National Geographic Traveller India - December 2014 PDF

d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 ` 1 5 0 VO L .
ISSUe 6
Festive
Cheer
In pIctUres
} }
Off the Wall

Berlins edgy
Neighbourhoods
Kathmandu
Royale
Discovering
Nepal with
the family
liviNg MeMOries
Unravelling
Cambodias Past
Great
InspIrIng
Unforgettable
JoUrneys
Travel PhoTos
TRAVEL
THROUGH TIME
A look at Indias brand new state that allows you to effortlessly turn back time for a weekend or two.
December 2014
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Look ults of o GT
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POS CONTEES118
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CONTENTS
Volume
Issue
N A T I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C T R AV E L L E R I N D I A
80
Edinburgh Festival, Scotland.
Journeys
68
80
96
104
FESTIVE CHEER IN PICTURES
30 GREAT TRAVEL PHOTOS
BARE-BONE TRUTHS
OFF THE WALL
Christmas is a great time

to travel and soak in some
good cheer. Its a time for
celebration, and these
spots around the globe
know how to rejoice in style
Timeless and transporting:

Pictures that make you want to
get out and see the world
Cambodias bloody past

unravels on a journey through
the country
Berlins neighbourhoods fizz

with an alchemy of high art
and the lowbrow, commerce
and iconoclasm
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014
BY NATASHA SAHGAL
BY ANDREW CURRY
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
SISSE BRIMBERG AND
COTTON COULSON
JIM RICHARDSON/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
In Focus
DECEMBER 2014 `120 VOL. 3
ISSUE 6
Festive
Cheer
IN PICTURES
} }
OFF THE WALL

Berlins Edgy
Neighbourhoods
Kathmandu
Royale
Discovering
Nepal with
the family
LIVING MEMORIES
Unravelling
Cambodias Past
Great
INSPIRING
UNFORGETTABLE
JOURNEYS
TRAVEL PHOTOS
On The COver
National Geographic photographer Dave
Yoder captured costumed revellers in Venice
during Carnivale, Italys famous annual mas
querade festival. The celebrations that in
clude balls, fiestas, and processions, begin to
gather steam after Christmas and continue
into February. The most engaging festival
displays are reserved for the citys canals.
14 Editors Note 16 Inbox 117 Big Shot

120 Inspire 128 Travel Quiz
Voices
38 The Neighbourhood
18 Tread Softly
Qingdao, Chinas fountain

of life
Help save the world, one

souvenir at a time
40 National Park
The chowkidars tale
Elephant safaris and intimate

animal encounters at Satpura
National Park
22 Guest Column
Super Structures
Salvaging a dream holiday

gone awry
46 The Neighbourhood
20 Far Corners
Navigate
24 Local Flavour
32
Viennas Wiener schnitzel
54 The Landmark
26 Go Now
The Bah Temple in

Delhi gives spirituality a
contemporary spin
Gather with Goans of

all faiths at St. Francis
Xaviers exposition
Smart Traveller
28 Dire Straits
56 Money Manager
Conserving Gees
golden langurs
Pagodas, Everest views,

and casinosa family
holiday in Kathmandu
30 Culture
South Koreas Pansori
performance
66 Checking In
32 Take Five
Short Breaks
Car-free destinations to
remind us of the world
before the honk
114 From Mumbai
36 Quiet Places
54
Childrens rhymes map a

trail through Londons
grand architecture
Memories old and

new in Kashmirs
Zabarwan Mountains
All aboard new railway hotels
The spirit of indulgence still

dances among Mandus relics
116 Stay
Prawn curry, feni, and long
reads in Goa
GEHRINGJ/GETTY IMAGES (BUILDINGS), JIM ZUCKERMAN/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (LOTUS TEMPLE), SIMON BOND (WOMEN),
DAVE YODER/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/INDIAPICTURE (COVER)
30
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Editors Note | niloufer venkatraman
I felt
compelled to
let go of the
irritants, the
less-thanideal, the
things that
knock ones
rhythm out of
whack
OUR MISSION
National Geographic
Traveller India is
about immersive
travel and authentic
storytelling, inspiring
readers to create their
own journeys and
return with amazing
stories. Our distinctive
yellow rectangle is a
window into a world of
unparalleled discovery.
14
spent last weekend camping in a jungle

in the Sahyadri Hills, 2.5 hours outside
Mumbai city. Though I knew I would have
lots of spare time I intentionally didnt take
a book along for the trip. I figured Id be
inclined to walk and appreciate my surroundings
more if I didnt have my nose buried in a novel.
The first thing I noticed once we arrived at our
campsite and darkness set in, was how quickly
my mind stopped buzzing with multiple thoughts
and must-do lists and shifted to a calmer, less
urgent pace. I must admit I quite feared and
didnt know what it was to live or camp in a forest
until my husband
introduced me to it
many years ago. Now
Ive really come to
appreciate and be
grateful for the way
the wilderness helps
me discard the chaos
of everyday life and
feel at ease.
Staying in a thickly
wooded area where
much of the natural
light is filtered out,
its easy to let go of
the need to know
what time of day it
is or even what date.
With the season
changing and the sun
setting early it wasnt
apparent whether it
was 5 or 6 or even 7
p.m. It forced me to
let go of my instinct
to act according to
the clock and instead,
to accept the rhythm
of the wild and listen
for the sounds of the
occasional monkey, barking deer, and cicada.
Although it was mid-November, we
experienced somewhat heavy, unseasonal rain
which disrupted my plan of being outdoors the
entire weekend. I ended up spending several
hours of Saturday holed-up in a tent to keep dry.
Lying on a sleeping bag, listening to the rain
patter on the trees and the tents plastic fly-sheet,
my thoughts unwittingly wandered to the fact
that we are nearing the end of the year.
Being in a network-less bush environment, far

from the urgency of urban living, made me think
with a different perspective. For one, I found I
wasnt planning what I needed to achieve during
the rest of the year, the next week, or even the
next day. And unlike the way most of us feel at
the years end, I didnt wonder how the previous
11 months had gushed by. Instead, as I inhaled
the sweet scent of wet earth, my brain focussed
on the big picture. I felt compelled to let go of
the irritants, the less-than-ideal, the things that
knock ones rhythm out of whack.
On long walks through the forest, with only
the sound of twigs
crunching beneath
our shoes, I felt
the comfort of not
needing to know, or
plan, or worry about
what came next. The
unexpected rain had
caused a fresh, green
layer of perked-up
moss on rocks and the
trails were scattered
with a variety of ants,
colourful beetles, and
other insects that
were disturbed by the
water seeping into the
forest floor. I stopped
to admire pools of
water collected in
woody bracket fungi,
a group of industrious
ants carrying a large
dead scorpion, a
giant spiders web
encased in droplets
that glinted in the
soft light creeping
through the trees.
Everyday tasks
werent on my horizon and it was easy to
push these distractions to a distant, unhurried
back-burner.
Im not claiming any miracles, but after two
days in the harmony of the jungle I came away
feeling a little realigned, with a stack of positives
to focus my energy on to journey forward into the
coming year.
MARTIN SIEPMANN/WESTEND61/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY
JUNGLE RHYTHMS
Voices | tread softly

MIKE PANDEY
Smart Buy
I
Mike Pandey is a
conservationist and
wildlife filmmaker. He
has won the Green
Oscar three times.
recently visited Kotagiri, a small town in the

Nilgiri Hills, after a gap of about ten years.
The hill station is surrounded by tea gardens,
coffee plantations, and sheer cliffs and I was
delighted to be back. There were old British
guest houses and plenty of forest trails to keep
outdoors-loving travellers like me satisfied.
There were other not-so-pleasant drawbacks
too: the moist forest is a hotbed of leeches, but
its nothing a glug of rum or generous sprinkling
of salt cannot fix. Moreover, I was interested in
another little creature that calls the region home.
Kotagiris misty blue hills are the domain of
the Apis dorsata or rock bees, the largest wild
bee species. Their hives are sometimes over five
feet wide and hang on the regions rocky cliffs.
Suspended nearly 400 feet above the ground,
they cut a striking picture. I always make it a
point to return with a bottle of honey.
The gatherers of this nectar are as interesting
as their produce is superlative. It is collected
by the Kurumbas, one of the indigenous tribes
that calls the Western Ghats home. Like other
tribes of the region that include the Badagas,
Todas, and Irulas, their history dates back
They offer
a fine
proposition to
travellers: The
opportunity
to take home
an authentic
souvenir with
the knowledge
that they have
helped keep
an age-old
tradition alive
18
2,500 years, and they still have a huntergatherer lifestyle. They have a unique bond with
nature, one that is being adversely affected by
mindless development. These rainforests have
sustained them for centuries, but due to illegal
encroachments and deforestation, the tribes are
now going through hard times. They have no
land to farm, and no source of income, making
them among the poorest and weakest of local
grassroots communities.
This is where NGOs like Keystone and
travellers like us come in. A Kotagiri-based
organisation, Keystone, has been working
for the welfare of the Kurumba tribe for over
two decades. Their holistic approach, which
addresses forest conservation as well as providing
livelihoods to the tribe, has been quite successful.
The forest looked more vibrant since the last time
I visited. The people had better sanitation, access
to medical facilities, and education. A community
that was once on the verge of extinction was
healthy and thriving.
The Kurumba gather honey from the hives of
the rock bees, usually just before the monsoon.
Before they scale the cliffs, they offer a ritual
prayer to the forest, securing its permission
to harvest the hives. The produce they collect
is sold through Keystone, ensuring that the
revenue comes back to the tribe. In fact, several
members of the tribe now work full-time with
the foundation.
In a similar vein, Ecosphere, an organisation
in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh helps
boost the local economy. In addition to opening
up carbon-neutral tourism opportunities in the
region, they sell sea buckthorn jam and squash at
their store in Kaza. In Gujarat, the Kala Raksha
Foundation helps keep Kutchi textile traditions
alive, linking local artisans (most of them women)
with buyers who value their craftsmanship.
Organisations like these, which work at the
grassroots level, can produce remarkable results.
They also offer a fine proposition to the traveller:
The opportunity to take home an authentic
souvenir with the knowledge that they have
helped keep an age-old tradition alive. There are
NGOs across the country that work to help local
communities, womens groups, and indigenous
peoples. Finding them takes a little research, but
the rewards are plentiful. The honey I brought
back from Kotagiri tasted that much sweeter
because I knew the proceeds were sustaining
the Kurumba economy and way of life and, by
extension, the rock bees of the Nilgiris.
ERIC TOURNERET
HELPING SAVE THE WORLD, ONE RESPONSIBLE SOUVENIR AT A TIME
Voices | far corners

KAI FRIESE
The Chowkidars Tale
E
Kai Friese is a writer,
editor, and translator
who likes to travel but
not on holiday.
Milam Valley
20
veryone said Milam was a ghost town and

it is. Once a thriving summer settlement
on the old trade route from Eastern
Kumaon to Gyanema and Gartok in
Western Tibet, it was abandoned in the wake of
the 1962 border war with China. But by the time
I got there, after a four-day walk, sweating and
cursing on the climbs, creaking and wobbling
on the steep descents, I just felt very happy to
be alive. It was beautiful: the sunshine poured
through the thin mountain air, the Milam glacier
glistened on the slopes below Hardeol at the
head of the valley. We walked to the glacier snout
plucking rose hips and Tibetan sea buckthorn
berries and returned to a breakfast of parathas
and potatoes garnished with fresh local jimbu or
chives. The day before, I had seen the twin peaks
of Nanda Devi cresting like frozen waves over
another ghost town called Martoli.
This used to be the biggest village in old
Almora district, said Kishen Singh, the chatty
old chowkidar at Deepu Guest House, a snug
whitewashed cottage at the edge of town.
There were five hundred families here, and
back in those days, they say, young brides, who
were new to this place, would lose their way
in the galis. Theyd go to fetch water from the
river, and wind up in the wrong house when
they returned. Kishen Singhs face lit up at the
ancient innuendos of the story. An old wives tale
of young wives. The gossip of ghosts.
Milam has more famous ghosts of course, you
may even have heard of them: the Pundits Nain
Singh and his nephew Kishen Singh, surveyor
spies of colonial yore, (code names A and
A.K.), who traversed Tibet on Her Majestys
Secret Service,
masquerading
as pilgrims
while charting
the forbidden
Himalayan
Kingdom with
their Victorian
gadgetry
concealed in
prayer wheels and
rosaries. I wanted
to see their homes
and was led
through the maze
of Milams lanes,
edged with drystone walls and
a few scattered willows. There were handsome

houses all around us, with sturdy stone walls
and some finely carved lintels. But many were
crumbling and most of them were roofless. We
stopped at a barren enclosure at the eastern
fringe of the town. This is where the Pundits
houses once stood, I was told. But all the stones
had been sold to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
It was a small disappointment but then, the
whole town was a ruin. After the 1962 war
had put paid to the Tibet trade, the despairing
Milamwals had even sold their roof beams and
rafters as firewood to the soldiers who now
wintered here.
In the angled amber light of evening, the
place reminded me of other historic ruins Ive
seen, places of calamity and legend, snuffed out
by drought and famine, fire and war. In its own
way, Milam was a casualty of war. And yet it is
a disarmingly unsentimental ruin. Haunting
perhaps, but not haunted.
For one thing, the ghost town now has a
lively if less charming doppelgnger: the ITBP
camp, garrisoned by fat soldiers from the plains.
They have satellite phones and TV dishes and
helicopters that fly in trucks and motorcycles and
even bulldozers to build the roads for them to
drive on. Someone had told me that the choppers
also brought in a regular ration of porn DVDs
for the lonely privates. So I asked a young jawan
if this was true. That was in the old days, he
giggled. Our generation does everything on
smartphones. Theres progress even in downfall,
I suppose.
Back at Deepu Guest House, Kishen Singh told
me another story from the good old days before
the soldiers moved in. The tale of Milams winter
chowkidar, a retired Tibetan horse herder called
Dhondup. He didnt get a salary but he had
the village to himself and he would move from
house to house, helping himself to whatever
provisions he liked until he got completely
snowed in. That was the arrangement. When
the villagers returned at the end of winter they
would dig him out of the snow.
It sounded like a bit of a fable but later when I
was back in Munsiyari, I visited the local museum
and they had an old photograph from the 1950s,
of Dhondup in Milam. A shaggy Tibetan Hagrid.
So why would anyone want to spend the winter
alone in a ghost town? He loved it! Kishen
Singh insisted. He used to tell the villagers the
moment you people leave Milam all the ghosts
leave with you.
KAI FRIESE
GOSSIP OF GHOSTS IS ALL THAT REMAINS IN A TOWN RUINED BY WAR
Voices | guest column

ANANDITA KAKKAR
Have Mercy, Paris
T
Anandita Kakkar is a
marketing professional
and dance instructor.
She enjoys travelling
and experiencing
the rhythms of
new cultures.
My travel
insurance
covered only
the fee for the
paperwork.
I had two
options: fly
home or stay
in Paris
22
here I was, sitting on the ground weeping

in the middle of Pariss Charles de Gaulle
Airport. Id just been robbed of my purse,
passport, and two years worth of savings.
My dream Europe holiday had been shattered.
Id arrived from Delhi on a Saturday morning
and was waiting for my friend to join me from
Singapore. Wed planned our three-week-long
Bollywood-style Europe trip for six months and
I was super excited. Since we were planning to
head to Nice immediately, and from there to Italy,
Switzerland, and Holland before returning to Paris, I decided to look up some train information.
Waiting at an elevator with my baggage trolley I
turned for a second to press the button. When I
turned back my purse was gone; the thief had cut
the strap, which still
lay wrapped around my
wrist. I remember running helter-skelter for
ten minutes, believing I
could find the culprit.
The next few hours
are a blur. I struggled
to communicate with
French policemen, who
escorted my friend
straight from the
immigration desk to
the police booth. While
I gave my statement
to the cops, she called
my parents, cancelled
our bookings in Nice,
and called the Indian
embassy. And it wasnt
even noon!
Upset beyond words, I stayed cooped up in a
hotel room for the next two days. My only activity
was pacing the 15-sq-metre room, fighting with
my family in India, and eating meals my friend
bought. When I stepped out on Monday it was to
head to the Indian embassy.
Maybe I was beginning to lose the cloud of
grief and disappointment, but the walk there
felt genuinely pleasant. By early evening, I had
a new passport, but I learnt that getting a new
Schengen visa would take over three weeks. My
travel insurance only covered about $200, the
fee for all the paperwork. I had only two options:
fly home or stay in Paris. By the time I stepped
out of the embassy my mind was made upI was
going to make the most of my trip.
When the three friends I was to meet in
Amsterdam learnt I couldnt travel outside Paris,

they drove six hours to spend a day with me. It
turned into one of the most fun-filled days ever.
All of us decided to get a drastic haircut. At a
salon in the Boulogne-Billancourt neighbourhood,
I just pointed at a style on the menu and sent up a
prayer to the hair gods. This time, destiny was on
my sideI loved the short bob I got.
Next, we hunted the area around the Arc
de Triomphe for Ladure, the macaron store
made famous by the teen TV show Gossip Girl.
We bought two each, and then documented
their demolition for Facebook. We ogled at the
boutiques around Champs-lyses, but missed
the topless male models you can take a picture
with at Abercrombie & Fitch by a whisker.
I will never forget
that day, or how it set
the tone for the rest of
my trip. I spent the next
week in Paris alone,
combing the city east to
west, north to south. I
spent a solitary day at
Sacr-Cur Basilica,
exchanging the crowded
terrace for a view of
the citys skyline from
the churchs steps and
the quiet Montmartre
Cemetery. The best tour
I signed up for was free:
A three-hour walk that
took me past the citys
most famous landmarks
including the Latin
Quarter and Pont Neuf.
I met several friends of friends, nice strangers,
and warm hotel staff. Each time I related the
story of my catastrophic first day. Sometimes
it resulted in a discount, sometimes it drew
sympathy, but every time I hoped it would hurt
a little less.
After a while it did, and it became more
amusing to impress everyone with my in-depth
knowledge of Paris than tell them the tale of my
misfortune. The beautiful sights, the delectable
Parisian food, supportive parents, and a wonderful friend, all chipped away at my self-pity.
Staying on my own and exploring the city made
me stronger, taught me to think on my feet and
look on the brighter side of life. The best-laid
plans of mice and men often go awry but theres
always a way around it.
DILYARA NASSYROVA/IMAGEZOO/PRISM/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY
A DREAM HOLIDAY TURNS INTO A NIGHTMARE, BUT IMPARTS VITAL LIFE LESSONS
Navigate | local flavour
Navigate
26
GO NOW
ST. FRANCIS XAVIERS EXPOSITION
30
CULTURE
PANSORI, THE KOREAN OPERA
32
TAKE FIVE
CAR-FREE DESTINATIONS
36
QUIET PLACES
KASHMIRS ZABARWAN MOUNTAINS
A waiter serves schnitzel

at Caf Central.
A Taste of Old Europe
iener schnitzelan
unassuming breaded,
fried veal cutlethas
so captured Viennas taste buds
that it bears the citys very name
(Wien=Vienna). Yet, Austrias
national dish may actually have
originated in northern Italy
as costoletta alla Milanese,
a similarly prepared slice of
veal. Legend has it that in 1857
Austrian Field Marshall Joseph
Radetzky brought the recipe back
from Italian territories under the
Habsburg rule, adding a note in
his report to the emperor about a
24
deliciously breaded veal cutlet.

Making Wiener schnitzel is
easy. Pound the meat to an even
thinness, coat it in flour, then egg,
then with bread crumbs. Fry it to
a golden brown and serve with
a wedge of lemon and a side of
potatoes. Although those stretching a budget may substitute pork,
its not the real deal if it isnt veal.
Thats the drill at 138-year-old
Caf Central, across from the
Spanish Riding School in the city
centre, where live piano music
adds flavour to the schnitzel and
strudel. At Caf Ofenloch, where
ATLAS
Vienna, Austria
The chef at
Figlmuller Woll
zeile hammers
each schnitzel
out to 12 inches
in diameter:
the size of a
dinner plate.
Franz Schubert once dined,

waitresses deliver generous slices
of Wiener schnitzel with crispy,
bubbled crusts. Vestibl, a cellarlike hideaway attached to the
Burgtheater, serves a modernised
schnitzel, with a crumb coating
that has been rendered thin
as a hanky.
Wiener schnitzel is a traditional part of Austrian cuisine that
tastes both young and old, says
Vestibls chef, Christian Domschitz. And its enjoyed by all.
Add a stein of beer and consider
yourself a local.
CAF CENTRAL AT PALAIS FERSTEL
IN VIENNA, WIENER SCHNITZEL IS GOLDEN | By CARLA WALDEMAR
Navigate | go now
An Act of Faith
The S Cathedral in Velha, Goa, has a gilded altar and an organ that dates back to the 18th century. Once in a decade the church displays
the relics of St. Francis Xavier.
prayerful silence fills

S Catedral de Santa
Catarina, one of Asias
largest churches. This seat of the

Archbishop of Goa, in Velha, or
Old Goa, has an illustrious visitor
these days. On November 22, the
relics of St. Francis Xavier were
brought from their abode in an
elevated glass-and-silver casket
at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in
Old Goa, and placed for public
viewing in the Cathedral. The
exposition will attract lakhs of
pilgrims, tourists, and curious
folks eager to catch a glimpse of
the famous Christian missionary.
Im one among thousands
waiting patiently in line to catch
a glimpse of his body. Once every
ten years, interest in Goencho
Saib (Goas master), as the
saint is locally known, reaches
26
a crescendo, with heightened

devotion, reported miracles, and
a general celebratory atmosphere.
The exposition is a major event
in Indias Christian calendar,
and dates back to 1782, when the
first of these was held. This year
marks the 17th public exposition
of his remains and will attract
over half a million visitors.
The story begins in 1552, when
the Jesuit missionary Francis
Xavier died on Shangchuan
Island off China. His body didnt
decompose naturally despite
being moved several times, and
this is seen as a miracle. The
devotion of the faithful continues
unabated, as is evident from
the lakhs who attended the last
exposition in 2004.
At every exposition, it isnt just
the religious who find the story
ATLAS
Goa
During the
first exposition
of St. Francis
Xaviers relics
in Goa, a visitor
reportedly bit
off the little toe
of the saints
right foot.
of his relics intriguing. Whats

remarkable to any visitor is the
universal hold St. Xavier seems
to have over Goans. Though
primarily a Catholic Saint, Goans
of all faiths regard him their saib,
and theres a long-standing belief
that no calamity will befall Goa
as long as he is watching over
the state.
All over Old Goa, historic
churches, chapels, and other
heritage structures, are
decked up for this decennial
event. During the exposition,
theres also an art exhibition
at Carmel Chapel at the Archie
piscopal Palace, of works by two
of Goas finest artistsAngelo
da Fonseca and Antonio X.
Trinidade (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
sfxexposition2014.com; until
January 4, 2015).
TRV/IMAGEROVER.COM/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE (CHURCH), DAVID BEATTY/ROBERT HARDING PICTURE LIBRARY/DINODIA (GLASS CASE),

ROBERT HOLMES/DOCUMENTARY VALUE/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (STATUE)
ONCE EVERY DECADE, THE PIOUS FLOCK TO GOA TO VENERATE ST. FRANCIS XAVIER | By FERNANDO LOBO
Navigate | dire straits
Red Alert
CONSERVING GEES GOLDEN LANGUR IS NO MONKEY BUSINESS | By KARANJEET KAUR
the figure 1,411, the number
of tigers left in the country.
The same year, the International
Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) estimated the
population of Gees golden
langur in India to be fewer than
1,500. Yet, the severe decline
in the numbers of this Old
World monkeymore than 50
per cent in the last 30 years,
according to IUCNdrew no
popular attention.
The population of golden
langurs is limited to Bhutan and
a small part of western Assam,
wedged in by the Brahmaputra,
Manas, and Sankosh rivers,
where it is considered sacred.
Today, they can only be spotted
swinging by their long tails
from sal and kadam trees
at Manas National Park and
Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary
Golden langurs rarely descend from the tree tops. They fulfil their water needs by drinking dew or
rainwater collected in leaves.
everal endangered species

take up residence in the
diverse forests of Indias
northeast and at the foothills
of Bhutans Black Mountains:
pygmy hog, Assam roofed turtle,
hispid hares. But the shyest and
most elusive of the lot is Gees
golden langur. This leaf-eating
primate with a gold-rust chest
is named after Edward Pritchard
28
MINUTIAE
These primates
have grey to
brown fur
when they
are infants,
which in adults
turns cream
in summer
and golden in
winter.
Gee, an early 20th-century

Anglo-Indian tea planter and
conservationist, who led an
expedition in 1953 to film them.
Their late discovery and elusive
nature has ensured that aside
from their appearance, we know
precious little about them and
their behaviour.
In 2008, Indian conservationists and media latched on to
Sipahijola Wildlife Sanctuary,

where they were introduced
during the late 1980s. (Wizenedlooking Phayres leaf monkeys
also reside in these parks.)
The biggest threat to these
langurs is the rapid destruction
of their forests. Illegal human
encroachment and logging
chews its way through their
already tiny habitat. The
monkeys also get entangled
in high-voltage power lines
resulting in electrocution. Stone
quarrying and noise pollution
in the areas surrounding the
parks does not help either.
Another problem, perhaps, is
the relative lack of research into
the monkeys behavioural and
reproductive patterns. Experts
suspect that inbreeding might
have contributed towards its
weakening numbersbut
without adequate data the
langurs may well go extinct
before we have had a chance
to understand how we can
help them.
SANDESH KADUR
in Assam, or in Tripuras
Navigate | culture
Follow the Music

A KOREAN OPERATIC STORYTELLING TRADITION STRIKES THE RIGHT NOTE | Text & Photograph by SIMON BOND
narrates a story, and the lone
singer plays all the characters.
Performers can choose to perform
one of 5 operas that still exist
from the original 12. The ones
that continue to be staged are
called madang. The stories have
various themes; popular subjects
are family, moral values, and love.
For instance, the Chunhyangga
opera, the most highly valued of
these theatrical acts, dramatises
the love story of the courtesan
Sung Chunhyang. Several
songs from it have become very
famous, especially the love song
Sarrangga.
Its the operas music that binds
the performance together. Ive
realised that although you need
to know the Korean language
to fully appreciate Pansori, even
foreigners can enjoy the music
on its own merit. If you treat the
vocals as the music rather than
the story, and look out for visual
cues such as the singers body
language and the way she uses
props like hand fans, it is possible
to follow the plot.
Pansori opera singers perform for long hours accompanied only by a drummer. They use only two
traditional propsa hand fan and handkerchief.
he Pansori singers elegant

pink hanbok (traditional
Korean dress) shimmers
in the light. Her voice projects
impressively across the room, and
parts of her song have a staccato
rhythm. The lone drummer
adds to the vocals, letting out a
yell to punctuate the song and
emphasise the storyline.
The first time I unwittingly
witnessed a Pansori performance,
I couldnt follow the story but
I was impressed by the actors
beautiful clothes, the setting, and
the music. Having lived in South
Korea for many years now, Ive
seen several renditions, some of
which last up to eight hours. The
Korean opera performance is
30
ATLAS
South Korea
Traditionally,
Pansori was
performed in
open markets
and public
squares.
It became
popular with
the elite only
in the 19th
century.
typically presented by only two

people, a singer (sorikkun) and
a drummer (gosu). Some Pansori
have accompanying dancers,
although this is uncommon.
As with other Korean
performances such as the maskdance (talchum) and tightropewalking (jultagi), Pansori is
often performed at cultural
events. Although it is not half
as famous as K-Pop, now the
most prominent cultural export
from South Korea, Pansori is a
narrative art form recognised
by UNESCO as a Masterpiece
of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity.
Pansoris roots go back to 14thcentury folk songs. Each opera
WHERE?
Visitors can watch a Pansori

in many parts of the country,
but a traditional folk village is
usually a good place to start. I
still remember a mesmerising
performance I witnessed at the
Nagan Fortress Folk Village in
the southern part of the country,
where a performer sang from her
home for the entertainment of
anyone who happened to pass by.
Travellers can visit Hanok village,
in the ancient city of Jeonju or
the annual Seopyeonje Boseong
Sori Festival in the tea-growing
region of Boseong, in South
Jeolla Province. If youre in Seoul,
you might be able to catch a
recital at the National Theater
of Korea, which sometimes has
a translation of the lyrics on a
background screen.
Navigate | take five
Park it!
CAR-FREE AREAS AROUND THE WORLD ARE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR | By ANJANA VASWANI
overnments, urban designers, and transport planners around the world are pushing to create
spaces that are more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly, but some places made this choice a long
time ago. These tucked-away sanctuaries have cocooned their environment by imposing outright
bans on motor vehicles. Hop aboard their train of thought.
Matheran India
The name that loosely translates to forest overhead,
hints at the idyllic charm of this preserved paradise 800 m
above sea level. It was once a treasured getaway for British
and Parsi families of colonial India. The most picturesque
way to get to Matheran is aboard the century-old steam
locomotive Phulrani, an antique narrow-gauge train
that departs from the town of Neral at the base of the
hill. The 21-km journey takes three hours uphill and 1.5
hours downhill. In the monsoon, when the train service
is suspended, hiking up to the hill station past blooming
wildflowers and milky waterfalls is highly recommended.
A ban on cars ensures that these woods and the unspoilt
old-world township within can only be explored on foot,
horseback, or in a hand-pulled rickshaw. Hikers are
rewarded with sightings of exotic butterflies and birds
and will of course encounter the now well-known and
cheeky population of bonnet macaques. Besides chikki,
the one souvenir every visitor leaves with is the lasting
memory of soul-invigorating vistas from points like
Sunset and Panorama.
Perched on terraced cliffs on the coast of the Ligurian Sea,

this is an expanse of five (cinque in Italian) medieval
fishing villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia,
Vernazza, and Monterosso. Many of the brightly coloured
three- and four-storey stone houses that overlook the
harbour here, date back to the Middle Ages, as do
numerous castles and churches that dot the area, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site for 17 years now.
Its magnificent, time-chiselled cliffs are a magnet
for tourists. The town centres of Cinque Terre have been
declared car-free, and the best way to explore the terrain
is still on foot. Buy a Cinque Terre Card that allows you
to use eco-friendly trains, and includes access to all
walking trails. Follow the Sentiero Azzurro, or blue
path, a five-hour pedestrian course which cuts through
vineyards and lemon and olive groves, while also
offering glimpses of the beautiful coast. Start at
Riomaggiore and you can end your walk by soaking
your tired feet in the pristine waters of Monterosso
al Mares petite beach.
32
HIRA PUNJABI/GETTY IMAGES (TRAIN), FEDERICA GENTILE/GETTY IMAGES (HOUSES)
Cinque Terre Italy
Navigate | take five

Giethoorn Netherlands
A train journey of just 2.5 hours from Amsterdam takes
you to a watery Edenthe village of Giethoorn that has
a network of several shallow canals, negotiated via more
than 180 storybook-pretty arched wooden bridges. For
a while, there wasnt a single roadonly a couple of
cycling pathsin this northern Dutch village located
at the fringe of Weerribben-Wieden National Park.
Giethoorn is accessed mainly by punter boats similar
to Venetian gondolas earning it the sobriquet, Venice
of the Netherlands. A cycling tour however, is the most
conducive way to appreciate the 18th-century chocolatebox farmhouses that peek out from the green. The tiny
private islands on this hamlet erupt with activity in the
summer but quiet winter holidays include ice-skating
over the frozen canals and trips to the local museum.
At 1,450 metres above sea level, amidst a pine and spruce

forest in the Crdoba Mountains, youll find a lovely
alpine-style hamlet. This village sprang from an idea
Helmut Cabjolskyan employee of a German company
in Buenos Aireshad to recreate the lush vistas of the
fatherland in the bare, treeless Argentine landscape
during the 1930s. He started out with one cottage, which
is now known as Hotel La Cumbrecita. Visitors to the
settlement must park their vehicles at a parking lot
on the outskirts of town and proceed on foot. La Olla
(Spanish for the pot), a pool into which the rejuvenating waters of Ro Almbach flow, is the villages main
attraction, aside from the peak of Cerro Wank, which
affords gorgeous views of the Calamuchita Valley. When
youre done trekking, sit back and enjoy fondue and
strudel at the restaurants in Paseo Bajo.
Rottnest Island Australia

Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh dubbed this tiny
landmass off the western coast of Australia Rats Nest
Island in the 17th century. What he thought were giant
rats were actually quokkas, a unique marsupial species
native to this A-class nature reserve. Visitors are escorted
on walking and snorkelling trips that introduce them
to these foot-tall critters, and as many as 400 species
of fish, several varieties of coral, and numerous exotic
birds such as the red-capped dotterel and the curlew
sandpiper. Sectioned into 63 beaches, the islands soft,
white sandy coast lends itself well to water sports and
events, such as the Swim Thru Rottnest, a 1,600-metre
race through these crystal waters held every year in early
December since 1977. Eco-conscious tourists can sign
up to plant seeds, monitor fauna, and assist with beach
clean-ups.
34
CHRISTOPHER HILL/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE (BOAT), C2070 ROLF HAID/CORBIS WIRE/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (HOUSES),

JTB PHOTO/JTB PHOTO COMMUNICATIONS, INC/DINODIA (BEACH)
La Cumbrecita Argentina
Navigate | quiet places
Spring Romance
Chashme Shahi garden is named after a spring that flows down its terraces. Its water is believed to
have medicinal properties.
andit Jawaharlal
Nehru only drank
the pure waters of
the Chashme Shahi spring, my
grand-aunt said, handing me an
empty bottle. Dont forget to
bring some back. Kashmir had
been my familys annual vacation
destination for years. Until
1986the year the riots broke
out in Anantnag. It was the last
time we saw my aunts home, Dal
Lake, and the chinar ke ped, my
mother would lament for years
to come.
I was five but I still have a clear
memory of my first visit to the
Mughal gardens. With a frozen
nose, I stood bundled up in front
of my uncle on his scooter as
he breezed towards Harvan
through the frosty lanes of
Srinagars Wazir Bagh.
Chashme Shahi or the Royal
Spring is the smallest of the three
Mughal gardens in Kashmir,

sitting on an acre of land amidst
the Zabarwan Mountains,
overlooking Dal Lake. Inspired
by Iranian architecture, this
terraced garden is surrounded
by a freshwater spring. It is
believed that Emperor Shah
Jahan had it built for Dara
Shikoh, his eldest son, who
learnt astronomy in the garden
of Pari Mahal nearby.
Twenty-eight years later I
was back there with my fianc. I
excitedly pulled him by his hand
up a flight of stairs that led us to
a pool with five fountains. This
was the first of the three terraces.
It was November, and a golden
glow seemed to cloak the plethora
of flowers all around us. Right
in the centre of the garden is a
passage or chadar that carries the
spring water from its origin at the
highest terrace to the middle level
The most popular Mughal Gardens of Kashmir include Nishat Bagh, Shalimar
Bagh, Chashme Shahi, and Pari Mahal in Srinagar, and Verinag in Anantnag.
36
ATLAS
Srinagar, Jammu
& Kashmir
Pari Mahal is
a seven-tiered
garden built by
Dara Shikoh,
that is also
used as an
observatory.
where it transforms into a single

fountain and finally flows into the
pool at the base where we stood.
After dodging other tourists
and a man trying to get us to
dress in traditional Kashmiri
attire for a photograph, we
walked uphill along the fountains
and waterfalls. At the highest
terrace a pavilion housed the
natural spring, which is believed
to be fortified with minerals and
have healing properties. I cupped
my hands, scooped up the cold,
gushing water and took a big
refreshing gulp.
Walking around further we
discovered a flight of steps that
led to a garden caf, where an
old Kashmiri manager welcomed
us warmly to the vacant canteen.
Sitting in that quiet courtyard,
we sipped on fragrant kahwa
to a panoramic view of the
mountainsthe setting sun
gradually changing the colour
of the Zabarwan range from
green to orange. Unexpectedly,
we had found a very romantic
setting and the memory of
that moment is priceless. I had
squinted to see the shikaras
floating lazily on Dal Lake,
lined by iconic chinars.
Somewhere in the distance,
I knew, there was an old brick
house with a sloping roofa
place I once called home
(Sat-Thu 9.30 a.m.-7 p.m.;
closed Friday; entry `10).
DINODIA (FOUNTAIN), PHOTO COURTESY: URVASHI D. MAKWANA (PEOPLE)
MEMORIES OLD AND NEW FROM THE ZABARWAN MOUNTAINS OF KASHMIR | By DIVIYA MEHRA
Navigate | the neighbourhood
Chinas Fountain of Life

LIQUID SUCCOUR FROM QINGDAOS SPRING WATER (AND RENOWNED BEER) | By TIENLON HO
Sand and smiles on a Qingdao beach.
38
home of immortal beings and

the water sacred.
ATLAS
the pitcher or bag, or green tea

grown on the slopes of Lao Shan.
Qingdao, China
DRINK THE WATER
WRITTEN IN STONE
Tap the longevity well on Taiqing

Gongs grounds, a sprawling
complex of temples and cypress
trees. Or try the citys famed beer,
Tsingtao, made with water from
the same source.
Look for the ode to Qingdao

carved into a rock in Lao Shan by
celebrated poet Yu Dafu.
LIQUID COURAGE
At Huangdao Lus street market

in Old Town, order Tsingtao by
HARVEST TIME
Tsingtao beer
was marketed
as a health
drink in the
1950s.
On the full moon around the fall

equinox, families gather and share
moon cakes. Join the crowds
hiking up Zhongshan Parks peak
for views of the clear night sky.
JAN SIEFKE/LAIF/REDUX
lue skies prevail in

Qingdao, a seaside
metropolis that keeps
topping liveability lists in China,
with its inviting boardwalks,
shaded streets and parks, and
German colonial architecture.
Just to the east beckon the hiking
trails of the Lao Shan Scenic
Area, where chains of sapphire
pools bubble with spring water
and natural mist shrouds
granite peaks. In ancient times,
Taoist priests deemed this the
Navigate | national park
Intimate Encounters
ELEPHANT SAFARIS AND NIGHT TREKS INTO THE JUNGLES OF SATPURA NATIONAL PARK
By MADHUMITHA B | Photographs by DHRITIMAN MUKHERJEE
Blackbucks were once found across India. However, shrinking habitat and hunting have now made them an endangered species.
o experience a forest in its

entirety, you must walk
through it. And if during
that walk, you are asked to hush
and take cover behind a tree, you
could be among the lucky few
who witness an amazing wildlife
moment unfold right before
your eyes. At Satpura National
Park & Tiger Reserve in Madhya
Pradesh, one of the few forests
in the country that can be
explored on foot, you might spot
wild dogs gearing up for a hunt,
a sloth bear with her young, or
even a leopard basking atop
a rock. Booted eagles soar
through the sky above, while
a kaleidoscope of butterflies
flutter about nearby bushes.
A simple walk easily turns into
the memory of a lifetime.
40
ATLAS
Satpura,
Madhya
Pradesh
Make a detour
to the rock
shelters at
Bhimbetka
(52 km/1.5
hours north of
Itarsi) to see
prehistoric wall
paintings.
EXPLORE
Satpura is often overshadowed

by the better known Panna and
Bandhavgarh national parks that
are also in Madhya Pradesh. This
works as an advantage since the
forest remains mostly undisturbed
and the habitat pristine.
The 1,427-sq-km reserve is
named after the Satpura range
of seven hills that starts in
East Gujarat and runs across
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
and Chhattisgarh. The undulating
landscape makes for scenic views:
Dhoopgarh, Madhya Pradeshs
highest peak at 1,365 metres,
is located in the middle of the
park. The terrains of north India
and the Deccan blend in a mix
of dry and evergreen forests in
which a range of flora and fauna
thrive. Not only will you find rare

wildlife species, but also plants
that are exclusive to the Central
India highland ecosystem. In fact,
Satpura is often described as a
botanists paradise.
The ideal way to explore
Satpura is on foot. Visitors are
accompanied by an experienced
forest guide and the trip includes
a boat ride across the Denwa
River (walks start at 6 a.m. and
3 p.m., last three hours; `750
for Indians, `1,500 for foreign
nationals). There is also the
longer three-day Forsyth Trail
that follows the path British army
officer Captain James Forsyth
took, over a hundred years
ago. The trip involves camping
overnight in the forest and can be
booked via your lodge.
ON TWO Wheels
PROMOTION
PROMOTION
orthern Thailand is amongst a few

unique destinations in the world, and
one of my favourites. Having logged
more than 10,000 kilometres riding my
bike in those hills, I still yearn to go back. There are
two distinct travel plans one can make: The first to
the culturally rich town of Chiang Mai, and the second is the Mae Hongson loop, which ranks amongst
the worlds top motorcycle riding routes.
North Thailand is the perfect destination for the
discerning traveller who is looking for something off
the beaten track, or wants to ride on roads less travelled. The regions capital Chiang Mai becomes the
natural choice for the place to begin the exploration. The town has a lot to offer motorcycles tours,
self-driven car holidays, golf holidays, or adventure
activities for school groups you could plan a 4-7
day holiday.
Chiang Mai is often described as the Rose of
North. The culturally endowed town is snuggled in
the Thai Highlands. It has a distinct character, with
many artisans and craftsmen, university students,
intellectuals, writers, and culture aficionados. It is a
heady mix of an unspoilt, laidback, creative, spiritual
and reverential society.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
By Mike from VIKTORIANZ, a boutique travel company of experts in

unique North Thailand experiences.
W: viktorianz.com | FB: facebook.com/

BindassViktorianz | P: 0124 2386252
| M: 09971119102
Cultural Visits Keep in mind that for temple

visits one needs to dress modestly, respect customs,
and give way to monks. While the whole place is
full of cultural dos, let me begin with the top three
things to see: Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang,
Wat Phra Doi Suthep (Wat means temple). (You will
need a bike and there is a climb of 300 odd steps.)
Doi Suthep is the guardian mountain of Chiang Mai
and has a mythical birth story.
Discovering offbeat Thailand

astride a motorcycle
Night Life As the sun goes down, there is a

colourful Chiang Mai that comes to life. Visit recommended places like Wine by the River, The Night
Bazar, Street shopping (Fri-Sun only).
AROUND CHIANG MAI

Chiang Mai is also a hub for adventure and wildlife
safaris. While you are in Chiang Mai, I would recommend you do one or more of the following:
Doi Inthanon Loop Get yourself a bike and
ride to the highest mountain in Thailand the Doi
Inthanon. On the way, do visit the two Royal Chedis
and the beautiful valley view they afford. This would
take half a day and it will be cold at the top.
Mae Sa Loop This is a closest getaway into the
neighbouring hills and the loop is lined with a large
number of outdoor activities. There are elephant
shows, ATV rides, animal farms, bungee jumps, off
road biking, trekking, etc.
Zipline For adventure enthusiasts, ziplining is a
popular activity though a little costly. This again
takes most of the day.
River Cruises Mae Ping River is a serpentine
waterway that passes through the rural and rustic
countryside. The cruises available range from two
hours to much longer, and youre sure find peace
on the river.
Navigate | national park
The forest departments elephant safaris (top left) are a fascinating way to explore the forest; While staying at one of the lodges around Satpura
National Park, visitors often spot sambar deer (top right); Both male and female Indian bison or gaur (bottom left) grow horns that curve
upwards; Sloth bears (bottom right) are the only bears that carry their young on their backs.
Other ways to explore the park

include jeep and elephant safaris
that start at similar times in the
morning and afternoon. Elephant
safaris give visitors a chance to
get close to the wildlife, while
jeep safaris are more comfortable
for the elderly and very young.
These can be arranged by your
lodge or booked through the
forest department ( field director
75742 54838; jeep safaris `1,200
for Indians, `2,400 for foreigners,
per jeep for 8 people; guides from
`200; elephant safaris `750 for
Indians, `1,500 for foreigners).
There are a few cycling trails, and
plans exist to introduce more in
42
the future (cycle rentals `230 for

Indians, `500 for foreigners).
Visitors can also opt for a canoe
ride down the Denwa River which
flows through the reserve (`850
per canoe for Indians; `1,850 for
international travellers). Lodges
in and around the forest often
include several of these activities
in the accommodation charges,
so check before booking.
ANIMAL AND BIRD LIFE
Like other tiger reserves in the

country, Satpuras big cats face
the problem of shrinking habitat.
However, initiatives like the
resettling of human populations
Sloth
bears and
leopards
wander
through
the
ravines,
while
crocodiles
rule the
banks of
the Denwa
outside the park, have increased

tiger numbers to 40. Even so,
spotting a tiger is a matter of

luck, especially given Satpuras
hilly landscape.
Besides the elusive tiger, there
are lots of animals in this park.
Indian bison, wild dogs, spotted
deer, sambar, and black buck
roam the uneven terrain. Sloth
bears and leopards wander
the ravines and gorges, while
crocodiles rule the banks of the
Denwa. For those fascinated by
feathered creatures, Satpura has
350 species of birds and 100
species of butterflies. Spot booted
eagles and bar-headed geese,
Super Structures | the neighbourhood
Super Structures
46
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
A RHYMERS GUIDE TO LONDON
54
THE LANDMARK
BAH HOUSE OF WORSHIP, DELHI
Trafalgar Square in central London is a

vibrant open space used for a wide range
of activities. At its east corner is
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, which
is the British royal familys parish.
London by Rhyme
ain, rain, go away, I breathed

as I stepped out into a wet
London morning. The kind
of morning I prefer to stay indoors,
wrapped in a pashmina, nursing a cup
of hot lemony tea. That was not to be
on this late summer morning because I
had guests from India eager to explore
46
London. The catch was they had visited

the Big Smoke before and taken in most
of the sights, so my challenge was to
show them different aspects of this city
Id grown to love. My friends and I share
a passion for architecture and strangely,
nursery rhymes. We had always found
the history behind the seemingly
innocuous English ditties we grew up

with intriguing. So I decided to combine
our interests to create a new way of
seeing London. With a little research,
I found the landmarks with the most
enthralling, grisly, as well as the funniest
links to the hoariest of rhymes. Since
every inch of London has some literary
ANYAIVANOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK
CHILDHOOD DITTIES MAP A TRAIL THROUGH LONDONS GRAND ARCHITECTURE | By SHREYA SEN-HANDLEY
or historic connection, it is the perfect

city for such a tour.
Catching a red double-decker bus
to The Eagle Pub in Shoreditch, where
Id arranged to meet my friends, I was
pleasantly surprised to find the skies
clearing. As we fortified ourselves
for the three-hour walk with hearty
portions of mustard-spiked mash
topped with coils of pork and leek
bangers, I announced that our tour
began right here.
Up and down the city road,
In and out the Eagle.
Thats the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel. runs the roundel
referring to this historic public house,
located at the corner of Shepherdess
Walk and City Road. Starting life as a
pub, the Eagle did a turn as a music
hall in the early 19th century, and
then returned as a pub after being
demolished in 1901. A plaque at the
door reminds visitors of its connection
with the rhyme. The ditty uses Cockney
rhyming slangweasel is short
for weasel and stoat which means
coat. And pop was a colloquial term
48
As we sat watching it shimmer in,

a street performer crept up
to us and with a knowing
twinkle in his eye sang, London
Bridge is falling down
for pawning, harking back to the
dire poverty of Victorian Londons
underbelly where a coat would often
have to be traded in for a crust of bread.
The verse mentioning this pub was
first heard during a performance at the
Theatre Royal in 1856.
The Eagle was just shabby enough
to evoke nostalgia for the era in which
it was immortalised. The brooding air
created by the dark walls and a soaring
iron eagle located atop its central dome
reminded me of the uncomfortable
Victorian juxtaposition of grandeur and
despair that 19th-century London was
famous for.
DRAMA AND GLORY
Our next stop was linked to perhaps

the most London-centric of all nursery
rhymes. Oranges and lemons, say the
bells of St. Clements, I hummed under
my breath as we walked,
You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martins.
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
I stopped as we came upon St.
Leonards in Shoreditch, a 15-minute
walk from the Eagle. Ive only time
for brief halts at each of the numerous
churches in the fruity but macabre
ballad about death and taxation. We
ached to step inside and breathe in
the calm of the grand church after the
hurly-burly of London streets, but it was
time to move on to the Theatre Royal in
Drury Lane, Covent Garden.
There have been four buildings at the
same location since 1663, making this
the oldest working theatre in London.
It was Londons leading playhouse
until it caught fire in 1672 and a larger,
Christopher Wren creation rose from its
ashes, two years later. The one we were
standing inside awestruck, opened in
1812, and since then a stellar range of
performers from Ivor Novello to Monty
MARK SYKES/PASSAGE/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY
The bells of St. Mary Le Bow were recorded in 1926 for the BBC World Service and used as an interval signal for broadcasts.
105.6
Python have treaded its floorboards.

Today, this Andrew Lloyd Webberowned theatre devotes itself to musicals
and you almost expect the masked
Phantom to step out from behind a
sumptuous velvet curtain and sing. But
to us, Theatre Royal felt special because
it was linked not just to Pop goes the
Weasel but another rhyme as well.
Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane?
I recited to my friends as they shook
their heads grinning. During the
Victorian era, muffins were delivered
door-to-door. Many would have been
delivered to the players as well, who
staged more shows a day than they do
today. The theatre itself would not have
been the richly restored, four-tiered,
2,000-seat extravaganza it is now.
The detailed restoration had returned
its finest featuresthe rotunda, royal
staircases, and grand saloonto
their former Regency glory. It left
us salivating but it could have been
because of the mention of muffins.
Two more Oranges and lemons
churches are en route to London
Bridge, our next destination, requiring
a 40-minute walk through Fleet Street.
St. Sepulchre at Old Bailey is grander
than we expected, being the largest
parish church in London. Music fills
the aisles as we wander through for
a look at Pocahontas lost love John
Smiths resting place.
With When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.
I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow, ringing
in our ears, we arrived at St. Mary
Le Bow located in the shadow of
magnificent St. Pauls. This imposing,
old city church is vested with great
meaning for the Cockneys of London.
Tradition has it, only those born
50
St. Clement Danes (top) is an island of peace in the middle of the hustle of the Strand. This
church, and St. Clement Eastcheap, have both been connected with the rhyme; The Eagle Pub
(bottom) is a grand old drinking spot with high ceilings and wooden booths lining the walls.
within earshot of the bells of Bow

are true Cockneys. As the bells
began ringing, our stomachs rumbled
and we made our way to a Thamesside bench to feast on a large bag of
roasted chestnuts bought from a
vendor for 3/`295. London Bridge
loomed before us. As we sat watching
it shimmer in the early afternoon
haze, a street performer crept up to
us and with a knowing twinkle in his
eye sang:
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair ladeeez.
THE KINGS HENRY
The story goes that when King Henry

III put the taxes from the bridge at
Queen Eleanors disposal in 1269, she
blew it all on a 13th-century version of
retail therapy. As a result, the bridge fell
into serious disrepair. In the winter of
1281, frost wreaked havoc on the shaky
structure and a part of it fell into the
river. The song was then sung from one
end of London to the other in angry
criticism of the Queen.
In reality, London Bridge is not
one, but several historical bridges that
traversed the Thames between the
old City of London and Southwark,
RUNE HELLESTAD/CORBIS NEWS/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (CHURCH), ROBERTO HERRETT/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (EAGLE PUB)
The carat size of the Koh-i-Noor

diamond, which is on display at the
Tower of London. The stone passed
through the hands of Mughal princes,
Afghan rulers, and Punjabi Maharajas
before being appropriated by the
British in 1849 as spoils of Empire.
in central London, over the centuries.

Its latest incarnation is a steel-andconcrete structure, but it had humble
beginnings as a timber bridge built by
Londons Roman founders. Similar,
short-lived crossings followed, eventually supplanted by a sturdy medieval
structure that survived 600 years before
its replacement in the 19th century with
an arched stone bridge. Though each
of them fell down, as Londons only
crossing across the Thames until the
mid-18th century, London Bridge had to
be resurrected time and again.
Leaving the bridge, we walked
north, pausing at St. Martins and
St. Clements of Oranges and lemons
fame just long enough to take in their
soaring spires and snippets of history.
All that remains of the first is its bell
tower, while the second, located on the
wharves, still smelled of the citrus fruit
seamen unpacked on its doorstep. We
couldnt help but wonder why these
beautiful churches had been drafted
into that macabre old dirge about child
sacrifice, public executions, and the
deadly marital troubles of Henry VIII.
With uncharitable thoughts about
52
Henry, its most famous incumbent,

we headed east along Eastcheap and
entered the imposing and still somewhat
forbidding Tower of London, now a
museum, treasury and UNESCO World
Heritage Site. This complex of moated,
fortified castles is spread over 18 acres.
In its heyday, it was both a palace and
a prison, as well as the stronghold the
English royalty retreated to under siege.
Thus the castles connection with the
ditty Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, a
rhyme about Henry VIIIs daughter
Mary I, who took refuge in the Tower
when England rose up against her
misrule and mass executions.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
And thats not all, Oranges and
lemons with its grisly last line on
decapitations and Pop goes the Weasel,
which is often interpreted as mockery
of Henrys weakness for bumping off
wives, are also linked to the Tower of
London. Seen as a place of dark deeds
like torture, murder, and beheadings,
the castle gets its name from the iconic
White Tower within it, which was the

earliest stone keep in England.
Sixteenth-century zealots and nineteenth-century literati colluded over
the ages to give The Tower its sinister
reputation. A good many people were
executed on the grounds, but only a few
were killed inside the tower complex.
Two were Henrys wives and another two
women, were put to death on his express
orders. Anne Boleyn, the first of his
wives slain here, is said to haunt it still,
wandering its corridors with her severed
head tucked under her arm. As we stood
on the exact spot where she had breathed
her last, hoping to catch sight of her
ghost to round off an amazing tour, the
heavens opened up again.
Dashing out of the complex, wet
but excitedly recounting the high
points of our rhyming tour, we were
stopped by an American couple looking
for pointers and tips. I handed them
my notes on the tour plan as we rushed
to catch a red double-decker headed
our way. How was it, I heard them yell
at our retreating backs. Brilliant, my
friends threw over their shoulders as
they ran. Wed do it again!
JACKIE BALE/CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGES
A recent art installation that marks 100 years since Britain joined the First World War has filled the historic Tower of Londons moat with 8,88,246
ceramic poppies, one for each British or Colonial military fatality in the war.
Super Structures | the landmark
Universal Appeal
THE BAH TEMPLE IN DELHI GIVES SPIRITUALITY A CONTEMPORARY SPIN | By GINA TANIK
esembling a lotus bloom

perched in a pool of water,
the expansive Bah House of
Worship in New Delhi is a dramatic
departure from the dusty neighbourhood of Nehru Place where it is located.
This Lotus Temple is visited by locals
and travellers alike: uniformed children
on school picnics, foreigners looking for
closure after their overwhelming travels
in India, city dwellers seeking respite on
a searing Delhi summer day. But despite
the crowds that mill about, it manages
to retain an air of calm, a feat of its
complex design.
Designing it was complicated. The
structure needed to reflect the core
belief of the relatively young Bah
faith, an independent, inclusive religion,
founded in 1844, that preaches unity in
54
diversity. Though the lotus was chosen

as the inspiration for the structure,
this ancient sacred symbol was given a
distinctly modern makeover.
The temple reigns over a 26acre piece of land. At its centre, lie
manicured gardens, shimmering pools,
and a long pathway that leads to the
gleaming, white marble shrine. The
structures curved, free-standing walls
or petals demarcate smaller spaces of
worship inside, leading visitors to the
main prayer hall where believers of all
40 lakh
The number of people who visit the

Lotus Temple each year
religions are welcome to pray, chant,

or simply reflect.
Conceptualised by Iranian-Canadian
architect Fariborz Sahba, the structure
was designed to make the most of
available natural light. The sun enters
the hall through the 27 petals, filling the
halls with a gentle diffused light. Nine
petal-shaped pools edge the structure.
The bodies of water are meant to
represent the leaves of the lotus blossom
but also cool the air that passes over
them, giving the marble floors an
air-conditioned feel. At dusk, discreet
exterior lighting comes on, giving the
temple the illusion of being afloat. Its
an oasis of calm amidst the concrete
jungle of the Indian capital (www.
bahaihouseofworship.in; open Tue-Sun
9.30 a.m.-5.30 p.m.; entry free).
SUMAN SENGUPTA
More frequently called the Lotus Temple, the Bah House of Worship in New Delhi has 27 marble petals in half bloom.
PROMOTION
WHITE
WONDERLAND
A
The Canadian, the
legendary train that
travels from Toronto to
Vancouver is one of the
nations most cherished
symbols. So beloved
in fact, it has been
immortalised on the
new Canadian $10 bill.
SAVOUR THE DRAMATIC CANADIAN

LANDSCAPE ON A COMFORTABLE JOURNEY
ABOARD VIA RAIL CANADA
journey through some of the most pristine,

untouched scenery on earth is what VIA
Rail Canada promises you. Winding across
Canada over four days, the Toronto to Vancouver
route is a chance to experience the wild beauty of
the Canadian north firsthand. It is not just one of
the most spectacular train rides in the world, it is
also one of the most comfortable.
Cutting clear across the country, covering 4,466
kilometres, VIA Rail showcases the beauty and
diversity of Canada. This is by no means the kind
of scenery that should be flown over in an aircraft
over a matter of a few hours. This is that kind of
wonder that must be absorbed slowly from the
comfort of a gently rocking train. Dense snow
capped forests, frozen lakes, the magnificent Rocky
Mountains and the Northern Lights are all just
some of the natural wonders that await you.
The journey begins at Torontos historic Union
Station and takes you over the Canadian Shield
and its arresting natural formations. Stopping at
Winnipegs 100 year old railway station, the train
then continues clear across the prairie with a brief
stop in Edmonton before its spectacular accent
into the Rockies. This passage through the Rocky
Mountains with its enthralling landscapes of

ancient glaciers, dizzying canyons, frozen waterfalls
and soaring snow-covered peaks will stay with you
long after you have returned home.
Throughout the journey, passengers are treated
to VIA Rails friendly service and world class meals.
The staff will also keep you informed about all the
historical and geographical points of interest along
the way. Sleeper Touring Class guests will find it hard
to leave the Dome Car, a unique observation lounge
that allows stunning 360 views through the journey.
The trip ends in Vancouver, one of the most
beautiful cities in the world. Stunningly situated,
Vancouver boasts of both breath-taking mountain
and ocean views.
VIA Rail Canada is the perfect way to experience
the wonder and beauty of the Canadian Frontier
in all its winter glory. Climb aboard, for an
unforgettable adventure.
Canadas trio of brilliant women authors

Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood and Carol
Shields have all written stories set on a train.
Smart Traveller | money manager
Smart Traveller
56
MONEY MANAGER
KATHMANDU TRAVEL GUIDE
66
CHECKING IN
ALL ABOARD NEW RAILWAY HOTELS
Boudhanath stupa is one of the most

important Buddhist pilgrimage centres in
the world. According to some accounts,
King Manavdeva is believed to have
founded the temple in the late 6th century.
56
Kathmandu Royale
STUPAS, LIVELY CAFS, AND CASINOSA FAMILY HOLIDAY IN A
HIMALAYAN HAVEN FOR UNDER `70,000 | By AMBIKA GUPTA
he mountain kingdom of Nepal

holds enough treasures to keep
you occupied for an entire lifetime. But on your first visit, a good place
to start is the Kathmandu Valley, which
has seven groups of monuments that are
deemed UNESCO World Heritage sites.
These include Kathmandu and Patans
Durbar Squares, Bhaktapur, Boudhanaths stupas, and the Pashupati Temple.
In three days you can visit some of these

spectacular sights, squeeze in Himalayan panoramas and if youre lucky, even
make a quick buck. The subcontinents
casino capital makes for a great international getaway for Indians. Its hasslefree: Though you need a passport, you
can walk in without a visa; the Indian
rupee is used as commonly as its Nepali
counterpart; and it looks and feels
PIKOSO.KZ/SHUTTERSTOCK
This is National Geographic

Traveller Indias handy guide to
Kathmandu, Nepal. Here, you
get prices for everything, so that
you can plan your trip and modify
it depending on your budget.
This is an itinerary for a threeday holiday in Kathmandu for a
family of four (two adults and two
children). It costs under `70,000
(without airfare) depending on
what accommodation/activities
you choose. Kathmandu is full of
reasonably cheap accommodation
allowing this trip to be be done for
`10,000 less, and `28,000 less if
you skip the Everest flight.
SLEEP EASY Stay in lively Durbar

Square or in Thamel, the heart of
the tourist centre thats filled with
eateries. Kantipur Temple House is an
eco-friendly oasis in bustling Thamel.
This serene, boutique property is a
perfect blend of modern amenities
and traditional architecture (+977-014250131; www.kantipurtemplehouse.
com; doubles from NPR8,888/`5,555).
Kathmandu Guest House is an old
Thamel favourite that has been around
since 1967 and claims to have hosted
the Beatles. This former Rana mansion
with airy corridors and lovely gardens
offers accommodations that quite
literally spans the price spectrum,
starting at `140 (+977-1-4700632;
www.ktmgh.com; standard doubles
NPR7,904/`4,940).
There are a wealth of options, but for
a family with kids, Hotel Annapurna on
posh Durbar Marg is a great place with
a swimming pool. Ask for ground-floor
rooms overlooking the garden (+97714221711; annapurna-hotel.com; doubles
from NPR11,446/`7,164, but ask for the
best available rates). A boutique option
is Hotel Dwarikas Chhen, which has
traditional stone and wood rooms
with kitchenettes, free Wi-Fi, and is a
10-minute walk from Durbar Square
(House 30, Maru Pyaphal; +97714261862; www.dwarikaschhen.com;
doubles from NPR7,386/`4,616).
GETTING AROUND While walking
through the streets, give public

transport a wide berth: traffic is as
harrowing as it is in India. Maruti
800 private taxis can be hired at all
tourist spots. Its best to check with a
local what you ought to pay before you
hire a cab, and be prepared to haggle.
Rates vary with destinations, though
a rough average is NPR4,800/`3,000
for 8 hours. Discounts are common.
Pre-arrange pick-up and drop with the
hotel when arriving and departing from
Kathmandus Tribhuvan International
Airport (NPR800/`500).
DAY 1
MORNING GLORY Kathmandu is
a meeting place for international

travellers and youll see that reflected
58
Backpackers and tourists flock to Caf

Nyatapola, housed in an old pagoda in
Bhaktapur. It has a birds-eye view of
historic Taumadi Tol.
in the variety of restaurants and cafs

here. Before you begin to explore this
chaotic, historic city, fortify yourself
with a hearty breakfast at the rooftop
Cosmo de Caf restaurant located in the
heart of old Durbar Square, right before
the ticket booth (set breakfast from
NPR320/`200).
Durbar Square is best explored on
a DIY walking tour. This is a great way
to interact with locals and navigate the
narrow, bustling streets. At the ticket
booth ask for a tourist map of
Old Kathmandu and explore the iconic
sites clustered here: Kasthamandap
pavilion, Ashok Binayak Shrine, the
temple of Maju Deval, Hanuman Dhoka
palace, Tribhuvan Museum, Makhan
Tole Street, among other temples
and pagodas. You will be exhausted
long before youve ticked everything
off your checklist, but keep your eyes
peeled for gems like ancient figurines,
casually scattered around Old Towns
backstreets, and entirely ignored by
the crowds (entry NPR240/`150,
free for children below 10; www.
welcomenepal.com).
EMBRACE THE CHAOS Take a breather
for lunch at Fire & Ice Pizzeria in
Thamel market, which serves some of
the best pizza and gelato in Kathmandu

(Tridevi Marg; +9771-4250210;
fireandicepizzeria.com; NPR768/`480).
Once you have sufficiently recovered,
dive back into the buzzing crowds.
Thamel offers everything from woollens
to handicrafts and trekking gear. This is
a great place to pick souvenirs and drive
hard bargains.
For an evening snack, dont miss
Pumpernickel Bakery. The pleasant,
sunny garden is suffused with the heady
aroma of coffee, and offers fresh yak
cheese sandwiches stuffed with crisp
cucumber (+9771-4259185; sandwiches
from NPR250/`156).
Later you can unwind with a mug of
chilled Everest Beer (NPR560/`350) at
the historic Rum Doodle Restaurant &
Bar, the only theme bar in Kathmandu.
Its inspired by The Ascent of Rum
Doodle, a 1956 novel by W.E. Boman
that satirises the raging fad of
conquering mountains. Original
patrons of the bar included Sir Edmund
Hillary, and now summiteers from
around the world converge here to
continue the tradition of exchanging
notes and reporting Big Foot sightings.
Laughter and convivial chatter fills
the air and the relaxed vibe perfectly
complements the sizzling steaks (Jyatha
Road, Thamel, near Anta showroom;
+977-1-4248915; www.therumdoodle.
com; steaks from NPR995/`622).
DAY 2
START EARLY Make an appointment
with Mt. Everest. Buddha Air operates
one-hour flight tours that take you close

to the worlds mightiest mountains, over
sinuous rivers and frosty glaciers. The
tour is superlative, not merely because
you get to see the worlds highest peak,
but also for the rare opportunity to walk
into the cockpit and say hello to your
pilot. Dont leave this for the last day
since flights get cancelled frequently,
or delayed on account of bad weather
(+9771-5521015; www.buddhaair.com/
everest-experience; NPR10,720/`6,700).
After the mornings excitement, relax
with a leisurely American breakfast
in the delightful courtyard of Mikes
Breakfast, under a leafy canopy where
peacocks strut in an enclosure (Opp.
Grihini Department, Near Nepal Rastra
Bank; +9771-4413788; mikesbreakfast.
yolasite.com; breakfast from
NPR528/`330).
IAN TROWER/JAI/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY
reassuringly like home. For all the

familiarity, however, it still oozes a
timeless romance.
The unusual mingling of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal has given birth to a fascinating mosaic that is evident in temples (left),
monasteries, Buddha statues (bottom right), and shrines that dot the Kathmandu Valley; Hand-carved wooden dolls, like these (top right) at the
royal palace in Kathmandu, are available at bazaars.
YOUR EXPENSE STATS
AMBLING AFTERNOONS An avenue
of stunning jacaranda trees leads to

the royal familys former residence,
the marshmallow-pink Narayanhiti
Palace, now converted into a museum
for visitors. There are stark reminders
of the Nepalese royal massacre that
took place in 2001, and a walk through
the museum is a sobering experience.
Some of the spots where members of
the royal family were killed by Prince
Dipendra are marked out. The rest
of the palace has all the trappings of
royalty: a sweeping staircase in highly
polished wood; mounted tiger skins;
and even a stuffed crocodile, baring
its pointy teeth from a wall. Its
possible to mistake it for a kitschy
movie set (Thu-Mon, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.;
entry NPR800/`500; only Nepali
rupees accepted at the ticket booth;
photography not allowed).
For lunch, head to Or2k, a wildly
popular restaurant run by an Israeli
where you can take off your shoes,
stretch on floor cushions, and snack on
hummus and crpes (Mandala Steet;
60
Besides the Everest flight, accommodation

and food will likely take up the biggest
chunk of your expenses. Sightseeing
costs are nominal.
11 %
40%
GETTING
AROUND
MOUNTAIN
FLIGHT
21%
STAY
+9771-4422097; www.or2k.net; mains

from NPR240/`150). However, Id
recommend a takeaway falafel wrap
(NPR280/`175) to eat while strolling
through the atmospheric Baber Mahal
Revisited, a complex of five courtyards
in Durbar Square. The complexs
Rana-style buildings, dating back to
the early 20th century, have now been
remodelled as chic design studios and
boutiques. Pick up pure pashminas from
the beautiful collection at upmarket
Tara Oriental (Lazimpat Road; +97714436315; www.taraoriental.com; open
Sun-Fri 9.30 a.m.-6 p.m.; pashminas
from NPR8,000/`5,000).
UP THE ANTE One of the oldest and
22%
FOOD
Budget
6%
SIGHTSEEING
Mid-Range
Expensive
possibly the most famous hotels in

Nepal is the Crowne Plaza KathmanduSoaltee. Dev Anands cult classic Hare
Rama Hare Krishna was shot at this
red-brick fixture; indulge in some 70s
nostalgia by sauntering through the
sprawling premises. Sadly, the hotels
casino shut last year after a hike in
regulatory taxes (Tahachal; +977-1-
DR AJAY KUMAR SINGH/SHUTTERSTOCK (TEMPLE), SYLVAIN GRANDADAM/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (DOLLS), GUIDO ALBERTO ROSSI/AGF RM/
DINODIA (BUDDHA), PIKOSO KZ/SHUTTERCTOCK (MOMOS)
Kathmandus maze of alleys and chaotic bazaars is best explored on foot (left); Bhaktapurs ancient temples, palaces, and historic courtyards
(top right) are living heritage that continue to be used; Planes take visitors high above the mountain landscape for a jaw-dropping view of Mount
Everest (bottom right); Colourful Navdurga masks sold in Bhaktapur make great souvenirs (below).
4273999; www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/
hotels/us/en/kathmandu/ktmnp/
hoteldetail). Nepali nationals are strictly
forbidden from gambling but tourists
are free to engage in guilty pleasures.
Casino Tara at the Hyatt Regency proved
to be lucky for me. I won 500 rupees
and I still carry my precious winnings
in my wallet; the amount wasnt
significant, but the thrill of winning
was (Boudha Road; +977-1-449 1234;
kathmandu.regency.hyatt.com).
DAY 3
ATONEMENT Wash away sins from
the previous night at Shivas feet, at

Pashupatinath Temple. A sign says only
Hindus are allowed inside the inner

complex: A giant brass statue of Nandi
bull guards the western entrance,
beyond which lie spookily life-like
statues of fearsome demons and gods.
Photography and leather items like belts
and purses are banned though there is a
counter to safely deposit footwear.
Head to Bhaktapur around noon,
a beautifully preserved medeival
62
kingdom, now declared a UNESCO

World Heritage Site. Palaces, pagodas,
shrines, and templesBhaktapur is
practically bursting at the seams with
timeless heritage and ancient treasures
(entry NPR160/`100, free for children
below 10; fee includes a detailed map
of the kingdom, with key attractions
marked out).
For lunch and an appetising
panorama of Bhaktapur, go to the
popular Nyatapola Caf in Taumadhi
Square. This atmospheric restaurant
is housed in a 1,000-year-old
pagoda and the balcony seating
on the higher floors offers great
viewswhich compensates
for the not-so-great food
(Taumadhi Tole; +97716610346).
Bhaktapur is also
Kathmandu Valleys
cultural capital and the
narrow cobblestoned lanes
frequently come alive to
the sound of marching
bands and fiery dances.
If youre lucky, you might witness the

spirited local festival celebrations that
draw tourists from around the world
to the vast public squares. Snack on
the delicious ju-ju dhau, a local yogurt,
while roaming Bhaktapurs alleyways
(NPR160/`100). Pick traditional
Navdurga masks and thangka paintings
at the lovely handicrafts shops. Wrap
up the day and your Nepal sojourn with
a traditional Newari feast, a 12-course
set menu at the regal Baithak in Baber
Mahal Revisited (Opp. Singha Durbar
Horse Stable; +9771-4267346; veg
meals from NPR1,920/`1,200,
non-veg NPR2,400/`1500).
Note
Entry fee for most tourist
sites is nominal for Indians,

compared to other foreign
nationals.
Nepal is 15 minutes ahead
of IST. Make a note to avoid
being late for the Everest
flight tour. Flights depart
between 6.15 and 7.30 a.m.
DHOXAX/SHUTTERSTOCK (STREET), TIBOR BOGNAIR/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (PAGODA), ROBERT HOLMES/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (PRAYER

FLAGS), BLAINE HARRINGTON III/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (MASK)
Smart Traveller | checking in
Gravy Trains
Next to Tokyo Station, the historic Marunouchi Building houses a restored hotel.
THE CALEDONIAN
GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL
TOKYO STATION HOTEL
Though Edinburghs Princes Street

train station shut down nearly 50 years
ago, the century-old sandstone hotel
built beside it has re-launched after a
multimillion-dollar overhaul. Inside
the original Edwardian facade are 241
plush rooms188 of them constructed
from former rail platforms and many of
them overlooking the citys 12th-century
castle. The stations original clock takes
centre stage in the Peacock Alley bar.
The British capitals first railway hotel

an 1854 brick building designed, like
the adjacent Kings Cross station, by
Victorian engineer Lewis Cubitthas
been reimagined after sitting closed
for 12 years. It opened in 2013 with
91 rooms, including 21 cosy couchettes
inspired by traditional sleeper cars.
Theres also a restaurant from chef
Gordon Ramsay protg Mark
Sargeant that looks like a modern
Orient Express carriage.
Situated inside the brick-and-steel

Taisho-era icon that is the Marunouchi
Building, Japans second oldest hotel
is a national treasure. First opened
in 1915one year following the
launch of Tokyo Station, the rail hub
next doorit now houses 150 vaulted
guest rooms and 10 restaurants (a
sushi joint and a yakitori bar among
them). Recently restored, the property
offers unparalleled views of the
Imperial Palace.
London, England; www.gnhlondon.com;

doubles from $239/`14,700
Tokyo, Japan; www.thetokyostationhotel.jp;

doubles from $309/`19,000
Edinburgh, Scotland; www.waldorf

astoriaedinburgh.com; doubles from
$292/`18,000
Note: Rates are the hotels published prices. Discounts are often available through online travel websites.
66
THOMAS LINKEL/LAIF/REDUX (ROTUNDA), WALDORF ASTORIA HOTELS & RESORTS (WOMEN), GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL (BUILDING),
TOKYO STATION HOTEL (BEDROOM)
ALL ABOARD NEW RAILWAY HOTELS | By CHRISTINE AJUDUA
68
WORLD
XMAS IS A GREAT TIME TO TRAVEL AND SOAK IN SOME GOOD CHEER.

HERES A LOOK AT FESTIVITIES AROUND THE GLOBE
The annual Santa Lucia Childrens

Procession in Georgetown, Colorado, U.S.A.
Great travel Photos
80
WORLD
TIMELESS AND TRANSPORTING: PICTURES THAT MAKE YOU

WANT TO GET OUT AND SEE THE WORLD
68
HELEN H. RICHARDSON/CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGES
In Focus
LONDON, ENGLAND
Switching on the Christmas lights in midNovember is usually a grand celebratory event

at Regent Street, a major shopping avenue in
Londons West End. This year, British pop band
Take That flicked the switch amidst numerous
performances and a fireworks display.
68
XXXXXXXXXXXX
PATRICK
WANG/SHUTTERSTOCK
(XXXXXXXXX)
In Focus | great travel photos
world
Festive Cheer
STUART WILSON/GETTY IMAGES
Strings of twinkling lights stretch across streets,

window displays are a riot of colour, and bells jingle in
doorwaysChristmas is a time for celebration and these
spots around the globe know how to rejoice in style. Its a
great time to travel and soak in some good cheer.
Fairs & Feasts

RIGA,
LATVIA
Many historians
consider Riga
in Latvia the
place where the
first Christmas
tree was
decorated in
the early 1500s
and the muchloved tradition
was born. The
citys annual
Old Town
Christmas
Fair is an
excellent place
to partake
of festival
favourites like
mulled wine,
gingerbread,
and smoked
meats.
LUBECK, GERMANY
LUBECK, GERMANY
The town of Lubeck in northern Germany is said to produce the best marzipan
in the world.
SAN FRANCISCO, U.S.A.

SAN FRANCISCO, U.S.A.
70
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco recreates Charles Dickens
London with participants dressing up in elaborate period costumes.
LISA A/SHUTTERSTOCK (LATVIA), VOLKER HEICK/DPA/CORBIS (MARZIPAN),

COURTESY SAN FRANSISCO TRAVEL (CHARLES DICKENS FAIR)
RIGA, LATVIA
world
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Fried carp with potato salad is the main dish of Christmas

dinners in the Czech Republic. The freshwater fish is
traditionally bought live.
DRESDEN, GERMANY
DRESDEN, GERMANY
Dresdens Medieval Christmas Market is full of unlikely

sights: Visitors sipping drinks in the bath house, traditional
crafts like hat-making, and the absence of any electric
lights or plastic.
Christmas supper in Provence

ends with 13
desserts or les
treize desserts
de Nol, which
represent
Jesus and his
12 disciples.
The spread
includes a few
compulsory elements: walnuts,
raisins, almonds,
and figs to
represent four
religious orders;
dark and white
nougat symbolising good
and evil; quince
paste; brightly
coloured marzipan, and a
sweetbread
with olive oil,
flavoured with
orange water
and lemon zest,
that must be
torn by hand,
not cut.
PROVENCE, FRANCE
DECEMBER 2014 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA
71
ARNO BURGI/DPA/CORBIS (BATH HOUSE), RICHARD HARDING PICTURE LIBRARY LTD/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE (FISH),
PATRICK FRILET/MARKA/DINODIA (FOOD)
PROVENCE,
FRANCE
Songs & Scenes

Ukraines
Orthodox Christian population
celebrates
Christmas
on the 7th of
January. Many
traditions observed during
the week-long
celebration
are based on
pre-Christian
customs.
Festival meals
include symbolic foods
like kolach
bread which
is braided into
a ringthree
of these rings
are placed one
atop another,
to symbolise
the Holy Trinity.
The meal has
12 courses,
which could be
based on the
number of Jesuss disciples
or the number
of full moons
during the year.
KIEV, UKRAINE
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Spains Catalonia region has two amusing Christmas traditions. The tions
de Nadal or pooping log (right) is brought home a fortnight before Christmas.
Children feed the hollow log nuts and chocolates. On Christmas day, children
strike the log with a stick to make it poop gifts; Another popular Christmas
figure in Catalonia is the caganer (left). Theres no polite way to describe him:
Hes a defecating man, caught mid-act. Each house buys one figure, which is
often added to Nativity scenes, but no one quite knows why.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
72
SERGEI SVETLITSKY/DEMOTIX/CORBIS (CAROLLERS), RAFAEL CAMPILLO/ DINODIA (CHRISTMAS LOG), XAVIER SUBIAS/DINODIA (FIGURINE)
KIEV,
UKRAINE
world
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO
SEIFFEN, GERMANY
SEIFFEN, GERMANY
The town of Seiffen in Germanys Ore Mountain area,

is described as a toy village. Handcrafted toys, angels,
nutcrackers, candlesticks and all sorts of Christmas accoutrements are made here. Visitors can watch traditional
wooden toys being made in workshops.
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO
CASTLETON,
ENGLAND
Merrymakers
gather in Castletons caves every
Christmas to
sing carols in
the underground
caverns. They
are a popular
tourist attraction
and regular concerts take place
in Peak Cavern,
the best known
of the four caves.
It was formerly
called Devils
Arse by locals,
but renamed
in 1880 when
Queen Victoria
visited.
CASTLETON, ENGLAND
73
SANTI VISALLI/GETTY IMAGES (MANGER), GUENTER FISCHER/DINODIA (SMOKING MAN), ROBIN DEARDEN (CAVE)
Nativity scenes in San Miguel de Allende are elaborate.

Many include live animals tied in front to represent the
manger where Jesus was born. Human figures are often
life-sized and realistically detailed.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
At Christmas markets across Europe, lights are fashioned into intricate designs and shapes, adding to the festive atmosphere. Visitors can head
to special areas, like the Walk of Light at the Meadowlark Botanical Garden in Vienna.
74
JON HICKS/CORBIS
Trees & Lights
world
ROVANIEMI,
FINLAND
Rovaniemi is
considered the
official home of
Santa Claus and
one of the best
places in the
world to enjoy
the festival.
Elves man the
post office at
Santa Village,
the delicious
smell of gingerbread wafts
through the air,
and the snowcovered trees
are bedecked
with lights. Its
a fantasy world
suitable for
believers of
all ages.
Revellers and tourists alike enjoy the charm of public spaces like Pragues Old
Town Square during Christmas. The freshly barbecued meats and baked pastries
are as enticing as the lighted angels and animal stables.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Christians comprise more than half of South Koreas population and the festival
is celebrated in a big way. Most of the capital Seoul is brightly lit up, including
the popular walk along the Cheonggyecheon stream.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
75
PETER ADAMS/JAI/CORBIS (SNOWMAN), FUNKYSTOCK/DINODIA (ANGEL), LONELY PLANET/GETTY IMAGES (SEOUL)
ROVANIEMI, FINLAND
Runs & Dips
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
Something about Christmas makes

people want to dress up as the jolly
man and go on runs or take a dip in
icy lakes. There are a number of such
events across the globe, and most
of them raise money for charity. The
Great Edinburgh Santa Fun Run takes
a two-km loop through the West
Princes Street Gardens, a public park
in the centre of the city.
LANKE, GERMANY
Every year, daredevil ice swimmers

take a dip in the chilled waters of the
Obersee Lake in Lanke, about 50 km
north of Berlin.
LANKE, GERMANY
76
JEFF J MITCHELL/STAFF/GETTY IMAGES (SANTA RUN), ADAM BERRY/STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES (COUPLE)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
world
OSAKA, JAPAN
OSAKA,
JAPAN
The Osaka
Great Santa
Run goes
through the
historical
Osaka Castle
Park in the
city centre.
The park is a
popular spot
for its cherry
blossoms during springtime
and in December, it takes
Santa runners
through splendid autumn
foliage. Most
weekend evenings, buskers
perform in
the park, and
friendly football
and baseball
games are on.
BUDAPEST,
HUNGARY
TREVOR MOGG/ALAMY/INDIA PICTURE (OSAKA), FERENC ISZA/STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES (BUDAPEST)
Santa runners
in Budapest
take raising
charity rather
seriously. They
strip to their
inner layers,
pacing skimpily
clad through
the city in
below-zero
temperatures.
Of course
the one extra
article of clothing they make
concessions
for, is the
ubiquitous
Santa hat.
Along the way,
they stop to
pose for photos, sing carols,
and do a little
dance.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
77
Parades & Costumes

PORTO,
PORTUGAL
Portugals second largest city

Portos Christmas Parade,
is traditionally
attended by a
large number of
people dressed
as Santa. In
fact, it has a
Guinness World
Record that
attests to that.
PORTO, PORTUGAL
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA
MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES
Students at the University of Manila have an annual lantern parade each Christmas. The Philippines is one of the two predominantly Christian countries in Asia,
and Christmas is its biggest holiday. Celebrations often begin in September.
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA
78
MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA /AFP/GETTY IMAGES (DANCE), MARTIN SIEPMANN/DINODIA (MONSTER),

HERMAN R. LUMANOG/NURPHOTO/CORBIS (LANTERN PARADE)
A shaggy untamed spirit known as Krampus is an integral part of Christmas

celebrations in the Bavarian region and Austria.
STEVE FINN/HARRODS/GETTY IMAGES
world
LONDON, ENGLAND
LONDON, ENGLAND
The annual parade organised by Harrods, the London store, is well attended by families with young children. The parade led by Santa includes
cartoon characters, dancing troupes, and bands of musicians.
79
France in the Slow Lane CATHERINE KARNOW, 2005 On assignment in the Lot Valley, I wanted to do a classic portrait
with my Hasselblad, and what could be more classic than this couple with their Deux Chevaux? says Karnow. Micheline was a
little shy. She preferred to stay in the car. But I liked it that way. Ive been photographing in France since 1976. This picture looks as
if it could have been taken as early as those first years when I was there.
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world
Nashville in Neon
WILL VAN OVERBEEK, 2010
This two-block strip of Lower Broadway is the hottest spot in Nashville if youre there to hear music, says van Overbeek. Theres
all this great neon and people walking across the street with stand-up bass fiddles. This couple was working that rockabilly look.
By the Dawns
Early Light
SISSE BRIMBERG AND
COTTON COULSON, 2013
Whats interesting is that

this photo gives you a feeling for what its like to visit
Warsaw, Poland, but it simply
shows a window in a hotel
and a statue of a king, says
National Geographic Traveler
(U.S.) Director of Photography Dan Westergren. Dawn
adds mystery, as does shooting through sheer curtains.
83
Reflected Glory
STEVE McCURRY, 1999
The dilemma of how to

show overexposed icons
like the Taj Mahal in a fresh
way is always on our minds.
Steve McCurrys solution:
Dont show it at all.
80
world
30
GREAT TRAVEL
PHOTOS
Timeless and transporting: Pictures that make you want to get
out and see the world
81
XXXXXXXXXXXX (XXXXXXXXX)
84
world
The Good Life

CATHERINE KARNOW, 2001
He was a real character, says

Karnow about the dashing
Omar Sharif lookalike who
draws viewers into the irresistible atmosphere of the
Mallorcan restaurant Abacanto. You just want to sit down
and have lunch with this guy,
says National Geographic
Traveler (U.S.) senior photo
editor Carol Enquist.
85
Stormy Weather
THEO WESTENBERGER, 1999
For a story following in the footsteps of surrealist filmmaker

Luis Buuel through the night-time streets of Toledo,
Spain, Westenberger used infrared film, which doesnt
require lightsthough the chance lightning strike only
added to the dreamlike atmosphere.
Lighthouse, Camera, Action!

DAN WESTERGREN, 2005
I saw the deer walking around the field next to my hotel on

Quebecs Anticosti Island, says Westergren. With the lighthouse as background, I sat in the grass and waited for hours. I
knew that if I just sat still long enough, they would turn their
heads just so.
Man With a White Hat

KEN KOCHEY, 2001
A great portrait can contain worldsor at least a neighbourhood. Artist Carlos Cortezs welcoming expression reflects the
flavour of Pilsen, a largely Mexican neighbourhood in Chicago.
8
86
world
Pomp and Circumstance

JIM RICHARDSON, 1999
Everywhere during the

Edinburgh Festival, there was
something artistic going on, says
Richardson. Buskers on High
Street, plays in crypts below Old
Town, and these performers in
Holyrood Park, who didnt mind
climbing the hill for a picture.
87
10
11
12
10-21
We Never Forget a Face
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT)
10. SAIGON, VIETNAM, BY DAWN KISH, 2002

11. CALIFORNIAS LOST COAST, BY CATHERINE KARNOW, 1999
20
12. CORNWALL PUB, ENGLAND, BY BOB SACHA, 1989
13
13. PARIS, FRANCE, BY JOHN KERNICK, 2003

14. SPANISH STEPS, ROME, ITALY, BY KEN KOCHEY, 2000
15. KYOTO, JAPAN, BY JUSTIN GUARIGLIA, 2005
16. PROVENCE, FRANCE, BY THEO WESTENBERGER, 2002
17. HOUSTON, TEXAS, BY JOE PATRONITE, 2001
18. BALI, INDONESIA, BY RAYMOND PATRICK, 2013
19. MONTALCINO, TUSCANY, ITALY, BY JOHN KERNICK, 2005
20. DESERT HOT SPRINGS, IDAHO, BY JOHN KERNICK, 2001
21. FACING PAGE: ARAMBAK TRIBESMAN AND CHILD AT A
PAPUA NEW GUINEA SING-SING, BY BOB KRIST, 2000
14
19
18
17
16
15
world
21
89
22
New Orleans
on a Roll
DAN DRY, 1985
Head waiter on the Missi

ssippi riverboat the Delta
Queen, Tommy Lewis gives
his rendition of a New
Orleans jazz strut. The way
hes spinning the umbrella
tells you about his personal
ity and also reveals a little
about the personality of
New Orleans, says National
Geographic Traveler (U.S.)
photo editor Susan Enquist.
Desert Flower DAVE YODER, 2013 The Sheikh Zayed Mosque, in Abu Dhabi, is a popular place to take pictures because its so
photogenic, says Nat Geo Traveler (U.S.) Director of Photography Dan Westergren. You just line up the shot and wait for someone to
come by. The figure is blurry, but you can tell shes looking upwhich is what everybody does when they walk through this grandeur.
23
90
world
24
Big Pink THEO WESTENBERGER, 2000 It seems to rise out of the sea, huge and rosy, like Godzilla in a prom dress: pretty in
pink, wrote novelist Tom Robbins about the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach. Its a proud relic of Old Florida, the Florida that in
the first half of the last century sweetened the dreams and warmed the fantasies of snowbound Americans.
25
Made You Smile

CATHERINE KARNOW, 2001
During a parade by Cirque

du Soleil in downtown
Montreal, I noticed these
two characters darting
amid the crowd, doing
mischievous things, recalls
Karnow. I decided to risk
leaving the parade and just
followed them around,
taking the chance that
something serendipitous
would happen. And it did,
when they went right up to
these two businessmen.
91
26
Beside Still Waters
MACDUFF EVERTON, 1999
I was reluctant to set aside more than a day to cruise the backwaters of Kerala, India, on this restored rice boatwhat if it was
27
Peaks of Patagonia
PABLO CORRAL, 1997
This was taken from Hotel

Explora in Torres del Paine
National Park, in Chile.
I had just parked the car
when I saw this magnificent vista, says Corral. I
remember sitting there
for a long time trying to
memorise the colour of
the water and how quickly
everything was changing.
The clouds were coming at
full speed from the north.
92
world
boring? recalls Everton. To the contrary, it turned out to be an unending adventure, a wonderful vantage point. I wanted to go on.
28
The World Is
My Oyster
AARON HUEY, 2010
This was the first time

I shot underwater, says
Huey about this image of
a pearl diver in the South
Pacific atoll of Fakarava.
Im from Wyoming, I
was always a bit afraid of
the ocean. But the view
through the lens erased my
fear pretty quickly. I even
found myself swimming
into groups of sharks.
93
29
Georgia on My Mind
MICHAEL MELFORD, 1996
After spending time on the ground in the Georgia Sea Islands, I got to fly and see them from above. The patterns of the tidal
marshes and estuaries were amazing, says Melford. The pilot put us in a tight bank so I could shoot straight down on the boat.
30
Catch a Wave
SUSAN SEUBERT, 2011
Barbados has some

world-class waves, and
this spot is where a lot
of beginners or tourists
go for lessons, says Seubert. In order to get this
shot, I was lying on the
ground, to get a different
perspective, and using
the tree as a framing
mechanism, which adds
to the feel of a diorama.
94
Journeys
96
CAMBODIA
A PEOPLES RAW AND BLOODY PAST UNRAVELS ON

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE COUNTRY
104
GERMANY
BERLIN FIZZES WITH AN ALCHEMY OF HIGH ART AND

THE LOWBROW, COMMERCE AND ICONOCLASM
TRISTAN DESCHAMPS/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (MAN), BOBBY FISHER/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (SKULLS)
104
Berlin, Germany.
The skulls of over 5,000

victims of the Khmer Rouge
genocide are preserved in a
memorial at Choeung Ek,
a mass grave uncovered
south of Phnom Penh.
Facing page: Prisoners of S-21
were photographed on arrival.
Chilling portraits of the murdered are now displayed at the
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
96
ANDREW HOLBROOKE/CORBIS WIRE/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY
Journeys | dark tourism
cambodia
Bare-Bone
TRUTHS
BY
NATASHA
SAHGAL
PHIL MCELHINNEY/CORBIS NEWS/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (TOP), ADS/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE (BOTTOM)
CAMBODIAS
BLOODY PAST
UNRAVELS ON A
JOURNEY THROUGH
THE COUNTRY
97
It had a broken jawbone and was

missing several teeth; I winced when
I noticed the cracked cranium. The
woman next to me, however, had a
much more visceral reaction. She
was standing perfectly still in front
of the memorial of human bones,
and her eyes were moist. She looked
Cambodian and, unlike me, was
probably reliving the most horrifying
period in her countrys history.
We were in a killing cave on Phnom Sampeau Mountain near
the town of Battambang in western Cambodia. At the time, I
knew very little beyond the fact that it was one of the spots where
the Khmer Rouge army had dumped the bodies of thousands of
people they had murdered during the four-year-long massacre
that began in 1975. The expression on the Cambodian ladys face
told me that there was a lot I didnt know and that I ought to
learn more. A few hours later, I settled into a comfortable chair
in my guest house looking for e-books that might help me learn
about Cambodias bloody past. I turned to First, They Killed my
Father, written by a young survivor named Loung Ung.
Immersed in the book, I cancelled dinner plans so that I
could finish reading it. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge or, as they
officially called themselves, the Communist Party of Kampuchea, assumed power. One of their goals was to transform
Cambodia into a classless, agrarian society. Free markets were
abolished, schools were turned into re-education camps, and
most of the cities were evacuated, during which thousands of
citizens died. Ung was just five years old when her family and
everyone around her were forced to leave the capital Phnom
Penh, and move to the countryside.
Life in the rural areas was made extremely hard for the
migrants. The base people or original inhabitants of the farms
had it slightly easier, but not by much. Civilians were forced to
work unbearably long hours and given little more than a bowlful of soup a day. Children were sent to youth camps, families
separated, and people summarily killed if they so much as whispered their disenchantment with the regime. Over four years
the Khmer Rouge, led by their leader Pol Pot, systematically
executed nearly two million peopleabout 20 per cent of the
Cambodian population.
I spent my six-hour bus journey to Phnom Penh finishing
the book, and then watched The Killing Fields (1984) that very
evening to get a laypersons understanding of the genocides
political context. The British film, inspired by the relationship
98
between an American and a Cambodian journalist, is set against

the backdrop of the Khmer Rouge genocide. It brings alive both
the actual situation in Cambodia, and how the world saw it.
Even though The Killing Fields was made 30 years ago, it is so
popular that it is still shown in small cinemas and cafs all over
the country.
The next morning, I took a tuk-tuk to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek Killing Fields. The city of Phnom
Penh, designed by French colonialists, is full of energy even
at 7 a.m.: Baguette vendors adorn the corners, three-wheeled
cyclos transport uniformed children to school, and stalls selling
nom banh chok, a wholesome rice noodle soup served with meat
and sprouts, spread an enticing aroma. Its hard to imagine that
most of the Phnom Penhs beautiful buildings were bombed just
40 years ago. The city looks quite new now, but remnants of its
old architecture can still be found near the National Museum,
Central Market, and Post Office Square.
The four grey buildings of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
used to be a high-school complex that was converted into a
secret prison. The dreaded S-21 was used to interrogate and
execute thousands. The two-storeyed buildings were covered with barbed wire and the rooms inside were used as torture chambers. The prison was discovered soon after Vietnam
defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1979, when two Vietnamese
photojournalists followed the stench of rotting flesh. They took
several photos of the bodies inside: Some of these now hang in
the rooms in which they were shot. Torture equipment is on
display too. The rooms have been left just as they were found.
Some still have blood-stained walls. Visitors can touch the
shackles that held hundreds of brutalised bodies.
Around 20,000 people are believed to have been incarcerated
at S-21 before being executed in the killing fields nearby. Every
Evidence of the atrocities committed against prisoners, including

children, were found on the chankiri or killing trees of Choeung Ek.
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NATASHA
SAHGAL
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A human skull lay in

front of me.
cambodia
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NATASHA
SAHGAL
(XXXXXXXXX)
(BEDS), TOM HANSLIEN PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE (DISPLAYS)
Visiting Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a hair-raising experience. Once a school building, it was turned into an execution centre called S-21 or Security Prison 21 under the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Visitors walk past blood-stained walls,
iron beds, and displays showcasing the horrors the inmates were subjected to.
99
not received any punishment. Cambodian dignitaries have

detainee was photographed before they entered the prison and
requested the United Nations to help bring the perpetrators
thousands of these images are also displayed at the museum.
of the genocide to justice. It was only in 2005 that the UNI saw mugshots of people of all ages, some as young as five.
backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Some look scared and some have traces of a smile. Only 14 of
(ECCC) came into being. The trials have been so slow that only
the captives survived.
three people have been convicted to date, two of whom were only
One of these survivors is Bou Meng, who was sitting behind
sentenced in August this year.
a desk in the compound. He was talking to visitors about his
Soon, I left to go to Choeung Ek Killing Fields. As my tukexperiences, having his photo taken with them, and selling his
tuk driver navigated the narrow dusty roads, I
autobiography. At first, I felt uncomfortable
contemplated this chilling information: I was
that he was making a living out of this hellI was literally
to see one of the 150 execution centres
ish experience, but I was curious to meet him.
walking on human going
around the country. They were called killing
He spoke very basic English, so when I asked
him if he enjoyed sitting there, he just smiled
remains. I did not fields because they were exactly that: Large
plots of land in remote areas where thousands
widely and told me to buy his book. I did and
expect everything were massacred and buried. The only fault
quickly scanned the first few pages to disof several of these prisoners was that they
cover that Meng is a painter who was brought
to be so visible
were educated. Entire families, including chilto S-21 along with his wife and children for
dren, were put to death since the Khmer Rouge suspected that
unknown reasons. He was brutally tortured for many days,
the young ones might exact revenge when they grew up.
and never managed to see his family again. But he was chosen
In the killing fields, I was literally walking on human remains.
to paint portraits of Pol Pot, and thats the only reason he is
I did not expect everything to be so visible. I had to skip over
still alive.
any large pieces of white material that I suspected to be bone.
Meng had recently testified against former prison chief,
It drove home how recent this genocide was. A warning sign
Comrade Duch, responsible for persecuting and murdering
indicated that bones keep surfacing, especially after a rain
more than 12,000 people. Duch earned a life sentence 35 years
shower, and asked visitors to avoid touching them. The staff
after he committed these atrocious crimes, but I learn that there
collects them every day.
are hundreds of Khmer Rouge leaders and workers who have
100
PIETRO SCOZZARI/AGE
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FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (TOP LEFT), SEAN SPRAGUE/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (TOP RIGHT),
ANTONY GIBLIN/GETTY IMAGES (BOTTOM LEFT), SEAN SPRAGUE/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA (BOTTOM RIGHT)
Cambodian painter Vann Nath is among a handful who survived S-21. His paintings depict brutal techniques of torture used in the prison.
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KRISTIAN
BUUS/CORBIS
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WIRE/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (MEMORIAL STUPA), LYNN JOHNSON/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (MAN WITH LANDMINES)
cambodia
To commemorate those who lost their lives in this killing field, a memorial stupa was built in Tuol Sleng in 1988.
Landmine Disasters
Cambodia has the largest number of live
landmines still hidden in the ground. The
Cambodian Landmine Museum and
School, on the outskirts of Siem Reap,
has several well-organised rooms with
easy-to-understand exhibits about the
phenomenon. Aki Ra, the museum owner,
was ten years old when he was forced
to join the Khmer Rouge. During this
time, he laid thousands of mines, as did
hundreds of other child soldiers. After the
war, he used his knowledge to become
one of the countrys most efficient deminers. The museum houses thousands
of explosives he has defused. It was
created to educate visitors about the
blight of the minefields. With the money
he receives, he also runs a school for
children hurt by the landmines. Despite
these positive measures, the immediate
future is a little bleak: The de-mining
process is slow and expensive, and the
blasts are unlikely to stop destroying
families for several years to come.
101
Thousands of pictures of S-21 are displayed at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, but many are still missing.
Travel writer Natasha sahgal worked at National Geographic

Traveller India. Her itchy feet take her around the world, making
friends wherever she goes.
102
Learn more
First, They Killed my Father (2000) is a detailed account
by Loung Ung, a young survivor of the regime. It describes
in detail, the torment millions of innocent Cambodians
experienced when the Khmer Rouge kicked them out of their
homes.
A Cambodian Prison Portrait (1998) by Vann Nath is a short
but chilling memoir of the year he spent in the S-21 prison.
Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare (2005) by Philip Short is a
well-written, more recent analysis of all the world events and
circumstances that resulted in the tragedy in Cambodia.
Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia (1979) is an hourlong documentary by John Pilger that details the American
bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the bloody
years of the Khmer Rouge.
Children of Cambodias Killing Fields (1997) is a compilation
of heartbreaking memories of children who survived
the genocide. The book is compiled by Dith Pran, the
photojournalist who was the subject of the film The
Killing Fields.
The Killing Fields (1984) is a movie based
on the life of New York Times reporter Sydney
Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant Dith
Pran. They were both in Phnom Penh when
the Khmer Rouge first came in. Schanberg
managed to escape the country but Pran had
to stay on. The film is a gripping account of
their friendship.
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PETER
STUCKINGS/LONELY
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PLANET IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES (PORTRAITS), ALBUM ONLINE/INDIAPICTURE (POSTER)
Every visitor to this memorial site is given an audio guide.

There are several mass graves around the area, including one
where the bodies of women and children were found. Next to it
is a chankiri or killing tree. Its wide trunk was used to smash
the heads of children before they were thrown into a pit nearby.
I walked towards the large stupa, hoping it would calm me.
Instead, inside the stupa, I found a 17-storey glass case filled
with human bones. The skulls are arranged according to the age
of the victims. Since bullets were expensive, most victims had
their skulls smashed with whatever was available. A round hole
in a skull usually means an iron rod was used to murder the
person, while a wide cut indicates the use of an axe.
When I thought about how recent and widespread these
massacres were, I realised that every living Cambodian over
the age of 40 is either a victim or a perpetrator of this brutality.
According to Mengs autobiography, people who lost their
families could well be living in the same neighbourhood as the
people who slaughtered thousands. Everyone has a story.
I thought about the Cambodian woman at Battambang who
unknowingly inspired me to learn so much about this countrys
vicious history. Until then, Id been travelling around Cambodia
appreciating its architecture without connecting with its history
or the tragedy of its recent past. Before leaving the cave that day,
I had seen her sitting in front of a golden statue of Buddha. I still
wonder what her story is. I hope she finds her peace.
cambodia
THE GUIDE
ORIENTATION
The Kingdom of Cambodia is a small country in Southeast Asia. It is located on the Gulf of Thailand, sharing a border with Vietnam in the
east and Thailand in the northwest.
GETTING THERE
Cambodia has two
international airports at
Siem Reap in the north
and Phnom Penh in
the south. There are no
direct flights from India,
so Bangkok is the most
convenient connection.
It is also easy to
enter the country by
surface transport from
Thailand, Vietnam,
and Laos.
CAMBODIA
Siem Reap
Battambang
Central
Market
National Museum
of Cambodia
Phnom Penh
VISA
Indian travellers to
Cambodia can get
a visa-on-arrival. It
costs $20/`1,220
for a 30-day visa and
the process (at the
airport or land border)
is simple. Carry a
passport-sized photo
and the fee in USD
as that is the only
accepted currency.
It is also possible to
get an e-visa before
arrival from evisa.
mfaic.gov.kh for `1,500.
You will need to attach
a scanned passport
photo to the online
form, and the visa will
spots. The Tuol Sleng

Genocide Museum is
located within the city,
while the Choeung
Ek Killing Fields are
17 km/40 minutes
south of the city. It is
convenient to hire a
tuk-tuk for half a day to
visit these sights (from
$25/`1,546).
It is difficult for
tourists to rent
self- drive cars, but
its possible to rent
a motorbike (from
$5/`309 per day).
Tuol Sleng
Genocide Museum
NEED
TO
KNOW
Choeung Ek
Killing Fields
be emailed within three

working days.
GETTING AROUND
Battambang is 330
km/6 hours northwest
of Phnom Penh.
Tourist buses that
connect the two cities
are air-conditioned,
comfortable, and
some even have
Wi-Fi. Minivans are
also popular because
they are cheaper
and quicker, but can
make for a scary ride
(buses are frequent;
duration 6-7 hours;
tickets from $4/`247).
From Battambang,
moto-taxis to Phnom
Sampeau Mountain
are easily available
for $5/`309 for
the roundtrip.
In Phnom Penh,
moto-taxis or tuk-tuks
are easily available
for visits to nearby
The Cambodian
Riel is used only for
small expenses. For
everything else, carry
USD. Even most
ATMs in Cambodia
dispense USD.
BUDGET
COMFORT
LUXURY
Lovely Jubbly Place is a new youth

hostel with clean rooms, large beds,
a nice bar, and friendly Englishspeaking staff (+855-1247 3209;
lovelyjubblyplace.com; dorm beds
$7/`420; doubles $20/`1,200).
Blue Lime has a small entrance that

hides plush and colourful interiors.
Theres a pool surrounded by tropical
plants that is a luxury on sweltering
afternoons (+855-2322 2260;
bluelime.asia; doubles $50/`3,000).
Velkommen Backpackers is a
riverside hostel with clean and
comfortable rooms. Theres
good food and cheap drinks at
the bar (+855-7775 7701; www.
velkommenbackpackers.com; dorm
beds $8/`480; doubles $20/`1,200).
La Maison DAmbre is a modern

hotel near the market with different
themes for each room. Most rooms
have attached kitchenettes (+8552322 2780; www.lamaisondambre.
com; doubles $150/`9,000).
Raffles Hotel Le Royal is a 90-yearold luxury hotel that featured in The

Killing Fields because it was used
as a refuge for foreign journalists. It
retains a colonial charm in its design
and decor while still providing all
modern amenities expected of a
five-star hotel. The propertys gardens
are particularly beautiful (+855-2398
1888; www.raffles.com/phnom-penh;
doubles $300/`18,000).
103
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GAURAV
OGALE (XXXXXXXXX)
STAY PHNOM PENH
Journeys | urban spirit
BERLINS NEIGHBOURHOODS
FIZZ WITH AN ALCHEMY OF
HIGH ART AND THE LOWBROW,
COMMERCE AND ICONOCLASM
BY ANDREW CURRY PHOTOGRAPHS BY SISSE BRIMBERG AND COTTON COULSON

104
OFF
THE
WALL
germany
Fashionably anarchic, a woman

celebrates May Day in East Berlin. Visitors
peer through a remnant of the Berlin
Wall (facing page), 25 years after its fall.
105
ow many lives can one city have? Quite a few if the city is Berlin. Royal capital,
imperial seat, economic powerhouse, centre of enlightenment before becoming a
synonym for decadence in the 1920s and 30s, then a Nazi stronghold. Bombed, invaded, occupied in World War II. Suddenly divided in 1949, exuberantly reunited in 1989,
and now again the capital of a unified Germany. This year marks a quarter century
since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Berlin continues to boom
amid the reminders of its extraordinary pasta complex, sometimes dark, history it is intent on neither forgetting nor denying.
I was a boy the first time I saw the Wall, a 154-kilometre barrier erected in the 1960s by the Communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) to isolate non-Communist West Berlin
and keep GDR residents from defecting. My family lived in
In 2005, I moved to the city, in part for the avant-garde art

and music scene but also to live in a place where centuries of history were informing a new urban vision. I learned German, then
met, and married, an American opera singer whod been compelled by Germanys passion for classical music to move there.
Folks like us, flocking here from other parts of Germany and
from around the world, have helped cement Berlins reputation
as a capital of creative ferment. Were even
contributing to a new, multicultural German
future. My wife and I had a baby Berliner in
Februaryand were not surprised to find the
hospitals maternity ward reflecting the citys
diversity. We heard lots of German, but also
English, Polish, French, and Turkish.
Im the first to admit there are parts of the
city I dont know as well as Id like. But this is
not an easy city to fathom.
Berlin has no real centre, just neighbourhoods, says Berliner Ulrike Poppe. And each
is very different.
So I headed out to four neighbourhoods to
find Berliners who would show me my adopted city through their eyes, to deepen my understanding of how Berlin has changed in
the 25 years since the Wall tumbled, to find
vanishing vestiges of the Cold Warand to
see what may be in store here in the future.
PRENZLAUER BERG
FADED SPLENDOUR REVIVED
Poland intermittently in the 1980s while my professor mother
researched its political system. Periodically wed make the long
drive to West Berlin for provisions. Each time that the Wall, a
ribbon of reinforced concrete topped with barbed wire, would
come into view, my body would tense. Wed join the lines of
waiting cars at closely guarded Checkpoint Charlie, the main
crossing point for Americans. Stone-faced guards in greyish
uniforms would peer into our car, study our faces. The tension
was palpable. When they waved us through, Id watch in awe as
the bright colours and lights on the Western side rushed towards
usneon signs on shop-lined Kurfrstendamm, supermarkets
full of produce, streets filled with trafficall a vivid contrast to
the monotone, slow-moving cityscapes of Poland and East Germany. Those memories made West Berlin synonymous with sophistication, excitement, and abundance.
106
ore than any other neighbourhood in Berlin, Prenzlauer

Berg has transformed itself since the fall of the Wall. As
I stand in Kollwitzplatz, a shady square today lined with
restaurants and occupied twice a week by an organic farmers
market, I find it almost impossible to imagine the soot-coated
place this was when it sat in the middle of Communist East Berlin. Paradoxically, it would be the soota thick mix of coal dust
and flaking plasterthat would help protect some of the best
architecture in the city. Prenzlauer Bergs elegant century-old
cobblestoned streets and apartment buildingsscores of which
have been designated as historicearn it comparisons to Paris.
Ulrike Poppe moved here in 1971 as a wide-eyed 18-year-old
from the quiet East German countryside and now lives in a
book-lined apartment just off Kollwitzplatz. She recalls a very
different cityscape.
Life mimics art along

the Spree River, which
runs through Berlin.
107
germany

Everything was falling apart, if not from war damage, from
neglect. Bullet holes dating to World War II scarred crumbling
facades. Families shared toilets on rickety staircase landings.
Rats swarmed back courtyards.
Another local, Martin Fissel, a computer programmer in his
40s who was born a few blocks away, has his own recollections.
I remember ice blocks in front of the shops; there was no refrigeration, he tells me over beers one night.
In the 1980s, troublemakersincluding Poppe, who founded
a group called Women for Peace in 1982 and spent weeks in
jailcouldnt get housing in new apartments on the outskirts.
So they chose to fend for themselves in abandoned buildings
in Prenzlauer Berg under the eye of the Stasi, the secret police.
They harassed me for years, she says, pausing on the sidewalk to fish out a cigarette. I rarely smoke, but when I start
talking about those times I need to.
As we pass Tukadu, a bead store just off Kollwitzplatz with
kaleidoscopic window displays, a smile returns to her face.
Prenzlauer Berg was where people who wanted to be free
artists, thinkerscould find a place, she says. Most of the opposition to the German Democratic Republic lived here.
When the GDR collapsed, this alternative haven became a
boomtown. Investors rushed in to renovate pre-war buildings.
Fashion labels, edgy stores, and art-filled restaurantssuch as
Casa Istoria, whose Sunday brunch and deep cups of milky coffee remain my favourite cure for the after-effects of a late Saturday nightmoved into abandoned stores. Kastanienallee, an
avenue that ascends through the heart of the neighbourhood
and once skirted the Wall, earned the nickname Macchiato Mile.
Now there are so many cafs, Poppe says as we stroll under
chestnut trees, and something new always is brewing.
As we walk, I take note of a bilingual kindergarten, organic
grocery stores, and a burrito joint named Maria Bonita, a holein-the-wall run by American expats, with eight stools, fuchsiacoloured walls, home-made tortillas, and the best guacamole
east of the Americas. St. Georges, an English-language bookshop on nearby Wrther Strasse, anchors an English-speaking
expat community. Its collection of books on the history of Berlin
is unparalleled (in English, anyway), and after-hours musical
performances and readings draw eager audiences. On balmy
summer nights, though, it cant compete with a landmark just
six blocks away: the Prater beer garden, said to be Berlins oldest, where neighbourhood stalwarts and newcomers have gathered over frothy glasses of hefeweizen since the 1800s.
Its dark as we return to Kollwitzplatz. Poppe steers me toward
a modernist bronze statue. Kthe Kollwitz, she says, naming
the notable expressionist artist who lived on Kollwitzplatz from
the 1890s to the 1940s and inspired its name. I ask Poppe if
Prenzlauer Berg still feels like home. She nods. Kollwitzplatz is
an area for the rich now, and I hear more English than German
on the streets, she answers. But I would never leave.
NEUKLLN
MIXING THINGS UP IN A MIXED NEIGHBOURHOOD
tep into Azzam, a shawarma restaurant in Neuklln, and

German is the last thing youll hear. Many patrons are
students, speaking every language you can imagine, owner Mohamad Azzam tells me during the lunch rush, the smell of
108
grilling chicken skewers filling the air. These days Im as likely

to hear bonjour or shalom as inshallah.
This popular Palestinian eatery, where black tea flows freely
and the pita is plentiful, opened ten years ago in what for centuries has been Berlins immigrant district. Part of the West Berlin
quadrant administered by the U.S. after World War II, Neuklln
attracted guest workers from Turkey and elsewhere with factories that remained open during the first years of the Cold War.
In 1961, however, the Wall went up on its eastern edge, and the
bottom fell out of the local economy. Neuklln soon degenerated into one of Germanys most notorious ghettos.
The world ended here, says Andreas Altenhof, artistic director of the state-funded Neukllner Opera.
When I moved to the city nine years ago, I would have hesitated to bring a woman to the neighbourhood after dark. But
after a friend tells me hes performing in the opera houses piano
bar, my wife and I decide to attend. We get a table and order
two EisschokoladeGerman ice-cream sundaesas our friend
steps on stage. His show is a mash-up of pop songs interspersed
with readings of suicide notes. I feel uncomfortable, but the
Neuklln crowd, ever open to the unorthodox, applauds loudly.
A few days later, I meet Altenhof for tea in the now quiet opera house bar and ask for his take on the areas many changes.
Neuklln, he explains, has drawn immigrants since the
1800s, when thousands of hard-working Bohemians settled
here. Richardplatz still feels like a Czech village, with its brick
buildings and converted stables. These include the centuriesold blacksmith shop Schmiede am Richardplatz, in the squares
centre. The clang of hammer on anvil is ringing out as workers
craft cast-iron candelabras and other objects by hand.
After the Wall came down, Altenhof says, half of Neukllns
residents found themselves unemployed or on welfare. Nearly a
third were Turkish or Arab immigrants. Many Berliners referred
to the area as Kleine Istanbullittle Istanbuland steered
clear. Now, transformation has gripped Neuklln, in part thanks
to the closing in 2008 of Berlins main airport, Tempelhof, after
80 years of operation. The city converted its thousand acres into
a green space in the heart of Berlin, though keeping the landing
strips. I had boarded flights at the Nazi-era terminal, still one
of the largest buildings in Germany (and now an events space).
These days I bank my bike into the park and glide along the 5.5
kilometres of traffic-free runways alongside rollerbladers, runners, and skateboarders. On windy afternoons, kites clot the sky,
rising on the fragrant smoke of hundreds of barbecue grills.
Neukllns proximity to the park, and to the new Berlin Brandenburg International airport expected to open in 2016, has
sparked demand for its apartments. Adding to the cachet: a
bevy of new restaurants and clubs, such as Sameheads, a bar,
club, and boutique next to a halal butcher. Run by three British
brothers, decorated with old TVs and a portrait of Andy Warhol
(hung high on a wall like a patron saint), and known for its DJ
sets and costume parties, its a magnet for an eclectic clientele.
The newest immigrants? Young, well-educated refugees from
the tottering economies of southern Europe. Spanish, Italian,
and Greek have joined Arabic and Turkish as languages heard
more often. These changes are music to Altenhof s ears.
People used to exit the subway and run to our ticket office,
they were so scared, he says. Now we have visitors who are
touring the area discover us by chance. Once again the world is
coming to Neukllnand this time Neuklln is ready.
germany
Berlin goes green in tree-filled Wannsee, a neighbourhood on the citys outskirts prized for its lakeside villas (above) and lake beaches; Bar,
fashion space, and nightclub, Sameheads (below) is the creation of British brothers drawn to the reinvigorated Neuklln district.
109
Visitors mimic a Wall

muralbased on a
photoof Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev locking
lips with East German head
Erich Honecker.
110
germany
WANNSEE
COUNTRY APPEAL IN BERLINS LEAFY LAKE DISTRICT
f Prenzlauer Berg and Neuklln are Berlins urban heart, lakescribed Wannsee is its green lungs. As the subway whisks me
out to this neighbourhood on Berlins southwestern reaches,
apartment blocks give way to wide boulevards and, within a few
miles, the Grnewald (green forest), 7,400 acres of conifers,
birches, and small lakes threaded with paths. Soon, summer
cottages flicker past, and I know Im close. The train stops at
Wannsee, Berlins premier summer escape since the 1870s.
Wolfgang Immenhausen, a retired actor, greets me in the
courtyard of the feed store his great-grandfather founded in
1900. The barna gas station for horses, says Immenhausen,
once fuelling the carriages of well-heeled summer residents
is now part of Mutter Fourage, a rambling art gallery, concert
space, and organic deli. Immenhausen leads me toward the
caf, suffused with the smell of coffee and quiches. Only the cobbled floor gives away the spaces past life as a stable. Showing me
around, he regales me with his sunny memories of the post-war
era, when Wannsee (Wann Lake) was in the American sector.
I remember GIs conducting combat exercises in the woods
and flirting with our German fruleins, he says, with a chuckle. On summer weekends, it seemed as if the whole city was
crammed onto the lakes sandy beaches.
It sounds so idyllic, Im reluctant to bring up something that
happened before Immenhausen was born. But theres no way
to come here and not mention the Wannsee Conference. Thats
what historians call the 1942 breakfast meeting, in a palatial
villa overlooking the lake, at which 15 Nazi bureaucrats planned
the systematic extermination of Europes Jews. Immenhausen
nods. They didnt have torture chambers here, he notes. But in
a German, bureaucratic way, they organised a system of death.
The villa is now a museum, the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz. School groups crowd its parquet floors, murmuring quietly as they file through the conference chamber, a powerful
room where past and present clash together. Portraits of the
bureaucrats who set the Holocaust in motion hang on walls like
mugshots. Immenhausen notes the museum didnt open until
1992, 50 years after the fact, part of a shift in German thinking that started when Immenhausens generation pressured its
elders to come clean.
As long as the generation of culprits was in power, there was
little urge or courage to expose the history, he says.
Out the rooms bay windows, sailboats scud across the lake,
returning me to the presentwhere it strikes me it is Immenhausen and his coevals I should thank for the Berlin I call home.
FRIEDRICHSHAIN
WHERE COMMUNIST OFFICIALDOM HELD SWAY
nyone wondering what East Berlin was like during the

Cold War should head to Friedrichshain, east of the
Spree River, for a stroll down Karl-Marx Allee, an imperially wide boulevard that East German officials built, and
named Stalinallee, in 1953. (That name would fall out of favour
by 1961.)
Architecturally, the avenue takes after Moscow, except a little
smaller, author and long-time Friedrichshain resident Lutz Ra-
thenow tells me. Were standing on Strausberger Platz, looking

across four lanes of traffic at a grand fountain with no pedestrian access. On either side of us, apartment buildings reserved
for Communist Party elite rise like cliffs. The question is why
the street is so wide, when we didnt have many cars.
The answer lies with East Germanys leaders. Friedrichshain, an industrial centre badly damaged in World War II and
assigned to the Soviet quadrant, was where they hoped to build
a model Communist city. They designed Karl-Marx Allee with
parades and cheering crowds in mind. The avenue remains
a dominant feature. Look beyond it, though, and you enter
another reality.
Friedrichshain always changes, Miriam Hollstein, a friend
who has lived in the district since the Wall fell, tells me over
schnitzel at Schneeweiss (snow white), a restaurant inspired
by the distant Alps. Even I always find something new.
Change sure has come to Boxhagener Platz, once trod by the
working class. It now is home to brewpub Hops and Barley.
This space, originally a butcher shop, works for our brewing
operation, the bearded bartender tells me over a fruity Pilsener.
Even Karl-Marx Allee has been recast. Near Rathenows flat
I find the former Caf Warschau (Warsaw), shuttered after the
Wall fell. Its mosaic entryway, once the toast of East Berlin, today
leads into the Computerspielemuseum, a shrine to five decades
of video games. Im excited to find my ticket includes unlimited
lives on programmes from my youth. One device in particular
attracts mea Poly-Play, the only arcade console the GDR made.
I begin playing a Pac-Man knockoff, Wolf and Hare, when a boy
sidles up. Can I have the next game? he asks in German, probably wondering what an adult is doing with the joystick.
Many icons of Communist days are gone, Rathenow notes,
but Friedrichshain is so tied to that era that visitors still look
for concrete topped with barbed wire. People ask for places
where you feel old East Berlin. As proof, he sends me to the
Stasi Museum, once headquarters of East Germanys secret police. Stasi records on East German citizens fill miles of shelves.
They had 15,000 pages on me, Rathenow says. Its something
to be proud of.
The top attraction is the office of Stasi head Erich Mielke,
preserved just as it was when democracy activists overran the
building in 1990. The cheap panelling, brown polyester carpets,
and low ceilings make me feel hemmed in. Yet the idea of an
American journalist strolling through what may have been the
highest-security floor west of Moscow imparts a thrill.
I have one more stop: the East Side Gallery, the longest bit
of the Wall still standing. Murals made by artists from around
the world right after the Wall was breached shine like pages in a
concrete colouring book. One, especially, grabs me: The Kiss,
depicting Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and East
German leader Erich Honecker in an intimate lip-lock.
The cycle of reinvention, incorporating the past into the future,
seems unstoppable. Rathenow cant imagine living anywhere
else. I go two kilometres in any direction and find a different city.
Here, I can buy tomorrows paper tonight. Its addictive.
I cant imagine starting a family anywhere else.
Andrew Curry has written about Germany for Smithsonian,
Wired, and Slate. Contributing photographers SiSSe BrimBerg
and Cotton CoulSon found Berlin much transformed since 1982,
when Coulson shot it for National Geographic.
111

800
Mauerpark
96a
B e r l i n
Reichstag
5
Potsdamer
Platz
DDR
Museum
KA
RL
-M
AR
XA
Brandenburg
Spree
1
Gate
Ri
ve
r
Checkpoint Charlie
Casa Istoria restaurant,

Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin.
WHAT TO SEE
The Bornholmer
Street border
crossing is where the
Wall first was breached,
on November 9, 1989,
following a surprise
announcement by East
German officials that
border controls were
being loosened. East
Germans flocked to the
crossing, overwhelming
guards, who soon
lifted the gates. As
the news spread,
Berliners gathered
at the Brandenburg
Gate, totem of the
city and the backdrop
for President John F.
Kennedys famous Cold
War speech, in which
he proclaimed, Ich
bin ein Berliner. Just
to the north looms the
Reichstag building,
where Germanys reunited Parliament first
convened; damaged
in World War II and
abandoned by East
German officialdom,
it was renovated
and reopened in the
1990s. To see one of
302 watch towers
that secured the
Wall, visit the Berlin
Wall Memorial. Eight
East Side
Gallery
Berlin Wall
Memorial
0 km 4
FRIEDRICHSHAIN
Berlin Wall
Museum
0 mi
Stasi
Museum
LLEE
Treptower
Park
Berlin
2
NEUKLLN
E51
WANNSEE
Glienicke Bridge
blocks away, the Walls

most heavily guarded
section, called the
death strip, has been
transformed into the
Mauerpark, or wall
park. Still visible is
a hundred-foot-long
part of the Wall. To
the south youll find
Checkpoint Charlie,
the border crossing in
the American sector
that became a symbol
of the Cold War and
has figured in many
films. Ostalgie, or
nostalgia for the
East, informs the
DDR Museum, which
documents life in the
East German republic;
artefacts include an
iconic Trabant car.
Nefarious doings of
East Germanys secret
police, or Stasi, are
detailed in an exhibit
at the Stasi Museum,
in the headquarters
of the former Ministry
for State Security.
The longest remaining
segment of the Wall,
dubbed the East Side
Gallery and featuring
Tempelhofer
Park
murals by international
artists, extends along
Mhlenstrasse, in
Friedrichshain. Four
Cold War prisoner
exchanges took place
on the Glienicke
Bridge (nicknamed
Bridge of Spies) in
the Wannsee area
including the return
of U-2 spy plane pilot
Francis Gary Powers.
WHAT TO READ
The Berlin Wall:
A World Divided, 19611989, by Frederick
Taylor (2006). Documenting the erection
and fortification of the
barrier, historian Taylor
conveys the political
realities of Berlin during the Cold War.
The Wall Jumper: A
Berlin Story, by Peter
Schneider (1983). West
Berliner Schneiders
novel, published six
years before the Wall
fell, personalises life in
Cold War Berlin with a
tale of a man crossing
the Wall repeatedly to
see family and friends.
Neukollner
Opera
Soviet War
Memorial
ai l
Tr
112
MITTE
all
W
COLD WAR BERLIN

During the Cold War,
the Berlin Wall came to
represent Germanys
divided nation and
capital. It's mostly
dismantled now, but
remains a potent
presence, marked by
sites that hark back to a
sinister time.
Kollwitzplatz
Berlin Wall
Memorial
n
rli
Be
VISA
Indian travellers to
Germany require
a Schengen visa.
A confirmed ticket
and travel insurance
is a prerequisite. A
tourist visa costs
60/`4,590 for adults,
and 35/`2,680 for
children, excluding the
VFS processing fee of
`1,152. The processing
time for a visa is
at least 10 working
days. Note that visa
applications can be
submitted a maximum
of three months before
travel. Passports must
be valid for at least six
months longer than
the visitors intended
stay. Application forms
and instructions are
available at www.vfsgermany.co.in.
PRENZLAUER BERG
Prater Beer Garden
ORIENTATION
Berlin is the capital of Germany. Located in the
northeastern part of the country, by the banks of
the River Spree, it has a multicultural, multi-ethnic
vibe and is Germanys hippest and largest city.
GETTING THERE
There are no direct
flights to Berlin from
India. You can travel to
the city via Frankfurt,
Munich, or any other
European/Middle
Eastern gateway city,
from most major Indian
metropolises. From
other German hubs or
Europe you can either
take a train, or fly into
Berlins Tegel Airport.
96a
Berlin
5th Proof
Traveler
8/15/14
ATLAS
North
Sea
POLAND
Berlin
GERMANY
CZECH REP.
FRANCE
S
AU
TR
IA
Parts of the Berlin

Wall can be found
in Taiwan, Vatican
Cityand a mens
bathroom in a Las
Vegas casino.
Some ways East
Berliners tried to
cross the Wall: in
hot-air balloons and
along a carefully
placed tightrope.
From 1961 to 1965,
the Wall was actually
a fortified wire
fence; it took years
to build the concrete
structure.
INTERNATIONAL MAPPING
THE GUIDE
Bornholmer
Street
4,000
0 ft
0m
Short Breaks
114
116
THE SPIRIT OF INDULGENCE STILL DANCES IN MANDU
PRAWN CURRY, FENI, AND LONG READS IN GOA
STAY
116
BODY PHILIPPE/HEMIS.FR/GETTY IMAGES (MONUMENT), AYESHA BILIMORIA (HOUSE)
FROM MUMBAI
114
RUINS OF the Empires
The spirit of indulgence still dances among Mandus relics | By Harsimran Gill
2+
DAY
S
Although the Jahaz Mahal exudes elegance, its walls are three feet thick. It was built by Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din-Khilji to house his harem of 15,000.
The rain has slowed down to a mild drizzle. I peep out from
under a small, carved chhatri on the terrace of the Jahaz Mahal,
a kilometre northwest of Mandus town centre. Kapur Talao, the
man-made lake beyond the front lawns, is almost completely
full, reflecting the surrounding trees, lush green from the
monsoon. I take a few quick steps across the terrace to look at
Munj talao, the other lake that bookends this slim palace, where
a herd of buffaloes has just settled in for a slow soak.
The ship palace is a resplendent ruin among a city full
of such vestiges of glories past. One hundred and twenty
metres long and just fifteen metres wide, it rises amidst
the pools appearing like a vessel anchored in position, with
domed pavilions that reach out to the sky like sails. It was
built in the late 15th century during the reign of the Khiljis;
more than a hundred years later, it became a favourite of
Mughal emperor Jahangir and his bride, Noor Jehan. In his

autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, the emperor describes
these opulent celebrations in vivid detail: As the evening
began, they lit lanterns and lamps all around the tanks and
building... The lamps cast their reflection on the water and it
appeared as if the whole surface of the tank was a plain of fire.
A grand entertainment took place and the inebriates indulged
themselves to excess.
As the walled-in capital of the Malwa Kingdom, Mandu
witnessed terrible strife over the centuries: the Mughals, the
Khiljis, and Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, all struggled for control
over it. But the spirit of indulgence is still palpable among its
relics, from the luxurious pools of Jal Mahal to the pillared
dancing halls of Jahaz Mahal, which must have once resonated
with song and dance.
THE VITALS
Mandu, in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh is 525 km/9 hrs northeast of Mumbai and 373 km/6.5 hrs east of Ahmedabad.
The closest airport and railway station are at Indore, which is 95 km/3 hrs northeast (`1,600-1,800 one-way by taxi). Frequent
buses ply between Indore and Dhar (36 km/1.5 hrs), from where you can take a local bus to Mandu.
114
HERVE HUGHES/GETTY IMAGES
heritage
Short Breaks | from mumbai
mandu
four ways to explore

CYCLE EVERYWHERE
GO BAOBAB-SPOTTING
All major sights in Mandu are

within a five-kilometre radius
of the heart of the town. While
rickshaws are available, the
best way to get around is on
a cycle. Pack a picnic lunch
and set out early for an easy
unplanned day of stopping at
places like the Sagar Talao
or the upper level of Dai-kichoti-behen-ka-mahal. The
latters tomb is dedicated to
the royal wet nurse, which still
retains traces of the blue tiles
that once covered its dome.
Barring a few slopes, the
terrain is easy and lined with
trees and lush fields, making
it ideal for laidback pedalling
(cycles are available for rent
at a small house three doors
down from the popular Shivani
Restaurant; `100-125 a day).
With a bulbous trunk and

scraggly branches fanning
out into the sky, the peculiar
baobab is rarely spotted in
India. However, dozens of
these ancient trees find a
fitting home among Mandus
regal residues. Dotting the
sides of the main road that
runs through the citys
northern entry gate, all the
way to the southern end
at Rupmatis Pavilion, the
trees vary in size and shape,
from smaller shrubs to giant,
imposing elders. With an
ability to store huge reserves
of water within its trunk
and seeds full of antioxidants
(chalky texture, acidic
taste), baobabs are often
called the Tree of Life. Try
and find the oldest and
largest one in the area.
Hint: Its on the way to
Rupamatis Pavilion.
SUNSET WITH A
QUEEN
AQUA DELIGHTS AT
JAL MAHAL
Princess Rupmati, after whom this pavilion (top) is named, met a

tragic death, poisoning herself to avoid capture after her husband
was defeated in battle; Jahaz Mahal has a beautifully designed bath
(middle) with a series of ornamental steps; Vendors in Mandu often
sell the tangy fruit of the baobab tree (bottom), known locally as
Mandu ki imli.
Jal Mahal is a part of the

Royal Enclosure that also
contains Jahaz Mahal. Yet
the pool-filled wonder often
gets unfairly relegated to
the shadows of its more
popular neighbour. Located
in Munj Talao, the palace was
built as a private monsoon
sanctuary for noble couples.
Close to ten pools of varying
shapes, sizes, and depths
form the front courtyard.
They range from floral-shaped
step pools to narrow, deep
tanks running along its length.
Its easy to imagine the many
luxurious dips taken by stately
residents and visitors over
the centuries, surrounded by
the verdant green gardens of
the palace enclosure (sunrisesunset. Entry for the entire
Royal Enclosure `5).
115
DINODIA (DOME & STEPS), DGUIDO COZZI/ATLANTIDE PHOTOTRAVEL/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY (TREE)
The 16th-century romance

between Baz Bahadur, the last
independent king of Mandu,
and Rupmati, a beautiful
shepherdess, is the favourite
folktale of the Malwa region.
Legend says that Rupmati
agreed to be his consort only
if she could live in a palace
from where she could view
her beloved Narmada River.
An old army lookout point
atop a hill was reappointed
as the queens retreat, with
a sheer drop to the river on
one side and a view of Baz
Bahadurs Palace on the
other. In contrast with some
of the other monuments of
Mandu, Rupmatis Pavilion is
not in a state of utter ruin. It
offers a spectacular view of the
valley as well as the twinkling
Narmada in the distance. It
comes alive at sunset silhouetted against the golden-red
light (sunrise-sunset; entry `5).
Short Breaks | stay

Capella
Panjim
BROWSERS NOOK
GOA
At Capella, curl up with a book by a palm-fringed courtyard | By Neha Sumitran

ROMANTIC
Its only a short drive

from the bustle of Baga
and yet Capella is a world
apart. Nestled on a forested
hill in Parra, the homestay
combines Portuguese-style
architecture, antique Parsi
furnishings, and the culinary
skills of Julie, the Goan cook,
to create a sanctum where
delicious slothfulness reigns
supreme. Its a welcome
break from the honking,
hollering crowds of Goa, but
close enough to the ruckus
and the beach, should you
crave an athletic night out.
Capella feels like a
homestay. Its tastefully
furnished, and impeccably
maintained, but has the
warmth and cosiness of a
lived-in home. The walls
bear old photos of the family,
the couches are gently
116
concaved, and there are

bookshelves in every room
full of dog-eared books,
many inscribed with
intimate notes from aunts
and friends. The living room,
flanked by the bean-shaped
pool on one side and the
open, palm-filled courtyard,
is my favourite space, and
I spend much of my time
sprawled on a planters
chair in a corner, reading
an Agatha Christie novel I
found in my room.
Later, I chat with Ayesha,
the spunky lady of the
house, who is a fountain of
information on Goan history,
culture, and food. Over a
scrumptious lunch of prawn
curry and rice, she tells me
about Bhatti Village, a nomenu local legend known
for its pork amsol (stir-fried
kokum-flavoured meat). I
learn of Literati, a culturevulture hotspot in Calangute,
about an annual classical
music concert held in the
ruins of a church in Old
Goa, and that the jackfruit
and jambul (jamun) trees

on Capellas grounds are
inhabited by magpie robins,
golden-backed woodpeckers,
and bulbuls. I meet the
dogs: spirited Elsa and
lazy Luca, friendly and
greedy for attention.
Afternoons are for napping
and evenings for drinks and
conversation. I sip chilled
beer by twilight chatting
with another guest, a lady
from Germany who has been
travelling in India for the
last three months. Guests at
Capella help themselves to
the bar cabineta gorgeous
glass-fronted teakwood
tallboyand write down
what they have consumed in
the little Honesty bar book.
We exchange travel notes,
and talk well after dinner
is done, eventually retreating
to separate corners with
our books and more drinks.
I could just as easily imagine
returning here with my
girlfriends for a giggly
weekend away.
THE VITALS
Accommodation Capella has three rooms. Frangipani is by
the pool on the ground floor. The two suites, Magnolia and
Heliconia, are on the first floor. Both have handsome fourposter beds and Mediterranean-inspired bathrooms with
generous, mosaic bathtubs, perfect for an afternoon soak on
a warm summer day. Room rates vary according to season.
Low-season rates for doubles are between `4,600 and
`6,900 (including breakfast), and in high season this runs
from `5,750 to 7,500 (99234 59488, call between 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
and 4-8 p.m.; www.capellagoa.com).
Getting there Capella is in Parra, Bardez, 39 km/1 hour from
Dabolim airport and 16 km/30 mins from Thivim Railway
Station. Panjim and Morjim Beach are both about a 40-minute
drive away while Baga is ten minutes away. Taxis generally
charge about `800 from the airport.
AYESHA BILIMORIA
FAMILY-FRIENDLY |
NEXT THEME
THE WAY
WE TRAVEL
BIG SHOT
National
Geographic
Traveller Indias
monthly photography
contest
WINNER - THEME: INDIA BY DESIGN
Delicate as Stone
NEXT PHOTO CONTEST THEME: THE WAY WE TRAVEL
By Atanu Paul
This was shot at Salim Chishtis
Dargah in Fatehpur Sikri, where
Akbar prayed for a male heir (and
named him after the saint). I like
the picture for the delicate, dreamy
texture of the stone jalli and the
people on the other side.
RUNNER UP
Suman Senguptas picture of the

Bah temple is featured on page 54.
The Bah House of Worship in New

Delhi is frequently photographed but
this view of the Lotus Temple as it is
often called, is unusual.
Turn your lens on fellow travellers. Next months theme for the photo contest is
about the lengths we go to travel, and the experiences we gather along the way.
Send us a single image along with a 100-word caption describing the photograph.
DEADLINE
31 December 2014
NOVEMBER 2014 `150 VOL. 3
ISSUE 5
Wi
Specnter
ial
HOW TO ENTER
Log on to www.natgeotraveller.in to
submit
your photo or email it to bigshot@
natgeotraveller.in with Big ShotThe
Way We Travel as the subject.
For Terms and Conditions visit

www.natgeotraveller.in/bigshot/bigshot_tnc.docx
winner will get a years subscription
to One
National Geographic Traveller India, a National
Geographic fleece jacket, and a telescope.
DIVING WITH
SHARKS
A MIDDLE-EARTH
OBSESSION
Down Under
Wanderings through New Zealand and Australia
Runners-up get a free subscription to National

Geographic
Traveller India (12 issues).
DECEMBER 2014 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA 117
Readers! We were overwhelmed by your response to the Pose With NGT contest and loved browsing
through your entries. The winner of the contest is Aditya Narain, who gets a years subscription to
National Geographic Traveller India, a fleece jacket, and a copy of the book Nat Geo Amazing! Look
out for your pictures on www.natgeotraveller.in. Happy travelling (with your favourite magazine)!
MATTIA PASSARINI
JAGANNATHAN RAMASWAMY
PRADEEP GUPTA
119
Inspire | kenya
120 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014
MAASAI MARA
NATIONAL RESERVE
Kenya
ETHIOPIA
SOMALIA
UGANDA
KENYA
Maasai Mara
National Reserve
A bumpy journey through the

bush in pre-dawn darkness,
past shining animal eyes
peeping through the tall
grass, is the exciting prelude
to the ride of a lifetime.
Balloon safaris have been
gaining popularity as a fun
way to go animal-spotting
in the Maasai Mara National
Reserve in Kenya. About
25 balloons, carrying 6-16
passengers each, ascend
just before sunrise, the pin
pricks of light dotting the
horizon revealing their gay
colours as the sky lightens.
In the vast canvas below,
herds of wildebeest and
zebra become visible, with
the long necks of a pair of
giraffes occasionally popping
above the crowd. Floating
above the treetops allows
for unhindered observation
without disturbing the
animals. Visitors often
get to see a pride of lions
stalking a hippo mid-hunt
or hyenas squabbling over a
kill. Occasionally, watchers
turn into the watched, the
animals quizzically eyeing
the colourful contraptions
passing above them. The
hour-long ride costs about
$500 per person (`30,740),
and ends with a spectacular
bush breakfast accompanied
by champagne.
121
GABRIELA STAEBLER/PREMIUM/DINODIA
TANZANIA
Inspire | myanmar
BAGAN
Myanmar
CHINA
INDIA
MYANMAR
Bagan
THAILAND
JOS FUSTE RAGA/AGE FOTOSTOCK/DINODIA
Dawn is the favoured hour for

hot-air balloon jaunts over
the Bagan Archaeological
Zone in Mandalay in central
Myanmar. The morning mist
folds back, like the curtains
of a grand stage, to unveil
nearly 2,000 temples and
pagodas dotting the Bagan
plain. These are what remain
of nearly 10,000 shrines that
were built in this ancient
city between the 11th and
13th centuries. Time and
earthquakes have claimed
most of them, but those that
remain convey the majesty
of this erstwhile Buddhist
pilgrimage centre. The
balloon ride gives visitors a
chance to absorb the grand
scale of the plainan area of
104 square kilometres on the
east bank of the Irrawaddy
Riverand the incredible
number of temples. They
are in a range of shapes and
sizes, and various states
of disrepair, giving each a
distinctive character. Every
shot of the green landscape,
freckled with brown and
white structures tinged
orange by the rising sun, is
picture-perfect.
123
Inspire | austria
LAKE WOLFGANG
Austria
CZECH REPUBLIC
GERMANY
Lake Wolfgang
AUSTRIA
SLOVENIA
The towns on the shore

of Lake Wolfgang, or the
Wolfgangsee as it is known
locally, comprise the central
Austrian resort area of
Salzkammergut. During
summer, visitors swim, sail,
surf, waterski, and take boat
rides in the lake. Its pristine
water is recognised by the
European Union. Its also
endorsed by the resident
wildlifeespecially Rutilus
meidingeri, an endangered
fish species sensitive to
pollution and found in the
purest waters of only a few
subalpine lakes.
During winter, skiers
throng the slopes of the
Austrian Alps around the
lake. Others hop on to a
hot-air balloon for a special
ride over the snow-covered
landscape. Although it seems
too cold to go high up in an
uncovered gondola, those
who have done it say the
experience is unexpectedly
comfortable, even without
gloves and a hat. The ride
affords clear views of the
lake, which turns a stunning
blue in the early months
of winter before it freezes.
From the air you can admire
alpine forests, the trees
strikingly outlined in snow
and glistening in the morning
sun. And just beyond them,
the jagged edges of the
Alps softened by a covering
of snow.
125
KURT-MICHAEL WESTERMANN/COCUMENTARY VALUE/CORBIS/IMAGELIBRARY
ITALY
GALLERIA
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Come and learn to surf at Cocopelli Surf School, in exotic Gokarna from
our ISA level 1 certified surf instructors. Run by Sandeep Samuel; his
house is open to all, So come and enjoy you surfcation!
This December, offbeat travellers Ashay Gangwar and Siddharth Agarwal

walk 600kms across Rajasthan, highlighting social issues and attempting
cultural revival across the country through a series of such projects.
www.cocopelli.org Tel: +91 081057 64969
E-mail: Info.camshorts@gmail.com Tel: +91 82374 95187
126
New Zealands Wild Side

Explore this distant jewel in the deep sapphire waters of the Southwest
Pacific Ocean this season, as the Sky-reflecting lakes turn into jet-boat
racetracks while ice-blue glaciers open up for adrenaline-charged
adventures. Quench your insatiable thirst for active adventures on an
exhilarating journey of New Zealand, the Kiwi land.
Embark on a boat ride at the mysterious underground caves to experience a spectacle created by the incandescent sparkle of innumerable
glow worms. Hold on to your hat as you share the thrill of bungee jumping with your fellows amidst the astounding landscapes, in the country
that invented bungee jumping. Discover the bay of islands, picturesque
region with over 140 islands and numerous secluded bay sand beaches
abundant in marine life. Unleash your zeal to explore the extremes as you
take on an adventurous experiential journey across New Zealand with
Abercrombie & Kent Vacations.
www.abercrombiekent.co.in Toll Free No.: 1800 111 010
Yash Destinations
Lofty mountain peaks, ice-sculptured fjords, an abundance of marine
wildlife and massive tidewater glaciers make the Top 10 list of things to
see in Alaska. We at Yash Destinations are dedicated to give you your
best experience. Spectacular scenery is synonymous with Alaska.
By road, rail or air the beauty is endless. Alaskas national and state
parks provide ample opportunities to explore and experience the Last
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Tours We offer:
Grand Alaska Tour The Alaskan Explorer
Discover Denali The Alaskan Explorer
Email: experts@yashdestinations.com
www.yashdestinations.com Tel: (+91 22) 2351 2459/1030
Into The Blue

How about a thrilling getaway for your next vacation? Come and explore
the abundant & picturesque marine life at Netrani Island, off the coast
of Murudeshwar with Our professional instructors.
www.westcoastadventures.in Tel: +91 9820040769
Pind Balluchi: Flavour of Punjab

When everybody is running after various global cuisines, we are here
to serve you straight from the villages of Punjab. The earthy glow of
the interiors at Pind Balluchi exudes an opulent warmth that cocoons;
the interiors are reminiscent of a forgotten era, merged with modern
elements that make it both spectacular and unique.
Dining at Pind Balluchi, is a holistic experience not to be missed;
everything that greets you upon entering the restaurant gives you the
flavour of Punjab. Must try are Dhaba Meat, Murg Makhani and Missi
Roti. Do not to miss the Kulfi, a fabulously creamy pistachio ice-cream,
a true bounty of subtle flavors, Needless to say, all outlets of Pind
Balluchi serve authentic Punjabi food.
www.pindballuchi.com Tel: 0124-4830400
For advertising in National Geographic Traveller- Galleria

please contact Priya Singh at
priya.singh@ack-media.com - 022-49188812
127
TRAVEL QUIZ
T E S T Y O U R T R AV E L I Q
A TIGER DECORATES THE NATIONAL

FLAG OF FORMOSA, A REPUBLIC THAT
EXISTED FOR ABOUT FIVE MONTHS IN
1895 ON WHAT ISLAND?
WAKE UP!
CITIZENS OF
WHAT NATION
DRINK THE MOST
COFFEE?
EVIDENCE OF
THE WORLDS
OLDEST GRAPE
WINE (5400
B.C.) WAS
RECOVERED IN
THE ZAGROS
MOUNTAINS
OF WHAT
NATION?
NAME THE
WORLDS LARGEST
LANDLOCKED
COUNTRY.
NAME THE NORWEGIAN EXPLORER

BORN 100 YEARS AGO WHO LED
KON-TIKI AND RA TRANSOCEANIC
EXPEDITIONS.
THE UROS PEOPLE CRAFT REEDS INTO

FLOATING HOMES ON WHAT ANDEAN LAKE?
WHAT CONDUIT
OPENED IN 1914 AND
CUT THE SHIPPING
DISTANCE BETWEEN
AMERICAS EAST AND
WEST COASTS BY
12,000 KILOMETRES?
PERANAKAN CULTURE MERGES

CHINESE, MALAY, INDIAN, DUTCH,
AND OTHER TRADITIONS ALONG
WHAT BODY OF WATER?
9
ANSWERS 1. ROUTE 66 2. TAIWAN 3. TITICACA 4. NETHERLANDS 5. IRAN 6. PANAMA CANAL 7. KAZAKHSTAN 8. THOR HEYERDAHL 9. STRAITS OF MALACCA
128
RICHARD CUMMINS/CORBIS (CARS), EHTESHAM/SHUTTERSTOCK (TIGER), GAIL JOHNSON/SHUTTERSTOCK (FLOAT), BUSYPIX/STOCKPHOTO

(COFFEE), MBBIRDY/STOCKPHOTO (GRAPES), DAVID CODER/GETTY IMAGES (CRANE), VASCA/SHUTTERSTOCK (DWELLING), SSPL/GETTY IMAGES
(BOAT), XINHUA/EYEVINE/REDUX (WOMAN)
THE HALF-BURIED CARS OF CADILLAC RANCH

MARK ONE STOP ALONG AMERICAS MOTHER
ROAD, OTHERWISE KNOWN BY WHAT NAME?

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d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 ` 1 5 0 VO L .

Off the Wall

Edinburgh Festival, Scotland.

FESTIVE CHEER IN PICTURES

30 GREAT TRAVEL PHOTOS

OFF THE WALL

Christmas is a great time

Timeless and transporting:

Cambodias bloody past

Berlins neighbourhoods fizz

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014

JIM RICHARDSON/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

DECEMBER 2014 `120 VOL. 3

OFF THE WALL

14 Editors Note 16 Inbox 117 Big Shot

Qingdao, Chinas fountain

Help save the world, one

The chowkidars tale

Elephant safaris and intimate

Salvaging a dream holiday

Viennas Wiener schnitzel

The Bah Temple in

Gather with Goans of

Pagodas, Everest views,

114 From Mumbai

Childrens rhymes map a

Memories old and

All aboard new railway hotels

The spirit of indulgence still

Editor-in-Chief NILOUFER VENKATRAMAN

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Editors Note | niloufer venkatraman

spent last weekend camping in a jungle

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014

Being in a network-less bush environment, far

Voices | tread softly

recently visited Kotagiri, a small town in the

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014

HELPING SAVE THE WORLD, ONE RESPONSIBLE SOUVENIR AT A TIME

Voices | far corners

The Chowkidars Tale

veryone said Milam was a ghost town and

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014

a few scattered willows. There were handsome

GOSSIP OF GHOSTS IS ALL THAT REMAINS IN A TOWN RUINED BY WAR

Voices | guest column

Have Mercy, Paris

here I was, sitting on the ground weeping

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014

Amsterdam learnt I couldnt travel outside Paris,

Navigate | local flavour

ST. FRANCIS XAVIERS EXPOSITION

PANSORI, THE KOREAN OPERA

KASHMIRS ZABARWAN MOUNTAINS

A waiter serves schnitzel

A Taste of Old Europe

deliciously breaded veal cutlet.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | DECEMBER 2014

Franz Schubert once dined,

CAF CENTRAL AT PALAIS FERSTEL