Incorporated withLimited Liability intheState of Delaware, U.S.A. American Express International Inc., (UENS68FC1878J) 20 (West) Pasir Panjang Road #08-00, Mapletree Business City, Singapore 117439. americanexpress.com.sg amex.co/lovediningrestaurantstnc. brunch anddinnerservice. Restaurant policy of minimumorder of one(1)payable beverage perdinerapplies to enjoy thediscount. For full Terms and Conditions of Love Dining, please refer to * Except for singlediners, Card Members andtheirguests have to order aminimumof two maincourses inorder to enjoy thevarying savings. TWG Tea savings are applicable duringlunch, Terms andConditions: Find outmore atamex.co/lovedining meal –anunmistakable nuance thatdeliciouslyenhances each dish. as well astrendsetting tea beverages andcocktails, tea iswoven into every aspectof the of sensations andflavours to gourmands andtea lovers at TWG Tea. With all-day dining and exclusive tea blendsinto sweet andsavoury recipes, introducing awholenew world At theforefront of Tea Gastronomy, TWG Tea incorporates amyriad of fine harvest teas Platinum Credit Card. at TWG Tea withyour American Express® Enjoy upto 50%*savings onyour food bill ® Registered Trademark of American Express Company. ©Copyright 2018 American Express Company. Alternatively, please call 6396 8838. Orchard (B1)orVivoCity to apply. American Express Booth atION Visit amex.co/platg orthe

clockwise FROM top LEFT: Leigh Griffiths; JoÃo Canziani; morgan ommer; Martin Morrell ON THE COVER Sunset from the rooftop of The Funny Lion facing Baquit Island in Palawan. Photographed by June features Al Linsangan. 66 Delta Blues Sailing deep into southern Vietnam’s Mekong waterways, Rachna Sachasinh finds the region in a state of change. Photographed by Morgan Ommer. 76 Coast to Coast Island-hopping across El Nido and Coron, Eloise Basuki discovers this pocket of the Philippines is an ecological wonder that also feels like home. Photographed by Leigh Griffiths. 76 98 86 86 66 Above and Beyond

Enjoy up to 50%* savings on your food bill l The French Alpine el

r villages of Chamonix r at TWG Tea with your American Express® and Megève are

tin Mo tin reinventing Platinum Credit Card. r Ma themselves as ; r

e summer playgrounds. At the forefront of Tea Gastronomy, TWG Tea incorporates a myriad of fi ne harvest teas mm By Rosecrans Baldwin. and exclusive tea blends into sweet and savoury recipes, introducing a whole new world o an

g Photographed by r of sensations and fl avours to gourmands and tea lovers at TWG Tea. With all-day dining o Martin Morrell. m as well as trendsetting tea beverages and cocktails, tea is woven into every aspect of the

meal – an unmistakable nuance that deliciously enhances each dish. nziani; 98 a

C Welcome to the o o Find out more at amex.co/lovedining à Jungle On the Argentinian side ths; Jo i

f of Iguazú Falls, f i Jacqueline Gifford Gr

igh checks into a luxe Visit amex.co/platg or the e L

: new hotel that lives American Express Booth at ION T F up to its dramatic Orchard (B1) or VivoCity to apply. LE

Alternatively, please call 6396 8838. op setting. Photographs M t

O by João Canziani. clockwise FR Terms and Conditions: * Except for single diners, Card Members and their guests have to order a minimum of two main courses in order to enjoy the varying savings. TWG Tea savings are applicable during lunch, brunch and dinner service. Restaurant policy of minimum order of one (1) payable beverage per diner applies to enjoy the discount. For full Terms and Conditions of Love Dining, please refer to amex.co/lovediningrestaurantstnc.

American Express International Inc., (UEN S68FC1878J) 20 (West) Pasir Panjang Road #08-00, Mapletree Business City, Singapore 117439. americanexpress.com.sg Incorporated with Limited Liability in the State of Delaware, U.S.A. ® Registered Trademark of American Express Company. © Copyright 2018 American Express Company. travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 5 In Every Issue T+L Digital 8 Contributors 10 The Conversation 12 Editor’s Note 14 Deals 62 Wish You Were Here 106

contents

19 Reasons to Travel Now 28 Literary City Three of Kolkata’s 44 Wait, This is Athens? A short See southern Thailand’s natural top scribes give us the lowdown drive from the city center, the wonders; surf Bali’s waves after on the West Bengal capital’s beaches, hotels and restaurants dark; get the Midas touch in a book-loving identity. of the revived Athenian Riviera Macau spa; and more reasons to 32 Manila on the Fly Scale sky-high offer a revelatory new way to explore the region. ropes above the jungle and soar experience the Greek capital. 24 The Rise of Redfern from an inner-city trapeze—the The streets of a once-gritty Philippine capital has thrills for Special suburb in Sydney are now home all ages. One for the Ages In this year’s to some of the city’s hottest small 51 38 Hot Pursuit On a pilgrimage to family special, we look at bars, top-ranking restaurants and Iceland’s famed geothermal vacations tailored to different creative endeavors. springs, discovering a hidden pool kinds of broods. Sorted by age 26 Made in Hong Kong Despite inside a remote cave means going and number of children, we’ve ui importing most of its food, Hong outside your comfort zone. organized dream destinations by m Kong has a growing appetite for 40 Fun Comes to Frankfurt The family dynamics, from baby’s first hiva sa

local artisanal production. We s

city that was once just Germany’s holiday to multi-generational f find some homemade goods for

buttoned-up business capital now adventures with the whole crew. sy o

your shopping list. te

blossoms with great culture and r cuisine. y low; cou le r be m antos; kiantos; oel s j on AAr al, guangzhou; al, guangzhou; ient r in o r a and m

f y o tes r t: cou f le m 19 28 24 51 o fr

6 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: courtesy of mandarin oriental, guangzhou; AAron joel santos; kimberley low; courtesy of shiva samui t +l d i g i t a l +Lookout Visiting a new resort on Una-Una, a volcanic isle in Central Sulawesi; this month on travelandleisureasia.com Bali’s best hotels for Uncovering the Saigon’s Thriving An Epic Trekking foodies; a stunning new Secrets of Okinawa Live Music Scene Adventure in India resort on the southern This lush Japanese Vietnamese musicians are On a homestay hop with a tour coast of Sri Lanka; the archipelago boasts a culture making waves with bold sonic company that helps tiny latest travel deals and all of its own, not to mention statements that fly in the face villages thrive, a writer finds sugar-sand beaches and of censorship and give voice to mystery and magic in the much more. verdant, subtropical forests. a generation. subcontinent’s mighty peaks. travelandleisureasia.com oletti f to is Cr s a m ho T ao; ao; B u V

Download Us Follow Us Keep up with Us hanh K ; T+L Tablet Editions twitter.com/ Sign up for our newsletter Available on iOS, Android, travleisureasia for monthly highlights and offers from SUKAWA Win 8 and Zinio Desktop facebook.com/ AT travelleisureasia T+L Southeast Asia. M Reader. pinterest.com/ tandl.asia/newsletter

travleisureasia HINSUKE S t: t:

instagram.com/ Contact Us f

travelandleisureasia l m

tlr edito @ o

f mediatransasia.com fre

8 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: SHINSUKE MATSUKAWA; Khanh Vu Bao; Thomas Cristofoletti 13668_CHR_Ads_TravelLeisure.indd 1 OKDRC O U ETPIEPOIE BOOK DIRECT FOR OURBEST PRICEPROMISE cnaaoeseot.o centarahotelsresorts.com EXPERIENCE A NEW EXPERIENCE A the finest cityortropical beach destinations, theiconic Centara Grand LEVEL OFLUXURY THAILAND ·MALDIVESOMANQATARTHAILAND ·SRI LANKA ·VIETNAM escapes across Allboasting Thailandandbeyond. primelocations in Centara Grand istheluxuriousbrand from Centara Hotels &Resorts, hotels andresorts combine outstanding features andfacilities with the pre-eminent Thai hotel group offering the ultimate in luxurious intuitive andpersonalisedto Thaiservice, create extraordinary experiences andindeliblememoriesfor you. Centara Grand is the natural choice for apicture-perfect holiday. [email protected] [email protected] 021011234ext 1 4/27/2561 BE 17:28 contributors | j une 2018

1 2 Merritt Leigh Gurley Griffiths Writer Pho tographer “One for the Ages” “Coast to Coast” Page 51 Page 76 — — With two toddlers, the We sent the Australian Chiang Mai–based writer was photographer to the 1 prepped to write our Family sustainable seas of northern Special. “In Asia everybody Palawan. “The Funny Lion is wildly forgiving of kids. resort in Coron organized an Show up at dinner and the amazing island-hopping tour. waitresses will dedicate the Swimming in the clearest next two hours to babysitting. waters surrounded by Far from being angry, they colorful fish and coral is hard are delighted you brought to beat, but crashing a tribal two agents of chaos to destroy wedding on a small island their restaurant.” Must-get was something I’ll remember travel accessory? The 1st until I die.” And what of his Class Kid travel pillow, which daredevilry diving in with inflates on the floor in front blacktips at Apulit Island? of a child’s plane seat so they “Don’t get me wrong, I draw can lie flat, but not on top of the line at baby sharks. I can you. “My two babies slept assure you, 99 percent of side by side on a long-haul Aussies (including myself) from Bangkok to Amsterdam. wouldn’t voluntarily swim 2 It was a miracle.” with sharks back home.” Instagram: @makingmerritt. Instagram: @leighgriffithslens. r e mm an o an g r

3 4 o m

Rachna Morgan f tesy o tesy Sachasinh Ommer r

Writer Pho tographer cou ; r

“Delta Blues” “Delta Blues” e

Page 66 Page 66 mm

— — o an g r

Having grown up all over Saigon-based photographer o Asia, Sachasinh is used to Ommer has been to the delta m ths;

getting lost in old ways of life. about 50 times, and published i f f “Twilight in the Mekong Delta a coffee-table book on the i r was remarkably peaceful. I region’s disappearing ferries.

loved evenings by the river “I spent an evening with g eigh l or on the deck of the Bassac. ferry pilot Mr. Phan The Son f 3 People, sun, tides all mellow going back and forth near tesy o tesy

out; it really is the golden Long Xuyen, him telling me r hour. In Sa Dec market, I met stories about the demons

a woman who was squatting who live below the surface of cou ey; l

on the ground selling 13 types the river. We drank a lot of r of eggs in plastic and rattan coconut juice. Go to Sa Dec tt gu baskets and just in flowered just before Lunar New Year; i rr e

fabric. We used smiles, laughs the whole town is blooming m

and lots of pointing to have with flowers.” Favorite meal? f a nonsensical conversation. “Each city has their own tesy o tesy It captured the friendly and version of hu tieu soup; my r heart-warming spirit of the favorite one is in My Tho. delta.” Three words that best It’s so good that sometimes t

describe the place? “Lots of I cry just thinking about it.” m o

fruit.” Instagram: @b438. Instagram: @morganommer. fr cou op:

10 4 from top: courtesy of merritt gurley; courtesy of leigh griffiths; morgan ommer; courtesy of morgan ommer INDULGE WITH OUR SPECIAL CUISINE HIGH ABOVE THE CLOUDS MORE the conversation

You’re on a long-haul flight wedged past two sleeping passengers, but you’re desperate for the loo. So, what do you do? Well, if you’re a Hong Konger you are most likely to ignore any unwritten travel codes and wake up your snoozing neighbors to get to the bathroom. Japanese travelers, however, will purposefully book the aisle seat to avoid any inconvenience. Expedia’s 2018 Global Flight & Hotel Etiquette Study surveyed 23 countries to see their biggest travel pet peeves on the plane and at the hotel. Here are some of our region’s best (and worst) habits.

Hong Kong travelers are the South Korean Indian travelers most put off by travelers will are most likely dirty or smelly scout out the to vent on hotel rooms— drinks trolley— social media 90 percent they’re the most if they have a would have no likely to get complaint about problem asking drunk on a the airline. to swap to flight. another.

Singaporeans Taiwanese are find seat- most resistant to kicking the online and mobile most annoying check-in: 67 percent type of inflight prefer to check in at behavior. the airport.

*Data taken from Expedia’s 2018 Global Flight & Hotel Etiquette Study.

To celebrate vacationing with your brood, we’ve picked some of our #TLASIA readers’ best family travel snaps. sak cha r

Taking in the view of Malaysia’s Bubble fun at East Coast Floating the day away at Feeling the moment, Cameron Highlands. Park, Singapore. Panwa Beach, Phuket. all at once, in Bali. ionsa by chotika sopita by ionsa

By @backpack_baby. By @5degreeshift. By @traveltheworldfamily. By @cynthia__veronica. at r

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

12 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com illustrationsa by chotika sopitarchasak CMY CY MY CM K Y M C Travel +Leisure_OP.pdf12/3/20182:43PM editor’s note | june 2018

alking down Chowringhee Road, as it was then known, I remember being stopped by an elderly Bengali whose firm handshake was not going to let me proceed easily into the chaos that is street-level Kolkata. He asked if I was familiar with William Shakespeare. As soon as I answered, “To a degree,” he began to quote King Lear in his most forceful voice, trailing off and expecting me From my travels to continue the scene. When I failed on that count, he announced his I was learning how to breathe disappointment: I thought you said you were educated. again. And stretch. And eat. That moment came back to me when reading Duncan Forgan’s “Literary After a three-day retreat in City” (page 28) this month. Like most, he immediately discovers that the Bali at Revivo (revivoresorts. West Bengal capital comes with a strong literary bent, its citizens ready to com), a new boutique resort that aims to get us back on debate almost any topic at will. Discard any preconceived notions you track with balanced living, I might have of this richly historic city, and definitely consider it for a visit. felt like I had turned a Just remember your Shakespeare when you do. corner—even if I hadn’t let go Our guide to family travel that begins on page 51 offers an endless of my phone as suggested and variety of vacations with your offspring based on their age, from the first was slightly caffeine- trips with newborns (parents, you decide where; any baby will be fine with deprived. More on all that in a coming issue, but suffice it to that) to the best places to bring teens, whether they’re more apt to embrace say a bit of a restorative break group activities or do their own thing. From the benefits of cruising with where we each focus on kids to how to negotiate a multi-generational villa share, this special ourselves through yoga, section offers all you need to make your next journey as a family an meditation, Pilates and an enjoyable one. excellent healthy menu is On the opposite end of the scale from something we could all use. Kolkata and certainly an option with older kids, our sail through El Nido and Coron (“Coast to Coast,” page 76) is a quintessentially Asian dream journey everyone should experience at least once. ucway (2)

The pristine seas, blue skies and k unforgettable karst formations Palawan is r

known for will leave you speechless and tophe is

wanting more. r ee; ch td r a m a S an rf I t: t: f

@CKucway l m o

[email protected] fre

14 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: Irfan Samartdee; christopher kucway (2) Wedding_Ad_Travel Leisure.indd 1 ESCAPE AN ELECTRIFIED of Marriott International, Inc., or its affiliates. ©2016 Marriott International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wand its logos are the trademarks WBALISEMINYAK OM C @WBALISEMINYAK . SEMINYAK I AL B W [email protected] +62 8361 4738 106 Jl. Petitenget, Seminyak, Bali 80361 IN BALI’S MOST VIBRANT NEIGHBOURHOOD 24 hour Away Spa and FIT fitness centre 4 dining options -FIRE, Starfish Bloo, Woobar, W Lounge 4 meeting rooms 72 villas 157 escapes &suites a place where magic comes alive. Become apart of all that is now and escape to WBali -Seminyak, EXPLORE 7/31/17 2:32PM editor-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 manager Leigha Proctor

chief financial officer Gaurav Kumar production manager Kanda Thanakornwongskul circulation assistant Yupadee Saebea

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

meredith partnerships, LICENSING & syndication ([email protected]) Business affairs 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

travel+leisure southeast asia Vol. 12, Issue 6 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.

This edition is published by permission of Meredith 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 Tel. 1-212/522-1212 Online: www.meredith.com Reproduction in whole or in part without consent of the copyright owner is prohibited.

subscriptions Enquiries: www.travelandleisuresea.com/subscribe

ADVERTISING 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]

©Satun Geopark/Niruth Tangsiri june 2018 REASONS TO TRAVEL NOW

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

Created by collapsed limestone, the sunken beach on Koh Khao Yai is a hidden gem in Satun province.

no. 1 Thailand’s 500-million-year-old limestone ranges i r finally score global cred. angsi

T While Phuket is seen as the star of Thailand’s south, it appears the rest of the region merits more of our attention: Satun province has just been crowned a unesco Global Geopark. It’s little wonder, as the uth r i

N region, tucked between Trang and Langkawi, is packed with destinations and activities for the nature- k/ r seeker: wander through colossal Phu Pha Pet, Thailand’s biggest cave; find tropical paradise among Satun’s Andaman islands—dive the reefs of Koh Lipe, search for trilobite fossils in the national marine eopa G park on Koh Tarutao, find the sunken beach at Koh Khao Yai; and meet the Semung, Maniq and Urak Lawoi ethnic communities, who have lived in harmony for centuries. satun-geopark.com. a S © tun

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

no. 2 Swell news from Bali: surfing with the stars. The beaches of Bali draw surfers from around the world, which means finding an empty wave can be an impossible task. Surf retreat Komune rides to the rescue with its nighttime surfing sessions on the shores of the resort. From 7 p.m. to midnight and 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., the powerful Karamas break is awash in floodlights, offering groups of up to six private moonlit barrel rides. komuneresorts.com; doubles from US$118; night surfing sessions US$20.

Owning the Keramas break in the dark of the night.

no. 3

A female gorilla ges a

nurses her baby m in Virunga Gorilla trekking is taking off National Park. in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. i ga/getty acce With Rwandan permits now pricier than ever—an hour with B ic

gorillas will run you US$1,500—outfitters are doubling down on Er t;

their offerings in the more affordable Democratic Republic of the r so Congo. The population of mountain gorillas in Virunga National e r Park has quadrupled in recent decades, the result of increased une

security and environmental measures. Deeper Africa adds the m t Call of the Congo itinerary (deeperafrica.com; eight-day tours from US$7,499) to the park beginning in July, with stays on an island in annon/ko

Lake Kivu and visits with a canine anti-poaching unit. Or book a C

custom itinerary with Journeys by Design (journeysbydesign. ony T

com; prices on request) that includes excursions to the Nyiragongo f

Volcano’s lava lake and the Senkwekwe Center gorilla orphanage. y o tes

The 7,700-square-kilometer park is the continent’s most r biodiverse protected area, with ecosystems that range from savannas to active volcanoes, so between gorilla treks you can top: cou top: r r eso cotai o f WYNN PALACE tesy

spot chimpanzees, okapi, and some of the 700-odd bird species m o

that make the park their home. — Jen Salerno fr cou r

20 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from top: courtesy of Tony Cannon/komune resort; Eric Baccega/getty images

courtesy of WYNN PALACE cotai resort Diamond Life Infusion Facial MOP3,300 Facial Infusion Life Diamond second. close apretty running is gold but friend, best agirl’s still are diamonds Yep, Bondgirl-style. cycle, cell-regeneration natural its to oomph little a adds and skin the firms which mask, golden the in photos) take therapist Goldfinger by touched were you like look you’ll Meanwhile, brightness. and collagen increase and impurities, and lines reduce work, their do products the help to light infrared and red blue, emits Tron Atotally romp. relaxation this out round sci-fi Hollywood of a out straight Two masks muscles. the oxygenate and metabolism activate circulation, stimulate energy, your balance help which magnets, two contains massager facial A24-karat-gold growth. collagen boosts extract Gold you. hydrate better therefore and deeper skin your penetrate can which minerals, diamond with aride hitch use they products Bisse Natura the in ingredients active The treatment. my after felt cheeks my as firm as stands science the pitch, marketing bling-tastic ajust as this dismiss to easy seem might it Though skin. the redefine and renew to magnet-therapies and light- plus minerals and metals precious uses Facial Infusion Life Diamond The touch, Midas A90-minute magic. 24-karat some with along creams and cleanses of diamond-enriched aslew answer: illuminating the has Palace Wynn at Spa The Macau, visiting when in yourself drench possibly could you gilt much how exactly wondering were you case In shine bright like adiamond. There’s in aspa Macau help to you no. 4 Palace Palace the at treatment golden get theGuests S pa a pa Wynn Palace Cotai Resort: wynnpalace.com; doubles from MOP1,599; MOP1,599; from doubles wynnpalace.com; Resort: Cotai Palace Wynn C otai otai t Wynn t Wynn R es ort. . – J eninne (I know because I made my my Imade because know (I L ee- S t.

J o h n LED mask Travel &Leisure / reasons to travel now /

no. 5 no. 6 Pack your fur-babies on your next luxury getaway. A Beyond fancy feasts and red envelopes, hotels are celebrating the Year of the Dog a little groundbreaking more literally. Here are three retreats ready to pamper your pooch. cultural center is shaking up the Mandarin Oriental, Belmond Hotel Mandarin Oriental, Paris art scene. Guangzhou Splendido, Portofino Paris It’s less than Pups rule at the Mandarin Among the seaside splendor of For classy canines in the three months old, Oriental, Guangzhou the Italian Riviera, Belmond French capital, the Mandarin but Lafayette (mandarinoriental.com; Hotel Splendido (belmond. Oriental, Paris (mandarin Anticipations doubles from RMB1,530; pet- com; rooms from €930; dog oriental.com; doubles from (lafayette​ friendly rooms an additional massages from €44) treats €1,025) welcomes dogs for anticipations. RMB800), where they’ll get a dogs to individually crafted free and dishes out a menu by com), the new sleeping cushion and bowl, but wellbeing sessions and pet- Michelin-starred chef Thierry institution also a tailor-made menu by sized dressing gowns, while Marx. Dog-walkers can take created by executive chef Jonathan Shea, trained pet therapists offer your pooch to the Tuileries department store a welcome cake and a bespoke Swedish massages Garden, or shop boutiques for Galeries engraved fan collar tag. overlooking Portofino Bay. designer leashes and collars. Lafayette, is fast becoming one of Paris’s most innovative art spaces. Rem Koolhaas’s OMA firm renovated the 19th-century warehouse in the Marais, adding a steel-and-glass exhibition tower with retractable floors that allow for 49 configurations, making it possible to adapt to works of all shapes and sizes. With the inaugural Lutz Bacher installation a hit and new workshops and live performances soon to come, it joins the ranks of La Place, Fondation Louis al guangzhou ient

Vuitton, and r

other centers in o r that are giving a

the city’s art and m

Mandarin Oriental, world an edge. f Guangzhou takes — hSiob an Reid

doggy treats to o tesy the next level. r cou

22 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com courtesy of mandarin oriental guangzhou / in the neighborhood / sy sy te r u ; co rf iant dwa g f sy o te r ; cou ia r iccone & sons gelate c f sy o te The leafy streets of r this inner-west Sydney suburb make quiet strips to take a ride. y low (2); cou le r be m ; ki r e in The Rise D athouse e of Redfern f sy o asak te r ch

A once-gritty suburb in Sydney is now r home to some of the city’s hottest ou t: c t: properties. As gentrification in Redfern f

reaches its peak, Duncan Forgan finds op le t m

small bars and speakeasies rubbing o r f shoulders with top-ranking restaurants y chotika sopitia

and creative endeavors. ap b m y low. le r be m 2); ki ( r ne ley low. opposite, clockwise r ol j be m

m f ki o

24 June 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com kimberley low. opposite, clockwise from top left: courtesy of eathouse Diner; kimberley low (2); courtesy of ciccone & sons gelateria; courtesy of giant dwarf; courtesy of mjolner (2); kimberley low. map by chotika sopitiarchasak S from beers T brews. bottled of list gargantuan a as well as beers tap 10 of rotation changing aregularly offers S bar. beer craft own its have should a Bart cozy of opening the saw year po Given T 4. 1. A bistro. neighborhood laid-back this at aesthetic the A au; mains from A$18. from mains au; eathousediner.com. pavlova. spiced and gumbo, chorizo and squid baby highlights including duck tacos, menu with world new the from cues of plenty takes meanwhile, feel. diner classic from ephemera combines inside while psychedelia, vivid with vintage 1950s blends lettering garish with façade green-and-red thenoblehops.com; drinks from A$12. from drinks thenoblehops.com; whiskies. malt and rye bourbon, mango gose from T N S nd retro retro nd te ha he f he he au me me a Eatho cket-sized drinking dens—last tion Brewing p up then, then, p up h des of of des re is also an enticing variety of of variety enticing an also is re ce Brewing Brewing ce rica and the the and rica informs guises various in ricana ocus, naturally, is on inventive inventive on is naturally, ocus, e N R edfern’s status as a hub for for ahub as status edfern’s obl u M S s A is to e Di e H us fits—of course it also also it course fits—of T ut from from ut he he tralia—try the 50 50 the tralia—try C C op n o. C o. e N M T ar , or , or —and abroad. abroad. —and s r he f he ob el

ibbean with a with ibbean A S bourne’s Hop le Hops, which which Hops, le T b yd ood, ood, he P he right right ney’s own own ney’s L at unch, a a unch, in in

J r r 3

T r ege n str ee t mjolner.com.au; mains from A$35. from mains mjolner.com.au; trout. gin-cured and mushroom, and kale with rib short beef braised a horn. of out imbibe to drinkers for decanter ahammer-shaped from poured are whiskey of shots stiff while up, sliced are animals whole throne,” theatricality. on stint T N r I M 5. restaurant and bar. and restaurant n a cavernous sidestreet basement, basement, sidestreet n acavernous evelers summon the spirits of the the of spirits the summon evelers ho or Waldorf-era Poet’s Poet’s Waldorf-era fb.com/moyasgin; cocktails from A$20. A$20. from cocktails fb.com/moyasgin; up-to-date. things Gimlet—bring lime R distillers—like local hip from gins past, the to back hark soundtrack elegantly disheveled interior and jazz drinks, the While each. for notes tasting the like classics, oft-forgotten in majors bar h A M 2. 2 istory are are istory

T r os ege gin for reverence and detail to ttention se Gods at this this at Gods se r’s hammer,r’s joln n s e, made a suburb over, afinger- in asuburb made e, tr C ee o t ha y a 4 rlie rlie e M ’ s r en J

M C u u highlights include a include u highlights ha

oy

r F N

n e

M d i plin circa 1910 or or 1910 circa plin ge cards. a’s calling orge s p jo

e treet r e V N lner doesn’t doesn’t lner r

ik

s D am

I tr L n a“c ing-inspired ing-inspired re

6 ee o

ed after after ed t provides and am, u n arving arving ge

A AND TRp itt s C rc

eet l eve

T hie hie l he

s

tr ee 1

S chalm t er s treet made with fresh fresh with made cicconeandsons; scoops from A$7. and orange and sesame; black caramel; bourbon and peanut like specials rotating as well paste—as used commonly the than rather in-house, nuts whole with pistachio—blended chocolate, stracciatella, and like varieties traditional of selection asimple there’s and S in finest the of one as gelateria—regarded mighty but tiny this roo R G Ci 3. Festival. for a stage in comedy for theirshowcase acid-tinged live louche asuitably found have 1999. since print and radio screen, on targets worthy other and classes political country’s hosts shows for the the for shows hosts and performers, and writers comedy best country’s the of some by the venue also features productions S T A 6. tr yd he he edfern’s no-nonsense e ustralia’s premier satirical crew, crew, satirical premier ustralia’s G l eet eet ts shine through at ney. i at S C ccon ant 5 ic ha T e huan pepper. fb.com/ pepper. huan he T ser, has been calling out the the out calling ser, been has r D giantdwarf.com.au.

e g he lizab i

e e &S th a atre. atre. R wa str T eet

ed he he elato here is is here elato rf fern’s old old fern’s C on A J ha T s we er he c he s ser members, members, ser S

sey milk milk sey yd ll as providing providing as ll omedians omedians ney ney C 100 100 le m veland veland C om edy edy / food /

and shop on Gough Street. As proud Hongkongers, Kwok and Wong are Made in Hong Kong inspired by local ingredients to Despite importing more than 90 percent of its food, Hong Kong has a flavor their bars and truffles, using, growing appetite for local artisanal production. Janice Leung Hayes for example, goji berries, dried tries some of the best, both generations old and brand new. longan, osmanthus and their own Sichuan-chili blend. fb.com/ hakawachocolate; Shop 1B, 49–51A Gough St., Central; chocolate bars from HK$28.

Hui Kee | Fish Balls Seafood has always been a big part of Hong Kong dining, and fish balls are an essential ingredient for Cantonese noodle soups and hot pots. Alfred Hui’s grandfather started selling them in a wet market in the working-class neighborhood of Cheung Sha Wan, while Hui and his wife have since brought the business into the 21st century by using sustainable fish sources, and relocating production to a modernized factory. Mechanization isn’t the enemy, Hui says, as machines have been used for a long time in fish-ball making; what matters is that recipes aren’t changed. Experienced sifus (masters) who’ve been with the family-owned company for decades f yuan's oversee the entire production tesy o process and ensure they’re still r Hakawa | Handmade following to a tee traditional recipes

Chocolate such as dumplings wrapped in y (2); cou r One of the first bean-to-bar delicate, paper-thin skins made of ewe chocolatiers in Hong Kong (many fish mince; and classic fish balls, r others are actually “melters,” who made with eel that is skinned and

buy ready-made coverture pounded in a way that gives it its oonzen b

chocolate, melt it to add flavors and uniquely elastic texture. fishball. f m then remold the blocks) Hakawa com.hk; 16 Cheung Fat St., Cheung tesy o

founders Sally Kwok and Mandy Sha Wan; fish balls from HK$48 r Wong process the cacao beans per pound. themselves, roasting, winnowing and refining the cacao seeds into Moonzen Brewery | chocolate as we know it. It’s Craft Beer laborious: around 30 hours of active A tall drink of Chinese culture along ishballs (2); cou processing time goes into each with your ale? Yes, please. Moonzen

batch, and the bars are aged for is named after men shen, the name f hui kee f three months before being flavored for the gods depicted on the doors of tesy o

and sold. Hakawa sources its cacao many traditional Chinese houses in akawa (2) r h

beans directly from a cooperative in Beijing, where beer brewer Laszlo f

from top: Hakawa’s rose petal and Sri Lanka, and makes each batch of Raphael met his wife, Michele Wong tesy o r pistachio bars; pick up a Hakawa its organic chocolate by hand in a Raphael. The couple now lives in m top: cou o

hot chocolate for extra comfort. diminutive hole-in-the-wall atelier Hong Kong, of which Wong Raphael cou fr

26 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com courtesy of hakawa (2)

fr om top: courtesy of hui kee fishballs (2); courtesy of moonzen brewery (2); courtesy of yuan's intensity of the first press means it’s means press first of the intensity The umami. natural with bursting liquid glossy thick, the up make that all are starter fermentation natural a and salt soybeans, added; is water no Fujian-style, Made bottle. for a 125-milliliter HK$188 costs and make to years two takes condiment, of the press” “first Sauce,” the Soy “Royal their sauces, soy most Unlike there. sit that pots ceramic soybean-filled or so hundred the ferment to sun’s heat the for space uncovered a big and barns of a couple generous—it’s is factory ita To call world. the in sauce soy expensive most of the some produces northwest, Kong’s Hong in Yuen Long, in Yuan’s factory Fujian, from a biochemist Tsang, Heh-kwan late the by 1970s the in Started Yua HK$250. from samples beer with tour brewery Tong; Kwun St., Yip Shing 18 moonzenbrewery.com; drink. Kong Hong staple the to a tribute tea, lemon with made ale a cream and beer wheat kumquat summer like releases, seasonal with experiment tea—and Pu’er Yunnanese uses lager Yunnan Cloud South provinces—the Chinese to dedicated beers of array a growing have also They ale. amber of an aromas hoppy lively the by represented is King Monkey cheeky the porter; espresso honey the honey, by inspired sweetened are words whose God, Kitchen the god: Chinese a mythical by inspired is beer each range, permanent the a story.” In has beer “every brewery, the to visitors tells couple the As range. ever-expanding an producing been have and factory a larger into moved since They’ve year. same that Awards International Beer Kong Hong the at Ale Pale Best and Kong–Produced Beer Hong Best won company the pots, stock of size the tanks a few just with 2014: in beginnings humble its since well remarkably done has Moonzen insiders. local of many beers craft favorite the brewing a native, is n ’s | S oy S auce

Soy Sauce HK$188. HK$188. Sauce Soy select specialty supermarkets; Royal and stores City’super at available ihoyuan.com; tell.” to secret it’s my not and down, them written never we’ve but recipes], [our buy to tried who’ve people been have “There formulas: their about lipped tight- staying is and business the runs now recipes, original the knew who apprentices two ofone only Yip, Tin 2012, in death Tsang’s Since formulas. own Tsang’s from made and preservative-free sauces, all hoisin and oyster chili, including condiments, other of their range a large stocks Yuan’s also common. but itanything makes flavor of depth the although cooks, of home sauce soy light the to similar more is brine, adds which press, second The sauce. a dipping as used best a bottle of Yuan’s of a bottle Brewery; Brewery; R doors at shen at taps beer the balls; fish their classic of aserving Wan; from in in K oyal ee fish ball shop shop ball fish ee C he –inspired

t S ung ung o M oy p M oo men men :

S S oon T nzen nzen auc ha he Hui

zen; e. / insider intel /

Crowds swarm the entrance to Indian Coffee House, a renowned adda hub near College Street. Literary City Thriving on both conversation and the written word, Kolkata’s love of literature has been ingrained in its identity for more than a century. Duncan Forgan chats to a few of the city’s top scribes to get a better read on its book-filled streets. Photographs BY AAron joel santos

“This won’t do. Not in the slightest,” says Akhil Sarkar, my guide, with a sigh and a shake of his head. “Not only is it rude,” he adds, pointing at a deserted stoop in North Kolkata, “it’s totally against the nature of this city.” Elsewhere on the main drag, a gentleman gets his moustache trimmed, and shadowy alleys reveal decaying mansions, hidden courtyards and temples. Sarkar, however, is preoccupied with the tainted stoop: a former site for adda, the Bengali custom of informal conversation, has now been guarded by its owner with uncomfortable looking, spike-like protrusions. “In Kolkata we value intellect over everything else,” he explains. “This is one of the few cities in India where the artist or the author is respected more than the businessman. Therefore, these adda sessions are integral to the city’s lifeblood.” Akhil’s displeasure at this single tarnished porch seems somewhat disproportionate. But his passion for elevated

28 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com discourse is not out of upper crust content place in India’s most themselves with the literary-minded city. occasional hipster coffee Kolkata was a cerebral shop and institutions such force from the get-go. As as Mocambo, a one-time the capital of British India jazz joint serving time- it was a hub for learning, warped continental a fertile petri dish for new dishes, and Flury’s, a ideas and modern venue dating back to 1927 thinking. Its printing that serves tea, English industry nurtured India’s breakfasts and cakes. book trade, while its But what Kolkata lacks prestigious universities in spending power it sowed the seeds for the compensates for with Bengali renaissance—an cultural capital. “In intellectual flowering that Kolkata you can’t kick a produced colossuses such stone without hitting a as Michael Madhusudan poet or a writer,” laughs Dutt, Bankim Chandra Anjum Katyal, co-director Chatterjee and of the Apeejay Kolkata Rabindranath Tagore. Literary Festival. “Here Kolkata’s strategic we have a beginner’s importance has long been advantage. There’s an superseded in India. As ingrained love and other major Indian cities understanding of benefited from boom literature.” A profusion of industries like IT, tech and literary jamborees outsourcing, Kolkata (Katyal’s festival is one of failed to diversify during three that take place every the 34 years of Communist January) is an example of rule in West Bengal. Well- the many manifestations heeled residents of Delhi, of the city’s love of the Bangalore and Mumbai written word. clockwise From top: The courtyard inside the ancestral home of peruse glitzy shopping On bustling Free School Rabindranath Tagore, one of India’s greatest poets; a drawing of malls and drink at sleek Street, used book stores Tagore on a school wall in Kolkata; bathers near Howrah Bridge; sky bars. In Kolkata, the stocking everything from Anjum Katyal, co-director of Kolkata’s annual literary festival.

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 29 / insider intel /

clockwise From far left: Screenwriter, author and film star Nandana Sen; the Writer’s Building, originally part of the British East India Company, in Kolkata; the interior of a small bookstore near College Street in Kolkata.

well-thumbed volumes of recalls a Kolkata “As a child, I was taken Tagore poetry to the entire upbringing immersed in to poetry meets and works of Tom Clancy pour books and shaped by adda. out onto pavements. “I grew up in a dusty old bookstore readings much College Street, nicknamed house built by my poet boi para (colony of books) grandparents where, to more often than to the zoo” due to its glut of second- this day, we were chased hand bookshops, is out of rooms by growing another hub. These days piles of books from all the stores stock mostly over the world,” Sen says. dry academic books, but “As a child, I was taken to a febrile intellectual poetry meets and atmosphere can still be bookstore readings much sampled at Indian Coffee more often than to the zoo House. The venue has or cartoons—and that been the rendezvous of seemed perfectly normal. many Bengali thinkers, We love to discuss, debate who have come to hatch and disagree for hours. manifestos, perfect plot And we adore lines and conduct adda argumentative Indians; sessions over sandwiches people in Kolkata treat and sugary coffee. writers like rock stars.” Regular patrons Reverence for such include filmmaker and gravity is also a feature at author Satyajit Ray, the Taj Bengal (tajhotels. actress and screenwriter com; rooms from Rs7,500), Aparna Sen, and Nobel my sumptuous digs in the laureate economist city. A luxurious pile set in en Amartya Sen. Nandana lush, manicured grounds, S

Sen, the daughter of the the hotel doesn’t shirk its ana

latter, a polymath whose five-star requirements. and N

credentials include My expansive suite f screenwriting, activism, overlooks the palatial esy o esy t authoring children’s books swimming pool; the r ou C and starring roles in restaurant, Sonargaon, t: acclaimed Indian movies, offers Bengali specialties. f top le top top left: Courtesy of Nandana Sen book book his In positive. always isn’t that of birth place his with connection ashifting has literature. contemporary of professor university a is he where Norwich, of city English the and Kolkata between time his splits now He parents. elderly his to closer be to home returned he London, in years 20 than more After Mumbai. in up grew but Kolkata, in born was critic, and essayist novelist, winning sons. literary famous most city’s of the one Chaudhuri, Amit meet to place afitting is literature, of Bengali tomes leather-bound its with then, hotel’sThe clubroom festivals. book January city’s of the another Meet, Literary Kolkata the during forevents venue it’s aprominent naturally), largest, country’s (the of India Library National the from astone’sit throw is Not only too. out, stand The writer admits he admits The writer award- an Chaudhuri, qualities literary Its Calcutta: Two YearsCalcutta: freedoms here.” freedoms many have still people creative and globalized fully been yet hasn’t “It says. he functionality,” of aform becomes happening.” still foris known is Kolkata that creativity the think me make that ways in spoken have who writers encountered “I have town: around gatherings at discussions as well as Gupta Sunetra as such authors Kolkata modern of work the from heart takes he soon, anytime renaissance Bengali of the areprise foresee not me. force,” tells he alife-giving has stink that but it, about astink had It energized. and derelict once at I’d seen: ever places interesting most of the one as me It struck Kolkata. loved “I always vignettes. interlinked of loosely amontage through home his towards bafflement and ambivalence frequent) and (equally affection City the in “The city’s dysfunction dysfunction city’s “The does Chaudhuri While , he relates his his relates , he Kol H from from + intellectuals have gathered over the years; years; the over gathered have intellectuals Bengali writer and university professor, inside the the inside professor, university and writer Bengali u laughs. day,”every she was plotted here a different revolution adda sessions, says places forlegendary A A K remains one of 91-90/0779-8519) College Square; Chatterjee St., discuss the burning Formica tables to gathered round young and old— with patrons—both remains feverish, off venue, located just frequented the thinkers have city’s greatest sed to be that ol nd nj ouse I ndian Coffee Coffee ndian C kata’s most um the atmosphere ol k lege l

K (15 Bankim S ata ef at om yal. “ t S : e of the tr T eet. he he L

I travelandleisureasia.com t i terary Hit I ndian ndian

C about that?” A + the moment. issues of “ says. he cream,” ice- melted like is cocktail prawn the in over aspell weave 33/2265-4300) St.; 91-(25B Park charms of Mocambo of charms in cream). “ cream). in cooked and prawns with stuffed fish Fish a la ala Fish and cocktail prawn over-sauced as such 1960s cookbook a from straight “continental” recipes for restaurant the to guests visiting brings regularly he that says of W mi T fee House, where students, writers and and writers students, where House, fee ha he o t t’s not to like like to not t’s C ha ld-school ld-school D

udhuri, who who udhuri, L ia T i na (river (river na he s he st still still auce auce

A mi

and nationality.” creed every of books informed about amazingly were shopkeepers who with chatting and bookshops those browsing love, do still and century in 2020. 2020. in century its marks that book stalls on on stalls book the second-hand a 91-33/2229-7662) is Books Oxford literature. in upbringing immersed an of her remind haunts literary and G C S K + For t / j en i en C ol ol ol ol K T ha ol kata’s bookshops bookshops kata’s lege lege une 2018 P aj B aj s fonder still of of still s fonder kata institution institution kata ar N udhuri, a udhuri, (17 St.; Park andana andana k. “ k. S engal. engal. tr I l eet and in in and eet oved, oved, S en 31 B ut ut , / discovery /

A sky-high game of ropes and ladders at Masungi Georeserve. Manila on the Fly Scaling ropes above vertiginous treetops and soaring from an inner-city trapeze, Jeninne Lee-St. John finds there’s plenty of play in the Philippine capital, and discovers her inner kid isn’t afraid of a leap of faith.

On the top of a jagged rock in the sky, I’m watching my friends disappear over the edge. Five of us are left on this uneven natural platform a couple of meters across surrounded by a horizon of clouds, and as I contemplate the sea of trees beneath us, the precariousness of our situation starts to creep up on me. Another person descends out of view through the steel hoop on one side, slightly jacking up my heart rate—which goes into acceleration mode when I realize one guy is having a mild panic attack. He urgently whispers, “I’m so afraid of heights.” Wait, what? We’ve just scampered through a human- sized birdhouse and across a boardwalk bridge to reach this peak. We’d started this trek walking a tightrope to a massive spider web, a series of concentric steel-cable circles over a slew of saw-toothed stones that’s Lord of the Rings in Mordor scary, as well as aerial-shot manna (this is a primo playground for drones; arrange yourselves in a pinwheel with your Crayola-colored helmets in the center and suck up the Instagram likes). We’ve

climbed ever higher through the r rain forest over the previous two hours, and now is when he’s going lie coope lie

to tell us he’s acrophobic? >> r cha

32 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com charlie cooper From the shiny new shiny the From Manila. in place family-friendly most the now is eateries, side street- and sidewalks strollable and lawns rolling its with which, (BGC), City Global Bonifacio from minutes 90 shot aconvenient is Masungi wholesome nightmares, of traffic atown from Coming aday. spend to way fun apretty is it whining, my despite and, jungle actual onan overlaid gym jungle It’s acolossal area. a conservation of concept the into energy creative breathes that of Manila outside P1,500 per person) from 14 to seven of groups for treks private (masungigeoreserve.com; / 34 Philippines the in fun It’s be, more should tagline the if wonder to starting I’m and of acliff side onthe ladder rope atwo-story down shimmy to us up—wants us show to just like seemed it but us spot to better the supposedly face, rock bare the down clambered and edge the over hopped just had noted, be should it guide—who, the But too. harnesses, of lack our off laughing and stress my suppressing been

Not that I’m one to judge. I’ve I’ve judge. to one I’m Not that We’re in discovery june 2018 june more fear, ormore Masungi

/

, a nature hike hike , anature tr

G avelandleisureasia.com G rand Hyatt Hyatt rand eo . reserve

/

P625 for adults) for P625 students, certain and teachers for P190 from admission museum.org; Manila at at something learn will family whole only) guests hotel and members to open (shangri-la.com; and ball pits of pits ball and slides the and adults), for P630 and kids for P900 toddlers, for P500 from admission kidzania.com; Fort imaginarium arole-playing include ones forlittle places play indoor several The boards. game artsy for its 28th Terra out parklands—check and spaces of fitness doses healthy surrounds. your with interaction unguarded and play childlike for pad alaunch way, is BGC Either mini-Singapore. Manila’s like feel installations art and murals with dotted streets clean squeaky- the where ’hood, green super- expanding, continually this around carefree wander can Or, you playground. forest rain the to highway onthe hop can buzzy joined year this and deck pool verdant The Mind Museum Mind The As a planned city, BGC has has city, BGC aplanned As as BGC’s go-to addresses, you you addresses, go-to BGC’s as that boasts a massive amassive boasts that Shangri-La at The The at Shangri-La Kid Adventure Adventure . Here, interactive interactive . Here, Z ania (themind (themind , though the the , though (manila. Z on as young as five; free falling at Flying Flying at falling free five; as young as challenge at at challenge F e rom l ef t up up make that of asphalt apatch above away. blocks few a flying go to decide you if of gravity law the in interested be you’ll Certainly all. to accessible engineering and science make staff coat–clad lab onby put experiments physics plus stairs, musical and dinosaur aclimbable as such exhibits, ladder after a primer on how to to onhow aprimer after ladder tall a scaling and, five, as young as culture and outdoor activities.” outdoor and culture arts, promote to pushing always They’re concept. my in believed who ones only the were BGC at folks amazing the but developers of different anumber to out “I reached me. told Hsu doing,” up Igrew what to here locals the expose to also but fly to wanted and selfish Iwas because “mainly love, first his to back get to wanted he Manila, in group PR and amarketing founding after and, 8 age since artist atrapeze been has Hsu William entrepreneur Chinese-American be. to striving is BGC of community type of the representative are they but sparse, seem might P800) from classes : Braving the sapot the Braving M The nets and poles and ladders ladders and poles and nets The Flying Trapeze takes students students takes Trapeze Flying Flying Trapeze Flying as ungi; Flying Flying ungi; T , or spider web, is the first first the is web, spider , or ra (trapeze.ph; peze in BG in peze T ra peze. C t eaches kids kids eaches

efrom l ft: charlie cooper; courtesy of flying trapeze (2) from left: charlie cooper; courtesy of flying trapeze (2) having the best time, laughing laughing time, best the having they’re like looking hammock, rope alengthy in lazing is down gone who’s already Everyone net. fishing atrap like looks that tunnel rope vertical this down staring I’m Masungi, in later days A few ropes. to life my entrusted ablock. walk barely Icould later, minutes ever. Five workout best the probably It’s also adrenaline. pure It was triumph. in up popped I and net the onto down me tossed he then together, We swung wrists. my grabbed trapeze other onthe instructor the and go I let knees, my by hanging Iwas once acatch— Ilearned session, hour two- of the end the by and knees, my by hang to hands my from over flipping inversion, simple a with Istarted concentration. intense and freedom complete of combination is a off jumping of feeling the But yeesh. breeze, light there’s a fly. It’snarrow, to waiting platform onthe being was flying about part scariest To the me, you. belaying always someone’s in, clipped always you’re ground, the off U.S.; the in built were structures supporting and uprights main the a priority: is Safety orwakeboarders. guides rock-climbing be might who of guys kind the rockstars, chill are instructors The of childhood. innocence the had Istill wishing was I land, and flip leap, stand, So, this was a trip on which I onwhich atrip was this So, close to Manila’s urban core. core. urban Manila’s to close so greenery much so to access this by awed and air, fresh glorious of day afull gotten having for ourselves congratulating all are we tired, and sore abit sunset, apurple-sky during leaving But cave. astalactite in claustrophobic gets friend another enough; fast bridge wooden-slat swaying one across get can’t My brother obstacles. different facing times, different at but wobbles, group our in everyone Nearly personal. is factor fear the that is Masungi hikes. night during meats roasting for pits of fire couple a even and mazes, human and swings and hammocks are way the along Scattered park. the exit to enter you mouth illuminated whose aserpent like shaped one sky-bridges, wooden rickety more brave and ropes, more scale points, viewing more to up climb will we this After case. in just tarrying like feel I don’t really but through, Idon’t fall shoes. my as big as nearly look knots their between form ropes the holes diamond-shaped the that illusion optical an be It must salvation. no is this But bridge. hammock the to it make Ifinally hypnosis, self- through Possibly jelly. to go to start arms my down, halfway About hoop. the through scoot and around Iturn So, clouds. the in up cradled photos, taking and One fascinating takeaway from from takeaway fascinating One >> Untitled-2 2 gardens and a pristine sand beach, sand pristine a and gardens The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Collection Luxury a Laguna, The THELUXURYCOLLECTION.COM/BALI Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali is ResortSpa,NusaBaliis Dua, & an exquisitean retreat sevenwith lagooneachfordaypools,one Nestled among vivid tropical vivid among Nestled Experience the true essence essence true the Experience Timeless Package including including Package Timeless DESTINATION EXPLORE THE DESTINATION AT roundtrip airport transfer. airport roundtrip daily buffet breakfast and buffet daily of your holidays with our our with holidays your of HOTELS THAT DEFINE THE of the week.the of ™

4/30/2561 BE10:00 ©2018 Marriott International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Preferred Guest, SPG, The Luxury Colletand their logos are the trademarks of Marriott International, Inc., or its affiliates. A minimum of three-night stay is applied. Terms and conditions apply. Black-out dates may apply. Subject to availability. across the city, whether your priority is bay views, a boutique feel, or an always-buzzy always-buzzy an or feel, aboutique views, bay is priority your whether city, the across B living room. room. living lounge that doubles as the neighborhood's trolley–touting gin airy an and poolsider, come. art, place it smack in the center of of center the in smack it place art, Raging Raging ( wide and far diets ruin to eateries of two or arcade an spa, a stellar playplace, a kids' courts, basketball and tennis including club sports beautiful a crazy add building in the tallest the top-tier—it's phrase the to meaning grills in town at at town in grills and bars sky-highest the as well as ocean, the to way the all windows) floor-to-ceiling your of out chaise, lavender pretty your from them (admire views guest-room expansive was wholly integral. integral. wholly was astride hotel five-star the which in deals doing and forplaces dining,active drinking, getting with jammed a complex hub, community / L Manila Fort, the at Shangri-La B I G perfectly crimped har gao crimped perfectly haute dining from a fancy afancy from dining haute 36 tapas and roasts in in roasts and tapas delicious your down wash to wines curated and beers craft of selections great are there level, grand.hyatt.com; doubles from P9,200. manila. now. serenity sweet is hotel whole this clear it's lobby, the above mezzanine the in float who musicians classical live the hear you pool deck is a good space to go go to space a good is deck pool party). a special for room private w n ag et on ui rand Hyatt Manila Hyatt rand

h lding, this new hotel in in hotel new this lding, 's say you decided to build an ideal ideal an build to decided you 's say ifacio ifacio discovery ere to stay to manila ere in lassy tower modeled on the the on modeled tower lassy

shangri-la.com; doubles from P10,000 from doubles shangri-la.com; B june 2018 june ul G l burgers? l burgers? lo S bal bal ha P hi ngri- T C he lippines. it T y (

P

Y L he

/ T

ea ou BG a b

oo tr P

C k. k. 'd fill it with Filipino Filipino with it fill 'd in hard; go for both), both), for go hard; uilt it; and they've they've and it; uilt C el C to a swish a swish to B avelandleisureasia.com C T k's hot dogs or or dogs hot k's ) i an lar (book a gilted a gilted (book lar GC lo ha s at your doorstep from from doorstep your s at tonese den with with den tonese ser to ground ground to ser t means br Z en

T ings fresh fresh ings E B he mp , but once once , but GC P

E ire ire er de

, y uvian uvian / S ou'd ou'd nic nic ta . te te P T right in the Makati Makati the in right doubles from P5,500. from doubles astoriaplaza.com, P5,625; from doubles astoriagreenbelt.com, feeds. media social your for color of pops brilliant provide will hotels unwinding. for spa and gym pool, lap you, at looking (we're nightlife coolest city's the of some plus meetings your all to derive inspiration. inspiration. derive and head your rest to spots homey offer hotels Astoria air-con; the the air-con; sleep pods with oxygen concentrators. concentrators. oxygen with pods sleep perch. waterfront its for cruiseliner—fitting a luxury on modeled was that hotel glossy this at game crimsonhotel.com; doubles from P3,240 from doubles crimsonhotel.com; hospitality. local warm the by complemented throughout the hotel is perfectly art Filipino lovely the and canopies; shady woven with feel tropical a has pool, kids a separate with deck, pool the colors; soothing in out decked are Rooms thrum. the from respite a true provides oasis urban this at a stay means which capital, the of S Manila City, Filinvest Hotel Crimson T I O Conrad Manila hilton.com; doubles from P8,000. from doubles hilton.com; conradhotels3. airport. the to minutes 15 just nte G ob ou he he pu ra ultimate perk in traffic-heavy Manila? Manila? traffic-heavy in perk ultimate lacion). lacion). lligent guest rooms auto-adjust blinds and se small, stylish, boutique-y business business boutique-y stylish, small, se thern Manila is less frenetic than the rest rest the than frenetic less is Manila thern lence and elegance are the name of the the of name the are elegance and lence nd nd T H he G ya re impressive spa has jetlag-busting jetlag-busting has spa impressive tt Manila and and Manila tt A P enbelt & Astoria Plaza &Astoria enbelt st re oria oria sidential suite has its own pool. pool. own its has suite sidential T C P he BD la

G za, in in za, , o re D S ffering easy access access easy ffering ed enbelt property is is property enbelt ha P on nest chairs and and chairs nest on ngri- as ig, features a features ig, L S a a un B

t the Fort, but there are a wealth of great hotels hotels great of awealth are there but Fort, t the day brunch. day ot . h I t' s solaireresort.com; doubles from P6,762. from doubles solaireresort.com; options for every kind of traveler. traveler. of kind every for options entertainment with brimming place, of kind to Fifth Fifth to King Lion The from everything better to soak up the, ahem, ahem, the, up soak to better submerged loungers and plunges—the private views and luxe comfort. comfort. luxe and views lovely with come rooms guest all but price, access, lives up to its its to up lives access, helipad and spa gym, private with Residence, T T S level shopping to a shooting range to gaming. gaming. to range a shooting to shopping level sofitelmanila.com; doubles from P6,000. room). cheese the (oh, spread sprawling this largest choreographed water feature on on feature water choreographed largest pools. private with come that cabanas property's centerpiece: centerpiece: property's Manila of a view and pad, control a touch-screen tub, a jet has room guest entertainment isle. isle. entertainment a standalone is compound gaming and nightclub nightclub and and-beverage options is the indoor beach club Move over over Move Okada Manila okadamanila.com; doubles from P14,000 favorite for wedding photos. photos. wedding for favorite a are pool tropical the surrounding gardens features a state-of-the art art a state-of-the features Solaire Resort and Casino and Resort Solaire B the to it high-tail access, city with feel a resort For Manila Plaza Philippine Sofitel un he hi at s diverse palace of hospitality is an all-in all-in an is hospitality of palace s diverse h. h. S resort-style waterfront pool deck includes includes deck pool waterfront resort-style day brunch—everyone who's anyone is at at is anyone who's brunch—everyone day of A itel itel nd the 562-square-meter 562-square-meter the V P eg hi C lippine lippine as: this stunning resort and and resort stunning this as:

ov e Manila, with luxury luxury with e Manila, A mo P U la S T B ng the slew of food- of slew the ng za. za. $1 m he e s T Fountain, the T ra

S T ure to book book to ure he illion investment investment illion ol he utwein utwein aire. aire. lush, bay-view bay-view lush, luxe spa spa luxe B I T mp

ay he or the the or erial erial y've got got y've C A E ry ve ac . E stal stal ar nue– h th. th.

left column from top: courtesy of Grand Hyatt Manila; courtesy of Shangri-La at the fort, manila. middle column from top: courtesy of conrad Manila; courtesy of crimson hotel filinvest city, manila. right column from top: courtesy of okada Manila; courtesy of sofitel philippine plaza manila left column from top: courtesy of Grand Hyatt Manila; courtesy of Shangri-La at the fort, manila. middle column from top: courtesy of conrad Manila; courtesy of crimson hotel filinvest city, manila. right column from top: courtesy of okada Manila; courtesy of sofitel philippine plaza manila / memory /

Hot Pursuit On a pilgrimage to Iceland’s famed geothermal springs, Amie Barrodale and her husband discover a hidden pool inside a remote cave—and the pleasure that comes with going outside their comfort zone together. For my birthday last year, my husband, Clancy, and I traveled from our home in Kansas City, Missouri, to Iceland. We rented a house in Old Reykjavík for eight days. We planned to visit a lot of hot springs, beginning at the world-famous Blue Lagoon. I once worked at a magazine in New York City, and a co-worker’s iChat photo was of himself at the Blue Lagoon. It looked like a dreamscape. The water was pale blue, and the surrounding land was black lava rock. In the picture, my co-worker had white foam on his face. When I asked him what it was, he told me it was soap that floated on the surface of the lagoon and gathered in rocks. You could just put it on your face. But when I got to the Blue Lagoon, I realized there were things he hadn’t mentioned. The soap was actually silica. It did gather in rocks, but so did other things, like dirt and human hair. Teenage attendants in parkas carried buckets from which they passed out clean silica, which you could use as a face mask. It felt a bit like a water park in Midwest America. The kids taking selfies and the sloppy drunks wading up to the in-water bar distracted me from the natural beauty of the landscape. We wrote to the man who’d rented us the house to ask if he could recommend a hot spring. He listed a dozen. None seemed quite right. One was, according to its website, infested with “harmless biting parasites.” One was not actually warm. Several were just large swimming pools. At the bottom of the list—because it was a five-hour drive from Reykjavík and located on private property—was

38 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com Illustrations by Adam Simpson Grjótagjá Cave. It was his favorite. “But since you have only a few It was hotter than the hottest bath days,” he wrote, “it’s really too far. Some of the roads are very rough.” you have ever taken. I ducked my head I looked at images of the cave online. It was luminous, and got some water in my mouth. It terrifying—the stuff of fantasy. We traded in our economy car for tasted pure, but an instinct told me not to a four-wheel-drive vehicle and set out the next morning. swallow. We treaded water for a few We asked the desk clerk at our hotel near Lake Mývatn if we could minutes, then I got out and watched my swim in Grjótagjá. He looked at us squarely and said, “No, but you husband from a rock. Before I got in, I can look.” I had read warnings online, where people wrote with what had been very cold, but the heat from the sounded like authority that the spring had been swimmable until the water kept me warm for a long time. late 1970s and early 80s, when eruptions from Krafla, a nearby While we were there, other visitors volcano, heated the water to 50 degrees Celsius or more. came in and out. Most were startled to We explained to the desk clerk that the man from whom we had see us, knowing only what they had read rented our house in Reykjavík was friendly with the owners of the on the sign, but then a young couple farm where the spring was located. “He swam in it after running arrived and swam with us. They lived in a marathon,” we said. Like everyone we met in Iceland, the clerk was America, and were staying with the exceptionally generous and patient. He called the landowners, and landowners. As the husband splashed they said yes, we could swim in the spring. into the water, I noticed his thick, loamy We thought about waiting until morning to go to Grjótagjá, but body odor and was irritated with him for reasoned we could go twice. We drove several kilometers to the getting into the pristine spring without farm. A farmer waved us in at the gate, and lambs ran alongside our showering first. The water was too hot car. We parked in front of the cave opening. We were the only ones for his wife, and she sat on the rock with there. A sign said, in many languages, that swimming was me. Then a group of young women came forbidden. We went inside. It was dark, and the path from the in. They had no plans to swim, but seeing entrance down to the spring was narrow and rocky. Although it was us in the water, they stripped to their only a bit longer than a flight of stairs, I chose my steps carefully. By underwear and splashed in the shallows. the time we got to the water, I was too terrified to get in. I swam one last time, and then my “Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” I said. husband and I decided to go. Three Clancy had already begun to remove his clothes. I pulled my young Japanese tourists entered the cave sweater over my head. as we were leaving. They wore “Test it first,” I said. waterproof pants and down parkas with He sat on a rock and put his feet in the water. Then he lowered fur-trimmed hoods, and they looked at himself in. On the bottom of the spring were large rocks. He stepped me, half naked with wet hair, as if I were on one, and it moved. a wild troll. “Be careful,” I said. In the car, Clancy admitted that he He waded until only his head poked out, then turned and smiled. had scalded his leg. A jet of hotter water, “Come in,” he said. maybe from the spring’s source, had caught his thigh while he was swimming. Later he said his heartbeat made strange sounds in his ears the whole ride back. We could have gone back to the cave the next day, but we didn’t. It wasn’t because we were tired or lazy, but because we were afraid. Not of Grjótagjá, exactly, but of nature. “In that cave, death sits and wonders,” I said to Clancy. Then I said, “I want to go to the bath that’s in the volcano.” This was a hot spring in the Víti crater in Krafla. Websites mentioned sulfuric acid in the water. “For some reason I don’t like the idea of acid eating my swimsuit off my body,” he said. “I think it’s only a few kilometers from here.” He sighed. “Tell me the directions.”

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 39 / next act /

A view of Frankfurt Cathedral from the Römerberg, a historic square in the heart of the rebuilt DomRömer district.

Some cities in Europe—London, Berlin—are famous for throwing off sparks of excitement, regularly launching global trends and attractions. Then there’s Frankfurt. Germany’s banking center, long regarded as industrious but dull, rarely attracts much attention. But that’s changing as two very different neighborhoods emerge as exciting urban playgrounds. Last month, the DomRömer district (domroemer.de) opened to the public after years of construction. This historic pocket of Frankfurt’s Altstadt, or Old Town, has been meticulously re-created, and late this summer will make its formal debut as a mixed-use development with a medieval vibe, home to Fun Comes to shops, museums, apartments and small businesses. It joins a more organic pattern of urban renewal taking place to the west, where Frankfurt a wave of clubs, galleries and restaurants Once, Germany’s buttoned-up business capital was a place are transforming the Bahnhofsviertel you went for work or because you were just passing through. neighborhood from sleazy to downright stylish. Now, though, a blossoming of culture and cuisine that engages Frankfurt proved its talent for renewal once with the city’s past is making it a legitimately great destination. before: the Römerberg, a Gothic town square HBY RAP AEL KADUSHIN. Photographs BY Ériver Hijano flattened by Allied bombs during World War II,

40 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com was rebuilt in the 1980s with painstaking Romantic. The most dazzling showpiece is the House of the Golden attention to detail. But the blocks between the Scales (5 Markt), a gabled 17th-century building that sports enough square and Frankfurt Cathedral remained timber to have felled a small forest and will soon open with a street- blighted by a parking garage and Brutalist level café and a museum upstairs. Jutting off the façade are the stone postwar buildings. In an effort to change that, heads of its first owners, a bug-eyed burgher and his wife, looking the city approved a major redevelopment plan surprised to be back where they started. The developers tracked the in 2007, and over the past decade, Europe’s original busts down to a private home outside the city, where they’d brightest young architects and craftspeople been languishing since the war. have drawn on old blueprints, paintings and Even the retailers slated to move in later this year have a touch of photographs to reconstruct the area as it the quaint. Forget fast food or franchises: opening in August will be appeared before the war. The result is a small china shop, a millinery, a bakery and a restaurant serving DomRömer, a web of alleyways, squares, traditional German food. courtyards, and patrician town houses that When there was no existing record to draw from, the designers have been resurrected down to the last gargoyle came up with their own plans, producing 20 new structures that and lick of decorative plaster. play off classical styles. Chief among the additions is the Stadthaus The neighborhood now reads like a sort of am Markt (stadthaus-am-markt.de), a community exhibition space primer on historical architecture, showcasing that is the heart of the quarter. The hall has an austere Modernist a patchwork of styles from Baroque to Rococo to exterior, but its narrow windows and deeply pitched roof harmonize with the surrounding medieval silhouettes. On the ground floor is the Archaeological Garden, a protected excavation of the bones of early Frankfurt, including the remains of a Roman military camp. Over in the Bahnhofsviertel district, tradition is the last thing on anyone’s mind. Until recently, this was strictly the turf of drug dealers and strip clubs, its bright spots (like the multicultural mix of family-run shops and restaurants) obscured by its sketchy reputation. But an infusion of artists hunting for cheap studio space and cheaper drinks has started to revive the area. Leading the resurgence are brothers David and James Ardinast of Maxie Eisen (maxieeisen.com; mains €9–€15), a four-year-old deli that nods to

clockwise From above: The beetroot and feta salad with passion-fruit vinaigrette at Stanley Diamond; Ralf Seinecke and Daniel Schierke in their contemporary art space, Galerie Rundgaenger; at the Hammer Museum.

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 41 / next act /

Altstadt The DomRömer district

The Bahnhofsviertel neighborhood From right: A view from the new Stadthaus am Markt, a community center in

River Main DomRömer; Plank, a coffee shop in the Bahnhofsviertel.

stylish place to sleep off a late night—and come morning, you can take one of their loaner Mini Coopers or bikes out for a spin. Some are wary that the escalating glitz portends a future where the Bahnhofsviertel is yet another anodyne hipsterville. “We don’t want the area to become tame,” says Daniel Schierke, who opened the contemporary Galerie Rundgaenger (rundgaenger.de) with his partner, Ralf Seinecke, in 2015. “The mix keeps the brothers’ Jewish roots with pastrami platters and matzo ball things from feeling too bourgeois.” For now, soup. Its success led the pair to open Stanley Diamond (stanley​ it’s still a proud home to both a scattering of diamond.com; mains €18–€36), a pocket of calm on a still-dicey seedy shops and the inexplicable yet charming block, where cooks with haute-cuisine credentials whip up dishes Hammer Museum (vollderhammer.eu), where like wild monkfish capped by foamed beurre blanc. “We believed in the functional tools are displayed as art and the Bahnhofsviertel even when others didn’t,” David says. “I’d come the marquee attraction is a sledgehammer here when I was a boy, with my parents, for Chinese, Turkish and that helped level the Berlin Wall. Turkish Lebanese food. There was an interesting mix of people and barbershops nestle next to hip-hop clubs and something exciting was always going on.” Other hangouts have cigar bars like Mercedes Reyes (mercedes-reyes. since joined the Ardinasts’ pioneering spots: the coffeehouse Plank com), where connoisseurs smoke hand-rolled (barplank.de) lures a boho crowd, and Kiosk Yok-Yok (fb.com/yokyok​ stogies and the walls are hung with panama citykiosk) next door has become a cult favorite for its house-label hats. But right across from the gallery, beer and backroom art gallery. After dark, there’s Amp (fb.com/ construction crews are erecting glossy ampyourself), a moody, music-centric café-bar launched by the high-rises, and the much-lauded Weinsinn pioneering German DJ Ata, and the chic Kinly Bar (fb.com/ Restaurant (weinsinn.de; tasting menus from thekinlybar), a dim hideaway where some of the city’s best €70), a fine-dining place with a modern-French bartenders craft experimental cocktails like a peanut-butter-and- sensibility, just moved in. The Bahnhofsviertel, jelly fizz infused with whiskey (never fear: if the menu doesn’t like DomRömer, has reached a turning point, appeal, they’ll whip up a cocktail tailored to your palate). With its and this may be the ideal moment to see rock-and-roll posters and splashy color schemes, 25hours Hotel Frankfurt, its historic glory renewed, its future Frankfurt by Levi’s (25hours-hotels.com; doubles from €75) is the still unpredictable.

42 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

/ detour /

Wait, This Is Athens? Just a short drive from the city center, the beaches, hotels and restaurants of the revived Athenian Riviera offer a revelatory new way to experience the Greek capital. By Eleni N. Gage

The Astir Marina, Here on the beach in mythical Greece, it feels some ancient architecture, and dine at one or where Athenians as if time has slowed to one long, golden hour. two of the sophisticated Athens restaurants have docked their yachts for As the sun dips below the horizon and flushes that have opened outposts along the shore. decades. everything with a rosy glow—from the ancient In the past, foreign visitors to the Riviera ruins behind you to the plate of fresh-grilled have been mostly limited to diaspora Greeks octopus on your table—it’s hard to believe and the yacht owners who moor their boats in

you’re not on a remote island somewhere in the the marina. This summer, however, all that is alace hotel p Cyclades, but just a half-hour drive from the likely to change, thanks to a huge investment r capital’s frenetic center on an enchanting project on the cape of Lemos, including this stretch of coast known as the Athenian Riviera. month’s launch of the Four Seasons Astir

Running from the busy suburb of Faliro to Palace Hotel Athens—the first Four Seasons in easons asti s the windswept Temple of Poseidon on Cape Greece (fourseasons.com; doubles from €822). r ou f

Sounion, this 56-kilometer strip of sand has For some, the new hotel will be an introduction f been a bolt-hole for well-to-do Athenians for to the area, but for many others, and Greeks in tesy o

more than half a century. They know it as a particular, it will represent the reinvention of a r

place to bask on the beach, perhaps take in modern classic. That’s because it will occupy >> cou

44 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com courtesy of four seasons astir palace hotel / detour /

the Astir Palace—a sprawling 1961 landmark built during the contemporary city’s heyday, after World War II and the Greek Civil War, but before the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. Throughout the 60s, the hotel was the place to be seen. “There is a saying that anybody who was anybody has slept in one of the beds at the Astir Palace,” says Efi Pratsoli, corporate marketing director of Astir Palace Vouliagmeni. Frank Sinatra once had to flee adoring crowds through the hotel kitchen, from top: Temple while Brigitte Bardot caused a stir by strolling of Poseidon on the beach in a tiny pink bikini. The Astir Palace Cape Sounion; Aegean Sea views continued to attract big names right up until from the new Four 2016, when the final guest before the hotel Seasons Astir closed was Barack Obama, on his last official Palace Hotel. visit to Greece as president. In June, the hotel will reopen after a €102 million renovation, with 303 redesigned guest choice. Why would you, when you can stay at rooms; eight restaurants, including a branch of the beach and still have access to the cultural NEXT StoP the Nobu franchise, Matsuhisa Athens; and a sites of central Athens? “What I love about the spa inspired by the teachings of Hippocrates. city is that it has so much to offer,” says Here are three trips The restaurant at Astir Beach, formerly a TGI cookbook author Tatiana Blatnik, who lives in to pair with a stay on the Athenian Riviera, Fridays, will relaunch as a Nice-n-Easy, a farm- Athens with her husband, Prince Nikolaos, the as chosen by to-table restaurant with seven outposts around son of the former king of Greece, and runs the Christos Stergiou at Greece (niceneasy.gr; mains €20–€40). “In the active-travel website thehact.com. “You have expert tour operator old days, the Fridays would close at eight,” says mountains in the north, the sea in the south, True Greece. truegreece.com. founder Dimitris Christoforidis. “That was a and the city center—and you can be in any of crime, because the sun sets right in front of these environments in less than half an hour.” Porto Heli, the you.” The new Nice-n-Easy will stay open until Blatnik raves about the organic farm owned Peloponnese 11:30 p.m. and serve modern Greek cuisine. by the Margi (margifarm.gr; tour and dinner 2½ hours by car. The Astir complex will shine a spotlight on €81), a small, family-run boutique hotel and Make Amanzoe (aman.com; doubles the coast just south of the city for visitors who restaurant in inland Vouliagmeni. “They offer from €1,000) your may have seen Athens as a place to fly in to, see this farm-to-table experience where you get base for touring the the Acropolis, then escape to the island of their eggs from the chickens and fresh cheese from sights of the the goats and the chef creates a delicious local southern mainland. meal,” she says. Spetses, The Seafood is another big draw, whether it’s Saronic Islands grilled whole fish at a low-key taverna like 2 hours by ferry. Louizidis (2 Ermou, Vouliagmeni; mains Stay at Poseidonion €6-€22), sushi at Kohylia in the Grand Resort Grand Hotel (poseidonion.com; Lagonissi (lagonissi​resort.gr; mains €20–€31), doubles from €167) or the cuttlefish risotto at Michelin-starred while exploring this Varoulko (varoulko.gr; mains €56–€61) near the sophisticated island. port of Piraeus, northwest of Vouliagmeni. Halkidiki, Another must-do is to take a dip in Lake alace hotel (2) northern Greece p r Vouliagmeni (limni​vouliagmenis.gr), a thermal- A 1-hour flight, plus spring-fed lagoon with a world-class wellness a 1-hour drive. facility and restaurant attached. The waters Zone out on the private beach at are said to relieve everything from eczema to easons asti s

Sani Resort (sani- r trauma, though many visitors just go to take in resort.com; doubles ou f

the spectacular scenery. from €242). f Whichever you choose, you may find that tesy o

on your next Greece trip, you’ll make Athens r

a destination, rather than just a stopover. cou

46 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com courtesy of four seasons astir palace hotel (2)

courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Sanya, Yalong Bay On the beach at the Ritz- Carlton Sanya, Yalong Bay.

ay •••••• B ong al Y ya, ya, an

S One for the Ages on lt

r In this year’s family special, we look at vacations tailored to different kinds of broods. a C Traveling with your first baby? We know naptime is a priority. Planning a trip with a big clan itz- of kids? You need different activities to keep everybody happy. Here, we’ve organized dream he R destinations by family dynamics, from baby’s first holiday to multi-generational T f adventures. There are far too many different types of families to represent them all here, but hopefully you’ll find a trip, tip or trick to suit your tribe. tesy o r by merritt gurley cou

*Prices throughout are in U.S. dollars for ease of comparison. travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 51

/ family special /

Dynamic A couple traveling The scenic with one baby Maokong Gondola stops under two years old at four sights across Taipei. Priority Ease

Expert Advice Corinne McDermott, founder of Have Baby Will Travel (havebabywill​travel. com), an online guide for traveling with kids.

go now I started Have Baby Will Travel a few months after I returned from our first trip with our daughter, who was The Tilo Kids’ almost one at the asak Club’s bamboo time. As a first-time ch r playground. parent I would never have believed it, but the younger the baby, the easier they •••••• are to travel with. Taipei, Taiwan Before they are Urban: mobile, you really Easy public transportation, paved sidewalks have your pick as to

that won’t destroy your stroller, and changing what kind of trip ghout by chotika sopita

First Family ou you’d like to take. stations equipped with free wet wipes: this is r new-parent heaven. Moving beyond the bliss b ring your

of practicality, entertainment abounds. Ride own wheels ions th

Vacation at Travel with a the Maokong Gondola, trek Nangang District r stroller, since it’s You have the baby outnumbered, and there are Hiking Trail, check out the view from Taipei limits to what a newborn will actually enjoy. So, go not just a stroller; 101, and feast on Taiwanese food along lively it’s a bed, a high ahead, make this trip about you. We’re guessing es. illust The Okura Prestige chair, and a “baby Yongkang Street. Stay at ag you’re in need of relaxation, so here are our picks for jail” when you need m laid-back holidays where everyone can enjoy some Taipei (okurataipei.com.tw; the Suite King Size one. I don’t serious naptime (plus history, food and shopping). Bed from $645) for its open-plan suites that subscribe to allow you to sit in the living room but still traveling light if it will stress you out

have eyes on the baby in the bedroom. trying to determine eney/getty i we

Culture: Luang Prabang, Laos what you need to S This sleepy river town on the banks of the Beach: Bndonatam, I esia bring with you. Mekong has charm to spare. Stroll the cute city This breezy Indonesian island is just a take heart center; enjoy French fusion cuisine at one of 30-minute boat ride from Singapore, but it has The first trip is the ongsa; Jane the riverfront restaurants; tour some of the the snorkeling, beaches and water sports of a toughest. There will

be moments where ts n 33 unesco-protected wats; and wake up early r tropical paradise. The seafood is fresh, the you think it’s too o

much work and why es (let’s be honest, you were already up) to offer sand on Nongsa Beach is tawny and warm, r sunrise alms to a line of monks. Stay at the and the sunset at Barelang Bridge is the stuff did you even bother? But they pass tigo

Rosewood Luang Prabang (rosewoodhotels. of holiday dreams. Stay at Montigo Resorts, quickly and you will on m com; Riverside suite from $629), a new addition Nongsa (montigoresorts.com; one-bedroom find a family-travel f groove. I truly to the colonial villa scene here, with French- villa from $230), a beachfront estate that was sy o believe that travel is te Lao architecture standing on high stilts and built with families in mind, from the giant helping my children r views over the hills and valley below. Book the waterfront pool and bamboo playground to grow into the kind of ou adaptable and c t: Bill Bensley–designed Riverside Suite so you Tilo Kids’ Club, named after the resort’s f open-minded adults l can lounge on the outdoor daybed and watch baby-chick mascot who runs activities all day, m

I hope they will o the river roll by as your wee one sleeps. including batik-painting and cookie-baking. >> become. fre

52 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from left: courtesy of montigo resorts nongsa; Jane Sweeney/getty images. illustrations throughout by chotika sopitarchasak CMY CY MY CM K Y M C Travel+Leisure_Advert_203.2x266.7mm_Apr2018_01_opt.pdf 127/4/201814:16

/ family special /

•••••• Babies & Preschoolers There will be moments of chaos, but traveling with two young kids is sometimes easier than traveling with a single child. They can entertain each other and your older child is probably already enjoying the kids’ clubs and other holiday activities. The vacation may be less about you, but it will be great fun to watch your children start to appreciate the excitement and joys of travel. The key to keeping the trip moving is packing it full of distractions, so we’ve gathered three itineraries that will keep your kids so busy playing and exploring they won’t have time to argue over whose cup has more juice.

Take a splash in the kids’ pool at The Ritz- Carlton Sanya, Yalong Bay. ay B

Glow-in-the- ong

dark painting in al Y Dynamic the Buds by A couple traveling Shangri-La ya, d an r with two kids under Muddy Room. S on

the age of four una lt f C r a Priority C itz- Entertainment tesy o Urban: Singapore (shangri-la.com; themed family suite from r he R T Clean, safe and chock-full of parent-friendly $942), where they’ve launched “Buds by f considerations (changing tables, nursing Shangri-La,” a 2,150-square-meter interactive couay; sy o

rooms, playgrounds), Singapore is a slam- playspace with a cooking station, music te r along B dunk destination for families with toddlers. studio, art room, giant pirate ship and a water ou

play zone with splash pads. The Toddler Zone e; c Beyond the shopping malls, Marina Bay r skyline, amazing hawker food and the has swings and slides, a piano floor, a ball pit anya, Y otherworldly Gardens by the Bay, there is also and vintage kiddie rides. If you feel like really lton S lton r a

a lesser-known side of the Lion City that will getting into it, book a themed family suite and la singapo C i- have your tots oohing and aahing. Check out choose from safari, treetop, underwater, space r or castle décor rooms; the last has castle-and-

the barnyard animals at Farmart Centre and hang he Ritz- s f

Hay Dairies; the wildlife at the Singapore Zoo; drawbridge bunk beds. f T

the fabulous tropical flora at Singapore sy o te tesy o Yalong Bay, China r Botanic Gardens; the feathered friends at Beach: r Jurong Bird Park; the beaches at Sentosa; and Kids love the beach and all the splashing, ou t: c t: the rides at Wild Wild Wet waterpark, which sandcastle-building, shell hunting and f l m has a section of shallow slides for younger swimming that comes with it. This m top: cou o o

kids. Stay in the Shangri-La Singapore destination on the South China Sea, with its fre fr

54 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

8-kilometer-long stretch of sand, has plenty to day in Melbourne, where you can opt for an keep their hands full. Snorkel the clear waters excursion on the Puffing Billy Steam Train off the coast, go Hobie Cat sailing or cycle that chugs above the eucalypt- and fern- through mangrove forests. Explore the Yalong covered valleys of the Dandenong Ranges. On Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park and you board the Queen Elizabeth, there is a Play Zone Expert Advice might spot a wild pig, macaque or chameleon, where kids can join in all kinds of games and A nn Belle, founder or visit the Yalong Bay Rose Valley to see 1,500 activities, from finger painting to air hockey. of Kids Travel species of roses. Stay at The Ritz-Carlton There is also a night nursery for babies who Books (kids Sanya, Yalong Bay travelbooks.com), an (ritzcarlton.com; Panoramic are 12- to 23-months-old where you can drop online resource for Ocean View Club room from $380), which has a your kids off to sleep under the supervision of children’s books Kids’ Passport program that gives children qualified childcare professionals, while you go about travel.

incentive to explore more hotel activities and out for dinner, get a massage, or otherwise Play like a join the rotating roster of daily fun (painting enjoy the facilities. local T-shirts, chocolate workshops, learning about Visiting playgrounds in different cities sea turtles, fishing, making bracelets and and countries is an more). There’s also a cool kids’ club, a kiddie Pick your own opportunity to meet pool with a waterslide, and an outdoor park veggies from the local parents who and vegetable garden. garden at The will give you the Ritz-Carlton. inside scoop on nearby family- Cruise: Southern Australia friendly activities, events and A cruise accomplishes the neat trick of restaurants. Also, bringing the sights to you without the hassle the kids get to let off of packing, relocating, and unpacking ad steam and most Cunard playgrounds have nauseum. This week-long sailing by different equipment (cunard.com; inside staterooms from $1,729 per from back home. person, children under age two traveling in a Don’t change third or fourth berth are free to sail) starts in your Adelaide and ends in Sydney, with stops along personality the way in Hobart, where you can try fresh Take vacations with your kids that are local produce at the Salamanca Market, and a similar to the types of vacations you ay liked to take before you had kids (within reason, of course). along B If you are doing something you love, d anya, Y

r the kids will get a a sense of that. un C lton S lton

f r a Surrender to C

sy o their schedule te

r The first few trips

he Ritz- we took with our ; cou f T kids had us suffering ay

B when they woke up before the sun. But tesy o ong r once, we just went al

Y with it. We were in e; cou ya, ya, Prague and at the r

an Charles Bridge at S sunrise. That was on the moment that I lt r

a really felt the idea of C i-la singapo kids changing our r

itz- perspectives. I would have never he R T f shang woken up that early f to walk around a

sy o city, but here I was tesy o te r

r seeing something The fun-filled few people seem to t: cou t: see. Embrace their f Play Zone on schedules and make t Cunard’s Queen m m le it part of your o o Elizabeth.

fr fr op: cou itinerary.

/ family special /

Ski lessons with GoSnow in Niseko suit snow bunnies of all ages. t r

Dynamic A family with p and Reso

kids aged five m a to eight •••••• Priority Activities Kids lephant C This is a glory age for family travel as your kids will probably remember these trips for the rest of their lives. iangle E You’re still dealing with madcap energy, but it is easier to steer and focus than when they were in the toddler phase, yet they are still young enough to like you better than their friends. This is when they’ll really olden Tr

be wide-eyed about the sights, so give them plenty to enjoy. a G r sons nanta ea S

Niseko, Japan Active: f A

A rock-climbing r

The snowfall in this Japanese ski town is so session for little ou F f fine and fluffy they call it champagne powder. ones at Four tesy o Seasons Langkawi. r It is a winter wonderland of snowball fights, sy o te sledding, skiing and snowboarding, followed r by steamy cups of hot chocolate and giant bowls of slurpable ramen. Stay at Aya Niseko r seasons; cou

(ayaniseko.com; two-bedroom Yotei view from ou f

$678), a ski-in, ski-out resort with w; ken seet/cou no

breathtaking views of Mount Yotei, plus the S tesy o o r G GoSnow

(gosnowniseko.com; full day class $91) f ski school for kids of all ages with dedicated sy o

Ninja Kids Reception ski area that’s perfect for te r young learners (ages three to six). Bonus: There’s a Kids’ Club for one- to six-year-olds t m with games, activities and crafts, and a m top: ken seet/cou o o

babysitting service for kids under three. fr op: cou fr

56 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

Expert Advice Callum Brown, general manager of Flight Centre Singapore (flightcentre.com. sg), a travel agency offering inexpensive flights, holiday packages and more.

Join the club Stick to short-haul destinations and book resort-style accommodation with kids’ clubs— this is a game changer. For me, kids’ clubs and babysitting services The kids’ room in are priorities. We the Family Beach would actually Villa at Four Seasons change our

t Langkawi. destination if we r could not find a resort that had the

d Reso right facilities. Culture: Chiang Rai, Thailand Feeding the p an

m Thailand’s hilly north is an alluring mix of gentle giants Take a C sweeping landscapes and ancient history, with at Anantara (calculated) Golden risks enough adventure and wildlife to keep the Triangle. phant At Flight Centre, we

le kids in awe. Stop by Wat Rong Khun, also have seen families E known as the White Temple, and admire its with children of all ages travel on ngle sugar-white architecture; check out the folk ia various types of r T art at Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park; holidays, including long-haul journeys den get a taste of Lanna history in the old city of

ol to see Santa in G Chiang Saen. But the main attraction here is Finland; African a r the elephants; at Anantara Golden Triangle safaris; camping in

nta Elephant Camp & Resort (goldentriangle. Australia;

na campervan road easons A anantara.com; Three Country View Family f trips in New r S suite from $976) the kids can learn all about Zealand; and more. sy o

f Fou It’s the mindset and te the gentle giants, walk with the herd into the r expectations the jungle and even treat them to a river bath. parents set for tesy o r themselves and Beach: Langkawi, Malaysia their children, and

easons; cou also how prepared

s Ancient jungles, sandy beaches and a seascape r they are for the type

ou exploding with limestone karsts make this of trips they take f

f Malaysian island look like a land that time Seasons Langkawi (fourseasons.com; Family that make the difference. sy o now; ken seet/cou

S forgot. Take a boat through the Kilim Karst Beach Villa with Plunge Pool from $1,950) for te o r Geoforest mangroves, one of the most diverse Trust in tech f G its 1.8-kilometer-long private beach, newly ecosystems on Earth; fly above the rainforest renovated family villas, and Kids For All almighty Load your gadget tesy o with Umgawa Zipline (they recommend a Seasons program that offers monkey safaris r with games and minimum age of five); ride the Langkawi and rainforest cruises, rock-climbing and apps to keep the SkyCab up to the SkyBridge for a vertiginous archery, and batik-painting and kite-making. kids entertained. The iPad was t m m top: cou view; and drop by the kitschy Oriental Village, They also have a cool outdoor discovery center o o definitely sent from fr fr op:a ken seet/cou theme park/mall mash-up. Stay at the Four for learning about the surrounding ecology. the gods.

/ family special /

•••••• Mount Banyak and the wonders of Bromo- Tengger-Semeru National Park (volcano peaks, craters, sweeping savanna), there’s never a dull moment in Malang. Visit Hawai Tweens Expert Advice Waterpark Malang, Predator Fun Park and By now, they’ve outgrown the kids’ clubs, and need Danielle Sadler, activities friends back home won’t think are lame. Batu Secret Zoo, and stay at Tugu Malang from Adventure This calls for some serious adventures: diving, (tuguhotels.com; Zamrud suite from $165). Nannies (adventure ziplining, mountain-climbing—it is all up for grabs. Founded by Anhar Setjadibrata, the hotel also nannies.com), connecting top houses his own antique collection, the largest nannies to traveling in the country, and is part museum, part art families for an extra Cruise: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand gallery and part time-machine—guaranteed pair of hands. This five-night sailing by Dream Cruises to give friends back home major travel envy. Make it a (dreamcruiseline.com; from $2,176, all- team effort inclusive) starts in Singapore, stops at the Active: Cebu, The Philippines This is the age Malaysian diving islands of Pulau Redang, where young adults Nothing spells family bonding like group feel their autonomy and ends in Thailand with the palm-lined scuba lessons, and Cebu, with its warm water, and independence beaches of Koh Samui, and big-city Bangkok. clear visibility and thriving marine life, is the are vital to their Aboard the 18-deck Genting Dream tweens can identity. To keep the perfect place to get PADI-certified. There are kids interested in ride in the six-slide water park or glide over caves, shipwrecks and coral walls home to the activities you’ve the ocean on a 35-meter zipline. Tweens are an thresher sharks, squirrelfish and other got planned, involve ideal age as they can still join the Little Panda them in the strange and colorful creatures. “Bubblemaker” decision-making Club’s (ages two to 12) broad menu of starter scuba classes will suit kids as young as process—they’ll be supervised activities, but are also old enough eight and there are “junior open-water scuba more invested in for the teen activities like karaoke, DJ mixing learning throughout diving” classes for ages 10 and up. If your the trip and in classes and hip-hop dancing. There’s also a tweens aren’t ready to dive, snorkeling here is exploring with you. cinema, a bowling alley and a video arcade. just as fun. Stay at Plantation Bay (plantation Leverage bay.com; one-bedroom suite from $250), where, learning tools Culture: Malang, Indonesia in addition to the on-site dive school, there are Google Goggles is The cool highland climate has drawn travelers four freshwater pools, 2.3 hectares of saltwater amazing; take a to this East Java gem since its days as a Dutch photo of anything lagoons, waterslides and sea activities. around you and the colony, and with tea plantations, orchards, app will instantly waterfalls, river tubing, paragliding from link you to the relevant Wikipedia Dynamic page. This is an An ocean backdrop A family interactive way to provides extra thrills with kids aged keep kids engaged for watersliding on nine to 12 as you hike through the Genting Dream. historical areas and explore new spots. Priority is an Exposure.co Action eye-catching service that turns traveling into a eung; creative experience. cus Y The build-your-own r site allows you to design stories with your photos and build a stunning travel journal. f scott dunn; Ma Gett cul ural

A city with a strong tesy o culture and history r

will help tweens sydney m ses t: cou t:

gain a deeper f ui understanding of r c angha where they are, m ea m top le r

rather than being L he o d T f confined to a resort f with food and entertainment that tesy o tesy

many families can r find at home. cou clockwise fr tesy o cou r tesy

58 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

Dynamic A family with Nepal is an kids aged 13 to 18 adventure playground for intrepid teens. Priority Independence

See Hong Kong on a TramOramic tour of the city.

A suite at The Langham Sydney.

Expert Advice James Hayward, managing director of Little Nomads •••••• (littlenomads.com), travel-planning for families. Active: Nepal Teenagers Don’t force it While young kids have energy, teenagers have Let them know your endurance, which opens your options up to Organizing a vacation with teens isn’t so much plans and ask them more intense itineraries, like the two-week if they want to join about overcoming obstacles as it is about creating Scott Dunn (scottdunn.com; $4,000 per person) enriching experiences and giving them space and in. Don’t drag them along, just extend “Nepal for Teenagers” trek. It’s designed for freedom to pursue their interests, whether that’s in the invitation; it’s families with older kids (12 and up) and the great outdoors or on city streets. their holiday as well. includes hikes, village visits, paragliding,

Get them zip-lining, white-water rafting and safaris. journaling ng; ng; You’ll stay at luxury resorts while you traverse

eu As a gift before Y Urban: Hong Kong Kathmandu, Bandipur, the Annapurna

s traveling, provide

cu This hip harbor city has endless food, lush a nice Moleskin Mountains, Pokhara, Chitwan National Park, r walking trails, tons of shopping malls and notepad and pen and the Seti River and Dhulikhel. encourage them to skyline vistas so dazzling your teens will be jot, doodle and draw Snapchatting their photos with #nofilter. Take their holiday Beach: Sydney, Australia experiences.

cott dunn; Ma the TramOramic tour through the city; ride on Sydney has as much to offer the laid-back s f the Star Ferry; hop the tram up Victoria Peak; Be flexible surfer as the discerning urbanite. Active teens

sy o play archery tag (yes, it’s a thing) at Crossfire Ensure your can climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, take

te accommodation has ney r Arena; cruise through the harbor on a junk; the Bondi-to-Bronte coastal walk, and swim in space and options ou

syd spin out on the rollercoasters at Ocean Park the eminently Instagrammable Bondi Icebergs

m for teens to chill out t: c t: f Hong Kong; and hike up 268 steps to see the in their own pool. Aesthetes will have fun at the Museum of r uises gha

c environment.

an Hotel Indigo m Big Buddha. Stay at (ihg.com; Contemporary Art or at a Sydney Opera House op le L

Sometimes a t ea m r he adjoining superior twin from $185) for the teenager will be just show. And those still young at heart can go o T d f f fr adjoining rooms (the freedom of separate happy enough to sit carnival crazy at Luna Park. Stay at The space, the security of proximity); central by the pool, with Langham Sydney (langhamhotels.com; esy o esy access to food and t r location; and glass-bottomed infinity pool on drinks, Wi-Fi and adjoining rooms for a family of four from tesy o cou r tesy clockwise cou the 29th floor, offering the best view of the city. headphones. $646), for stately rooms with harbor views.

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 59

/ family special /

•••••• Big Families or Groups If you’re on the go with a big group—be it your own kids, your parents, extended family, or other friends—you are going to want to visit destinations that offer a lot of different kinds of activities in close proximity. Villas are the best bet for accommodations as you have personal space, but you can socialize in the shared living areas. The most important thing is to let people feel like they have control over their vacation and can do their own thing while still creating plenty of opportunities for quality time.

Shiva Samui’s Dynamic private shore is Traveling with perfect for young more than beachcombers. six people Priority Options Expert Advice Laura Hall from Kid & Coe (kidandcoe.com), a curation of family-friendly vacation rentals.

Bet on the beach You can’t lose with a trip to a beach town. If some members of the party don’t like beaches, they will likely find something to entertain themselves in town.

Agree on Beach: Kmoh Sa ui, Thailand white-sand beaches and volcanoes, there’s expenses There are villas galore on this alabaster rafting, snorkeling, diving, fishing, temples, Sort the money out in advance. Don’t island, so the group can feel at home together. elephants, markets, malls and more. Stay at leave money issues Little kids will love Paradise Park Farm Samui The Mahalani (themahalani.com; two three- clouding your stay; and the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom. bedroom villas from $240, including meals), a decide who’s paying for what before you Older kids will like ATVing and ziplining on pair of well-appointed beachfront villas on the get there. Buy your Khao Pom mountain, and Pink Elephant north coast with a total of six bedrooms. It has own groceries and Samui Water Park. The whole gang will enjoy a big garden; a coral reef just offshore; and be fair about it. a trip to local waterfalls (Na Muang Falls and cribs and high chairs for the babies. Plan together Lin Had Waterfall are lovely), kayaking and Collaborative tools snorkeling at Angthong National Marine Park, Culture: Galle, Sri Lanka can help you plan the trip together. and brunch at Nikki Beach club. Stay at Shiva Sip tea at elegant colonial plantations; surf I love TripIt as a way Samui (shivasamui.com; four-bedroom villas waves along the south coast; spot leopards, of keeping everyone from $400) for its huge multi-bedroom villas elephants and sloth bears on safari; track blue in the loop and keeping important (up to five bedrooms) with private pools and whales in open ocean: the country of Sri information in one

a big kids’ club with lots of activities. Lanka is a one-stop shop for holiday magic. place. Pinterest has ui m Stay at Villa Olu (villaolu.co.uk; four-bedroom also helped me get an idea of what Active: B ali, INDONesia Villa Olu from $619), two beachfront Dutch everyone in the sa iva sh

Bali ticks all the boxes for group travel, with colonial villas just five minutes from Galle group is interested f pursuits for culture vultures, adrenaline Fort; a 15-minute drive from the surf town of in, including the kids. If you start tesy o tesy junkies, foodies, beach bums and everyone in Hikkaduwa; or half an hour from Mirissa, a off on the right foot, r

between. Besides emerald rice paddies, whale-watching hub. it’s a big help. cou

60 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com courtesy of shiva samui / deals /

BEACH THAILAND t+l reader specials Pimalai Resort & Spa Book a chic city stay in Hong Kong or Singapore, or go coastal for Tucked within Koh Lanta’s an idyllic getaway in Thailand, Bali or the Maldives. tropical jungle and with enviable views of the Andaman Sea, Pimalai Resort & Spa is a luxe escape surrounded by nature. The beachside property is offering a special just for T+L readers: take 20 percent off the best available rate when booking one of its contemporary villas. Guests can choose between the Beachside villas, which offer direct access to the sandy shores, or the Hillside Ocean View Pool villas, perched on the lush cliffs and each with a private infinity pool. Plus, the offer also comes with a 10 percent discount on all food and drinks consumed at the resort. The Deal T+L Villas: a room in a Beachside villa, from Bt16,300, a room in a Hillside Ocean View Pool villa, from Bt17,300, through September 30. To book, e-mail [email protected] and quote “T+Lvillas.” pimalai.com.

The Pavilions Phuket Book your next beach weekend at The Pavilions Phuket and get 40 percent off a selection la

of their private pool villas. You ni A can choose from their one-,

three- and four-bedroom villas, gas M ti

each with its own infinity pool r and some offering outdoor salas with sweeping views of olo o co p

the Andaman Sea. Guests will r a m

also be treated to a drink on f The jungles of arrival; a welcome foot Koh Lanta massage; daily breakfast at sy o te

envelop Pimalai r Plantation Restaurant; daily Resort & Spa.

afternoon tea at Firefly ; cou pa

Restaurant; and free beach S

shuttles to nearby Layan t & r Beach. The Deal Summer o es SUPERSAVER Private Escape: a night in a r one-, three- or four-bedroom ai Marco Polo Ortigas Manila, Philippines al m villa, from Bt8,340 for two i p Located in the heart of Manila’s growing financial district, this ay people, through October 31. f

sophisticated hotel is much more than just a business address. u rr pavilionshotels.com. sy o

With this Luxe Life deal, guests will get guaranteed early te r the m the check-in and late checkout; a welcome amenity; laundry and MALDIVES f pressing services; in-room check-in; and access to the hotel’s Carpe Diem Maldives t

Continental Club. The Deal Luxe Life: a night in a Premier room Summer in the Maldives brings m o

from US$153, through December 31. marcopolohotels.com. some of the best diving in the fr op: cou o cou r tesy

62 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from top: courtesy of pimalai resort & Spa; courtesy of marco polo ortigas MAnila

courtesy of the murray T A The Murray carpediemmaldives.com. Anantara Kihavah Kihavah Anantara seaplane transfers. The Deal transfers. seaplane including cruises, seven-day 22. anantara.com. 22. observatory; and round-trip round-trip and observatory; at lunch course V V of the Maldives with this this with Maldives the of The Deal day. day cruise including meals, gastronomy. gastronomy. a private stargazing session at at session stargazing a private city’s newest address, address, newest city’s the from package cultural and be treated to an elevated elevated an to treated be and and late checkout to 4 p.m. 4p.m. to checkout late and and you’ll have the opportunity opportunity the have you’ll and whale sharks come cruising cruising come sharks whale with a local expert that that expert alocal with through the house reef; daily daily reef; house the through the resort’s rooftop rooftop resort’s the July 1to valid three-night package from from package three-night S S S waters. blue clear the through theme: history, art or or art history, theme: tour walking aprivate take to four complimentary dives per per dives complimentary four O from focuses on your choice of of choice your on focuses percent savings on the the on savings percent nights in an an in nights restaurant; a guided snorkel snorkel aguided restaurant; underwater signature resort’s rooftop restaurant, as well as as well as restaurant, rooftop region, when manta rays and and rays manta when region, round-trip limousine transfers; transfers; limousine round-trip two; for breakfast daily receive E D P D D M breakfast for two; dinner at at dinner two; for breakfast US breakfast experience at experience breakfast U best-kept secrets on this this on secrets best-kept Maldives Maldives City HONG KONG o ce il ita up ea & ea al mb nan op ie is el ve pg urray. urray. las. las. $5,5 cover cover t or Manzaru restaurants; restaurants; Manzaru t or m Maldives is offering 10 10 offering is m Maldives uxe room or or room uxe er er r injays, the hotel’s sleek hotel’s sleek the injays, live-aboard fleet’s rade to an an to rade race the natural wonders wonders natural the race lebrate the season, season, the lebrate tara tara W U S S T S at 74, through um ky he d he B $2 H er er oo K : three nights in an an in nights : three V on ,088 per person, person, per ,088 mer mer ih P N k at least three three least k at ill eal includes afour- includes eal G avah Maldives avah Maldives oo g 2

S as ue C N K G S l ep S S ar 3 on ra V sts will also also will sts al ig ea G tember 30. 30. tember pe pe il e: seven- e: nd room room nd g’s nature suite suite nature D la, from from la, ra , the , the

ec V nd nd it T C ember a he he ar C ar pe pe pe pe

14-night stays will get a 20 a20 get will stays 14-night A & Resorts stays will get a 25 percent percent a25 get will stays 15 get will stays seven-night niccolohotels.com. discount. discount. discounted parking rates and and rates parking discounted The The nibbles. and champagne a welcome glass of of glass a welcome S S S S through through G free shuttle services to and and to services shuttle free G C C percent discount; and 21-night 21-night and discount; percent rate; flexible the off percent K H H E P international calls, and and calls, international dining, services, laundry off percent 20 to 10 include business-center services. business-center services. buffet breakfast for two, two, for breakfast buffet Deal Millennium Hotels Millennium Hotels SINGAPORE tu t an in in oc ac xt it op ue in ra ot ot y and you’ll be rewarded. rewarded. be you’ll y and gapore, M gapore, ( properties gapore g’s dio M dio end your stay in the the in stay your end nd room, from from room, nd el el els & Resorts’ six six &Resorts’ els ial ial kage: a night in an an in anight kage: thorne thorne sts will also enjoy daily daily enjoy also will sts

y of the Millennium Millennium the y of H S H S on in in ot S gapore, gapore, H O g gapore or or gapore ep el el ot W th K tember 30. 30. tember S on el el at er benefits benefits er H in ot erfront erfront S g gapore) gapore) in E el el G H gapore, M gapore, xp ra S C K nd nd lorer lorer in

op $4 N O gapore, gapore, H L 2 rc thorne thorne ,655, ,655, ot io hard hard el el n T The Sanya Sanya The 2019. millenniumhotels.com. 2019. deal includes two nights in the the in nights two includes deal guests (maximum 25 rooms); rooms); 25 (maximum guests ceremony at the the at ceremony an an an after party at at party after an a couple’s spa treatment; a treatment; spa a couple’s at Market at buffet dinner seafood pot a hot with the ultimate wedding wedding ultimate the with to 30 guests; and a 30-minute a30-minute and guests; 30 to the the the Junior Junior the WE from from for up to 30 guests; a guests; 30 to up for from the hotel to designated designated to hotel the from C parties of 30 to 50 guests, the the guests, 50 to 30 of parties package for up to 30 guests; guests; 30 to up for package cocktail awelcome guests; 50 a guests; 50 night at M at night package on the shores of of shores the on package P B L M H including beverage a two-hour locations. The Deallocations. buffet at the the at buffet CHINA ie t ie aw en hi al ai illennium Residence offer: a offer: Residence illennium O nese dinner in the Junior Junior the in dinner nese nan nan lroom or a dinner buffet at at buffet adinner or lroom P thouse suite; two nights in in nights two suite; thouse he knot in beachside bliss bliss beachside in knot he n or n or ce DD ri S vate vate $2 an an I sl P IN 00, through March 31, 31, March through 00, V and. and. ri S B ie O vate vate oc E al G E C travelandleisureasia.com w room for all all for w room ce S di lroom or a lunch alunch or lroom di hi ial ial ky ky S an an tion tion tion for up to to up for tion nese lunch in in lunch nese ui O P S S B table for for table ce ri ky ky L in ar f ar vate vate aw

an an gapore, gapore, T B he he or up to to up or ar f ar n, n, D O ec or up up or ce k; k; an an Jimbaran’s famous food food famous Jimbaran’s A The Deal The Deal Ayana Resort & Spa Bali &Spa Resort Ayana score double Marriott Marriott double score will couple the and guests, six 2019. editionhotels.com.2019. sunset ritual and and ritual sunset styled atraditionally within set can also opt for afternoon tea tea afternoon for opt also can of the the of at the floating table for up to to up for table floating the at also get an authentic dinner at at dinner authentic an get also 30 guests. guests. 30 to up for activity sports water world-class resort. resort. world-class two-night package from two-night the package is a guided tour of of tour aguided is package the three-night stay at this this at stay three-night from professional chef. chef. professional performance on the night. night. the on performance markets followed by a by followed markets RM Reward points per booking. booking. per points Reward E B K D P B D e CU INDONESIA cc ac xp al al am el ec B inese village that includes a includes that village inese inese cooking class with a with class cooking inese uxe uxe ommodation kage: three nights in a in nights three kage: lore the history and magic magic and history the lore ember 28. ayana.com. LT poeng poeng 18 U I sl S 8,888, through through 8,888, O U $1 and of the the of and ce

W B R

,356, through,356, / j T B an an al e he b he al dding dding signature signature i une 2018 V C C i, a restaurant arestaurant i, ie ul ity views fromity ridal party party ridal P T K w room, w room, tural tural G he a ec G ckage: T ue I nclud ree od M ak dance dance ak H sts will will sts A u C s on a s on suite. ot rray’s pr ot el el 63 ed in il 1, 1, il ton SubsPromo.indd 64 subscribe www.TravelandLeisureSEA.com/subscriptions To subscribe to either the Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, Media Transasia (Thailand) Ltd., 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75/8 Soi Sukhumvit 19, 14th TowerLtd., Floor, Ocean Sukhumvit Soi II, 75/8 Transasia (Thailand) Media Asia, Southeast Travel+Leisure For more information e-mail [email protected]. Klongtoey Nue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand 10110, Bangkok Wattana, Nue, Klongtoey print or digital or to go now, need-to-know travel tips and Southeast Asia and the world beyond, service detailsservice we all need, and abold people worldwide read read worldwide people a must-read for today’s cosmopolitan new look are what the magazine sets international edition of the magazine, the world’s leading travel magazine. Timely and advice trusted on where offering readers around the region a Every month, more than 5million chance to experience the world. Travel+Leisure is the most widely distributed It’s your indispensable guide to and sophisticated traveler.

Contact Contact us now! edition, please visit please edition, apart today. apart at Circulation Department, Southeast Asia Travel+Leisure

,

5/14/2561 BE 11:16

leigh griffiths Calm seas in snorkel-heaven El Nido, page 76. hs it Time-lapse , Vietnam’s heartland | All the ff Mekong Delta i / June 2018 / r sustainable beauty of Palawan | Why you should head to ski-playground leigh g leigh Chamonix in summer | Argentina or Brazil? See both sides of Iguazu Falls 65 DELTA BLUES The rice basket waterways of Southern Vietnam hold an enduring mysticism, despite encroaching modernity. Sailing deep into the Mekong Delta, Rachna Sachasinh finds life-affirming soup, songs and selfie-junkies.

photographed by morgan ommer Rolling past riverside vistas filled with dense mangroves and quiet Khmer sanctuaries on the Mystic Sampan. travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 67 from left: Teow serves up a hot bowl of hu tieu from his floating kitchen; a statue of Ho Chi Minh in Can Tho; early morning hustle at the Cai Rang floating market; in Vinh Long province, a temple of the Cao Dai religion, whose pantheon of saints includes Victor Hugo.

“I love the river,” Teow shouted while assembling a steaming hieuu t from Teow’s rig was docked deep in Cai Rang floating market, bowl of a mind-boggling armada of more than 400 houseboats and sampans eight kilometers upstream from Can Tho, the galley of his the provincial capital. Here, farmers, fishermen and middlemen gather in the wee hours to hustle rice, fish and produce, and, for many, Teow’s hu tieu is their go-to weathered sampan. A breakfast. It was just shy of 7 a.m., and Teow was trying to keep up with a queue four punts deep. The 40-year-old mildly sweet broth of moved nimbly in his tight kitchen space, dressing piping hot bowls at breakneck speed before setting them adrift in the sea of skiffs. The scene was symphonic and shrimp, pork and rice delightful, and the hu tieu was damn good. Centuries-old floating markets like Cai Rang anchor the culture of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta—and they are vermicelli topped with under siege. The delta is modernizing. Roads are replacing rivers. Salt water is seeping from the ocean citrusy herbs and fresh and damaging crops. And, erosion is stripping away arable land and riverbanks. It’s conceivable that the delta’s floating markets and Teow’s hu tieu stand may be parsley, hieuu t is the forced onto shore within the next generation. To be honest, I knew little about the Mekong Delta before I arrived, with images in my head primarily of standard soup of the warfare, of a battleground for nationalist forces against the French and then the Americans. In fact, marauders Mekong Delta. and settlers have been traipsing through this small, waterlogged landscape for centuries. My recent journey and curious shrines that honor ancient spirits, warlords was inspired by the delta’s latest settler, hotelier Adrian and even Victor Hugo. Zecha was right—folks here are a Zecha, who had just opened Azerai in Can Tho—the good-natured lot and dåelta-living, while on the second installation of his “affordable luxury” brand after threshold of change, is still remarkably pure and calm. launching in Luang Prabang last year—on an island right across from Can Tho’s lively quay. The founder of boarded the Aqua Mekong, a luxury 20-suite cruising luxe heavyweight Aman Resorts, which he left nearly ship, in Phnom Penh and sailed on the Upper Mekong four years ago, Zecha has an uncanny ability to sniff out across Vietnam’s delta basin, from Chau Doc to My astonishing locales and throw them into the spotlight. A Tho. The ship’s swish lounge was the ideal spot to sleepy rural idyll with lingering Indochina vibes, the witness the river transition from the wide, languid Mekong Delta is hardly on the jet-set circuit, and Zecha’s Iwaterway in Cambodia into a mesh of channels, tidal choice piqued my interest. mudflats, mangroves, shrimp and fish ponds, orchards, The Mekong Delta has a muddled history, to put it and paddies. mildly, but, “it’s also pure and deeply relaxing. To fully Locally, the Mekong River is known as “Cuu Long” or experience it, you have to get on the water,” Zecha Nine Dragons, after its nine branches, and their alleged insisted to me. He positioned Azerai smack in the middle dragon-infested waters. Some say there are only eight of the river, on an island forested with old banyans and natural tributaries—an extra one tacked on because nine sliced by mangrove-lined canals. To get there, you have is auspicious in luck-obsessed Vietnam. It makes sense. to take a boat. Eking out a living in these parts requires skill and plenty So, I packed my waterproof bags and, taking Zecha’s of luck. In spite of a history of wars and floods, farmers words to heart, I hewed as close to the river as possible, coax three to four crops of rice annually and, year-round traveling on a luxury yacht, a converted rice barge and raise fish and harvest a staggering array of tropical fruit. no-fuss sampans. My forays around Chau Doc, Sa Dec, Naturally, the delta is known as Vietnam’s rice basket. Cai Be and Can Tho revealed a captivating landscape Delta-style wooden houseboats, known as ghe, plied dotted with a motley mix of pagodas, mosques, churches the waterways, their prows emblazoned with fierce red

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 69 Night on the Delta backwaters was sublime and timeless

The water being a constant draw, Azerai’s villas offer a choice of lake or river views. opposite: A gentle glide along the Mekong backwaters.

70 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

eyes to ward off river the war ended in 1975. Back then, fish was plentiful, she monsters. On deck, hammocks told me. These days, Chinese and Lao dams upriver and laundry fluttered in the breeze, interrupt the Mekong’s natural flow, and higher sea levels woks and cauldrons hissed in open-air kitchens, and create brackish pools that disrupt freshwater habitats. In strains of twangy Vietnamese ballads cried in the wind. spite of the decline, Mrs. Anh seemed upbeat, making the A steady fleet of trawlers and barges heaped with rice most of whatever she could get her hands on. and dredged sand motored by, their captains steering the In My Anh Hang village a bit downstream, Mrs. Sau, a wheels with their feet. I sailed past rice mills, conical 61-year-old wedding singer, told me, “The river gives us a brick kilns, and floating villages that hovered above good life, but also a hard life,” and elucidated another bamboo cages filled with farm-raised fish. way distant China affects the delta. Even though many Chau Doc is home to the delta’s highest concentration farmers are diversifying from rice by growing tropical of the Muslim Cham ethnic community, and the town fruit for the Chinese market, “Chinese tastes keep boasts several mosques. Chaney, the Aqua Mekong’s lead changing,” she laughed, throwing up her hands. I left guide, took us to visit one. At midday, Mubarak Mosque Mrs. Sau in her beautiful, century-old wooden house was surprisingly cool inside. Mr. Sen, the toothless pockmarked with bullet holes and shrapnel, where she caretaker, spoke in halting stream of consciousness: continued to belt out melancholy Cai Luong ballads, the “Muslim, Buddhist, we all grew up together. We get “Delta blues” of southern Vietnam. along.” He paused. “People came to pray by boat, but now Sa Dec, the seat of Dong Thap province, is a watery people work in town. Have you seen the market?” paradise chock-full of flower, bonsai, fruit and sugar I hadn’t, so I went to the local market in search of Chau cane farms. In the market, baskets of flamboyant Doc’s other attractions: fermented fish-and-anchovy nuoc hibiscus and sunny marigolds sat next to pans full of live cham, or the town’s take on fish sauce. There, I met the delta catfish and fat eels waiting to be beheaded. Market affable Mrs. Anh seated in a sea of fillets and sauces. “The women dressed in patterned pantsuits and conical hats entrails mixed with shredded green papaya sells the best,” smiled broadly and waved cheerfully as I wandered past, she said, beaming. Mrs. Anh set up her shop shortly after offering a piece of fragrant jackfruit or inviting me for a

72 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com from far left: Banh hoi mat vong, or hammock vermicelli spring rolls, and their creator, Mrs. Thuan, in Can Tho; Café 1985, Can Tho; horizon views from the Aqua Mekong deck; Cai Be’s Catholic church.

cup of caphe da (iced coffee). We didn’t speak a common town. I poked my head in just in time to catch the pre- language, but we were fluent in “selfie.” Delta women, I recorded mass. Chua gie xu—“Jesus” in Vietnamese— learned, love selfies as much as anyone else. was lit up in neon, while his flock of 30 or so old-timers A stroll through the older parts of town revealed sat solemnly in the antique pews. abandoned French colonial mansions nearly swallowed Befuddled and slightly amused, I marched over to the by the jungle. French writer Marguerite Duras spent her river landing and boarded the Can Tho–bound Bassac for early adolescence in Sa Dec during the heyday of French an overnight passage through Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Indochina. Duras’s 1929 novel, The Lover, describes her Ben Tre provinces. Roosters and sampans were affair with Huynh Thuy Le, a debonair Chinese everywhere, but so were stereos, satellite dishes and new merchant, whose ornate bungalow is now a museum. construction. Composite, plastic sampans showed up When published, such coupling was forbidden. These every so often, explaining the handful of abandoned days the delta’s multicultural milieu is less segregated, shipyards. Downriver from Cai Be, we visited a canal- and Duras and her lover could live happily ever after. side hamlet where practically everyone made rice paper and coconut candy. On the recently paved toe path, t My Tho, a port town in the delta’s eastern motorcycles, bicycles, children and dogs played a quadrant, I disembarked the Aqua Mekong, dangerous game of chicken, while a middle-aged man leaving its roof-top pool, David Thompson– hand-fed lettuce to an actual chicken. created menu and other comforts behind. Up to Traversing Vinh Long, we stumbled upon a 350-year- now, I had traveled on the Tien River or Upper old Khmer pagoda tucked in a dense tropical jungle. AMekong, one of two major tributaries. Now, it was time to Murals showed classical Indian scenes of the Buddha’s disappear into the backwaters. life and path to enlightenment. Further downstream, a The ferry from My Tho to Cai Be stopped running a Cao Dai temple, with a gilded yellow-and-blue façade and few years ago, so I begrudgingly took a cab right up to almighty “left eye,” beckoned like a lodestar. Cao Dai’s Cai Be’s landmark Catholic church. Built in 1929, the pantheon of saints includes Victor Hugo—who actually church’s impressive bell tower loomed over the pleasant never set foot in Vietnam. In the serene courtyard, I from left: A charming room in Nam Thi Holiday Home, Cai Be; the eyes of a ghe boat ward off river monsters, in port town Sa Dec; a woman rides through Sa Dec in a traditional ao dai.

sipped tea with a congregation of gray-haired gentlemen. Luong ballads trailing behind. On the promenade, I asked about Victor Hugo, and the abbot piped up, “His boatmen, businessmen and lovers strolled and posed for mind is bright like the moon.” selfies. Farther down the waterfront, fishermen lounged The Bassac’s charismatic 25-year-old cruise director, on board their sampans, singing and playing cards. Nguyen Tu Trang “Annie” Thien, took me ashore to her The delta may be on the brink of change, but its birthplace Mang Thit, an island village where we forded cuisine is still intact. My friend Thomas, a hilarious paddies and irrigation ditches shimmying over “monkey guide and Can Tho native, and I visited his favorite spots bridges,” precarious arrangements of sticks and bamboo. on a scooter foodie tour, starting with Mrs. Thuan, a Only the elderly and children live here. Young adults are 77-year-old matron who developed her own style of off studying or working in cities, but “they’ll come back vermicelli called banh hoi mat vong, or hammock to take care of their parents,” Annie said. Tombstones vermicelli spring rolls. On De Tham Street, a string of were scattered across rice paddies and kitchen gardens. vegetarian restaurants sat alongside carts hawking In life and death, delta folk are bound to their land. Chinese wonton bowls and Vietnamese grilled pork Night on the delta backwaters was sublime and stuffed in banana leaf. We sampled classic Khmer-style timeless. Boats of all sizes flicked their lamps before banh cong—shrimp, mung bean and pork fritters in Mrs. slipping past each other in absolute darkness. Water and Sung’s diner. At Hu Tieu Nam Vang, I learned that hu land marched all the way to the horizon and disappeared tieu, Teow’s coveted shrimp, pork and vermicelli soup, is into the starry sky. I could have been here last year or actually rooted in Khmer cuisine and is considered a last century, and it would have looked exactly the same. quintessential delta dish. At twilight, I boarded Azerai’s ghe-inspired ferry and y midday, the Bassac moored at Ninh Kieu Quay in made a beeline to Au Islet, Zecha’s river-bound sanctuary Can Tho. The heat had driven most people inside in the middle of the Hau Giang (Lower Mekong) but, by dusk, the city came back to life. Can Tho’s thoroughfare. Glints of warm light from passing boats name translates roughly to “river of poems,” in mingled with the starlight above and a balmy breeze homage to a traditional passion for storytelling drifted through the open-air cabin. When we approached Band singing by the river. Remarkably, this still happens. the sweeping tree-lined cove, I glanced up and saw Can Brightly lit neon dinner boats cruised up and down the Tho Bridge’s shimmering profile span the horizon. lively quay, strains of Korean pop and electrified Cai Azerai was within earshot of Can Tho’s poetic din and tucked under this utterly modern steel bridge, and it One morning, I climbed aboard a narrow splintered belonged wholeheartedly to the river. sampan skippered by the wizened 53-year-old Thong just The 8½-hectare Au Islet is a natural mangrove, and as the sun was coming up. Thong, a capable and cheerful the majority of the wilderness was left untouched. captain, knitted dried palm leaves into grasshoppers and Inspired by the delta’s low-lying countryside, the resort’s cracked jokes while maneuvering the sampan through pitched-roof pavilions sit among ancient banyan trees Cai Rang’s scrum of produce and fish-laden ghe. Here, I whose tangle of sinewy limbs brush the green lawns. Set came upon Teow and his hu tieu skiff. “The river has gracefully along the shoreline, the rooms recall the been good to my family. But my children want to work in gathering of houseboats and floating villages on the the city,” Teow told me. “Another five or ten years, and I river. A 34-meter infinity pool and a lotus pond anchor may have to stop, too,” he said. By now this story was the verdant, tropical grounds, which include a Pilates familiar. The Mekong Delta is caught up in the tension studio, tennis courts, a children’s creative zone, and an and excitement of a culture in flux. Yet, there is also a ethereal spa, as well as a trio of dining outlets dishing prevailing sense of equanimity and kindness, a live-and- soul-satisfying comfort foods—a melange of toothsome let-live approach that keeps things moving forward. bistro fare and piquant delta-inspired bites. I ended the outing with a refreshing caphe da, and Zecha’s iconic muted color palette and sophisticated struck up a conversation with Tung, a local fisherman. simplicity were palpable, but so were the soft hum of Tung started fishing 30 years ago, using a small, hand- sampans motoring by and the swish of fishermen’s nets paddled sampan. “The river is changing, our way of living hitting the water. The river beckoned, and I spent hours is changing,” he said thoughtfully, yet expressed ensconced in my pavilion’s private veranda, watching contentment with his simple lifestyle, with no plans to do river life roll by. I had finally made it to Azerai, and it was anything else. “About five years ago, I bought a motor for difficult to break away from its chill and cozy spell. my boat. That made my arms happy,” he said, laughing.

pavilions have spacious footprints, spring rolls at Banh Hoi Mat Mekong delta with separate sleeping and Vong Ut Dzach (VND50,000); As you float through this network of diverse waterways, be sure to make dressing quarters and private banh cong, or shrimp, mung bean a few stops on land to scout out ancient temples, thriving markets and verandas. azerai.com/can-tho; and pork fritters, at Banh Cong local villages, where the delta’s best dishes are doled out to all who ask. doubles from US$250. Co Ut (86/38 Ly Tu Trong; Nam Bo Boutique Hotel’s VND80,000); and hu tieu (shrimp, French-style pension makes for a pork and vermicelli soup) at Hu cozy stay. Enjoy a bird’s-eye view Tieu Nam Vang, (50-52 Nguyen Chau Doc of Ninh Kieu Quay while noshing Khuyen; VND35,000 per bowl). Cai Be on L’Escale’s French- and local- Café 1985 Can Tho’s liveliest My Tho Sa Dec inspired menu. nambocantho.com; hipster joint serves simple local Mang Thit doubles from VND2,465,000. snacks, excellent coffees and Can Tho Tucked in a tropical garden, Nam cocktails. Live music most nights. vietnam Thi Holiday Home has three 138 Huynh Cuong, Can Tho; drinks Siem Reap pretty loft suites, including one for two from VND80,000. cambodia right on the Cai Be canal, and Stroll around Ho Xiang Thoi, a Saigon offers a wonderful local homestay man-made lake twinkling in fairy experience. fb.com/noithugiancua lights, and sip caphe da at a local thiphan; doubles from US$45. coffee shop. Huynh Cuong Street, Can Tho. Eat, Drink and Do Try prepping lau vit nau chao (duck Join the breakfast cruise to Cai GETTING HERE or Saigon. aquaexpeditions.com; hot pot with pickled tofu and taro) Rang Market or Khmer Pagoda Fly into Saigon or Phnom Penh to three-night Discovery cruises from or lau mam (salted fish hot pot) at aboard 9 Dragons Sampan, begin your delta expedition. From US$2,835 per person and four- one of the cramped sidewalk (formerly known as Mystic Saigon, it’s a 90-minute car ride night Explorer cruises from eateries on Hot Pot Alley, like US$3,780 per person, but prices Sampan)—large comfortable to Cai Be or My Tho pier, and a Hem Vit Nau Chao. Between Mau vary based on season. boats that sit at level with the three-hour drive to Can Tho. Than and Ly Tu Trong, Can Tho; hot TransMekong Bassac river, and explore the delta’s From Phnom Penh, sail down pot for two from VND150,000. Frenchman Benoit Perdu thicket of mangrove waterways, the Mekong into the delta. Celebrating the occult and handcrafted a wooden rice barge floating markets and hidden medieval dark forces, the into a comfortable 10-cabin Khmer sanctuaries. Extensions Cruise Museum of Tarot is a cheery cruising boat. His overnight include cycling in the countryside. Aqua Expeditions Soak in delta three-story collection of tarot backwater jaunt gets up close mekong-delta.com; breakfast vibes aboard the swish, five-star cards and arcane magic to village life. transmekong.com; cruises from VND775,000. Aqua Mekong. Gorgeous cabins paraphernalia, among other overnight cruise US$249 Meet Thomas in Can Tho for a and lounges are outfitted with per person. Street Food Tour curiosities. musuem-tarot.com; contemporary, minimalist (canthorivertour.com; Street Food 44 Nguyen Khuyen, Can Tho. furnishings and floor-to-ceiling Stay Tours from US$29 per person, At Chua Maniransay, Can Tho's windows. Chill in the petit plunge Azerai In Can Tho, Adrian Zecha US$45 for private tours), by main Khmer pagoda, the pool or get pampered in the spa. channels the delta’s pure and scooter or foot, and tuck into the multilingual abbot can give a Three- and four-night cruises relaxing mood on scenic Au Islet. delta’s iconic bites. On the tour, I crash course on Vipassana depart weekly from Phnom Penh River-, garden- and lake-facing enjoyed the hammock vermicelli meditation. 36 Hoa Binh Rd. –R.S.

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 75 Docking on Isla Blanca, a reef- fringed island 20 minutes from Ayala Land's Apulit Island Resort. Opposite: Light on the leaves of a banyan tree on Apulit’s beach.

photographed by leigh griffiths Coast to Coast Island-hopping between Palawan’s El Nido and Coron, pristine beaches are trumped only by the Technicolor marine life that thrives beyond their shores. Eloise Basuki tests her sea legs to find that this protected pocket of the Philippines isn’t just an ecological wonder, but also a place that somehow feels like home.

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 77 Guests at Apulit can rappel from the sky-high cross, a legacy from the property's former owners, down the 60-meter vertical limestone cliff. Three sharks are doing figure eights in the glassy water beneath my dangling feet. Perched on the deck of my overwater cottage, one of a series that skirts the bay of Ayala Land’s Apulit Island Resort, I watch the graceful trio dance circles through a school of tiny, sparkling fish. The predators are trying to confuse and divide the sheepish shoal with the aim of cornering an unlucky stray: potential lunch.

I wasn’t counting on dodging hungry sharks on what The warm Apulit welcome—a traditional song, a I had imagined to be a sun-kissed, bikini-clad, island- chilled juice, a woven palm necklace, a cheerful reminder hopping tour of northern Palawan, but my frustratingly to minimize your footprint—precedes a jam-packed always cool, calm and collected partner, Leigh, waves off schedule of activities. On land there’s rock-climbing; my concerns. “The sharks have no interest in you or your rappelling from the giant cross that looms up on a toes,” he tells me flatly, and the Apulit porters, who have clifftop; and a jungle hike into Apulit’s interior. On sea come to deliver our bags from our just-arrived boat, back there’s sunset kayaking: a boat to Isla Blanca, named for up his theory. These are blacktip reef sharks and, each its sugar-white sands; and snorkeling at Nabat Reef, to about the size of my forearm, are just babies; the much spot flame scallops, lionfish and neon nudibranchs. bigger and slightly more deadly mothers have, curiously, Piqued by the sight of those finned “friends” by our never been sighted in Apulit’s waters, despite always cottage, we set out on foot to find more of the island’s wild laying their eggs in this spot by the resort’s cottages. residents. On a nature walk with the resort’s Satisfied with the green light from the porters, Leigh environment officer, Maxine Gail Fabroa, we amble along jumps into the water. I stare at him, mouth agape. He the two-kilometer stretch of coast spotting crooning asks me to throw him a snorkeling mask. collared kingfishers, lithe monitor lizards, a nimble gang As a Pisces, an Australian and a beach lover from of endemic Palawan squirrels, a lone moray eel, and a birth, I’m familiar with sharks—albeit more hostile blue-spotted stingray fluttering in the shallow shore. ones—and I’ve done my fair share of snorkeling the Maxine credits the thriving bounty of wildlife here to world’s oceans. But the stories that visitors to Palawan El Nido’s strong sustainability efforts. Last year, the El recall are colored with rainbow corals, neon schools of Nido government implemented a region-wide ban of all fish and water so electric-blue that I can’t quite recollect single-use plastics. All of Ayala Land’s El Nido Resorts the same scenes from anywhere I’ve been. have implemented eco-friendly initiatives throughout its I’ve come to see the seas of northern Palawan because, properties, including solar panels, sourcing local despite facing the same environmental wrath of climate ingredients for their menus, installing mooring buoys to change and pollution of many ecological havens, the prevent coral damage from anchoring boats, and using forward-thinking attitude of the local government and on-site sewage treatment plants to handle all wastewater. local sustainability initiatives are acting like a protective With the temporary closure of Boracay still freshly cloak on its natural wonders. From a castaway isle off of reeling across the Philippines, Apulit and El Nido at large El Nido that is thriving with stunning wildlife, I’ll head are committed to preventing the same environmental across the deep blue, passing untouched lands and damage from occurring here. “Boracay now has a lot of pockets still populated with indigenous tribes, all the green algae on the water,” Maxine says. “We don’t want way to Coron, where tour companies and the community this to happen to our resort—no, no, no. We also have our are coming together to ensure the growing industry own desalination plant so we don’t have to compete with doesn’t cannibalize its draw. locals by taking their ground water.”

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 79 El Nido and Boracay both became major tourist hubs around the same time in the 1980s, but these days, at least before the current visitor ban in Boracay, tourism numbers have grown worlds apart: in 2017, 2 million tourists visited the tiny 1,000-hectare island of Boracay, compared to 200,000 to the 92,000-hectare region of El Nido. “El Nido is just not as accessible,” Maxine says. For decades, the island’s only airport was in Puerto Princesa, Palawan’s capital, before El Nido’s opened in 2002. The highway to El Nido was only completed in 2015. “In the 80s going to El Nido from Puerto Princesa by land would take more than a week,” Maxine laughs, before pointing out a flying fish jumping between kayakers in the bay. Apulit proves to be a place for endless communing with nature. During low tide it’s possible to free-dive just offshore to an angel statue covered with giant clams, an old relic from the island’s former owners. Off Isla Blanca, schools of zebra-striped sergeant majors and fluorescent blue tangs swim unperturbed alongside our flailing fins and obtrusive masks. On a sunset cruise that circles the island, skipper Mario points out North Cave. The cave’s ceiling has long since collapsed, and inside, across a small lagoon, staff can organize a private dinner under a skylight of stars. For Leigh and me, though, it’s to the buffet. On the open deck, the sea sprawling just steps away, we pile freshly grilled seafood and roasted meats onto our plates. For dessert we set up at the halo-halo station for a choose-your-own-adventure of jellies, fruits, shaved ice and dollops of purple ube jam. Fed, watered and slightly sunburnt, it’s time for bed. Even inside our cottage, nature still manages to creep in. The rooms are newly renovated and broad windows let in warm rays of light during the day and constant views of the moonlit ocean at night. Tomorrow we’ll bid goodbye to this cozy hideaway and begin our next leg to Coron, to snorkel around its coral-covered shipwrecks and swim among hidden lagoons and its iconic limestone karsts. I was just getting used to sharing space with the sharks, but to reach Coron, we have to catch a ferry—something, perhaps, even more formidable.

It’s never easy getting to paradise. The journey to Apulit involved a stopover in Manila, an early flight to El Nido, a 90-minute van ride to the Taytay port and, finally, a 45-minute paraw sail to the island. After a sad but song-filled goodbye to Apulit, our next passage is similarly lengthy, but slightly more tumultuous. There are only two ferries to Coron, and both leave early. It’s a deceivingly long sail through open seas: the “fast” ferry run by Montenegro Shipping Lines leaves at 6 a.m. and is supposed to take 3½ hours. Ours takes five because of a bout of bad weather—a common obstacle, I’m told. Halfway through the journey, powerful waves spray the ferry windows and jostle the boat like the gut of a washing machine. Passengers around me begin to turn green. A grown man races to the bathroom with his hands to his mouth and terror in his eyes; the couple in front of us keep it together by staring at the ceiling and occasionally squeezing each other’s hands. Leigh, with

80 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com Snorkel, kayak or paddleboard from Apulit’s beach. clockwise from left: A blue- spotted stingray close to shore; the view from Kayangan Lake; inside a breezy Apulit water cottage. We eat a seafood feast at a tiny frangipani-fringed bay where plump, orange starfish dot the Sea his cool-as-a-cucumber MO, is dozing peacefully. Long familiar with my own lack of sea legs, I’m thankfully dosed up on Dramamine, so sleep most of the trip, too. Arriving in Coron, there’s a different kind of shark lingering at the port. Hordes of tuk-tuk drivers call out from the gate, hoping to catch dazed tourists fresh off the ferry. Thankfully, we’re thrown a lifeline: our hotel for the next few nights has sent a car to pick us up, a vintage Jeep to be specific. Safari-themed The Funny Lion is the first and only boutique hotel on the island, located a short drive up the hill from the town proper, up on a cliff that looks out to Coron Bay. “They call this the Beverly Hills of Coron,” exclaims Michael Mahinay, manager of the 31-room property. “I like it here because you are in town, but it’s so quiet. Here you can smell nature.” Outside our spacious Pride room, the hotel’s Hunt Restaurant is gearing up for dinner. Some guests laze by the pool, but the more vigilant have already scored the best view in the house from the rooftop bar’s Jacuzzis, ready to catch the last of the afternoon light filter through the 110 hectares of virgin mangroves and a lone majestic flame tree that grows on The Funny Lion’s cliff. “I cannot cut a single tree, they are all accounted for,” Michael says of the protected forest. “Every month a government officer visits and checks everything.” Michael grew up in Puerto Princesa, and has worked his way across Palawan, but his love of diving keeps him in Coron. “Coron is very special to me, it’s very different,” he says. “You will see it: there is an X-factor here.” He has organized a tour of the town for us, so Leigh and I hop on a tuk-tuk with guide Allan, who welcomes us with a smile and a pumping R-and-B playlist. Allan has been in Coron since 1996, when there were only 10 tuk-tuks on the island. Now there are more than 1,000 to keep up with Coron’s growing reputation. We peep in at the century-old San Agustin church, dip in the scalding Maquinit hot springs, and a take a breathless hike up the 723 steps to Mount Tapyas for its panoramic view of Coron Island. While the town we’re in is known as Coron, we’re actually on Busuanga Island, which became the Coron municipality in 1902. Palawan’s indigenous Tagbanua tribe still live on neighboring Coron Island and in 1998 were granted the ancestral rights to manage the island and surrounding fishing grounds.

An elderly, toothless Tagbanua man has engaged me in a courting dance at a wedding in Lajala, on Uson Island. We are on the last leg of our Coron tour with Calamianes Expeditions and Ecotours, and this wasn’t what I was expecting when our guide, Julius, brought us to Lajala in search of Tagbanua elder Maurita, who roasts and pounds coffee the local way and sells the dark and smoky grind to The Funny Lion. We were never Coron Island is able to find Maurita, but we did crash a wedding. 70 percent rocky So far Julius and his crew on their paraw have taken limestone, but sandy us on a picture-perfect snorkeling, kayaking and paddle little coves can be the perfect picnic boarding tour around Coron Island. We’ve swum among hideaway if you know schools of damselfish at the Skeleton Shipwreck, a where to look. sunken 25-meter Japanese supply ship from World War

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 83 II, the wreck among a fleet taken down by U.S. spy planes when spotted hiding among the area’s karsts. Julius’s team cooked us a seafood feast at Calachuchi Beach, a tiny frangipani-fringed bay with plump, orange starfish dotting the sea. We’ve snorkeled the Coral Gardens to spot vermillion soft tree corals; skeletal, feathery sea fans; and baby clownfish poking out from the waving anemones. We’ve kayaked through a mangrove tunnel into a secret lagoon known only to Julius and a few other guides before hitting the spot everyone knows about, Kayangan Lake. We trek up the limestone cliff and battle the selfie-sticks for the most photographed view of Coron, and swim in the cool but crowded 70-percent-freshwater lake, maintained by the Tagbanua tribe and said to be the cleanest lake in the Philippines. Run by fifth-generation Coron local Al Linsangan and his wife Mae, Calamianes is fiercely protective of its environment. As a member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), the company maintains a sustainable focus when it comes to its tours: Julius collects rogue bits of floating trash as we paddle; the crew anchor at specific mooring buoys; and Al has spent years immersing himself in the Tagbanua culture to ensure his business supports the community. While Coron is still behind El Nido when it comes to conservation, the natural beauty here has surpassed anything I had envisioned, and the accidental deep-dive into Lajala community life is a lasting memory. With Julius leading the way, we follow the raucous trail of music to the party, and the crowd ushers us in. To the beat of a hand drum, an old man dances a slow, swaying jive in the middle of the group. He coaxes a woman out from the crowd, and they begin to-and-fro- ing to the rhythm. The crowd cheers when he gets close, and laughs when she pulls away. This is the courtship dance, explains Julius, traditional at any Tagbanua celebration. Suddenly the man starts shimmying toward me, eyes locked on mine. I glance at Julius and look to Leigh for help, but the traitors just push me into the circle. But I’m happy to play the fool, and after a solid half-hour of laughing with the party we leave on a high. “Filipinos are famous for our hospitality,” Michael tells me back at The Funny Lion over the Hunt Restaurant’s weekly cochinillo buffet. Cochinillo means suckling pig, and a whole hog has been slowly roasting for the better part of the afternoon. Apart from the meltingly rich pork, there’s crispy beef tapa, seafood kare kare and a local take on paella. “Just like in my childhood days, when we have a visitor, our family puts out the silver cutlery and special plates. We buy lots of seafood, butcher a pig or goat, and feast,” Michael says. “As Filipinos, we always want to impress our visitors, and that’s what I tell my staff. Don’t be something else—this is in your blood, just bring it out.” Stepping into this community that treats everyone like family, it’s clear nature also holds reverence beyond just the revenue it brings in. “We want to protect the environment,” Michael says in toast. “What you see right now, maybe our sons will see in the future.”

84 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com south Lajala china Coron sea

El Nido Apulit Island Taytay

Puerto Princesa sulu sea Palawan There are endless routes you can take to explore northern Palawan. Divers should focus on Coron, while El Nido offers a range of sea activities.

Getting There Saturday. Their cochinillo buffet is There are flights to El Nido from worth scheduling in. thefunnylion. Manila, Puerto Princesa, Cebu com; mains from P400. and other parts of the Philippines Lolo Nonoy’s Food Station with AirSwift (airswift.ph). If you Known as a cheap and cheerful want to do the Coron leg first, spot to feast on Filipino comfort several local airlines fly into food, you’ll find traditional staples Busuanga airport from Manila, like sizzling pork sisig and chicken Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Clark, adobo at this unfussy eating Caticlan and San Vicente. house. Coron Town; 63-9/8896- The once-a-day Montenegro 2006; mains from P150. Shipping Lines (biyaheroes.com; Seafood Island One of the many tickets P1,760) fast ferry leaves at dining options in Lio Estate, this 6 a.m. from El Nido and arrives in open-air chain restaurant stands Coron at about 11 a.m. The ferry out for its traditional eat-with- does the return trip from Coron to your-hands boodle feasts served El Nido at 12 p.m. on a banana leaf. Lio Estate, El Nido; fb.com/seafoodislandph; Jump straight from Hotels boodle feasts from P700. Apulit’s loft water Ayala Land’s Apulit Island cottages into the Resort This private island resort Activities sea. above: Sunset is teeming with wildlife both Calamianes Expeditions and over Coron Bay from underwater and on land. Water Ecotours This local-run company The Funny Lion’s cottages have been recently offers a bevy of snorkeling, diving, in-bar Jacuzzi. renovated, and the two-story kayaking and paddleboarding adjoining loft water cottages are tours. Don't miss Kayangan Lake, perfect for families or big groups. the World War II wrecks and elnidoresorts.com/apulit-island; meeting the Tagbanua tribe. doubles from P23,700, including calamianes.com; full-day island all meals, scheduled activities and tour from P3,080 per person. round-trip transfers. Coron Town As Busuanga Island Balai Adlao One of Ayala Land’s is mainly limestone, there are no new hotels in Lio Estate, these beaches in Coron, but the town is simple but sleek rooms are a good base to explore the located in the middle of the action surrounding gems. A tour offers on Lio Beach and just five minutes a dose of Filipino culture, the from El Nido Airport. balaiadlao. Spanish influence and a great com; doubles from P7,500. view from the top of Mount The Funny Lion This eco- Tapyas. Go on your own, or hire conscious boutique hotel in Coron a tuk-tuk for P600 per person. feels like home. Rooms are Kalye Artisano Labeled as an comfortable and spacious. Don’t artists’ village, this shop on Lio miss sunset in one of the Jacuzzis Estate is a chance to shop for at the rooftop bar. A second locally made crafts and souvenirs. asak Funny Lion is slated to open in El fb.com/kalyeartisano. ch r Nido in 2020. thefunnylion.com; Tao If you’re feeling more doubles from P5,500. adventurous, ditch the ferry and sail from El Nido to Coron on a Restaurants paraw. Tao offers three- and five- Hunt Restaurant Serving a day expeditions where you’ll modern mix of western and camp on small, untouched isles. Filipino fare, Hunt also has live taophilippines.com; three-day ap by chotika sopita chotika by ap

m music every Wednesday and expeditions from P18,000. 86 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com Above

Though they’re most often associated with skiing, the French Alpine villages of Chamonix and Megève are reinventing themselves as summer playgrounds. After taking in meadows full of wildflowers and plates of melted cheese—along with some other, more hair-raising mountainous And moments— Rosecrans Baldwin finds himself converted. Beyond Photographed by Martin Morrell

Hiking on Le Signal Forbes, one of the mountains surrounding the Terminal Neige–Refuge du Montenvers hotel in Chamonix, France. “W a i t, where do I put my feet?”

The question went unheard by my guide; he was too far above me, forging his way up the cliff. Around us blew a soft breeze. A green valley lay far below. Beyond it, a patchwork of forests and fields rolled away into the distance. And between my shoes was a sheer drop of slick limestone, with no apparent footholds. Home to Mont Blanc, Europe’s tallest summit, the village of Chamonix, in the French Alps, hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and has been a world capital for cold-weather sports ever since. Ice climbing. Steep skiing. Winter mountaineering. It is the sort of town that attracts the wilderness-ambitious, a place where you can wake up to falling snow, go out and do something very dangerous and very challenging, and be back in time for a lunch of raclette, otherwise known as melted cheese. But if any leisure industry is threatened by climate change, it’s winter sports. Just across the border in Switzerland, the ski season is a decade ago, when my wife, Rachel, and I were living in Paris, month shorter than it was four decades ago. I started to hear from friends that Chamonix had a more The Mont Blanc glacier is retreating at a record bucolic, less extreme side. They talked about fields of pace. Winter towns, from Whistler in Canada wildflowers. Restaurants reached by hiking trails. Properties to St. Moritz in Switzerland, are investing in and activities around the region that have been developed to what the industry calls “weather-independent appeal to a broader group of travelers—people looking for a attractions.” Chamonix itself has spent feeling of old Europe, mixed with some hearty leisure and millions of euros on new snowmaking good wine. equipment while also promoting summer It became a dream of mine to see the Alps in summer. attractions for X Games types, like whitewater Rachel and I now live in one of Los Angeles’s densely settled rafting and ultra-running. urban canyons. There came a moment, last summer, when we I never considered myself an alpinist. I love had both been working too much. It had been years since we’d mountains, and being around them brings me a taken a trip together, just the two of us. So we decided to do it, sense of peace. But I’d rather read about a polar setting off for the airport with the mind-set of a pair of expedition than take one myself. About a 19th-century tuberculosis patients, hopeful that a dose of The busy town center of Chamonix, with the Alps beyond. Opposite, from top: A guest room at Terminal Neige– Refuge du Montenvers, a historic building in Chamonix; cows grazing in the pastures of Megève.

restrained mountain activity would do us good. And then gates of our hotel, Les Fermes de Marie (or somehow I found myself trailing a half-goat-half-man up a Marie’s Farms), it was obvious that the place rock face, with no idea what to do with my feet. was agrarian in name only. The property is the very definition of rustic-chic. It consists of nine Chamonix is part of France’s Haute-Savoie region, chalets, each built from parts of old barns that which borders both Switzerland and Italy. At Geneva Airport, had collapsed nearby. There were beamed a British shuttle driver met us by the baggage claim. He ceilings everywhere, and oil portraits of gouty- explained he’d come to Chamonix nearly 10 years earlier to looking men. Between the buildings were plum ski; it proved too good to leave. “The summers are my favorite trees, apple trees and a spa of many pools, time of year,” he said. around which sun-crisp French vacationers lay We’d decided to ease into the region by spending two reading paperbacks and wearing robes. A nights in Megève, a quiet village about 45 minutes west of chicken coop had each bird’s name written on a Chamonix. Megève represents the area’s more rural side. It’s chalkboard (Mélanie, Claire, Lydia, Florence). a wealthy ski-resort town, dotted with farms, chalets and the For dinner that night we ate a delicious local occasional designer boutique. When we pulled in through the river fish, though he was served nameless.

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 89 A lounge area at Les Fermes de Marie in Megève, a resort town near Chamonix. Opposite: A paraglider soars past a gondola cable in the mountains outside Chamonix.

90 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com travelandleisureasia.com / may 2018 91 Guests at Les Fermes de Marie, in the Alpine village of Megève, stay in one of nine chalets. Opposite: Eggs and mountain bacon at the restaurant of Terminal Neige– Refuge du Montenvers, in Chamonix.

Sometimes when I can’t sleep I like to it had been canceled because of an impending storm. I picture a European breakfast. There’s just explained to the concierge my interests: a good hike, a spot for something soothing about a big spread of lunch. “Here’s what we’ll do,” he said, whipping out a muesli and charcuterie and five kinds of topographical map and highlighting it like a cavalry officer. yogurt. On our first morning, our jet lag got us He then launched into 60 seconds’ worth of rapid-fire up early—to encounter the breakfast of my instructions to remember, starting with, “Take the lift.” dreams. Three types of bread. Four kinds of Before we’d left for France, I’d spoken with the American local cheese. An assortment of brioches and novelist Pam Houston. She codirects the Mont Blanc Writing viennoiserie that included fresh pains au Workshop, a local English-language seminar that runs for chocolat and pains aux raisins. Not to mention two weeks each summer. “What’s so particularly wonderful the best omelette Rachel had ever tasted. (From about Chamonix as a place to go hiking is the ski lifts,” she the eggs of Mélanie? I wondered. Or Florence?) told me. Resorts run their gondolas and lifts in the summer After such a feast, it seemed vital to expend because the terminals connect with popular trekking paths. energy. We’d signed up to take a hike that That way you don’t have to spend hours toiling up the evening into the mountains, for stargazing, but mountainside before you reach the good stuff. “You start hiking in the pinnacle of beauty, and you stay there all day,” Houston explained. “And there’s often a place to get lunch that’s got the most glorious lamb stew, or crêpes with Swiss cheese, or the most amazing salad you’ve ever had.” She sighed wistfully. “You’re in France, and you’re sipping wine on a deck clinging to the side of a mountain, and it’s amazing.” Following the concierge’s instructions, Rachel and I rode the Télécabine du Jaillet, a tiny gondola made for two, up into the hills. I had been worried about my orienteering skills, but there were signposts everywhere. And the views were extraordinary. One moment the trail would lead us through a meadow, then into a forest, then again into the open countryside, looking out over an entire valley. We passed fields full of cows with clanging bells around their necks. The French are polite hikers; everyone said bonjour as they walked by. Forty-five minutes later, a signpost directed us to Chalet de la Vieille, our lunch spot. We emerged from the trees to find an old barn on a hill; next to it was an earthy cottage. There were half a dozen wooden tables in the yard with colorful umbrellas and views of a snow- covered Mont Blanc. Each of the tables had a slip of paper, held down by a stone; one had my name on it. (Thank you, concierge.) A few minutes more and we were drinking rosé by the goblet, eating delicious salads and omelettes savoyardes—a local style, with cheese and bacon—followed by house-made blueberry tarts. We toasted the cows. It was hard to imagine the moment improved in any way.

Mont Blanc LOOMS over Chamonix like a pending emergency. From the northern side of the mountain, a glacier lolls down into town like a giant tongue. More than 4,800 meters tall, the mountain seems almost Himalayan up close, if only because it’s virtually rooted in the town square. At twilight the sun banks off its flanks so that they glow. I felt stunned when I saw it from the taxi as We were drinking rosé we arrived in town. But Mont Blanc isn’t the first thing you notice when you get to by the goblet, eating Chamonix: that would be the paragliders. All day long in summer, a dozen colored delicious salads and parachutes wheel in broad circles over the town. And you know that tethered to each one is omelettes savoyardes, some tourist harnessed to a local expert, who’s whispering French in her ear, Just a few more minutes, my terrified little cabbage. followed by house-made The air had a chill when we arrived. Clouds came and went. Chamonix is nestled between blueberry tarts. We dramatic peaks called aiguilles, or needles, that tower over both sides of town. The tiny village toasted the cows consists of several busy streets, hotels with

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 93 That’s one weird thing about Chamonix: seeing ordinary people carrying moutaineering axes like walking sticks

We rode over viaducts, passed through tunnels cut through rock. When we turned the final corner, people gasped. The immensity of the landscape in front of us was stunning. Waterfalls cascaded down the mountains with a roar. A glacier the size of a freeway wound down between them. And amid it all, surrounded by peaks, a tall granite hotel, pocked by small windows with red and white shutters, beckoned us with a terrace set for lunch. Terminal Neige–Refuge du Montenvers has housed mountaineers since 1880. The hotel was reopened last summer, completely refreshed, renovated with an aesthetic principle that feels like a stylish mash-up of old-school European hospitality and high-end glamping. It’s a miracle the place hasn’t found its way into a Wes Anderson film yet. In our room, both the views and the bathtub were majestic. Light deep window casements, outfitters selling fixtures hung from climbing cord. It all felt purposefully chic fluorescent athletic wear. In front of us an older and storied and rustic. I wouldn’t have been shocked—or man and woman walked along together as if on disappointed—to have been served some good champagne their way to the market, only the woman had a from a leather bota bag. climbing rope slung around her neck. We ate lunch on the terrace of the hotel restaurant, facing Chamonix is home to about 10,000 people, the Aiguille du Dru, one of Chamonix’s most photographed but it receives several million visitors a year. I mountains. It rose like an enormous pyramid above our asked our cab driver whom he drove in the heads. We drank beer, then ordered a “peasant omelette” and summer. “Mostly it’s the French. People who a melted round of écorce de sapin—a regional cheese, served enjoy the calm of the mountains. They do a with potatoes and ham. Hikers began to appear, shrugging week at the beach, then they come here.” off their sweaters. Maybe no one had told them about my When you ask about things to do, everyone system: to eat hugely first, then consider exercise. tells you to visit Montenvers, a site about 90 The main reason we had traveled up the mountainside meters above town. There, you can walk on the in our little red train, though, wasn’t the lunch, but the Mer de Mer de Glace, or Sea of Ice, a large, historic Glace just below the hotel. Travelers have visited it for almost glacier; take a hike to the Aiguille du Midi, the 300 years—though nowadays they are probably struck more tallest needle; or just absorb the view. One by the effects of climate change than by the glacier’s pleasing complication is that Montenvers is extraordinary scale. Since 1850, the Mer de Glace has inaccessible by car. Instead you take a little red retreated by more than 1.5 kilometers—changing from a vast train that chugs right up the mountainside. We frozen river that reached down into the village to a field of ice boarded the train and it slowly clattered its way that’s rapidly shrinking back up into the high mountain cold. up the mountain. Many of the other passengers After lunch, we walked up to it by a long staircase of several on the train wore boots; more than one had a hundred steps; previously, climbers could step straight out baguette sticking out of an old backpack; onto it from the hotel. Still, the experience was striking. At several held axes in their hands. That’s one the bottom you pass through an “ice cave,” a tunnel that’s weird thing about Chamonix: seeing ordinary been drilled through the blue ice of a glacier that’s much, people carrying mountaineering axes around much older than you. I felt totally awed. like walking sticks. (A PSA we saw in one That evening, we ate dinner in the hotel, in a dining room gondola read: thank you for holding your walled by windows, so as not to spoil the view. The meal ice ax in hand.) consisted entirely of Alpine specialties. Chicken roasted on a

94 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com The train to the Mer de Glace and the Terminal Neige–Refuge du Montenvers. opposite: Mountain guide Maxime Turgeon, with the peaks surrounding Chamonix behind.

spit. Fondue to feed an army. Afterward, the bartender wasn’t hiking,” mountain guide Zoe Hart explained to shy about pouring digestifs, but we decided to retire early for me, “but it’s still not climbing. It’s for anybody.” two reasons: Rachel had been admiring our massive bathtub, Hart is an American climber who lives in and I needed to prepare for the following morning’s Chamonix with her husband and two children. excursion. All the food, wine and gentle meadow walks had She’s an accomplished alpinist, only the fourth been exactly what I’d been looking for in the Alps, but I was American woman to earn International beginning to experience pangs of guilt. It seemed a shame to Federation of Mountain Guides Associations visit Chamonix and not throw in a little adventure. status, the highest credential for professional guides. We’d met at a sweet, little café on my Via ferrata means “iron road” in Italian. It’s a way first morning in town, chatting over coffee as of ascending mountains that’s not often seen in the U.S., one of her kids chewed on a sugar crêpe beside though it has long been popular in Italy, and lately in France. us. She echoed exactly what I’d experienced A steel cable runs along the route, bolted into the rock every about the region’s appeal in summer. “It looks couple of yards. You wear a harness that’s clipped to the cable extreme here, but it’s actually a great place to so you can’t fall far. “Via ferrata is the next level up from start as a beginner. You can access the high end of the mountain, but as a low-end hiker.” It was Hart’s idea that I try via ferrata, for some safeish thrills. Switzerland So it was that on our second morning at Terminal Neige, I was met by Hart’s husband, Maxime Turgeon, and together we boarded the family van. He’s also a guide—in fact, their wedding was held up at the Montenvers refuge. France We drove to the nearby town of Passy, hiked to the base of the climb, then strapped on Chamonix harnesses. Turgeon assured me he’d recently how to do Mont guided his mother-in-law on the route we were Megève Blanc about to do—“and she’s not sporty at all.” Chamonix Turgeon tied a rope between us, then showed and MegÈve italy me how the system worked. There were two Pursue these summer activities in the carabiners attached by webbing to my harness. French Alps at your leisure, in whatever order you wish. There’s no pressure— At all times, they’d be clipped to the cable along that’s part of the reason you come here. the route, except when I came to a bolting point, where I’d unclip one, attach it to the next segment, then do the same with the other and getting there Terminal Neige– Swiss, and Italian It's easiest to fly into Refuge du produce. lecafe​ carry on. Geneva Airport. From Montenvers Use the comptoir.com; mains Turgeon started up and I followed shortly there, the drive to stylish relaunched €16–€30. after. In the beginning, it all went according to Chamonix takes less property—accessible Comme Chez Soi plan. Then, 10 minutes later, the rungs ran out. than 90 minutes. by Chamonix’s historic Right in the center of I tried my shoe on a shelf and the toe slipped; Montenvers railway— Megève, this cozy little Stay as a base for hikes and wine bar also sells a the rock was wet with morning mist. My nerves Alpaga Hidden away visits to the famous wide variety of hard- did a flutter. I told myself not to freak out, that I near the center of Mer de Glace (Sea of to-find regional just needed to keep going until I reached the Megève, this hotel’s Ice) glacier. bottles. 23 Rue du Clos next ladder segment. I tested my footing, traditional chalets montenvers.terminal- des Rennes; deliver an elegant, neige.com; doubles 33-4/50-55-95-81. grabbed some rock, thrust myself up. This time understated take on from €225. my shoe held. After doing that a couple of times, rustic-chic. The spa Tour Operators I reached the next set of holds, and a couple of has views of Mont Do Backroads minutes after that, I started to relax. Blanc, while a Trekking Chamonix is This active-travel Up and up we went. All sounds died away. Michelin-starred crisscrossed with company, ranked one restaurant awaits your hiking trails. Try the of the top tour Paragliders cruised by like colorful birds. We post-hiking appetite. Grand Balcon Sud, operators in the 2017 tightrope-walked over cable bridges and alpaga.com; doubles where you can see the T+L World’s Best wooden beams. We stopped on a ledge at one from €440. streams and Awards, offers walking point, overlooking the valley, to eat sandwiches Four Seasons wildflowers of the high and hiking itineraries Hotel Megève mountains without too through Chamonix. and take pictures. Beneath us lay a wide-open Most of the walnut- much strenuous backroads.com; six-day panorama: Mont Blanc, jagged peaks, distant paneled rooms at this climbing. trips from €3,150 per church steeples. new 55-room hotel Via Ferrata Ascend person. We finished the route soon after, topping out come with a chimney high above the valleys Globe Bleu The after a steep climb up the final cliff. My nerves butler to take care of without all the risk French Alps itinerary the wood-burning while safely attached from this luxury travel were gone by that point; in their place was fireplaces. In winter, to this “iron road,” a agency includes a simple exhilaration. I thought, Maybe a little the ski-in, ski-out protected climbing breathtaking ride on part of me is an alpinist after all. property also offers route. Head out with the Aiguille du Midi The next morning, Rachel and I packed our direct access to the Compagnie des Guides gondola and a stop for 130 well-groomed de Chamonix, the traditional fondue near bags and rode the train back down to runs of Mont d’Arbois. oldest and most the summit of Mont Chamonix. We were the only people on board. four​seasons.com; reputable service in Blanc. For bespoke At one point, we passed another train going up doubles from €1,250. town. chamonix- options, consult Bob crammed with passengers, all of them craning Les Fermes guides.com. Preston, featured on their necks to get a better look at the mountains de Marie This T+L’s annual A-List, secluded clutch of eat & drink our roundup of the ahead—families with kids, solo travelers, Megève chalets has Café Comptoir Alpine best travel advisors in amateur trekkers. All of them off for a day in the feel of an upscale cuisine gets a modern the business. the Alps, whatever their pleasure. They were farm. There’s also a makeover in this globebleu.com; four- about to discover what Rachel and I learned for pool and a garden that converted chalet in day trips from provides ingredients Vallorcine, where the €1,595. — R. B. ourselves: whether you’re a mountaineer or a for the hotel kitchen. menu includes picnicker, one way or another the mountains fermes​de​marie.com; seasonal dishes made call to everyone. doubles from €455. with regional French,

96 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Iguazú Falls, one of Argentina’s most cherished attractions, is finally getting a hotel that lives up to its dramatic setting. Jacqueline Gifford checks in, only to discover that even more natural wonders await.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOÃO CANZIANI

98 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com Iguazú Falls, the world’s largest waterfall system, spans the Iguazú River between Argentina and Brazil.

travelandleisureasia.com / may 2018 97 I knew my question sounded childish. But I was ready for dry clothing and a drink, and I knew we were in for a long, wet drive home. Home in this case was the new Awasi Iguazú, a 14-suite Relais & Châteaux lodge just outside Iguazú National Park that provides a luxurious new base from which to explore a region that has long lacked great hotel options. Covering almost 70,000 hectares, the park draws 1.3 million visitors a year, most of whom come to see one thing and one thing only: Iguazú Falls, a series of 275 cascades that run 2.7 kilometers across the border between Argentina and Brazil. An Instagrammer’s paradise, Iguazú is at the top of many people’s South America bucket lists, right up there with Machu Picchu and the Galápagos. The Brazilian side may have only 20 percent of the falls, but it does lay claim to the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, a colonial-style property awash in old-world luxury. Argentina has most Oddly enough, it didn’t smell like rain. of the falls—and a complete network of trails The sky had turned from blue to silver to a and walkways that allow you to see them from deep, dark gray as our trio of kayaks explored a various perspectives—but Puerto Iguazú, the remote stretch of Argentina’s Yacuí River, a closest city, is filled with midrange inns and tributary of the larger Iguazú. With its milky hostels, all of which attract their share of bus green waters and banks lined with the tours. Awasi, by contrast, consists of 14 towering palmito and palo rosa trees of the freestanding pine cabins—13 of which are 100 Atlantic Forest, the Yacuí, set in the square meters, with the 14th clocking in at northeastern province of Misiones, is about as 153—standing in three discreet rows, each far from the cosmopolitan streets of Buenos reachable by winding stone paths cutting Aires as you can get. through the jungle. All have private plunge We’d driven 90 minutes due east from the pools and blend seamlessly into the town of Puerto Iguazú, on the unpaved Route environment. Standing on your deck, you’re 101 that runs along the border of Iguazú surrounded by nothing but rain forest and sky National Park, to reach this remote location. and creatures. Some of the animals you may After clambering down a makeshift pier, we’d see, others you only hear: coatis, crickets, even dropped our kayaks in the water and begun the stray ocelot. paddling upstream, with no end point in The low-slung main lodge, the focal point of mind—our destination was the magical rain the property, is where guests gather for meals forest that straddles the river, once a vast or to sip a glass of Malbec at the striking bar, wilderness that covered more than 40 million hewn from petiribí, a native tree. Elements like hectares of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. My marble and brass would feel out of place here, Argentine guides, Paula and Pancho, noticed so the Buenos Aires–based designers Patricia the darkening sky too, but I told them to press Diedrichs and Eugenia Choren looked instead on. The metallic tang I’ve always associated to woods, linens and muted colors, especially with an approaching storm was missing from beige and soft green. the air, and after coming all this way I wasn’t Choren knows how to bring style to the about to give up. wilderness: for seven years, she designed farms Then raindrops maybe 3 centimeters across and cottages in the Corrientes province in started falling fast and thick. The shallow seat northern Argentina for noted conservationist of my kayak began to fill with water. All three of and North Face founder Douglas Tompkins. At us made a swift turn for the pier. Awasi, tasteful pencil drawings of native Opposite: One of “Are we there yet?” I shouted ahead to Paula, flowers and birds by the artist Elba D’Arino, the 14 private wiping the rain from my face. “Almost,” she Choren’s mother, hang on the walls of the public cabins at Awasi replied, poised and unflappable, even as areas. On the tables rest colorful baskets woven Iguazú. All have patios with lounge lightning flashed in the distance. Behind me, by members of a nearby Guarani tribe— chairs, and many Pancho looked equally cool and confident in descendents of the indigenous people who had have sunken his Ray-Bans and wide-brimmed hat. been inhabiting this swathe across Argentina, living rooms.

100 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com Some of the animals you may see, others you only hear: coatis, crickets, even the stray ocelot Nothing could have prepared me for how magnificent San Ignacio Miní would be in person Brazil and Paraguay for at least 500 years by of four remaining Guarani-Jesuit missions in the time the Spaniards arrived. And a seven- Argentina, located 250 kilometers south of the piece light installation fashioned from 40 layers falls. The journey sounded daunting, but I was of fishing line illuminates the dining area, game for an adventure. where your multicourse meals might include The ride was a straight shot down a rural pillowy mushroom ravioli or a delicate ceviche highway lined with dense forests of pine and of surubí, a local freshwater fish. eucalyptus, with the occasional ibira pita The whole place manages to feel organic tree—recognizable by its gorgeous yellow and earthy—but not too earthy. It reminded flowers—breaking up the sea of green. We me of renowned safari properties like Singita passed farms and fruit stands and listened to Boulders Lodge, in South Africa’s Sabi Sand an endless mix of Coldplay. By the time we Game Reserve, and Abu Camp, in Botswana’s turned onto a small paved road, I was ready to wild Okavango Delta, where the design feels stretch my legs. elevated yet not out of touch with its Nothing—certainly not my hasty Google environment. This is the jungle, after all, the Images search—could have prepared me for most biodiverse part of Argentina, where most how magnificent San Ignacio Miní would be in days the humidity hovers between 75 and 90 person. Massive stone walls towered in percent. I quickly learned that there was no orderly rows around a grand lawn that fronted point in fighting the heat, bugs, or damp, or the remains of a red stone church, its Misiones’ rich red soil, which quickly stained archways covered with elaborate Baroque my shoes and clothing. You’re not here to be motifs. At its peak, in the early to mid 1700s, holed up in an air-conditioned palace. the mission housed a handful of Jesuit priests To that end, Awasi follows the safari model and more than 4,000 Guarani, who were when it comes to meals, drinks and outdoor moved here, tribe by tribe, to live in stone activities: everything is included. But it one- dwellings and made to sculpt, play music, and ups the safari experience in that each cabin study Catholicism. The Guarani—not the comes with a personal guide (in my case, priests—were responsible for the carvings. Paula, with help from Pancho) at no additional After the Jesuits were expelled from Spain cost. That white 4 x 4 Ford Ranger is for you and its territories in 1767, the mission was alone. Want to rise early for a jog along the abandoned and lost to time, the trees and back roads? Sure thing. How about a bird- plants eventually covering it wall by wall. It watching excursion away from the crowds? was restored in the 1940s and again in the That’s fine, too. With a staff of 75, including 16 1990s. “Imagine this huge town in the middle guides, catering to a maximum of 28 guests, of the rain forest,” Paula said. But my brain the hotel puts service first. couldn’t fathom it. I suddenly was overcome “For most travelers, everything outside of by a feeling of sadness, thinking of the the falls is secondary. We want the secondary Guarani who were forced to move and adapt to stuff to shine,” says Virginia Contreras, the a foreign culture. operations manager for the Awasi Iguazú as Though the journey to San Ignacio Miní well as two older Awasi properties (also in and back was long, I never found myself remote locales—the Atacama Desert and minding, which is a testament to the Torres del Paine National Park, both in Chile). friendliness and intelligence of the Awasi Ten years ago, it would have been risky to guides. All hail from Argentina, Chile or Brazil expect people to stay three nights and go and have diverse interests and specialties, beyond Iguazú’s star attraction. Nowadays, from geology and botany to photography. when so many travelers want to go deeper, Paula’s passion is ornithology, something that explore further, and see things few others became clear during the two days we spent Opposite, have seen before, there’s a built-in audience for visiting Iguazú Falls. Clockwise from top left: Awasi a place like this. The Awasi is just 20 minutes from the Iguazú offers When I visited the falls I was impressed, park’s entrance, a surprisingly small-scale kayaking but the experiences I didn’t even know were affair. On our first outing, we hiked 2½ excursions on the coming turned out to be just as memorable. kilometers along the Green Trail and the Yacuí River; a rural road leads to the Like the sunny morning when, with the sky a Lower Circuit, which consists of pathways hotel’s kayak- robin’s-egg blue, I piled into the truck with that wind through the rain forest and launching site; Paula, Pancho and a last-minute tagalong eventually, closer to the falls, give way to a the staff prepares guide, Bernardita, for a road trip—three series of suspended footbridges that afford for lunch in the main dining room; hours each way—to visit San Ignacio Miní. panoramic views. Paula spotted two chestnut- the patio at the I’m embarrassed to admit that I had never eared aracaris, a type of toucan, hopping main lodge. heard of this unesco World Heritage site, one between branches, while Pancho pointed out

travelandleisureasia.com / june 2018 103 cicada exoskeletons lined up in tidy rows along the trunks of various trees. Families carrying PARAGUAY BRAZIL coolers and pushing strollers passed us, Iguazú oblivious to nature’s hidden details. Falls I was so focused on the forest that my first glimpse of the Devil’s Throat—the U-shaped aRGENTINA gorge on the western end, which half of the Buenos river thunders over—crept up on me. Then I Aires became just one of the horde, with nothing else on my mind but taking in the spectacular show. We quickened our pace, snaking over the metal footbridges as the water grew louder and the rainbows multiplied. Eventually, from our viewpoint about midway between the river and the top of the gorge, we could appreciate the breadth of the cascades. As the spray hit me at the Bossetti Falls, on the opposite side of the Devil’s Throat, I stood you ur g ide to seeing transfixed—with so many questions. What iguazÚ falls was that emerald plant that stuck to the rocks? With the debut of the Awasi Iguazú, the Argentinean Podostemon grass, Paula answered: it thrives side now has a luxe place to stay. Here’s all you despite the pounding water. Why Bossetti? He need to know about getting there and getting around. was an Italian explorer (first name Carlo). The fact that I seemed to be the only person with a GETTING There between Argentina and private guide wasn’t lost on me. It felt The best way to reach Brazil, so plan in advance Iguazú Falls is to fly to and check the immigration decadent, but otherwise I’d have been tapping Buenos Aires, then take the laws for both countries away for answers on my smartphone and two-hour connecting flight before you book. missing so much. to Puerto Iguazú. I flew both To get closer to the Devil’s Throat, we LATAM (latam.com) and What to Pack Andes Airlines (andes​ December through waited until late in the afternoon of the online.com), a local low- February is peak summer, following day. The air was a humid brew, so we cost carrier; Aerolíneas when temperatures can opted for the train, a faster, easier way to get to Argentinas (aerolineas. climb to 32 degrees. Spring the 1,100-meter bridge that brings you to the com.ar) also offers nonstop and autumn offer milder gorge. This walk, as opposed to the footbridges service. weather. No matter the month, the humidity is ever of the Lower Circuit, took us above the Iguazú where to stay present. Bring a bathing suit River itself. The water was murky— The Awasi Iguazú (awasi​ and flip-flops, in addition to something I’d learned was due to the iron-rich iguazu.com; doubles from quick-drying clothing, soil and extensive plant growth, not pollution. US$1,000 per person, all- comfortable walking shoes, inclusive) has 14 large villas. and several hats. Be Catfish swam below the bridges, side-necked Numerous excursions, prepared for your clothes to turtles sunbathed on rocks, and all appeared including visits to the falls, get dirty, as the soil easily calm, until we were about 50 meters from our are part of the price. The stains. final destination. Awasi guides will pick you Though you can get a pulled-back view of up in Puerto Iguazú. Before & after If you want to stay in Brazil, You’ll likely want to spend Devil’s Throat from Brazil, its scale and power the Belmond Hotel das time in Buenos Aires before are best appreciated in Argentina. The drop Cataratas (belmond.com; and/or after your visit. point, from which the water begins to fall doubles from US$284) is The Four Seasons some 85 meters, bisected a landscape of blue the best accommodation (fourseasons.com; doubles near the falls. from US$605) has a great sky and white water, the top half cloudless and location in Recoleta. The serene, the bottom a chaos of rapids and mist Crossing the rooms are spacious, but with no end in sight. It’s amazing what the Border you’re really there for the force of 12,750 cubic meters per second can do. Many travelers try to see outdoor pool, overlooking This was hardly the guides’ first rodeo. I Iguazú Falls from both the property’s garden and Brazil and Argentina. Each Beaux-Arts mansion, and asked Pancho whether he ever tired of coming side has its merits, though for the lobby bar, which here. “No,” he replied. “The light, the crowds, Argentina’s network of embraces the polo the atmosphere—it’s never the same.” I trails is longer, and 80 aesthetic (think plenty of believed him. As we walked away, I caught a percent of the falls lie on its leather and wood) and side of the border. Keep in serves excellent wines by glimpse of a rainbow arcing over the Devil’s mind that your visa the glass. — J.C. Throat, its reds and yellows and greens requirements might differ fractured by the mist.

104 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com LET’S CONNECT

WWW.TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM TRAVELLEISUREASIA @TRAVLEISUREASIA @TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA

Digital Ad2017.indd 58 12/8/2560 BE 14:55 wish you were here

It just might be the strangest tourist spot in Asia, given that the DMZ, or 38th parallel dividing the two Koreas, is always at a heightened sense of security. In one of the small blue houses that straddle the border, where representatives of the two sides meet, this South Korean guard mans his post in what is referred to as a modified Taekwando stance. All is quiet and extremely serious along this invisible demarcation line that is continually front-page news. —James Kostecky

106 june 2018 / travelandleisureasia.com

06Fiji_Revised.pdf 1 5/10/2561 BE 10:13 nto Jump iparadise

We’ve found paradise. Above the crystal azure waters and soft yellow sands is a paradise that welcomes with an enriching culture. From the moment you step foot on our marshmallow sands, you’ll be greeted with a ni sa bula vinaka (warm hello). Explore the cultural structures that weave tales of the historic civilisations. Embrace the relaxing sensation of a Yaqona (kava) ceremony or mellow to the music of music, song and dance (Meke ceremony). Learn the art of woodcarving and decorate a tapa made from the bark of mulberry trees. From our food, rituals, festivals and arts, you’ll meet the Fiji behind the palms. Fiji – it’s where happiness finds you.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K