Southeast asia april 2018

Room Boom Shanghai comes alive with new hotels

Fukuoka for the food A Classic Khmer Retreat Bhutan

Singapore S$7.90 / Hong Kong HK$43 Magical, mysterious Thailand THB175 / Indonesia IDR50,000 Malaysia MYR18 / Vietnam VND85,000 Macau MOP44 / Philippines PHP240 Burma MMK35 / Cambodia KHR22,000 / and mountainous Brunei BND7.90 Laos LAK52,000

CMY CY MY CM K Y M C

clockwise FROM top LEFT: dave tacon; scott A. woodward; squire fox; adriaan louw ON THE COVER At the W Shanghai, a new, dim sum take on room service. Photographed by Dave Tacon. April features

66 New Concession With hotels opening in Shanghai at a dizzying rate, Jeninne Lee-St. John checks in to a few that artfully engender a sense of place. Photographed by Dave Tacon 74 High Spirits Bhutan, the happiest country on earth, is a pastoral fantasyland steeped in tradition, Tony Perrottet discovers. Photographs by Scott A. Woodward

66 74 84 Do the Charleston 94 84 Forget the southern city of old. Sid Evans considers how a new wave of designers, restaurateurs and aan louw i r hoteliers have put this jewel on the global x; ad o f stage. Photographed e r by Squire Fox ; squi d r 94 The Way of the Wild oodwa In Tanzania, two new . w A safari camps offer visitors a chance to witness and protect the creatures that reside there. By ave tacon; scott

: d Jeffrey Gettleman. T F Photographed by LE

op Adriaan Louw M t O clockwise FR

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 5 I n Every Issue T+ L Digital 8 E ditor’s Note 10 C ontributors 12 The Conversation 16 D eals 62 Wish You Were Here 106

contents

19 Reasons to Travel Now The 32 Into the Wild On a journey 50 Small Wonder A tiny paradise off new-look Eastern & Oriental through remote corners of the the Nicaraguan coast is one of the Express; how to get into Philippines, a biologist and TV Caribbean’s best-kept secrets. Singapore’s latest private club; presenter get closer to nature 53 The Martinique Mystique Long and more inspiration to get out while filming a new BBC series. ignored by many travelers, the and travel. 36 Delhi by Design As designers French island is finally enjoying 22 Khmer Collection In Siem Reap, push the boundaries of tradition its moments in the sun. the new villas at Shinta Mani in the Indian capital, the creative 56 Haute Comfort High-fashion Angkor aren’t just a lesson in scene is beginning to bloom. menswear label Ermenegildo luxury, but also offer guests a 40 Advance Australia Fare A slew Zegna runs a hotel in the dose of history and humanity. of new dining options in Perth is mountains of northern Italy that 26 Go West In Hong Kong’s Sai Ying putting Western Australian is far more bucolic than blingy. Pun neighborhood, hip new regional produce front and center. 58 I’ll Always have Paris Twenty eateries and bars meld in with 46 On the Coffee Trail Channel your years after running away to the local markets and artisans. inner coffee geek on a roadtrip City of Light, a writer returns 28 Soul Food Culinary creatives in through the lush Bolaven Plateau, and finds shadows of her Fukuoka, birthplace of many of in Laos. younger self. Japan’s favorite dishes, spin international style into local ths staples. i f f i r d news; leigh g news; leigh d l r bc wo bc b f tesy o tesy r ee; daisuke cou ikeda; ee; j r debjit bane : T F LE M 36 28 32 22 O

FR

6 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com FROM LEFT: debjit banerjee; daisuke ikeda; courtesy of bbc world news; leigh griffiths Soon HONG KONG LUANG PRABANG BAHAMAS AMERICAS ASIA EUROPEAMERICAS ASIA MIDDLEEAST GRACEFUL rosewoodhotels.com

BANGKOK +Lookout Venture off the beaten t+l digital path in Japan with these easy day trips from Kyoto and Tokyo; iconic hotel bars worth staying for another drink or two; Bangkok’s oh-so-cool thio s m nth on travelandleisureasia.com new creative spaces; 10 of Our Favorite W hy You Should Visit In Honor of Asia’s teeny, tiny hotels across Places Jakarta Now Grande Dames Australia; how to travel Our writers, editors and With a new modern art Even after decades of raising the world like a digital photographers share the trips museum, a bevy of high-end the bar, our favorite old-world nomad; the latest travel and memories from the past hotels and a burgeoning hotels still effortlessly exude 10 years that make them want dining scene, the Indonesian class, and offer fascinating deals and more. to return again and again. capital beckons. history around every corner. travelandleisureasia.com oquet r ginie b r ation by vi by ation r . illust

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8 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: john barton; weixiang lim. illustration by virginie broquet CMY CY MY CM K Y M C Travel +Leisure_OP.pdf12/3/20182:43PM editor’s note | ap ril 2018

o you ever wonder what’s around the next corner when you’re traveling? If you don’t, you probably should. Taking that extra step, more often that not, uncovers something unexpected and worthwhile, anything from a great little coffee shop to a grand vista stretching in the opposite direction, not to mention a moment in time that you’ll remember years later. Surprise should be a key ingredient in all From my travels our travels, whether in our hometown or on the other side of the world. E veryone knows that Bangkok Throughout this month’s issue, we arm ourselves with an added dose of is a food-lover’s paradise and curiosity and revel in the unexpected. not just for the variety of Thai In Hong Kong, for example, we head away from Central to Sai Ying Pun cuisine. Still, I was a bit (“Go West,” page 26) for a glimpse of that chic, ever-changing skeptical when it came to visiting a restaurant that neighborhood. Today, microbrews or avo on toast blend with the more blends Korean, Japanese, traditional XO sauce makers and herbalists these streets have been known French, American, Mexican for in the past. and Peruvian flavors on its If Japan is part of your travel plans—and it should be—by all means menu. But Akira Back at the ucway

Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park k

visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Hokkaido, but do not miss out on the chance for a r food tour of Fukuoka. We’ve got the perfect guide (“Soul Food,” page 28) to (bangkokmarriottmarquis queenspark.com), the newest

this southern city where local staples are mixing well with innovative stophe outpost from the Korean- i r international tastes, but you’ll also overhear some old Japanese expressions American chef whose Seoul ; ch ; k

that help to make sense of it all. Though we remain a little confounded by degustation restaurant just r the tale’s Zen monk, but for more on him, read on. earned him his first Michelin Initially, Tony Perrottet’s take on Bhutan star, masters this global (“High Spirits,” page 74) was anything but mixing. For an inkling of what to expect here, think tuna pa queen’s s Zen. I thought he was the first person ever pizza—it’s not what you’d qui r

not to be wowed by the Himalayan nation. a

probably predict—Wagyu m During the journey, his notions of the bulgogi tacos and Jeju domi, a ott i

country and his own travel preferences were Korean sashimi dish infused r r a

altered, and Perrottet came away impressed with orange. m

in ways he could not have imagined at first. he t That’s a result all our trips should have. f tesy o tesy r tdee; coutdee; r a m a S n n a Irf : : t f

@CKucway l m o

[email protected] fre

10 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: Irfan Samartdee; courtesy of the marriott marquis queen’s park; christopher kucway FRAS18001 FH20thAnniCampaign Ad273x209FA-FN.indd 2

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1 2 Dave Allison Tacon Smith Pho tographer Writer “New Concession” “Soul Food” Page 66 Page 28 — — After six years in Shanghai, “Fukuoka’s culinary scene is the Melburnian says world- a symbiotic blend of past and 1 class cocktail bars and a present. It’s a large, modern serious coffee culture are city, but the pace is relaxed. the big changes on the social Kubo Curry served me one scene. Among new hotels, of the best curry dishes he says, “I love the Drawing I’ve ever eaten. I went back Room at The St. Regis for multiple times.” Memorable its great natural light. meetings? “Chef Hiroyuki Come summer, W has the Soma’s vision regarding best outdoor pool, with an food’s unifying potential is unbeatable skyline view.” His refreshingly optimistic. And, local recommendations for bartending monk Kanwa guests of Capella, Jian Ye Li? Takeuchi assured me he “Jianguo 328, a small, clean doesn’t drink the alcohol, Shanghainese restaurant two but he also explained that blocks west, and Speak Low, different tenets of Buddhism a speakeasy on Fuxing Road vary from sect to sect. Still, that recently cracked the top I suspect you probably have 10 in a World’s Best Bars list. to err on the liberal side to do It’s a long walk, but worth it.” 2 what he does.” Instagram: Instagram: @davetacon. @allisonnicolesmith. janice leung hayes f 3 4 esy o t Craig Janice r ; cou s

Sauers Leung Hayes r Writer Writer “On the Coffee Trail” “Go West” ig saue a

Page 46 Page 26 r c

— — f In Laos, Sauers practically Sai Ying Pun, one of the oldest esy o t

OD’ed on espresso (“smooth, districts in Hong Kong, was r creamy, with the faintest developed in the 1800s as the trace of bitterness”) from one first British military camp. th; cou i

guide, Koffie, who explained Now, most “residents are a m that trees on the same farm mix of university students can yield beans with different and older folks,” Leung Hayes 3 allison s

qualities, depending on the says. “There’s so much good f soil. Another guide, Hook, food. My favorite is the lu rou esy o

explained Katu life. “A fan (braised pork on rice) at t r family from his village was Qing Zuo.” Antony Yu is the spending five years alone third-generation owner of in the forest because their chili sauce masters Yu Kwen son had fallen from a tree Yick. “My grandfather used and died. Villagers believed to sell the sauces by carrying dave tacon; cou only isolation would ward the stock on a pole across his f

off the evil spirit that had shoulders and walking from esy o t caused the fall. Stories like Sai Ying Pun to North Point,” r this are a reminder that our Yu says. Kwen yick means planet contains an amazing “benefit for all”—a fitting top: cou

diversity of cultures.” motto for the neighborhood. m o

Instagram: @cksauers. Instagram: @e_ting. fr

12 4 from top: courtesy of dave tacon; courtesy of allison smith; courtesy of craig sauers; courtesy of janice leung hayes exotic & idyllic retreat ...where life is a private celebration

e ditor-in-chief Christopher Kucway art director Wannapha Nawayon Deputy editor Jeninne Lee-St. John Features editor Eloise Basuki senior DEsigner Chotika Sopitarchasak

Regular contributors / photographers Cedric Arnold, Kit Yeng Chan, Marco Ferrarese, Duncan Forgan, Lauryn Ishak, Mark Lean, Grace Ma, Ian Lloyd Neubauer, Morgan Ommer, Aaron Joel Santos, Stephanie Zubiri

chairman J.S. Uberoi president Egasith Chotpakditrakul publishing director Rasina Uberoi-Bajaj

publishER Robert Fernhout digital media manager Pichayanee Kitsanayothin TRAFFIC MANAGER / deputy DIGITAL media manager Varin Kongmeng sales director Joey Kukielka business development managers Leigha Proctor Tim Rasenberger chief financial officer Gaurav Kumar production manager Kanda Thanakornwongskul circulation assistant Yupadee Saebea

TLRAVE +LEISURE (USA) Editor-in-Chief Nathan Lump Senior Vice President, News, Luxury, style Meredith Long

meredith partnerships, LICENSING & syndication ([email protected]) Business a ffairs director Tom Rowland director, licensing operations Richard Schexnider editorial director Jack Livings executive director, content management Paul Ordonez

meredith Chairman and ceo Steve Lacy president and coo Tom Harty chief content officer Alan Murray editorial director, lifestyle group Nathan Lump executive vice presidents Leslie Dukker Doty, Brad Elders, Lauren Ezrol Klein

t ravel+leisure southeast asia Vol. 12, Issue 4 Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia is published monthly by Media Transasia Limited, 1603, 16/F, Island Place Tower, 510 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Produced and distributed by Media Transasia Thailand Ltd., 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75/8 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoeynue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel: 66-2/204-2370. Printed by Comform Co., Ltd. (66-2/368-2942–7). Color separation by Classic Scan Co., Ltd. (66-2/291-7575). While the editors do their utmost to verify information published, they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy. Sanur I Ubud I Nusa Dua I Jimbaran

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AVD ERTisinG offices General enquiries: [email protected] Singapore: 65/9029 0749; [email protected] Japan: Shinano Co., Ltd. 81-3/3584-6420; [email protected] Korea: YJP & Valued Media Co., Ltd. 82-2/3789-6888; [email protected] kayumanis kayumanisresort kayumanisresort CITY LIGHTS COME TO LIFE Pulsing with creativity. Alive with history and culture. Let Four Seasons reveal the secrets of these 9 exciting cities. Choose from our exclusive offers to make your next urban getaway even more satisfying.

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Beijing Hong Kong Kuala Lumpur London Mumbai Seoul Singapore St. Petersburg Vancouver the conversation

We’re strong advocates of taking a break, but with the release of Expedia’s latest Vacation Deprivation Study it seems many aren’t booking as many days off as deserved. The survey found that Asia-Pacific ranked highest of the holiday-deprived, with full-time workers in South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India and Singapore all making the top six. Here are some of the more alarming stats, so— considering we have great beaches, private islands, remote jungles and luxurious resorts on our doorstep—book a flight, leave your desk and read this magazine poolside.

is the country with the lowest average amount of minimum leave—just 10 days per year. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and India get 20 days off, while the UAE, % France, Spain, Denmark, Finland and Germany score a full month off each year. 81of South Koreans feel Thailand they don’t take enough vacations, the highest of Taiwanese workers number of all countries check their e-mail or surveyed. voicemail at least once % a day while on a trip. NORY WA % 48 is the most content of67 workers in India have vacation nation—only canceled a planned J APANese 38 percent feel like they vacation when something employees, on average, waste the most vacation days don’t take enough work-related crops up at each year, only taking an average of 10 of their allotted holidays. the last minute. 20 days of leave.

*Statistics taken from the Expedia Vacation Deprivation Study 2017.

For those of you who have been traveling, we’ve loved seeing your #TLASIA personal snaps of the region’s natural wonders.

A pocket of Coron The Mui Ne sand dunes in The Chocolate Hills of Bohol A view of Mount Fuji from above. Vietnam look like an Arabian in the Philippines. from Lake Kawaguchiko. By @mmarinrz. desert. By @zaksey. By@charlespcooper. By @charm.wu.

Share an Instagram photo by using the #TLAsia hashtag, and it may be featured in an upcoming issue. Follow @travelandleisureasia

16 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

Digital Ad2017.indd 58 CONNECT LET’S WWW.TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM RVLESRAI @TRAVLEISUREASIA TRAVELLEISUREASIA @TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA 12/8/2560 BE 14:55

Photochristophe Creditr kucway Teekay april 2018 REASONS TO TRAVEL NOW

T+L’s monthly selection of trip-worthy places, experiences and events.

no. 1 The Eastern & Oriental Express is celebrating a milestone in style. Marking 25 years of service, Belmond’s Eastern & Oriental Express now features two carriages with whimsical makeovers. Thai artist Somnuek Klangnok is behind the playful princes and princesses that adorn their exteriors. Also part of the Art & Fashion in Motion program, fashionista Thattaworn Sugunnasil has introduced uniforms notable for the fact they look nothing like uniforms, instead evoking a style that combines Oriental flare with French tailoring. So, female attendants wear solid silks that will leave passengers pondering who is on staff and who requires a G+T? belmond.com; suites on the two-night Singapore to

christopher kucway christopher Bangkok journey from US$3,110 per person.

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 19 / reasons to travel now /

no. 2 Become part of the clan at Singapore’s next-generation private club. N ew to Singapore, where both socializing and doing business usually involve food, is Straits Clan (straitsclan.com), a members’ club that draws inspiration from the clan associations that proliferated for generations in its surrounding neighborhood. But visitors are welcome to a peek behind the private curtain. Having repurposed the former boutique New Majestic Hotel, the stylish, throwback club permits non-members to use its Clan Café on street level, where tea and basic Hakka-inspired dishes are available. Visit Singapore often? Then purchase a membership—a S$2,000 joining fee and a S$88 monthly fee—to gain access to the rest of the club. With that door open, you no. 3 can use the dining room along Bukit Pasoh Road. One level up is a bar and alfresco area for drinks and food, while the top floor is home to a small gym that offers fitness classes; a spa with foot reflexology and head, neck and Google’s new shoulder treatments; and an inviting reading lounge. earbuds are a game changer for travelers. Instant translation may sound like a futuristic fantasy, but technology is already making it a reality. The most advanced contender: the new Google Pixel Buds (available from Singtel stores in Singapore; singtel.com; S$238), a wireless headphone set designed to offer—among other things—advanced in-ear translation of a foreign speaker. The two earpieces can be paired with the Google Pixel smartphone to communicate easily with people around the world, whether they speak Thai, Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, or any of the other 40 supported google

languages. While one f

person wears the earbuds, o sy te

the other speaks into the r smartphone. A translation is immediately streamed to the listener. Although the technology is far from aits clan; cou aits perfect—the translation is r st not always spot-on, and f

noisy environments will o sy te Art abounds at Straits challenge the r Clan’s lobby and lounge. microphone—the t: cou language gap has never f le

felt easier to bridge. m o

—s Jes ica Plautz fr r a Mahend (2) A ngga

20 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: courtesy of straits clan; courtesy of google

Anggara Mahendra (2) Rp1,500,000. from passes three-day ubudfoodfestival.com; tours. walking and breaks yoga frequent program’s the in solace find will onfood focused days three of idea the at cower waistlines whose Those Kim. of “bossman the from ademo and Lab; Starter bakery Canggu from workshop asourdough reviews; food in taste of transcribing art the versus click-bait on atalk include picks Our scene. world’s culinary the driving is that generation innovative young, the by inspired is year this event arranged)—the be can that sure pretty we’re (though, class cooking goreng nasi average your Forget tours. culinary and demonstrations cooking talks, for workshops, globe the around from restaurateurs and farmers chefs, of top agathering also but cuisine, of Indonesian acelebration just isn’t smorgasbord 13–15 April The Food Festival. Ubud annual the with wider even net culinary its casts Bali options, dining world-class and produce local diverse with teeming Already Bali. to return to reason delicious a is festival Asia’sfood exciting Southeast most no dinner by by dinner a at napés three-course R C . bibimbap 4 o a om4 D essert. ,” Michelin-starred Korean chef Sun Sun chef Korean ,” Michelin-starred —

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/ checking in /

Khmer Collection I n Siem Reap, the new Bill Bensley–designed villas at the Shinta Mani Angkor hotel aren’t just a lesson in luxury, but also offer guests a dose of history and humanity. B y Eloise Basuki. Photographs by Leigh Griffiths

Fromt lef : Butler Sreysor; jump straight into the private pool from the villa bedroom.

I ’t s not uncommon to be treated like royalty palm trees. A lush oasis in the center of Siem at a five-star hotel. Butler service, the finest Reap’s dusty, dry streets, the villas share their furnishings, luxury spa treatments and high- green patch of land with the Shinta Mani end dining all come together to make us Shack, the four-star sister hotel to the six-year- ordinary folk feel like kings and queens for a old, five-star Shinta Mani Angkor across the few days. At a new brood of five-star-plus villas road. Bensley’s studio has designed all three in Siem Reap, architect Bill Bensley creates a properties, but at the villas, the Bangkok-based majestic retreat that also takes pride in designer has personally overseen every detail Cambodian culture. “I need to ensure that our to ensure indulgence is infused with creative guests, when they wake up in the morning, cultural elements. know exactly where they are,” Bensley says. It’s “The doors and windows in the front of the dark and rainy when I check in to my villa for villa’s courtyard, while wood, are patterned the weekend, but, as the sun rises, I wake to a after those found in stone at Angkor,” Bensley Khmer kingdom. says. The bold stripes he mentions also feature Opened in December, the 10 two-story on black-and-white lounge pillows, brass lines Shinta Mani Angkor Bensley Collection villas interspersed between bedroom floorboards are set within a private compound bordered by and the tiling of my villa’s nine-meter private Angkor-inspired stone walls and a canopy of lap pool. “Some have described [the villas] as

22 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com being Art Deco in nature—they’re not,” While I’m being treated like royalty, my Bensley says. “The Khmer understood the stay here isn’t all about self-indulgence, and power of repetitive geometric lines hundreds guests have the chance to venture beyond the of years before architects of Europe. Our temples and tourist-run streets to gain deeper architecture interprets that of the Khmer in a insight into rural Cambodian life. The Shinta new way, extending their culture, their legacy, Mani hotels give a portion of their profits and into 2020.” 100 percent of any guest donations to the The most dramatic element is the feature nonprofit Shinta Mani Foundation wall that runs from the bedroom to the edge (shintamanifoundation.org), founded by the of the pool. The entire wall is covered in a hotels’ owner. The foundation not only helps to three-dimensional depiction of the rippled, redevelop more than 100 rural villages, but flowing robes of King Jayavarman II, the also offers free hospitality training to Cambodian king who founded the Angkor underprivileged locals, as well as loans for period. “We wanted guests to feel the power students who want to go to university or locals and magic that the king of Cambodia would with a small business idea. “The loans have no have felt when arriving at his Siem Reap interest. They can pay it back in small palace,” Bensley says. amounts—US$5 or $10—whatever they can My villa feels fit for a king and queen, and afford each month,” says Neat Chhunnin, the there’s definitely plenty of room for both. The Shinta Mani Foundation’s community double vanities, walk-in-wardrobe and outdoor coordinator, who is taking us to see exactly shower and stone bathtub are located in their who the donations benefit. own separate quarters behind the bedroom, and the poolside courtyard and upstairs rooftop lounge offer ample options for a sundowner space. It’s up on the roof that Sreysor, my personal butler, organizes a bountiful breakfast spread for me on my second morning. The round-the-clock butlers can tailor your stay to your specific needs and interests, and can schedule temple tours, market visits, artisan workshops, transportation and From Left: The entrance to restaurant reservations. Not only does Sreysor the villas is book me a last-minute tuk-tuk tour of Angkor modeled on the old Wat during jam-packed peak season, but she stone walls of goes to the ticket office with my passport to Angkor Wat; folded lotus flowers and line up for my ticket in my place, something fish ponds bring most tourists waste hours of their vacation color to the hotel’s time doing themselves. grounds.

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 23 / checking in /

Fromt lef : The villa’s glass bathroom; follow the lines to the Shinta Mani Angkor’s pool bar.

We head to Prey, a village in the Banteay Srei district of Siem Reap province, where the foundation has helped locals gain access to water, flushing toilets and permanent housing. We meet one couple with six children who now have their own brick house and water well. “The father built the water well himself. We trained him to do it, and then paid him to do the job here. Now he can do the job for other families and earn some money,” Chhunnin says. We also meet Yous Ny, who asked for a loan to start a small shop that sells food and daily necessities to the locals of the village. It’s a success. “I feel so proud of her. People here look at her and are really motivated to be like her,” Chhunnin says. On our way back we brave the heat of the midday sun to walk through the Shinta Mani organic farm; thriving crops of tomatoes, eggplants, beans, herbs, fruit and more are all sold back to the hotel for use at Kroya, the hotel’s high-end Khmer restaurant. The aim of message is prevalent, it’s not forced upon you, the farm is to teach the villagers how to set up although it’s hard not to leave without feeling and nurture their own sustainable plots, the need to be a little more altruistic. The new giving them a source of income and food for Bensley Collection gives guests the chance to their families. “Our goal is about education,” be treated like the ancient Khmer kings, but Chhunnin says. “We are helping the families seeing how your visit can benefit the because we want their kids at school.” community is an even richer reward. The foundation has helped more than 200 students graduate from its hospitality shintamani.com; villa B&B package from program, some—like the Shinta Mani Shack’s US$450 per night; all-inclusive package from front office manager—have even scored jobs at US$750 per night includes all meals, free-flow the hotels. Sreysor herself has been a part of mini bar, temple tour and more. Bill Bensley’s the success; many of the students she helped next project in Cambodia, Shinta Mani Wild, a train at Kroya have gone on to manage other luxury tented camp, will open in the Southern restaurants in town. While the foundation’s Cardamom National Park later this year.

24 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

/ in the neighborhood /

clw ock ise From left: Steep streets in Sai Ying Pun; coffee and brekkie at Brew Bros; BlackSalt’s homey interior.

EAT The dia; dia;

second branch of e m popular Sheung Wan café B rew

Bros 2010/wiki (fb.com/ k brewbroshillroad), m lt; © lt; yu kwen yick f

the Hill Road outpost a is a quiet corner to start your day. S ack esy o l t B

Known as a slice of Australian r

café culture in Hong Kong, here, f

you can order smashed avo on esy o t toast (choose between the classic r or their signature version, which

is topped with crab) from their s (3); cou o . so's xo sauce; cou s

excellent breakfast menu. Their Br mr w

e specialty beans come all the f Br

way from Melbourne’s boutique f esy o t coffee roaster Market Lane. r esy o t

For lunch, stop into Qing Zuo r (Shop 2–3, Wah Fai Court, 1–6 Ying

Go West loney; cou a ges; cou m a

Thanks in part to Hong Kong’s m MTR, Sai Ying Pun is now hip, with all-day cafés, boutique

restaurants and small bars Surprise your food-loving phy/getty i

SHOP a melding into a streetscape of friends at home with some of the r vy's (2); jonathan l otog

local markets and artisans, A

city’s best locally made sauces: h f writes Janice Leung Hayes. subtly spiked with garlic and P esy o

vinegar, Yu Kwen Yick (66A Third St.; t 852/2568-8007) has made a favorite r chili sauce for almost a century. : Mendowong t At Mrs. So’s XO Sauce (xo-sauce. f com.hk) the eponymous condiment, top le

is deliciously chunky, packed with m o Founded in 1922, above second; cou f dried scallops, Yunnan ham and fr Yu Kwen Yick’s chili more. They have a range of Chinese sauce is beloved by esy o t locals. FR A right: sauces and you can taste them all at r clockwise Mrs. So’s XO sauce. this flagship store. cou

26 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com DO If you’d rather just relax and feel the sea breeze, head to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, a rare expanse of green in this crowded city. Come early enough and you’ll catch locals From above: Sun Yat Sen practicing their daily tai chi. Memorial Park; Japanese artist While neighboring Sheung Wan Daisuke Tajima at Above Second. Wa Ter.; 852/2677-2888; mains from and Central districts have become HK$33), a minimalist, family-run a hub for gallerists, contemporary hideaway that packs in the crowds for art hasn’t quite made it to Sai Taiwanese street food favorites like lu Ying Pun yet. But Above Second rou fan (braised pork on rice) and dan (abovesecondgallery.com) is a pioneer bing (egg pancake rolls). not only because of its geography, Spend dinner rounding out but because it is the only gallery the culinary journey at BlackSalt in the city focused on exhibiting (blacksalt.com.hk; mains from art inspired by today’s urban

edia; edia; HK$130), where husband-and-wife subcultures—from street art and team Taran and Sheela Chadha graffiti to comic book illustrations. serve up creative, modern takes on

k2010/wiki m Sri Lankan, Nepalese and Bengali m cuisines using their own homemade f yu kwen yick alt; © alt; masala blends. S lack tesy o r f B tesy o r os (3); cou s. so's xo sauce; cou ew Br f mr f Br tesy o r DRINK Dip into the border of Sai tesy o r Ying Pun and Kennedy Town for a beer at Alvy’s (fb.com/alvyshk;

aloney; cou drinks from HK$34), opened by ages; cou m local craft brewers Young Master. Apart from their own range, which One of Hong Kong’s most from above: Young Master’s includes crowd-pleasing lagers and award-winning rye ale is on important marketplaces, Dried experimental sour beers (their Cha aphy/getty i tap at Alvy’s; the gin wall at r Seafood Street stretches along Ping Pong Gintoneria. Chaan Teng Gose beer is brewed lvy's (2); jonathan m Des Voeux Road from Sheung Wan with salted lime, a soda ingredient hotog f A to Sai Ying Pun. The long row of at Hong Kong’s old cafés), they stock

tesy o shops sells dried abalone, scallops, beers from around the world. r flounder and all kinds of marine For a quiet drink in a speakeasy life that once came ashore from the setting, Ping Pong Gintoneria t: Mendowongt: P f harbor in front of the shops, but the (pingpong129.com; drinks from coastline has long been HK$110) is known for its array of

m top le reclaimed. Nonetheless, Spanish gins. Located in what was a o f above second; cou the market is alive table-tennis training center, the bar and well—take a has retained some of the original tesy o r stroll and play décor—a funky mix of old and new, clockwise fr cou “guess the food.” just like Sai Ying Pun itself. / dining /

“ There’s an old Japanese expression, ichigo ichie. It means ‘one Soul Food opportunity, one encounter,’” says I n the birthplace of many of Japan’s favorite dishes, a few culinary Zen monk Kanwa Takeuchi. He’s creatives are spinning international style into local staples. reaching for a bottle of sake behind Allison Smith squeezes into Fukuoka’s most imaginative counter spaces his bar in Fukuoka’s bustling Hakata and finds that history is repeating itself in new and delicious ways. district, and anyone on the hunt for some bartender wisdom would be hard-pressed to find a better sage. From top: Takeuchi’s robed figure is partially Zen monk and obscured by a thin rag of smoke; I’ve bartender Kanwa Takeuchi in Vowz lit a stick of incense, a standard Bar; the Inori, gesture in Buddhist rituals, and part mixed with matcha of the recipe for one of his signature liqueur and a cocktails, Inori, the Japanese word for prayer from prayer. “Every experience is unique Takeuchi. and will never come again, so each moment should be cherished,” Takeuchi says. With an unhurried elegance, he captures the smoke with a cocktail shaker, cupping it over the top of the glass, and, in doing so, mixes my prayer into the drink. Port city Fukuoka, the capital of eda (4) k Kyushu, Japan’s most southwesterly I island, exemplifies ichigo ichie better a

than most—the city’s urbanity is D isuke

28 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com distinguished by its ability to reinvent the present with innovative ideas, while also treasuring the past, and nowhere is this felt more deeply Fromt lef : The than in its local cuisine. Many noodles at Samurai. Udon are topped with Japanese culinary traditions trace seasonal tempura their origins here: tonkotsu ramen— vegetables; chef the city’s star—characterized by its Hiroyuki Soma fatty pork bone broth, as well as hot scoops up his pot dishes motsunabe and mizutaki. potentially conflict- easing udon. Jotenji Temple, built in 1242 in the heart of Fukuoka, even has a stone marker bearing the inscription, udon soba hassho no chi, or, “the place where udon and soba were first made.” But, like the seemingly misplaced monk Takeuchi, today a new generation is reinventing Fukuoka’s eating and drinking scene through cross-cultural fusion and modern food trends. Framed by crimson walls accented with calligraphy brushstrokes, at first glance, Takeuchi’s rVowz Ba (fb. com/vowzbar.hakata; drinks from ¥1,000) looks like a stylized fantasy of the East, but his egalitarian approach to booze consumption dispels any stereotypes. Most might think monks and alcohol don’t mix, but Takeuchi holds firm that his Buddhism-inspired cocktails can bridge the gap between spirituality and the daily demands of modern life. “It can be difficult for people to meet with a monk for spiritual guidance because of work schedules,” he tells me. “But most people drink alcohol at night after work. If monks go out to bars with the people, then Soma’s samurai-like dedication to long as I have those three parts, I can we can meet, talk, and bring people Fukuoka’s most underrated noodle blend udon with many other cuisines closer to Buddhism.” suggests it’s udon, not rock and roll, to create something new.” Balling At Vowz Bar, Buddhist tenets are that will save the world. Samurai. his hand into a fist for emphasis, reimagined through specialty Udon (samurai-udon.com; mains Soma proposes that “udon culture cocktails. The Ichigo Ichie can be from ¥850), his aptly named could even ease international personalized with your choice of restaurant, is a standout for its conflicts, like North Korea and alcohol, reflecting the phrase’s handmade noodles and locally Donald Trump.” His brand of ephemeral wisdom. A spicy vodka- sourced ingredients. Yet it’s Soma’s optimism, characterized by the based cocktail, Samjiva, named after eagerness to collaborate with other breadth of its vision, has resulted in one of the realms of hell, offers a chefs from all cultural backgrounds an impressive array of culturally kick. “Every drink has a special that makes his shop special. experimental dishes—more than a meaning, a story behind it,” he says, Soma says udon’s base hundred, according to Soma—and hopeful that these messages will act components—flour, water and nearly two dozen restaurant keda (4) as a catalyst for spiritual connection. vinegar—are the key to merging collaborations. Whether he uses With a similar attitude to his cultural borders, “its ingredients Korean sauces or horse meat, or aisuke I

D culinary ethos, chef Hiroyuki make it a very versatile dish, so as buries his noodles beneath a mound

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 29 / dining /

of spicy South Asian curry, Soma is Fukuoka’s famed spicy cod roe—is changes daily, and the vegetables are eager to infuse his udon with a rolled in an omelet and wrapped in seasonal; in springtime, they’ll swap global awareness. Despite his sliced Hakata-style pork belly, mushrooms for bamboo shoots. restaurant’s mounting popularity, combining two local specialties into Number Shot, and Fukuoka at Soma remains modest: “I don’t know a deceptively simple concoction. large, are places of juxtaposition. if my restaurant is that unique. This However, it’s Morimoto’s Despite the trendy interior, and the is just the most natural way for me signature main, Number Shot Doria, larger metropolis surrounding it, to express myself.” that leaves me spinning in the best this is not a place where one checks Toshiyuki Morimoto is another possible way. Though doria is Italian the time or hurries off to the next local chef who is motivated to in name and origin, the rice gratin hotspot. Like many restaurants reinvent local dishes with a modern dish was introduced to Japan 90 throughout Japan, the shoulder-to- sensibility. At his izakaya-style years ago by a Swiss chef whose shoulder dining nature along the seafood restaurant Number Shot version bakes melted cheese over a communal counter invites strangers (foomanlab.com/fish-market-1; bed of steamed rice and Bechamel to interact, while the exposed mains from ¥1,250), his menu sauce. Instead of rice, Number Shot’s kitchen in the center evokes the remains true to the cuisine’s roots. re-interpretation showcases Kyushu theatricality of a playhouse. Despite Fukuoka’s diverse food seafood; mussels and crab pop on the Departing into the chilly night, scene, it isn’t a tourist hub like Tokyo tongue, delicately rich and buttery I’m guided by the far-off lights of or Kyoto; Morimoto hopes that soft. It’s also one of the most yatai, wooden food carts, an combining French-style cooking attractive dishes I’ve ever seen, anachronistic culinary tradition with Kyushu cuisine and locally garnished with sea urchin and little that survives in Fukuoka despite the sourced ingredients will introduce orbs of roe that shimmer like city’s modern urban landscape. the city as an international culinary precious stones. Like many foods Wheeled out at dusk and gone again superstar. My appetizer is a I’ve encountered here, it’s never the by the break of dawn, yatai stalls promising start. Mentaiko— same dish twice. The fish selection date back to at least the 17th century,

clw ock ise from far left: Chef Toshiyuki Morimoto utilizes Fukuoka’s port locale to source fresh

seafood; it’s counter kawa (3) a r

space only at Number i H

Shot; Morimoto’s take o on doria, a Japanese- r u

style gratin. Y iti keda (2) aisuke I D

30 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com and were widespread throughout Japan. In preparation of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, however, many were shut down due to increased sanitation standards. Since then, their prevalence has diminished by more than half, though Fukuoka has taken strides to preserve the custom. Yatai ownership used to be exclusively familial until 2016 when Fukuoka’s local government began accepting new applications. Enter: Rémy Grenard, a Normandy-born chef and baker living in Fukuoka since 2001, who is the first non-Japanese to operate his own yatai, called Chez Rémy, which opened last spring. (fb.com/ yataichezremy; mains from ¥650). Grenard began introducing his homeland’s cuisine to Fukuoka when he opened his French bakery, La Soma’s samurai-like dedication to Tartine, in 2016, and continues to Fukuoka’s most underrated noodle bake its authentic croissants, brioche and quiches before his work at his suggests it’s udon, not rock and roll, yatai begins in the evening. At Chez Rémy, what sets his that will save the world ramen apart is the French-style bouillabaisse broth topped with a hearty helping of mussels, shrimp English, prompting conversation and potatoes, instead of the usual with customers, while calling out sliced pork. It’s a savory dish that directions to his staff, he is both warms your belly, especially when charming and impressive. paired with his boundary-pushing Vestiges of the past permeate European sides, such as French-style Fukuoka’s landscape, from festivals pumpkin gnocchi, and seasonal celebrating centuries-old events to mulled wine. elderly women clad in traditional akawa (3) r i The decision to serve ramen kimono boarding the rush hour train. o H r began as a back-and-forth debate Time is easily lost to idleness, but uiti with a friend who insisted he add the Fukuoka’s recent wave of culinary Y dish to his yatai repertoire. Laughing, creatives has left a stamp on the Grenard admits he was skeptical at present, transfiguring local staples first: “I don’t want to make what through modernity, as they From top: French everyone else is making—I want to understand better than anyone Chef Rémy Grenard’s be myself,” he recalls saying. else: this moment will never come yatai stall; Grenard fuses the cuisines of This commitment to back again. both his old and new individualism has paid off. Chez Grenard makes a toast: homes in his Rémy draws large crowds each “Ichigo ichie.” signature dish, night, due in part to its original “That’s an interesting adage,” ramen bouillabaisse. ramen dish, as well as Grenard’s remarks the diner next to me, a willingness to accommodate Tokyo-based expat visiting for work. vegetarian palates—not possible in “It means…”

da (2) most pork-laden tonkotsu broths— But I stop him short. I’m ke I all of which is further buoyed by his well-versed by now in the breezy personality. As he hopscotches divine opportunity of singular aisuke

D between French, Japanese and culinary encounters.

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 31 / travel diary /

snorkeling the Coral Triangle and Coron The coral reefs around Coron are simply world-class. Situated in the fabled “Coral Triangle,” stretching from the Philippines in the north to Indonesia further west and the Solomon Islands in the east, the diversity of marine life here is off the Richter scale. Dipping into the bath-warm water to scope out the sea life feels just like dropping into the world’s largest fish tank. Into the Wild — Mike Dilger E mbarking on a journey through remote corners of the Philippines, biologist Mike Dilger and BBC World News presenter Rico Hizon get closer to nature while filming a new travel series.

For Filipino news presenter Rico Hizon, the rich culture and natural landscape of his homeland are a constant surprise. Venturing deeper than he ever had before, Hizon joined BBC Earth wildlife expert Mike Dilger on a 3,000-kilometer trip from Palawan Island to the jungles of Luzon for their upcoming documentary series, Philippines: Island Treasures. For Hizon, it was the cuisine that amazed him most: “Generally, adobo has the same basic ingredients. But on this journey, I learned that each region, each island, sometimes even each town, may have their own style of cooking it. They tailor their recipe to what ingredients they have a beer at the locally or seasonally.” For Dilger, the trip was a PalaweÑo biologist’s dream, and releasing a captive-raised Brewery Philippines. Their endangered Philippine Crocodile into the wild was I’m really proud brewery uses local ws a thrill. “Standing ankle-deep in the water, I of Ayah Javier, ingredients from e N

Palaweño spices to coconuts d loosened the grip of the crocodile in my hands, l and mangoes to r

Brewery’s founder o

only to watch it momentarily float on the surface, W and brewmaster, give their beers a before a quick swish of its tail saw it disappear and her business unique taste. The BBC from view.” Here, Dilger and Hizon share some partner Malu varieties range from esy

the hoppy Ayahay t highlights from their trip. —E loise Basuki Lauengco. They r u

manage the first IPA to the Honey o C all-women beer Kölsch, a “tribal You can watch Rico and Mike in Philippines: Island

business in the beer” made with a

Treasures on BBC World News on April 7 & 14. Palawan honey. Im l ges The series will be repeated later in 2018. — Rico Hizon >> A l

32 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com All Images Courtesy BBC World News 04ADV_ICDanang.indd 39 Website: Email: Phone: luxe. of notch anew with InterContinental, signature is house beach mountainside new this in life Vietnam, central of beauty the in Enmeshed salon. nail Gonzalez Bastien famed the and Spa, Heritage HARNN Gagnaire, Pierre Michelin-starred by helmed 1888 Maison La as such facilities resort fanstastic the all are there course of and beach, private the to access include have you’ll privileges InterContinental Club The sound? guest per massage a and cocktails, evening arrival, on champagne do How palace. perk-filled this of most the get you kitchen—ensure full your in delights up whipping chef— and butler, chauffeur dedicated your while bathtubs, marble three the of any in including pools. infinity three with adorned verandas sprawling to up Scully, open Sean artist postmodern by influenced interiors, inviting The him. for even standard anew setting is manse bayview bedroom three- this but gold, vacation to turns touches Bensley Bill architect genius Anything worlds. both of best the have can you that proof prismatic and plush of meters square 500 is Resort Peninsula Sun Danang InterContinental the at Villa Bay Bac Bai new stunning The seas. placid over perched house beach aluxury or lodge, mountain secluded a in stay aserene choice: easy an never It’s Vietnam Central in Luxury the The Ultimate Beach House Ups Relax and survey the ocean from all angles, angles, all from ocean the survey and Relax [email protected] +84 236 393 8888 393 236 +84 danang.intercontinental.com ADVERTORIAL 2/27/2561 BE 10:13 / travel diary /

s potting a Philippine Cockatoo to the verge of Once common extinction. However, across the with the help of archipelago, a local support from combination of communities on habitat loss and Palawan, the future poaching over the of this stunning, last 30 years has sociable and noisy seen the Philippine bird may just be Cockatoo brought starting to get a touch brighter. — M.D.

sagada’s Hanging Coffins I nhabitants of the mountainous town of Sagada in northern Luzon have a rather unconventional way of honoring their dead. Rather than meeting The burial or cremation, Batak Tribe some departed With few signs of members of the modernity, it is a Igorot community simple and yet have chosen for demanding life their coffins to be played out by the suspended halfway Batak people, the up a sheer cliff. Only country’s oldest when placed at indigenous tribe, in such a lofty location the shadow of will they then be Cleopatra’s closer to their Needle—one of ancestral spirits. Palawan’s most — M.D. distinctive mountain summits. Living a subsistence lifestyle on the edge of the forest, the tribe survives by tapping resin from the almaciga tree. — M.D.

34 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com trekking the Banaue Rice Terraces majestic beauty, I was awestruck this was the with the beauty and toughest part of my splendor of the trip. I had to trek up Banaue Rice and down the Terraces. They terraces that are were breathtaking, around 300 meters nature at its high. What’s really finest. Despite their impressive is that these terraces were built by hand more than 2,000 years ago. — .R.H

“A remote archipelago ex ploring palawan’s before visitors are that’s been geologically underground invited to take to river the boats. Paddling isolated from the rest For any eco-tourist, upriver and under the Puerto Princesa the island, torches Subterranean River are essential if of Asia for millions of National Park, a river you want to get the that flows under the best out of the dark, years will always be a St. Paul Mountain wet subterranean range, is a must-see. world that has draw for naturalists” Macaques and become home monitor lizards form to innumerable —mike dilger a welcoming party bats and blind tarantulas. — M.D.

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 35 / insider intel /

clockwise from left: V intage colonial water flasks at Serendipity Delhi; jewelry studio Nimai has a moody boutique at fashion market Shahpur Jat; designer Kuldeep Kaur. opposite: Serendipity Delhi’s bespoke Suzani pillows, inspired by Kaur’s travels to Central Asia.

Delhi by Design With designers pushing the boundaries of tradition in the Indian capital, the city’s creative scene is beginning to bloom.

Rachna Sachasinh talks to local design artisaudress: of courtesy maven Kuldeep Kaur about the innovators behind the new studios, boutiques and brands. Photographs by Debjit Banerjee

“When we first opened, I thought, Who will come?” Kuldeep Kaur recalls, laughing. “Delhi is a conventional city. People would rather go to the mall.” For decades, Delhi has been chastised for its buttoned-down style. Compared to Mumbai, with its colorful film industry, and Kolkata, a hub of modern literary culture— cities where creativity has always been naturally experimental—Delhi’s bureaucratic way of life has led to a more formulaic style, focusing almost exclusively on couture bridal- wear and export garments. Things are pivoting, however, towards the local and the personal, and Kaur, a designer and the owner of Serendipity Delhi (serendipitydelhi.com), a travel-inspired homewares and design shop, is this new era’s biggest cheerleader. “There is an interesting alchemy between Indian-ness and individuality,” Kaur says. In Delhi, where past and present, traditional and modern are seemingly at odds and in collusion with each

36 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com other, designers are questioning what it means these are a few of to be Indian and an individual. Kaur’s favorite Kaur is exploring these issues at Serendipity up-and-coming Delhi with her curated collection of furniture, design stars and textiles and vintage treasures from India and pioneers worth beyond. She also points to fashion designers like seeking out: Sanjay Garg at Raw Mango and Suket Dhir of his eponymous menswear label as pioneers in these internal-external deliberations. Garg focuses on the iconic saree, stripping it down to its simplest component and mining village know-how to revive old-fashioned weaves. Dhir, meanwhile, straddles time and genre, managing to marry a Savile Row-sensibility with quirky vintage and athletic references. “Garg is an example of the resurgence of En Inde’s jewelry minimalism, yet has a strong commitment to often uses tribal elements. Indian craft,” Kaur says. “Dhir’s silhouettes are looser, restructured and a bit rebellious. More designers are chiming in, the questions are + At their studio in broader, the pitch is different and the leafy Lajpat Nagar, conversation livelier.” En Inde (eninde. Creating intellectual and physical space to com) encourages experience good design is as important as the you to “find your products. “Design is most visible when it’s not steel” with their overworked,” Kaur says. Delhi is a city striking range of notorious for its claustrophobic markets and stainless steel jewelry. “Not over-dressing, so this type of thinking is a giant wearing gold is A rtisau’s. leap. Kaur’s own outpost has made the jump: almost sacrilege handloomed. dress: courtesy of artisaudress: of courtesy hidden at the end of a dusty country lane in in India, yet this silk Aravali. Jonapur, a modest village on the outskirts of collection has dress.. Delhi, Serendipity Delhi sits within a rustic caught on,” Kaur whitewashed haveli, a classic Indian home >> says. “The pieces are inspired by a rustic, tribal aesthetic, and make use of atypical materials like steel and jute. They convey overseas, Nicobar + Doodlage power, strength hands-down (doodlage.in) and individuality.” captures the makes a case for + “Nicobar country’s growing sustainable (nicobar.com) frontier spirit.” fashion. “Kriti clearly has vision, + “The clothes by Tula’s label one that mines Simran Chaudhry focuses exclusively urban India’s of Artisau (fb.com/ on recycled and hipster beach- wearartisau) are repurposed loving alter ego. ambient and garments. The Pared down rooted in message is silhouettes, minimalism. serious: we need to surprising design Elegant and simple cut waste in details and cuts, a beautiful fashion. Yet, at the excellent quality color palette, same time, Tula’s appeal to a broad natural fabrics collection of audience. A foot and sustainable breezy frocks and planted in India and practices are jackets is playful another stepping their hallmark.” and whimsical.”

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 37 / insider intel /

built around a central courtyard, where Kaur curates living spaces that blend India’s diverse craft heritage with a contemporary aesthetic. Mod club chairs are upholstered in block- printed cotton; midcentury sofas are paired with Art Deco tables and Mughal miniatures; Suzani embroidery, Moroccan pillows, handloomed duvets and kaftans drape vintage Burmese teak beds. In spite of her genre- and era-bending aesthetics, Kaur’s space is surprisingly uncluttered and tranquil. In a city perennially dodging a bad rap for stuffy markets, stifling heat and acrid pollution, Kaur delivers a rare commodity: a breath of fresh air. Similarly, Nicobar, a year-old fashion and lifestyle brand that already has stores across the country, bases its design studio in a former farmhouse. Here, the production team dreams up collections sitting outdoors in nature-filled courtyards. While their seaside-themed 306-square-meter flagship store just opened in Chanayapuri, Nicobar premiered in Delhi back in 2016, opening a store in Meharchand Market, a vintage shopping district where old-school from top: A saree vendor at tailors and chai wallahs rub shoulders with a Shahpur Jat; a mural at Lodhi burgeoning hipster scene. Among the din and Colony. Opposite: Waiting outside Meharchand Market. drama of the market, the petit glass-fronted aam set: courtesy of An n ori. i top right: courtesy of Nappa D

38 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com + “Nappa Dori (nappadori.com) have been around for a while, but their new space in Chhatarpur’s warehouse district is a must-visit. A leather workbench gives you a look at the classic tools and techniques of one of India’s oldest crafts. The line’s entire collection of bespoke leather iNappa Dor ’s bags and journals leather sit alongside a workshop.. handful of indie labels. The café’s Mediterranean brunch menu, rejection of labels coffee drinks and and boundaries,” laid-back vibe are Kaur says. a great addition to “Sumiran Kabir the area.” Sharma’s clothes + Although the are deconstructed, style of Anaam androgynous and (anaamofficial. a bit punk.” com) is inspired + A one-stop from traditional shop for jewelry garb—for example, lovers in Shahpur store is filled with their modern clothing range the drape of simple Jat, “Nimai that uses soft mulmul cotton and buttery dhotis worn by (shopnimai.com) rickshaw wallahs is an amazing Chanderi silks in classic Indian shapes and are a feature—their platform for breezy island silhouettes. studio in Shahpur innovative jewelry A block west of Meharchand Market is Jat market is edgy. designers using Delhi’s swish Lodhi Colony, whose Lutyens-era “Anaam means non-traditional A piece from. bungalows provided the canvas for the city’s ‘no name,’ which mediums and Anaam’s. first contemporary public art installation. suggests a embellishments.” Sonagachi. Last year, the arts organization ST+art collection.. commissioned a series of conceptual and edgy am a murals that scale three-story buildings and Contemporary An homewares at span entire city blocks, an event that pushed the Shapur Jat.. city’s bastion of old money into the new world in just a matter of weeks. At Serendipity Delhi, Kaur is hoping to et: courtesyet: of s engage a similar movement, and is committed n to providing a forum for emerging voices with ri. i o

D her annual art, music and design festival, Color Me Autumn, which showcases the city’s newest creators. “In India, fashion can be classist and elitist. Designers have adhered to very narrow definitions and limited opportunities to express themselves,” she says. “Western designers are used to expressing their individuality. For Delhi, this is entirely new. It’s an exciting time

top right: courtesy of Nappa to create and shop in the city.”

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 39 / place settings /

A taste of Spain at Heno & Rey. e r ent ity C th C e r th

e; e; r ent ontinental P ontinental ity C e r t nte rC en th C e r th I C f ty i C

Advance th r e P ontinental P ontinental nte rC tesy o couounds; r tesy Australia Fare I f r ntinental ntinental I n Perth, a slew of new dining spaces is putting o rC ket g r te tesy o r tesy

Western Australia on a plate. Grace Ma spends a weekend a n I

m f grazing the city’s best regional fare. f t: cou t: le f tesy o tesy r m o cou fr tesy o cou r tesy

40 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com ftrom lef : The InterContinental Perth City Centre is surrounded by stately architecture; Fremantle octopus, chorizo and pimento caponata on toast, a hearty lunch at Market Grounds; the dining room at Ascua, where Spanish cuisine gets an Australian approach.

I t was my first dinner on my second visit to Perth. I had just tip) are complemented with two types of jamón: popped a mouthful of roasted peppers at Ascua, a Spanish-inspired serrano crisps and ibérico crumbs. Dessert is a restaurant in the newly opened InterContinental Perth City Centre, rich chocolate pudding made from handcrafted and the silky strips were among the sweetest I had ever tasted. chocolate by a Margaret River chocolatier and “They’re from Gingin,” the waitress said of their origin, a town paired with ice cream made with turrón, a 67 kilometers north of Perth. “They’re really good, aren’t they?” traditional Spanish nougat. e

r That was an understatement. Served alongside an equally flavorful Heno & Rey’s offerings are more relaxed. I t

en beef rump cap, which has been cut from grain-fed cattle from the share the space with happy locals celebrating C ty

i southeast Stirling Ranges, the peppers were just the beginning. Australia Day, and polish off plates of Australian C Isolated from the rest of the country, Perth has access to some tuna ceviche, acorn-fed cured ham, and th th r

e of the most biologically diverse produce from across Western marinated chicken thigh with romesco sauce. I P

; ;

e Australia, the largest Australian state. The opening of the sit alone, but the boisterous Aussie crowd, r

nt InterContinental last October coincided with the debut of many pumping music and house-made sangria on tap e C

ntinental ntinental regional-focused restaurants in the last year and the hotel forms the make me want to skip up from my table. ty o i C e rC

r perfect base from which to start my feasting journey. th th te r

n A short walk from ent Ascua is one of two new openings located within the hotel itself. the hotel, at the basement e I

P f The other is tapas and raw bar Heno & Rey. A Spanish take on “hay” of an old bank building, is Fromage Artisans. ity C and “king”—the names of the streets forming the intersection where Opened by Danicia Quinlan and Michael Taylor, tesy o tesy r

th C e r th the bar is located—Heno & Rey, like Ascua, embraces the Spanish who also founded the city’s only cheese festival, ntinental ntinental o style of cooking to make local ingredients sing. the fromagerie not only showcases the region’s rC

te “We felt there was something missing from the market and best dairy produce but is licensed to sell liquor unds; cou unds; n I o

f r Spanish cuisine would be a great addition. But we also wanted to and has a serious dress code—no activewear, ontinental P ontinental

et g et keep it regional with our own spin on it,” says chef de cuisine of both sandals or ripped jeans allowed. “Our travels k tesy o tesy r r

a restaurants Nicholas Trezise, who grew up in Pemberton, a small interstate and overseas made us realize that nte rC m I f f town southwest of Perth. there was nothing [in Perth] that showcased : cou : t f Trezise worked the Australian-Spanish combination into each amazing artisanal cheeses in a way that was so l tesy o tesy r m restaurant’s menu distinctly. My Ascua dinner is refined: Shark Bay appealing as it is in these boutique places,” o tesy o cou r tesy fre cou scallops (from the World Heritage site at Australia’s westernmost Quinlan says as we stand in the century-old

ta r velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 41 / place settings /

former bank vault that’s now a cold room filled gGoin big on Western Australian produce seems the intuitive way with more than 40 types of cheese. to go, and Market Grounds, a massive new 780-seat restaurant, bar Here, the tasting boards feature the best and beer garden, does this as well as celebrating the city’s past. table-aged cheeses paired with artisanal liquor. Fashioned after the old Perth Market that operated here from 1897 to Today I’m presented with rare goat and sheep 1937, the complex sits within King’s Square, a commercial precinct at cheeses from Toodyay and Nannup (“small the heart of the new Perth City Link, which was constructed over a communities with a strong focus on artisanal railway that had previously separated the CBD and the Northbridge produce and sustainable farming practices,” neighborhood for more than a century. Quinlan says) alongside a newly arrived Sartori The multi-million dollar venue provides distinct places to dine: go BellaVitano, an American-made sweet cow’s for a grazing menu at the sunken lounge, small bites at the bar or milk cheese rubbed with roasted ground coffee. shared plates at the 75-seat main restaurant. Menus are broken “The goat cheese from Gidgegannup [near down into butcher, baker, grocer and fishmonger sections—a Toodyay] is one of our biggest sellers, but there connection to the old market halls—and ingredients are sourced are days where the owner gets busy with the from farming communities located within a 200-kilometer radius of goats and finds it hard to deliver to us,” Quinlan Perth: fruits and vegetables come from Wanneroo; meat from says. “When you’re running an establishment Dardanup; seafood from Fremantle. and people are expecting to have the same thing It’s the ultimate modern pub, says Adam Kapinkoff, group in a consistent way, relying on small local operations manager of his family’s Ark Hospitality Group, which producers can be challenging. But while you launched Market Grounds in December. “As pubs evolved in the last may not know what cheeses you’ll get, you know 10 to 15 years, there has been a serious shift in providing restaurant it will be of good quality with a great story.” quality food in a relaxed casual setting. We’re all proud Western No matter, busy goat owners are easily Australians who want to support the local suppliers. With such great forgiven when you can also order from a menu access to quality local produce, it’d be silly not to.” of decadent bar bites—the 10-cheese toasted It’s the same pride I encounter as I round off my trip at a weekend sandwich, which melts a secret mix of high-end brunch with local friends at Island Market Trigg, a bright beach remnants of the day (some costing as much as diner clad in pink and marble with Mediterranean vibes and a A$120 per kilogram), is best eaten with a dab of Levantine menu. The minds behind the menu, executive chef David igg

spiced tomato chutney made by a Peppermint Coomer and head chef Sunny de Ocampo, have cooked in some of r Grove Beach producer southwest of Perth. Perth’s best kitchens and are long familiar with the West’s bounty. >> et t et k r a m sland i f tesy o tesy r unds; cou unds; o r et g et k r a m

f tesy o tesy r tisans; cou r ge a ge a m o fr

f tesy o tesy r : cou : t f l

ftrom lef : A peek at the tasting room at Fromage Artisans; the limited edition Avo Splash cocktail at Market Grounds blends avocado m o

with a dash of tequila; order the selection of Middle Eastern–style dips at Island Market Trigg with a plate of their warm pita bread. fre

42 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: courtesy of fromage artisans; courtesy of market grounds; courtesy of island market trigg t&L

/ place settings /

the details

STAY InterContinental Perth City Centre Located within the King Street Precinct, this five-star hotel was designed with the Western Australian landscape in mind—the entrance features locally sourced natural timbers and stones. The well-connected Club InterContinental team can organize exclusive local experiences in the city. intercontinental.com/perth; doubles from A$245.

Eat+Drink Ascua Wood-fired meats are the main event at this Spanish-style grill-house at Sunset vistas the base of the at Island InterContinental. ascua.com. Market Trigg. au; mains from A$28. Fromage Artisans Offering a range of tasting boards, wine and cheese “We don’t want to import from overseas masterclasses and bespoke when the availability is out there,” de Ocampo artisanal cheese hampers, this boutique bar answers all says. “It’s also about putting what’s fresh and dairy cravings. fromage.com. in season on our plates and supporting our au; cheeseboards from A$22. local farmers.” Summer plats du jour include Heno & Rey As well as a seasonal fruits to balance richer flavors: diverse tapas menu, this watermelon brings sweetness to a feta salad, lively spot at the InterContinental serves while nectarines add a zesty spritz to wood- sangria on tap, Latin beers fired roast duck. Close relationships with the and top Spanish sherries. producers also mean getting first dibs on the henoandrey.com.au; tapas most interesting harvests of the day—think from A$13; drinks from A$6. Island Market Trigg The local shellfish “honey bugs” from Perth’s bright and airy dining space offshore Rottnest Island, and Manjimup figs here has views of Trigg Beach from the southwest. with a relaxed yet refined As we look out to views of sparkling Trigg menu. islandmarkettrigg.com; Beach, our party of four passes plates of latkes mains from A$16. Market Grounds This topped with hot-smoked salmon, dill and two-story eating-and- capers; breakfast pide, a Turkish pastry filled drinking complex offers with sausages, egg, peppers and haloumi; and several bars for an after-work shakshuka made with free-range CharCol tipple. Our pick is the outdoor garden bar—perfect for Springs eggs from the Southern Forests summer sundowners. region. In Perth, it seems like every plate is an marketgrounds.com.au; mains igg ode to its neighbors. from A$19; drinks from A$9. r et t et k r a “We’re all proud Western Australians m sland i who want to support the local suppliers. f

With such great access to quality local o tesy r

produce, it’d be silly not to” cou courtesy of island market trigg 04ADV_IncredibleIndia.indd 23 http://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html part better the for use in were andmonasteries temples that Buddhist of aseries day, this To Tibet. and China Korea, as far as from students attracted training Vedic formalized highly time, the At century. 5th the to back dates University Nalanda that realize to institutions, it’s mind boggling teaching earliest India’s of One Nadu. Tamil in stops popular most the of Templeone is Brihadeeswarar why see to easy it’s status, Site Heritage World UNESCO with temples Chola of atrio of One none. to second is grounds the throughout sculpture of quality the while granite, from constructed is and India, South in tallest the among is storeys main vimana tower, at 16 Its 11th century. the to date original of the portions temple the Chennai, of southwest 350 kilometers Located best. its at Tamilof architecture example excellent an and India South in temples largest the of Templeone is Brihadeeswarar Shiva, to Dedicated ADVERTISEMENT THREE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT GLIMPSES INTO ITS RICH PAST. RICH ITS INTO GLIMPSES DIFFERENT ENTIRELY THREE UP VAST NATION OFFER THIS OF REGIONS DIFFERENT THREE TEMPLE, TAMIL NADU BRIHADEESWARAR NALANDA UNIVERSITY Heritage Hot Spots www.incredibleindia.org For more information: jewellery. of art fine the to left normally terms in described are they that detailed intricately so are here reliefs The visitors. for fascinating remains that wheels chariot of carvings stone the in detail that it’s today, and, horses seven by led chariot oversized an by represented is Surya themes. Hindu and iconography artwork, carving, stone intricate its for famous is temple century 13th- the Surya, god Hindu the to Dedicated February. in place takes normally which Mela, Chandrabhaga the for gather who Hindus, for site remains a major pilgrimage Konark Temple, Sun the coast, Odisha the along Situated visitors and the simply curious. simply the and visitors Buddhistcontinues to attract Bihar, in Patna of outside 95 kilometers university, the why is alone This seals. and carvings coinage, sculptures, through era this of knowledge of awealth unearth to continue years 700 of SUN TEMPLE, KONARK Follow us on : on us Follow

/incredibleindia | /incredibleindia

@incredibleindia Brihadeeswarar Temple.Brihadeeswarar Sun Temple, Konark. Temple, Sun Nalanda University. Nalanda 2/26/2561 BE 12:22 / the quest / O n the Coffee Trail

An emerging specialty coffee scene in Laos has attracted a growing number of espresso geeks and independent travelers to the lush Bolaven Plateau, an area best seen on two wheels. s tory and photographs by craig sauers

clkw oc ise from top: E xcelsa coffee beans at Ban Kok Phung Tai; an elephant gets a bath at Tad Lo Lodge; separating the dried beans at a plantation in Paksong.

I should have known Plateau where 95 percent of what I was getting myself Laos’s coffee is grown. into when I arranged to Working as a guide and meet a man named occasional barista at his “Koffie.” Yes, Koffie—as in rustic coffee shop, Won coffee, café, gafae. By the Coffee, Koffie leads “cherry time the Laos-based coffee to cup” tours of local connoisseur served me a plantations every morning; fifth cup of what I’m pretty in the afternoon, he hosts sure is the best espresso workshops for those with a I’ve ever had, I felt as if I deeper interest in the might start levitating. coffee-making process. Dutch expat Koffie— I’m signed up for both. real name: Cornelis I’ve rented a motorbike Obee—has spent the past with plans to tour the 11 years in Paksong, the chip-sealed roads that largest town in the Bolaven circle the Bolaven Plateau

46 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com in search of the country’s best coffee. The route has become popular among independent travelers, who hire their wheels in Pakse, the capital of southern Champasak province, to access the plateau’s abundant natural attractions—the waterfalls are spectacular—and meet the Mon-Khmer ethnic groups in the area. I’m in the growing minority of travelers following the espresso trail, hoping my motorbike will give me access to remote farms and local cafés. After I’ve driven two hours from Pakse to Paksong, dodging potholes, cows and the occasional goat along the way, Koffie’s growing coffee: the cool called washing to produce wars. During World War cram session proves to be average temperature of 24 a better balance of II, many French farmers an excellent primer. “I’ll degrees combined with the bitterness and acidity. fled Laos; then civil war overload you with high altitude—the plateau But it’s the plateau’s rampaged through the knowledge,” Koffie warns is at 1,300 meters—and volcanic soil that really country; finally, during the me. “You might forget half 3,700 millimeters of makes the region so ideal American conflict in of what I’ve told you by rainfall per year. Koffie for the bean. It’s home to Vietnam in the 1960s, the nightfall.” He explains why describes how local 30 different types of U.S. carpet-bombing of the Paksong is ideal for farmers use a process arabica—the higher- Ho Chi Minh Trail and its valued bean variety— surrounds brought death, yielding around 3,000 destruction and disorder to distinct tastes. It had never villages and farms in the occurred to me that parts Bolaven Plateau. of Laos could have the same Coffee came back on the climate and topography scene in 1994, when that feed coffee plants in French-educated Sinouk places like Ethiopia and Sisombat bought farmland Sumatra. on the plateau, hoping to “Before, you only tasted revive arabica in his home coffee,” Koffie tells me. country. Others followed “Now you will know what Sinouk’s lead, and before you’re drinking.” long arabica was on the French colonists rise and a “quality over cultivated the first arabica, quantity” approach took robusta and liberica coffee root. While Laos only plants in Laos, bringing exports about 25,000 them in the 1900s from tonnes of beans per their farms in Vietnam. year—by comparison, But the crops suffered Vietnam exported from frost, as well as an 1.4 million tonnes in outbreak of fungus called 2017—producers like f rom top: G etting snap-happy in the lush valley surrounding Tad Yuang Waterfall; deliveries on two wheels. leaf rust, and were almost Sinouk and the Bolaven wiped out from a series of Plateau Coffee Producers

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 47 / the quest /

Cooperative have worked and they’re all proud of with farmers to improve their products.” quality and focus on Leaving Koffie putting high-earning sufficiently caffeinated, beans on the market. I backtrack on my “The Bolaven Plateau is motorbike to Sabaidee a small pond with many Valley, my retreat for the different fish,” Koffie says, night. The hilltop resort grabbing some green occupies a prime position coffee beans and lighting on the edge of the plateau, the burner beneath his overlooking a basin that wok, which he uses to fills with mist in the teach people like me how to morning. The hotel’s café is roast beans at home. As he buzzing, and I pick up a I drive 100 kilometers to a Katu village called Ban tosses beans onto the hot souvenir of fair-trade Tad Lo village, a common Kok Phung Tai, where I wok, he adds, “Everyone Paksong beans to take stopover known for its join a tour of the coffee- does coffee their own way, home. The next morning, stunning waterfalls, Tad farming community led by Lo and Tad Hang, taking a a local man named Hook coffee break at Sinouk’s (nicknamed “Captain resort and coffee Hook” by clever tourists). plantation. In Tad Lo, life Eloquent and friendly, if moves at the pace of a enigmatic, he provides a weekend picnic. After lens into an animist zipping around on a Honda lifestyle it’s hard to for two days, I’m content to imagine existing these soak up the cool air and days. As it turns out, he is unwind by the waterfalls. also a coffee savant. Tad Lo isn’t just a rest Under the shade of a stop, though. For many, it’s robusta plant, Hook a base for visiting ethnic describes how farmers in minority communities, his village—some of the specifically the Katu, one 10,000 coffee-farming of 14 Mon-Khmer groups families who live on the in the area. My last day on Bolaven Plateau—fertilize the plateau begins with a crops with the sun-dried drive down a dirt road to skin of coffee cherries and

f rom top: A guest room at Le Jardin de Pakse; Tad Yuang Waterfall; bamboo filter coffee by Captain Hook. o pposite: The villas at Sabaidee Valley resort hover over the clouds.

48 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com “Before you only tasted coffee; now you will know what you’re drinking.” —bean-to-brew expert Koffie Obee the water left over from sores in the saltwater pool fermentation. He picks at Le Jardin de Pakse, a some cherries to show the turmeric-colored villa that stages of ripeness. Over speaks to the city’s French cups of robusta brewed in colonial past. There, I start bamboo filters, we also to feel sentimental for the discuss Katu life: animal pastoral world I just left sacrifice, shamanism and and remember something local beliefs. “In my village, Koffie said: “I try to give we never speak of the you adaptable knowledge future,” he says, citing an you can use outside of here, example. “Evil spirits will coffee knowledge for the know your plans.” real world…as long as you My plans for the plateau can remember it.” Coming are almost over, and on my down from this caffeine last night I ride back to high, there’s no way I could Pakse to soak my saddle forget it.

the details LAOS g etting there Hueang Market in DO bolaven plateau There are non-stop Pakse, is a great Captain Hook’s flights to Pakse from place to start or end Coffee Tour Vientiane, Siem Reap a journey into the Katu village Ban Kok and Bangkok. From Bolaven Plateau. Phung Tai is on the there, Miss Noy lejardindepakse.com; border of Salavan Motorbike (No. 13 S doubles from US$60. and Sekong Provinces Road, Pakse; 856- on the Tad Lo- 20/2227-2278; from Sabaidee Valley Paksong Road. Note: US$6 per day) hires The best rooms at If wooden beams are out some of the best this spacious all- barricading the bikes in town and villa resort boast village entrance, a offers nightly views of the mist- special ceremony is informational shrouded valley just taking place and sessions on driving outside of Paksong. outsiders are strictly sekong Tad Lo the loop. Not sabaideevalley.com; forbidden. fb.com/ SALAVAN Village confident on two villas from US$51. hook.laos; tours wheels? No problem. from US$3. Avis (avis.com; from Tad Lo Lodge US$75 per day) has Rustic bungalows Mr. Koffie’s Coffee Pakse a branch in Pakse, look out over Tad Tour & Workshop renting out cars and Hang, the small, Visit the humble, SUVs that can be gentle waterfalls in roadside Won Coffee Tad Yuang dropped off in the center of Tad Lo. café in Paksong at Waterfall Vientiane as well Be aware that the 10 a.m. to join as Pakse. lodge keeps two Koffie’s tour; his Tad Fane rescued elephants coffee-roasting Waterfall attapeu STAY on site, with which workshops start at Le Jardin de Pakse they offer rides to 2 p.m. paksong.info; CHAMpasaK This charming hotel, guests. 856-34/211- tours from US$6, located in a colonial 889; doubles from workshops from Paksong villa near the Dao US$50. US$21.

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 49 / discovery /

Y emaya Island Hideaway & Spa’s sunny spot on Little Corn Island.

aya islandaya hideaway & spa; m aya island hideaway & spa & island hideaway aya f ye ye m f tesy o r ./cou tesy o cou r tesy ; m . Mejia L m e.co sti tto J m ea Dr m top: O o ich/ e r clockwise fr t L ©Robe r t ya islandya hideaway & spa a Small Wonder m ye A tiny paradise off the Nicaraguan coast, Little Corn Island is one of f the Caribbean’s best-kept secrets. On a visit to its sole luxury resort, esy o t

Eleni N. Gage enjoys all the pleasures of a beach vacation while r embracing the island’s distinctive blend of cultures. inn/cou h C a J son

50 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com A great view to go with your lobster dinner.

My mother always said, “You don’t just marry a man, you marry his whole family.” When I wed Emilio, I got his entire country—Nicaragua. We go there frequently, so I’ve managed to see most of his homeland’s greatest hits: the Spanish-colonial city of Granada, a handful of dormant volcanoes and the Pacific beaches loved by surfers. But I’d been married to my Nicaraguan husband for seven years before we made the trek to Little Corn Island, and I’m still a little resentful

about that oversight. To be fair, most travelers can’t fit Little Corn—the smaller of the two Corn Islands, situated in the developed a vision of a long weekend Spanish who ruled the rest of the Caribbean 80 kilometers off spent sunning on white-sand country, Nicaragua’s eastern coast Nicaragua’s eastern coast—into their beaches, swimming in turquoise has its own blend of Afro-Caribbean mainland itinerary. “It’s too far,” waters, and drinking adult beverages cultures. Its locals speak English,

ya islandya hideaway & spa; Emilio always said, what with the out of coconut shells while my Creole, and native languages, a m ya island hideaway & spa & island hideaway ya hour-long flight in a prop plane from mother-in-law looked after our two including Garifuna and Miskito, as a ye m f e Managua to Big Corn, then a children back on the mainland. I well as the Spanish they learn in y f 30-minute ride in an open-air panga decided to pursue my dream by school. On Little Corn, the population esy o t

r boat. Even among his many relatives booking at the only upscale property is around 850, mostly descendants of tesy o tesy r Yemaya Island /cou and almost-relatives—Nicaraguans on Little Corn, the slaves freed from the four families . L cou ; don’t have friends, they have Hideaway & Spa (yemayalittlecorn. who colonized the area. m

ejia “cousins”—only a few had ventured com; doubles from US$250), a I understood that Little Corn is a . M e.co J m out there. But those who had been collection of 16 eco-cottages dotting world apart from the rest of ti to s t

m spoke of Little Corn as the most the beach. Nicaragua. It was in the cab to the O a e

r romantic place in Nicaragua. As one When we landed at the tiny airport panga, though, that I began to feel it. D top:

m of these so-called cousins said, “I on Big Corn, I saw that Emilio was “The boat ride will be calm, because ch/ o i r fr

e went with a boyfriend, and I came half right. The Corn Islands are they’re not killing lobsters today,” the L

t t back with a baby.” far—but the distance is cultural as cabbie informed me. “When you take r Hearing her tales of sailing by day much as it is physical. Colonized in from the sea, she gets angry.” I never clockwise ©Robe and eating lobster dinners at night, I 1655 by the British, rather than the heard such romantic assertions over ceviche at Mukul, the glam beach resort on Nicaragua’s Pacific shore. Fresh lobster Our sailing—accompanied by tails are found American honeymooners and a chic throughout French couple, all blond hair and tan Little Corn. limbs—was relatively smooth, and when we stepped onto the sand at Yemaya we were met by staffers bearing fresh juice and chilled washcloths. Yemaya is part of the

aya islandaya hideaway & spa barefoot-luxe Colibri Boutique Hotels m group, whose other four properties f ye are in Tulum, Mexico. Which is not

tesy o surprising, as Little Corn recalls r Tulum before the massive resorts Handmade moved in. hinn/cou furnishings are a At first glance, Little Corn looks feature of Yemaya’s suites. like your universal Caribbean ason C

J fantasy. But as we walked along the

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 51 / discovery /

Snorkelers set greens eaten on site are grown. As we sail on the watched a marauding bird steal a Meskito boat. papaya, I asked the golden French couple—they seemed to be experts in sustainability and composting— what had brought them to Yemaya. The wife said she had wanted to go someplace far from everything else. Where did they normally live? Paris, where she does PR for the Ritz. The boho-chic Europeans and adventure-seeking honeymooners had me worrying Little Corn might become Tulum 2.0. Yemaya has responded to an increase in tourism with the addition of private pools and the introduction of a twin-engine boat to make the ride from Big Corn more comfortable. But as I sipped my last Coco Loco, I reassured myself that Little Corn will always feel like no place else. It’s inherently hard to get to, and there’s no room for large hotels. None of the beaches are private, so you will always run into one “road,” a cobblestoned path that showed the same cheerful backpackers who have come to dive. locals use to roll wheelbarrows from unflappability when we took a sunset The Miskito sailors will continue to one coast of the four-square- sail on his wooden boat the next lie on boards floating over the ocean. kilometer island to the other, I felt a evening. Emilio and I sipped When I Instagrammed photos of distinct sense of place. We passed a champagne while Barracuda lay on a our trip, Emilio’s relatives baseball field where the local team long plank extending over the ocean, commented, from their condos on plays its rivals from Big Corn, as well balancing the boat’s weight. the Pacific coast, “Where are you?

as cottages painted Caribbean pinks, Back on land, we had fragrant Still in Nicaragua?” islandya hideaway & spa a blues and oranges, from which facials in the spa huts and did yoga in “Of course,” I typed back, falling m ye women sell homemade coconut bread the open-air studio. We even toured just a little bit deeper in love with the f to kids in school uniforms, the resort’s gardens, where all the country I’d married. esy o t backpackers in cutoffs, and sun r worshippers in caftans. Foot traffic is the only kind there is on Little Corn—motorized vehicles, even golf A tropical view carts, are prohibited. from a suite at Yemaya. For me, the island was an ideal blend of quiet, with its spotty Internet and lack of cars, and lively, given the mix of cultures and people. I found islandya hideaway & spa; cou a the same delicate balance offshore as m ye well. In the morning, as we f

paddleboarded along the coast, we’d esy o t wave at the other early birds bobbing r in the warm water—both the human inn/cou

ones and the white crane who h sometimes perched on the boulder C son opposite our cottage. We snorkeled a J with Barracuda, a Miskito sailor, who top: would point out the stingrays and m o nurse sharks floating past. He fr

52 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com / the primer / The Martinique Mystique L ong ignored by many travelers, the French Caribbean island is finally enjoying its moment in the sun. By T ony Perrottet

T he park ranger Robert Régina and I were hiking along a ridge in the Caravelle Peninsula, high above the sparkling Atlantic Ocean, when he asked me, “What do you know about Martinique?” Then he answered for me with perverse Gallic pride: “Rien, je crois! Nothing, I think!” Well, not quite nothing. I once wrote a book involving Napoleon Bonaparte’s romantic life, so I knew that his legendary amour—Marie- Josèphe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, better known as Empress Josephine—was born and raised on Martinique. But Régina was pretty close, which I knew after one look at the lavish beauty of this spectacular nature preserve, where lovely forest cascades down mountainsides to white-sand beaches. I had never heard of the Caravelle Peninsula before. My knowledge of Martinique was indeed almost rien. Régina and I eventually made our way to the ruins of the Château Dubuc, an enormous sugar plantation and today a stark example of Martinique’s complicated history. The French first settled on the island in the 17th century, and quickly set up many plantations like the Dubuc, all worked by slave labor. (Slavery was outlawed in 1848.) Currently an overseas department of France, Martinique remains closely bound to la patrie: in its language, its use of the euro, its cuisine, and its openness to dazzling variety of tropical landscapes that progressive ideas unusual for the region. This make the country feel much larger than its 1,129 Franco-centric worldview—and the fact that square kilometers. The northern coast is many international flights used to involve so volcanic, with dark-sand beaches, while the many stopovers that it sometimes seemed southern coast is scalloped with white-sand faster to go via Paris—has long kept Martinique Fort-de-France, coves. The eastern, Atlantic shores are wild; the the capital of off the radar of most foreign travelers. Martinique. western, Caribbean waters stay serene. At the All that changed over the past few years, island’s green heart are mountains dense with when Norwegian Airlines started offering rain forest where the adventurous can go affordable direct flights from New York, Boston hiking, canyoning and rafting. And you can DONNE

A and Fort Lauderdale. Some friends who had also retreat to villages that offer a relaxed, R

TA made it to Martinique told me about the uniquely Creole charm.

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 53 / the primer /

And so I headed south for my own crash it’sL an ENC AVE OF cutting-edge ART. course on all things Martinican. Here are a few People don’t typically think of the Caribbean of the island’s avant-garde charms I discovered for contemporary art, but visitors to along the way. Martinique can see an impressive collection of works—all housed in a rum distillery. it’s- got sci fi GLAMPING. Habitation Clément (rhum​clementusa.com), in oleil

I’ve been accused of being self-absorbed before, Le François, comprises a historic plantation S but on my first night I was literally living in a house, a 16-hectare sculpture park, and a sleek lein bubble. The inventive L e Domaine des Bulles gallery showcasing artists from the region. P ftrom lef : Take in tel

(ledomainedesbulles.com; doubles from €145) The works can be provocative: one of the most Ô

360-degree H is an excellent example of how Martinique does garden views in the striking sculptures is the word Blood in f things the unexpected way: these three bubble rooms at Le enormous red letters, a reference to slavery’s o sy te transparent bubbles, set in the forest near the Domaine des brutal impact on the island. In addition to the r Bulles; the ou C town of Le Vauclin, offer camping as Jules Verne restaurant at Hôtel art, most come here to taste rhum agricole, might have imagined it. My high-tech globule Plein Soleil serves Martinique’s signature spirit, which is made was air-conditioned, with a huge bed perfect for Franco-Carribean from pressed sugarcane instead of molasses, stargazing. Outside was an open-air shower cuisine with ocean giving it a lighter, less syrupy taste. The views. and a stone plunge pool replenished by a cool original Clément distillery, which dates from bulles; aine des mountain stream. For dinner, I called on a 1917, is preserved like a site-specific artwork in m e do L

walkie-talkie to have a fine French meal and itself, and the rum is stored in sweet-perfumed f a bottle of Côtes du Rhône delivered to my cellars. I was delighted to find that the last stop sy o sy te

outdoor table. Exhibitionists may be was an elegant tasting room. r disappointed, however: each bubble is kept t: cou private by fences and thick foliage. Martinique it’sO a GASTR NOME’S paradise. f le is very French, but there are limits to Food is taken seriously on the island, but the m o self-exposure. culinary style quotient was cranked up a notch fr R/getty i m ages S eve r ine BAU

54 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: courtesy of Le domaine des bulles; Courtesy of HÔtel Plein Soleil

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55 / hideaway / Haute Comfort O n a visit to the Albergo Bucaneve—a hotel in the mountains of northern Italy run by high-fashion menswear label Ermenegildo Zegna—Simon Willis is surprised to find the ambience more bucolic than blingy. Pho tographs by Andrea Wyner

Fromt lef : Slow- From the window I could see for more Italian for “snowdrop”) sits at the heart of cooked egg in than 200 kilometers. Below me, in the near the Oasi Zegna, a 100-square-kilometer park fondue (top) and distance, were tiny villages following a owned and protected by Ermenegildo Zegna, raviolini in sugo d’arrosto at the winding road, little rivers of houses the Italian menswear company whose factory Albergo Bucaneve meandering down the hill. Beyond them the has been based in the nearby town of Trivero in Bielmonte, plains of northern Italy spread out as flat as a since 1910. But despite its relationship with Italy; the hotel’s tabletop, and farther still were the Cottian one of the world’s leading luxury brands, the sitting room. op p osite: The Alps on the French border. It was something hotel is more responsive to flora and fauna Monte Marca Hut, you might glimpse from a plane while than to fashion. a mountaintop café climbing away from the airport. Instead, I was Opened in 1963, the Albergo Bucaneve was in the Oasi Zegna, sitting down to lunch at the Albergo Bucaneve. originally conceived as a restorative getaway is accessible from The local landscape informs almost that benefited the workers in Zegna’s factory. the hotel by chairlift. everything about this hotel and spa in Following World War II, Ermenegildo Zegna, Bielmonte, a tiny resort high in the hills of the high-end fashion brand’s founder, built a Piedmont about 120 kilometers northwest of scenic road into the mountains called the Milan. The Albergo Bucaneve (bucaneve is Panoramica and later added the hotel, along

56 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com with ski slopes, at its highest point. “It was his gift to the local people,” says Anna Zegna, Ermenegildo’s granddaughter and the president of the Fondazione Zegna, the family’s philanthropic organization. To design the hotel, Ermenegildo chose Luigi Vietti, an Italian architect known for the stylish houses he fashioned for Cortina, a town in the Dolomites. Both the interiors and exterior of Vietti’s building, which has remained largely unchanged since it opened, echo the old chalets and shepherds’ dwellings that dot the landscape. Its bedrooms are cozy spaces lined with the spruce that grows on the hills; the sitting room and restaurant below are decked with the horns of the deer and chamois that roam the mountains. The only addition has been a spa, which was built in 2014 and expanded in 2016 to add a hot tub with a view through a giant picture window. The hotel’s rustic charms draw stressed- out Milanese looking for Alpine renewal. After breakfast there one morning, I headed out with Arturo Ramella, who was born near Bielmonte in 1963 and now works as a guide in the Oasi. The interiors and exterior The resort is an all-purpose playground for lovers of the outdoors. In winter you can ski of the building echo down the slopes or through the valleys, or explore the network of paths on snowshoes. In the old chalets and spring and summer you can ride horses, go rock climbing, or admire the wildflowers that shepherds’ dwellings that bloom all over the hills. But Ramella had a dot the landscape more meditative pursuit in mind for us: he was taking me “forest bathing.” The keepers of the Oasi have an almost The landscape is the source of the Albergo ntopsext s hippieish devotion to trees. For centuries the Bucaneve’s culinary pleasures as well as the The Albergo forests had been exploited for timber, and the Oasi’s natural ones. That evening I sat down Bucaneve is a 1½-hour drive from land had become denuded. So Zegna replanted with chef Giacomo Gallina, who is at the start Milan’s Malpensa more than half a million specimens. Today of his first season at the Albergo, following Airport. After a weekend stay in they are harnessed for therapy rather than stints in Singapore, Paris and Milan, and the Oasi Zegna, fire. Forest bathing, a trend that originated in whose food is a reason to visit in itself. Gallina venture to one of these nearby Japan, involves embracing the silence of the cleaves to a simple rule: he only cooks produce destinations. woodland—sometimes literally. As we walked from the land he can see from the window. through the valley, surrounded by firs and Happily, he can see a long way. Dinner took in Turin larches, we saw a set of steps leading to a the whole terrain, starting with anchovies 1¾ hours by car platform in front of a large beech. A small sign from Liguria’s fish markets before moving on Como 2 hours by car invited you to hug the tree, and sure enough, to veal cheeks from Piedmont, cooked long and Locarno there was a man in a red hat enjoying a slow, that were soft enough to eat with a spoon. 2½ hours by car lingering embrace. For anyone who, like me, I was visiting in December, and as I ate, snow Chamonix finds the idea of absorbing a tree’s “energy” carpeted the Panoramica outside. Cutting into 2¾ hours by car mildly ridiculous, the forests hold other my chocolate dessert, its rich center oozing out Genoa treasures. As Zegna’s replanting took hold, and saucing a fan of caramelized pears, I 3 hours by car animals that had been chased out by the hoped the road would become impassable and logging came back. For the first time in a I’d be stuck here for a few more days. hundred years, you can hear the howls of wolves again. bucaneve.eu; doubles from €110.

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 57 / essay /

We were speeding through Paris after landing at Charles de Gaulle, and my heart was beating fast. It had I’ll Always been two decades since I’d been to the city. I craned out the cab window hungrily. I couldn’t wait to wander the Marais, or shop on Boulevard de Sébastopol for ham and ages Have Paris eggs and white asparagus to whip up into brunch. As my m husband and I made our way to the attic apartment we Twenty years after running away to the had rented, I was amazed at how sharply I recognized the City of Light, Tess Taylor returns churches and alleyways, and how, after a few hours, my typeek/getty i

and finds shadows of her younger self. rusty French began to quicken on my tongue. A My reentry was also a duke. Eventually, a former boyfriend cold evening with Elise before homecoming. When I was 19, I showed up, and we rented a narrow heading to that hostel basement to abruptly dropped out of college and apartment near St. Eustache, on a play guitars and flirt in all the ran away to Paris. I left the U.S. in white-cobblestoned street I adored languages we knew. “The shape of a January with little more than a one- the second I saw it. city changes more quickly than a way ticket, six years of public school All the while I worked and read mortal’s heart,” said Baudelaire in a French and US$700 to my name. I and explored new quartiers. My walk famous poem about Paris, but this couch-surfed a bit, first with the to the Ritz took me past the Louvre, isn’t quite true. Paris, when you’ve baroness grandmother of a friend, and I would pop in most afternoons loved it, also seems to save a bit of you typeek/getty i m ages

A then with a distant acquaintance. using my student card. On each visit waiting, unchanged, in its crevices. It Finally, nearly broke, I checked into a I’d sit with a single painting, teaching is as if the city holds within its knotty Protestant youth hostel in the Sixth myself to see what it was I loved in streets not only the ghosts of artists Arrondissement, renting a narrow art. One day it was a Neoclassical and lovers, but your own ghost, too. bunk that I shared with Elise, a David; another day a delicate, This trip, we stayed in the Seventh Scottish redhead. We ventured out shadowy Vermeer. Arrondissement, in a tall crumbling daily to look for work and mostly It wasn’t all perfect—the building mere blocks from the hostel came back empty-handed. For boyfriend and I fought, and money I lived in decades ago. One night my breakfast, the hostel put out long was wildly tight. But it was husband and I slunk out to La Vénus baguettes and butter and strawberry remarkable, absorbing this world Noire, another venerable basement jam, as well as bowls of steaming week after week; learning to joke in speakeasy, to spend the night milk and coffee. Every day for weeks French, to taste and wander like a listening to jazz. Walking home that this was my only full meal, and each proud flaneuse. By the time I left in evening, after passing the stone lions morning it was a delicious miracle— the summer, I had cheap espadrilles, in the fountains at the Place St.- in memory, still the best coffee I’ve a short Jean Seberg haircut and a Sulpice, I led us back through a ever had. Nights, we raffish hostel 1970s-style belted blue leather coat I’d familiar alley, as if toward my old dwellers sometimes slunk into the picked up at the Marché aux Puces. I hostel. I found the wall now inscribed building’s basement, a dark medieval felt ready to face down my adulthood. with “Le Bateau Ivre,” Rimbaud’s cave where we lit candles and drank Last year I returned to give a poem about the seasickness of travel cheap red wine. lecture about poetry to some and longing. I stopped to savor it, Living in Paris was heady, a bit American students. I couldn’t help dizzy between worlds. stressful, and somewhat improbable. glimpsing myself in them, recalling The next day, I made a pilgrimage But over the weeks, my French my life in the city as a young to Shakespeare & Co. In the cluttered improved. I landed a job as a would-be poet. I’d turn a corner to see stacks of a second-floor room was a translator at the Hôtel Ritz Escoffier a flash of my own self 20 years copy of the book of poems I’d recently École, where I learned to cook poulet earlier, dashing down an alley after published. With wonder, I saluted à l’estragon and crumbly chestnut art or bread. I was taking in not just the brazen, wayward young woman gâteau. A stage-set life assembled the Pompidou but the memory of first I’d been. Looking at the Seine that around me. I’d while away cold winter entering the Pompidou; running night, I thought how the self is a hours at Shakespeare & Co., the along the quays below the Pont des series of refractions, sticky with legendary Left Bank bookshop, Arts, I was also running after my place. The pieces flash back, like light reading poetry—Pound, Baudelaire, headstrong former self. In the Jardin on the river. There are our hearts, Beckett, Stein. I made friends with a du Luxembourg I had a vivid memory fluttering in the world, glittering, Swedish watchmaker and a Norman of sharing warm ham crêpes on a waiting to be rediscovered.

It was remarkable, absorbing this world; learning to joke in French, to taste and wander like a proud flaneuse

ta r velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 59

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62 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from top: mandarin oriental, singapore; courtesy of best western thousand island hotel

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scott a. woodward Punakha Dzong, the second-oldest temple in Bhutan, page 74. d r / a pril 2018 / Why this is the year to check in to Shanghai | Seeking yetis, discos and other off-piste adventures in Bhutan | The best food, bars, sights scott a. woodwa and shopping in Charleston | A family tour of sustainable safaris in Tanzania 65 A hop, skip and a jump from Pudong, at W Shanghai—The Bund. Opposite: At home among the restored shikumen gated courtyard residences at Capella Shanghai.

Golden light sweeps across the peaks surrounding Thimphu. New concessions

There’s a room boom in Shanghai, with new, high-end hotels opening at a dizzying rate. Count among them the history-laden Amanyangyun, just outside the city, and the meticulously restored 80-year-old neighborhood that is Capella Shanghai. Among the other standouts are addresses that artfully engender a sense of place.

By Jeninne Lee-St. John. Photographed by Dave Tacon

travelandleisureasia.com / April 2018 67 Modern Shanghai’s best mix of European and American factory towns example of the and rural Chinese country homes. Oriented architectural as political is south and organized according to other feng Capella surely the shikumen. The shui principles, two- and three-story shikumen word literally translates to appealed to wealthy expats and locals, who “stone gate,” but references lived in them and bought them as investments a type of laneway housing to rent to the masses of Chinese workers then here that in its lifespan has streaming into the city. Set along a series of Shanghai, hosted a cultural and narrow lanes (called “longtang” or “lilong”), the economic rollercoaster of townhouses shared walls but each had its own residents, depending on front garden cocooned behind an often ornate the political winds. If shikumen—giving the neighborhoods their you’ve been to Shanghai, name. The result was a cozy inner sanctum Jian Ye Li you’ve probably strolled surrounded by a lively outer ecosystem. the best-known shikumen But chaos is hard to contain. Renters began revitalization projects, the fancy shopping and subletting rooms to students, artists and eating district Xintiandi and its aspiring- scholars—including dissident Communists hipster cousin Tianzifang. On a leafy street in who had found among the increasingly the former French Concession is an warren-like neighborhoods safe places to unassuming stone archway cut into a brick convene. When the Western powers left China façade that leads to a different kind of shikumen in the 1940s, the Party packed the shikumen compound, this one a tourist-traffic-free haven further, installing multiple families into each that has settled serenely its latest role: the plush, unit, sometimes in the same room, sometimes homey Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li. adding new floors between the original ones. The architectural style was pioneered in the It’s not hard to imagine how quality of life mid-1800s in Shanghai’s foreign concessions, a deteriorated in such tight quarters. Yet, despite obvious hardships, these gated study and powder room, up a flight is the den Fr om far left: enclaves were also vibrant communities. So it’s and bar; it’s half a flight up to the bedroom, The historic water little surprise that as one of the few caretakers and another half to the Acqua di Parma tower at the heart of Capella left of shikumen—by some estimates, 4 million toiletry–stocked bathroom. If you’re lucky Shanghai; the people lived in lilong through the 1950s, with enough to be in Shanghai on a rare sunny day, hotel’s sweet and government housing policies from the 1990s your brick roof deck is lovely for morning tea. tailored service winnowing that number to around 200,000 People who tend to forget their keys should personified; in the lounge room of a today—Capella feels driven to preserve the look on the bright side: running up and down shikumen villa; shared neighborhood feel while modernizing your stairwell will be the easiest 10,000 steps chef Romain the structures, creating senses of peace and per day you ever achieved. Certainly, I felt the Chapel’s duck foie privacy while also fulfilling their mission as a history and prime location of the compact gras terrine with communal space. Regenerating the inner space was worth the tradeoff in convenience. I Dulcey chocolate- autumn chutney sanctum (adding indoor plumbing, for a start) would’ve enjoyed a monthly lease. (Note to self: and red cabbage while preserving the outer ecosystem (keeping next time take a longer sabbatical and stay in jelly; the bright sections open for public events). It’s an urban one of their 40 serviced residences.) dining room of Le corollary of the fairytale preservation project In fact, major props to Capella for managing Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire. the new Amanyangyun has pulled off 30 to weave that sense of high-end relaxation minutes outside of Shanghai (see “A Moving throughout. Entering is like plunging into a Endeavor,” in our March 2018 issue). secret garden, with further treasures and Along Capella’s 22 mews are 55 vertical greater peace hidden the deeper you go. suites, of one to three bedrooms, encased Running the length of the property at the end behind gated gardens. First built by a French of each alley is a peaceful park space filled with developer in the 1930s for expats and traders, sculptures and greenery. The spa, also in a they were given new interiors by renowned series of refitted shikumen houses, has Indonesian designer Jaya Ibrahim in his last managed to ensconce among its multi-level project before he died. The ground floor holds a treatment suites a salt room, a therapy pool

t ravelandleisureasia.com / April 2018 69 The mews of Capella Shanghai.

Looking out from my Executive Deluxe room on the 59th floor of the The golden-ribbed St. Regis Shanghai Jingan, I realize I’ve never had quite this view of the city. I’ve been to the observation decks of St. Regis towers like the Shanghai World Financial Center, legions higher, but they’re over in skyscraper-central Pudong—which I can see and two flotation tanks. The main building has Shanghai to the northeast, melding a light-filled library where it’s a pleasure to sit into a neon Crayola box and sip tea and partake of the fresh pastries with their cousins in the and canapés available all day. Normally I want North Bund. From a tall to hustle out of the hotel lobby; here I want to building on that side of linger. But it would be a waste not to take Jingan town, you feel like a tree in advantage of this prime location. a cacophonous forest; Carve out some time to just get lost in the from here, alone at the top of the lower-rise winding, tree-lined boulevards the French left Jing’an district, the CBD looks a peaceful world behind. You’ll be ecstatic to stumble upon away, though it’s just a 15-minute drive. holes-in-the wall like the fresh-dumpling Yes, I just called crowded, sprawling doorway manned by a husband-and-wife team Shanghai “peaceful,” but even at ground level, at 102 Goa’an Road. At little local eatery Jesse, large swathes of Jing’an are just that. You won’t the braised pork is a must-order. Some of the exactly find seclusion at the must-see Jing’an city’s most popular bars and restaurants are Temple, with the masses of devotees paying within a 20-minute walk, such as pioneering their respects to China’s largest jade Buddha. microbrew-pub Boxing Cat and their beautiful- Just toss a coin for luck into the central shrine, people dining spin-off Liquid Laundry; Mr. and head back out to stroll Nanjing Road West, Willis—imagine if your favorite comfort-food or duck into Jing’an Park, where grinning old chef invited you to his enchantingly lit people doing traditional dances from their far- apartment for dinner; and the bubbly fueled, binge-worthy brunch hotspot Bull and Claw. Capella’s on-site dining is fully of a piece with this neighborhood vibe, and it’s spectacular. Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire, whose windows overlook the courtyard and the restored water tower that used to supply the residents here, has the pleasantly unstuffy feel that is perfect for a fancy champagne high tea or a casual-chic bistro dinner. Executive chef Romain Chapel turns out cocotte of meaty, succulent frogs poulette and a Dover sole meuniere sautéed with orange butter whose incredible lightness is balanced by its mushroom and txistorra sausage stuffing. After dislodging myself from the gin- forward bar, I wander back to the hotel, under the archway, past the water tower. I buzz myself in through the lilong fence then, after a saunter down the mew, into my shikumen gate. Heading up my mini flights of stairs, it feels nothing so much like entering a hotel as returning to a how-did-they-pull-that-off Airbnb. It feels like returning home. capellahotels.com; villas from RMB4,500.

70 ap ril 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com flung provinces stop traffic on the footpaths, Afternoon tea is also a mood-brightener— but you can also score a quiet gazebo for some especially with its curated selection of reflection. Garden trails in Jing’an Sculpture specialty loose-leaf blends. The Drawing Room Park can give you a Zen-infusion as well. has a conservatory feel, heightened by the You’ll feel the same mix of hustle and hush classical string duo, and under, of course, a within the hotel. In this era of shifting tastes, chandelier made of small glass spheres strung when so many properties are nixing lobbies in the shape of a massive sphere, I was served and swapping out the gilt for the reclaimed, it’s a prodigious spread of sweets and savories, refreshing to enter a hotel so unabashedly both Chinese-inflected and classic English, dripping in glamor. Of course, old-school class that made the strongest case I’ve ever seen for is St. Regis’s modus operandi, but this St. Regis designing one’s tables to fit one’s menus. has nearly perfected the genre. After pulling The bar’s version of the Bloody Mary has up to the grand porte cochere and passing the homemade fig vodka, yellow tomato juice, army of concierges (who will later recover the osmanthus honey and lemon—it’s a frothy, wallet you lost in a taxi in a rainy-night surprisingly balanced drink that tastes like it frenzy), you’re led to the double-height lobby should be the amuse bouche’s accompanying and a pair of leather armchairs at a private cocktail in a 10-course alcohol-pairing desk for a seated check-in—it brings the club degustation. The chartreuse and carmine lounge greeting to every guest, and it’s as chesterfields, sky-high shelves of whisky, and pleasant as life admin after a red-eye can be. live jazz evoke a social club of yore. Head there There’s so much bling hanging from the before or after dinner at Yan Ting, the fine- ceilings here that I couldn’t stop looking up and dining southern Chinese restaurant that seems cl ockwise From kept bumping into strangers. The chandelier on to be gunning for Michelin. Flash-fried Top: Tea time at the spa level was inspired by autumn leaves in abalone, mushrooms in tofu skin, shrimp The St. Regis the former French Concession. They dangle in cakes… amiable chef Junping Lui elevates the Shanghai; into The the shape of a dragon with its head facing east, simplest Cantonese food to dishes I order Drawing Room; a moment of in accordance with feng shui. Perhaps he’s twice, despite being full, for both the flavors reflection in an heading for a swim in the marble indoor pool and the photos. Everything is naturally Executive Deluxe guarded by Roman statues, or to blow off some prepared and fancily presented yet magically room; between steam in the labyrinthine Iridium Spa. After a not try-hard. Which, come to think of it, is a floors in The St. Regis Bar; at Yan jetlag-curing rubdown, a rest in their semicircle great view to take on this St. Regis itself. Ting restaurant, of full-cocoon massage chairs is the perfect order the shrimp salve to my typical end-of-spa sadness. starwoodhotels.com; doubles from RMB2,080. cakes twice. The Middle House

Cult favorite boutique brand The House Collective, of Swire Hotels, is opening its fourth property, The

Middle House, this month in e Dazhongli, one of Shanghai’s s hou oldest neighborhoods, on the e ddl southern side of Nanjing Road i e m e

West. Its rounded, aluminium h louvered exteriors create a stylish, t of of y

environmentally friendly façade s e

W Shanghai’s that modernizes traditional r playful pillows t Shanghainese architectural cou and skyline views. top, from left: Wagyu steak at The Kitchen Table; a bartender prepares an L.D.M. cocktail Mod with spiced rum. minimalism in The Middle House.

It’s fitting that the flashy W brand would commandeer prime W Shanghai position here in the tallest building in Puxi, overlooking the Huangpu River. Opened last summer, W —The Bund Shanghai—The Bund, like many of its sister hotels, is a Technicolor that also harbors a 1920s oy two m re st lish new openings music video on steroids (the Cloud speakeasy. Thanks to an elegant Bellagio Shanghai on The Bund suite has a hanging curve of the building, most of the The first export of the flamboyant mega- bed in a birdcage), but this one a 374 rooms face the river, but the hotel synonymous with the Las Vegas Strip fever dream of haipai—a word best view can be had from the is an expectedly opulent affair—though it has that referred a century ago to a outdoor pool deck of Wet Bar, increased the intimacy factor by downsizing to only 162 rooms and suites, and for a water dramatic, opportunistic collision which takes in the towers of feature has swapped out that famous in design, personality and Pudong and is a dazzling place to dancing fountain for the Suzhou River, on philosophy of East and West, old dance away the day at their splash- whose banks it sits. The Art Deco style is and new. Witness the giant, happy summer parties. pumped up by gold and bold colors. The spa offers acupuncture. And James Beard sparkly xiaolongbao pillows and Award–winner Julian Serrano brings his chopsticks on each bed, or the wshanghaithebund.com; doubles Italian small-plates specialist restaurant modern Cantonese restaurant Yen from RMB1,980. Lago. lhw.com; doubles from RMB2,040. elements—a thought process the hotel’s award-winning designer Piero Lissoni brought to the spacious, minimalist, Chinese- accented interiors as well. The yoga classes by Lululemon, the heated indoor pool and the complimentary in-room maxi-bar speak to today’s generation of have-it-all travelers. Devotees of the original Upper House in Hong se Kong can look forward to another hou seasonal-European Café Gray

iddle Deluxe on site, and a similar m e

h calming nouveau-Zen aesthetic throughout the whole property. y of t of y tes themiddlehousehotel.com; doubles T hree looks at a suite in our c from RMB2,850. The Sukhothai Shanghai.

Seems the joint developers of new luxury-lifestyle complex HKRI Taikoo Hui were laser-focused on T he Sukhothai hospitality with personality, because they’ve each plucked the Shanghai most luminous brands from their portfolios: in addition to The Middle House, this new mini- its home city, amid a backdrop of two more stylish new openings district in Jing’an also boasts The minimalism. The five dining Bulgari Hotel Shanghai Sukhothai Shanghai. The original venues include haute-Italian La Taking the century-old Shanghai Chamber of hotel named after the ancient Thai Scala, helmed by Michelin-starred Commerce as its centerpiece, the Bulgari, capital is lush and resort-style in chef Theodor Falser, and Zuk Bar, which is set to open this spring overlooking the middle of Bangkok, and the use a street-level watering hole The Bund and Pudong, will be channeling an of traditional art and design serving oh-so-on-trend Nordic Italian estate with its Edenic setting amid neighboring art galleries and heritage elements like the chedi, or stupa, small plates. The Southeast Asian buildings. The cabanas and DJs at rooftop create a living-museum feel. The therapies at The Retreat Spa bar La Terrazza will conjure resort life. But second location—from Shanghai- provide an antidote to the din of the real masterstroke will be the massive based architects Neri&Hu, who the bustling Chinese megacity. 2,000-square-meter garden-ensconced spa, where amenities will include vitality pools, a purposefully refer to themselves men’s barber shop, and two couple’s suites. as “Asian designers”—promises sukhothaishanghai.com; doubles bulgarihotels.com; prices not yet available. an aesthetic that similarly invokes from RMB2,500.

travelandleisureasia.com / April 2018 73 Golden light sweeps across the peaks surrounding Thimphu.

74 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which touts itself as the happiest country on earth, highis a pastoral fantasyland steeped in tradition. Tony Perrottet discovers the pleasures and quirks of this singular destination, still untouched by mass tourism.

spiritsPhotographs by scott a. woodward standing on the timeworn stone steps of the Gangtey Monastery, an eerily quiet religious complex perched above a misty valley, where monks slipped like ghosts through a cobblestoned courtyard. Until that moment, Max (his Bhutanese name is Nawang Gyeltshen) had been a polite but disciplined font of information— the sort of guide whose aim is to usher travelers along a well-established path rather than get them behind closed doors. Now he was looking “Can I see at me with a mix of alarm and curiosity. I explained that a friend in New York, Erin Levi, a Bhutan guidebook author, had told me about a fabled yeti hide hidden in the tantric the red chamber of the Gangtey Monastery. The relic was last documented by the Italian adventurer Reinhold Messner in 1991. yeti skin?” “I have heard the skin is still here,” Max admitted. “But it is totally off-limits. Only the Even in Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan kingdom that highest religious officials can see it.” has one of the world’s highest standards for strangeness, This was good enough for me. “Let’s find the the question stopped my guide in his tracks. “Who told abbot.” I declared, marching into the courtyard. you about that?” Max asked suspiciously, pulling his “We can request special access.” Max at first gho closer as if to ward off a sudden chill. We were looked perturbed, but then hurried behind me, From far left: A novice monk pores over his studies in Punakha; this is a land shaped by fast-flowing rivers and Himalayan peaks; women in their traditional kira; the iconic Tiger’s Nest Monastery.

ready—I hoped—to take up the challenge. After all, you Within an hour, I was walking a rope bridge don’t come all the way to the Himalayas and miss a good across a river gorge to a fortress, accompanied yeti relic. by farmers in handwoven traditional garb. This flurry of excitement was something of a What’s more, in the midst of this deluge of breakthrough on my weeklong trip to Bhutan. Three culture, I would be spending my first night in days earlier, when I’d first arrived in the world’s most the lap of Bhutanese luxury. My entire suite in remote Buddhist kingdom, I found myself experiencing the Amankora Thimphu Lodge—located above some not-very-Buddhist feelings—frustration, the tiny capital city, Thimphu, and one of the impatience, anxiety. No matter how often I took a deep, five high-end Aman lodges that opened across meditative breath, a cantankerous mood descended. the country a little more than a decade ago— On the face of it, this was a dream trip. The coups de was crafted from polished wood, with a terrazzo théâtre had begun with the heart-stopping flight into bath placed in its center like a site-specific Bhutan’s international airport in Paro, with the plane sculpture. As dusk fell, we gathered around a tilting its wings 45 degrees to squeeze between snowcapped fire blazing on an outdoor deck overlooking a peaks. At 2,225 meters above sea level, the airport itself pine forest. was promisingly exotic, with a terminal that resembled a The reason for my cantankerous mood was temple and a billboard-size portrait of Bhutan’s young simple. Bhutan, which opened to the outside king and queen flashing smiles like Bollywood stars. world in 1974 and which has a near-mythic

tar velandleisureasia.com / April 2018 77 At every turn, it’s easy to disappear into rural Bhutan. status as one of the world’s purest and most remote people, and for me, happiness means doing countries, places restrictions on foreigners’ activities. different things than other people. So beneath Travelers must follow a preplanned itinerary and have a the blazing Himalayan stars that night, I guide present at all times, per the government. By the end became determined to find a little ancient of the first day, I was ready to step off the manicured path. magic on my own. I told the Aman employees that I was headed off on a solo stroll around Thimphu. But it turned out I couldn’t leave. his resolution induced a Zen-like calm. Such a jaunt was not on my “schedule,” the staff kindly From then on, most of the time I would informed me. All the guides had gone home, and I was not T work within the system, selflessly permitted to explore the capital alone. In any case, they accepting the more luxurious blessings of my added, it would be all but impossible to find a taxi at this seven-day journey—Amankora’s fine cotton hour, and there was no public transport. sheets, for instance, or its multicourse dinners in a former potato barn surrounded by hutan has had some excellent PR. The tiny kingdom hundreds of candles, like an elvish feast out of of 700,000 people squeezed between India and Tolkien. I would sink into a traditional outdoor BChina has long been billed as the untouched gem of hot-stone bath heated by fire-roasted rocks that the Himalayas, attracting Buddhist celebrities like released healing minerals. But for the rest of Richard Gere and Uma Thurman. Some of the reverence my weeklong expedition, I looked for every dates back to the mid 70s, when King Jigme Singye opportunity to slip through the cracks. Wangchuk announced that, instead of measuring the It was easy to disappear on short hikes, gross national product, Bhutan would measure Gross since, outside of Thimphu, the Amankora National Happiness. It was a media coup, and this lodges are in rural settings connected by a chestnut has been repeated in every story on Bhutan ever spiderweb of footpaths, which meander since—it’s trotted out as proof that the Buddhist kingdom through rice paddies and past shrines with really is a spiritual haven, untouched by the crass colorful prayer flags. One afternoon, I met a materialism of the Western world. You’d think that all family of farmers who invited me to drink a visitors were swept up in a euphoric state of Himalayan tea called suja, a dubious concoction enlightenment the moment they crossed the border. flavored with yak butter and salt. On another Adding to the mystique is Bhutan’s unique approach hike, I stumbled upon an archery match to tourism. In 1989, the country imposed a “minimum (archery is the national sport) where a dozen daily tariff” to keep out the riffraff (now US$250 in high enthusiasts in leggings paraded about like season, including a US$65 sustainable-development fee, Tudor aristocrats, showing off their state-of- which goes toward providing the citizens with free health the-art metal bows and chatting about their care and education). The restrictions were imposed to chances of making it to the Olympics. These allow the country to step gingerly into the modern era and were fleeting glimpses into other worlds. avoid the fate of other fragile cultures crushed by global And I began to realize that the Bhutanese onslaught. Still, Bhutan is hardly in stasis: Six Senses is guides weren’t so much passive as very shy, and opening five luxury lodges there this year, in the same key unsure about what might actually interest a valleys as the Amans, and rumors swirl that other brands traveler. When Saturday night rolled around in are looking to join them. Interest in Bhutan has grown in Punakha, a pastoral valley with skies so bright recent years, in part because the country still feels like a and warm it resembled Napa with rice fields, as dreamlike time capsule, especially when compared with a joke I asked one guide, Ugyen, what the the many other corners of manic Asia that are plunging weekend party scene was like. Ugyen, who with into the future. his slicked black hair and aviators qualified as “Tourism in Bhutan is different from anywhere else in the hippest of the Aman employees, soon the world,” explained Dhamey Tenzing Norgay, son of the divulged that several nightspots were famous sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who guided Edmund operating in a village called Sopsokha, half an Hillary to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Dhamey, hour away. It seemed wildly improbable. But whom I met in New York before my trip, lives in Bhutan after dinner, a few game guests piled into a car and works as a mountain guide. “Independent travel with Ugyen—now in mufti, having traded in doesn’t make sense. It’s too hard to get around alone.” He his gho for a black hoodie and jeans—and suggested I alter my expectations to fit this reality. roared off into the dark countryside. “Bhutan is not a vacation destination. It’s more of an The spontaneous nightlife tour began in a emotional journey.” In other words, it was a pilgrimage, roadside pool hall, where players had to dodge and one should obey the rules. long strips of bloody beef hanging from the I’ll admit I have a shamefully Western attitude toward rafters in the early stages of being air-cured. travel. If I am doing the same thing as everyone else, it’s Soon after, we were following pounding music all but impossible to have a sense of discovery and down nearby stairs into a concrete bunker wonder. Happiness means different things to different illuminated by colored lights. It was a historic

ta r velandleisureasia.com / April 2018 79 moment: the Sopsokha region’s first pop-up discotheque had opened that weekend. It was rumored that some village girls trying to make money to travel overseas were i n the setting up the club for a month, and fresh-faced young farmers and yak herders had traveled from all around to buy bottles of Misty Peak and the local firewater, ara, ornate which many drank in traditional fashion, mixed with chunks of scrambled egg. The music was a medley of Western classic rock, Indian pop and Bhutanese folk shrine, a songs, all equally beloved by the wildly dancing crowd. As I lurched home at 3 a.m., I could feel that the script was beginning to fray. monk was

f course, these cultural immersions paled in comparison to chasing the yeti skin. As I wandered chanting O the Gangtey Monastery with Max, trying to find someone who would let us in to see the artifact, I began to appreciate for the first time the depth of traditional lore in to himself Bhutan. The religious complex, a bone-rattling five-hour drive from the capital, was an otherworldly enclave that seemed to float on its lonely hilltop, caught between lush forests and luminous clouds. Mist from the valley floor darkness, I saw a wall lined with ghoulish began to drift through the ancient courtyards, and every animal trophies, like the monsters of a medieval room was blackened by the soot from four centuries’ worth bestiary—the desiccated carcass of an of incense sticks and butter lamps. enormous fish baring piranha-like fangs; the It was a minor setback to learn that the top officials hide of a feline that resembled a saber-toothed were away. Surely someone other than the abbot had tiger; the scaly skin of a giant serpent. “This is a key? Max saw that I wouldn’t take no for an answer. the hand of a ghost,” Max said matter-of-factly, After giving it some thought, he explained that each of the pointing to a skeletal claw that had belonged to a three inner shrines in the monastery did have its own “dead king” who once haunted the valley. I had special caretaker. If we were lucky—and I gave a decent been transported back to a prescientific age, “donation” for the upkeep of the monastery—one might looking at evidence of myth and legend. open the tantric chamber. Max then shined the light of his iPhone to We descended to the village’s backstreets, poking our reveal a grisly skin nailed to the wall and heads into farmhouses and barns, dodging donkeys, hanging like a sinister cape—the red yeti. I chickens and dogs before finding a pallid monk in a red cautiously ran my fingers over the 400-year-old robe. As Max made our case, the monk looked me over prize. It was definitely animal hide, stiff and with a furrowed brow. “I told him you are not a tourist but fraying, with mummified claws and feet a respected Buddhist scholar,” Max confided as we slowly attached. Framed by long strands of hair (which walked together back up the hill to the monastery. I felt a was very black by now) was a grimacing, simian new sense of camaraderie. Max was suddenly my new face. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but the best friend. He didn’t even seem to mind that my only yeti’s features may have been reworked by the spiritual credentials came from daily meditations on the monks over the centuries, perhaps with Headspace app. “Maybe you are a Buddhist scholar then,” stretched leather, to stem the tide of decay. The he laughed. “Almost a lama.” attendants solemnly explained that this strange Night was falling by the time we reentered the creature was known as a meichum, a smaller monastery. The monk indicated that we should climb a type of yeti, which had been spotted around the wooden ladder to the second floor, where we groped in village in the 17th century. The creature had a near darkness past murals of demons grinning thorn in its foot, and the peasants, once they got malevolently. I entered one shrine filled with rusted over their terror, helped to remove it. Later, weaponry—antique spears used against Tibetan when the yeti was found dead in the forest, the invaders, muskets that repelled the British—but nothing abbot ordered its skin preserved for the resembling the hide of an abominable snowman. And monastery’s Cabinet of Curiosities. then, to my surprise, the custodian waved me over to I felt like high-fiving Max. Instead, I soberly another portal, which he unlocked and slowly opened. slipped some cash into the offering bowl, I couldn’t believe it: the inner sanctum. Holding my bowing profusely. Walking back down the breath, I pressed forward into a wood-paneled chamber mountain trail, I was exultant. Caught up in the illuminated by the watery light coming through one sliver moment, it didn’t matter whether the hide was of a window. As my eyes adjusted to the sepulchral authentic. Instead, I was happy to suspend clkw oc ise From right: Archery remains a serious undertaking; Paro Dzong flashes its woodworking brilliance; smiling locals, their faces wizened by years at high altitude; horse trekking in the snow.

tar velandleisureasia.com / April 2018 81 disbelief as Max spoke casually about yeti lore—the stone floor. I had to admit that behaving like a footprints he had seen in the snow, the howls villagers pilgrim—going where everyone else was going, heard in the night, the hulking figures his ancestors had doing what everyone else was doing—wasn’t so glimpsed in blizzards. The fact that nobody had found a bad if you could find scenes like this. And while live yeti was only logical, he explained, because many Bhutan’s system has its frustrations, it’s hard yetis can become invisible. Others had feet that were on to imagine what the alternative would be. backward so they were impossible to track. Tourism is thriving, and the government is The creature’s elusiveness felt oddly enviable. I could debating deregulating portions of it in the east do with a few yeti tricks myself. of the country, where there are fewer travelers. (The idea is being considered, but mass tourism n my last day, the contradictions of Bhutan came is opposed by everyone I spoke to.) The together at the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. This country’s single highway, until now an obstacle O fantastical series of temples, which seems almost course of SUV-size potholes, will be paved this glued to the side of a sheer cliff and can only be reached year. More pessimistic observers say that in via a two-hour hike along a steep, twisting path. In five years Bhutan will lose its innocence. I December, even though it was sunny and 20 degrees, realized that being able to visit under the there were only a handful of hikers. For most of the time, current restrictions was a blessing in disguise. my only company was a pious dentist from Sikkim, India, When I got back to New York, I tracked down who took selfies along the route. I entered the Tiger’s Nest Reinhold Messner’s book, My Quest for the Yeti: solo, was waved into its labyrinth of lanes by a drowsy Confronting the Himalayas’ Deepest Mystery, guard, and wandered through echoing chambers lined with which recounts his pilgrimage to the Gangtey age-old murals. Monastery and hike across the country. I was Up in the last ornate shrine, a lonely monk was bemused to find that Messner declared the relic chanting to himself, and I joined him cross-legged on the a fake. Outraged, he said the four-century-old op p osite: Paro Dzong and its cantilever bridge alight at nightfall. Below: A serious and playful monk, typical around Bhutan. Punakha

Thimphu

Paro bhutan

HOW TO EXPLORE BHUTAN Writer Tony Perrottet highlights the top hotels and activities from his trip.

GETTING THERE If staying in Thimphu, There are direct flights to Le Méridien Thimphu Paro, Bhutan’s only international (lemeridien​thimphu.com; doubles airport, from Bangkok, Singapore from US$380) has a traditional and various Indian cities including Bhutanese façade to fit in with the New Dehli. The state-owned Himalayan aesthetic, but its rooms Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines are surprisingly contemporary. (drukair.com) and the private Como Hotels (comohotels.com; Bhutan Airlines (bhutan​airlines. doubles from US$580) has bt) serve these three cities. The properties in Paro and, with only landing in the Himalayan airport 11 rooms, Punakha. was spectacular—and just as hair- By year’s end, Six Senses raising as reputed. (sixsenses.com) plans to open its own circuit of five lodges. TOUR OPERATORS & LODGING EXPERIENCES Independent travel is all but Your tour operator can work any impossible in Bhutan. You must of these sights into your itinerary. go through a government-licensed At the top of many a bucket list tour operator (they obtain your is the Tiger’s Nest, a Buddhist US$40 visa) and pay the minimum monastery that sits on the side daily tariff of US$250 in high of a cliff. The structure was built season (September–November beside a cave where the Guru and March–May) or US$200 in Rimpoche lived after flying here other months. Most itineraries are on a tiger, as legend has it. The about nine days, and can be hike up was as memorable as booked through seasoned, high- promised: the steep 3.5-kilometer end companies such as Remote trail, swathed in prayer flags, Lands (remotelands.com) and became more astonishing with Absolute Travel (absolutetravel. every step. com). Carole Cambata The National Museum of (ccambata@​greavestvl.com), a Bhutan (nationalmuseum.gov.bt) member of T+L’s A-List, our was another highlight. Although network of editor-approved travel still being restored after an agents, also specializes in Bhutan. earthquake in 2011, the circular I stayed at Amankora (aman. 17th-century watchtower, or ta skin was either that of a large monkey or a com; doubles from US$1,550, all- dzong, above Paro is an impressive Himalayan brown bear. Even so, seeing it must inclusive), a series of five luxury attraction in itself. The exhibits on display offer a primer on Bhutanese have been a powerful experience: Messner’s lodges in valleys around the country. You don’t have to stay at culture, with information on holy photographer fell ill with blood poisoning not all five—but many visitors make men, relics in glass cases, and a long after, and was convinced that he had fallen the circuit to get the full natural-history gallery. under a curse for sneaking a flash shot. He experience. One of my favorites Not everything worth seeing was Amankora Gangtey Lodge, makes it into the scheduled tour eventually had to be helicoptered out of Bhutan. an opulent eight-suite hotel on a circuit. In Thimphu, the Bhutan But Messner surely missed the point. It hilltop in the remote Phobjikha Postal Museum (bhutan.travel), matters less to me whether it was a real yeti skin Valley. It is within hiking distance which is dedicated to the humble stamp, perfectly sums up the than that the monks and my new friend Max of the vibrant Gangtey village and its ancient monastery, and each country’s quirkiness. Visitors can believed it was. There is little enough wonder left suite has its own wood-fired stove. have their own images reproduced in the world. Personally, I still prefer to suspend Ask for a hot-stone bath to unwind on legal stamps and use them on my disbelief. On chilly evenings in Manhattan, at dusk. Another standout, postcards to send home—the Amankora Punakha Lodge, can ultimate Bhutanese souvenir. as I hustle for the subway or rush through the be reached only by walking over a crowds, I like to imagine that in faraway Bhutan suspension bridge swaying above the yetis are still in the mountain forests, a roaring river. Hiking trails from invisible, feet on backward, making ghostly its doorway lead across an orange orchard to small farms that seem footprints in the snow. My own Gross Personal lost in the Middle Ages, with prayer Happiness is much higher for it. wheels placed at strategic points.

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 83 Forget the city of old—or even the city of five years ago. Sid Evans considers how a new wave of restaurateurs, designers and hoteliers have put the jewel of the Lowcountry on the global stage. rP hotog aphed by Squire Fox do the

Ckw loc ise from top left: A mural outside Lewis Barbecue, which serves Texas-style brisket on North Nassau Street; Shepard Fairey’s Power & Glory mural, on King Street; garlic egg noodles with pulled pork from Pink Bellies at Workshop food hall, on King Street; the façade of a traditional home in the Historic District; the patio at Lewis Barbecue; Fritz Porter, a home- 84 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com goods, art and antiques store on East Bay Street; the Dewberry Charleston hotel, set in a renovated Midcentury building; rack of lamb at Stella’s, a Mediterranean restaurant. charleston

Clockwise from top left: A mural outside Lewis Barbecue, which serves Texas-style brisket on North Nassau Street; Shepard Fairey’s Power & Glory mural, on King Street; garlic egg noodles with pulled pork from Pink Bellies at Workshop food hall, on King Street; the façade of a traditional home in the Historic District; the patio at Lewis Barbecue; Fritz Porter, a home- goods, art and antiques store on East Bay Street; the Dewberry Charleston hotel, set in a renovated Midcentury building; rack of lamb at Stella’s, a Mediterranean restaurant. When I was considering a move to Charleston to edit a new magazine called Garden & Gun in the summer of 2007, my wife and I went to McCrady’s restaurant, just off East Bay Street, which was helmed by a young chef named Sean Brock. Having been spoiled by New York restaurants, we weren’t expecting much, but it was hard not to be charmed by the entrance on a tiny cobblestoned alley, the long walnut bar, and the brick arch that framed the entrance inside. We couldn’t get a babysitter, so we stashed our sleeping six-month-old daughter under the table in her car seat, praying that she wouldn’t wake up and spoil a rare date night. Then the courses started Looking back, I realize that Brock or barbecue joint, not to mention a coming—house-made charcuterie, was a messenger from the future— Mediterranean standout like Stella’s, sous vide scallops seared a la a devoted student of the region’s where the calamari and keftedes plancha, and something called culinary history as well as a brash, draw a devoted lunch crowd, or a country ham cotton candy. Here we tattooed innovator. Within a few charming French bistro like Chez were in a building that dated back to years he would be named Best Chef Nous. Eating is a sport there, a topic 1778, where George Washington once in the Southeast by the James Beard of conversation from the streets dined, and this mad-scientist chef Foundation, and soon his tribute to south of Broad to the suburbs of was serving some of the most Southern ingredients, Husk, which Mount Pleasant. innovative, delicious dishes we’d ever opened in 2010, would pave the way But something bigger than food is had. For a couple debating a new life for an explosion of new restaurants reshaping Charleston. There is more in an old city, that meal was a and bars that would transform the traffic, for one thing, but there is also promise of exciting things to come. city. Charleston is an international an energy coursing through the city Our daughter slept peacefully food destination now, like Paris or that reminds me of Nashville and through dinner, and by the end of the San Sebastián, Spain. You can’t walk San Francisco. Charleston is home to night (and after plenty of wine) we half a block without stumbling on more than 250 tech companies now. had decided to make the move. some inventive new oyster bar, café, Hip design shops are opening, like AsK an Insider Carrie Morey, charleston’s culinary queen Ten years ago, women like Morey—the boss-lady behind Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit (calliesbiscuits.com), a restaurant where people line up for the Southern breakfast staple—were a rarity in Charleston. Now that’s all changing, as more female chefs and entrepreneurs bring their talents to the table. Here, Morey shares her favorite eateries with women at the helm.

“Literally my favorite thing to do on Fridays, after a long week of work, is to linger over A view of lunch at Jill Mathias’s Broad Street restaurant, Chez Nous and St. Michael’s (cheznousbistro.org; mains Church, built US$12–$40), off Cannon in the mid Street. It’s like a mini- 18th century. vacation via transportive French food. And I just love how Jill is unapologetic about having only a few things on the menu. She’s breaking all the rules in all the right ways. Fritz Porter Design Collective, where Sm o etHING Verde (eatatverde.com; bigger than you can browse antiques selected by salads US$8–$10), a delicious the South’s best tastemakers. New salad spot on King Street, is food is events are crowding the calendar, where I eat at least three reshaping like High Water Festival, “a times a week. Jennifer charleston. celebration of music, food, and Ferrebee, the owner, is a libations” from local artists Shovels seriously smart cookie. She There’s an just celebrated the birth of energy & Rope. And the cocktail culture is her first baby. And for keeping the city lubricated, from the something sweet, I—like coursing tiki-themed South Seas Oasis, where everyone here—line up for through the you can sip mai tais in a space lined Lauren Mitterer’s Sticky Bun city that with bamboo and hula skirts, to the Sundays at WildFlour Pastry intimate, old-school Proof, celebrated (wildflour​pastry​charleston. reminds me com). When she opened in for its crisp gin and tonic. On a of nashville 2009 in Cannonborough, the Friday night, Upper King feels a little area was a little off the grid. and san bit like a block party in Brooklyn, as But Lauren had the vision, francisco people spill out of the bars, clubs >> and then everybody came.”

tar velandleisureasia.com / April 2018 87 Ckw loc ise from top left: A guest at Stella’s, which serves modern Greek cuisine downtown; Goat Sheep Cow, North, a new wine bar and cheese shop in Half Mile North; the piazza at 86 Cannon, the Poinsette House, a five-room inn; a charcuterie plate at Goat Sheep Cow, North. and restaurants. What not so long softened the building’s façade with shopping TIP ago was a sleepy little town in the 35-year-old crepe myrtles, espaliered these only-in- charleston Lowcountry is becoming a city that red maples, a walled garden and souvenirs are never sleeps. gorgeous outdoor lighting that worth the splurge There is no better reflection of accentuates its vertical lines. More For the ultimate keepsake that this changing city than the Dewberry than any other hotel in town, the celebrates heritage and Charleston hotel in a 1964 federal Dewberry is unapologetically craftsmanship, look to these office building. I used to drop my kids modern, with Midcentury furniture skilled artisans. off for preschool at the Presbyterian that Dewberry and his wife, Jaimie, Charleston has been exporting church across the street, and I barely have curated from auctions all over its culture via the products of noticed the monolithic Midcentury Europe. The brass bar in the lobby metalsmiths and basket Modern structure that loomed over (which they call “The Living Room”) weavers for hundreds of years. Marion Square. For years, cranky is the heartbeat of the hotel, always Two of the artisans taking those residents wanted it replaced with staffed by bartenders in white jackets traditions into the 21st century are Marianna “Mini” Hay and something more traditional. But in who make a mean Old-Fashioned. If Corey Alston. Hay is the the eyes of former Georgia Tech there’s a better-looking bar anywhere youngest designer at Croghan’s quarterback and real estate magnate in the South, I haven’t seen it. Jewel Box (croghans​jewelbox. John Dewberry, it was a thing of A kilometer or so up the com), a King Street institution beauty. “Most people wanted me to peninsula, the five-room 86 Cannon, (her great-grandfather opened tear it down,” he told me over coffee the Poinsette House captures the shop in 1907). Looking to make her own mark, the one morning in the lobby, which another side of the new Charleston. 27-year-old took an unusual began welcoming guests two years Modeled on other intimate properties symbol—the palmetto bug, ago. “But while a lot of people couldn’t in town, like Zero George and the a.k.a. the humble cockroach— see it, a few of us could.” Dewberry Wentworth Mansion, the year-old >> and turned it into her signature totem, placing it on chunky cuffs and delicate pendants. Her Goldbug collection has grown to 40 core designs, from a US$25 napkin ring to a US$530 Mile North. butcherandbee. status. rodneyscottsbbq.com; bib necklace. In Charleston’s sid evans’S com; mains US$19–$28. mains US$9–$18. City Market, fifth-generation dgui e to Goat Sheep Cow, North Stella’s This branch of the basket weaver Corey Alston is The artisanal cheese shop’s Richmond, Virginia, favorite also injecting fresh thinking into charleston new outpost in Half Mile North began serving Greek fare last his family business, Gullah The editor in chief of Southern doubles as a wine bar. year. stellas​charleston.com; Sweetgrass Baskets Living and former Holy City goatsheepcow.com. mains US$15–$29. (thecharleston​citymarket.com). resident shares his top picks Husk Chef Sean Brock’s love Workshop An “exploratory From traditional S-handle on what to experience now. letter to Southern cooking food court” of rotating food baskets and trays to one-of-a- (shrimp and grits, wood-fired and beverage areas. The venue kind caddies, the pieces, which Stay quail) focuses on local grains also hosts culinary classes. range from US$35 to US$350, The Dewberry Charleston and meats. husk​restaurant. workshop​charleston.com. stand out for their meticulous A hotel with Midcentury design com; mains US$30–$34. Xiao Bao Biscuit This casual construction—no surprise since elements off Marion Square. Leon’s Oyster Shop A former restaurant dishes up “Asian Alston began weaving as a thedewberry​charleston.com; auto-body shop is now a soul food” plates like teenager. He also launched a doubles from US$350. destination for fresh oysters okonomiyaki and Vietnamese Build Your Sweetgrass Basket 86 Cannon, the Poinsette and fried chicken. leonsoyster​ crêpes. xiao​bao​biscuit.com; app that lets customers design House Don’t miss the nightly shop.com; mains US$13–$39. mains US$12–$18. wine and cheese at this inn on Lewis Barbecue Try the their own model and have Cannon Street. 86cannon. “sancho loco” sandwich with drink Alston bring it to life. com; doubles from US$349. pulled pork, chopped beef, and Edmund’s Oast Supplement Wentworth Mansion This house-made sausage at this the house beers (brewed a downtown inn is classic spot helmed by the pit master few blocks away at its sister Charleston, with its Tiffany behind La Barbecue in Austin, taproom) with snacks like windows and evening sherry Texas. lewisbarbecue.com; fried tripe. edmundsoast.com. service. wentworthmansion. mains US$10–$20. Proof Known for its menu of com; doubles from US$400. McCrady’s Brock experiments nearly 40 refined cocktails. Zero George A cluster of with various flavors (uni, meet charlestonproof.com. 1804 homes and carriage cucumber) at this 22-seat, South Seas Oasis A lively houses make up this hotel in tasting-menu dining room. bar for tiki cocktails and pupu Ansonborough. zerogeorge. mccradysrestaurant.com; platters. southseasoasis.com. com; doubles from US$449. tasting menus from US$115. Rodney Scott’s BBQ Scott Do Eat got his start at his family’s Fritz Porter A design Butcher & Bee Middle grocery in Hemingway, collective featuring curated Eastern small plates reign at South Carolina; his excellent antiques and contemporary this creative restaurant in Half barbecue has now reached cult art. fritzporter.com.

ta r velandleisureasia.com / April 2018 89 A hearty spread at Lewis Barbecue, whose proprietor employs Texas barbecue techniques. R ight: Visitors can tour the main house and slave quarters at McLeod Plantation, on James Island.

atis Lew the proprietors, Marion and Lori Hawkins, what these international barbecue, you visitors want to do, Lori answered can sit under without hesitation, “Eat.” the shade of It’s a five-to-10-minute walk to a live oak and some of the best restaurants in town, enjoy some from Xiao Bao Biscuit, which serves inspired Asian dishes in a converted of the best gas station, to Leon’s Oyster Shop, brisket in where the fried chicken rivals any in the country, the South. Or you can go for Texas-Style barbecue. Southerners have long nurtured a debate over whether Carolina-style pork or Texas-style brisket is the true king. Charleston has decided you can have it both ways. On Upper King Street, one year hotel is in a house dating from 1862. ago, Rodney Scott opened Rodney You can hear the wood floors creak Scott’s BBQ, a brick temple to the low, under your feet on the piazza (pee- slow, whole-hog style that put South ah-za, as they say here), but the Carolina barbecue on the map. Less entire experience is luxurious, from than half a mile away, at Lewis the décor to the sheets to the sleek Barbecue, you can sit in a gravel Linus bikes that wait for you outside. courtyard under the shade of a live Five years ago, the neighborhood was oak and enjoy some of the best known for its sagging porches and brisket in the country, Texas-style. rowdy college students who came for Like all real Texas barbecue, it’s the cheap housing. Tourists had no smoked for 18 hours and served on reason to venture there, but now this butcher paper with a couple of slices tiny hotel is a destination for travelers of white bread. You simply couldn’t from all over the world. When I asked find brisket of this quality anywhere e Iuf Yo ’r Going to See ONLY One Plantation, Let This Be It When it comes to visiting the Lowcountry’s historic estates, many visitors find themselves overwhelmed by the options, which include the popular Middleton Place, Drayton Hall, and Magnolia Plantation. But McLeod Plantation Historic Site (ccprc.com) is different for its unflinching perspective on both slavery and the struggle for land rights before, during, and after the Civil War. Spread over 15 hectares on James Island, McLeod opened to the public in 2015. Through tours and lectures, guides paint a stark, vivid picture of life for the slaves who harvested Sea Island cotton for McLeod's middle-class farmers. They also trace McLeod’s wartime and postbellum evolution, from a campsite for both Confederate and Union troops to the headquarters of the Freedmen’s Bureau following emancipation. The tours last 45 minutes, but you'll want another hour on your own to explore the grounds, which include the 1851 main house, slave quarters and a riverside pavilion.

outside of the Lone Star State until the young, bearded pit master John Lewis decided to pack up his smokers and move here from Austin. What makes Lewis’s even more interesting is that it sits in the emerging development of Half Mile North (a half-mile north of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge), with its contemporary architecture, car- charging stations, and cluster of tech companies. This is where another revolution has begun, driven by a wave of start-ups, like the e-commerce firm Blue Acorn, that have helped earn Charleston the moniker Silicon Harbor. At Butcher & Bee, Web developers and digital entrepreneurs talk tech over >> tar velandleisureasia.com / April 2018 91 shakshuka and brown-rice bowls. Edmund’s Oast has become an evening hangout, with sophisticated dishes like chicken-liver parfait and exceptional craft beers. Still farther up the peninsula, at the Pacific Box & Crate office complex, there are no porches in sight—just chic industrial buildings with soaring windows. Inside couldn’t be more modern, with ping- pong tables, a yoga studio and dogs lounging among the workstations. Stephen Zoukis, the real estate mogul behind the complex, O ysters pile up on recognized that Charleston needed a a table at a home for these new businesses—as traditional roast. well as another culinary center. “For a lot of these young people, having an alternative to downtown is eYuo ’r Invited to a important,” he told me one morning Lowcountry at Bad Wolf Coffee, the campus Oyster Roast. Now What? caffeine hub. And so Zoukis launched This convivial outdoor ritual is a social-calendar mainstay from September Workshop, a food court showcasing through April, and locals are famous for inviting visitors and new friends to all kinds of global cuisine. join in. It’s always best to brush up on a few basics before you go. I only lived in Charleston for about four years, but every time I go Dress Code Table Etiquette The BYO Rule Proper oyster-roast attire The Lowcountry Bringing your own back, I feel the city’s magnetic pull. generally begins with the uses a wood-fire oyster knife and glove It’s not the quiet Lowcountry town I two B’s: boots— technique, in which the is welcomed. The first fell in love with, but underneath something in the Billy bivalves are smothered heirloom-quality Edisto Reid, L.L. Bean, or beneath wet burlap knives at Williams Knife all these new places, the character Blundstone vein—and a while being steam- Co. (williamsknife.com) and charm of the city are still there. Barbour jacket. If you roasted over a flame. are a local go-to; Ten years after that memorable don’t have one of the Groups rotate away otherwise, the East Bay waxed-cotton classics, from the table after True Value Hardware dinner at McCrady’s, Sean Brock is the Southern equivalent each fresh batch is (18 Society St.) keeps busier than ever, now overseeing from outfitter Tom laid out so everyone kits with a knife, glove, eight restaurants in five cities, Beckbe (tombeckbe. gets a turn. and cloth in stock including new iterations of Husk in com) will do. throughout the season. Greenville, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. But McCrady’s is where the chef is at his most ASk an Insider creative. “That’s my sanctuary,” he surfing. “I get my coffee at shep Rose, told me recently. the Refuge (therefugeiop. reality star com), a little nautical- A year-and-a-half ago, he turned isle of themed spot just over reimagined the restaurant as a palms resident the IOP connector. That’s 22-seat tasting-menu-only space, With their windswept where you’ll find me curating everything from the music Atlantic beaches and most mornings. The to the silverware. McCrady’s now family-friendly vibes, the seafood-focused Long serves 15 wildly inventive courses, barrier islands outside Island Café such as a single Virginia oyster Charleston offer a different kind of (longislandcafesc.com; mains ages escape. One of the most popular: Isle US$16–$33) is a gem. It’s been here Im perched on a bed of smooth rocks of Palms, home to the 650-hectare since the 1980s and is as etty with a cloud of steam rising from the Wild Dunes Resort unpretentious as they come. My G bowl. I don’t know what this (destinationhotels.com/wild-dunes; dad loves it, too. He’s obsessed portends for the next 10 years in doubles from US$199) and two golf with the local flounder. I’m a grouper Charleston, but I do take comfort in courses. Many of the area’s most guy. And the Italian restaurant Coda hotobank via hotobank

recognizable residents have homes del Pesce (codadelpesce.com; P the fact that Brock is reinventing there, including Shep Rose, who stars mains US$24–$32) is definitely the himself and his signature restaurant in the Bravo TV series Southern diamond of the restaurant scene NBCU every day, just waiting for the next

Charm and a new spin-off series, here. The chef, Ken Vedrinski, does ose: couple to come in and taste Relationshep. Here are his weekend amazing things with fresh seafood r

something out of this world. go-tos, before and after a long day of and house-made pasta.” shep The Dewberry 4 Charleston hotel now offers private mixology classes.

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shopping tip Cannon Street, Your Off-the- Beaten-Path retail Corridor King Street is Charleston’s Madison Avenue. But some of the city’s most interesting stores can actually be found on nearby Cannon.

1/Beads on Cannon The ultimate specialty shop, this two-story emporium carries any kind of gem, stone, bead and bauble imaginable, plus everything necessary to string, weave, or wire- wrap them. beadsoncannon.com. 2/Indigo & Cotton Since 2011, owner Brett Carron has been outfitting Charlestonian may come away with a a deep dive into weaving men with his smartly edited H a e d of selection of both Southern bottle opener, oyster technique, covering topics (Raleigh Denim, Makr) and non- the Class shucker, or fire poker. such as identifying native Southern (Post Imperial, Mollusk) G et schooled in the ways destinationhotels.com/ grass types and why the brands in this welcoming, airy of Charleston’s fabled wild-dunes; from US$90 for woven pieces can command space. indigoandcotton.com. craftspeople in one of a two-hour class. high prices. preservation​ 3/Mac & Murphy these informative Ryan Casey is a rising society.org; from US$85 for This intimate shop raises the bar for classes and workshops. star in the craft-cocktail a two-hour class. indie stationery stores. Owner Liz world, having earned his Floral arranging is an Macpherson has stocked an eclectic array of things you never Intricate ironwork can be stripes at Charleston hot art in Charleston, one of knew you needed: colorful greeting found throughout the city, spots like FIG. Now he the country’s top wedding cards, framed prints, and desk in churches, homes, and presides over the brass bar destinations. Learn the ins accessories. macandmurphy.com. gardens. Get hands-on inside the Dewberry and outs—from tabletop 4/Candy Shop Vintage instruction in the trade Charleston, where he hosts designs of wild blooms to Designer Deirdre Zahl’s boutique is from blacksmith James private mixology lessons wreath making—from the a local mainstay for vintage and Irving, who leads a Playing for locals and guests. experts at Charleston vintage-inspired accessories. Her with Fire course on the dewberry​charleston.com; Flower Workshop. Charleston rice-bead necklaces (long, flapper-style chains popular basics at the Wild Dunes from US$100 per hour. charlestonflowerworkshop.​ in the 1970s) have become a Resort and at his forge on Henrietta Snype’s com; from US$150 for a

hotobank via G etty Im ages shep r ose: NBCU P hotobank signature. candyshop​vintage.com. James Island; students basket-making lessons are two-hour class.

Additional reporting by Jessica Mischner tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 93 S unrise in central Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, where guests at Jabali Ridge, a new high-end safari lodge, often break from their morning game drive to have breakfast under a baobab tree.

94 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com the way of the wild

In two of Tanzania’s lesser-known tracts of wilderness, Ruaha National Park and the Selous Game Reserve, glamorous new safari camps are offering visitors the chance to witness—and protect—the spectacular creatures that reside there. And, as a bonus, there probably won’t be another soul in sight.

By Jeffrey Gettleman photographed by ADRIAAN LOUW The pool at Jabali Ridge, with the plains of Ruaha National Park in the background.

96 march 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com The instant the door opened and we stepped out of the plane, I took a deep breath.

We had just touched down on a dirt airstrip in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, and the air around us smelled of warm wood. The sky was immense; beneath it lay a primordial landscape of chest-high elephant grass, stubby baobab trees, and, in the distance, haze-clad hills that seemed to melt into the bright horizon. Waving goodbye to the pilot, we walked a few meters to a waiting safari truck, its sides We all sat in the cool shade looking up, lost in completely open. My wife, Courtenay, slid in our own thoughts. After a few minutes, Timan next to me, and our two boys—Asa, five, and put his hand lightly on the ignition key and Apollo, eight—hopped in front. At the wheel turned around. was Moinga Timan, a young Masai guide with a “Okay, we go?” smooth, oval face and two notchlike scars on his I could have stayed there the rest of my life. left cheekbone. Off we rumbled down a deserted sandy road, the savanna rolling away on either My y famil and I recently left East Africa, side like a dry, endless ocean. where I had spent 11 years as bureau chief for After about 15 minutes, Timan suddenly the New York Times, and this was our first trip turned onto a narrow track. We threaded back. No matter how many times I go on safari, through tangled thorn trees, leaning in to avoid the experience is always profound. There’s a getting scraped, our luggage bouncing around special peace—and a special thrill—that comes behind us. Up ahead, a gnarled old sausage tree from stepping onto the savanna under an open loomed, casting a dense pool of shade on the sky and seeing the most beautiful animals on ground. As we approached it, Timan turned and earth existing in their own space, on their own put a finger to his lips. I could feel my terms, often against great odds. It is a rare adrenaline rising as we spotted a dark shape privilege, and never fails to engender a shift in lying on a branch midway up the tree. mood, a slowing down, an opening up. I stared harder and realized we were looking We had come to Ruaha National Park and the at a leopard. nearby Selous Game Reserve, two of Tanzania’s She was two years old, Timan estimated, most pristine tracts of wilderness, to spend a above: and probably the most exquisite creature I have week at a pair of new high-end safari camps. Emmanuel Matari, one of Asilia ever seen. Asleep on a branch, head on her left Ruaha lies on a vast, baobab-studded plain, with Africa’s in-house paw, other legs dangling, she looked absolutely only a handful of lodges spread over a territory safari guides. serene. Timan cut the engine and we rolled just a little smaller than New Jersey. Selous, op p osite: A lion right under her. None of us could take our eyes where we started our trip, is even bigger. seen on a late- afternoon game off her coat. It was a masterpiece, the orange Rugged and bushy, the reserve was once home drive near Jabali spots so precisely framed by black, it looked as to one of Africa’s largest populations of Ridge, in Ruaha if they had been applied with a fine paintbrush. elephants. Though there are now far fewer of National Park.

ta r velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 97 these creatures, and those that remain are a little skittish (more about that later), it’s still a great place to spot lions, giraffes, hyenas, hundreds of species of tropical birds and the elusive wild dog. Neither of these parks is on Tanzania’s main safari circuit. You can go for days without hearing another car, so you don’t have to deal with other tourists acting like wildlife paparazzi, as they can in other, more trodden safari destinations. Here, you have the African veld to yourself. Well, almost to yourself. Tanzania is in the midst of an epic battle to protect its wildlife, especially its elephants, and all of its parks are haunted by poachers. In the past decade, at least 100,000 elephants across Africa have been slaughtered for their tusks: a crisis driven by China’s rapacious demand for ivory trinkets. An underground ivory pipeline runs from the most remote reaches of the savanna, through African ports, where sticky-fingered customs officials are more than happy to turn a blind eye (for the right price), to carving workshops in cities such as Guangzhou. Tanzania—where the people are poor, the wildlife is rich, and the government has historically been deeply corrupt—has lost more elephants than any other country. But please don’t get the wrong impression: as a visitor, you’re not in any danger. The poachers operate deep in the bush, and they’re not interested in you. With any luck, your visit will help put a few more eyes on the situation—and protect a few more elephants, lions and leopards. Both the camps we stayed at are run by a Dutch-owned safari company called Asilia Africa, which invests a portion of its profits in wildlife protection and research, bringing resources these areas might not otherwise get. And this is a great time to visit, because the tide may at last be turning. The world’s elite, from Hillary Clinton to Prince William to Leonardo DiCaprio, have embraced the elephant cause and thrown a spotlight on the tragedy of our guide had suggested we drive to the lodge the ivory trade. They have named names— via Lake Nzerakera, one of many shallow lakes China’s in particular. The Chinese government that dot the landscape of the Selous. We parked recently bowed to the pressure and announced at the water’s edge in the shade of a group of it was shutting down its domestic ivory palm trees, their white trunks as smooth as markets. For the first time in years the price of plastic piping. ivory is falling, a sign that demand for Africa’s A pod of hippos wallowed so close by I could “white gold” may finally be waning. see the pink of their little round ears, which seemed comically tiny in proportion to their W e had touched down in the Selous at enormous heads. A troop of baboons ran around 5 p.m.—that stunning hour when the light in the beach playing something that resembled tropical Africa turns the color of whiskey, and tag; the fish eagles and black herons hunting on the animals come out. From New Delhi, where the shore turned their heads once or twice to we now live, we had flown to the Tanzanian look at them. As we watched in silence, I was capital of Dar es Salaam, and from there caught struck by the sheer diversity of all the forms of a small bush flight to the reserve. In order to life happily sharing the same space. Clearly, our take advantage of the last hour or so of daylight, species has a lot to learn.

98 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com Asilia Africa is a safari company dedicated to wine while the kids sucked down orange Fantas The pool at Jabali protecting the ecosystem and creating and we all watched sparks drift up into a Ridge, with the plains of Ruaha sustainable economic opportunities in lesser- rapidly darkening sky. National Park in visited areas of famous wilderness destinations. Dinner was served under the stars, and the the background. The brand’s new property in the Selous reserve, food was fantastic—especially considering how Roho ya Selous, is a tented camp without a gate remote this camp is (the nearest, tiny, town is or a fence, totally open to the wilderness—and 160 kilometers away). We feasted on steak everything that resides there. It was both sourced from central Tanzania, Brie made in wonderful and unnerving to walk over to the Kenya, and chocolate mousse that I knew was dining tent in the dark and hear a lion grunting going to be worth the calories when I stuck my for its dinner in the distance. (Don’t worry, a spoon into it and the spoon stood up straight. guard escorts you everywhere after nightfall.) After waddling back to our tent, a large master Before our first evening meal, Aidan Kikoti, the suite with an adjoining room furnished with Tanzanian camp manager, had asked a couple bunk beds, we tucked the kids in under their of staff members to build a huge fire. Settling mosquito nets and said good night. into canvas director’s chairs around the fire, A big part of the safari experience is sitting Courtenay and I sipped chilled South African in the passenger seat of a truck looking for T here’s a special peace that comes from seeing the most beautiful animals on earth existing in their own space, on their own terms, often against great odds game, and I find there are few activities more sounds were our eight sandals crunching relaxing than leaning back, feeling the warm through the dirt and the cicadas singing in the breeze on your face, and watching the landscape trees. The place felt so peaceful, it was hard to slip by. The next morning, it was time to set out reconcile the fact we were actually in the midst into the bush and get into vacation mode. Selous of one of Africa’s biggest hunting grounds. is very lush, with dense trees and shrubs The Selous is a game reserve, which means everywhere; one can only wonder how the that each year, hundreds of animals are legally Victorian explorers survived out here, hacking killed here. If you have the budget, the proper through foliage, dodging predators, and getting permits, and the correct weapon, you are devoured by mosquitoes and tsetse flies—all in entitled to choose from a wide menu of wildlife the name of the queen. to kill—including the endangered elephant (a Fortunately, in the intervening years the successful elephant hunt costs around Tanzanian government has put in a network of US$100,000). To those of us who cherish wildlife dirt roads, and after an hour or so of driving, and fear for its future, big-game hunting seems our guide in the Selous, Mashaka John Ngalawa, like a sport that should be relegated to the past, followed one up to the base of a baobab tree. He particularly in light of the recent poaching started pointing things out, like elephant craze that has pushed some of the continent’s scratches in the bark and a big beehive lodged in most iconic species closer to extinction. the tree’s stubby, rootlike branches. My boys But hunting is alive and well in Africa. Some listened attentively. “I think this tree has been governments, such as Tanzania’s, earn millions here for about eight hundred years,” Ngalawa of dollars from it each year. Proponents argue proclaimed, which was entirely possible (some that, when correctly managed, hunting can BE LOW: Breakfast baobabs are believed to be thousands of years protect wildlife. Responsible hunters, they say, served on the hood of a safari truck in old). He drove us closer to get a better look. Then kill only adult males past breeding age, and help Ruaha National closer still. scare away poachers. There might be some Park. Opp osite: Suddenly, I saw Ngalawa’s face, its truth to this; areas where active hunting is Drinks around the expression usually languorous, go into a state of taking place tend to be more closely patrolled. campfire at Roho ya Selous, a new red alert. He gunned the engine, threw the Personally, though, I will always have trouble tented camp in the truck in reverse, and raced us backward, squaring the notion that killing rare animals Selous Game crashing over rocks and tree stumps and helps save them. Reserve. flattening several innocent bushes. “Bees!” he yelled. In an instant, a huge swarm had poured down on us in a dark cloud. African killer bees! (Actually, I can’t say for sure that they were killer bees. But there were a lot of them—and they were not happy.) Asa, who sometimes speaks in oddly complete sentences for a five-year-old, howled: “I have been stung by a bee, mama! I have been stung by a bee!” Mama vaulted out of her seat to yank out the stinger as the truck roared backward. Shooting a quick glance at Apollo, who had curled up into a ball like a pangolin, I frantically shooed away more bees before they could land. Note to self: don’t park under a baobab containing an enormous beehive. We motored back to camp, licking our wounds, and took it easy the rest of the day. Fortunately, we were in the perfect place for that. Asilia does safaris a little cushier than most—though not so cushy you feel like you’re losing contact with your surroundings. Our camp had Wi-Fi, a great big wooden bar, a living-room-like tent with a small library, and a swimming pool. Walking back to our tent after an afternoon of swimming and lazing, I was able to appreciate how far out we really were. There was no mechanized noise. The only

tar velandleisureasia.com / april 2018 101 Her coat was a masterpiece, malachite kingfisher (they’re big on kingfishers these days), or what a saddle-billed stork eats the orange spots so for breakfast. They were born and raised in East Africa and have a much more intuitive precisely framed by black, appreciation of nature than I ever had growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. I was worried they they could have been applied might wear out our guide, Moinga Timan, the sturdy 24-year-old bachelor who had found the with a fine paintbrush sleeping leopard en route from the Ruaha airstrip. He hailed from a rural Masai area and was, I imagined, probably not accustomed to the high-velocity needs of American expat kids. The vast, 30,000-square-kilometer Selous But he couldn’t have been kinder, cheerfully has been divided into two parts: one for what grabbing his canvas-covered bird book and are called “photographic’’ safaris, like ours, and thumbing through the pages to answer every the other for hunters. The hunters’ area was last one of the boys’ questions. The perfect eons away, and we never saw anyone involved in safari guide has to be a lot of things—driver, the sport. Still, we felt their impact. In three tracker, spotter, host, conservationist, days in the Selous, we didn’t see a single conversationalist, mixer of drinks and master elephant. The combination of legal hunting and of surprise. Timan was all of those. He let the pervasive poaching has made the reserve’s kids sit on his lap and drive his truck down elephants deeply suspicious of man. At the those long, straight dirt roads. He taught faintest sound of a car or scent of a person, these them—and me and Courtenay, too—about how famously intelligent, sensitive creatures go to pay attention to the smallest things and how, crashing into the bush. by being mindful, you can feel so much more connected to the world around you. Jaba li Ridge, the new Asilia property in Ruaha National Park, is an oasis in the middle Rua ha has done a much better job of of a vast expanse of open parkland dotted with protecting its elephants than the Selous, and is baobab trees. Sitting at the top of a small hill, one of the last places in Africa where you can the lodge is made up of a series of wood-and- still see enormous herds. Unlike the Selous, stone villas built into the rocks and connected which is run by Tanzania’s notoriously corrupt by sleek wooden catwalks. Picture a safari lodge wildlife department, Ruaha is a national park, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and you get the and therefore managed by professional idea. The place is seriously gorgeous. I loved conservationists. Although poachers have leaning against the railings of the dining area, encroached here, Ruaha has far more or just about anywhere on the property, and aggressive ranger patrols. Near Jabali Ridge we staring out at the savanna traversed by sandy saw a sprawling ranger station made up of a animal pathways, and the tawny hills beyond. number of low-slung buildings, their metal Jabali Ridge is also a well-oiled machine. The roofs shimmering under the sun, where dozens camp’s manager, Clement Lawrence, is a of armed figures marched around the complex Namibian with a wry sense of humor and a soft in camouflage. The battle is far from over, but I spot for kids. When he heard us musing at got the sense from the guides and rangers we dinner about making an early start the next met that, here and elsewhere, the ivory problem day, he volunteered to organize a bush breakfast is no longer hopelessly out of control. for the morning so we could begin driving at “Watch how they dig,’’ Timan said as we dawn, eating our eggs, sausage and house-made approached a herd of around 30 elephants early granola on the fly. When our boys lost a plastic one afternoon. We parked a safe distance from tiger near the infinity pool, a technician hunted where they were lumbering across a dry river. under the deck and found it. The guides were Timan told us that each year Ruaha was getting among the best I’ve ever encountered, deeply drier, maybe because of climate change, maybe knowledgeable about the entire ecosystem, able because of the farms appearing upriver to feed Opposite: A guest to track game from a few half-blown footprints, Tanzania’s fast-growing population. Elephants room at Jabali and—perhaps most importantly for our gang of have an uncanny ability to detect underground Ridge, where four—incredibly patient. water, and as the herd moseyed past us, clouds materials were Our kids are bird freaks, and their intensity of dust lifting under their gigantic feet, one of chosen to blend in with the at times is a little scary. In breathless, earnest the matriarchs suddenly stopped. Using her surrounding sentences, they will talk your ear off about the right foreleg, she started digging a hole, pawing landscape. difference between a pied kingfisher and a a patch of sand like a bull in a ring. She then

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96 march 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com lowered her head and began scraping with a Timan seemed to sense something. As he tusk. The riverbed was bright and hot, a dusty shined a light across a tangle of dead bushes, a haze hanging in the air, not a trickle of water dozen bright green disks stared back. Six lions, anywhere. But after a few minutes, the elephant each with a muzzle soaked in blood, were snorted triumphantly and lifted up her trunk. chomping on the carcass of a giraffe just a few Its tip was dark gray with moisture: she had meters from us. It was an extraordinary sight: found water. Other elephants trotted over and eerie, fascinating and unforgettable. After began digging with their feet. As we watched watching for a few moments, we drove away, them take turns drinking out of the ground, I leaving the pride to enjoy their meal in peace. was humbled. If it had been left to me to find On the way home, I asked Timan if there was water out there, we would have all died of thirst. a place we could stop and stargaze. Next thing I On our last afternoon, Timan caught us knew, he started peeling back the truck’s canvas lounging in the dining area and said: “What do roof, opening up a spectacular night sky you guys think of a night safari?” smeared with stars. We stood up and listened as The kids cheered. Timan pointed out formations I had only ever Leaving the camp in the fading light, Apollo seen in books. The constellations were so clear, spotted a bird perched atop a mahogany tree. the sky so black. From somewhere in the bush “Is it a lapwing?” he asked. came the sweet, light perfume of a plant that I Timan shook his head. guessed must be a cousin of jasmine, blowing “A ringed plover?” on the warm night breeze. “Just look, look at the details,” Timan said. As we drove quietly back to camp, our two “Look at the beak, the plumage, its eye color. headlights punched holes through the dark. The Take it slow.” Apollo lifted the binoculars to his poachers, the ivory trade, the population eyes and studied the bird for a moment. pressures, climate change—they were all “A three-banded plover!” obscured by the darkness and the overpowering Opposite: A Timan cracked a smile. sense of Ruaha’s immensity. I looked out at the leopard seen on a As the sun sank behind the hills and night starlit savanna and over at my kids just soaking late-afternoon game drive near rose up around us, we drove into a small forest, it all up and couldn’t help thinking, Why, Jabali Ridge, in looking for a lion pride another guide had exactly, did we have to leave? Might there be a Ruaha National spotted earlier in the day. After a few minutes, way to make a life out here again, one day? Park.

Visas & Permits lodging African specialties like BOOK A TRIP TO Single-entry visas costs Asilia Africa (asiliaafrica. Zanzibari snapper. US$50 and are generally com) is a Dutch-run Doubles from US$1,400. TANZANIA available upon arrival— safari operator that Here’s how to make the wild, unspoiled Selous Game though you can also focuses on East Africa Tour Operators Reserve and Ruaha National Park your apply in advance through and emphasizes ethical Deeper Africa A World’s the Tanzanian embassy. and sustainable tourism. Best Awards winner, this next safari destinations. Nationals of certain They have 12 camps in trusted safari operator countries require special Tanzania including: offers adventures like advance-referral visas. Jabali Ridge The eight lion-spotting excursions The Southeast Asian Modernist bungalows at in Ruaha and cruises locations whose this new lodge blend into down the Selous’s Rufiji passport-holders do not a towering granite River, home to hippos and require visas are Brunei, boulder in Ruaha National crocodiles. deeper​africa. africa Hong Kong, Malaysia, Park. Track leopards and com; 10 nights from Macau and Singapore. elephants on game drives US$8,445 per person. Ruaha National Check the government's led by passionate local Extraordinary Park site for full requirements guides, and enjoy Journeys This boutique for each country. amenities like a “bush tour operator specializing immigration.go.tz. bonnet” breakfast while in East Africa is run by out in the field. Doubles mother-daughter duo Getting There from US$1,577. Marcia and Elizabeth Fly into Dar es Salaam’s Roho ya Selous The Gordon—featured on the Julius Nyerere Airport via new second camp is eight A-List, T+L’s best travel hubs such as Doha. From tented platforms with advisors. Ruaha and the there, your tour operator hand-carved wooden Selous are some of their Selous can arrange a charter accents and private many offerings in tanzania Game Reserve flight to Selous Reserve verandas. The alfresco Tanzania. 1-212/226-7331; or Ruaha National Park. meals feature East [email protected].

travelandleisureasia.com / april 2018 105 wish you were here

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106 april 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

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