SOUTHEAST ASIA SEPTEMBER 2014

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Heritage and Wisdom

Style Special
91 Shop Like a Local
Where to browse and
bargain in six of the world’s
most stylish cities—with
in-the-know tastemakers
as guides. EDITED BY
JACQU ELIN E GIFFOR D A N D
K ATIE JA M ES
Features
102 The Emerald Canopy
Enchanting Langkawi,
land of flying and
mischievous monkeys,
and million-year-old
T H A R AT H O R N S I T T H I T H A M
Contents
mountains, pulls M ER R IT T
GU R LE Y in and sends her
skipping down the
evolutionary brick road.
PHOTOGR A PHED BY
T H A R AT HOR N SIT T HIT H A M .
GU IDE PAGE 113
114 Pure China Pingyao is
a time machine into the
Chinese past and
traditional Han culture.
BY JOSEPH GIOVA N N I N I .
PHOTOGR A PHED BY
T ON Y L AW
116 License to Heal BY A N DR E AS L ASZLO
Finger-dancing facials, KON R ATH . ST Y LED BY MIMI
yoga-fueled cleanses, LOMBA R DO
doctor-delivered
126 A World Apart
pedicures: J EN IN N E LEE -
On a trip through remote
ST . JOH N puts her health
southern Ethiopia, GU Y
and beauty in expert hands.
TR EBAY encounters the last
ILLUSTR ATED BY WASIN EE
remaining tribes of the
CH A N TA KOR N . GU IDE
Omo River Valley—and the
PAGE 121
strange, powerful beauty
122 The Way I Travel of the unknown.
Four trendsetters reveal PHOTOGR A PHED BY DAV ID
their travel essentials and CH A NCELLOR . M A P A N D
their favorite destinations. GU IDE PAGE 134
INTERV IE WS BY J ERY L
BRU N N ER . PHOTOGR A PHED
Ancient forest-
capped mountains
coat Langkawi,
page 102.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 11
Contents

Radar
26 British Invasion
Hong Kong’s new eats.
30 Easy Rider Martone
Cycling Co. bicycles.
46 Street Smart
Jakarta’s coolest area.
56 Loco for Coco
Private Maldivian stay.
Plus Where Michael Kors
goes to escape; autumn
culture preview; chef’s
tables across Asia;
offbeat gin joints;
30 82 overcoming the fear of
flying; and more.

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: K AT E O W E N , C O U R T E S Y O F M A R T O N E C Y C L I N G C O . ; D A N N Y K I M ; S I M O N W AT S O N ; P O R N S A K N A N A K O R N ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O C O P R I V É K U D A H I T H I
56 70
Trip Doctor
67 Travel Solutions
Why it’s worth using a
travel agent; touring
Asia in the green
season; and more.
70 Strategies The
A-List, our annual
compendium of the
top travel advisors.
82 Tech Our picks of the
best new headphones.
86 Deals T+L reader
specials.
Decoder
136 Our Definitive
Guide to Phuket
Last Look
142 Cambodia Apsara
dance renaissance.

In Every Issue
T +L DIGI TA L
14
E D I T O R ’S N O T E
16
CON T R IBU T OR S
18
I N B OX
20

On the Cover A catamaran

cruise in Langkawi, Malaysia.
Photographed by Tharathorn
Sitthitham. Styled by Tunvardee
Jutavarakul. Model: Nithiporn
Lertnitiwonsakul. Hair and

136
Make up: Witthaya Kaeoaim.
Photographer’s assistant:
Tanawat Asasutjarit. Swimsuit:
Katarina. Pants: Diane von
Furstenberg. Scarf: Bvlgari.
Sunglasses: Chanel.

12 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
T+L Digital

#TLAsia
Social Beaches
Readers shared their favorite snapshots of
the season on Instagram. ↑
Expedia —
surveyed instagram.com/travelandleisureasia Download Us
travelers in 24 T+L Tablet Edition
countries about
the relationship
between their
beach vacations 1.
and social media.
Here’s what they
found.
Indian travelers post
the most pictures per
week (50), followed 2
by Singaporeans Available on IOS,
(37), Americans (35), Android, Win 8
Hong Kongers (33), and Zinio Desktop Reader.
Thais (32) and
↑
Malaysians (29).
Get the September issue now.
Thais are the biggest
Instagram
fans—and the most —
likely to post selfies Visit Us
(53 percent). travelandleisureasia.com
3 ↓
Hong Kongers are
most likely to post This Month’s Top Lists
beach photos online
4 4 Hotels Where You Can
to make their friends
Live Like a King
jealous (39 percent),
though Thais aren’t 10 Trips to Take Before
far behind (36 You’re Ten
percent) in that
regard. The global 31 Must-See Places in
average is 18 percent. Hong Kong

Facebook is the
—
most-used social
Follow Us
media route for
twitter.com/
posting vacation
5 travleisureasia
snaps, followed by
+
Instagram and
facebook.com/
Twitter. Indians are
travelleisureasia
big on Facebook (83
+
percent).
pinterest.com/
Last-minute beach travleisureasia
deals influence 6. +
Thais the most (67 instagram.com/
percent), followed by travelandleisureasia
South Koreans (65
percent) and f
Japanese (64
percent). 1. Bali (@i a m m i k e ys a n c h e z ) 2. Bali (@ m e t m e t t i q u e )
3. Rawa Island, Malaysia (@ b e t z m m p)
A full half of 4. Maldives (@ b e t z m m p) 5. Cambodia (@ m a r c a u x v i s u a l )
Singaporeans say 6. Sumilon Island, Philippines (@i a m m i k e ys a n c h e z ) Contact Us
spa treatments are a — tleditor@
requisite of any Search Instagram for #TLAsia to see more photos and videos, mediatransasia.com
beach vacation. respectively. And be sure to tag your own favorite vacation scenes!

14 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Editor’s Note

September 2014

D
oes anyone still use travel agents? The answer, a
resounding yes, might surprise you at first but shouldn’t.
In today’s world where everything is specialized, you’d be
mad to not seek the advice of an expert. That’s why we
include our A-List of the Top Travel Advisors (page 70) in
this month’s issue. These are the go-to gurus when planning your trip of a
lifetime: they help you avoid the usual pitfalls, can book you into sold-out
hotels and are in touch with any need-to-know locals. When we say
specialists, we don’t just mean in the geographical sense. They’re experts
WHERE TO FIND ME
when it comes to food-and-wine itineraries, adventure journeys,
chrisk@mediatransasia.com
affordable travel and cultural sojourns.
@CKucway on Twitter
As au fait as this exclusive collection of travel advisors is, I wonder if
any one of them has ever had to deal with luxury monkeys. As features
editor Merritt Gurley and art director Wannapha Nawayon encountered
on assignment in Langkawi (“The Emerald Canopy,” page 102), the
island’s mischievous macaques aren’t above raiding your minibar should
you fall for their charms and let them into your room. The best advice, of
Where We’re course, is not to and, instead, simply enjoy the many more innocent lures
Going of this Malaysian getaway.
Elsewhere, this month’s issue looks like a microcosm of what those
Taipei specialized travel advisors would suggest for your next break. Shopping
Siem Reap in six different locales around the world takes center stage (“Shop Like a
Local,” page 91), while the new wave of healthy spa treatments hitting
The Maldives
Asia (“License to Heal,” page 116) might be the best therapy after your
New Zealand retail excursion. Finally, directing you away from the norm like the best
travel advisor should is “A World Apart” (page 126), a journey to Ethiopia
that also begins with a little monkey business but then, as the title
suggests, veers down paths to rare adventures, a world where Instagram
and Twitter meld with African soothsayers; where you’ll learn as much
about yourself as you do about the environment you are visiting. That’s
when you know you’ve had a trip of a lifetime. —C H R I ST OPH E R K UC WAY
N A P AT R A V E E W AT

The T+L Code Travel + Leisure editors, writers and photographers are the industry’s most reliable sources.
While on assignment, they travel incognito whenever possible and do not take press trips or accept free travel of any kind.

16 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Contributors
David Chancellor
— —
Photographer
A World Apart
page 126
The magic of Ethiopia’s Omo
Valley lies in... Just being there. It’s an
extraordinary place, largely untouched
by the outside world—though that’s
changing at an alarming rate.
Unforgettable moment Finding
the Suri tribe in a lush valley near
the Omo River, before a storm.
Portraiture 101 To quote Eve Arnold,
“If a photographer cares about the people
before the lens and is compassionate,
much is given.” Don’t miss... Watching
the sun rise and set on the same day.
Most useful local phrase? A smile.
Simon N. Ostheimer
—
Writer
Decoder: Phuket
page 136
How long have you lived on
Phuket? Three years. I moved
here to escape the hectic city life of
Bangkok. I somewhat succeeded.
“Somewhat”? Love it or hate it,
Phuket is changing. With new malls,
roads and condos, it’s on its way to
becoming Bangkok-on-the-Sea.
Where should we go drinking?
With two young children, I don’t get out
as much as I used to. But when I do,
I enjoy the strong cocktails at
Wonderland. Best island that’s not
your island Forget Phi-Phi, Samui
and Phangan. For a real taste of
Thailand’s old south, look no further
than the rural charms of Koh Yao Yai.
C L O C K W I S E F R O M TO P : C O U R T E S Y O F S I M O N O S T H E I M E R ; J E R R Y B A U E R ; C O U R T E S Y O F DAV I D C H A N C E L L O R
Molly Jong-Fast
Writer
Into Thin Air
page 48
Top advice for flying-averse
travelers Understanding I had the
problem made me feel better. Also,
do not underestimate the power of breath.
Bucket-list trip you’re now able
to plan, having put aside your
fear of flying My mom went to Hong
Kong last year and said it was beyond
belief. I would love to go. I live in New York
City and I’ve never traveled farther than
Greece. Carry-on essentials A book
and an iPad filled with movies and the
comedy series Broad City. The name
of the game is staying occupied.
 Inbox

“The Return of Biarritz” [July] proves that the best beach

destinations are those that reinvent themselves but
still maintain the spirit of the place.
—Susan Coleman TEXAS

Backseat Driver Indian Ocean Obsession

I remember the hidden area of Saigon
that you show from the Vietnam
Vespa Tour [“Moveable Feasts,”
April]! I was here for my first trip to
Vietnam in 2006.
— Sariokoh Onuah
ARIZONA
Curry Favor
When I’m in Malaysia, I will definitely
try the Indian food in Penang [“Hidden
India,” April]. It looks good.
—Bizmark Perez
Hand-Pulled Hunger
Taipei looks delish [“Temples of
Taste,” September 2013]. Beef Noodle
Soup. Yum.
—Rich Young
BRITISH COLUMBIA
I’ve always thought that the Maldives
[“Isle of Inspiration,” December 2013]
is a heaven on Earth! It’s well known
for its crystal-clear waters and
beautiful scenery. I would love to be
there for a totally relaxing holiday. I
want to enjoy the waters, sand, sea
breeze, massages, food, drinks... It
would be awesome!
—Jie Han Lee
SINGAPORE
Vietnamese Victuals
Check out all that great-looking food
in Hoi An [“Six Dishes,” April]—sweet
silky tofu, com ga, local noodles. No
wonder Anthony Bourdain
practically lives there.
—Leo Vardar
NEW YORK
M AT T H I E U S A LV A I N G

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 Radar
News. Finds. Opinions. Obsessions.

r e s tau r a n t s “Jaipur is already the Pink City,

so I wanted to do something

INDIAN
totally different,” says Dutch
designer Marie-Anne Oudejans
of her latest creation, Bar

SUMMER
Palladio, at the Narain Niwas
Palace Hotel. Best known for
Tocca, her line of sari-fabric
dresses, Oudejans has turned
her eye to interiors, fashioning
an over-the-top space with an
opulence worthy of a maharajah:
Indian motifs (flowers; vines;
leaves), tented ceilings and
murals of exotic birds. At
secluded banquettes, stylish
locals mix with international
textile artists over plates of
penne all’arrabbiata and basil-
tinged Ambassador martinis.
Oudejans designed the entire
Rajasthani fantasy, down to the
crystal stemware, block-printed
pillows—even the bar logo. “If
you come to India,” she says,
“this is what you imagine it will
Designer Marie-Anne Oudejans look like.” bar-palladio.com.
with her border collie, Aedo,
—kate betts
at Bar Palladio, in Jaipur, India.

P H OTOGR A P H ED BY A PA R N A JAYA K U M A R T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 25

Radar

Jamie Oliver heats up Hong Kong.

Will Meyrick of Mama San fame. Chef Gordon Ramsay.

chefs

BRITISH INVASION

C L O C K W I S E F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F M A M A S A N ; C O U R T E S Y O F J A M I E ’ S I TA L I A N ; C O U R T E S Y O F G O R D O N R A M S AY
Three British super chefs are stepping onto Hong Kong’s dining scene,
adding star-studded restaurants that are sure to find a fanatic following.
The Brits are taking Hong juxtaposed against scarlet for two HK$600), in Bread Street Kitchen
Kong by sweet and savory lamp shades—has drawn the Causeway Bay in July. As a (MF, LKF Hotel, 33
storm. Roll out the red carpet city’s trendy crowd, but it’s nod to the neighborhood’s Wyndham St., Central;
and get ready to make some the food that has them days as a fishing village, gordonramsay.com; menu
reservations, because U.K.- coming back. Every dish there’s a shipping container not released as of press time)
export celebrity chefs Jamie packs a punch, from the soft in the open kitchen and a in Hong Kong this month at
Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and shell crab rujak salad with sliding ship ladder at the the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel.
Will Meyrick have finally green mango, rose apple, antipasti bar. Dishes range Based on Ramsay’s winning
opened eateries in this mint, peanuts, sesame seed from bar bites like the fried concept in London, the
happening harbor city. and tamarind chili sauce to three-cheese gnocchi, to the restaurant’s must-try plates
Meyrick, whose explosive the sublimely refreshing made-to-share meat plank include a decadent—is there
Asian fusion restaurant has lemongrass panacotta with with Levoni ham, to the any other kind?—full
been a culinary mainstay of cucumber lime jelly and vongole taglioni, a toothsome English breakfast, and
Bali since its 2010 debut, has citrus lemon basil sorbet. pasta that showcases ricotta hot cakes with
opened his second Mama Jamie Oliver, currently Oliver’s passion for classic banana and honeycomb
San (1F, 46 Wyndham St.; Britain’s richest chef with a Italian fare. butter to start the day off
852/2881-8901; dining net worth of £240 million, Hot on the heels of right, while its welcoming
concepts.com; dinner for two opened Jamie’s Italian (2F Oliver, his rival and warehouse-style, decked out
HK$700) in Central. The hip Soundwill Plaza II–Midtown, long-time adversary, Gordon in mismatched furniture,
décor—think plush brown 1 Tang Lung St.; 852/3958- Ramsay is launching his reflects the no-fuss British
leather banquettes 2222; jamieoliver.com; dinner first restaurant in Asia, menu.—HELEN DALLEY

26 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Radar
r ec o n in an Art Deco lunar plains and
building in Mayfair. roaming elephants.
THE LATEST The room to book: + Travelers passing

NEED-TO-KNOW ROOM, an
“inhabitable
through Tokyo’s
inner-city Haneda
OPENINGS sculpture” by artist Airport can check
Antony Gormley. into THE Haneda
Hotels First in a + Raffles Istanbul (rph-the.co.jp;
series of boutique (raffles.com; doubles doubles from ¥1,800),
properties planned from €385) takes its which is affixed to
along the ancient place on the city’s the international
b o o ks Tea Horse Road, booming skyline as terminal, bypassing
LUX* Lijiang part of the cutting- the hassle of

L’ART DE VIVRE
(luxresorts.com; edge Zorlu Center, immigration.
doubles from in Beşiktaş. + Marriott chose
RMB1,382), flaunts Highlights: one of Milan’s Malpensa
30 gold-toned rooms the city’s largest airport as the first
Xavier Girard’s The French Riviera in inspired by the Naxi spas and butler location of its new
the 1920s (Assouline) captures that ethnic group. service in every millennial-focused
indelibly glamorous era, a time and + Chris Corbin and room. + Namibia’s brand, Moxy Hotels
place where Marlene Dietrich Jeremy King, the far north now feels a (moxy-hotels.
sunbathed at the Eden Roc, Jean duo behind little less remote, marriott.com;
London’s ever- thanks to doubles from €89).
Cocteau lived at Coco Chanel’s villa,
packed Wolseley Hoanib Skeleton How are they
and Gerald and Sara Murphy threw and Delaunay Coast Camp drawing next-gen
fêtes in Cap d’Antibes for Man Ray, restaurants, have (wilderness-safaris. travelers? Free
John Dos Passos, and Scott and opened their first com; from ZAR5,556 Wi-Fi, self-serve
Zelda Fitzgerald. Characters became hotel, the Beaumont per person); eight snack food and hot
(thebeaumont.com; tents have decks for coffee, and a casual
legends, excess was in vogue and a
doubles from £395), viewing the desert’s lobby lounge.
destination was born. —nate storey

t ypography

WHAT YOUR INSTAGRAM FILTER SAYS ABOUT YOU

A picture may speak a thousand words, but a filter is a look into a traveler’s
soul. Here’s what you’re projecting with your choice of special effects.
THE FILTER

Earlybird Inkwell Kelvin Sutro [No Filter]

D A V I D A L E X A N D E R A R N O L D . I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y P E T E R A R K L E

Earlybird Inkwell Kelvin Sutro [No Filter]

THE PERSONA

To blazes with hard-
edged modernity! You
yearn for the softly faded
era of steamer trunks and
hot-air balloons. Jules
Verne is your Virgil. Your
ideal evening starts with
a Delmonico steak and an
oyster roast, and ends at
the kinetoscope. In your
luggage: a hoopskirt and
a stovepipe hat.
Ahh, you swoony love
child of Ansel Adams and
Henri Cartier-Bresson....
Don’t we all want to live
in Paris between the
wars? Your photos don’t
capture light—they
capture truth. Color? A
cloying distraction. Not
only do you shoot in black
and white, you only wear
black and white.
You don’t go anywhere
unless it’s 25 degrees,
sunny and within earshot
of the ocean. “In search of
the perfect wave” isn’t
just a credo, it’s your torso
tattoo. Clouds don’t exist
in your world. Neither
does tartar. Every
summer is endless; every
barrel is epic; every hour
is golden.
You’re drawn to the Purity is your doctrine.
darkness at the edge of Your body is a temple,
town. Bad hotel lighting your art needs no
never bothers you; hell, adornment, your eye
you travel with your own needs no doctoring. (You
blackout shades. The probably don’t eat salt,
message on your door is either.) Why are you even
the message on your on Instagram, anyway?
heart: DO NOT DISTURB. #timetostartatumblr.
Next vacation: Nome. Or —N . S .
outer Minsk. In winter.

28 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 Shelves lined with gin
at Ping Pong 129.
Below: A G & Tea at
G&T Cocktail Bar.

a f t e r da r k

OF ALL THE GIN JOINTS

These four bars, with their wide selection of juniper-rich
highball cocktails, have us convinced there’s no finer summer
drink than the classic gin and tonic. By Diana Hubbell

Keep your vodka-spiked kale will happily serve rose-perfumed

smoothies and your elderflower-tinis:
the old-fashioned G&T is in the midst
of a comeback. That’s not to say it ever
really went out of style. It’s just that
for a while it was relegated to the back
of menus alongside Ms. Bradshaw’s
cosmopolitans and Mr. Bond’s vesper
martinis. At newcomer Ping Pong
129 (pingpong129.com; drinks for two
HK$160), a refurbished ping pong hall
in Hong Kong’s achingly hip Sai Ying
Pun, it’s the raison d’être. No fewer
F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F P I N G P O N G 1 2 9 ; C O U R T E S Y O F G &T C O C K TA I L B A R  2 
Hendrick’s with a bouquet of actual
roses. In Singapore, the two-faced
Jekyll & Hyde (49 Tras St.; 65/6222-
3349; 49tras.st; drinks for two S$40) is
a demure nail salon by day and a
dashing gin bar by night, with rare
finds such as the German-distilled
Monkey 47 making cocktail cameos.
Old jazz favorites play in the
background, proving once again that
classics are classics for a reason.

than 50 gins grace the shelves,

ranging from traditional to more
inventive, such as the Gin Mare,
infused with olives, rosemary, thyme
and basil. Meanwhile just over in
Central, the aptly named G&T
Cocktail Bar (gntbar.com.hk; drinks
for two HK$125) boasts a whopping 80
gins from seven countries. Their
namesake tipple is front and center,
but there are also clever
reinterpretations like the G & Tea: gin
and oolong served in a chilled pot.
One of Seoul’s newest and quirkiest
gin bars is hiding inside a fully
functioning florist shop. Flower Gin
(557 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu;
82-2/412-1983; drinks for two W16,000)
Radar
Lorenzo Martone,
founder of Martone
Cycling Co.
(martonecycling.com), is
no stranger to cutting-
edge design. His range of
lightweight, bold-colored
bicycles has already won
fans such as Karl
Lagerfeld and Oliver
Theyskens, and now he’s
celebrating the glories of
globetrotting with a sleek
new gilded bike model.
“We decided on golden
tones as a reminder of
how privileged we all are
to have access to the life
we do,” Martone says. And
what a life it is: in just two
years, his company has
ballooned from a passion
project to a global
business, with retailers in
10 countries, a number
that will double by the
30 S E P T E M B E R 2 014
end of the year. Yet the
idea was born rather
humbly. “I was
intimidated by the bike
industry because it all
looked so professional
and I’m not a racer,”
Martone says. “I love just
biking around the city
from A to B.” His solution
was to create a fashion-
driven model that would
look as sharp on the
streets as it would in his
West Village apartment in
New York. “It needed to
look good in my home
since I had to store the
bike in my living room,”
he says. “If you are going
to be looking at it all the
time it should look great;
it should look like a
design piece, like a
sculpture.” So he came up
with a graphic eye-
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
spotlight
EASY RIDER
catching frame with an
iconic red chain and a
basket built into the
handlebars, perfect for
the daily chores of city
life. He liked the result so
much he just kept
churning them out. “One
bike became five and five
became 750, and suddenly
I had a company,” he says.
The inspiration behind
P H OTOG R A P H ED BY P E T ER YA N G
Martone Cycling comes
from the founder’s love of
exploration. “Riding a
bicycle is the best way to
get acquainted with local
life. It means connecting
truly with the
environment you’re in,”
K AT E O W E N , C O U R T E S Y O F M A R T O N E C Y C L I N G C O .
he says. “I owe everything
I know to travel. The food,
smells and contrasting
architecture I’ve
experienced shine
through in my designs”—
no wonder his favorite
cycling cities are London
and Paris. The only real
question for Martone is:
“What bike are you going
to wear today?” 
Radar

The Theatre In Bangkok, the Embassy

at Ace Hotel, in Diplomat Screens
Los Angeles. (embassycineplex.com) opened
this summer, with a VIP
screening room where guests
can relax on three-seat sofas,
homey daybeds or fluffy
couches, with private mini bars
on hand and food from Dean &
Deluca and The Oriental Shop.
In Singapore, WE Cinemas
(wecinemas.com.sg) is opening
this fall in the 321 Clementi
complex, with 10 high-tech
digital halls. Over in the United
States, a string of Golden Era
theaters in downtown Los
Angeles are taking a second
bow. The Ace Hotel acquired
the Gothic-Deco United Artists
Theater, renaming it the
Theatre at Ace Hotel
(acehotel.com) and two blocks
north, a thorough renovation
of the Globe Theatre
(globetheatre-la.com) is giving
new life to the Beaux-Arts
cinema vaudeville palace as a venue for
everything from concerts to

CURTAIN CALL
film premieres.

F R O M T O P : S P E N C E R L O W E L L ; S T E V E G R A N I T Z /G E T T Y I M A G E S ; G E O R G E P I M E N T E L / G E T T Y I M A G E S ; J A M I E M C C A R T H Y/ G E T T Y I M A G E S
—COLLEEN CLARK

From grand movie palaces to

intimate screening rooms, luxury
cinema is making a come back.
t h e at e r
STARS ON STAGE
london Following
acclaimed performances
in Chekhov’s Three
Sisters and Pinter’s
Betrayal, Kristin Scott
Thomas returns to the
Old Vic in Sophocles’
Electra. Ian Rickson
directs the Greek tragedy
from a new adaptation
by Frank McGuinness.
Oct. 1–Dec. 20;
oldvictheatre.com.
+ King Charles III, Mike
Bartlett’s outrageous
chronicle of life after
the reign of Queen
Clockwise from top: Glenn Close, Kristin Scott
Thomas, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
AUTUMN
CULTURE
PREVIEW
Elizabeth II, stars for truth, is as inventive
Tim Pigott-Smith in in its storytelling as it is
the career-defining role dazzling in its multimedia
of a ruler-in-waiting execution, as staged by
who finally ascends the Marianne Elliot (War
throne. The earlier, Horse). Opens Oct. 5;
sold-out production Barrymore Theatre;
will play at Wyndham’s telecharge.com. + Maggie
Theatre for a limited run. Gyllenhaal and Ewan
Sept. 11–Nov. 29; McGregor make their
delfontmackintosh.co.uk. Broadway debuts in
Tom Stoppard’s The Real
new york city Thing, a tour-de-force
The Curious Incident drama about the
of the Dog in the complexity of marriage
Night-Time, about an and the igniting force of
autistic teenager’s search passion. Opens Oct. 30;
American Airlines
Theatre; roundabout
theatre.org.
+ Glenn Close, John
Lithgow and Martha
Plimpton are members
of a privileged but
dysfunctional family
in A Delicate Balance,
Edward Albee’s unsettling
comedy. Opens Nov. 20;
John Golden Theatre;
telecharge.com.
+ Bradley Cooper plays
the title role in The
Elephant Man, based
on the true story of Joseph
Merrick’s path from
freak-show act to darling
of Victorian society. Opens
Dec. 7; Booth Theatre;
telecharge.com.
—bill rosenfield

32 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 music
HEAR, HEAR: THE BEST OF
FALL FESTIVALS
australia
A raucous traveling act,
Stereosonic stops in Melbourne,
Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and
Brisbane over 5 days of musical
madness from a rotating line up of
more than 60 acts, including
Skrillex, Carl Cox and Porter
Robinson, to name a few. (Nov.
29–Dec. 7; stereosonic.com.au).
hong kong
An outdoor music festival set in
the middle of Hong Kong’s West
Kowloon Cultural District,
Clockenflap brings together a
line up of world-class acts. Last
year 30,000 people showed up to
S H E A S TA N L E Y
watch Franz Fernand, Metric and
Four Tet headline, and 45,000 are
predicted for this year. (Nov. 28–
30; clockenflap.com).
Clockenflap
Festival, in
Hong Kong.
india
Held in the beach town of Goa
each year, the three-day
Sunburn electronic music festival
offers a well-rounded variety of
international DJs like Swedish
House Mafia, Avicii and Armin
Van Buuren; live musical acts;
and high octane vacation
activities like bungee jumping,
volleyball and zorbing, the sport of
rolling downhill in a plastic ball.
(Dec. 27–29; sunburn.in)
japan
Ultra is roving from its traditional hottest DJs—think: Hardwell, creative festival. This year’s
home in Miami to make its Fedde Le Grand and Afrojack. program is still pending, but after
much-anticipated Japan debut (Sept. 27–28; ultrajapan.com) 2013’s bash, with performances
this September. The party is set to from Two Door Cinema Club and
be epic, held in a custom-made malaysia Dangerdisko, we know it will be a
event space on Odaiba and Founded in 2002, Urbanscape is stellar show. (late November;
featuring some of the world’s Malaysia’s longest running urbanscapes.com.my)

Radar
da n c e
ON POINT WITH
LIAM SCARLETT
Boyish British choreographer Liam
Scarlett created Consolations and
Liebestraum, his first major work—
and sensational hit—for London’s Royal
Ballet in 2009. Now the 27-year-old serves
as the company’s artist-in-residence,
and this fall mounts world premieres
for New York’s American Ballet Theatre
as well as the Royal. He spoke to T+L
about the new ballets and his cultural
agenda for the season.
Tell us about your first piece
for American Ballet Theatre.
It’s a chamber piece with four couples,
debuting on the opening night of
ABT’s 75th anniversary season. I’m
looking forward to working with
the exceptional Marcelo Gomes and
the talented Misty Copeland and
Sarah Lane (Oct. 22–Nov. 2; abt.org).
Why have you chosen to set
a ballet to Leonard Bernstein’s
Symphony No. 2, The Age of
Anxiety, for the Royal Ballet?
Because it’s difficult, and I feel I can
take risks with my home company.
Bernstein was inspired by W. H. Auden’s
epic wartime poem, in which four
a r c h i t ec t u r e
NEW BUILDS
34 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Choreographer Liam
Scarlett leads a
rehearsal at the Royal
Ballet, in London.
art
SHOWS TO SEE
hong kong The work
of Hosook Kang, Hassan
Massoudy and Golnaz
Fathi, three artists who
C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: A N D R E J U S P E N S K I ; C O U R T E S Y O F A S I A N C I V I L I S AT I O N M U E S U M  2  ; © P I E T R O P A O L I N I ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E A S P E N A R T M U S E U M ; C O U R T E S Y O F C H R I S T I A N D E P O R T Z A M P A R C
blend the visual traditions
of East and West, will be on
display in “Marked:
Contemporary Takes on
Mark-Making” at the
AUTUMN Sundaram Tagore Hong
Kong. Sept. 11–Oct. 11;
sundaramtagore.com.
troubled strangers interact in a New
York City bar (Nov. 7–17; roh.org.uk). CULTURE new york city
“Cubism: The Leonard A.
Lauder Collection,” at the
PREVIEW
What cultural events will you Metropolitan Museum
try to get to in New York? of Art, celebrates the gift of
I tend to arrive uninformed, open a
guide and see what looks interesting.
an unparalleled collection
Lucky for me, the season includes the of works by Picasso,
52nd New York Film Festival (Sept. Braque, Juan Gris and
26–Oct. 12; filmlinc.com), where I can see Fernand Léger, each of
what’s fresh and innovative in world whom propelled Modernism
cinema. The 11th annual Fall for Dance
in unique directions.
Festival (Oct. 8–19; nycitycenter.org)
provides a smorgasbord of 24 Oct. 20–Feb. 16;
first-rate international metmuseum.org.
companies and individual singapore Rare
artists for only US$15 a porcelain pieces
ticket—amazing! from around the
world are being
What would you
recommend in London? showcased at the
As a bit of a traditionalist, I’m ← Asian Civilisations
interested in historical Museum in “China
adaptations, especially the Mania! The Global
Royal Shakespeare Company’s Passion for Porcelain,
stage dramatizations of Hilary
Mantel’s Tudor novels, Wolf Hall and
800-1900.” Through
Bring Up the Bodies, now playing in Dec. 14; acm.org.sg.
London, which are thrilling (through —LESLIE CAMHI
Oct. 4; rsc.org.uk). —PETER WEBSTER AND DAVID NGO
• Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, subterranean levels housing more state-of-the-art theater and concert
winner of this year’s Pritzker than 5,000 species. The structure hall, close to the centro storico.
Architecture Prize, imbued the new by Fernando Romero abuts the •
operadifirenze.it. In Rio de
Aspen Art Museum with his architect’s Museo Soumaya and Janeiro’s beachfront neighborhood
trademark ingenuity, including a David Chipperfield’s Museo Jumex. Barra de Tijuca, Christian de
striking basket-weave wood façade Plaza Carso. • Opera was invented Portzamparc’s sweeping Cidade
and a rooftop sculpture garden. in Florence, but only now does the das Artes brings together an art
aspenartmuseum.org. The city have a venue dedicated to the gallery, chamber-music hall and
Inbursa Aquarium, in Mexico City, genre. The new marble-clad Opera 1,250-seat auditorium. cidadedas
is Latin America’s largest, with four di Firenze complex has a artes.org. —raul barreneche
Radar
m y t ow n Eat “We go to Café
Ansari (cafeansari.at;
VIENNA, OLD AND NEW
set lunch for two €19)
time and again,”
Christoph says of the
new Georgian spot
The city of waltz and opera also shimmers with in Leopoldstadt, a
cultural innovation. Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, historically Jewish
head of the Museum of Applied Art, and his art neighborhood that’s
historian wife, Karin, take in its highlights. now Vienna’s answer
to all things hip. “I order
the Lammkibbe (lamb
meatballs with peppers
and tahini).” Karin
loves to sit on the
cobblestoned terrace—
“it transports you to
another century.”
+ Nearby, the couple
enjoy the Wiener
schnitzel at former
gasthaus Skopik &
Christoph and Karin Thun-
Hohenstein on a settee
by Franz West at Vienna’s
Museum of Applied Art.
36 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Lohn (skopikundlohn. 1858. “I’m too tall for
at; lunch for two €52) the jackets,” Christoph,
nearly as much as the who is 202 centimeters,
mind-bending ceiling says with a laugh, “but I
mural by Otto Zitko. love the scarves.”
“It’s a cool hangout for + For women, Karin
the local creative recommends Song
crowd,” Christoph says. (song.at), a fashion-
forward boutique that
Shop “The best place carries labels such as
for gift-shopping is Dries Van Noten and
the Confiserie Olympia Le-Tan.
Altmann & Kühne
(altmann-kuehne.at), in Do For Christoph and
Innerstadt,” Christoph Karin, weekends are
says. “Ask for the small made for long walks.
chocolates—they’re One of their favorites:
packed in the most a stroll to a traditional
beautiful boxes, with Austrian Heurige
patterns from the (wine tavern) called
Wiener Werkstätte.” Dorfschenke Neustift
+ He gets his accessories (dorfschenke-neustift.
down the street at Knize at), on the tourist-light
(knize.at), a heritage northern edge of the
men’s-wear shop that’s city. “The road isn’t big
been making suits since enough for the buses,”
Karin says. + Christoph
is a devotee of the
Vienna State Opera
(wiener-staatsoper.at).
“Every night there are
over 500 standing-room
tickets available, often
for only three euros.”
—GISELA WILLIAMS
P HOTOG R A P H ED BY DA NIEL G EBH A R T DE KOEK KOEK
Radar

Pop-Up Charcuterie
Room at the Four
Seasons Bangkok.

dining

STAYING, BY POPULAR DEMAND

By their nature, pop ups
are fleeting and
ephemeral beings. But
what happens when a
pop up is too popular to
shut down? At the Four
Seasons Bangkok
(fourseasons.com;
66-2/126-8866, ext. 1249),
a 20-seat wine and
Pop-Up Charcuterie
Room that was
scheduled to operate for
three months only now
has an extended run
thanks to the high
demand from its
devoted following.
Aside from the ever-
changing collection of
jamón, chorizo,
manchego and Pinots,
this little bit of
Barcelona offers a rare
commodity in Bangkok:
an outdoor deck
overlooking a tree-lined
street. There’s also a
strong French and
Italian influence, with a
healthy selection of
peppers stuffed with
ricotta, Sicilian olives,
herb-encrusted
sausages and goat
cheeses. The menu is
always evolving, so
making repeat visits is a
must before the venue
morphs into something
new. No date on that
just yet. Open Monday
to Saturday, 5 p.m. to
10:30 p.m.; dinner for
two Bt3,000.

1 “My weekend bag is filled with Karin Herzog’s

C O U R T E S Y O F V A L M O N T; C O U R T E S Y O F L AT H E R ; C O U R T E S Y O F L A P R A I R I E
1 travel-size Seven Creams of the Week (karin
herzog.com; US$100). The active oxygen-infused
Essential Mask gives me a super-hydrated glow.”
—katie james C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P : C H R I S T O P H E R K U C W AY; K A R I N H E R Z O G ;
2 2 “Valmont Elixir des Glaciers Eau Micellaire
Précieuse (boutiquevalmont.com; US$150) is a
genius all-in-one cleanser, with rose-petal extract
and glacial water. No rinsing is required, so I use
it to remove makeup before hitting the gym.”
b e au t y 3 —jacqui gifford
3 “Made with apple stem cells, rich in

SWISS
phytonutrients and proteins, Lather Swiss Apple
4 Wrinkle Remedy (b-glowing.com; US$62) is

ADVANTAGE
T+L staff members’ latest
obsession: Switzerland’s
heritage skin-care brands—
and their new products for fall.
lightweight and improves my fine lines.”
—mimi lombardo
4 “I love the cool gel formula and the understated
aroma of La Prairie Cellular Eye Essence
Platinum Rare (laprairie.com; US$365). Aer a
poor night’s sleep, the serum brightens the eyes.”
—sandra garcia

the insider
HOW TO MAKE A HOTEL COOL
BY SEAN MACPHERSON
New York City hotelier Sean MacPherson
owns, among others, the Bowery and
Maritime. His latest, the Ludlow Hotel, on the
Lower East Side, opened in June.
The best hotels have human
fingerprints. I don’t need to like the
person’s style, but I want to feel their
presence and a sense of place. The Grand
Hôtel Nord-Pinus (nord-pinus.com;
doubles from €185), in Arles, France, is so
French, but it also has a strong Spanish
influence that reflects the owner’s taste:
vintage furniture, bullfighting memorabilia
and Peter Lindbergh photographs. At the
Saint Cecilia (hotelsaintcecilia.com;
doubles from US$370), in Austin, Texas, you
feel Liz Lambert’s heartbeat throughout the
hotel. The mini-bar, for example, has
personal choices such as salted-caramel
galettes, prosciutto and Mexican Coke.
A hotel should tell a story. Bemelmans
at the Carlyle (rosewoodhotels.com) in
New York is the benchmark for all hotel bars
JAKE CHESSUM
because it has that history—with Ludwig
Bemelmans’s murals and the Kennedys
drinking there—yet it’s still very much alive
with music and performers. It’s not a bar
MacPherson
outside his new
Ludlow Hotel.
that could ever exist in, say, L.A. My newest
property, the Ludlow Hotel (ludlowhotel.
com; doubles from US$195), is inspired by my
time in New York during the 1980’s. There
was this tremendous art scene, with Warhol
and Jean-Michel Basquiat running around.
And they weren’t mythological characters
like Hemingway and Picasso in Paris; this
was in our lifetime. Plus the music: like the
Ramones, Blondie and early hip-hop. There
was a vitality to the city and you could still
get an apartment for US$400 a month. So I
gave the Ludlow that feeling of loft living,
not in a literal way but the sensation of it. I
imagined a kid that may be down and out,
living on the Lower East Side, but he had
some nice furniture his parents gave him
and a cool place, so it was going to be okay.
Don’t state what’s already implied. Let
the product speak for itself. If you allow the
guest to interpret the hotel, then it will be
exactly what they want it to be. Give room
for people to make it their own. At some
hotels, the first thing they tell you is how
cool they are. That’s like someone telling
you they’re smart. “Cool” is almost invisible
when it’s done well. You don’t even notice
why; you just feel it. —As told to Sara Bliss
Radar

goods

HIDE ’N CHIC
Add a touch of
texture to any fall look.
By Mimi Lombardo
1
1 Calf-hair-and-leather
pump, $425, by Vince.
2 Suede-trimmed calf-hair
clutch, $750, Nina Griscom
for GiGi New York.
3 Shearling-lined bootie,
$395, Belle by Sigerson
Morrison. 4 Shearling-and-
leather bag, $348, Diane von
Furstenberg. 5 Calf-hair
2
slip-on, $98, C. Wonder.
6 Leather-trimmed
shearling messenger bag,
$1,300, Coach.

MARK ET EDITOR: COURTNE Y K ENEFICK

4
5
Prices are listed in US dollars.

40 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M P H OTOGR A P H ED BY YASU + JU N KO

Radar
Clockwise from left: Shanghai, old and new; outside Black Pepper;
traditional dishes with flair at Shang-Xi; old collectibles at a local
market; zipping around the French Concession in a sidecar.

weekender

SHANGHAI’S TWO SIDES

There are hidden corners of this thrumming
Chinese metropolis where past and future quietly
collide. Story and photos by Christopher Kucway

Eat At Shang-Xi (86-21/2036-
8888; lunch for two RMB436) in
the Four Seasons Pudong is a
taste of traditional China with set
menus showcasing the best teas in
town. Okay, so the sautéed beef
happens to be melt-in-your-
mouth wagyu and the steamed
pork dumplings come with a hairy
crab cream, but its these off-script
touches that make lunch all the
more unforgettable.
Among the small collection of
restaurants and bars that has
sprouted up in a restored Chinese
courtyard, Black Pepper (89
Taixing Lu; 86-138/1833-6837; set
meal RMB228 per person) is a
favorite for inexpensive Turkish
fare and filling meals. Broken
down into hot and cold starters,
grills and desserts, expect haydari
(homemade yogurt), a sea prawn
casserole, izgara köfte (grilled
meatballs), and tavuk göğsü, a
blended chicken breast dessert
that has to be tasted to be believed.
Do Is there any better way to tour
Shanghai’s French Concession
than from the sidecar of a restored
Chinese army motorcycle?
Tooling around the tree-lined,
history-laden streets on a sunny
autumn day for a few hours with
Insiders Experience (86-138/
1761-6975; insidersexperience.com;
tours from RMB1,700), a typical
stop is the pine- and maple-dotted
gardens of Yongfoo Elite
(86-21/5466-2727; yongfooelite.
com; set dinners RMB780), a
private club with a throwback feel
that conjures the Shanghai of
decades past. While in the sidecar,
make time for a chat with owner
Thomas Chabrieres, who is a font
of inside information when it
comes to lesser-known addresses.
If you’d rather amble about on
your own two feet, then touring
some of the last remaining
shikumen in the city is, well, up
your alley. Wedged between Black
Pepper and the Four Seasons
Puxi (86-21/6256-8888; tours from
RMB2,400) is a cluster of streets
that date back to the 1920’s, but
you’ll need the assistance of a
resident to find your way around.
That’s where photographer Wang
Gangfeng enters the frame. This is
his ‘hood and he leads tours
through these time-worn buildings
THE CITY
IN A GLANCE
Getting Around
It is easiest to take taxis
but have your destination
written down in Chinese
and always ask for a
receipt or fa piao.
China in Focus
After your tour of the
shikumen, stop in at
Wang Gangfeng’s studio
(gangofonephotography.
com) to see his
often- comical work
from around China shot
during the past 30 years.
See the Light
Don’t miss a glimpse of
Shanghai’s creative side
at DAFF—Design, Art
and Fashion Fair—a
show of pop-up shops,
art installations, craft
food and drink, and live
music. The next fair is
October 25-26 (daff.
tictcreative.com).
to which few others have access.
The area just screams black-and-
white photography and, in
fast-changing Shanghai, better
visit now. Some of the narrow
lanes are protected but, when
asked, Wang admits, “Shanghai
people don’t really care about
these buildings.”
Stay A standout in Shanghai’s
forest of a modern skyline, the
Four Seasons Pudong
(fourseasons.com; rooms from
RMB2,350) is an escape, both in
that you could easily stay put in
the hotel all weekend—state-of-
the-art spa, excellent dining and
well thought-out guestrooms—
and as a launch pad for exploring
the older charms of Puxi. 

42 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
An All-in-One Getaway
Call it a destination within a destination.
Conrad® Macao, Cotai Central, only minutes from the
city’s international airport, is home to everything you
want, and it’s all under one roof. It really is its own city,
an integrated resort that will leave you wondering
when you can return as soon as you arrive.
GUESTROOMS
Home to 636 guestrooms and 24-hour concierge services, Conrad
Macao still manages to key on the little things to make your stay
VSHFLDO(DFKJXHVWURRPLV¾WWHGZLWKDQ03SOD\HUDQGL3RGL3DG
docking station as well as premium bathroom amenities by
Aromatherapy Associates. But this is no standard hotel: as an
ultimate convenience, there’s also guaranteed early check-in, with
advance notice and space being available from the previous night.
DINING
Don’t forget you’re in Asia, where food tops most lists. Conrad
Macao is home to a global cross-section of menus. Dynasty 8
evokes the charm of old-world China, one that includes high-end
Chinese cuisine. Each of the eight private dining rooms is styled
after a dynasty so be sure not to miss the signature fresh king
SUDZQVZLWKFDYLDUDQGGHHSIULHGFUDEFODZZLWK¾YHVSLFHV$W
Grand Orbit, diners embark upon a culinary journey around the
JOREHHQMR\LQJ3RUWXJXHVHLQ¿XHQFHG0DFDQHVHFXLVLQH&UHROH
inspired dishes from Louisiana and even Brazilian Churasco. There’s
also Italian, Thai, Indian and Malaysian dishes, so you simply cannot
go wrong. In the lobby is The Lounge, home to Asian or Western
breakfasts, afternoon tea and, come nightfall, signature cocktails.
SHOPPING
Another favourite pastime in Asia is shopping, which at Conrad
Macao is never far away. With over 100 retail outlets, Shoppes at
Cotai Central is paradise for shoppers in search of luxury goods.
Think Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Omega, Rolex, Marc Jacobs and Zara
Home.
ENTERTAINMENT
Of course, there are also diversions for young guests. DreamWorks
Experience at Cotai Strip Resorts gives children the chance to
interact with their favourite animated characters and for you to take
a deserved break.
BODHI SPA
By now, you might need some downtime, so book an appointment
at Bodhi Spa but don’t for a second think that this is just another
¾YHVWDUVSD7KHDZDUGZLQQLQJVSDVSHFLDOL]HVLQWUHDWPHQWV
whether Ayurvedic, Aboriginal or Asian. You’ll relax knowing that
your time in Macao has been well spent at Conrad Macao.
HEALTH CLUB
Enjoy the health club, a state-of-the-art facility that incorporates
cardio and strength equipment as well as yoga and pilates sessions.
The heated pool is surrounded by cabanas and day beds.
 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Clockwise from left: Conrad Macao’s

welcoming lobby; a Two Queens Deluxe
bedroom; Dynasty 8 offers stylish
Chinese cuisine; there’s nothing but
soothing times at Bodhi Spa.

Conrad Macao, Cotai Central

LUXURY OF BEING YOURSELF
5DWHVIURP+.'«
Until 31 Dec 2014
• Luxury accommodation for two in Deluxe Room
• Enjoy a choice of either:
- complimentary breakfast for two
- complimentary upgrade to Deluxe Suite

CONRAD MACAO SIGNATURE PACKAGE

Rates from HKD2,498++
Until 31 Dec, 2014
• Luxury accommodation for two in a Deluxe Room
• Daily breakfast for two at Grand Orbit
• Portuguese Style Afternoon Tea Set for two
(2 drinks included)
• Stay for an extra night and enjoy:
MOP200 Shopping and Dining Dollars

Estrada do Istmo. s/n, Cotai, Macao SAR, P.R. China

Tel: +853-2882-9000 Fax: +853-2882-9001
www.conradmacao.com
Radar
on the map

STREET SMART
Along the lively crossroads of Panglima
Polim, style-conscious Jakartans shop for
sub-culture spiced in local street life.

Asgar Badass Barbershop →

Get a stylish cut in suave
surroundings inspired by Baz
Luhrmann’s interpretation of
The Great Gatsby. Jln. Panglima
↑ Common House
Polim IX No. 15; facebook.com/
asgarbadass; cut Rp60,000. This is the cure for the common
mall: shopping minus the crowds
and fluorescent lighting. Instead you’ll find
boutiques showcasing local designers,
rotating art shows and an organic restaurant,
in a setting that’s all warm wood and natural
light. Jln. Panglima Polim IX No. 16;
commonhousejkt.com.

← Convivium

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P R I G H T: C O U R T E S Y O F C O M M O N H O U S E ; L A U R E N S H I P M A N ; C O U R T E S Y O F M A R I S S T O R E  2  ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O M M O N H O U S E ;
N
On the corner of Panglima
Polim IX and V, there’s an JLN. PANGLIMA POLIM IX

Italian café and deli that

specializes in homemade

JLN. PANGLIMA POLIM IV

pasta and dessert, including a
wide assortment of artisanal
PO LI M V

gelatos. Jln. Panglima Polim

C O U R T E S Y O F TA C O L O C A L ; L A U R E N S H I P M A N ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O N V I V I U M ; C O U R T E S Y O F A S G A R B A D A S S B A R B E R S H O P
IX No. 1; 62-21/726-9963; JLN. PANGLIMA POLIM X
facebook.com/conviviumdeli;
LI MA

dessert for two Rp120,000.

JL N. PA NG

JLN. PANGLIMA POLIM XI

↓ Woodpecker Coffee
Try this new Melbourne-style coffee shop,
by the owners of Common House, for quality
coffee and croissants. Jln. Panglima Polim V
No.23; 62-21/720-067; atelierkreasi.com.

↑ Maris Store
↑ Velodome Coffee + C Need new duds to match your new do? Check
and Taco Local out this streetwear-centric, multi-concept
In an annex of Velodome Bike Shop, joining store to fit yourself out in fashion-forward
the Taco Local restaurant, is a new in-house street labels like Made In Paradise or Tuff
coffee shop. Now, in addition to Taco Local’s Stuff. There are ample options for that
famous zesty Mexican fare, you can get a effortlessly hip look expected in the creative
high-class cup of joe. Jln. Panglima Polim V district. Jln. Panglima Polim IX No. 15;
No. 38; 62-21/9494-9538; tacolocal.com. 62-21/720-8681; maris.co.id.—LAUREN SHIPMAN

46 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

City and shore
from the rooftop
pool at À La Carte,
in Danang.
maldives
The definition of bliss:
Maalifushi by COMO,
where Indonesian
thatched-roof bungalows
sit on stilts over a placid
lagoon, and you can
practice your pranayama
in guided meditation and
COURTESY OF À L A CARTE
breathing classes. Be sure
to set an alarm; the Indian
Ocean’s fuchsia sunrises
are particularly vibrant
from your private plunge
pool. comohotels.com;
doubles from US$650.
t+l p i c ks
AT WATER’S EDGE
Five new seaside
hotels where you can
splash out in style.
playa del carmen, tela bay, honduras
mexico Cacao Sprawling across 730
arrives this month, a hectares on the country’s
sophisticated respite primeval northwestern
from thumping Fifth coast, Indura Beach &
Avenue. Expect a mural by Golf Resort celebrates
Brazilian artist Eduardo its natural setting with 60
Kobra, a hyacinth lily tree-house-inspired
pond and a scene at Nibs suites and a golf course
restaurant, which that winds through
highlights fresh banana palms inhabited
Yucatecan ingredients by capuchin monkeys.
(coconut ceviche; lobster And the Caribbean is just
with green mango). steps from your front
hotelcacao.com.mx; door. induraresort.com;
doubles from US$196. doubles from US$209.
bodrum, turkey
The Black Card crowd
has a new Mediterranean
hideout in the Mandarin
Oriental Bodrum, set on
two olive-grove-backed
beaches overlooking
the Aegean. After soaking
up some sunshine,
head to the spa for a
hammam treatment
using botanicals from
the resort’s gardens.
mandarinoriental.com;
doubles from €745.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Radar
danang, vietnam
Live DJs, a beach club and
a rooftop bar with an
infinity pool set a South
Beach Miami vibe at À La
Carte, which is drawing
on Danang’s rising buzz
factor. The loft-style digs
have spa-like bathrooms
and chef’s kitchens.
alacarteliving.com; doubles
from VND3,108,000.
— COLLEEN CLARK
additional reporting
by tim leffel.
S E P T E M B E R 2 014 47
Radar

populated almost entirely with

screaming babies. At least that’s how I
remember it.
Fast-forward to my twenties: I am
sitting on a plane. The creases in my
palms are filling with sweat. I can hear
my heart pounding in my ears. Am I
going to die? Definitely. Suddenly tears
spring from my eyes. I can feel the
pitch, the noise of the engines. Is that
the landing gear sticking? Is one of the
engines not working? Is that popping
sound the engine stalling or catching
fire? Is the plane supposed to tilt like
that? What about that strange ringing
sound? Is an alarm going off
somewhere on the plane? Does it mean
we are all going to die? Does it mean
that this flight is doomed? Did the pilot
look tired? Drunk? Depressed? That
was my life on an airplane. And there
was more, of course; I once grabbed the
hand of a strange man next to me on a
flight from Denver to LaGuardia. And
once I dug my nails into film director
Brett Ratner’s arm even though he
barely knew me. And finally one day I
just stopped flying, because I figured it
wasn’t worth it. I’d gone everywhere I
wanted to go. I would just spend the
rest of my life on the Northeast
Corridor, shuttling around via Amtrak.
And for a while, about a decade, I
didn’t fly, and I was okay, and I thought
I had won. Perhaps I had figured it out.
point of view But what I didn’t realize was that not
flying actually made the fear worse.

INTO THIN AIR

Flying haunted me. I would dream
about flying. I would fantasize about
flying. I would pass airports and get a
chill down my spine. Every night was a
Or, how I got over my fear of flying. slightly different flying dream, some
By Molly Jong-Fast more disturbing than others, but the

A
message was always the
aron Spelling had a train car. I grew up on Pan Am Flight same: I was stuck, and I
Aretha Franklin has a 002, a Boeing 747 that went wasn’t going anywhere. My
custom bus. Even easygoing from JFK to Delhi with a self-esteem plummeted. My
Marge Simpson suffered stop at London Heathrow. friends would be talking
I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y Z O H A R L A Z A R

WRITERS ON
from it. I came by my We flew Clipper Class FLYING — SECOND about their Christmases or
pteromerhanophobia (fear of (which was Pan Am’s IN A SERIES their spring breaks and they
flying) honestly: my mother old-school name for would say “Oh, that’s right,
Read Gary
wrote a novel called Fear of Flying. But business). The flight was you don’t fly.” Those six
Shteyngart’s essay
it started even before that. My DNA was always chaotic, stuffed to “Fly Me to the Moon” words cut me. They felt like
equal parts deoxyribonucleic acid and the gills, hot as the inside of at tandl.me/ an indictment. How had I
panic. This didn’t mean that I didn’t fly. an oven, hours late, and gstravl. become so profoundly

48 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
damaged that I couldn’t participate in wearing a virtual-reality flying helmet feeling fear (avoidant behavior) and so
what the rest of the world did easily on East 90th Street, meditation, drugs all of my avoidant behavior (my rituals,
and regularly? I was pretty sure if I (Inderal for curing the symptoms of a or only flying in the a.m., or not flying
didn’t deal with this fear it would panic attack and Valium for fun before at all, obsessing about the weather,
mushroom. I could already feel myself I got sober, but neither worked), constantly checking the Weather
getting nervous about bridges and the hypnosis, flying school. There was only Channel, checking turbulence maps)
subway. I knew fear of flying one “cure” I didn’t ever take were ways of reinforcing my anxiety.
could lead to a larger and it was going to some He also explained that the chances of
pathology—I’ve heard it doctor in Westchester, New dying in a plane crash were
often does. I could easily WHAT ABOUT THAT York, and being given an IV infinitesimal (which of course I knew).
end up unable even to get in STRANGE RINGING filled with sodium But in my experience fear is not
an elevator. I was crossing
the line from charmingly SOUND? IS AN thiopental. That just seemed
too far-fetched even for me.
solved by knowledge. Even so, almost
every fear-of-flying program has a
neurotic to meshuga. After ALARM GOING OFF Then I happened on component of flight education, which, I
all, even Woody Allen could SOMEWHERE ON THE exposure therapy. Exposure assume, is strictly to cover the easy
get on an airplane.
So I started looking for a
PLANE? DOES IT therapy is as terrifying as it
sounds. It means just what
stuff. I myself have been lectured more
than a few times by pilots on the safety
cure. Here are some of the MEAN WE ARE ALL you think it would mean. and mechanics of flight. And while this
things that did not work to GOING TO DIE? You are exposed to what is charming, I’m phobic, not stupid. I
cure my fear of flying: being scares you. I went to see Dr. know the chances of being killed in a
what seemed like sneezed Martin Seif, in New York plane crash are 1 in 11 million. One is
on by a mad Russian hypnotist, City. I was dreading it. Dr. Seif saw me more likely to be killed by lightning, a
spending hours talking to my Freudian twice and he impressed upon me that I tornado, smoking, a car accident,
analyst about the cause of my fear, was using anything I could to avoid biking, cardiovascular disease, an 
Radar
electrical current, accidental gunfire,
medical complications, inhaling or
ingesting objects, drowning or being
crushed to death by a pig.
That said, being crushed by a pig
wasn’t, in my dysfunctional mind, as
scary as being packed into a metal
tuna tin hurtling through space 9,000
meters in the air at 1,000 kilometers
an hour.
So after two sessions it was time
for EXPOSURE! The first thing I did
was go to Westchester County Airport
to try out a flight simulator that
looked like a plane. I wasn’t scared at
all—but I was also not in the air. The
pilot let me fly the simulator and
while I had fun, it seemed sort of
irrelevant. I wasn’t afraid; in fact I
crashed into the control tower (I’m
not a great driver). But a few weeks
later it was time to try the real thing.
On April 7, 2013, I flew the Delta
Shuttle from LaGuardia to
Washington Reagan. I hadn’t flown
since August of 2003, just short of a
decade earlier. It was a quick flight,
about an hour. I was scared, but I
remembered to do some of the things
Dr. Seif told me to do. I focused on
breathing, and on the idea that I was
only afraid of the fear itself. I texted
him, I told myself this was about
practicing being afraid. I read some of
the PDF’s he sent me about managing
anxiety. I was nervous but understood
the fact that flying was safe and that I
was the problem. Flying home I cried
the entire way. But I emerged a new
person. I went back to the doctor and
he said, “Book another flight.”
In May, my husband and I flew to
Toronto (I cried on that flight too). In
June I took my daughter to London (I
was totally fine). In August my
husband and I went to L.A. (I didn’t
even feel nervous when the pilot
turned on the fasten seat belts sign and
mused about very rough air). On the
flight home I cried but for a totally
different reason: I cried because I was
so proud of myself. Having been on
this planet for 35 years, I know how
hard it is to change one’s own life. So
this was one of the most exciting
things that had ever happened to me.
In November I went with my mom to
Miami for the Miami Book Fair. In
February I flew with my youngest son
to Boston and in March I went back to
Los Angeles. In June I will go to
London, Paris and Venice. I am a
person who flies now. I am a person
who can go anywhere.
Do I still get nervous on airplanes?
The answer is, sort of. I have learned a
lot about myself and about managing
my anxiety. I am a person who is
recovering from my phobia, so I have to
be careful. I have to actively not obsess
about the flight. I try to never check the
weather. I embrace my anxiety. I don’t
love turbulence but I see it as an
opportunity for overcoming my fear. I
am so thrilled with my new life, but
ultimately one of the greatest gifts of
my getting over the fear is that I never
have to ride Amtrak again. 

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F B O I N N O V AT I O N ; C O U R T E S Y O F S H I N Z O ; C O U R T E S Y O F S M I T H  2  ; C O U R T E S Y O F S H I N Z O
Clockwise from top:
Expect the unexpected at Bo
Innovation; sashimi set from
Shinzo; Smith’s chefs plate
with care; a meaty main at
Smith; chef Lawrence Chia
prepares omakase at Shinzo.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Radar
trending
DINE WITH ME
Chefs across the region are
flexing their culinary chops
with boundary pushing, multi-
course meals at their exclusive
tables. By Diana Hubbell
The latest craze in fine dining requires
a leap of faith—you have to entrust the
fate of your meal to the whims of the
experts. Southeast Asia’s big-name
chefs are offering intimate tables with
unconventional set menus to satisfy
both the bold and the indecisive.
Sashimi masters have been hosting
chef’s tables for ages with omakase, that
carefully choreographed parade of
Lilliputian dishes. One of the best new
places on the scene is Singapore’s
Shinzo (17 Carpenter St.; 65/6438-2921;
shinzo.com.sg; S$138 per person), a
spartan, blonde-wood temple to all
things piscine. Opened last year, sushi
veteran Lawrence Chia offers a
seasonally influenced omakase that
has all the elegance of a kaiseki menu
without the austerity. + Tradition is left
at the door at Bo Innovation (60
Johnston Rd.; 852/2850-8371;
boinnovation.com; chef’s table HK$2,380
per person) where Alvin Leung Jr.,
nicknamed “The Demon Chef” for his
clever reinterpretations of Cantonese
cuisine, takes the classic dim sum for a
molecular-gastro spin. With taste
bud-teasing dishes like lobster with a
Sichuan-inflected hollandaise, and foie
gras with sea urchin and Korean miso,
it is no wonder this Hong Kong
restaurant has three Michelin stars.
+ Thailand’s chefs are no slouches when
it comes to inventive eats, and private
chef’s tables are popping up all over
Bangkok. At Smith (Sukhumvit Soi 49;
66-2/261-0515; smith-restaurant.com;
chef’s table from Bt3,800 per person), a
reclaimed warehouse with an
ambitious nose-to-tail menu, Ian
Kittichai and his two co-chefs show off
their house-made charcuterie. It might
be a splurge, but if you brave the leap,
the pros promise to serve you up a
plateful of paradise. 
S E P T E M B E R 2 014 51
Radar
noticed
At first glance, it’s an
unlikely setting for
CHANGING TIDES
Rangoon’s newest creative
mainstay. Transit Shed No.
1, known as TS1, is a
An artistic revolution is taking place on the 350-square-meter
docks of the Rangoon River. By Fiona McGregor warehouse made of paint-
chipped concrete and
timeworn corrugated metal
The Rangoon River
jetty is the setting of sheets. Boat horns blare as a
a new creative hub. steady stream of ragged-
shirted porters unload
heavy cargo from ships that
line the banks of the
Rangoon River. But step
inside, and you find a
building transformed into
what the creators hope will
be the start of a cultural
rejuvenation of the Rangoon
port. Architect Dominic
Leong embraced the gritty
industrial surroundings of
the docks with the
52 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Modern art and
design inside
Transit Shed No. 1.
building’s exterior, but the
interior is clean and
modern. Angular crisp
white walls are the
showcase for pop-up art
gallery displays by Burmese
contemporary artists like
Phyoe Kyi, while the
warehouse space houses a
rotating program of local
stores, like the Myanmar
Made brand, all celebrating
the high-end possibilities of
Burma’s design culture.
TS1, which opened this
spring, represents a
distinctive new turn for
Rangoon, tapping into what
its founders say was a
demand for a stylish location
where people can view,
purchase and experience
innovative arts, crafts and
foods from Burma and 
P H OTOGR A P H ED BY G R EG H O L L A N D
Radar

beyond. In a nation just depending on which retailer

opening up after years under is operating from the space
an oppressive regime, the at any given time.
re-emerging arts scene is Meanwhile, TS1 owners
appearing in different are preparing for the final
forms. While TS1 is clearly stage of their cultural
more about style than triumvirate with the official
subversion, it represents a launch of Port Autonomy,
growing confidence in the the bistro-cum-bar in an
marketability and high adjoining building. It will Artist
Phyoe Kyi.
quality of Burmese arts. offer a modern take on the
The idea, according to traditional Burmese teashop
founder Ivan Pun, the during the day with classic
Oxford-educated son of dishes such as mohingya fish
well-known Burmese noodle soup served along
real-estate magnate Serge with experimental fare from
Pun, is that culture, guest chefs, while evenings
commerce and cuisine are will focus on wines and ales.
the three anchors in a space The eatery is slated to open
where events, retailers and this month, promising a
menus change regularly. marriage of cuisine, culture
“It shows you don’t have and cold beer.
to journey out of the country TS1 will host a series of
to get [international- talks with international and
standard] art and crafts,” local artists and curators
says Nathalie Johnston, from September 26 to 28,
director of exhibitions. titled “Contemporary
As well as the main Dialogues”. A new group
exhibitions, which revolve show of contemporary
every six to eight weeks, TS1 Burmese artists will also be
also hosts one-off evening on display starting September
events promoting the work 26. Transit Shed No. 1; Lanthit
of emerging artists including Jetty, Rangoon; 95-1/248-908; Pun + Projects, the
team behind TS1.
music nights and ts1yangon.com. 
performance art events.
Something of a local
secret for now, it is
undoubtedly more popular
with resident expats and
Burmese people than
tourists and holidaymakers.
It attracts a clientele that
runs the gamut from
wealthy expats to the
trendsetting offspring of
Burma’s renowned business
elite, all flocking to see
young creative types
showing off their talents.
The goods on sale vary as
widely as the crowd it draws
and visitors can spend
anywhere from US$20 on
trinkets to thousands of The exterior of Transit
Shed No. 1 belies the
dollars on hand-crafted
space within.
furniture and paintings,

54 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Radar

debut

LOCO FOR COCO

Pull out your snazziest swim trunks and best flip flops for a
weekend at this flash new private island retreat, located
somewhere between the Indian Ocean and the lap of luxury.

There’s a new jewel revving up the glamour of and an on-call staff of 26, The main villa, a split- Coco Prive North Malé
sparkling in the Maldivian luxury travel. including personal chefs, floor state-of -the-art Atoll; cocoprive.com; the
COURTESY OF COCO PRIVÉ KUDA HITHI

crown of 1,900 coral Set in North Malé a master masseuse, affair, complete with property must be rented in
islands. Opened this Atoll, a 30-minute sommelier and dive Jacuzzi, plunge pool, bar, its entirety with prices
spring, Coco Privé speedboat ride away from instructor. Not content wine cellar, glass-and- ranging from US$8,000
Kuda Hithi, a private the airport, this upscale with your average hotel polished-concrete dining per night for two people
island residence 1.4-hectare property emissary, Privé went a room and library, sleeps during low season
featuring avant-garde houses five stunning step further, hiring a two in dream-inducing (May-July) to US$32,500
design from Singapore- villas and one master former senior footman to plush bedding, but who per night for 12 guests
based sustainability guru residence; two private the Queen of England as needs dreams when life’s during the high season
Guz Wilkinson, is beaches; an infinity pool; its general manager. this sweet? — CAIN NUNNS (November-January).

56 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Radar
Bali’s sweetest
newcomer. Below: A
locavore dessert.

desserts

BALI BRULEE
Craving dessert for dinner? Acclaimed U.S. pastry
chef Will Goldfarb has just the thing to sate your
sweet tooth. Room 4 Dessert (Jln. Raya Sanggingan,
Kedewatan, Ubud; room4dessert.asia; cocktail tasting
menu for two Rp490,000) is Goldfarb’s tropical take on
his now-shuttered, same-named New York restaurant,
offering a locally sourced desserts-only menu to
satisfy Bali’s sugar fiends. Dishes are full of native
flavors that parry and surprise: mangosteen bitters,
lemon basil and rosella are among the sweet star
ingredients. Pull up a chair at the bar and watch
Goldfarb and his team at work in their down-to-
business kitchen, where the most sophisticated
equipment is likely to be the blender. “It’s more high
COURTESY OF ROOM 4 DESSERT 2

technique but less high technology,” says Goldfarb of

his cooking style here, where each dessert is served on
a specially crafted ceramic plate. Cocktails also
receive great attention to detail—the aged Negroni is
poured over a single sphere of distilled-water ice so it’s
smooth to the final sip. No need for parsimony, either;
there’s a cocktails-with-desserts tasting menu for a
sample of pretty much everything. —HOLLY MCDONA LD
 A mesmerising evening of Verdi,
Puccini and Rossini classics.

SYMPHONY
CONCERT
NOVA AMADEUS ORCHESTRA ROME, ITALY
Tuesday 16 September 7.30pm
Baht 3,000 / 2,500 / 2,000 / 1,500 / 800
Supported by Embassy of Italy

“A ballet that is contemporary and,

at the same time, romantic.”
The Prague Post

SNOW WHITE
BALLET PRELJOCAJ, FRANCE
Wednesday 24 September 7.30pm
Baht 3,000 / 2,500 / 2,000 / 1,500 / 800
Supported by Embassy of France
and BNP Paribas

Hotline 02 262 3191

www.thaiticketmajor.com (24 hrs) www.bangkokfestivals.com

VENUE: Thailand Cultural Centre. Free shuttle from MRT station

Thailand Cultural Centre, Exit 1, during 5.30-7.00pm
Radar
field notes
FASHIONABLE ESCAPES
The best way to decompress? Designer
Michael Kors, in his inaugural column for T+L,
says it’s visiting a time-tested destination—
preferably one without cell service.
As a city person, when I really want
to get away, I find nothing beats
those locations that combine natural
beauty with a bit of luxury. The
dream is to unplug from the world
and recharge my batteries, with a
little time in the sun. Here, three
places I go to refuel.
phuket The Thai island has long
been one of my favorites. Amanpuri
(amanresorts.com; doubles from
US$550) is dramatic and lush, with
remarkable views of the Andaman
Sea. You must rent a boat—the water
is like liquid jade—and go over to
breathtaking James Bond Island. I
never leave Phuket without seeing a
60 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
performance at Phuket Simon
Cabaret (phuket-simoncabaret.com),
an over-the-top drag show.
big sur This stretch of the
California coast is my obsession of
the moment, as you can see in my
Fall 2014 collection. I love that
there’s beauty everywhere, but it’s
also very laid-back. The best part?
There’s almost no cell reception. My
perfect day includes a morning
massage at Post Ranch Inn & Spa
(postranchinn.com; doubles from
US$775), brunch at Deetjen’s
(deetjens.com), and an afternoon at
Pfeiffer Beach, followed by a sunset
drink at Nepenthe (nepenthebigsur.
Clockwise from left: Designer Michael Kors on vacation
in Capri; Post Ranch Inn, in Big Sur, California; James
Bond Island, in Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay, near Phuket;
Amanpuri resort, in Phuket; a Big Sur–inspired runway
look from Kors’s Fall 2014 collection (michaelkors.com).
C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: K O D I A K G R E E N W O O D ; © S E R G E Y C H E R N O V/ D R E A M S T I M E . C O M ; C O U R T E S Y O F A M A N R E S O R T S ; C O U R T E S Y O F M I C H A E L K O R S  2 
com). If I could, I’d commute from Big
Sur every day.
capri I usually visit in the fall and
spring, when the island is at its most
peaceful. The simple pleasures of life
there are abundant—the sun, the sea,
the unforgettable pasta. The Grand
Hotel Quisisana (quisisana.com;
doubles from €300) has a glamorous
history—Jackie Onassis used to stay
there. Of course, I shop in Capri, too:
Da Costanzo (39-081/837-8077) and
Canfora (canfora.com) sell
handmade sandals, while Carthusia
(carthusia.it) stocks divine lemon
soap. And I never leave without a few
Borsalino hats. 
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

FIREWORKS
AND MUSIC
FILL THE AIR
Fireworks and music events in September and
October will make you enjoy Macau even more
 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
From street level, historical Macau is visible at every turn and
makes for a great day out. In the coming months, two annual
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Macau Fisherman’s Wharf for the start of an enjoyable 150-minute
tour of the enclave where, not only East meets West, but where the
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rage at the start of this tour, before it quickly heads to a trio of
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Gifts Museum of Macau. Each offers a solid background to this
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take in the 26th Macau International Fireworks Display
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old world charms of Macau, lending credence to Macau’s claim of
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From October 3 to November 1, the 28th Macau
International Music Festival raises its curtain on an event that
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showcasing musicians from around the globe and for Macau itself.
This year, invitees include renowned ensembles and artists of
different musical genres, school and styles. In all, there are 25
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any who attend.
Radar
Clockwise from left: Last year’s rip-roaring night race; view the floodlit circuit of
the Singapore Grand Prix from Swissôtel The Stamford; special revved-up cocktails
at Lantern bar; watch the Formula 1 telecast over champagne at Treetops.

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F S I N G A P O R E G P ; C O U R T E S Y O F S W I S S Ô T E L T H E S TA M F O R D ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E F U L L E R T O N B AY H O T E L ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E R I T Z C A R LT O N , M I L L E N I A
Winning Formula
Get in the Formula 1
spirits at Caffé B
events (The Shoppes at Marina
Bay Sands; caffeb.com.

NEED FOR SPEED

sg; 65/6887-3311;
drinks for two S$40). Try
the Fuel in A Formula, a
full-bodied cherry
You don’t need to be in the grandstands for a killer view of Formula 1’s brandy mixed with
motor-racing mayhem. Here, a few of our favorite spots to take in the action. cranberry juice and
Malibu rum; perfect to
The heart-pounding reverb com; Thrill of Speed package, get you revved up.
Closer to the action, The
as a Ferrari blurs by and the doubles from S$5,300) and
Fullerton Bay Hotel’s
hot scent of burning asphalt Ritz-Carlton, Millenia rooftop bar Lantern
are well worth a front-row (ritzcarlton.com; Club Deluxe (fullertonbayhotel.com;
ticket. But those sell out fast. room from S$1,800 per night), 65/6597-5299; drinks
If you can’t get your hands each with near 360-degree for two S$45) faces
on one in time for the aerial views for race Turn 13. Sample the
Singapore Grand Prix
September 21 Formula 1 rubbernecking, from the Pit
cocktails like the
Singapore Grand Prix Grandstand near Singapore Fullerton Hairpin: a mix
(singaporegp.sg), there’s no Flyer to the hairpin Turn 13 of vodka, Midori, peach,
need to fret—you can still near the Merlion. Harbour strawberry, pineapple
get your fleetness fix with View rooms at both juice and cranberry juice.
panoramic views of the Swissôtel The Stamford
floodlit street circuit over (swissotel.com; track-facing
cocktails and hors d’oeuvre, Grand Prix package, doubles
by checking into a club room from S$1,400) and Fairmont
at one of the towering hotels sunset drinks and canapés (fairmont.com; track-facing
along Marina Bay’s skyline. with live Formula 1 Grand Prix package, doubles
On Turn 6, Pan Pacific screening. Across the street, from S$1,150) on Turn 9
Singapore (panpacific.com; sandwiched between the overlook the track, so you
Pacific Club offer, doubles tracks on Raffles Boulevard can take in the high-velocity
from S$3,870) grants and Raffles Avenue, are club thrills from the coziest spot
exclusive access to its lounges at the Mandarin on your featherbed.
38th-floor Club lounge for Oriental (mandarinoriental. —MONSICHA HOONSUWAN

Cars from the Bars

If you can’t score a room with a view, there’s a slew of watering holes near the racetracks where patrons can goggle the telecast over a cold cocktail,
with the live sounds of cars roaring within earshot. Treetops (ritzcarlton.com; 65/6434-5288; special Louis Roederer champagnes for two S$40),
the al fresco area at Chihuly Lounge, is our pick for bar bites and champagne, while beer-lovers should join the cheering fans at Harry’s (8 Raffles
Ave, 01-05/07, Esplanade Mall; harrys.com.sg; 65/6334-0132; beers for two S$25) for a pint of their adrenaline-cooling deep-gold premium lager.

64 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 “Absolutely Brilliant!
That really put me in a good mood.”
Simon Cowell

THE JIVE
ACES
UK’S NUMBER ONE JIVE AND
SWING BAND, UNITED KINGDOM
Friday 26 September 7.30pm
Baht 2,000 / 1,600 / 1,200 / 1,000 / 800

“Mr. Rushton knows how to make things happen”

The New York Times

BLACK
DIAMOND
CONTEMPORARY BALLET,
DANISH DANCE THEATRE, DENMARK
Thursday 9 October 7.30pm
Baht 2,000 / 1,600 / 1,200 / 1,000 / 800
Supported by Embassy of Denmark,
PANDORA and DZ Card

Hotline 02 262 3191

www.thaiticketmajor.com (24 hrs) www.bangkokfestivals.com

VENUE: Thailand Cultural Centre. Free shuttle from MRT station

Thailand Cultural Centre, Exit 1, during 5.30-7.00pm
your travel dilemmas solved  T H E T R U T H A B O U T C O D E S H A R E S 69 … O U R G L O B A L G U I D E T O T H E T O P T R AV E L
S P E C I A L I S T S 70 … T + L ’ S FAV O R I T E N E W H E A D P H O N E S 82 … B E S T R A I N Y S E A S O N R E T R E A T S 83 … W H A T T O PA C K F O R
A N I T A L I A N H O N E Y M O O N 84 … T H I S M O N T H ’ S T O P T R AV E L D E A L S 86

by Amy Farley

PLUS

THE LIST

Our annual roundup of

the best travel advisors
PAGE 7O

Q+A

WHY USE A
TRAVEL AGENT?
The rise of online booking and DIY
travel resources such as Airbnb
and Uber has, in many respects,
made travel easier. We can
compare fares, book hotel rooms
at the last minute via an app, and
find local guides—all on our own.
But here are four ways that a travel
professional can still save you time
and money (not to mention a lot
of heartache) on your next trip. →

I L L U S T R AT E D B Y J AV I E R J A É N T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 68
Trip Doctor

The Fix

There’s a reason we use the value of professional advice. WHAT’S YOUR

term advisor to describe the Much of the travel industry is PROBLEM?
members of our annual A-List, BY THE NUMBERS built on relationships, both

160
MY AIRPLANE
the top travel specialists in the formal and informal, and if SEAT
business (page 70). These your advisor has the right ones, IS BROKEN!
experts offer much more than
booking services. First and
$ it can pay off—literally—for you.
Do...
The amount in US dollars of
foremost, says Wendy Perrin, food and beverage credit you
VIP Treatment
TripAdvisor’s Travel Advocate receive with a $200-a-night Many of our A-List advisors
and founder of WendyPerrin. room at the Four Seasons are part of large consortia
Resort Whistler, in Canada,
com, they can help you decide if you book with a
that leverage their members’
where to go by walking you Virtuoso travel advisor. collective buying power to
through the pros and cons of deliver guaranteed rates as Speak up.
Even when the
destinations based on the well as perks for their clients.
problem seems minor.
varying interests (and ages) of I was reminded of this a few What that may mean for A single loose screw
the people in your group. Not months ago when I (travel you: if you book a night in a could become a
only that, they’ll deliver insider editor that I am) foolishly tried luxury hotel through the right major safety concern.
insights and access. They arranging my own flights person, you can get an upgrade,
can tell you how to avoid the in Africa before a safari. After daily breakfast for two, a Don’t...
crowds at major sights and consulting with an advisor US$100 restaurant credit and
where the locals eat. They can late in the game, I learned I late checkout, along with a
even pair you with designers was about to book with an welcome amenity of wine and
and architects who moonlight airline that was notorious for treats. On a seven-night cruise,
as walking-tour guides, get a last-minute, safari-ruining it could be a cabin upgrade and Despair. Flight
local artist to open his studio cancellations. Lesson learned. US$500 of shipboard credit. attendants may have
to you, and direct you to hidden Even if you’re not planning And since the advisor is a solution (e.g., a
portable DVD player
corners of a city. And they also, a particularly complicated making a commission off the
to replace a broken
crucially, know how to put or exotic trip, it’s worth booking, you won’t be charged seatback system).
together a seamless itinerary. considering the additional a markup. The largest luxury
travel consortia, Virtuoso
Do...
(virtuoso.com) and Signature
Travel Network (signaturetravel
network.com), each contract
with more than 1,000 luxury
hotels, cruise lines and tour
operators. (American Express
Prepare for delays.
Platinum and Centurion
If the seat is deemed I L L U S T R AT I O N S , F R O M L E F T: J A V I E R J A É N ; B E N W I S E M A N 4
cardholders have access to a unsafe, maintenance
similar program through Fine must be called and
Hotels & Resorts.) Advisors you may be bumped.
who do a lot of business with
a particular company may Don’t...
have additional preferred
status, which translates into
even more perks for clients.
And then there are the
informal relationships that Walk away
empty-handed.
top advisors cultivate with
When inconvenienced,
hotel general managers around ask for compensatory
the world. So chances are, if miles—or at
you’re looking to book with a  least a free drink.

69 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

major company, there’s
someone who can get you more
bang for your buck. Go ahead,
Perrin says, ask an advisor
where he or she has connections
and what benefits they confer.
Lower Rates and Fares
The most affordable rates and
fares aren’t always found
online, especially when it comes
to luxury travel. Hotels and
cruise lines that don’t drop their
prices for online travel agencies
often offer special deals and
promotions to members of
their partner consortia—who,
in turn, alert their clients. These
can be everything from four
nights for the price of three
to an upgrade to business-class
tickets on an airfare-cruise
package. Similarly, fares for
first- and business-class
seats on international carriers
can vary widely, depending
on who is looking for them.
Travel advisors frequently
have access to lower prices
than those available to the
public, usually as a result of
consortium contracts.
Finding Rooms
That sold-out hotel that you
waited too long to book? It’s
not always sold out. Many
properties will hold inventory
in reserve. Other rooms may
BY THE NUMBERS
57
% of soap and 1.2 million liters of
Share (in US dollars) of
cruise bookings that are
arranged by travel agents.
SOURCE: “U.S. ONLINE TR AVEL OVERVIEW,
13 TH EDITION,” PHOCUSWRIGHT INC.
Have a question for T+L’s Trip Doctor?
Send it to tripdoctor@
travelandleisureasia.com.
Follow @TravLeisureAsia on Twitter.
be in the hands of local tour helped log a record 126,000
operators who dole them out to cancellations on U.S.-operated WHAT IS
A CODE
partner travel companies. For flights that originated in the SHARE?
Amalfi in August, Danube United States. In situations
If a carrier issues
cruises in September, or Hawaii such as these, the value of
you a ticket for
over the holidays, top advisors travel advisors really kicks in. a flight operated by
are known for clearing out space They’ll rebook your flights a different airline,
for their clients. They’re also (sometimes via a VIP phone that’s the result
skilled at putting travelers in line with the airline, of a code-share
the right rooms, avoiding the sometimes sitting on hold for agreement. This
happens frequently
misleadingly named “Garden hours), either finding seats
between
Views” that overlook parking on planes that appear to be international alliance
lots or cruise cabins set right full or springing you to the top partners (SkyTeam;
below the fitness room. (Beware of waiting lists for ones that Oneworld; Star
the early morning step class.) indeed are. They can also get Alliance), but is not
you last-minute hotel rooms restricted to them.
Be advised: not all
Troubleshooting and file insurance claims on
code-share flights
Every trip has its share of your behalf. Lost luggage? are equal in the eyes
hiccups. The small ones can They’ll track your bags and of your frequent-
be fun (or at least instructive) have even been known to keep flier program;
to navigate. The big ones—a a local store open late so you some may not count
toward elite-
missed cruise connection; can buy replacement clothes in
qualifying miles or
a cloud of volcanic ash—can the meantime. Ask an advisor segments.
be a nightmare. Last winter, about his or her after-hours Small, regional
a succession of brutal storms service before you book. carriers frequently
operate short-haul
flights on behalf
of larger airlines.
THE FINAL SAY Sometimes they fly
under their own
names, but often
WHAT DO HOTELS DO WITH MY they carry the brand
HALFUSED SHAMPOO? of their domestic
partner. The catch?
Most hotels discard leftover The service, as well
as on-time arrival
amenities, which is good for hygiene, and even safety
but not so much for the environment. records, of these
regional airlines may
Today, an increasing number of not match those
properties worldwide donate their of the carrier with
which you booked.
extra products for recycling and reuse, The U.S. Department
thanks to nonprofits such as of Transportation
Clean the World. Since 2009, the is considering new
rules that will make
organization has collected and it easier to see
sterilized more than 17 million bars who exactly is
operating
your flight. Until
shampoo and conditioner then, look for
the small “Operated
and distributed them to those in by” notice when
need—eliminating hundreds of tons you search.
of waste in the process.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 70
Trip Doctor

Strategies

Ponte
Sant’Angelo,
Painting classes in an Italian in Rome.
artist’s studio, a sail down the
Brazilian coast on a private yacht
or an African safari led by a
documentary filmmaker: a
top travel advisor can help you
turn your next vacation into
the experience of a lifetime.
In T+L’s annual A-List, we
showcase the best specialists
in the business—those who
can book you into sold-out
hotels, introduce you
to the most keyed-in local
guides and much more.

THE LIST

Our 133 Top Travel Specialists

S I M O N W AT S O N

Edited by Amy Farley and Brooke Porter Katz. Reported by Stirling Kelso
7ULSOH1LJKWV'HOLJKWE\'XVLW
Stay two nights and receive the third night free!

For reservations, visit or call +66 (0) 2636 3333. Terms and conditions apply.

A view of Es Vedrà,
a rock formation off
Ibiza, Spain.
Super-Agents
These are the travel-industry all-stars,
with the knowledge and connections to make
any dream trip a reality.
Maita Barrenechea
With three decades of on-the-
ground travel-management
experience in Argentina, Chile and
Uruguay, Barrenechea has
the friends and the industry
connections to arrange entrée into
Buenos Aires’s fashion circles, an
equestrian getaway at a Patagonia
estancia or a high-roller beach
weekend on the Uruguayan coast.
She’s happy to see that travelers
are showing increasing interest in
lesser-known cities (including
Rosario, Argentina, with its
beautiful Art Deco architecture)
and in nature reserves such as
Puerto Valle, where Argentinean
ostriches and alligators roam.
Trend watch A handful of new
hotels and resorts are set to attract
luxury travelers to overlooked
destinations in Chile. The 22-suite
Viña Vik is opening in October
on an 4,500-hectare vineyard in
central Millahue. Later this
72 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
year in the heart of downtown,
Santiago welcomes the high-
design Singular, sister property
to the lodge in Patagonia.
Mai10, Buenos Aires; 54-11/4314-
3390; maita@mai10.com.ar.
Jack S. Ezon ✓
Along with bespoke trips for
individuals, Ezon plans nearly 30
celebrations around the world
every year. To pull off these
events, he has a party-planning
department with unparalleled
global connections. Though Ezon
himself remains heavily involved
in the details, picking out birthday
venues in London, wedding bands
in Punta Mita and tasting menus
at Cape Town restaurants. A
former lawyer, he is an expert at
negotiating on behalf of his clients
and has a team that is skilled at
keeping up with the demanding—
and often last-minute—planning
pace of today’s travelers.
THE LIST
Trend watch Ibiza, Spain, a
legendary party destination,
is growing up, Ezon says, thanks
to hotel openings such as Destino
by Pacha and Ushuaïa Beach
Hotel. “It’s becoming an
alternative to St.-Tropez.” He’s
also looking forward to new ultra-
luxury cruise options in the
Galápagos, including Silversea’s
Silver Galápagos. Ovation
Vacations, New York City; jezon@
ovationtravel.com.
Lisa Lindblad
Lindblad’s background in
anthropology is reflected in her
itineraries, which often include
neighborhood and cultural tours
led by historians and in-the-know
locals. All of her recommendations
are the result of in-depth research
done on behalf of clients. When
one recently expressed interest in
visiting the Dominican Republic’s
northern coast, Lindblad
flew there to scout hotels, houses,
guides and restaurants. She
thinks of every journey as an
opportunity for cultural exchange,
and hopes her clients end each day
with a story to tell. Trend watch
“Trips are becoming multi-
vocational,” Lindblad says, noting
the ways people are engaging
with their travels—making videos
and learning new skills, such as
 NEW TO LIST ✓ T+L’S ADVISORY BOARD
cooking or playing an instrument.
Lisa Lindblad Travel Design,
New York City; 1-212/876-2554;
lisa@lisalindblad.com.
Mary Ann Ramsey ✓
Ramsey approaches her work
with the mind-set of a financial
planner, meeting with clients
to discuss their long-term travel
objectives and develop an
execution plan. She maintains a
master list of their goals and
dream trips, and uses her frequent
travels to vet destinations and
experiences. Ramsey cruises
regularly, and creating
personalized shore excursions is
one of her specialties. She also
makes a point of flying various
airlines to stay on top of new
cabin layouts and designs.
Trend watch Scandinavia is
becoming even more popular
by both land and boat. “The
scenery is spectacular, whether
you are sailing through the
Stockholm Archipelago or
taking the Flåm Railway
to hike Norway’s Nærøyfjord,
a UNESCO World Heritage site.”
Betty Maclean Travel, Naples,
Florida; 1-239/513-0333; maryann@
bettymacleantravel.com.
Guy Rubin
When Rubin moved to China
in 1994, he was surprised to find
a dearth of resources for
discerning travelers in a country
so rich in cultural heritage and
natural beauty. He and his wife
and partner, Nancy Kim, set out
to change that, and now lead
China’s most ambitious luxury
tour operator. To keep up with the
country’s rapid transformation,
Rubin is constantly inspecting
hotels—Beijing has seen the
arrival of a Waldorf Astoria; a
Rosewood and another Mandarin
Oriental are still to come—and
developing new experiences. In
Hangzhou, he can set up a tour
of a pharmacy and museum with a
practitioner of Chinese medicine;
in Shanghai, he’ll arrange a
nightlife tour of the jazz scene.
Trend watch Rubin has seen
increased interest in Chengdu,
ANDRE W HETHERINGTON
which is home to the giant panda,
the heart of Sichuan cuisine, and
the jumping-off point for a visit to
the ancient archaeological site of
Sanxingdui. A Ritz-Carlton
recently opened; Temple House

and a Six Senses are up next.
Imperial Tours, Beijing; 86-10/
8440-7162; guy@imperialtours.net.
Anne Morgan Scully ✓
Scully’s clients can expect
seamless trips that are full of
surprises, from airport transfers
in luxury cars to thoughtful
amenities, such as a bottle of
champagne, as they check in to
their hotel rooms. She stresses
the importance of well educated
guides who are fantastic
storytellers and local tastemakers
who can enrich a trip. Having
watched the cruise industry
develop over the past 30 years,
Scully is also an expert on luxury
ships, from ocean liners to
private yachts. She recently
became the godmother to Ingvi,
a new Viking River Cruise ship.
Trend watch River cruising in
Europe is booming, as Uniworld,
Tauck and Viking create more
itineraries along the Rhône.
Scully also notes an increased
interest in U.S. national parks
(Yellowstone, Yosemite and the
Grand Canyon) among families
looking for exclusive, skip-the-
line trips. McCabe World Travel,
McLean, Virginia; 1-703/762-5055;
anne@mccabeworld.com.
Pallavi Shah
When Shah evaluates a
destination, she goes beyond
simply checking out hotels and
restaurants. She dives into its
history and cultural background.
She is especially drawn to
experiences that connect travelers
with locals. In India, for example,
she asks her favorite designers
and craftspeople to open up their
houses and studios and show
guests the artistic process behind
their textiles, clothes and jewelry.
Trend watch A renewed desire
to visit wellness destinations,
ranging from sybaritic resorts
such as CastaDiva, on Lake
Como, in Italy, to top-notch
medical spas in Italy, Turkey and
India. Our Personal Guest, New
York City; 1-646/284-2454; opgny@
ourpersonalguest.com.
Jim Strong ✓
& Nancy Strong
Attention to detail from the first
meeting, accessibility (as a rule,
NOE DEWITT
their phone is answered on
the first ring) and a contagious
 NEW TO LIST ✓ T+L’S ADVISORY BOARD
passion for travel define this
mother-and-son team. They arm
clients with both paper and digital
copies of itineraries loaded with
confirmation numbers and names,
plus who to call for assistance at
any hour. Proof of Jim’s passion
for his industry? He recently
produced an off-Broadway play,
Craving for Travel, about the trials
and rewards of being an advisor.
Trend watch More high-budget
clients are requesting “wheels-up
to wheels-down” assistance to
facilitate travel every step of the
way. Guides not only reconfirm
pickups and flight schedules,
but even scout restaurants before
a meal, selecting the best table
and informing the chef of food
allergies. Strong Travel Services,
Dallas; 1-214/361-0027; jim@
strongtravel.com and nstrong@
strongtravel.com.
Valerie Ann Wilson
Wilson is an industry influencer
with 16 offices around the U.S. and
more than 30 years of experience.
She’s chairman emeritus of
Virtuoso’s advisory board and a
valued advisor for half a dozen
luxury hotels and travel brands.
She’s also written two travel books
and is on the road for more than a
third of every year. Wilson and the
staff of her top-notch agency (now
also under the leadership of her
daughters, T+L A-Listers Jennifer
Wilson-Buttigieg and Kimberly
Wilson Wetty) are well traveled
and highly organized. But they
still enjoy the collaborative nature
of trip planning with clients. “Part
of the fun is hearing their ideas
and vicariously traveling through
each customer,” Wilson says.
Trend watch The growth of
multigenerational travel is
staggering—and Wilson is part
of the movement herself. This
year, she is taking Seabourn’s
Baltic cruise with her children
and grandchildren, where
they’ll trace her own mother’s
Swedish roots. Valerie Wilson
Travel, New York City; 1-212/532-
3400; valeriew@vwti.com.
Joel A. Zack
Concentrating on a small piece
of the world—Portugal, Morocco,
South Africa, Spain and
Turkey—and knowing these
destinations inside and out gives
Zack his edge. A dedicated team
and network of well-connected
locals sustain the business, which
grew out of Zack’s own curiosity
and expertise as an architect and
historic preservationist. “We focus
on people perhaps even more than
place,” he says of his guides. They
can open doors to experiences
ranging from visiting a
bullfighter’s private farm in Spain
to leading a boys’ soccer workshop
in a South African township.
U.S. & Canada
HAWAII
Carolyne Brandon
Years as agent 32. Other specialty
Cruises. Altour American Express
Travel, Cupertino, California;
1-650/248-2344; carolyne.
brandon@altour.com.
Marilyn Clark 
Years as agent 13. Other
specialty French Polynesia.
Lighthouse Travel, Huntington
Beach, California; marilyn@
lighthousetravel.net.
Ed Phillips ✓
Years as agent 25. Other specialty
Alaska. Frosch Travel, Burlingame,
California; trvaler@gmail.com.
NAPA VALLEY
Michelle Murré
Years as agent 10. Other specialty
Personalized travel throughout
Italy. Azurine, San Francisco;
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Trip Doctor
Strategies
Trend watch Interest in
experiential travel continues
to grow, Zack says. “Few travelers
start the process by telling
us their hotel likes and dislikes.
They want to find the ways
a destination addresses their
passion, whether that’s art,
music or sports.”
Heritage Tours Private Travel,
New York City; 1-212/206-8400;
joel@htprivatetravel.com.
Outside Lafayette,
a French bistro
in New York City.
1-415/796-3869; michelle@
azurinetravel.com.
NEW YORK
Lia Batkin 
Years as agent 8. Other
specialty Luxury travel.
In the Know Experiences,
New York City; 1-212/776-1784;
lia@intheknowexperiences.com.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Sheri Doyle 
Years as agent 23. Other specialty
Canadian Rockies. Pacific Northwest
Journeys, Seattle; 1-206/935-9730;
info@pnwjourneys.com.
WESTERN U.S.
Harold Jenkins
Years as agent 26. Other specialty
Skiing. American Express
Corporate Vacations, Lake Forest,
Illinois; 1-615/714-9917; harold.
jenkins@corpvacations.com.
S E P T E M B E R 2 014 73
Trip Doctor

Strategies

THE LIST

WildChina, Beijing; 86-10/6465-

6602; mei.zhang@wildchina.com.

HONG KONG
Laura Woo
Years as agent 32. Other specialties
Hawaii and Macao. West
University Travel, Houston; woo@ EMERGING ASIA
hal-pc.org. New hotels and
INDIA experiences are taking
Jonny Bealby travelers off the beaten
Years as agent 12. Other specialty path in Asia. Near the city
Central Asia. Wild Frontiers, of Dali, in China’s Yunnan
London; 44-20/7736-3968; province, a recently
jonny@wildfrontiers.co.uk. completed road circles the
Pallavi Shah See Super-Agents. alpine Er Hai Lake, below
the towering Cangshan
INDIA AND SRI LANKA
Carole A. Cambata Mountain. T+L A-List
Years as agent 33. Other specialty specialist Mei Zhang plans
Bhutan. Greaves Tours, trips to the area that
Highland Park, Illinois; include bike rides around
ccambata@greavestvl.com. the lake and stays at the
Ashish Sanghrajka waterside Windoo Resort
Years as agent 13. Other specialty (windoo.taobao.com).
Kenya. Big Five Tours & According to Southeast
Expeditions, Stuart, Florida; Asia expert Catherine
ashish@big five.com. Heald, the 130-million-
INDONESIA
year-old rain forests
Jarrod Hobson of Borneo are increasingly
Years as agent 19. Other specialty popular on both the
Southeast Asia. Asia Transpacific Malaysian and Indonesian
Journeys, Boulder, Colorado; sides. “The native
1-303/443-6789; jarrod@ orangutan and the gigantic
asiatranspacific.com. rafflesia flower can’t
JAPAN be seen anywhere else
Noriko Townsend in the world,” she says. Try
Banteay Srei, a Years as agent 19. Other specialty the Borneo Rainforest
10th-century Khmer Southeast Asia. Altour American Lodge (borneonaturetours.
temple outside Siem Express Travel/Japan In Style, com), in Sabah, Malaysia,
Reap, Cambodia. Fort Collins, Colorado; noriko. which has added luxe,
townsend@altour.com. glass-walled suites.
Duff Trimble Disconnect at India’s new

Asia Years as agent 13. Wabi-Sabi safari-style Jawai

C H R I S T O P H E R W I S E . I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y C L A R E M A L L I S O N

Japan, Toronto; 1-647/477-1711; Leopard Camp

duff@wabi-sabijapan.com. (sujanluxury.com), an ideal
BURMA CHINA
stop between Udaipur
Rebecca Mazzaro Stan Godwyn MALDIVES
Justin Parkinson  and Jodhpur, says Carole
Years as agent 16. Other specialty Years as agent 20. Other specialty
India. Asia Transpacific Asia. TravelStore, Sacramento, Years as agent 8. Other specialty A. Cambata. The eight
Journeys, Boulder, Colorado; California; 1-916/830-5511; stan.g@ United Arab Emirates. Linara tents are comfortable
1-303/443-6789; rebecca@ travelstore.com. Travel, Eagle, Idaho; 1-208/392- and stylish; guests take
asiatranspacific.com. 1445; justin@linaratravel.com. two leopard drives a day.
Guy Rubin
CAMBODIA See Super-Agents. SOUTHEAST ASIA
Andy Booth  Catherine Heald
Years as agent 9. ABOUTAsia CHINA AND TIBET Years as agent 9. Other specialty
Travel, Siem Reap, Cambodia; Mei Zhang Asia. Remote Lands, New York
855-12/338-872; a.booth@ Years as agent 14. Other specialties City; 1-646/415-8092; catherine.
aboutasiatravel.com. Southeast Asia and North Korea. heald@remotelands.com.

 NEW TO LIST ✓ T+L’S ADVISORY BOARD

74 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Trip Doctor

Strategies
THE LIST

Europe
CENTRAL EUROPE Turkey and Italy. TrueGreece,
Nathalie Nagy Maroussi, Greece; 44-203/026-1176;
Years as agent 17. Other specialty christos@truegreece.com.
Western Europe. Protravel Petros Zissimos
International, New York City;
Years as agent 10. Other specialty
1-212/409-9562; nathalie.nagy@
Turkey. Hellenic Holidays,
protravelinc.com.
New York City; 1-212/944-8288;
Ellison Poe pzissimos@hellenicholidays.com.
Years as agent 28. Other specialty
IRELAND
India. Poe Travel, Little Rock,
Carol Cornell
Arkansas; 1-501/376-4171; epoe@
Years as agent 30. Covington
poetravel.com.
Travel, Fort Wayne, Indiana;
FRANCE 1-260/402-6789; carolc@covington
Murielle Blanchard travelinc.com.
Years as agent 30. Other specialty
ITALY
Italy. Black Pearl Luxury Services,
Joyce Falcone
Salt Lake City; 1-801/483-6533;
Years as agent 19.
murielle@blackpearlservices.com.
The Italian Concierge,
The Mirror Room
Bob Preston Far Hills, New Jersey; 1-970/544-
restaurant at the
Years as agent 8. Other specialties 3799; info@italianconcierge.com.
Rosewood London.
Italy and Switzerland. Emily FitzRoy
EuroPanache, New York City;
Years as agent 17. Bellini Travel,
bob.preston@europanache.com. Marjorie Shaw Madrid; 34/91-448-7275;
London; 44-20/7602-7602;
emily@bellinitravel.com. Years as agent 25. Other virginia@madeforspain.com.
GERMANY
Virginia Giordano specialty Family travel in Italy. SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
Andrea Grisdale Insider’s Italy, Rome; 1-914/470-
Years as agent 20. Culture Trip Years as agent 22. IC Bellagio, Joel A. Zack
Germany, Berlin; 49-30/305-3890; 1612; info@insidersitaly.com.
Bellagio, Italy; 39-031/952-059; See Super-Agents.
info@culturetrip.de. andrea@icbellagio.com. PARIS
SWITZERLAND
Yaron Yarimi Ilene Koenig
GREECE Uri Harash
Mina Agnos Years as agent 20. Other specialty
Years as agent 15. Perfetto Traveler, Years as agent 29. Let’s Travel (a
Italy. Frosch, New York City;
Years as agent 13. Other specialties Rome; 39-345/040-6396; division of Plaza Travel), Santa
1-212/784-0391; yaron.yarimi@
Turkey, Spain and Italy. Travelive, info@perfettotraveler.com. Monica, California; 1-310/451-5805;
frosch.com.
Bloomfield, New Jersey; 1-973/783- ilene@letstravel-sm.com.
3610; mina@travelive.com.
Beth Rubin  RUSSIA
Years as agent 14. Select Italy, UNITED KINGDOM
Greg Tepper
Christos Stergiou Chicago; 1-312/664-4200; Ellen LeCompte
Years as agent 20. Other specialty
Years as agent 10. Other specialties beth@selectitaly.com. Years as agent 23. Other
Eastern Europe. Exeter
specialty Paris. Brownell Travel,
International, Tampa, Florida;
Richmond, Virginia; 1-804/353-0075;
1-813/251-5355 ; greg@exeter
ellenl@brownelltravel.com.
international.com.
Linda M. Raymer
SCANDINAVIA
Tor Jensen Years as agent 30. Other specialties
Switzerland and Italy. Travelink,
Years as agent 21. Other
American Express Travel,
specialty Southeast Asia.
J A M E S M E R R E L L . I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y C L A R E M A L L I S O N

THE LOCAL TAKE Nashville; 1-615/277-5146;

Jensen World Travel, Wilmette,
linda.raymer@travelink.com.
A quest for insider access in Europe has advisors Illinois; 1-847/256-5550;
digging deep into their little black books to create tor@jensenworldtravel.com. Susie Worthy
one-of-a-kind experiences that include face time with Years as agent 28. Other specialty
SCOTLAND
locals. In Italy, Perfetto Traveler’s Uri Harash set Paris. NoteWorthy Events,
Claire Schoeder
up a private workshop with a painting restorer, London; 44-20/3051-5165;
Years as agent 22. Other specialty
susie@noteworthy.co.uk.
who let the client assist on a piece by Renaissance artist England explorations. Century
Tintoretto. In Russia, this could mean spending Travel, Atlanta; 1-404/478-8888; WESTERN EUROPE
an afternoon with a top curator at the State claire@centurytvl.com. Anne Morgan Scully ✓
Hermitage, care of A-Lister Greg Tepper. And Virginia See Super-Agents.
SPAIN
Giordano of Culture Trip Germany planned a dinner Virginia Irurita Jim Strong ✓
with the former head of the East German Secret Years as agent 16. Other specialty & Nancy Strong
Police for clients interested in the Cold War. Food and wine. Made for Spain, See Super-Agents.

 NEW TO LIST ✓ T+L’S ADVISORY BOARD

76 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 key
Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
happiness

Unlock more time to craft the perfect holiday in Asia

at a Fairmont Hotel or Resort. And the best part is:
you already have the key. Pay for your stay with an
Fairmont Singapore American Express® Card, and a complimentary night* is
yours – plus US$25 Resort Credit.

From the grandeur of Shanghai and dynamism of

Beijing, to the cosmopolitan sights of Singapore, you
can find Fairmont’s understated elegance in Asia’s most
enriching cities. Each property delivers a tailored guest
experience, one that will shape memories to last you a
lifetime. Here’s to opening the door to a great stay.

Fairmont Makati

All legendary stories have a beginning. Start yours when you visit
www.fairmont.com/axpapac or call 001 800 0441 1414 with the promotion code
‘PMXP’ to make a reservation.
*Terms and conditions:
(1) Offer is valid for stays between 1 July 2014 and 31 March 2015 (both dates inclusive), when you book between
now and 31 December 2014. (2) Offer is bookable via central reservation numbers found on www.fairmont.com/
contact-us/morenumbers or online at: www.fairmont.com/axpapac. Promotion Code “PMXP” must be provided
at time of booking. (3) Bookings are subject to availability of rooms at time of booking. Advanced reservations
required. (4) To be eligible for the offer, reservations must be made and paid for with any American Express Card.
(5) Card Members must stay at least two, three, four or five consecutive paid nights to receive the complimen-
tary night. Minimum night stay to enjoy the complimentary night varies by property. (6) Reservations must be a
consecutive night stay at one hotel to qualify. (7) Rates are subject to local taxes and service charges. (8) Offer
cannot be combined with other offers or promotions. (9) Cancellation policies vary by property and charges may
apply. (10) One (1) $25 USD Resort Credit per stay to be used on food and beverage, internet, long distance calls,
in-room movies, golf, or spa. Hotel Credit has no cash value and cannot be applied toward the daily room rate,
or for Third-party activities billed to the room. (11) Hotel credit will be applied toward the guestroom bill prior to
departure upon check out. (12) Hotel credit cannot be applied to Fairmont Store or other retail outlet purchases
within the property. (13) Black-out dates apply and vary by properties. For more details, visit www.fairmont.com/
promotions/limited-access/ (14) Offer does not apply to existing bookings or group bookings. (15) Fulfilment of
the offer is the sole responsibility of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
Trip Doctor

Strategies
THE LIST

Caribbean
Margie Hand
Years as agent 20. Other specialty
Destination weddings. Andavo
Travel, Birmingham, Alabama;
1-205/623-2217; margie.hand@
andavotravel.com.
Janet McLaughlin
Years as agent 25. Other specialty
Italy. Provident Travel, Cincinnati;
1-513/533-7867; jmclaughlin@
providenttravel.com.
Liz Sadie Sutton ✓
Years as agent 37. Alabama World
Travel/Sutton & Associates, The pool at Casas del XVI, in Santo
Montgomery, Alabama; 1-334/260- Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2482; liz@awtinc.com.

Africa + the Middle East AFRICA’S NEW

AFRICA Africa Adventure Company, MIDDLE EAST CLASSICS
Sandy Cunningham Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jean Newman Glock
Years as agent 19. Other specialties 1-954/491-8877; safari@ Years as agent 3. JNG Worldwide, What are the camps and
Luxury and family travel. Outside africanadventure.com. Washington, D.C.; 1-703/314-9595; lodges that safari
Go, Santa Fe, New Mexico; sandy@ Kent Redding  jean@jngworldwide.com. specialists have their eyes
outsidego.com. on? Dan Achber, of
Years as agent 13. Africa Adventure MOROCCO
Lisa Lindblad Consultants, Denver; kent@ Michael Diamond Trufflepig, is excited about
See Super-Agents. adventuresinafrica.com. Years as agent 13. Chinzombo (normancarr
Other specialty Turkey. safaris.com), in Zambia’s
Michael Lorentz  Jackie Rush
Heritage Tours Private Travel, South Luangwa National
Years as agent 29. Passage to Years as agent 38. Other specialty
Africa, Cape Town; 27-82/895-8527; New York City; 1-212/206-8400. Park: “It’s beautiful and
Jordan. Frosch, Washington,
ml@passagetoafrica.com. michael@htprivatetravel.com. impeccably finished—the
D.C.; 1-202/966-4111; jackie.rush@
frosch.com. NAMIBIA
complete package.” Cherri
Dana Welch
Chris Liebenberg  Briggs cites the new
Years as agent 22. Other specialty Sunit Sanghrajka
Years as agent 5. Other specialty Anabezi Luxury Tented
Adventure travel. The Travel Years as agent 21. Alluring Africa,
Society, Denver; 1-303/563-6225; Botswana. Piper & Heath Camp (anabezi.com), in
Winter Park, Florida; 1-772/291–
dana@travelsociety.com. 7585; sunit@alluringafrica.com. Travel, San Diego; chris@ the country’s Lower
piperandheath.com. Zambezi National Park, for
BOTSWANA, ZIMBABWE EGYPT
AND ZAMBIA
its untouched landscape
Malaka Hilton SOUTH AFRICA
Craig Beal Tamsyn Fricker  and abundance of wildlife.
Years as agent 20. Other specialties
Years as agent 9. Other specialty Years as agent 6. Other Teresa Sullivan
Jordan and the United Arab
South Africa. Travel Beyond, Emirates. Admiral Travel specialty Southern Africa. recommends the Selinda
Wayzata, Minnesota; International, Sarasota, Florida; Travel Artistry Africa, Houston; Explorers Camp
craigb@travelbeyond.com. 1-941/951-1801; malaka@ 1-281/974-3662; tamsyn@ (greatplainsconservation.
admiraltravel.com. travelartistryafrica.com. com), set in a prime
EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
Dan Achber SOUTHERN AFRICA
Botswana concession:
FAMILY SAFARIS

C O U R T E S Y O F C A S A S D E L X V I . I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y C L A R E M A L L I S O N
Years as agent 6. Trufflepig, Leora Rothschild  Cherri Briggs “The guiding and the
Toronto; 1-416/628-1272; Years as agent 23. Other specialty Years as agent 20. Other specialties privacy are the same
dan@trufflepig.com. Honeymoon safaris. Rothschild The Seychelles and Indian Ocean as at the concession’s luxe
Elizabeth Gordon  Safaris, Denver; 1-303/756-2525; islands. Explore, Inc., Steamboat sister camp, but at a
Years as agent 6. Extraordinary leora@rothschildsafaris.com. Springs, Colorado; 1-970/871-0065; fraction of the price.”
Journeys, New York City; cherri@exploreafrica.net. In Tanzania, Kent Redding
ISRAEL
1-212/226-7331; elizabeth@ Rachel Epstein Julian Harrison likes Kwihala Camp
ejafrica.com. Years as agent 32. Other specialties Years as agent 28. Other specialties (asiliaafrica.com), set in the
Tim Lapage Spain and group travel. Frosch, East and central Africa. Premier up-and-coming Ruaha
Years as agent 33. Other specialties New York City; 1-212/404-6300; Tours, Philadelphia; julianh@ National Park. And Volker
Peru and the Galápagos. rachel.epstein@frosch.com. premiertours.com. Altvater says Richard
Safari Experts, Park City, Utah; KENYA AND TANZANIA Teresa Sullivan  Branson’s Mahali Mzuri
1-435/649-4655; safari@ Volker Altvater Years as agent 15. Other specialties
(mahalimzuri.virgin.com)
safariexperts.com. Years as agent 28. Other East Africa and Indian Ocean camp in the Masai
Mark William Nolting specialty South Africa. Big Five islands. Mango African Safaris, Mara brings new levels of
Years as agent 28. Other specialties Tours & Expeditions, Stuart, Portland, Oregon; 1-503/282-9009; comfort to Kenya’s
Madagascar and the Seychelles. Florida; volker@big five.com. info@mangosafari.com. premier wildlife area.

 NEW TO LIST ✓ T+L’S ADVISORY BOARD

78 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 en
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Trip Doctor

Strategies

Australia,
New Zealand +
the South Pacific
AUSTRALIA Susanne Hamer
Cassandra Bookholder Years as agent 18. Other
Years as agent 8. Other specialty specialties Maldives and the
New Zealand. Camelback Odyssey Seychelles. TravelStore,
Travel, Phoenix; 1-602/889-5902; Los Angeles; 1-310/689-5411;
cassandrab@camelbacktravel.com. Biking at the
susanne.h@travelstoreusa.com.
new Brando resort,
Suzy Mercien-Ferol NEW ZEALAND on Tetiaroa Island,
Years as agent 20. Other specialty Jean-Michel Jefferson in French Polynesia.
New Zealand. Touring Treasures, Years as agent 13. Ahipara
Brighton, Australia; 61-7/3102-3252; Luxury Travel, Central Otago,
suzy.mercien@touringtreasures.com. New Zealand; 64-3/447-3558; DIVING Multigenerational travel.
FRENCH POLYNESIA jean-michel@ahipara.com. Robert Becker CRC Travel, Chicago; 1-773/525-
Robin Turner Donna Thomas Years as agent 28. Other specialty 3800, ext. 22; peter@crctravel.com.
Years as agent 28. Other specialty Years as agent 43. Other specialty Adventure. Protravel
Valerie Ann Wilson
Maldivian islands. American Australia. New Zealand Travel, International/Beckersphere, New
See Super-Agents.
Express Travel, Chicago; Langhorne, Pennsylvania; York City; 1-212/755-4550; robert.
robin.l.turner@aexp.com. nztravel@aol.com. becker@protravelinc.com. Bobby Zur
FLYFISHING
Years as agent 13. Other specialty
Betsy Donley ✓ Southern Africa. Travel Artistry,
Franklin Lakes, New Jersey;
Years as agent 23. Other specialty

Special Interest Adventure. Camelback Odyssey

ADVENTURE
Betty Jo Currie
Years as agent 21. Other specialty
Africa. Currie & Co. Travels
Unlimited, Atlanta; 1-404/335-0286;
bettyjo@curriecotravels.com.
Brooke Garnett
Years as agent 9. Other specialty
Australia. Absolute Travel,
New York City; 1-212/627-1950;
bgarnett@absolutetravel.com.
Tom Marchant  ✓
Years as agent 8. Black Tomato,
London; 1-646/558-3644;
tom@blacktomato.com.
Susan Sparks
Years as agent 27. Points of Interest
Travel, Aspen, Colorado; 1-970/
925-5855; susan@poitraveler.com.
Doris White
Years as agent 26. Other specialty
Europe. Cadence Travel,
La Jolla, California; 1-858/551-4560;
doris@doristrips.com.
BUSINESS TRAVEL
Steve Orens  ✓
Years as agent 24. Other specialties
Family travel and the Hawaiian
islands. Plaza Travel, Encino,
California; 1-818/990-4053; steve@
plazatravel.com.
Jennifer Wilson-
Buttigieg
Years as agent 23. Other specialty
Family travel. Valerie Wilson
Travel, New York City; 1-212/592-
1210; jenniferwb@vwti.com.
CULTURE/
EDUCATION
Margery Hunter
Years as agent 30. Other specialty
Europe. Rudi Steele Travel,
Dallas; 1-214/522-2782; margery@
rudisteele.com.
DESTINATION
CELEBRATIONS
John Clifford
Years as agent 29. Other specialty
Gay and lesbian travel.
Travel, Phoenix; 1-602/266-4000;
betsyd@camelbacktravel.com.
Mollie Fitzgerald
Years as agent 29. Other specialties
India and Southeast Asia.
Frontiers International Travel,
Gibsonia, Pennsylvania; 1-724/935-
1577; mollie@frontierstravel.com.
FOOD AND WINE
Lynda Turley Garrett
Years as agent 34. Other specialties
Australia and New Zealand.
Alpine Travel of Saratoga,
Saratoga, California; 1-408/379-
3853; lyndat@alpine-travel.com.
GAY AND
LESBIAN TRAVEL
David Rubin
Years as agent 18. Other specialty
Destination celebrations.
DavidTravel, Corona del Mar,
California; 1-949/427-0199;
david@davidtravel.com.
GOLF
Jani Miller ✓
Years as agent 34. Other specialty
1-201/848-4113; bobby@
travelartistry.com.
LUXURY TRAVEL
David Lowy ✓
Years as agent 28. Other specialty
Private jet travel. Renshaw
Travel, Vancouver; 1-604/733-1010
dlowy@renshawtravel.com.
SPAS AND WELLNESS
Karen Benson
Years as agent 31. Other specialty
Adventure. Camelback Odyssey
Travel, Phoenix; 1-602/266-4000
karenb@camelbacktravel.com.
VALUE/AFFORDABLE
TRAVEL
Kathleen O’Connell 
Years as agent 3. Other specialty
Multigenerational travel. Frosch,
Deerfield, Illinois; 1-847/948-5300;
kathleen.oconnell@frosch.com.
WEDDINGS
AND HONEYMOONS
Harlan DeBell &
Kara Bebell
Years as agent 17. The Travel
Siblings at Tzell Travel Group, New
York City; harland@tzell.com and
COURTESY OF THE BR ANDO

International Travel
Adventure. Central Travel, Toledo, karab@tzell.com.
AIR TRAVEL Management, San Diego;
Ohio; 1-419/471-2800; jani@
Michael Holtz 1-619/299-2359; john@international Peter Lloyd
centraltravel.com.
Years as agent 24. Other specialty travelmanagement.com. Years as agent 22. Other specialties
Australia and Asia. SmartFlyer, HOTELS Italy and cruises. Century
Jack S. Ezon ✓
New York City; 1-212/268-9088; Peter S. Carideo  Travel, Atlanta; 1-404/478-8888;
See Super-Agents.
michael@smartflyer.com. Years as agent 34. Other specialty peter@centurytvl.com.

80 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

Mexico + Central + South America
ARGENTINA, CHILE
AND URUGUAY
Maita Barrenechea
See Super-Agents.
ARGENTINA AND CHILE
Jordan Harvey
Years as agent 5. Knowmad
Adventures, Minneapolis;
jordan@knowmadadventures.com.
BRAZIL
Martin Frankenberg
Years as agent 14. Matueté, São
Paulo, Brazil; 55-11/3071-4515;
martin@matuete.com.
Paul Irvine
Years as agent 11. Other
specialty Argentina. Dehouche,
Rio de Janeiro; 55-21/2512-3895;
paul.irvine@dehouche.com.
CENTRAL AND
SOUTH AMERICA
Emmanuel Burgio
Years as agent 12. Other specialty
Mediterranean. Blue Parallel,
Potomac, Maryland; emmanuel@
blueparallel.com.
CHILE
Brian Pearson 
Years as agent 11. Other specialties
Argentina and Uruguay.
Santiago Adventures, Santiago,
Chile; 56-2/2244-2750; bpearson@
santiagoadventures.com.
GALÁPAGOS
Brian Morgan
Years as agent 15. Other specialty
Peru. Adventure Life, Missoula,
Montana; 1-406/541-2677; brian.
morgan@adventurelife.com.
Family Travel
Julia P. Douglas ✓
Years as agent 9. Other specialty
COURTESY OF COLCHAGUA CAMP
Europe. Jet Set World Travel,
Chicago; 1-312/574-1181; julia@
jetsetworldtravel.com.
Jessica Griscavage
Years as agent 10. Other specialty
Honeymoons. McCabe World
Travel, McLean, Virginia; jessica@
mccabeworld.com.
MEXICO
Zachary Rabinor
Years as agent 20. Other specialty
Central America. Journey Mexico,
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico;
52-322/225-9821; zach@
journeymexico.com.
PERU AND BOLIVIA
Marisol Mosquera
Years as agent 17. Aracari Travel,
Lima, Peru; 51-1/651-2424; marisol@
aracari.com.
SOUTH AMERICA
Barkley Hickox 
Years as agent 4. Other specialty
Italy. Indagare Travel, New York
City; 1-212/988-2611; barkleyh@
indagare.com.
Sam McClure
Years as agent 15. Small
World Travel, Austin, Texas;
1-512/495-9495; sam@small
world.travel.
Kara Slater 
Years as agent 5. Other specialty
Honeymoons. SmartFlyer, Los
Angeles; 1-310/493-5508; kara@
smartflyer.com.
Beth Jenkins
Years as agent 5. Other specialty
Honeymoons. McCabe World
Travel, McLean, Virginia;
1-703/762-5048; beth@
mccabeworld.com.
Eric Sheets
Years as agent 18. Other specialty
Argentina. Latin Excursions,
Aventura, Florida; 1-305/356-8488,
ext. 100; eric@latinexcursions.com.
SOUTH AMERICAN
FOOD & WINE
Liz Caskey
Years as agent 9. Other specialty
Adventure. Liz Caskey Culinary &
Wine Experiences, Santiago, Chile;
56-2/2632-1511; liz@lizcaskey.com.
Kathryn Sudeikis ✓
Years as agent 46. Other specialty
India. Acendas, Mission, Kansas;
1-913/671-7700, ext. 325; ksudeikis@
acendas.com.
Kimberly Wilson Wetty ✓
Years as agent 19. Other specialty
Cruises. Valerie Wilson Travel,
New York City; 1-212/592-1218;
kimberlyww@vwti.com.
 NEW TO LIST ✓ T+L’S ADVISORY BOARD
THE LIST
Colchagua Camp,
in Chile’s
Colchagua Valley.
Cruising
SMALL AND
LARGE SHIPS
Scott Kertes
Years as agent 24. Other
specialty Group cruising.
Hartford Holidays Travel,
Garden City, New York; 1-516/746-
6670; scott@hartfordholidays.com.
Paul Niskanen ✓
Years as agent 40. Other specialty
Southern Africa. Cruise Masters/
Concierge Travel Advisors,
Portland, Oregon; pauln@fine
voyages.com.
Ruth Turpin
Years as agent 35. Other specialty
River cruises. Cruises Etc.,
Fort Worth, Texas; 1-817/732-6991;
ruth@cruisesetctravel.com.
Mary Ann Ramsey ✓
See Super-Agents.
SMALL SHIPS
Betsy Patton
Years as agent 36. Hurley Travel
Experts, Naples, Florida;
1-239/594-7400; betsy@
travelexperts.com.
Marcella Rappoport
Years as agent 32. Other specialty
Private jet travel. Ovation Travel,
New York City; 1-212/329-7260;
mrappoport@ovationtravel.com. 
Trip Doctor

Tech

Listen
Up!
Our five favorite
new headphones, all FOR THE
sound-checked by SENSITIVE LISTENER
T+L tech correspondent Able Planet Linx Fusion
With a state-of-the-art
Tom Samiljan, deliver system that uses haptic
top-notch audio—and technology, this pair
serious style points. channels sound not just
through your ears but also
via skin and bone. The big
advantage? Music that’s
just as robust and clear at
decibel levels that are far
lower than normal—a boon
FOR THE to your long-term hearing.
AESTHETE US$350, ableplanet.com.
Skullcandy Crusher
Available in 10 colors
and patterns, this over-
ear model delivers on
personality. But it’s
not all about looks. A
built-in amp lets you FOR THE
turn up the bass with a TECH LOVER
tiny dial, and twin drivers Beats Studio Wireless
(designated speakers for The best wireless
high and low frequencies) headphones on the market,
keep sound balanced. Beats connect via Bluetooth
US$100, skullcandy.com. and offer active noise
cancellation and powerful
bass tones. A single USB
charge lasts up to 12
hours, and control buttons
on the frame make it easy
FOR THE to toggle between tracks.
AUDIOPHILE US$380, beatsbydre.com.
Bose SoundTrue
Memory-foam liners
maximize comfort, a
fold-flat design makes
for compact storage, and
a built-in remote lets you

E A R B U D S , F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F M O N O P R I C E ; C O U R T E S Y O F N A D
switch between music
and phone calls. And then,
of course, there’s Bose’s FOR THE
signature full-bodied ROAD WARRIOR
and well-defined audio. V-Moda XS
US$180, bose.com. Made out of bendable
Steelflex, V-Moda’s
headband is virtually
indestructible. (The same
goes for the Kevlar-
reinforced, tangle-free
cord.) As for your listening
experience, expect a
studio-worthy output that
Best Buds does justice to complex
Two pocket-size options when space is at a premium. instrumentations. Bonus:
NAD Viso HP20 (near left) The venerable brand’s in-ear debut has a feature This already-petite model
collapses for maximum
called RoomFeel, which offers such good sound separation, it rivals the full-size
space efficiency.
models above. US$169, nadelectronics.com. Monoprice Enhanced Active Noise US$212, vmoda.com.
Cancelling Earphones (far left) Affordable, powerful and effective against all sorts
of noise pollution, they’ll last 50 hours on a single AA battery. US$80, monoprice.com.

82 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M P H OTOGR A P H ED BY DA N N Y K IM

IS IT WORTH TAKING A VACATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA DURING
THE RAINY SEASON? WHAT IS THERE TO DO?
There’s a deluge of fun travel options across the region even during the soggier months of the year.
Try one of these four trips to keep the green season from raining on your parade.
Cabana
pool bar at
the Banyan Tree
Macau.
macau
F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F B A N YA N T R E E , M A C A U ; C O U R T E S Y O F T I G E R T R A I L S
Casino-hop till you drop
You’ll never notice a downpour
amid the glitz and glitter of the
Cotai Strip. Asia’s answer to
Vegas has been booming to the
tune of US$45 billion a year and
all that cash keeps cropping up in
wilder ways. In 2017, Zaha Hadid’s
surreal creation for City of
Dreams will open, as will the
US$3.9 billion Lisboa Palace with
a Karl Lagerfeld-designed hotel.
In the meantime, never fear if the
weather turns foul—you can stay
warm and dry at the Banyan
Tree Macau, where even the
most affordable rooms offer
sweeping views. banyantree.com;
doubles from MOP3,099.
Q+A
indonesia
Embark on a spa journey
Falling raindrops melt into
soothing background music as
masseuses gently knead away
your tension over the course of
three days. At the spa at The
Chedi Sakala, a newly opened
resort in one of Bali’s quietest
havens, the products are organic
and the surroundings are extra
indulgent. Your retreat begins
with a two-hour-plus
combination of crystal body
polish, bath ritual and facial,
then continues on days two and
three with Balinese, Himalayan
stone and other muscle-melting
massages. ghmhotels.com;
three-day spa ritual package from
Rp3,380,000.
the philippines
Dive beneath the surface
What’s a little extra water when
you’re already wearing a full
wetsuit? Plunge into the Bohol
Sea for an exploration of at least
seven reef-fringed islands such as
marine sanctuary Apo Island and
dark-sand Dauin, teeming with
skeleton shrimp. Everything
from frogfish to whale sharks to
pygmy seahorses call this
biological hot spot home. And
since it can only be reached by
liveaboard boats—like the S/Y
Philippine Siren, a luxury vessel
hand-crafted from iron and
teak—there’s nary another tourist
in sight. sirenfleet.com; six- to
10-night diving trips to Southern
Visayas from €1,950, including all
meals and equipment.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Trip Doctor
Planning
by Diana Hubbell
Nong Khiaw
100 Waterfalls
Adventure Trail,
in Laos.
laos
Go chasing waterfalls
“Green season” isn’t a
euphemism—during this time of
year the jungles come alive in all
possible shades of emerald. It’s
perfect for trekking, particularly
when you march past mighty
waterfalls that swell
spectacularly with the extra
rainfall. On this journey from
Tiger Trails, an eco-friendly
tour operator that supports local
Lao communities, you’ll climb
along a series of increasingly
impressive cascades, culminating
in one spectacular 20-meter
aquatic avalanche. Tiger Trails;
laos-adventures.com; one-day
Nong Khiaw - 100 Waterfalls
adventure trail from US$74,
inclusive of food and guide.
S E P T E M B E R 2 014 83
Trip Doctor

by Mimi Lombardo
Packing

Q+A

I’M TRAVELING TO
THE ITALIAN LAKES IN
A wool-blend
MIDSEPTEMBER
dress from FOR MY HONEYMOON.
Diane von ANY WARDROBE
Furstenberg
(US$498) is
SUGGESTIONS? Wrinkles are part
perfect for a catherine gluszek, of the design of this
night out.
via e-mail Frank & Eileen
Italian cotton shirt
Fall in northern Italy
(US$178), so it can be
calls for chic attire that worn with ease.
transitions well from
day to night. Opt for
layering pieces that don’t
skimp on style.

Versace’s
leather handbag
(US$3,895) is big
Channel
enough to hold
fashion icon Sophia
all your essentials,
Loren with Isabel
and the bold
Marant par
color is surprisingly
Oliver Peoples
versatile.
sunglasses
(US$365).

For a tailored
approach to
outerwear, try
Lafayette 148’s
lightweight
jacket (US$468).

Rebecca Taylor
trousers (US$350)
are a simple dinner
Manolo Blahnik
staple, and
embellished
the ponte stretch
mules (price upon
fabric will keep
request) are a
you cozy in-flight.
great accent to
S T Y L I S T: B I L L L A U G H L I N

any ensemble.

W H E R E T O S TAY→ Villa d’Este (villadeste.com; doubles from €740) is a grande dame that has hosted everyone from Greta Garbo to George Clooney.
Enjoy a cocktail at the terrace bar after a dip in the “floating” pool, which sits on top of Lake Como. At the Grand Hotel Tremezzo
(grandhoteltremezzo.com; doubles from €500), couples can treat themselves to Espa aromatherapy massages and fondue dinners at L’Escale wine bar’s
cantina (cheese fondue for two €48). Book a recently remodeled rooftop suite with a private deck, Jacuzzi and 360-degree lake views.

84 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M P H OTOG R A P H ED BY VIC TO R P R A DO

H;@KL;D7J;
?D
IJOB; ENJOY YOUR PERSONAL RETREAT WITH
OUR EXCLUSIVE OFFER STARTING FROM
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Valid until (,
:[Y[cX[h 2014$

For direct booking and reservations,

please call (62) 361 775 216
To enquire about our promotional rates,
email us at reservation@chedisakala.com

JALAN PRATAMA 95 TANJUNG BENOA NUSA DUA BALI 80363 INDONESIA T (62) 361 775 216 F (62) 361 775 168 info@chedisakala.com
Trip Doctor
Deals
From a royal slumber to a body-sculpting massage, these offers designed
Wellness
HONG KONG A Royale Getaway
from Hullett House (hulletthouse.
com), a white-stucco heritage
building on Canton Road. The
Deal A stay in a Silvermine suite.
The Highlight A reinvigorating
royal repose on a Vispring’s Regal
Superb mattress made of fine
horsehair and British fleece wool,
designed to improve sleep
quality. Cost HK$13,880,
double, through December 31.
Savings 7 percent.
SINGAPORE So Relaxing
package from The Singapore
Resort & Spa Sentosa
86 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
T+L R E A D E R S PECI A LS
THIS MONTH’S BEST DEALS
to make you feel good both inside and out.
s p ec i a l
hong kong
hk$13,880
p e r n igh t
A Silvermine suite at Hullett House, in Hong Kong.
(singaporeresortsentosa.com), Deal Three nights in a Deluxe
where the world’s largest S u pe r S ave r
Garden villa. The Highlight A
So SPA debuted in July in a 150-minute Romantic Harmony
SIEM REAP
6,000-square-meter heritage spa package for two. Cost From
building. The Deal A stay in a Destination Sojourn US$1,500 (US$500 per night),
Luxury room. The Highlight from Sojourn Boutique double, through March 31, 2015.
A choice of any 60-minute Villas (sojournsiemreap. Savings 30 percent.
massage per person from the com), a rice paddies-
shrouded retreat. The CHINA Introductory rate from
à la carte treatment menu,
Deal Two nights in an Shangri-La Hotel, Tianjin
including the signature body-
Apsara villa. The (shangri-la.com), with stunning
COURTESY OF HULLET T HOUSE
toning So Exhilarating massage.
Highlight A private views of the city’s colonial
Cost From S$485, double,
three-course structure-lined riverbank. The
ongoing. Savings 51 percent.
Cambodian dinner for Deal A stay in a Deluxe River
PHUKET Romantic Villa two. Cost US$279 View room. The Highlight
Getaway from Mövenpick Resort (US$140 per night), Twenty percent savings on a spa
& Spa Karon Beach Phuket double, through treatment at CHI. Cost RMB988,
(moevenpick-hotels.com), 10 September 30. double, book by December 31.
kilometers south of Patong. The Savings 61 percent. Savings 30 percent.
Trip Doctor
Deals
An iconic view of Vietnam from aboard an Au Co cruise.
Culture
VIETNAM Summer Promotion
2014 from Au Co Cruises
(aucocruises.com), exploring
the picturesque Gulf of Tonkin,
from the bays of Halong, Lan Ha
and Bai Tu Long to Cat Ba Island.
The Deal Two nights in a Deluxe
Double cabin. The Highlight
A complimentary night stay at
Sofitel Legend Metropole or a
full-day Hanoi city tour. Cost
US$1,028 per person (US$514
per night), through September
30. Savings 24 percent.
HONG KONG MAMMA MIA!
FANtastic Hotel Stay from The
Landmark Mandarin Oriental
(mandarinoriental.com), a short
walk from Hong Kong Airport
Express station. The Deal Two
nights in an L900 Landmark
suite. The Highlights Two
front-row tickets to MAMMA MIA!
show; two backstage passes to
go behind the scenes and meet
the cast and crew, for those who
stay through visitors-permitted
Wednesday or Friday nights.
Cost From HK$22,200 (from
HK$11,100 per night), double,
88 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
from September 26-October 26.
Savings 40 percent.
Romance
CHINA Romantic Getaway from
Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring
Resort (sheraton.com), an iconic,
ring-like hotel complex on the
shore of Lake Tai, China’s third
largest freshwater lake. The
Deal A stay in a Studio suite.
The Highlights RMB200 daily
spa credits per person with
access to a variety of hot spring
pools for two. Cost RMB2,888,
double, through December 31.
Savings 30 percent.
INDONESIA Colonial Romance
from The Sanchaya (thesanchaya.
com), a showcase of Southeast
Asian cultures in Bintan. The
Deal Two nights in a Lawan villa.
The Highlights A 105-minute
deep-tissue, pain-relieving
Balinese massage for two; plus, a
take-home massage oil set.
Cost From US$980 (US$490
per night), double, through
October 31. Savings 31 percent.
THAILAND The Green Season
Escape from Soneva Kiri (soneva.
com), sporting Koh Kood’s only
14-inch Celestron telescope for a
closer look at the clear night sky.
The Deal Two nights in a Pool
Villa suite. The Highlight Enjoy
sweets with your sweet with
complimentary handmade ice
cream—available in over 60
locally inspired flavors—and
delicious homemade chocolates,
including Fiona Sciolti’s
forest-foraged, locally sourced
Botanical Chocolates. Cost From
US$1,580 (US$790 per night),
double, through October 31.
Savings 27 percent.
Beach
PATTAYA Introductory rate
from Hotel Baraquda Pattaya
(hotelbaraquda.com), a rebranded
property with one of the city’s
funkiest swimming pools. The
Deal A stay in a Deluxe room.
The Highlight Twenty percent
discount on food and beverages.
Cost Bt3,400, double, through
October 31. Savings 10 percent.
PENANG Our Weekday,
Your Holiday from Four Points
by Sheraton (starwoodhotels.
com), on Penang’s secluded
beach overlooking Straits of
Malacca. The Deal A stay in a
Deluxe room. The Highlight
Free meals from the kids menu
for children up to 12 years old
accompanied by a paying adult at
The Eatery. Cost From RM280,
double, through October 31.
Savings 61 percent.
Active
SIEM REAP Luxury Fitness
Retreat from Belmond La
Résidence d’Angkor (belmond.
com), near the Angkor temple
complex. The Deal Seven nights
in a Deluxe room. The Highlights
Daily Angkor Wat International
Half Marathon-prep, boot
camp-style group fitness session
at Siem Reap’s temples; and daily
sore-muscle treatment at Kong
Kea Spa. Cost From US$1,895
per person (US$271 per night),
book by November 1 for a stay
from November 30-December 7.
Savings 35 percent.
MALAYSIA Stay and Play
package from The Westin
Langkawi Resort & Spa
(westinlangkawi.com), earth-tone
rooms and suites, with views of
the Andaman Sea. The Deal Two
nights in a Premium Garden View
room. The Highlight Two
nine-hole rounds of golf for two
at 99 East Golf Club with green
fees, buggy fees, insurance and
transfers included. Cost From
RM1,000 (RM500 per night),
double, through December 31.
Savings 35 percent.
HONG KONG Summer au
Feminin package from Hyatt
Regency Hong Kong (hongkong.
tsimshatsui.hyatt.com), set atop
K11 Art Mall with access to two
metro stations. The Deal A stay
in a Standard room. The
Highlight Exclusive shopping
privileges at K11 Art Mall,
COURTESY OF AU CO CRUISES
including a Paul & Joe skincare
sample, a crème brûlée upon
HK$300 purchase at Paul
Lafayet, and 20 percent discount
on regular-priced handbags at
ISCOV. Cost HK$2,000, double,
through September 30. Savings
10 to 15 percent. 
 A 24/7 ESCAPE. TRANQUIL BY DAY. ELECTRIC BY
NIGHT. SITUATED BETWEEN MAENAM AND
BO PHUT, IT HAS THE FINEST AND MOST
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 Shop
Like
a
La Maison Fenyadi, a concept
store featuring ceramics in
Marrakesh’s Industrial Zone
(219 Z.I. Sidi Ghanem;
212-524/336-201). LocaI
Finding an exquisite handmade souvenir, discovering the
next young designer or unearthing a cooІ vintage store:
it’s what we gІobaІ shoppers Іive (and Instagram) for. Here, T+L spotІights
where to browse and bargain in six of the worІd’s most styІish cities—with
in-the-know tastemakers as guides. By Patrizia Chen, David A. Keeps, Mark Lean, Shane
MitcheІІ, Jane Szita and GiseІa WiІІiams. Edited by JacqueΙine Gifford and Katie James
A LV A R O L E I V A

Hong Kong Amsterda m New DeΙhi Marrakesh Buenos Aires Los Angeles

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 91
Hong Kong
#shoplikealocal

The Bling Ring

Barney Cheng
(barneycheng.com),
sandwiched in his Fashion designer
colorful creations. Barney Cheng shares
his secret list of
bespoke shops.
Menswear La dolce vita-inspired
gentlemen’s wardrobe at
Moustache (31 Aberdeen St.;
moustachehongkong.com) comes
lined in exquisite vintage silks.
Great value silk chambray
digitally printed scarves are top
finds at MODELE de PRUDENCE
(modeledeprudence.com.hk). I also
like Mayer’s (Mandarin Oriental, 5
Connaught Rd.; 852/2524-3317)
crocodile loafers and rainbow-
toned crocodile business card
holders. The Amoury’s (307 Pedder
Bldg.; 12 Pedder St.; thearmoury.
com) vast array of umbrellas, ties
and bespoke suits adds intrigue to
any ensemble.
Browsing The best neighborhood
for leisurely window-shopping is
Tai Hang village. Pop into
Feelsogood (4 Second Ln.) to
peruse the vintage furniture, then
stop by Lab Made Liquid
Nitrogen Ice Cream Laboratory
(6 Brown St.; labmade.com.hk) for
a delicious nitro glacé.
Jewelry Plan a morning trip to
Jade Street, located on Canton
Road, between Kansu Street and
Jordan Road, for great deals on
jade. I hear even style maven Joyce
Ma shops there. Michelle
Ong-Cheung at Carnet (10 Chater
Rd.; carnet jewellery.com) is Hong
Kong’s answer to Joel Arthur
Rosenthal. I also like Prince
Jewellery & Watch (23-25 Nathan
Rd.; princejewellerywatch.com),
where you can buy tasteful
watches and Peonia cut diamonds
by the armful, and Larry Jewelry
(72 Queen’s Rd. Central;
larryjewelry.com), which carries
my own custom-designed pieces.
COURTESY OF BARNEY CHENG

Grooming Head to the well-

appointed BruneBlonde (1
Harbour Rd.; bruneblonde.com)
for expert shaves and intoxicating
private label hair products. For
the best organic beauty ranges
from around the world, Joyce
Beauty (joyce.com) has it all.

92 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Amsterdam
#shoplikealocal

At Home with
Cok de Rooy
The cofounder of interiors
From far store the Frozen Fountain
left: (645 Prinsengracht;
Kings of frozenfountain.com) shares
Indigo (K.O.I.) his design destinations.
jeans; “Hutspot (4 Van
Denham the Woustraat; hutspot
Jeanmaker.
amsterdam.com) is
a hip concept store—I like
Good Jeans the vibrant atmosphere
and the on-site barbershop.
Leave the Levi’s at home: the Dutch are known for You’ll discover pieces from
emerging designers (plaid
their denim brands, making Amsterdam the perfect blankets by Flink; Veloretti
place to pick up a pair with a unique pedigree. bikes). Wonderwood
(3 Rusland; wonderwood.nl)
Denham the G-Star Raw Kuyichi Kings of Indigo (K.O.I.)
specializes in furniture

Jeanmaker
English expat Jason
Denham’s high-end
line combines
premium Japanese
selvage denim with
a traditional approach
to tailoring (leg darts;
signature seven-point
pockets). The flagship
(8 Hobbemastraat;
denhamthejeanmaker.
com) has the largest
selection.
Famous for using
unwashed, untreated
fabric, G-Star Raw
(24-28 P.C. Hooftstraat;
g-star.com) produces
boyfriends and
skinnies that are
practically indestructible.
Also look out for
their more grown-up
Marc Newson and
Correct Line ready-to-
wear collections.
C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F K I N G S O F I N D I G O ; M I Q U E L G O N Z A L E Z ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O K D E R O O Y; M I Q U E L G O N Z A L E Z 4
Sustainable organic This edgy, hard-to-find
cotton and all-natural label was started in an from the 1940’s, 50’s and
indigo dyes are some Amsterdam attic; jeans 60’s. They have more than
of Kuyichi’s ethical are made from organic 100 styles of chairs—both
trademarks—bonus and recycled materials vintage and new designs.
points for the street- and come with a repair Marcel Wanders is the
style cred. Find kit. K.O.I. is sold at stores biggest design star Holland
them at Maison de including Bendorff has produced thus far. When
Bonneterie (140-142 (99 Utrechtsestraat;
you enter his showroom,
Rokin; debonneterie.nl) bendorff.nl) and Sukha
Moooi (187 Westerstraat;
and Nukuhiva (110 Haarlemmerstraat;
(36 Haarlemmerstraat; sukha-amsterdam.nl). moooi.com), you experience
nukuhiva.nl). his world. It’s a must.”

Hit the Street: Gerard Doustraat

South of the city center, de Pijp is a hipster neighborhood filled with independent
boutiques. Visit these standouts along one of the main avenues.
Blond Amsterdam De Kinderfeestwinkel Charlie & Mary Anna & Nina
Load up on collectible ceramics The European antidote to Toys “R” Find eco-friendly fashion for men Anna de Lanoy Meijer and
in bright pastels with Us, this colorful spot stocks an and women (L’Herbe Rouge; People Nina Poot’s boho bazaar is chock-full
cheeky phrases. We especially eclectic mix of toys, costumes Tree; Toms) at this airy store, which of wonderful curiosities: think silk
like their twist on Delft blue and games—everything you need shares space with the Barrique café kimonos, beetle-print stationery and
pottery. 69 Gerard Doustraat; to host a kids’ party. 65 Gerard and rotating pop-up installations. pineapple-shaped centerpieces.
blond-amsterdam.nl. Doustraat; kinderfeestwinkel.nl. 84 Gerard Doustraat; charliemary.com. 94 Gerard Doustraat; anna-nina.nl.

94 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
New DeІhi
#shoplikealocal

Olivia Dar fuses the classic style

of her native France with India’s
vivid colors. Her macramé belts
add flair to any L.B.D. 5H 1F, Jungi
House, Shahpur Jat; US$59.

En Inde designer
Anupama Sukh
Lalvani creates
fiercely bold pieces
Our outrageous (such as these
obsession: 18-karat- gold-plated cube
gold-plated coral-and- bangles) that
pearl “Gazelle” earrings transition well
by Delhi-based designer from day to night.
Manish Arora for famed
Lalvani—who
jewelry atelier Amrapali.
39 Khan Market;
cofounded the line
Karma amrapalijewels.com; with Sonal Sood
in 2004—works
Chameleons US$1,029.
with raw (not
precious) materials,
India’s capital is paradise including leather,
jute and steel.
for accessory maximalists— “Delhi is an old
surprising materials and city with new blood
creative collaborations abound. coming in daily,”
she says. “Whether
they’re the
Louboutin-clad
or those in leather
kolapuri sandals—
both embrace our
This handcrafted aesthetic.” What
sheet-metal vanity about India inspires
case with leather her? “The crazy
straps from Nappa contrasts and
Dori reinterprets (and belief systems, the
miniaturizes) the
geography and
iconic steamer trunk.
21 Inner Ln.;
varying landscapes,
nappadori.com; the architecture
US$340. of mosques and
Hindu temples,
women in sculpture
and mythology—
India caught
between the past
Nida Mahmood’s love of and the future.”
psychedelic street style 125/126 Meharchand
influenced these Great Market, 1F;
Indian Bohemian Tamasha
91-11/4905-0832;
vinyl totes.
36 Shahpur Jat;
US$100 each.
scents nidamahmood.com;
of US$64.
p l a ce
PHILIP FRIEDMAN

One of Code Deco’s “Detour” travel series fragrances, Thar in Pink is perfumer Gauri Garodia’s love song to the rugged
terrain of Rajasthan. “I wanted to re-create the colors of the desert sunset—fuchsia, orange and amber—so the top note has
the dry, spicy freshness of marigold,” Garodia says. “It settles into a golden glow, like a bronzer, on your skin.” Find it at
Second Floor Studio (417 Shahpur Jat; 91-11/4142-0324; US$116), the creative playpen of Punit Jasuja, located in buzzy
Shahpur Jat—an urban village of stylish boutiques, cafés and galleries.
 Marrakesh #shoplikealocal

Épices and the recently debuted Guéliz

Outside Topolina, in Marrakesh. Nomad—the dusty-pink ancient In contrast to the labyrinthine
walls of the medina are home. medina, this is a district of wide
“The streets and the people boulevards. “We walk
One City, Three Enclaves energize me,” he says. One of the everywhere,” say expats Samuel
places he frequents: Souk and Caitlin Dowe Sandes,
What’s trending in Morocco’s style capital? Cherifia (15 Sidi Abdelaziz; founders of Popham Design, a
souk-cherifia.com), a mezzanine tile studio. “Laetitia Trouillet is the
Fashionable insiders walk us through their of charming tiny boutiques, all city’s go-to personal shopper. Her
favorite neighborhoods. with a seasoned global atelier, Studio Lalla (5 Rue de
sensibility. “There are the soft, Liberté; 212-6/6147-7228),
Industrial Zone sure to stock up on sleek leather handwoven towels at La Maison showcases boho handbags along
Maryam Montague, the guru goods at M’H (369 Z.I. Sidi Bahira (No. 15); rattan with jewelry by Parme Marin,”
behind cult design blog My Ghanem; martinehillen.com). Caitlin says. “Make an
F R O M T O P : A LV A R O L E I V A ; R I C A R D O C A S E S

sun hats and lanterns at Original

Marrakesh, favors this evolving
area, 20 minutes outside the
city, for its designer ateliers.
“Laurence Landon (294 Z.I. Sidi
Ghanem; laurencelandon.com)
creates custom chandeliers with
1920’s glamour,” Montague says.
“I order my tagines at Loun
Céramique (505 Z.I. Sidi Ghanem;
lounmarrakech.com), a showroom
that uses high-quality glaze. Be
Topolina (436 Z.I. Sidi Ghanem;
212-6/5134-5795; also at 134 Dar El
Bacha, in the medina) sells
ethnic-inspired dresses in classic
silhouettes, coats with colorful
linings, and loafers in a dizzying
array of African fabrics.”
Medina
For Kamal Laftimi—restaurateur
behind the famous Le Jardin des
Marrakech (No. 4, 1F); or the
casual men’s wear at fashion
photographer turned designer
Randall Bachner’s new store,
Marrakshi Life (No. 1),” Laftimi
says. “Go with a guide to Souk
Kebir Nerjjarine, where Stall 99
(no phone) sells herbal lotions,
eucalyptus soaps and fragrant
rose oils that will instantly
transport you back to Morocco.”
appointment at Fennwerk (148
Ave. Abdelkrim El Khattabi #B4;
fennwerk.com), to peruse Nicolas
Carré’s tribal rugs and
Midcentury furniture. Browse
33 Rue Majorelle (33 Rue Yves
Saint Laurent; 33ruemajorelle.com)
for cups and plates by Chabbi Chic
and couture from Noureddine
Amir—finish up at the little café
for juice and a salad.”
Buenos Aires
#shoplikealocal
CataІina’s picks

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: H A N N A H T H O M S O N ; C O U R T E S Y O F C A B I N E T Ó S E O ; C O U R T E S Y O F T R A M A N D O ; C O U R T E S Y O F A I R E D E L S U R ; C O U R T E S Y O F C O M M E I L F A U T; J A V I E R P I E R I N I  2  ; C O U R T E S Y O F G I L A N T I G U E D A D E S
Cabinet Óseo
“On our site, we sell
these conceptual
metal pieces that
mimic human
anatomy—phalanx
necklaces (shown),
heart-shaped
pendants, and
fingerprint-etched
bangles.” See Tramando
cabinetoseo.com “I’ve been wearing Martín Churba’s
for store locations. collections for years—he is a textile artist
and genius when it comes to prints!
From left: He also recently added home décor to
Sofía, Catalina his flagship boutique in Recoleta.”
and Lucía 1973 Rodriguez Peña; tramando.com.
Sanchez
Barrenechea.
Sister Act
Sofía, Catalina and Lucía Sanchez Barrenechea,
founders of underoursky.com—an online
mecca for Argentinean fashion and interiors—
reveal their B.A. must-haves.

Sofía’s picks

Lucía’s picks

Gil Antigüedades Aire del Sur

“For 30 years, Horacio “This is the ultimate
and María Inés Gil place to buy wedding gifts.
have built an impressive Celedonio Marcelo Lucini designs
arsenal of vintage “From his workshop in the beautiful furniture and
clothing, jewelry, hidden courtyard of an old home accessories, plus
tablecloths, fans, parasols, En el Nombre del Postre residential building, Celedonio necklaces and cuffs
figurines and more.” “In a land where medialunas (croissants) Lohidoy draws inspiration from that incorporate local
412 Humberto 10, 1F; and alfajores once reigned, Argentines nature and wildlife for his wood, leather, deerhorn and
gilantiguedades.com.ar. have developed an addiction to cupcakes spectacular costume jewelry— semiprecious stones.”
and macarons. This pastry shop, in accented with pearls, crystals 1695 Vicente Lopez,
Palermo Hollywood, is one of my and gems from northern 2F; airedelsur.com.
favorites.” 5547 Soler; enelnombre Argentina.” 1223 Uruguay,
delpostre.com.ar. apt. 8; celedonio.com.ar.

Dance the Night Away Patrizia Chen on why tango shoes are a fashionista’s best friend.

I’ll admit it: I’m guilty of hoarding. As a
social tango dancer for many years,
I carry an empty suitcase every time I fly
to Buenos Aires, to be filled with dancing
shoes. I wear them to weddings and
cocktail parties—no more agony in tight
stilettos, as these are made with balance
and flexibility in mind. An added bonus:
most are around US$100. Comme Il
Faut (1239 Arenales, apt. M; commeilfaut.
com.ar), located in Recoleta, is still the
city’s most famous store. Founder Alicia
Muñiz was the first to marry style with
comfort, and her designs (shown) have
the sexiness—plumage! sparkle!—of
Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos. I
also love the trendy yet durable heels at
Neo Tango (1938 Sarmiento; neotango
shoes.com), in Balvanera, and the more
traditional looks at Flabella (263
Suipacha; flabella.com), near the city
center. Ready to watch real people dance
real tango? Head to La Viruta (1366
Armenia; lavirutatango.com), a club
in Palermo Soho where young
and old are on their feet
until five in the morning.

98 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 Los AngeІes
#shoplikealocal
3

West vs. East 5

A long-standing coastal rivalry is now playing out

between L.A.’s top shopping districts. 1
Here’s how two of-the-moment streets stack up. 9

ROSE AVENUE, YORK BOULEVARD, 6

VENICE
As Abbot Kinney Boulevard hosts
more designer brands, this
two-block stretch keeps the funky
spirit of Venice alive.
C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P : D A N N Y K I M ; B R I D G E T P I Z Z O ; C O U R T E S Y O F M E & B L U E ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E G O L D E N S TAT E S T O R E ; J E N N I F E R C A W L E Y; L I LY K I N G ; R E B E C C A J O H N S O N
HIGHLAND PARK
Clothing and furniture;
speakeasies and cafés—York 8
Boulevard is the edgy alternative 7
to Silver Lake and Echo Park.
The CaІifornia Kitchen
These locally made treats, found

Design Showrooms
at farmers’ markets and
gourmet groceries, offer both sweet
and savory tastes of L.A.

1. RX Tonic flavor: blackberry

Juicing fanatics down lemon verbena.
a blend of celery, 720 N. Virgil Ave.;
lemon, ginger, turmeric sqirlla.com; US$12.
and garlic to aid
6. Malibu Honey
digestion. 317 S.
We’re hooked on
Broadway; pressbrothers
Big Red Sun Matters of Space this pure, aromatic
juicery.com; US$5.
An innovative landscape architecture Founders P. J. Roden and Katerina Gabbro nectar produced by
firm that also sells garden furniture, offer interior design services, plus custom 2. DTLA Idyllwild bees that feed on
planters and succulent arrangements. furnishings and fine arts and crafts. Grate this aged, wildflowers and sage
560 Rose Ave.; bigredsun.com. 5005 York Blvd.; mattersofspace.com. hard-pressed goat- from Santa Monica
milk cheese over and the San Gabriel
Concept Stores everything. 317 S. Mountains. 564 Rose
Broadway; dtlacheese. Ave., Venice; malibu
com; US$18. honey.com; US$16.
3. The Sweetness 7. Farmer Dave’s
of Being Rose Goji Roasted Hot Nuts
Chocolate Almonds—the official
Handmade bars with snack of Hollywood—
stone-ground cacao, fire-blasted with
raw honey, goji berries, habanero, vinegar
Himalayan sea salt, and tomato paste.
rose oil and a pinch 511 Rose Ave., Venice;
of Mucuna pruriens. farmerdavescher.com;
Golden State Store Bughouse Art & Design
564 Rose Ave., Venice; US$12.
You’ll find tops by Laguna Beach A gallery, retail lab and event space by
thesweetnessofbeing.
designer Kerry Cassill alongside artists Rebecca Johnson and Jeff Klarin 8. Chili-Covered
com; US$5.
decorative objects and gourmet snacks. (his rock-inspired canvases are legendary). Pineapple
564 Rose Ave.; thegoldenstatestore.com. 5050 York Blvd.; bughouse.com. 4. Saving the This dried-fruit treat
Season Lime delivers tiki taste
Clothing Marmalade with a Mexican
Cookbook author Kevin kick—all in one bite.
West crafts long-soak A&B Coffee, 317 S.
English marmalades Broadway; 1-626/
with local lime and a 716-0705; US$2.50.
hint of ginger. 317 S.
9. Little Dom’s
Broadway; savingthe
Pickled Green
season.com; US$12.
Tomatoes
5. Sqirl Seasonal Bread-and-butter
Preserves pickling and a hot jolt
Reinvent breakfast of crushed red
ME & Blue Honeywood Vintage toast with a range pepper amp up a
Owner M. E. Ster-Molnar specializes Nouveau hippies clamor for Vanessa of artisanal spreads Southern specialty.
in wear-anywhere bohemian Dingwell’s embroidered cotton dresses, by jam maker and 2128 Hillhurst Ave.;
tunics and hand-dyed vintage slips. serapes and Mexican folk-art textiles. restaurateur Jessica littledoms.com;
566 Rose Ave.; meandblue.com. 5117 York Blvd.; honeywoodvintage.com. Koslow. Our favorite US$8.

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 99
 September
2014

Unmarried Kara
tribeswomen, with
ceremonial body
paint, near Dus, in
Ethiopia’s Omo River
Valley, page 126.

Features

102 Langkawi
114 Pingyao, China
116 Asia’s New Spa
Specialists
122 Trendsetters on
Travel
126 Ethiopia
DAV I D C H A N C E L L O R

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 101
 Enchanting Langkawi, land of flying and mischievous monkeys,
and million-year-old mountains, pulls M E R R I T T G U R L E Y in
and sends her skipping down the evolutionary brick road.
P H O T O G R A P H E D BY T H A R AT H O R N S I T T H I T H A M
S T Y L I S T: T U N V A R D E E J U TA V A R A K U L . M O D E L : N I T H I P O R N L E R T N I T I W O N S A K U L .
H A I R A N D M A K E U P : W I T T H AYA K A E O A I M . P H O T O G R A P H E R ’ S A S S I S TA N T: TA N A W AT A S A S U TJ A R I T
 Exploring the ancient
jungle of Langkawi
(swimsuit, Katarina;
skirt, Emilio Pucci).

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 103
 Clockwise from above: Practice
your swing between soft sands and
rolling mountains at The Golf Club, Datai
Bay; strolling poolside at The Andaman
(dress, Halston Heritage); one of
Langkawi’s many small wonders; marine
biologist Dr. Gerry Goeden; spotting
eagles on a mangrove tour; sail boats
dock at Telaga Harbour; mischievious
macaques plot their next move.
 LUXURY
MONKEYS.
That’s how naturalist Nurhidayah Hussein
describes the spectacled langurs and macaques
that, though indigenous to Langkawi, have
adapted perhaps too well to a certain invasive
species: tourists. “These are five-star monkeys
living in a five-star hotel”—namely, the
Andaman Langkawi, where the little devils have
conjured every trick in the book to break into
guest suites and raid mini bars. “You hear a
knock on the door. Room service? No! Monkey
service!” Hussein warns. “They will send their
cutest baby to knock at your balcony, asking for
food. When you open the door to feed it, the
whole family will sneak in behind you.” Why?
“They will have a monkey party. Open your
beers, drink your champagne, eat your chips, sit
on the couch and watch your TV.”

I S H O U L D B E C O N C E R N E D, but a monkey
party sounds fun. Besides, macaques learning to
pop champagne corks is just the tip of the
evolutionary-oddity-iceberg in this collection of
99 tropical islands off the northwestern coast of
peninsular Malaysia that includes some of the
weirdest animals, from flying lemurs to walking
fish, and oldest landforms known to man.
“Ninety-nine magical islands? You’ve heard this
slogan?” ecologist Farouk Omar asks me as we
motor through the mangroves. I nod, ready to
gush, but he goes on: “They aren’t islands; they’re
sea stacks. Just rocks really, but I guess ‘ninety-
nine magical rocks’ doesn’t sound as good.”
No, Farouk, it doesn’t. But if he’s trying to
keep me grounded, he’s failing. The boat tour he’s
leading is only gelling my impression that
B O T T O M R I G H T: C O U R T E S Y O F F O U R S E A S O N S

Langkawi is thoroughly enchanting. As we get

further into the wetlands, the vines weave into
an arch overhead and I can sense the age of the
land. It even smells old; millions of years of life
and death, flood and drought, growth and rot,
have given the earth a rich zoetic cologne. In
2007, Langkawi was awarded World Geopark
status by UNESCO and, according to their research,
most of this archipelago rose to the surface 220
million years ago—though the island’s oldest
geological formation, Mat Cincang Mountain,

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 105
may have risen from the seabed twice as long ago, following the
breakup of the supercontinent Pangea. This would have been during
Cambrian era, a period of great proliferation of life on Earth, and
modern-day Langkawi still reflects that biodiversity, both in its wide
range of topography and its miscellany of animals (there are 503
different species of butterflies alone). Naturally, there’s been an
upsurge of luxury resorts that are designed, from architecture to
operations, to dazzle visitors with this veritable petri-dish of earthly
wonders. It was the mid 1800’s when evolutionary biologist Alfred
Russel Wallace reflected, “The very finest field for an exploring and
collecting naturalist was to be found in the great Malayan
Archipelago.” I’m 150 years behind him, but I intend to bask in those
same peculiarities of olden extant species.

“IT IS SLEEPING WITH ITS EYES OPEN like a reptile,” Hussein

tells me pointing to the bark of a tree. Every rustle in the kelly tangle
hides some furtive animal action. I squint in the direction she is
indicating but, though I’ve spotted kingfishers, hornbills, otters and
squirrels already in the past hour, now I can’t see a thing. In this
dipterocarp jungle the trees fruit and flower at such towering heights
that the forest floor is left dimly lit and sparsely populated. Every
felled tree spawns a flurry of growth as saplings compete for the
prized patch of light and climb eagerly towards the vacant spot in the
vertiginous canopy. The whole ecosystem revolves around height,
with animals forced to find their way into the treetops in search of
food—one result of which is the abundance of more than 230 species
of birds. Local folklore has it that the name Langkawi comes from a
shortened version of the Malay word for eagle, helang, and kawi,
which means reddish brown: Red Eagle Island.
There are a few unexpected additions to the airborne family, as
well—creatures that evolved the gift of glide. There’s the flying frog,
whose wide webbed feet allow it to drift through the air. The flying
lizard relies on an extra membrane around its throat, like a bullfrog,
to launch from tree to tree. The flying snake winds up tree trunks,
then hurls itself from high branches and flattens its body to catch the
draft as it cruises towards its unsuspecting victims below.
And what I’m blinking at? The enigmatic colugo, or flying lemur.
For years nobody was able to classify this animal. It looks like a big
squirrel, its long nails allow it to hang upside down like a bat, and it
uses the extra flaps of skin between its legs to sail through the
heights. In 2002, DNA testing shed some light on the mysterious
mammal, revealing that it is, in fact, a primate. But that simple
answer doesn’t satisfy everyone. “The DNA does not suit the
behavior,” Hussein says. “A monkey does not look like this. A monkey
E A G L E , M A N G R O V E A N D B O AT: C O U R T E S Y O F F O U R S E A S O N S

does not fly.”

Monkeys also don’t booze it up, but Hussein says, “I have seen them
do it.” And, although snakes are not known to amuse themselves with
playground equipment, there, back at the resort, is a giant king cobra
slithering from a low-hanging tree down onto the kids’ waterslide. “I
have chills,” a young American woman tells me as, in the relentless
tropical heat, she tugs up her sleeve and wags her goose-pimply arm
at me as proof. I give her a courtesy nod but, like everybody else in the
thickening throng, my eyes are glued to the largest venomous snake
in the world. Though it’s just a pipsqueak in king cobra terms, it is still
thicker than my calf and at least 3 meters long. “Can you imagine
being in the pool and having that thing come sliding right at you?” the
woman asks me. “Surprise! It’s the Jungle Book, but for real and we’re
all going to die.”

106 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 Clockwise from top
left: Sunset from the
comfort of a catamaran
cruise (jumpsuit, Diane
von Furstenberg); the
name Langkawi comes
from the Malay word for
eagle, a bird that
abounds on the island;
an oxbow cuts through
the verdant mangrove
forest; weaving through
limestone karsts; a
cave ripe for kayaking;
enjoying a morning walk
on the beach.
On the bow of the
Sea Falcon (dress,
Halston Heritage;
cuff, Chanel).
‘THERE IS JUST ONE

PIRATE STILL SAILING

THE MALACCA STRAITS,

AND YOU’RE WITH HIM’

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 109
Clockwise from top left: Fishing buoys the
island economy; a prehistoric rock formation
pops out of the jungle; handling a slithering
local; a spectacled langur monkey; dwarfed
by giant leaves (dress and hat, Emilio Pucci).
Opposite: Catching rays (swimsuit, Katarina;
pants, Diane von Furstenberg; scarf, Bvlgari;
sunglasses, Chanel).
 Thanks, lady—now I have chills. I look to Hussein for reassurance.
I know that she can’t offer much in the way of physical protection, but
surely there’s some soothing factoid about the harmlessness of giant
poisonous snakes that she can offer. “This is their house,” she shrugs.
“We just rent the space from them.” While that’s one landlord I’d hate
to tick off, there’s something life affirming and profound about an
island where the divides between man and nature are still blurred,
where the wilderness still reigns.
“ W E A R E B L E S S E D T O B E I N T H E M I D S T O F one of the world’s
most incredible geological and ecological environments, yet so few
tourists realize the extent of the nature that lies beyond Langkawi’s
beaches,” says the Four Seasons’ senior naturalist, Aidi Abdullah.
“There’s a lot of mind-blowing nature out there and we just want
people to know about it.” To that end, the resort opened Geopark
F I S H E R M A N B O AT, M O U N TA I N A N D M O N K E Y: C O U R T E S Y O F F O U R S E A S O N S
Discovery Centre earlier this year that features exhibition boards,
interactive presentations and displays, which showcase Langkawi’s
incredible environment.
It’s a perfect setting for responsible adventure tourism—the Kilim
Karst Geoforest Park, for example, is ideal for sailing. Rife with secret
restaurants tucked in quiet corners of karst-sheltered sea, this
limestone labrynth is a playground for sea dogs. The more aerially
enamored can board the cable car that summits Mat Cincang
mountain for a visual tease of all the captivating jungle below. No
wonder backpackers have been wise to the many attractions of the
“Jewel of Kedah” for ages. Now the whole vibe is flush with upscale
options set to multiply over the next year. A Ritz-Carlton is slated to
open in 2015, the luxe Vivanta by Taj is taking over Rebak Island, and
there’s a St. Regis in the works, to name a few. Meanwhile stalwarts
like the Andaman and the Four Seasons are tweaking their offerings
to better highlight the natural surroundings, with scientists and
preservationists on call to educate guests on the island’s ecology.
Malaysia has lost 90 percent of its natural
fishing resources since the 1980’s, according to
marine biologist Dr. Gerry Goeden, but new
coral colonies could generate fresh life. The
Andaman has launched a protection program to
help rebuild the thousands of years of growth
that was cleared in the 2004 tsunami and to
offset the impacts of commercial fishing.
Working with the National University of
Malaysia, the resort is creating artificial reef
modules designed to provide the right
environment to protect fish eggs and small fish,
a system that could lead to an extra 10,000 kilos
of fish a year. Currently the Andaman has four
modules anchored off its shore, and Goeden has
an ambitious end goal of bumping it up to 5,000
by 2020. This would reinvigorate the aquatic
ecosystem, as well as bolster the local fishing
industry to help meet the increasing demand for
seafood that comes with the influx of new
resorts and hungry tourists.
No island vacation is complete without at
least one seafood feast, but responsible
restaurants ban the purchase of adolescent fish,
so they can grow to reproductive maturity and
propagate before they are pulled from the sea.
After the lesson on marine conservation, a short
one-at-a-time snorkeling tour of the 10-by-20-
meter saltwater coral nursery enclosure is
offered, for an up-close look at the colorful sea
life. “One thousand kids a year visit and come
away with a more sustainable life view,” Goeden
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 111
says. “These are children who come from a privileged background. In
15 years they will be in the position to make a difference.”

T H E C O R A L C O N FA B H A S M E L O N G I N G for a sojourn at sea. I board

Captain Todd Fisher’s 14-meter luxury catamaran, the Gone Surfin’,
for a sunset cruise. I listen to the wind cracking the sails taut as we
breeze through shallow waves, and from my spot on the bow of the
boat I have a front row view of Thailand edging nearer in the distance.
“You need to bring your passport if you go swimming—you just may
cross the international border,” Fisher tells me.
I ask him how he ended up in Langkawi.
“Sometimes lightning strikes,” he says.
I chuckle.
“No, literally: lightning struck my boat and it jammed all my
equipment. I had to sail to the closest shore and that was that beach
right there,” he points to Datai Bay. “That was several years ago and I
keep coming back.” He’s not the first to get marooned in these waters.
Fisher nods to Koh Tarutao: “That used to be an island of political
prisoners.” There were more than 3,000 Thai convicts held captive
there and, during World War II, the country ran out of supplies to feed
them. “They all turned to piracy,” he says grimly. “Even the guards.”
I ask if there are still pirates sailing the Malacca Straits.
“Just one,” says Fisher, “and you’re with him.”
There are more than a few medicine men in this region, however,
and Shaaban Arshad is the resident healer at Kubang Badak, “buffalo
wallow”, village. Arshad concocts tropical elixirs that he prescribes
for everything from breast lumps to psoriasis. “He goes into the
jungle behind his house,” local preservationist Irshad Mobarak tells
me, pointing behind the lovely home where we are having lunch, “and
that’s where he gathers the plants and spices that cure lung cancer.”
Cure? “His father was a medicine man. His grandfather was a
medicine man,” Mobarak explains. “This knowledge is passed down.”
Arshad breaks into a long rant in Malay and Mobarak translates:
“Medicine men act from the heart. Very passionate. His grandfather
would paddle in a wooden boat across 30 kilometers of ocean every
weekend just to see his girlfriend in Thailand.” “Why didn’t he just
move to Thailand?” I ask. “Malaysia is between India and China and
the herbs are among the oldest in the world,” Irshad says. “There are
plants and animals here on Langkawi that you can’t find anywhere
else on earth.”

I F O C U S O N T H E B U L L S- E Y E and breathe in. As I exhale, I let my

arrow fly. It breezes through the jungle and lands with a thump in the
outermost ring of the target. I let out a triumphant whoop, though I
can guess from my instructor’s expression that this is not an
impressive achievement. Still, I stand proud, bow in hand. It is 2 p.m.
and I’ve already swum in the hidden Lengarra Creek; biked through
SUNSET AND CR AB: COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS

rice paddies and a fishing village; trekked through boscage; climbed a

limestone cliff and abseiled down; and now become a master archer.
I’m breathing thick jungle air, sweating out city life and feeling right
at home as I tumble backwards into a prehistoric age.
I’m caught in a paradox: the older my surroundings, the younger I
feel. Maybe it’s that on an island where fish walk, snakes fly, and one
bolt of lightening can change the course of a man’s life, anything
seems possible. “In all works on natural history,” Wallace wrote, “we
constantly find details of the marvelous adaptation of animals to
their food, their habits, and the localities in which they are found.”
Maybe I’m just evolving. 

112 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 +
T L Guide
Wonderland Food Store
Getting There
and serves up the same
There are daily flights
high caliber of delicious
from Kuala Lumpur and
and fresh dishes in a
Penang to Langkawi on
slightly more upscale
AirAsia (airasia.com),
setting. Bandar Baru Baron
Malaysian Airlines
33, Kuah; 60-12/470-7687;
(malaysiaairlines.com)
dinner for two RM100.
and Malindo Air
Ikan-Ikan Restaurant
(malindoair.com).
Head to this charming
beachfront eatery for the
Monday Fisherman’s &
Farmer’s Night, featuring
STAY
delectable choose-your-
Four Seasons Langkawi
own-ingredients noodle
This sprawling seafront
stations and a lively
estate has an adults-only
traditional dance show. Jln.
swimming pool and a thick
Tanjung Rhu, Mukim Ayer
1.6-kilometer-long private
Hangat; 60-4/950-8888;
beach for multiple lounge
fourseasons.com/langkawi;
options. The concierge can
buffet RM240 per person.
arrange rock climbing and
Eagle Rock Wash down
archery in the jungle
pub food like nachos and
playground behind their
wings with a cold beer or
property. Jln. Tanjung Rhu,
killer kamikaze, while you
Mukim Ayer Hangat; 60-4/
rock out to live music.
950-8888; fourseasons.
Block 5, GF, Awana Porto
com/langkawi; doubles
Malai Resort, Tanjung
from RM1,780.
Malai; eaglerockcafe.com.
Meritus Pelangi Resort
my; drinks for two RM50.
& Spa Designed in the
style of a Malay village,
DO
this tropical resort has 352
Jungle Walla Explore the
guestrooms and suites
secrets of the mangrove
peppered across 14 well-
forest with naturalist
manicured hectares of
Irshad Mobarak. jungle
beachfront. Pantai Cenang;
walla.com; unesco Geopark
60-4/952-8888;
Cruise RM199 per person.
meritushotels.com; doubles
Cable Car Board
from RM850.
Langkawi’s famous cable
The Andaman, Langkawi
car for a breathtaking
Tucked between the jungle
1,700-meter ride to the
and Datai Bay, the recently
Top Station of ancient Mat
refurbished rooms have
Cincang Mountain.
floor-to-ceiling windows
panoramalangkawi.com;
offering exceptional views.
RM35 per person.
Jln. Teluk Datai; 60-4/959-
Coral Nursery Learn
1088; theandaman.com;
about marine conservation
doubles from RM1,900.
and coral preservation
under the guidance of
EAT
marine biologist Dr. Gerry
Privilege Restaurant
Goeden. theandaman.com/
and Bar A mix of modern
NA-coralnursery.
and classic Malaysian
gastronomy, located right
Clockwise from top
left: The sun says on Telaga Harbour. B8, 1F
good morning; an Perdana Quay, Telaga
enigmatic flying Harbour Park, Pantai Kok;
lemur; toes in the 60-4/956-1188;
sand (swimsuit, privilegerestaurant.com;
Katarina; scarf, dinner for two RM90.
Bvlgari); one-at-a- Kuah Town Seafood
time snorkeling
Far from fancy but
tours of The
brimming with local flavor,
Andaman’s coral
nursery; a clown fish this restaurant is a sister
in the sea anemone. enterprise of the
Right: Fiddler crab. community favorite
Looking toward
the City Tower
along Ming
Qing Street, in
Pingyao.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY TONY LAW

 You expect Marco Polo to
round the corner at any moment.
Pingyao is the very rare Chinese
city, perhaps the last of the
country’s great walled towns, to
have escaped the successive
waves of modernization that
have swept China over the past
100 years—the 1911 Chinese
Revolution, the 1949 Communist
Revolution, the 1966–76
Cultural Revolution, and the
rampant industrialization
and globalization of the last
generation. Its 72 watchtowers
look out over a turbulent sea
of tiled roofs, with curving eaves
tipped with ceramic dragons.
Red paper lanterns float over the
pedestrian streets like so many
autumn moons. The city is a time
machine into the Chinese
past and traditional Han culture.
It’s all here, Pompeii before
Vesuvius, a fine-grained, highly
detailed, movie-set-perfect
microcosm of traditional China,
built during a seminal and
flourishing period. The nearly
2.5-square-kilometer town
includes the ornate, tiered,
three-story City Tower and
numerous large Confucian and
Taoist temple complexes, all part
of one of the world’s best-preserved
ancient cities.
—JOSEPH GIOVANNINI

Pingyao is 644 kilometers

southwest of Beijing and
accessible via train. The closest
airport is Taiyuan.

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 115
116 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 License
to
Heal
F I N G E R - D A N C I N G FAC I A L S , YO G A- F U E L E D C L E A N S E S , D O C T O R -
D E L I V E R E D P E D I C U R E S : J E N I N N E L E E-S T. J O H N P U T S H E R H E A LT H A N D
B E AU T Y I N E X P E R T H A N D S. I L L U S T R AT E D BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

SOMETIMES,
the most
perfect pairings are hiding right under your
nose… Or, for the sake of this discussion, your
toes. We live in a region obsessed with and awash
in wellness centers but, talented though many
therapists are, rote techniques and repetitive
menus can make it hard to distinguish among
them. That’s why I suggest you take a careful
reading of the spa offerings on your next five-
star getaway. Because some of them are calling
on the credentialed to bring innovative
techniques that will make you wonder, Why
didn’t they think of that before? Now emerging in
Asia: a wave of cross-disciplinary aestheticians,
healers with unexpected, yet perfectly fitting,
certifications tailoring their particular brand of
expertise to methods of making you feel better,
and look better too.
I recently rode that wave right into an
ergonomic leather recliner, with my legs propped
up, and under the spotlight. It felt like a dentist’s
chair, except the spotlight was not to inspect my
teeth but my toes, and the questions from the
assistant—How far back would you like to lie
down? What type of tea do you take? How strong
do you like your massage?—I’m pretty sure have
never been asked by a dental hygienist. In a little
Bill Bensley-designed mod hut mere steps from
the South China Sea, the lapping of waves
outside mingling with the room’s trance-y
Apsara mood music, I settled in for my
appointment with the podiatrist.
I was there to get a pedicure, and the draw and
unimpeachable logic of the Studio by Bastien
Gonzalez pedicure—whether at its eight-month-
old spot at the InterContinental Danang Sun
Peninsula in Vietnam, where I had it, or at the
other Asia-Pacific locations in China, Maldives,
Singapore, Thailand, and, breaking news,
Australia—is that they are all conducted by
actual foot doctors, whom you can trust to keep
their tools clean and to prioritize health. Bien sûr
it was a Frenchman who came up with this
concept of the medical-beauty foot-love mélange.
For this is no clinical consultation; caresses were
involved, ladies.
118 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
Though some of it was tough love.“Gel is
making your nails too brittle,” the dashing
Toulouse-born Dr. Benoît Perié told me gently
but to my great dismay. After I stopped whining
about the convenience of my tri-weekly mani-
pedi, he continued, extolling the virtues of the
dry pedicure: “Hydration makes it difficult to see
the difference between dry skin and healthy
skin.” Okay, so no pre-treatment soak. Rather
than push back the cuticles (“that can weaken
the matrix of the nail, and an injured cuticle is an
open door to bacteria”), he used a blade to remove
their protruding edges, and rather than a pumice
stone, Perié pulled out a scalpel. He told me he
was slicing micro-fine layers off my heel, but I
had already looked away, laid back and put on my
aromatherapy eye-mask. Meanwhile, his
assistant was working on my manicure so
dexterously that I started to think this so-called
“Bastien’s Duo” could take any four-hands body
massage—especially when she threw in an
actual hand massage and Perié went to work
reflexology-style on my feet and calves.
This is no The pièce de résistance of Bastien Gonzalez is
the buff, in keeping with his major tenet that
clinical naked nails are beautiful. “Polish is like make-
up for your nails,” Perié said. “You take off your
consult; make-up at night to let your skin breathe. You
caresses have to take off polish to let your nails breathe.”
A two-day break every week should do the trick.
were But after a good rubbing from the chamois
leather buffer and ground-pearl cream, my nails
involved, shined like they were sporting clear polish, and
ladies it lasted for six weeks. Who needs gel?
Au naturel—that was also the premise of the
Yogic Detox Intestinal Cleanse I tried under the
guidance of Dorelal Singh Thakur, who has two
master’s degrees in yoga, for science and
philosophy, and is guiding the launch of new
yoga retreats at Six Senses Spas across the
region. Don’t call it an enema. (Well, you sort of
can because it leads to the same, er, end result.)
The deceptively simple process is thus: wake up
early; drink two glasses of salt water; do five
yogic poses meant to flush the water through
your system, top to bottom, eight times each;
repeat; and repeat again. That’s six glasses of salt
water totaling almost two liters, and, I’ll say it,
it’s gross. By the second glass, I was nauseated.
By the fifth glass, I was Dumbledore in the cave,
begging Harry not to make him drink any more
poison. Don’t make me do it! “You just have one
more to go,” Dorelal said encouragingly. Right, I
still have one more to go.
Yes, salt water is poison. Salt water is not
meant for human consumption. Salt water
cannot be digested. That’s why this works.
Imbibe it as quickly as possible, and wiggle it out
fast, too—the second pose, swaying palm tree
(tiryaka tadasana), for example, helps move
water through the pyloric sphincter from the
stomach to the duodenum, while the fourth,
twisting cobra (tiryaka bhujangasana),
stimulates movement in the small and large
intestines, opening the right valves, or
floodgates, if you will. Along the way, this poison
acts as a magnet for all the other toxins hidden in
nooks of your digestive tract, picking them up
and whisking them out to not only cleanse your
system, but also help you absorb the good
nutrients you ingest afterward.
After the least pleasant yoga class I’ve ever
had, Dorelal sat me upright and, for about 45
Dr.
minutes, amused me with the details of several Kapoor
other, less palatable, and certainly less printable,
yogic cleanses that he had to do over and over at was right:
an ashram. I didn’t think I’d ever want to do even I felt
this one again, but it was true that after each set
of poses, I felt better than before I’d started. For weightless
his part, Dorelal does this cleanse about once a
month and, “It gets better,” he assured me. “The
and pure
body learns that you’re trying to do something for days
good for it”—which was my cue to retire to the
loo. I’ll say precious little more here besides that
the on-site Ayurvedic doctor, Ranjan Kapoor,
had described the aftereffects as “a great
lightness” and he was right. I felt weightless and
pure for days.
That morning, he prescribed a surprisingly
palatable porridge of rice, lentils and ghee to
ease me back into solid foods and to ensure my
small intestine didn’t collapse, followed by a
Nourishing Facial, partly based on his
assessment of how those naughty toxins had
been manifesting themselves physically and
partly to rehydrate me after all that saline.
A Western-style treatment ordered up by an
Eastern-medicine doctor? The two philosophies
absolutely can be reconcilable, says Taiwanese-
born, London-dwelling Su-Man Hsu. Hsu
believes that oriental skincare wisdom focused
on prevention and reparative occidental
cosmetic science work best in tandem. This one-
time professional modern dancer with
credentials in Pilates and shiatsu massage rolls
all those talents into anti-aging facials for the
celebrity likes of Juliette Binoche and Freida
Pinto. “Clients have described my fingers as
dancers,” Hsu said after her most recent tour of
W Away Spas in Bali and Singapore, where she
makes regular appearances. “I use my core and
body weight in a very balanced way so I can
transfer energy without force. I let my clients tell
me what to do by what I see through my hands, as
my hands are my second eyes.”
Clients have also said she has the recipe for a
facelift in an hour, with her combined use of
massage, acupressure and proprietary cleansers
and creams—based on the “crazy concoctions”
she and her sisters whipped into beauty products
as kids, using, for instance, the inner skin of
watermelon as an astringent. “I lift tired and
sagging muscles as well as open the energy
channels in the face. This leaves skin looking
sculpted,” she said. “I would argue that it’s better
than Botox because the face remains expressive
and relaxed rather than frozen and fixed.”
Why not trust a dancer to improve your
movement and expression? “Dance is instinctive
but requires precision and performance,” Hsu
said. “I need to be creative” in blurring and
rethinking our common conceptions of spa
treatments. Diet, balance, sleep-deprivation,
pollution, stress: Most of our health problems
are elastic and multidisciplinary, so shouldn’t
the cure match the ailment? 
+
T L Guide
PEDI:MANI:CURE locations and their yogic
Studio by Bastien offerings; Six Senses Yao
Gonzalez Visit Noi in Thailand, sixsenses.
bastiengonzalez.com for com/yaonoi, Yogic Detox
information on all studio programs from US$800 for
locations; InterContinental five-night regimen.
Danang Sun Peninsula in Su-Man’s Signature
Vietnam, danang. Facial Visit su-man.com
intercontinental.com, for news and product
Bastien’s Duo information; W Retreat &
VND3,200,000. Spa Bali-Seminyak,
Six Senses Yogic Detox whotels.com, US$200 for
Visit sixsenses.com for 60-minute Su-Man’s
information on all spa Signature Facial.

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 121
 THE
WAY

M A R K E T E D I T O R : C O U R T N E Y K E N E F I C K . H A I R A N D M A K E U P : B R I T C O C H R A N F O R L A N C Ô M E AT A R T D E P A R T M E N T  W I N S E R , H A L L A N D C L E V E L A N D  . L A U R A P R E P O N : H A I R B Y D O N A L D F R A N C I S . M A K E U P B Y L E Y D A Q U I N T E R O
I
TRAVEL
Four trendsetters
reveal their
travel essentials—
and their favorite
destinations.

INTERVIEWS BY JERYL BRUNNER

PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANDREAS LASZLO KONRATH
STYLED BY MIMI LOMBARDO

SENSE OF ADVENTURE reminds me of old-world travel, radish.com). My partner and I

PHIL WINSER
Restaurateur and co-owner
of N.Y.C. hot spots the
Fat Radish, the East Pole
and the Leadbelly
My father used to organize
expeditions for the Royal
Geographical Society in London,
taking scientists to remote
places—caves in Brunei;
Oman’s Wahiba Sands. I still use
his Globe-Trotter suitcase. It
when exploration was at the
forefront of excitement. RETURN
TO RIO At seventeen, I spent a
year in Brazil. I hadn’t been back
until a recent trip to Rio to build a
pop-up hotel and restaurant,
Casa Fat Radish (casafat
collaborated with local artists,
designers and musicians—
there is such energy and
passion in the Carioca way of
life. NEXT TRIP I’d love to go
to Havana, just to walk around
and admire the architecture.

122 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
LAURA PREPON
Actress, starring in the
Netflix original series
Orange Is the New Black
CABIN COMFORT This
oversize Gucci cashmere
shawl was one of my first big
purchases after I started on
That ’70s Show. I always carry
it on to use as a blanket.
I love it, because it brings
me back to those days.
GETTING LOCAL I’ve been
to a lot of cities in Europe,
and Stockholm is a favorite.
I enjoy biking to South
Island to discover more indie
neighborhoods. The fish at
Sturehof (sturehof.com) is
unbelievable, and Gold Bar
(nobishotel.se), at the Nobis
Hotel, is the best place to
grab a drink. NEXT TRIP I
want to pass through the
Sun Gate and finally see
Machu Picchu.

Coat by Yigal Azrouël;

shawl, Gucci (similar
styles available); ring,
Simon G. Jewelry.
On Phil Winser: Suit
by Ernest Alexander;
shirt, Thomas Pink;
shoes, Vans; bracelets,
his own.
CARTER CLEVELAND
Founder and CEO of Artsy,
a next-generation online
resource for contemporary art
FUNCTIONAL FORM My
Côte & Ciel Isar Rucksack is
sturdy and durable, with
compartments to organize
my travel essentials:
laptop, iPhone, Kindle,
adapters and earplugs.
UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
I recently traveled to
Tel Aviv with a group of
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
and met Israel’s prime
minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, and the mayor
of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat.
It was exciting to learn how
they’ve made technology
a critical part of their
country’s success.
I also visited the Tel Aviv
Museum of Art (tamuseum.
org.il), where I saw a
comprehensive show by
Brazilian artist Vik Muniz,
plus works by some of
my favorite artists—Shirin
Neshat, Anselm Kiefer
and Max Ernst. NEXT TRIP
I’m heading to Istanbul
soon for the first time.

Sweater and shirt by

Salvatore Ferragamo;
pants, A.P.C.; silicone
“Fake Rolex” watch (by
artist Shelter Serra),
his own. On Lena Hall:
Jacket by Zac Posen;
pants, Troa; shoes, Hervé
Léger by Max Azria;
rings, David Yurman and
Jennifer Meyer Jewelry.
 PACKING HARMONY When I
LENA HALL travel with my band, I use this
vintage suitcase to carry props
Tony Award–winning for the show. I bought it at a
performer in Hedwig and thrift shop and painted on our
the Angry Inch; lead logo. When I’m really tired after
singer of the Deafening playing, it makes a great seat.
INSIDER’S FRANCE I booked
a spontaneous, two-week
trip to Paris last October,
when the air was cool and
crisp. My parents were both
professional ballet dancers,
so I attended a performance
by students of the Ballet
School at the Paris Opera
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
(operadeparis.fr), where Janine
Guiton, one of my father’s
former partners, used to teach.
As I watched, I kept imagining
myself on that stage.
NEXT TRIP We get asked to
play in the U.K. all the time—I
hope to make it a reality!
S E P T E M B E R 2 014 125
 •••
On a trip
through remote
southern Ethiopia,
GUY TREBAY
encounters
the last remaining
tribes of the
Omo River Valley—
and the strange,
powerful beauty of
the unknown.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY
DAVID CHANCELLOR

•••
Unmarried Nyangatom
girls, with ornamental scars,
in the Omo River
Valley’s Lokulan village.
 •••
“Up at first baboon,” the safari guide said
brightly at dinner, though it’s not clear
why he felt the need. When it comes to waking
the dead, baboons are more reliable than
cell phones, quartz clocks or a New York City
garbage truck grinding its gears.
Wide awake the next morning, well before
the guide stopped by my fly tent to rouse me,
I strapped on a headlamp, wrapped a towel
around my waist, and scuffed through the dark to
a wash tent for a cold shower. After dressing
in the dark, I hurried to the boat landing to join
our small assembly, at this hour a cluster of vague
and indefinite shapes, for a voyage downriver.
Daybreak creased the black horizon as the
boatman cast off; in the growing light individual
identities began to emerge. We were, it occurred
to me, by any standards a motley assembly. There
were the two safari outfitters, one a rough-hewn
Kenyan, the other a well-upholstered South
African with a plummy public-school accent.
There was the Felliniesque Swiss-Italian
daughter of an internationally celebrated pop
diva. There was a handsome young hacker
who’d recently cashed in on a spyware system
for US$70 million, and also his father, a Dallas
developer mellow enough to cast into doubt every
stereotype one ever held about Texans.
There was an empty-nest matron from
northern California in the process of reinventing
herself as a documentary photographer. Her
subject specialty, she said when first introduced,
was butchery.
Before we convened in a hotel restaurant in
Addis Ababa, I’d never laid eyes on most of these
people; a week later they remained to me a cluster
of implacable mysteries. Why was the Italian
glamour-puss, whose natural habitat is the front
row of Milan fashion shows, covered with tribal
tattoos? What karmic debt schedule inspired the
California housewife, liberated from mommying,
•••
Dassanech guarding grain in the lower Omo Valley.
to spend her days hauling around a pack mule’s burden of tripods,
lenses and camera bags? How had that woman’s brother, our South
African guide, transformed himself from a high-end caterer into a
latter-day Denys Finch Hatton? Why, above all, had we found ourselves
joined in adventure through one of the remotest regions of Africa, a
place that until recently was reachable only by a weeks-long river
journey or along bone-jarring washboard tracks optimistically referred
to in Africa as roads?
I assured myself that, like all travelers, we were seekers—of precisely
what was not yet clear. And on that one point our South African guide
was insistent: we were travelers and not mere tourists. It was a
distinction that came to mean less the longer we were together, beyond
the obvious truth that either group is equally adept at demonstrating
I
limitless possibilities for cultural misunderstanding.
t was just past dawn when the boatman steered us toward a
mudbank, disturbing a stately goliath heron. With a succession of
creaky wingbeats, the auburn-topped great bird pressed off into the
air, like a codger rousing himself from an easy chair. Beyond the
bank a dense grove of scrub trees stood, with a path cut through it
leading to a Kara village. There our group had an appointment to
attend an orwak ceremony, a rare invitation from a village
headman to witness soothsayers foretell the future by reading the
entrails of a goat.
“Life, life takes you,” a cabbie had murmured to me some days earlier
in Addis Ababa, as he banged around the corrugated roads of the capital

Unmarried Kara tribeswomen from Dus.
in a rusted Soviet Lada, a vehicular relic of
another era, the grim days of military occupation
known as the Derg. His youthful ambition to
pursue medicine, the driver explained, had come
to nothing, subsumed by the exigencies of
remaining alive. Having survived the Derg, here
he was now piloting an old jalopy in endless loops
around a city best described as African
Transitional: half glass-towered metropolis, half
shantytown. At least, the driver said, he’d escaped
being killed.
Nothing about the current political situation
in Ethiopia approaches the unfathomable
darkness of that chapter, a time of socialist
military rule and state-sanctioned torture. Yet
plenty remains to trouble traveler or tourist, not
least the multifarious forces threatening the
survival of the very tribes we’d come to observe.
Over the past 20 years, oil discoveries, government
leasing of vast tracts of parkland to foreign
agribusiness investors, and a hydroelectric
dam under construction upriver from the last
remaining tribal peoples of Omo have all
conspired to uproot these farmers from their
lands and imperil their centuries-old cultures
and very existence.
•••
Life takes you, I thought, as we left the tea-colored river led by a
gaggle of laughing children. It struck me that life had led me on many a
strange adventure, not least this one, to a region I’d subconsciously
vowed to visit as a child. It was back then, poring over the pages of
Réalités—an arty French magazine to which my parents unaccountably
had a subscription—that I first encountered people who marked their
bodies with ornamental patterns of scars, who cut and stretched their
lips to accommodate clay plates that, while disfiguring to a Western
eye, were emblems to the Suri and Mursi of elegance and wealth.
We were here in southwestern Ethiopia to see those tribes and also
the agriculturalist honey-gatherers known as the Kara; the statuesque
pastoralists called the Nyangatom; and the Hamar, whose women daub
themselves for hygiene with ocher and butterfat. We were here to seek
out the Dassanech and the Kwegu, the latter a benighted group kept by
stronger tribes in a state of semi-slavery. We had hopes, too, of
encountering the reclusive Suri, some of whom inhabit mountainous
redoubts so remote that fewer outsiders have seen them, our Kenyan
guide claimed, than have set foot on the moon.
In a short while we found ourselves in the Kara village of Dus, a
dusty apron of land cleared from the bush along the Omo River. Huts
rimmed the village perimeter; a parliament house of peeled logs stood
at one end. Near the center hulked a cinder-block school building
whose walls were ornamented with naïve paintings depicting local
wildlife: The Elefant and The Girafe. Abruptly, out of nowhere, a conga
line of women appeared, stomping in the dust and chanting and
piercing their ululations with ear-shattering blasts on tin whistles.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 129
Painted for the occasion with the daubed clay
patterns that make these particular tribal people
popular as postcard subjects, the village men also
had whistles. They blew them fiercely and
alternately shot off blanks from the rifles many
shouldered. At each fresh report our group
scattered, less from any sense of peril than from
shock. It was barely six in the morning, a little
early for fireworks.
A sacrificial ram was to be slaughtered for the
oracles and of its ordeal the less said the better.
Receiving the carcass, the soothsayers spread its
cleaned entrails across an upturned calabash.
A great deal of muttered deliberation followed.
Eventually the elders appeared to predict a good
spate for the Omo River and another year of
bountiful crops. What surprised me was not this
news flash but the alacrity with which the
villagers melted back into their daily lives once
word was delivered. Maybe they were blasé. More
likely they understood traditional ceremonies
like this were soon enough to be supplanted by
other and more pernicious forms of magic.
Already Ethiopian telecommunications
companies are erecting mobile-phone towers in
the Omo River Valley for Turkish and Korean
agribusiness. Likewise, British oil exploration
has led to the construction of more new roads
built with foreign financing.
Motoring back to camp on the river we spotted
a Pel’s fishing owl hunched on a branch of a
skeletal thorn tree. “That’s a major tick” for
African bird-watchers, said our Kenyan guide.
This “tick” would have to serve as the Animal
Planet highlight of our journey, since we would
see little of the game for which sub-Saharan
Africa is renowned. Well in advance of arrival
we’d learned that once-abundant populations of
large mammals in southern Ethiopia had been
gunned out of existence—slaughtered as bush
meat in the years since weapons began filtering
across the border from Sudan.
Though a decades-long civil war in that
divided country visited untold atrocities on
human populations, this was not the sole
destructive legacy of the Lord’s Resistance
Army and the Janjaweed. The elefants had been
substantially wiped out; so, too, the girafes.
Hippo populations that once crowded the
waterways were decimated, leaving behind in
the rivers those prehistoric horrors: crocodiles.
Birds remain plentiful, as do certain simians.
Yet none of us had traveled thousands of
kilometers to look at monkeys. We were here with
the uneasy common goal of visiting a human zoo.
We were part of that growing wave of travelers
riding a current of nostalgia for vanishing

130 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 •••

THE VILLAGERS LIKELY UNDERSTOOD THAT

THEIR TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES WERE SOON
TO BE SUPPLANTED BY OTHER AND MORE
PERNICIOUS FORMS OF MAGIC

Hamar goats in Aremba village,

near Turmi, Ethiopia.
 •••
A Kara tribesman near Labuk village.
traditional cultures, the same atavistic search for
fragments of a preindustrial planet that gives rise
to neo-tribal gatherings like Burning Man.
That we were willing to travel so far—by jet and
bush plane and jeep and boat—to see certifiable
“others” suggested, at the least, a growing cultural
malady. As technology has pressed in on humanity
in the West, the Irish novelist Robert McLiam
Wilson wrote in an essay about wild-man cults of
modern Europe, a longing has developed for
contact with those who elude its clutches. “In order
for there to be an ‘us,’ ” of the developed world,
Wilson wrote, “we need a ‘not us.’”
It was that “not us” photographers like Jimmy
Nelson set out to record, compiling in his
acclaimed 2013 book Before They Pass Away a
lavish document of remote tribal groups around
the planet. Among the places Nelson traveled first
for a project that would eventually take him to the
ends of the earth was the Omo River Valley. He
was far from the only one inspired to make this
particular journey. The National Geographic
photographer Steve McCurry had already been
here. Sebastião Salgado had, too, and Hans
Silvester. That each came away with images less
striking, to this observer’s eye, for singular vision
132 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
than for a romanticized sameness is perhaps understandable. What’s
more, the people of the Omo River Valley tend to the photogenic, and
even when not possessed of beauty are so graceful of carriage you can
hardly resist framing them as icons.
There is something else: whether world-renowned photographer or
rank tourist grabbing iPhone snaps, every visitor to the Omo Valley
pays to take pictures. Even before lifting a camera one is obliged by
custom to negotiate a transaction fee with potential subjects. It’s a
ritual exchange since the going rate is known to all involved, a price of
five Ethiopian birr, or about an American quarter. “You must never,
ever,” said our Kenyan guide, “break the rule of five.”
Luckily for me the need to barter was moot, because from the outset
I’d been clear I would not be taking pictures. Partly I wanted to sidestep
the image clichés. I also wanted a break from the tyranny of Instagram,
Twitter and Facebook, the existential drain of tracking online
“followers,” and “friends” with their winks and likes.
In Africa, I figured, I’d try reviving the simple acts of direct
observation, of looking and remembering. And it seems to have worked,
since it is an easy pleasure now to summon up an interior camera roll:
watchful adolescent Nyangatom goatherds perched on logs outside their
village, hide skirts embroidered with beads made from melted shell
casings, blankets wrapped snugly against a morning chill; tribal elders
clustered on stools in the dust and slapping stone counters into gnarled
hollows of an ancient board game called mbao; the fast-flowing Omo
surging mud-red through striated cliffs; gargantuan, yellow-eyed
crocodiles sunning on its banks.

•••
An unmarried Kara woman from Chelete.
I can conjure in my mind’s eye the coquetry of
Barigi American, a 13-year-old Kara girl still free
of the ornamental scars her older sister, Nani,
displayed so proudly, flashing an insolent smile
not a whit less beautiful for lacking the incisors
that had been pulled as is the custom of her tribe.
hat the others thought of our
shared encounters I never did
learn. Whether out of fear or
alienation or exhaustion, with
each passing day we Westerners
retreated further from one
another. Coming together at
meals, and on boat and road
trips, we remained, despite our many points of
common reference, a random assembly of isolates.
And while we were not moving about at the level
of decadent luxury to which certain of the South
African outfitter’s billionaire clients are
accustomed—“There are the Haves,” he quipped
over drinks one evening, “and there are the
Have-Jets”—we were as cosseted as babies, served
eggs cooked fresh by a Kenyan chef at breakfast,
sweet corn soup for lunch, piquant meat curries,
and aged Italian cheeses brought overland on a
•••
WE WERE PART OF THAT ATAVISTIC
SEARCH FOR FRAGMENTS OF A
PREINDUSTRIAL PLANET THAT GIVES
RISE TO NEO-TRIBAL GATHERINGS
LIKE BURNING MAN
weeklong haul by refrigerated truck. We were herded with great
subtlety by the one person serving as a true and uncredited cicerone of
our odd expedition, a quiet Kara tribesman educated by Swedish
missionaries and fluent in a variety of tribal languages, including ours.
Perhaps, too, my comrades shared a growing impatience with the
trip organizers’ attitudinizing, the way one derided humankind as a
cancer destined to destroy the planet while another simultaneously
boasted of trips laid on for a fashion designer whose visit to Omo
required five leased B3 Eurocopters and baby vegetables imported
from France.
“If you really want a toy box, we can give you a toy box,” the South
African guide said one evening at drinks, referring to ultra-high-end
safaris, as I pushed away from the table and walked to my tent.
There I sat in a folding chair on a rectangle of canvas, shaded by a fig
whose fingering branches raveled the river. I fumed as I watched the
sunset reflect off the water and play chromatic tricks. Leaves that at
noon appeared black and dense were now lit from beneath a bright
metallic green. A troop of baboons swinging heavily through the canopy
across the river suddenly lost all dimension, flattening into a cluster of
inky cartoon silhouettes.
Pulling from my pocket a photocopied sheet provided upon
arrival, I read again this simple primer on local protocol: “It is
essential politeness to greet people profusely: start learning!”
The phrases consisted of basic greetings in Hamar and Nyangatom,
Kara and Mursi, words which, having been dutifully practiced,
we were encouraged to use at each new tribal village. What I found,
though, after greetings had been exchanged in each new place,
was that an inevitable glum silence settled and a chasm opened up
between speakers, as on a blind date.
It happened that in many villages we were greeted in the lingua
franca of tour groups increasingly making their ways to this remote
region. Landing after long passages in our open boat we often
found ourselves greeted by village children waving their arms and
excitedly calling out “Ciao!” While this detracted somewhat from the
precontact fantasy we were all to a shameful degree indulging, the
globally familiar Italian greeting was both a welcome and a corrective.
There are limits, the lesson was, to the power that scraps of language
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 133
have to shim up a social structure so deeply
uneven; being spoken to in a tongue I knew
seemed to level the engagement.
Thinking back on the Kara oracle, it suddenly
occurred to me that the soothsayers understood
all this and that each of our encounters—grisly
goat sacrifice included—had been a bit of theater.
Those village men saw exactly what was coming.
The chants and whistles and hocus-pocus were a
way of signaling that they’d seen the dismal
future and it was us.

ext morning we left camp and drove to

an immaculately mowed landing strip
belonging to the British oil exploration
unit. Boarding a 10-seater plane, we
lifted off for the mountains beyond
the Mui River and the Suri tribe. From
the air, the stark alterations to the
landscape were clearly visible. The
mystifying dark circles scattered at
regular intervals below were giant ash heaps, our
pilot explained, left behind by industrial crews •••
razing the bush. As the plane’s toy shadow glided A married Nyangatom woman, wearing a goatskin skirt and
toward the angled crustal plates of the Great Rift a belt made from melted bullets, near Lokulan.
Valley, we passed a place where an oxbow of the
Omo River carved a giant question mark into the A local guide appeared then and we clambered behind him up a slick
earth. Entering airspace above the vast Omo mud trail. More lush here than the thorn scrub in the river valley, the
National Park, we were told that topi, gazelle, highland vegetation was also less dense and menacing, a far fresher
giraffe and herds of elephant still survived there, green. Our destination was a small village cut into a ridge, an
though who knew for how long? “The government insignificant collection of domed huts walled with vegetation and
never gazetted the national parkland,” our Kenyan fenced to keep in the chickens and goats.
guide said. Human development was already When at last we reached the village, I realized suddenly that this was
overtaking raw wilderness. what I’d been waiting for all along. Regionally, the Suri are renowned
Bumping through turbulent air, the pilot took for their beauty, hauteur and fierceness in battle; for reverencing in
aim at a landing strip that looked like a cricket song and story the cattle that are their wealth; for growing cabbages,
pitch cut between giant anthills. As we tobacco and yams; for trading in honey, leopard skins, gold and giraffe
approached, a lone figure casually sauntered onto tails; for being a matriarchal culture whose males are confined to strict
the runway, causing the pilot to jerk upward, bank age-set groupings and who sometimes wait decades to become initiated
hard to port and circle for another go. as warriors. To the wider world, to me, the Suri are known for one
Gliding down at last, we bumped to a halt. The thing. They are the lip-plate people, the ones I encountered so long ago
pilot put the wheels in chocks as we deplaned and in my parents’ living room. They were early proof of a world beyond my
then issued strict instructions. Be back in two front door that was wondrous strange. To ready her for eventual
hours, said the only man in the region capable of marriage, a young Suri girl’s bottom teeth are removed, her lower lip
acing that particular landing. Raising an arm, he pierced and stretched to allow for the insertion of clay lip plates. Over
pointed toward the armada of thunderheads years the plates get larger and there are tales, perhaps apocryphal, of
moving in from the west. some having attained 40 centimeters in diameter.
Extreme body modification lost much of its power to shock at about
Ethiopia N +
T L Guide the time American teens started getting their nipples pierced at the mall.
TOUR Where I live, in New York City, people routinely go about with earlobes
ERITREA
SUDAN OPERATOR that have been stretched to the size of portholes. And yet Nagunya
The Cape Town–based Ologole—her lower lip distended to accommodate a plate so large she
OMO
SOMALIA
company Passage to had to support it with her upturned hand, a gesture of unanticipated
RIV E R ADDIS
ABABA Africa arranged the
elegance—was not just an odd sight. She was all the strangeness of the
OMO
author’s 10-day
SOUTH VA L L E Y
itinerary, led by CEO world a traveler sets out in search of, the personification of the exotic
SUDAN
0 800 K M Michael Lorentz. “other” who in the end, in almost every case, is pretty much the same as
KENYA
passagetoafrica.com. you and me. 

134 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 “An impressive portrayal…
beautifully made duets
for the two leads.”
Luke Jennings, The Guardian, UK

ONEGIN
STUTTGART BALLET, GERMANY
Saturday 25 October 7.30pm &
Sunday 26 October (2.30pm)
Baht 5,500 / 4,500 / 3,500 / 2,500 / 1,500
Supported by the Embassy of Germany,
Bosch and Thai-German Cultural Foundation

Hotline 02 262 3191

www.thaiticketmajor.com (24 hrs) www.bangkokfestivals.com

VENUE: Thailand Cultural Centre. Free shuttle from MRT station

Thailand Cultural Centre, Exit 1, during 5.30-7.00pm
 Our Definitive Guide to

Serenity-minded hoteliers and

urbane entrepreneurs are helping
Thailand’s tropical playground
usher in a cultural renaissance.
Resident Simon N. Ostheimer
takes the pulse of the island and
its neighbors. Photographed by
Pornsak Na Nakorn
 Kata Beach, one of
the best surf spots
in Thailand.

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 137
PHUKET

From left: The

pool at Hyatt
Regency Phuket
Resort; it’s all
mod at Point
Yamu by COMO.

Lay of
the Land
Old Town This historical
district’s century-old Chinese
shop houses and tin-baron
mansions house a variety of From tropical to trendy, here are seven
cafés, creative restaurants,
cool bars and hip hotels.
of the island’s hottest retreats.

Patong Phuket’s party THE NAKA 66-76/231-234; phuket. the Andaman Sea. 225 ANANTARA
central needs little PHUKET regency.hyatt.com; Moo 7, Paklok, Thalang; PHUKET LAYAN
introduction, but beyond the The 94 pool villas in this Bt3,700. 66-76/360-100; RESORT & SPA
dubious delights of Bangla striking west coast comohotels.com/ The so beach, shallow
Road, you’ll discover an resort sit on a hill INIALA pointyamu; Bt9,000. tide pool and offshore
emerging culinary scene and overlooking a private This one-of-a-kind rock formations set a
good tourist shopping. beach. Thai architect property is the brainchild LE CORAL scene so serene you’ll
Duangrit Bunnag of philanthropist Mark HIDEAWAY have no idea you’re a
Chalong This waterfront is embraced the Weingard. Each of the BEYOND PHUKET stone’s throw from the
the main launching point for topography by designing 10 suites are the Picturesque Natai lively Laguna complex.
boats to the offshore islands. cantilevered buildings creation of different Beach is rapidly 168 Moo 6, Layan Beach
Grab a drink at one of the that seem to hang in the designers from across becoming the go-to Soi 4, Cherngtalay,
laidback bars that line the air. 1/18, 1/20 Moo 6, the globe. All guests destination for those in Thalang; 66-76/317-
roads by the pier. Kamala, Kathu; have a driver, butler, chef the know. This small, 200; phuket-layan.
66-76/337-999; and masseuse at their smart resort is the anantara.com; Bt5,200.
Kathu Earmarked as the thenakaphuket.com; beck and call. 40/14 latest addition to the
island’s new CBD, this area is Bt23,800. Moo 6, Baan Natai, area’s upmarket U ZENMAYA
booming with huge Phang Nga; 66-76/451- offerings, featuring PHUKET
developments that will add HYATT REGENCY 456; iniala.com; well-appointed rooms This Old Town-inspired
more malls and attractions. PHUKET RESORT US$2,500. with beach-house property is the newest
Located at the start of touches like distressed rollout for the über-
Surin Of the half-dozen “Millionaire’s Mile,” home POINT YAMU wood furnishings. 9/9 personalized Thailand-
beach towns that line the to some of the island’s BY COMO Moo 8, Na Toey, Thai based U Hotels &
sun-soaked west coast, most expensive resorts The first top-flight resort Muang; 66-76/679-888; Resorts. 6/181 Moo 6,
Surin is the chicest, with and residences, the set up in the island’s coralhideaway.com; Kamala, Kathu; 66-76/
boutique resorts, beach Hyatt offers luxurious rural northeast is sleek doubles from Bt17,500 336-888; uzenmaya
clubs and some of the lodgings, including 12 and modern with star for two nights. phuket.com; Bt2,299.
island’s top-rated eateries. expansive Regency Italian designer Paola
suites. 16/12 Moo 6, Navone’s interiors partly Hotel prices represent starting rates
Getting Around Kamala, Kathu; inspired by the waters of for double occupancy.
Phuket’s many taxis and
tuk-tuks are exorbitantly ONE TO WATCH Kata Rocks At this stunning, long-awaited, cliff-top resort, the villas are all heavy on
priced. Instead, rent a car Andaman views and the wellness bent is downright fun—think: sleep-pod napping therapy and an in-house
or motorbike. expert at Feldenkrais, a practice focusing on the symbiotic relationship between movement and thought.
Doors open in November. 186/22 Kok Tanode Rd., Karon, Muang; 66-76/370-777; katarocks.com.

138 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
 Shop Three stylish stops
for beach buys.

1 Lemongrass House This Phuket

success story founded by a former
film executive in the U.S., Bobby
Duchowny, sells 100-percent handmade,
natural spa products and teas in his
R E K Á TA : C O U R T E S Y O F R E K Á TA B E A C H C L U B AT B O AT H O U S E B Y M O N TA R A , P H U K E T  2 

scent-filled shop—and to top hotels

around the world. 10/2 Moo 1,
Srisoonthorn Rd., Cherngtalay, Thalang;
lemongrasshouse.com.

2 Paul Ropp Another American, this

designer displays his easy-breezy,
wildly chromatic, handwoven, hand-
embroidered cottons and silks at his From top:
Handmade spa
eponymous shops across the island. Get
products at the
decked out head-to-toe with his locally
fragrant Lemongrass
inspired clothes, shoes and accessories. House; tropical
Flagship shop at Surin Gallery, Moo 3, fashion at Re Ká Ta.
C H I N P R A C H A H O U S E : T H I T I TA N D A V A N I TJ

Cherngtalay, Thalang; paulropp.com.

3 Re Ká Ta If you’re looking to make

waves fashion-wise during your visit
to the beach, visit the smart boutique
inside this beach club on Kata Beach,
where you can pick up Vilebrequin
swimming trunks, Heidi Klein’s espadrilles
and barely there swimwear by Princesse
Tam Tam. 182-184 Koktanode Rd., Kata,
Muang; rekataphuket.com.

See Do
LARD YAI SUNDAY
+ There’s more to do than tan
on these sunny shores.

SURF HOUSE CHINPRACHA HOUSE

WALKING STREET
This assembly of locally
made handicras, traditional
southern Thai snacks and
cultural performances was
launched in September last
Chinpracha year. An excellent way to
House. spend a Sunday evening, it
also serves to highlight the
historic charms of the
Patong Boxing revitalized Old Town.
Stadium. Thalang Rd., Old Town; every
Sunday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
SOI DOG
FOUNDATION
Since it was founded in 2003
to tackle Phuket’s stray pup
epidemic, this remarkable
charity has sterilized more
than 60,000 dogs and cats.
Learn more about their
worthy work and meet some
friendly animals on a facility
tour. 167/9 Moo 4, Soi Mai
Khao 10, Mai Khao, Thalang;
66-81/788-4222; soidog.org.
The island’s so-called low
season (May through
October) is the best time of
year for surfers to visit, with
a beach break at Kata rated
the best in the country. But
for days when the swell is flat
there’s this artificial wave for
non-stop body-surfing. 4
Pakbang Alley, Karon, Muang;
66-81/979-7737; surouse
phuket.com; from Bt1,000.
PATONG BOXING
STADIUM
Organized by famous former
muay Thai champion Num
Noi Singpatong, the Saturday
Fight Nights feature the best
combatants to come out of
his Patong gym—including
Frenchman Damien Alamos,
the top-ranked foreigner in
the sport. 2/59 Sainamyen
Rd., Patong, Kathu; 66-76/
345-578; patongboxing
stadium.com; from Bt1,300.
Phuket was once known for
tin mines, a hugely lucrative,
if destructive, industry that
led to the emergence of the
island’s mining barons, who
built grand mansions in their
own honor. One of the best
preserved is this century-old
Sino-Colonial home in the
Old Town. 98 Krabi Rd.; 66-
76/211-167; Bt200 entry,
daily 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
THE KIDS CLUB
Sure, most top resorts boast
children’s centers, but for a
change of scene, this offsite
romper room has a ball pit,
playgrounds, painting,
clowns, cartoons and super-
heroes—all the fun needed
to wear out the wee ones.
2/F Promenade Mall Patong,
70/1 Bangla Rd., Patong;
66-76/341-310; thekids
clubphuket.com; Bt150 per
hour for kids older than one.

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 139
PHUKET
Where to dine in Phuket now.
AZIAMENDI
This groundbreaking
restaurant is headed by
Michelin three-starred
chef Eneko Atxa, who
has combined his
Basque heritage with
Asian ingredients to
come up with dishes
such as suckling pig
with pumpkin noodles
and dashi. 40/14 Moo
6, Baan Natai, Phang
Nga; 66-93/779-2312;
aziamendi.com; set
menus from Bt5,000.
MIRROR MIRROR
Playing a big part in
Old Town’s emergence
as a dining destination,
this Gallic-inflected
spot has a wood-
paneled, mirror-lined
interior and a modern-
French, comfort-food
menu—featuring, for
example, whole rack of
lamb—created by its
140 S E P T E M B E R 2 014
Le Cordon Bleu-trained
chef. 31 Dibuk Rd., Old
Town, Muang; 66-76/
355-914; mirrormirror
phuket.com; Bt1,000.
NAHMYAA
Though yet to garner
the fame of its sister
restaurant—Nahm, at
the Metropolitan by
COMO in Bangkok—
this koi-tiled, new
addition to Phuket’s
dining scene deserves
some recognition.
Under the expert eye of
chefs Daniel Moran and
Thirawut Na-udom, it
serves up classy twists
on southern Thai street
food, such as an
unbeatable steamed
whole fish topped with
catfish floss. 225 Moo
7, Paklok, Thalang; 66-
76/360-100;
comohotels.com/
pointyamu; Bt2,500.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
NIKKI BEACH
PHUKET
The newest branch of
this glam global beach
club chain sashayed up
to the northern end of
unspoiled Layan Beach
earlier this year. Join
the well-dressed crowd
sipping champagne and
knocking back oysters
as the day fades to
dusk. The raucous
Sunday brunch is must-
book-ahead. 62/11
Moo 6, Cherngtalay,
Thalang; 66-76/681-
161; nikkibeach.com/
phuket; Bt3,000.
GALLERY CAFE
BY PINKY
Long a mainstay of
expats in search of a
sandwich, salad and
smoothie, Pinky’s—as
Restaurant prices represent approximate cost for
dinner for two, unless otherwise noted.
Expect Basque flavors
with Asian ingredients
at Aziamendi. From
left: Southern style
curry at Nahmyaa;
Mirror Mirror blends
clever décor and French
comfort food. Bottom:
A tipple or two at
Rendez-Vous.
Imbibe in
Old Town
Meet up for a glass of red at
Rendez-Vous (facebook.
com/phuketrendezvous),
with generous owner Khun
Ae, before strolling up the
R I G H T: C O U R T E S Y O F A Z I A M E N D I . B O T T O M : C O U R T E S Y O F R E N D E ZV O U S
road to The House
(thehousephuket.com) for a
Japanese Hitachino Nest
locals know it—recently
beer. Next: longtime favorite
moved into swanky Old
Sanaeha (facebook.com/
Town digs, where the
sanaehaphukettown) for a
food and drinks are as
little live jazz, before a short
good as ever. 19
walk to Wonderland
Yaowarat Rd., Old Town,
(wonderlandphuket.com),
Muang; 66-83/103-
where waiters in top hats
7000; gallerycafe-
serve cocktails made with
phuket.com; Bt500.
Phuket’s own Chalong Bay
Rum. If you’re still standing,
360° BAR & GRILL
head due north to rock out
Wine and dine your
the evening in style at
date atop The Pavilions,
Timber Hut (66-76/211-
an adults-only resort
839). Whisky mixers and a
whose bar offers
rollicking time—that’s why
romantic views of the
Aerosmith lead singer
Andaman, creative
Steven Tyler partied here
tapas, and a range of
last year.
“love potions” such as
the Hex Appeal, an
elixir of kaffir lime
leaves and vodka. 31/1
Moo 6, Cherngtalay,
Thalang; 66-76/317-
600; thepavilions
resorts.com; Bt1,500.
 From left: The cove-sheltered
Naiharn beach; deep fried
soft-shell crab; Mr. Zen, the
owner of Wua Art Gallery.

Three insiders share their

go-to places on the island.

TIM CAMPBELL ALICE NA MARINE

Co-owner of TAKUATUNG LUCCHINI
Stand Up TV host of Co-owner of
Projects Phuket News TV Chalong Bay Rum
C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: © J O H N H A R P E R /G E T T Y I M A G E S ; © A K E E R I S / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M ; C O U R T E S Y O F M R . Z E N .

Phuket has many stunning beaches.
My favorites are Naiharn, tucked in a
cove with incredible surroundings,
and Bangtao, where long and
peaceful waves make it ideal for
learning to surf at Skyla’s Surf &
SUP Club (surf-sup.asia). I like to eat
at Sunset (100 Cherngtalay Baadon
Rd.), for delicious Thai served in a
warm, simple setting. I’m also a huge
fan of Flavor (facebook.com/
flavorphuket) in Phuket Town—its
fresh ingredients are magically put
together. For drinks, my favorite
hangout is Ploenchit (facebook.com/
ploenchit.phuket), with its winning
I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y W A S I N E E C H A N TA K O R N
My favorite spot to eat in Phuket is
Bang Mud (66-81/273-2367) floating
restaurant, for its deep fried soft-shell
crab and clams with lemongrass.
Adrift between the mainland and
Coconut Island, it is a 10-minute boat
ride from Laem Hin pier to the ocean-
top eatery. If you’re dining, the
longtail taxi is free; visit around 4 p.m.
so you can enjoy the sunset ride back
to Phuket. For bars, my top choice
would be Sanaeha (facebook.com/
sanaehaphukettown). When I’m not
working, I often visit Ao Yon Beach
near my home down Cape Panwa. All I
need is a beach mat, a book and good
I love the 15-course Sunday brunch of
fresh delicacies prepared by the chefs
at Breeze (breezecapeyamu.com). I
appreciate the caring service, the
family atmosphere and the beautiful
views of Phang Nga Bay. My favorite
bar is Wonderland (wonderland
phuket.com), where they serve
amazing cocktails in a magical setting
that conveys of the unexpected nature
of Alice’s journey. During the day, I
like to wander the streets of blooming
Old Town, where there always are new
places to discover, such as Mr. Zen’s
Wua Art Gallery (wua-artgallery.
com). This historic area is authentic,

combo of retro kitsch and rustic vibe. company: it’s my own slice of paradise. diverse and original.

While it may seem odd flying onto an island resort only to board a boat to yet another, the dozens of small isles dotted around
Island Phuket are sure to beckon from the horizon. Just a 15-minute speedboat ride (or slightly longer by longtail) from Phuket, pay a visit
Hop to Koh Bon, where Brit Dawn Farrell (bonislandphuket.wordpress.com) serves up fresh seafood right on the beach, or to the mostly
undeveloped Coral Island—also known as Koh Hae—which features pristine reefs for snorkeling and sandy beaches for sunning.
To avoid the crowds, skip Long Beach and head to Banana Beach instead. Mainly rural Koh Yao Yai, where the locals still harvest
rubber and coconuts, is off the east coast. Due to the infrequent ferries, it’s worth staying overnight, perhaps somewhere such as
the Koh Yao Yai Village resort (kohyaoyaivillage.com). To really get away from it all, check into the Tenta Nakara (tentanakara.com)
on Koh Naka Yai, where you can glamp it up at a resort that encourages skinny-dipping! Nothing like getting back to nature.

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 014 141
Last Look Photographed by
Omar Havana

Cambodia

“Slaves of the God”

At least 1,737 nymph carvings adorn

the temples of Angkor, to which
generations of dancers “belonged”
from the 7th to 15th centuries. They
were embodiments of life-creating
energy sprung from a process for
which the temples were metaphors.

Classical Apsara dancers

Icons of the Angkorean period, royal

dance troupes were kidnapped by
the Siamese in 1431, and killed by
the Khmer Rouge. These performers
at Thomeanon Temple are helping
usher in the art’s current revival.

Practice makes perfect

Two dancers-in-training at a Siem

Reap school are among hundreds
across the country. Children as
young as six are selected to study
for their aptitude and flexibility. A
good performer must have mastered
Earthly tributes to heaven some 4,500 basic gestures.

The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is on

the unesco Intangible Heritage list.
Upon seeing them perform in
France in 1906, Auguste Rodin said,
“It is impossible to see human nature
carried to such perfection.”

142 S E P T E M B E R 2 014 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M
QBUUBZB