a dash of mixed berries and a little background pepperiness. Although this is very much a table wine, for relaxed drinking, it certainly deserves decanting to bring the full flavours out. Philip Hamilton Grierson
Richard’s Sauvignon Blanc 2013, South Africa, 12% A memorable family holiday to South Africa some years ago has left me favourably disposed to wines of that country, when perusing the shelves in our local shop. And I admit I’m a bit of a sucker for an unusual name or label. This wine has both. The label’s a sepia photo of three Edwardian gentlemen at play, while ‘Richard’s’ refers to Master of Wine Richard Kershaw who moved to the Cape in 1999 and now runs a winery in Elgin.
First impressions of this sauvignon blanc are of a very pale, almost lemony colour, with a sharp nose. It’s dry, fresh with some sweetness coming through, and then a slight zip of acidity, but not too sharp. It was a good match with a spinach and ricotta cannelloni, but would also sit nicely with a creamy carbonara or fish dish. To echo Dawn French’s sweeter assertion: the wine may have been ‘Richard’s’, but now it’s mine. Nigel Hosking
Compass Reader Offer Compass is offering a £60 credit for you to try any bottle from Naked Wines’ delicious selection, valid against your first order of £99.99 or more. To claim your credit, simply visit www.nakedwines.com/coxandkings60 using the code COXKINGS60 and password VINEYARD. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Next day delivery as standard is £4.99. Full terms and conditions available at www.nakedwines.com.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass COMPASS 85 RSTEPepeat BACK title IN hereTIME | LIFE
Step back in time: Gower peninsula Walking correspondent Christopher Somerville is buffeted by the sands of time along the Gower peninsula, south Wales
alking the Wales Coast Path blown by ferocious medieval storms out along the southern edge of of the west to blanket the slopes of Three Wthe Gower peninsula on a Cliffs Bay. Stare back across Pennard Pill sunny spring afternoon, the vivid blue of from Penmaen Burrows, and you’ll see bluebells and the acid yellow of coconut- the stone-built stronghold on the eastern scented gorse overload the senses. High cliff edge that’s the focus of this walk – above Three Cliffs Bay, you gaze west Pennard Castle, razed and ruined by sand. over one of the most beautiful prospects in Wales: a vision of black cliffs, shaggy Field lanes carry you inland and back green dunes and golden sands infiltrated towards Pennard Castle: a flower-set path by the silvery glint of Pennard Pill’s of forget-me-nots, milkmaids, violets wriggling stream. and stitchwort, wild garlic and bluebells, drifts of starry gold celandines and white strawberry buds. You climb the steep “The drunken bridegroom sandy face of Pennard Burrows and come and his henchmen to the haunted, enchanted fortress on its perch overlooking the bay. cut for it in the jambs of the gateway lurched out and attacked don’t reach the ground, so it couldn’t the fairies – always It was William de Braose, Lord of Gower, actually have been closed. And the arrow who rebuilt the old wooden castle of slits were ineffective, too – there weren’t an unwise move.” Pennard in stone around the turn of the enough of them, and some of them faced 14th century. De Braose, a bloody-handed in the wrong direction. But it was the scourge of the insurgent Welsh, was sandstorms that proved an enemy far Down in the bay, you teeter across the notorious for throwing money around more deadly to Pennard Castle than any Pill by way of stepping stones. Beyond like a drunken sailor – but not, alas, on storming party, battering ram or siege lies the arrow-head promontory of Pennard Castle. The stone stronghold on engine. They kept on coming, year after Penmaen Burrows, where the chambered the cliffs was built small and flimsy, as year for two centuries and more – a cairn of Pen-y-Crug crouches, as it has though the Lord of Gower begrudged the natural disaster that advanced inexorably done for 5,500 years, under a monstrous effort and expense. to smother the castle, its neighbouring capstone of dully shining quartzite. You village, and the church of St Mary that pass a Norman castle mound, the great The whole castle gives the impression of served the inhabitants. By the early 16th hummock of a Norman rabbit warren, a cowboy job by a local builder: aware century all had been abandoned. and the ruin of an ancient church – all of what a castle was supposed to look lying packed and buttressed by sand like, but not what it was actually for. As you make your way back along the dunes. Sand holds the key to this walk: The portcullis, for example – the grooves cliffs, ponder the legend that grew from
86 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL STEP RBACKepeat IN title TIME here| LIFE
Pennard Castle, Gower peinsula
Farm, and along a path to cross Need to know: A4118. Go up the lane opposite; GOWER PENINSULA in 200 yards, turn right to re-cross Travel: By car – M4 (Jct 47); A483, A4118. Follow ‘Threecliff Bay’ sign these sober facts. Prince Rhys ap Iestyn, A4216, A4118; before Parkmill, to cross a stream and bear right (blue arrogant lord of Pennard Castle, had been left on B4436 (‘Pennard’); follow arrow) through woods for ½ mile. promised the hand of a young princess, ‘Southgate’ to West Cliff car park. Climb steeply to Pennard Castle, beautiful and innocent. On her arrival and bear left along the cliffs to the at the clifftop fortress she walked in on By public transport - Bus: Service 14, car park. an orgy of drinking, swearing, fighting Mumbles-Pennard Cliffs; Service 117, Access: Pennard Castle ruins and fornicating. The princess ran to hide. 118, Swansea-Parkmill or Penmaen always open. At that moment her friends the Tylwyth Walk: Follow the signposted Wales Teg, the fairies, arrived at the castle gates Coast Path west along the cliffs, Trails: Wales Coast Path, and to dance at her wedding. The drunken across Pennard Burrows and Pennard well-marked public footpaths – OS bridegroom and his henchmen lurched Pill stream by stepping stones, and Explorer 164 out and attacked the fairies – always an on to walk clockwise round Penmaen Lunch: Gower Heritage Centre, unwise move. A gigantic sandstorm blew Burrows. Where the WCP bears Parkmill (01792 371 206; up on the instant, burying castle, revellers away left along the cliffs, keep ahead www.gowerheritagecentre.co.uk), and poor unfortunate maiden many via Pen-y-Crug tomb to complete or coffee shop at North Hills Farm, fathoms deep. your circuit. Turn left (north) to a Penmaen (01792-371218) T-junction at Notthill; left to another Moral: beware of sandstorms, and be nice T-junction; right past North Hills to the fairies. •
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 87 ELEPHANTINE OFFERS IN D I A • S O U T H A F RICA • NAMI B IA
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SMALL GROUP TOURS • TAILOR-MADE TRAVEL • To speak to an expert or req uest a brochure, please call 020 7873 5000 quoting ref: COMPASS SMALL GROUP TOURS • TAILOR-MADE TRAVEL • To speak to an expert or req uest a brochure, please call 020 7873 5000 quoting ref: COMPASS Magic Bus 2014 Cycle South India
Join Magic Bus to explore Southern India by bike whilst raising vital funds 7th – 16th November 2014
The Magic Bus 2014 Cycle South India will cover 430km past lush forest, tea plantations, palm fringed beaches, forts and palaces as well as visiting a Magic Bus session and meeting the children and communities the trip is helping to empower.
To fi nd out more and register your place on the trip, contact Ellen on [email protected] or 020 7922 7717.
Magic Bus Cycle Challenge advert.indd 1 11/03/2014 09:50 MAGIC BUS | CHARITY Sporting Chance Magic Bus UK director Sonya Timms reports from the charity’s programme in the slum area of India’s Bombay Port Trust.
ifteen years ago, the charity Magic matted, they are thin and their clothes Bus grew out of a desire to tackle are torn and dirty. F the poverty trap: India’s poorest children growing up without the means I reach the field where the Magic Bus abundance of scrap metal that children to a better life. Founded by Cox & Kings sessions are held and the first thing I then sell. Many Magic Bus children were then COO Matthew Spacie, Magic Bus hear is a roar of activity and excitement: involved with this work before joining the runs community-based sports and two groups of children are running programme. activity-based programmes that train around having a game of football. This and mentor young people. The mentors is all part of the Magic Bus programme: Magic Bus has been working within lead the Magic Bus programme, which team activities followed by a mentor- BPT since 2003. Since then, the Magic is focused on building the key tools led discussion, based around a theme. Bus programme has enabled positive in a child’s life: getting an education Today’s theme is social emotional behavioural change in the children in and staying healthy. Children love to learning and the group sits in the shade such areas as increased awareness participate because the programme of a tree as the children relate the about their health, hygiene practices offers the chance to play and have activities on the field to relationships and the importance of education, with fun. Simultaneously, Magic Bus works in their own lives and the best way to the majority re-enrolling in school. Girls’ with parents and communities to make manage emotions in difficult situations. participation in the programme has sure the children get the support they At the end of the session, the children grown from 5% to 48%. need. As children complete these walk back to the community and to the programmes, they are offered the reality of life in BPT. On 14 February this year, Magic Bus opportunity to find work, continue into celebrated 15 years of delivering life- higher education or indeed take on the In this slum 100,000 families live in illegal changing mentoring to children and role of Magic Bus mentor. All of which housing, stacked precariously around young people living in marginalised help move a child out of poverty. the port littered with industrial waste, communities in India. To date, Magic Bus chemical soot, polluted water and has worked with 6,500 young people and One of the communities Magic Bus domestic garbage. All of this, coupled more than 250,000 children in 14 states operates within is Bombay Port Trust with the fact that there are no toilets across India. Our mission is to empower (BPT). I visited BPT, a large coastal and open defecation is widely practiced 1 million children to get an education, port area on the eastern edge of by community members, makes it a stay healthy, respect each other and gain the Southern Mumbai peninsula, in very unhygienic place with many health a meaningful livelihood by 2016. February 2014. Driving into the slum, risks. Malaria and water-borne diseases a dense collection of tiny huts made of spread rapidly through the community. To celebrate our 15th anniversary and cardboard, corrugated iron and tarpaulin support our mission, please sign up to lines both sides of the road. Women Economic poverty is a huge problem in donate £15 a month. At £180 a year, wash steel pots, clothes and their this community. A common occupation this could enable nine children from BPT children on the street and men huddle is metal salvaging, a hazardous business to join the Magic Bus programme, giving around fires, smoking and drinking. that usually employs small children them the confidence to change their Small children tap on the window of who can fit into the ships that come lives and help move themselves and the taxi begging for coins. Their hair is to the port for repair and that carry an their families out of poverty. •
If you would like to help, please consider supporting Magic Bus. It costs just £20 to put a child through the Magic Bus programme or £160 to sponsor a community youth leader for one year. To give a one-off donation or make a regular monthly gift to Magic Bus, please send a cheque to Magic Bus UK, 32-36 Loman Street, London, SE1 0EH or visit www.magicbusuk/how-you- can-help/make-a-donation.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 91 something to declare | NEWS & VIEWS Something to Declare
The icy realm of Scandinavia has never been I travelled throughout the region – not just Denmark, but Sweden, Iceland, hotter. From Jo Nesbo to The Bridge, we can’t read Finland and Norway – speaking with or watch enough Scandinoir, and – liveable and a wide range of people: economists, politicians, writers, anthropologists. I loveable – for the umpteenth time Denmark has met a Hindu priestess and government been declared the happiest place on Earth. ministers, Norwegian oil fund managers and Icelandic elf experts, British journalist and long-time Danish resident Swedish fascists and Father Christmas. Michael Booth probes the Nordic Miracle. I had a few theories and hypotheses that I wanted to test – not least regarding the Danish happiness o you want to know the secret from the United Nations to Oprah paradox. Some speculate that to Danish happiness? Join the has proclaimed the Danes the world’s Danish happiness is a result of their queue. Since the early 1970s happiest people within the last five enthusiastic consumption of anti- SDenmark has topped just about years. depressants, but I think this unlikely. every Happiness Index or Quality of The Finns are also dosed up to their Life list ever published. As a result, I have lived in Denmark on and off eyeballs on happy candy, but a more the whole world is fascinated by for 10 years or so, and been a regular miserable bunch of people you will be Denmark – its society, its lifestyle and visitor for almost 15. I’ll admit, initially hard pushed to find. its myriad varieties of heirloom organic I was a reluctant émigré, but I grew grains. Recently the Danes topped the to grudgingly appreciate and, lately, I had another theory: that the Danes Columbia University Earth Institute’s properly love my adopted homeland. were lying when people asked them World Happiness Report. Just before For the last couple of those years I have how happy they were because they that it was Monocle magazine, which been researching the Danish happiness enjoyed being written about in the put Copenhagen at the top of its phenomenon and, more broadly, the New York Times and having Oprah Most Liveable Cities list. Everyone so-called Nordic Miracle. visit. Had Danish happiness become
92 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL something to declareRepeat | NEWS title & VIEWS here
a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy? Possibly, a bit, but it doesn’t explain “The Finns are also dosed up to their success in the earliest surveys. their eyeballs on happy candy, but f course, I also looked at factors like the welfare a more miserable bunch of people state, economic equality Oand the role of taxation you will be hard pushed to find” in redistributing wealth; I looked at the special Danish notion of cosiness – hygge – and the Danes’ wonderfully fact that their public services are little relaxed approach to work-life balance better, and often worse, than those of (less of the former, leaves plenty of time countries where the tax levels are half. for the latter), and I realised that they Denial of their gargantuan private all play their part. The fact that the debt levels – also the highest in the Danes all seem to know each other is western world – allows them to put hugely important too: that they that winter break in Thailand on their join clubs, societies and unions together credit card regardless of the fact that regardless of class boundaries to a they still haven’t paid off the loan greater extent than any other people for their second car port yet. (I find it binds Danish society together. You refreshing that the Danes are showing will be familiar with the concept of the same degree of recklessness with ‘Six Degrees of Separation’: when two the banks’ money as the banks have Danes meet for the first time, done with ours.) When asked about they usually find out that they are their health, they claim they are more linked by no more than two degrees. healthy than average, but the truth is I’ve witnessed this powerful and they are among the least healthy people valuable tribal connectivity on countless in Europe with among the highest occasions (mostly when it’s time to leave cancer rates and the lowest longevity in a party and my wife is still circulating). the Nordic countries. More positively, denial of Denmark’s importance on the The Danes have a useful capacity for global stage means that prime minister denial. I don’t mean self-denial, like not Helle Thorning Schmidt can pledge eating pastries or putting the cork back military support for the bombing of in the bottle after one glass. Frankly, Syria, or chastise China over its human they are rubbish at that; Danes deny rights, and everyone can just about themselves few pleasures, or vices. keep a straight face. I am talking about turning a blind eye to their faults or deficiencies, The obvious answer to the failings and shortcomings. By learning question ‘Are the Danes as happy as to ignore unpalatable truths, the these survey’s make out’, is, ‘Define Danes have conquered the summit of happiness’. If we are talking sombrero- global happiness. wearing, heel-kicking, cocktail umbrella joie de vivre, then I find Pretending that their world record it hard to believe they would score taxation levels and the horrendous highly, and I suspect not even they cost of living are perfectly normal would take your claims that far. I The Almost Nearly Perfect and acceptable, for instance, allows suspect Danish happiness is not really People: The Truth About them to face a trip to the supermarket happiness at all, but something much the Nordic Miracle by or a letter from the tax man with more valuable and durable: being Michael Booth, is out now relative equanimity and ignore the satisfied with their lot. • (Jonathan Cape, £14.99).
www.coxandkings.co.uk/COMPASS COMPASS 93 BEHIND THE SCENES | NEWS & VIEWS
Behind The Scenes Tower Bridge is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world, but its timeless appeal is rooted in its classic Victorian design, discovers Compass editor Jennifer Cox.
“There’s always a cyclist who wants to one, when President Bill Clinton found Bond films including Skyfall and Casino chance it” himself on one side of the raised bridge, Royale – and the week before I visited, with his pack of out-riders and security boy band One Direction were in one of From our vantage point 42 metres above personnel shrieking into their headsets the towers shooting the video for their the darkening waters of the Thames, on the other. latest single Midnight Memories. Peter Brown watches the trail of red tail lights streaming below: a fraction Perhaps it is the frisson of danger, the Tower Bridge’s history is intrinsically of the 40,000 who cross and re-cross possibility that vehicles or visiting heads linked to London’s identity as a modern London’s busy Tower Bridge every day. of state might drop into the Thames, city. Opening in 1894, it was built to Peter has worked on the bridge for more that makes Tower Bridge so popular? service London’s increasingly busy East than 20 years, and as its senior technical Indeed, it was recently voted one of the End port (up to this point all bridges officer is one of the engineers charged most visited and recognised tourist sites lay to the west of London Bridge, the with raising the famous structure so that in the world, attracting close to 3 million city’s original crossing) and it took eight more than 1,000 vessels a year can sail visitors in 2013. More likely, though, is years and 432 construction workers to up and down the capital’s working river. the fact that Tower Bridge manages to erect. Two massive piers sunk into the be both a cultural icon and an enduring river bed support the framework for the As jobs go, it’s literally one with ups feat of Victorian engineering. During towers and walkways, created from and downs, with some bridge raises London 2012, giant Olympic rings more than 11,000 tonnes of steel, clad going more smoothly than others. In were hung from its elevated walkways in Cornish granite and Portland stone for 1952, for example, it wasn’t a cyclist (the only time decorations have been both durability and aesthetics. But I’m but the driver of the number 78 bus allowed) and, during the Queen’s here to see what makes Tower Bridge who decided to chance it: gunning his Diamond Jubilee celebrations, it was – dubbed by Victorians the Wonder passenger-packed vehicle across the illuminated by 4,000 lights, as a flotilla of Bridge – really special, and it lies not ever-widening gap, thankfully managing 1,000 vessels accompanied the Queen above, but beneath the Thames. to land on road rather than river on the and the royal family sailing under its other side. Then there was the time, raised arms. The bridge has featured in Peter leads me from the raised walkway in 1997, when security services on numerous films – Bridget Jones’ Diary, down numerous steps inside the south both sides of the Atlantic panicked as Sherlock Holmes, and any number of tower. A fantastic skeleton of neat rivets
94 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL BEHIND THE SCENES | NEWS & VIEWS
and gleaming girders stretch ever upwards. gauges. A brass gong hangs from the its massive sides – swings into view. Catching my breath at the bottom, I clutch wall, leftover from the days when it was Freezing cold and overwhelmingly large, the polished antique wooden banister and used to warn approaching boats when it is an awesome sight in the truest sense gaze in wonder up at the simple, proud there was fog on the river. of the word: I feel tiny and vulnerable, beauty of the Victorian design. standing in the giant chamber through Peter clearly relishes that sense of history which the bascule counter-weight swings And this design was revolutionary. The and is full of wonderful anecdotes: each time the bridge opens, and I’m glad bridge is raised using two massive “Boats used to be so packed on the to follow Peter back upstairs to the cosy counter-weights – set beneath the towers Thames, you could step from one side of confines of the control cabin. either side of bridge – called bascules the river to the other.” But he is quick to (French for ‘seesaw’). In 1894, Tower remind me: “This isn’t a museum, it’s a It is astonishing to think 120 years Bridge was the largest, most sophisticated working bridge. Even though nowadays after it was built, Tower Bridge is still bascule bridge ever completed. The they press a button and use a two-way working as ever it did. And even more bascules were raised using hydraulics, radio, it’s still the timeless, simple act of amazing to think any boat can apply steam powering the enormous pumping a boat going under a bridge.” for a bridge lift (in writing, at least engines. The energy created was stored 24 hours in advance) free of charge. in six massive accumulators: as power At the back of the control room, a Peter agrees, though rather regrets the was required to lift the bridge, the steep set of stairs lead us down into the modern technology: “Nowadays it’s all accumulators fed the driving engines, engine room. Three handsome Victorian done in the control room, like a flight which drove the 1,100 tonne bascules steam-powered driving engines sit next desk. I’d love up and down thus raising the roadway: to the modern electric motors now to have seen an operation that, astonishingly, only took used to raise the bascules. All gleam, it as it was, one minute to complete. beautifully maintained, like shiny steam running under engines pulled into a platform waiting for steam and The bascules are still operated by passengers to board. hydraulics,” he hydraulic power, but, since 1976, have says with a far- been driven by oil and electricity rather At the back of the engine room is away look eyes than steam, explains Peter as we pop another door and Peter leads me on in his eyes, “I out on to the pavement crossing the to a steep, tight spiral staircase. Going love a bit of bridge itself, before doubling back down into the belly of the bridge is steam.” • into the old control room. Overlooking actually terrifying. Like something out of Peter Brown, Control Room the river, the wooden cabin is like a Hitchcock, the tight neck of the stairwell magical room from Hogwarts: gleaming drops down, switches back and falls For information on engineering tours metre-long brass levers sprout from away like dropping down a mineshaft. of Tower Bridge, exhibitions and daily the floor and walls are cluttered with Then suddenly a vast, cavernous hall bridge lift times, visit towerbridge.org. an assortment of pipes and pressure – cathedral-like, spindly walkways hug uk. Follow on Twitter: @TowerBridge.
www.coxandkings.co.uk/compass COMPASS 95 CROSSWORD | COMPETITIONS
Complete the crossword for your chance to win a collection of audiobooks. For your chance to win a collection of audiobooks including Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four complete the crossword and send it to Compass. CRYPTIC CROSSWORD
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 How to Enter 8 All entries must be received by 16 May 2014. 9 10 Please send your entry, including your full name, address and 11 12 13 postcode to: Compass Crossword Competition 14 15 c/o John Patterson Cox & Kings Travel Ltd 6th Floor, 30 Millbank 16 London, SW1P 4EE Or email your answers to 17 18 [email protected] Compiled by Philip Hamilton-Grierson 19 The Compass cryptic crossword winner from the last issue was Katherine Stevenson, London
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Terms & conditions ACROSS: 1. Closing date for entries is midday (GMT) on 16 May 2014. 1. Dull noise surrounds top secret chest (5) 30. Bury Milanese team (5) 2. The competition is open to individual 5. Rotten student expelled having done 31. Rallying cry for little old you when residents of the UK aged 18 or over, except sums (5) embracing friend (5-2) employees of Cox & Kings, their associated, affiliated or subsidiary companies, and their 8. Swear, briefly, having been exploited 32. Like a loaf not about to be families, agents, or anyone connected with and gushed (7) underprepared (5) this competition, including the third-party 9. Fruit is very soft in beer (5) 33. Crazy morning for a woman of ill- promotional partners. 10. Brags about losing bishop in kilns (5) repute (5) 3. The winners will be drawn at random on 16 May 2014 from all correct entries received 11. Trivial talk of idiot before short prior to the close of the competition. summer, say (7) DOWN: 4. The prize is a collection of audiobooks. 14. The endless haste of bird (6) 1. Juliet’s was “too rich for use” (6) 5. The promoter of the competition is Cox & 15. Heartless with poison in the veins (6) 2. Those with low resistance to people Kings Travel Ltd, 6th Floor, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4EE. 16. Small weight of wildcat (5) who excel on the buses, possibly (15) 19. At the same time as one captures 3. Encounters at sports events (5) moon artistically (15) 4. Tot slid, flounced, collapsed here in the 21. Edge towards James, say, before the Midlands (6, 9) 13. Bette Davis film is all about her (3) French (5) 5. Love an opening, we hear (5) 17. Examine former soldier (3) 24. Small chambers within Oslo culinary 6. Nightclub bomb exploded, adult 18. Rose is penniless and found in print (3) establishment (6) disorientated with Ecstasy was 20. Caught new roles with less air (6) 26. Beginning to blow high winds around confused (15) 21. Search, audibly, for entrance to Petra (3) ends of roofs (6) 7. Show self-control to clear 22. Therefore, run out of self-esteem (3) 28. Like a horse with no tail, bovine beast condensation with seconds instead of 23. Retreat from tree smasher (6) is same length day and night (7) minutes (6) 25. Cack-handed socialist? (5) 29. Gobble tip of sausage, then audibly 12. Doctor in relevant part of the United 27. It’s self-evident that cricket team has clear the throat (5) Nations, initially (3) nothing on in the morning (5)
96 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL
one giant leap | life One Giant Leap
Lead principal with the English National Ballet, Zdenek Konvalina studied classical and contemporary ballet at Brno Conservatory in his native Czech Republic. He was a Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Moravia-Silesia and Houston Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada in 2006 as a principal dancer. Dancing in Romeo and Juliet with ENB at the Royal Albert Hall this summer, here Zdenek Konvalina shares with Compass editor Jennifer Cox memories of a magical road trip through California.
Zdenek Konvalina
trip that I look back on very If you don’t make any stops you could ut it was a beautiful drive, fondly happened just a couple drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles soaking up the views along the of years ago when my girlfriend in about 10 hours, but the PCH is not so BCalifornian coastline all the way. A and I travelled to California, much a route as a romantic idea. I’d since Just as importantly we made many driving along the PCH coastal highway learned this having read some of the stops, exploring the shops and cafes from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I last famous literature associated with the area of Carmel and Monterey, and sitting in visited the area when I was guesting in by novelists such as Kerouac, Steinbeck rapt appreciation of a glorious sunset Swan Lake for the Sacramento Ballet 15 and Hemingway. in Santa Cruz. As a ballet dancer, such years ago and had very strong memories spontaneity is a world away from the of the place which had stayed with me So the thought of a return trip was regimented world of dance, with its strict through the years. I wanted to revisit the extremely appealing. What I was rehearsal and performance schedules. It area and share the experience. particularly looking forward to was the was a simple and rare pleasure, that our notion that we could just jump in a car only worry was where we would camp or California is a beautiful place, but the Pacific with no fixed plans, ‘carte blanche’ to do which hotel we would try and bargain a Coastal Highway is an almost mythical whatever we liked. room rate with. drive. The road itself isn’t always in great condition: storms coming in off the Pacific e started off in San Francisco, The journey represented freedom and Ocean batter it and in places there are a city I had visited with the natural beauty. I would love to return. • landslips – sometimes whole miles where WSacramento Ballet, so I was the road is missing and you have to detour familiar with the famously inclement English National Ballet’s Romeo inland. But its switchback, unpredictable weather: beautiful one day, intensely and Juliet is performed at the Royal nature is the very thing that makes it an stormy or foggy the next. Here we picked Albert Hall 11-22 June, with Zdenek exhilarating, uplifting road to drive along. up a bright yellow sports car. It attracted Konvalina dancing the role of Romeo It leaves you in no doubt that you are attention wherever we went. The on Wednesday 18 June at 7.30pm and having an adventure: plunging through thick choreographer Christopher Wheeldon Saturday 21 June at 7.30pm. forests of redwood and sequoia; racing happened to be in the area at the same To book, visit royalalberthall.com or call along great stretches of beautifully sandy time and later mentioned he had spotted 020 7838 3100. deserted beaches; swooping over and this crazy yellow car. Sheepishly, we had To win two tickets, enter our competition around rocky headlands. to admit it was us. at coxandkings.co.uk/compass.
98 COMPASS COX & KINGS TRAVEL R&J A4 ad revised_Layout 1 27/02/2014 17:56 Page 1
“AN UNMISSABLE EVENT” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
RAYMOND GUBBAY AND THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL PRESENT My Magnifique Voyages English National Ballet
Derek Deane’s breathtaking production ROMEO &JULIET staged in-the-round
Principal casting includes Carlos Acosta & Tamara Rojo Vadim Muntagirov & Daria Klimentová Friedemann Vogel & Alina Cojocaru
For Principal casting information, view website for details.
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Griff Rhys Jones In Petra Penguin CLASSICS Falklands’ wildlife
New culinary holidays – with the experts Holidays featuring former MasterChef MasterChef Travel is an inspiring new collection of culinary holidays, revealing contestants in 2014 the wonders of the world’s great food destinations in the company of experts Andrew ‘Koj’ Kojima – Thailand Simon REEVE and fellow food lovers. Masterchef Travel holidays are not competitive – they Ash Mair – Spain are an opportunity to spend time with local experts who share their passion for Dhruv Baker – India & Mexico cooking and provide an authentic understanding of their region’s cuisine. The “I’m ridiculously lucky” James Nathan – Vietnam holidays also include plenty of time for exploring many of the countries’ most Keri Moss – Turkey & Morocco captivating sights. Larkin Cen – China A number of holidays also feature MasterChef personalities and on the right is Sara Danesin Medio – Italy LET’S DRIVE a list of former MasterChef contestants who will be taking part in trips in 2014 and the destinations where you can join them. Coastal Canada
MasterChef Travel tours are superb value, with prices starting from just £995 per person for the 4-night Inspiring Istanbul. For full details, visit mastercheftravel.com or call 020 7873 5005 Ash Mair SPRING 2014 MasterChef Travel © Shine Limited Licensed by Shine 360° Operated by Cox & Kings Travel Limited travel news • reviews • interviews