January 2009

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Singapore • Hong Kong • Thailand • Indonesia • Malaysia • Vietnam • Macau • Philippines • Burma • Cambodia • Brunei • Laos

Sea ALL AT

Sailing in classic style off Thailand’s Ko Samui

JANUARY 2009

Hong Kong Small is beautiful: cool boutique stays

Siem Reap 10 buzzing bars and restaurants

SPECIAL

CHINA MADE EASY 45 ideas for the perfect trip

Spend less Exclusive vacation deals just for you!

67

WHERE TO GRAB THE PERFECT CUPPA IN HANOI

WORLD’S BEST

BUSINESS HOTELS

JANUARY 200 9

travelandleisuresea.com SINGAPORE SG$6.90 ● HONG KONG HK$39 THAILAND THB160 ● INDONESIA IDR45,000 MALAYSIA MYR15 ● VIETNAM VND80,000 MACAU MOP40 ● PHILIPPINES PHP220 BURMA MMK32 ● CAMBODIA KHR20,000 BRUNEI BND6.90 ● LAOS LAK48,000

+

DUBAI DELHI VIENTIANE AUSTRALIA

(Destinations)01.09 Seattle 60 Italy 32, 63

Vientiane 98 Delhi 110

Lombok 132 Australia 122

World Weather This Month -40oF -20oF -40oC

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Issue Index Kota Kinabalu 22 Lombok 132 Pakse 46 Samui 52 Siem Reap 42 Singapore 32, 34, 37 Thailand 22, 33 Vientiane 98 Vietnam 32

ASIA China 22, 87 Delhi 110 Shanghai 44 Tibet 142

THE PACIFIC Australia 122

EUROPE France 49 Italy 32, 63

THE AMERICAS Los Angeles 40 Seattle 60

MIDDLE EAST Dubai 80

Currency Converter Singapore Hong Kong Thailand Indonesia Malaysia Vietnam Macau Philippines Burma Cambodia Brunei Laos US ($1)

(SGD)

(HKD)

(BT)

(RP)

(RM)

(VND)

(MOP)

1.53

7.75

35.7

12,826

3.63

16,920

7.98

(P)

48.8

(MMK)

(KHR)

(BND)

(LAK)

6.48

4,102

1.53

8,613

Source: www.xe.com (exchange rates at press time).

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SOUTHEAST ASIA Aceh 68 Bangkok 22, 34 Burma 36 Hanoi 38 Ho Chi Minh City 22 Hong Kong 33, 34, 36, 48, 72 Isaan 76 Jakarta 22, 34

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(Contents)01.09 >98 The view across a slowchanging city towards Patuxai.

98

Vientiane Still Has Room To Boom The sleepy Lao capital is facing change at a very local pace, reports RON GLUCKMAN. Photographed by PAUL WAGER. GUIDE AND MAP 109

110 The New Delhi The capital of India has become a capital when it comes to fashion, 8

business, government and more.

By PETER JON LINDBERG. Photographed by FRÉDÉRIC LAGRANGE. GUIDE AND MAP 120 122 Way Down Under Baz Luhrman’s epic, Australia, is set in the country’s Top End outback, a landscape that is remote and mysterious, even for most natives, writes SHANE MITCHELL. Photographed by JAMES FISHER. GUIDE AND MAP 131

J A N UA RY 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

132 Close to Heaven Lombok offers drop-dead good looks, white sand beaches, fresh seafood and a sexy resort or two.

By ADAM SKOLNICK. Photographed by RIO HELMI. GUIDE AND MAP 141 Special

● China Made Easy> 87 T+L tackles one of the world’s most mystifying destinations, giving insider secrets to help make a successful trip.

PAU L WAG E R

97-132 Features

(Contents)01.09

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Sea ALL AT

Sailing in classic style off Thailand’s Ko Samui

CHINA MADE EASY 45 ideas for the perfect trip

Spend less Exclusive vacation deals just for you!

travelandleisuresea.com SINGAPORE SG$6.90 ● HONG KONG HK$39 THAILAND THB160 ● INDONESIA IDR45,000 MALAYSIA MYR15 ● VIETNAM VND80,000 MACAU MOP40 ● PHILIPPINES PHP220 BURMA MMK32 ● CAMBODIA KHR20,000 BRUNEI BND6.90 ● LAOS LAK48,000

+

DUBAI DELHI VIENTIANE AUSTRALIA

Cover

Editor’s Note Contributors Letters Best Deals Ask T+L Strategies My Favorite Place

> 40

WHERE TO GRAB THE PERFECT CUPPA IN HANOI

WORLD’S BEST

BUSINESS HOTELS

12 16 18 20 22 25 142

Siem Reap 10 buzzing bars and restaurants

SPECIAL

67

Departments

JANUARY 2009

Hong Kong Small is beautiful: cool boutique stays

> 60

At the Ko Samui Regatta, Thailand. Photographed by Nat Prakobsantisuk. Styled by Araya Indra. Hair and make-up: Apichart Norasethaporn. Model: Irena/ Apple. Silk organza dress by Kai. Sandals by Senada. Sunglasses by Miu Miu. Belt, stylist’s own.

49 Cool Jobs Meet a legendary swim instructor in the French Riviera. BY JOSH SENS

51-60 Stylish Traveler

32 Newsflash Vietnam by bike, Asia’s best brunches, lightweight laptops and more.

38 Drink Hanoi’s café culture. BY NANA CHEN 40 Food Comfort food gets a makeover in Los Angeles. BY PETER JON LINDBERG 42 Night Out Where to go in Siem Reap after dark.

BY SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP 44 Preservation From slaughterhouse to art space in Shanghai. BY JENNIFER CHEN 46 Where Next Pakse in southern Laos comes into its own. BY RON GLUCKMAN 48 Neighborhood Hong Kong’s Gough Street revives.

BY HELEN DALLEY 10

> 51

> 86

> 63

63-80 T+L Journal 63 Touring In and around the countryside of Modena, ROBERT LEVINE gets a look inside Italy’s car culture.

68 Adventure In Indonesia’s Aceh, former rebels now lead treks through the mountains. BY CHAD BOUCHARD 72 Hotels Hong Kong’s take on boutique hotels. BY DAVE WONG 76 Drive Cruising next to the Mekong, NEWLEY PURNELL develops a taste for all things Isaan.

80 Cityscape Amid the ever more preposterous architecture of Dubai, KARRIE JACOBS finds a city building the future at warp speed.

C L O C K W I S E F R O M FA R L E F T : J O E S C H M E L Z E R ; D AV I E S + S TA R R ; D AV I D C I C C O N I ; N I G E L C O X

31-49 Insider

51 Icon K. Jacques’ gladiator sandals capture St.-Tropez’s timeless glamour.

BY ALEXANDRA MARSHALL 52 Fashion Classic looks that are worth the investment, shot on Ko Samui.

59 Must-Haves Five sets of snazzy cufflinks.

60 Shopping Where to get Seattle’s indie chic.

BY SHANE MITCHELL

Technology that keeps your camera steady and lets your photos come alive.

Sony has expanded your creative options by meeting the challenge of camera shake with advanced technology.

At Sony, the goal was to eliminate camera shake that undermines visual

more compact bodies. And

excellence. That meant retaining the expressive flow of each subject,

built into their bodies instead of their lenses, so you can freely change

while curbing excessive hand movement to raise image impact.

lenses according to your needs.

Sony introduced image stabilization technology with the Handycam®

Though not always readily apparent, the results live on in your works.

camcorder in 1992 and since then has achieved remarkable advances

That, simply stated, is the true and lasting legacy of SteadyShot.

digital SLR cameras have SteadyShot

with unique technologies built on a deep understanding of CCDs. The image sensor in a Sony camera is the other creator behind your photography, helping you to express your feelings about what you see in the world. By reducing the size of these sophisticated mechanisms, Sony was able to give its Cyber-shot digital still cameras slimmer, “Sony”, “like.no.other”, “Handycam”, “Cyber-shot”, and respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Corporation.

All other products, brand names and feature names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

www.sony-asia.com/di/creatordna

(Editor’s Note) 01.09

I

AGONIZED OVER THIS EDITOR’S NOTE and left it later and later to write.

As you probably know, the situation in Bangkok—one of the region’s biggest air hubs and certainly one of its most important tourist draws—has been so volatile of late, that I really didn’t want to commit anything to print that would be outdated within days. But as I write this, the situation seems to have calmed a little, with flights re-starting and airport operations normalizing. However, in these globally troubled times, and with tourism and related industries such big economic drivers in Thailand, I urge you to support the beleaguered tourism industry here. Of course, as the world economy shrinks, we are in for some changes that will, no doubt, affect your travel plans. But the good news is that there’s never been a better time to travel within Asia, and we are committed to bringing you the best of the region throughout the year. So this month, we turn our spotlight on China (“China Made Easy,” page 87) with heaps of helpful hints on where to stay, what to eat and even strategies for overcoming taxi troubles. I especially enjoyed the page of shopping tips and how to bag the best bargains with the least amount of stress and hassle.

As this is the January issue, I’m assuming that many of our readers probably have that unpleasant post–New Year’s malaise, and are shaking off the excesses of the holiday period and heading back to work. So what better time than now to plan a quick break to Siem Reap to catch the latest nightlife attractions (“After Sunset in Siem Reap,” page 42), or Shanghai, to check out the city’s latest arts center that was once—believe it or not—a slaughterhouse (“Slaughterhouse 1933,” page 44).

We also turn our attention a little southwards with our feature on Australia (“Way major new Baz Luhrman movie.—MATT LEPPARD TRAVEL + L EISURE 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.

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C H E N P O VA N O N T

Down Under,” page 122), which weaves a great travel story around the making of a

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITOR-AT-LARGE ART DIRECTOR FEATURES EDITORS SENIOR DESIGNER DESIGNER EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Matt Leppard Paul Ehrlich Fah Sakharet Jennifer Chen Chris Kucway Ellie Brannan Wannapha Nawayon Wasinee Chantakorn

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS / PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Wong, Joe Yogerst, Adam Skolnick, Robyn Eckhardt, Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Lara Day, Cedric Arnold, Steve McCurry, Peter Steinhauer, Nat Prakobsantisuk, Graham Uden, Darren Soh

CHAIRMAN PRESIDENT PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

PUBLISHER VICE PRESIDENT / ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS CONSULTANT, HONG KONG/MACAU CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION GROUP CIRCULATION MANAGER

J.S. Uberoi Egasith Chotpakditrakul Rasina Uberoi-Bajaj

Robert Fernhout Lucas W. Krump Michael K. Hirsch Kin Kamarulzaman Shea Stanley Gaurav Kumar Kanda Thanakornwongskul Supalak Krewsasaen Porames Chinwongs

AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING CORPORATION PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, MARKETING & SALES EXECUTIVE EDITOR, INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE, INTERNATIONAL

Ed Kelly Mark V. Stanich Paul B. Francis Nancy Novogrod Jean-Paul Kyrillos Cara S. David Mark Orwoll Thomas D. Storms Aneesa T. Waheed

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia is published monthly by Media Transasia Limited, Room 1205-06, 12/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2851-6963; Fax: +852 2851-1933; under license from American Express Publishing Corporation, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Produced and distributed by Media Transasia Thailand Ltd., 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75/8 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoeynue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel: +66 2 204-2370.

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This edition is published by permission of AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING CORPORATION 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America.

Reproduction in whole or in part without the consent of the copyright owner is prohibited. © Media Transasia Thailand Ltd. in respect of the published edition.

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(Contributors) 01.09

Clockwise from top: Australia’s outback; writer Shane Mitchell; James Fisher.

When Australia’s indigenous population first migrated from Southeast Asia almost 60,000 years ago, they landed at Top End,” says Shane Mitchell, whose interest in the antipodean region was piqued nearly two decades ago, when she spent a year living outside Perth.

“On this most recent trip [“Way Down Under,” page 122], I gravitated toward an even more secluded area that is significant because the culture there is sustained by an insular community. I wanted to learn how the inhabitants preserve their unique way of life.” To photograph the article, James Fisher logged plenty of time in the Australian outback. His most memorable moment? “We spent time with the Aborigines of the East Kimberley. They care about who you are, not what you have or where you come from.”

“

16

Paul Wager says he wore out a pair of shoes and a friend’s car shooting Vientiane (“Vientiane Still Has Room to Boom,” page 98). While he’s visited the Lao capital several times, “this time I saw it with new eyes.” Wager has also been at work for a government information service photographing parts of the country that are still riddled with cluster bombs 35 years after the wars there ended—only now is this ordnance being defused.

Chad Bouchard is the first to admit that the mere

mention of Aceh evokes images of the 2004 tsunami.

Ships, some several stories tall, still sit inland where the storm dropped them. Today, he says, the real Aceh comes into focus further afield. As Bouchard tells (“Trails of War,” page 68), the area’s natural beauty in an area of recent conflict becomes an emotional tug of war. Based in Indonesia, he also works for NPR and the Financial Times.

Karrie Jacobs, who wrote this month’s incisive article on Dubai (“Tomorrowland,” page 80), is a specialist when it comes to reporting on cities and buildings. She was the founding editor-in-chief of Dwell, a San Francisco–based magazine about residential design, and continues as an architectural critic for a number of publications. That said, little could prepare her for the ultramodern changes taking place at warp speed on Dubai’s landscape.

J A N UA RY 2 0 0 9 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

L E F T CO LU M N , C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P : JA M ES F I S H E R ; CO U RT ESY O F S H A N E M I TC H E L L ; CO U RT ESY O F JA M ES F I S H E R. R I G H T CO LU M N , F RO M TO P : M I C H A E L T U R E K ; CO U RT E SY O F PAU L WAG E R ; CO U RT E SY O F C H A D B O U C H A R D ; H A R RY Z E R N I K E

Frédéric Lagrange On his eighth trip to India for Travel + Leisure, Lagrange was struck by Delhi’s contrasts (“The New Delhi,” page 110). “Parts of the country’s capital are quite neat and modern. New hotels and restaurants are attracting an international crowd.” All of that is in addition to the city’s rich history, which is visible in this month’s article.

Lagrange’s photographs can also be seen in Harper’s Bazaar and French Vogue.

(Letters)01.09 WO M E N AT WO R K

I^Wh_d] W c[Wb Wj L_`Wo A^WdÊi mehai^ef" _d CW^ckZWXWZ" ?dZ_W$ Effei_j[0 FWi^c_dW iYWhl[i WZehd[Z m_j^ \[Wj^[hi WdZ 7\h_YWd X[WZi Wj 7ddW Jhp[X_dia_Êi ijkZ_e" _d A[doW$

Traveling to Kenya and India, SHANE MITCHELL visits four collectives that are keeping handicraft traditions alive—and entire cultures thriving—while offering new opportunities to the women who belong to them.

Photographed by DITTE ISAGER

137

LETTER OF THE MONTH Asia’s Collectives

I must say that I truly enjoyed your story on collectives [“Women at Work,” October 2008] in both Kenya and India.

It was an uplifting, well-written story, and the photographs were exceptionally vivid. But I just wish there was more coverage of similar operations in developing countries in Asia, such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and even Burma. This was touched upon, to a degree, at the end of the story and I think that there could have been more details on the projects closer to home, especially those that travelers can visit. Even something like the Doi Tung Foundation in Thailand would be worth mentioning in any future articles you do. It’s always heartening to read of ways to make a positive impact while we travel, that’s something that I never tire of.

Please, more of these types of stories in your upcoming issues.

— LY D I A

SOM, CHIANG MAI

Green Goals Kudos to your special green issue in October. I really appreciated your quiz on socially responsible travel [“The High Road”] and other practical tips on how to be green while on the road.

I love to travel, but I worry a lot about the impact we humans have on the environment. The situation is especially troubling in Asia, where so many rain forests have been razed because of greed. You should continue to run stories that have an environmentalist bent—it’s important to remind your readers how fragile and precious our world is. But it’s equally important to let us know what we can do.

—CYNTHIA

SIMMONS, SINGAPORE

Adrenaline Rush Can I suggest that T+L does more adventure stories—tales of off-thebeaten-path trips that get the blood flowing? This part of the world is full of these kinds of opportunities, whether you like to go diving, rock climbing or kayaking. I’ve just been rock climbing for the first time ever in Krabi, Thailand, and, thanks to some good instructors, it was both a fascinating and unforgettable vacation.

It was also something I’d love to do again, a feeling that is pretty much the opposite of what I expected before I went. I bet there are other readers out there who would feel the same way.

— F R I DA

S T E R N , K UA L A LU M P U R

✉

City of Clichés?

While I enjoyed Gary Shteyngart’s zany, humorous take on Bangkok immensely [“Bangkok Nights,” October 2008], it didn’t really tell me anything new about the city. Indeed, it had all the themes that you see in every story about Thailand—spicy food, transvestites, sex and spas. The only cliché missing was an elephant!

— TO M

C H E N G , H O N G KO N G

A New Deal With a global economic downturn already in evidence, I think you should be doing more stories on how this is affecting the opening of new resorts and the launch of airline routes. We’re always looking to save money, but will new travel products—and hence, more competition—mean more discounts?

I’m curious. I also would appreciate reading more about new getaways, places where you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a memorable time.

—PHIL

S TO R E Y , M A N I L A

Urban Updates Can you put together a more comprehensive list of Asia’s green cities [“How Green Is Your City?” October 2008]. While I enjoyed your one-page report, it also made me think that there must be more cities are doing that fits into the green equation and, if not, why not?

—CEDRIC

PILON, MANILA

E-MAIL T+L SEND YOUR LETTERS TO TLEDITOR @ MEDIATRANSASIA.COM AND LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON RECENT STORIES OR NEW PLACES TO VISIT. LETTERS CHOSEN MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE. THE LETTER OF THE MONTH RECEIVES A FREE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO TRAVEL + LEISURE ( SOUTHEAST ASIA ONLY). READER OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN LETTERS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF TRAVEL + LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA, MEDIA TRANSASIA LTD., OR AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING.

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(Best Deals) 01.09 MORE DEALS

Take your pick of these four great exclusive packages in the region for T+L Southeast Asia readers* ■ MALAYSIA Gayana Eco Resort (60-88/442-233; gayana-eco-resort.com) on Gaya Island, near Kota Kinabalu. What’s Included Three-night stay in a Rimba villa; daily breakfast; dinner for two on the beach; three 60-minute massages; one body scrub per guest; 10 percent off all spa treatments; and a welcome fruit basket. Cost RM2,830, through March 31. Savings 26 percent.

■ INDONESIA Hotel Mulia Senayan (62-21/574-7777; hotelmulia.com) in Jakarta.

What’s Included Daily breakfast. Cost US$182, through January 31. Savings 30 percent. ✚

■ THAILAND Ratilanna Riverside Spa Resort (66-53/999-333; ratilannachiangmai. com) in Chiang Mai. What’s Included Daily breakfast; complimentary Wi-Fi; return airport transfers; a welcome fruit basket; and late check-out until 4 P.M. Cost From Bt8,160 per night, through March 31.

Savings Up to 40 percent.

■ CHINA The Opposite House (8610/6417-6688; theoppositehouse.com) in Beijing. What’s Included Daily breakfast; complimentary mini-bar; complimentary Wi-Fi; cultural tours on the weekends; a bottle of wine; and late check-out until 4 P.M. Cost From RMB3,750 per night, through March 31. Savings Up to 25 percent.

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Hotel Mulia Senayan.

Below: The Opposite House’s atrium.

* Make sure to use the TNL code when you book.

J A N UA RY 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

THAILAND City Break package at the Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel (66-2/650-8800; lemeridien. com). What’s Included Daily breakfast. Cost From Bt5,600, through January 31, minimum two-night stay.

Savings 25 percent.

CHINA Artscape package at JIA Shanghai (86-21/6217-9000; jiashanghai.com). What’s Included Accommodation in a studio plus room; a welcome flute of champagne or JIA cocktail; daily breakfast; all-day refreshments; complimentary Wi-Fi and local calls; an art tour that includes visits to the Shanghai Art Museum, MoCA Shanghai, galleries and KEE Shanghai, a private members’ club; and a chance to win a lithograph and a dinner for six. Cost RMB1,495, through February 28. Savings 25 percent.

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F G AYA N A E C O R E S O R T ; C O U R T E S Y O F H O T E L M U L I A S E N AYA N ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E O P P O S I T E H O U S E

Gayana Eco Resort.

VIETNAM Festive Season package at the Caravelle Hotel (84-8/38234999; caravellehotel.com) in Ho Chi Minh City. What’s Included Two-night stay in a deluxe room; US$120 credit for food and beverage; and daily breakfast. Cost US$499, from January 23–February 8.

Savings 25 percent.

Q: CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT COLORFUL SOUTHEAST ASIAN HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS IN 2009?

—GARRY PEMBLETON, SEATTLE

A:

IEKJ>;7IJ 7I?7

INDULGE YOURSELF

THE WORLD’S LEADING TRAVEL MAGAZINE www.travelandleisuresea.com/subscribe

That’s an extensive list by any stretch of the imagination, but here are some highlights. Most countries mark the new year on January 1, while the Thai new year is celebrated in April, although this can be a shock to visitors’ systems, as it involves extensive water battles, especially in Bangkok and Pattaya.

Bigger still is Chinese New Year, which falls on January 26 and 27, and is best witnessed in Hong Kong—where January 28 is also a holiday—as well as Singapore and other centers with large Chinese populations. Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, falls on November 15 and is a biggie in both Malaysia and Singapore.

✉

(Ask T+L) 01.09 Is there any guide to the different voltages used around Southeast Asia and the adapters I need?

—LEE TSUI, SINGAPORE

Before getting into the range of combinations, we suggest purchasing a sturdy universal adaptor to cover any situation. Remember, many portable electronics can handle a range of voltages. In Cambodia and Laos, the voltage is 220 AC and the most common type of plug has two pins.

Vietnam, too, uses 220 AC. Three types of plugs are most common: a standard two flat blade; two round pins; and the type of plug used in the U.K. In Malaysia, it’s 240 volts and a plug with two parallel flat pins and a ground pin. Singapore is at 230 volts, while Thailand’s voltage is 220–240 AC, both with an array of plug types.

I’m looking for an affordable but nice hotel in Hong Kong. Do you have any suggestions?

—SUPINYA VEERAWONGSE, BANGKOK

Even with the global economic slump, hotel rates are likely to remain high in Hong Kong, one of Asia’s major financial centers. There are some budget hotels, but they’re fairly grim. If you’re willing to spend at least US$150, there’s a better selection. We suggest looking into the Hotel Panorama by Rhombus in Tsim Sha Tsui (852/35500688; hotelpanorama.com.hk); the Cosmopolitan Hotel (852/3552-1111; cosmopolitanhotel.com.hk) in Wanchai; the modern JJ Hotel (852/2904-7300; jjhotel.com.hk), also in Wanchai; and the business-oriented Luk Kwok Hotel (852/2866-2166; lukkwokhotel.com).

Another affordable newcomer is the minimalist Hotel Jen (852/2974-1234; hoteljen.com).

E-MAIL T+L SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO TLEDITOR @ MEDIATRANSASIA.COM. QUESTIONS CHOSEN FOR PUBLICATION MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE .

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

NOW IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

(Strategies) 01.09

Frequent-flier Secrets Use ’em or lose ’em: Whatever you do, don’t let your miles expire.

Follow T+L’s advice and make the most of your time in the air.

By BROOKE KOSOFSKY GLASSBERG. Illustrated by GUY BILLOUT

T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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strategies | travel

solutions your miles lately? When it comes to those elusive reward-travel seats, nothing is easy (or free).

The calendar is crowded with blackout dates, and airlines have now added steep booking fees, if you ever do manage to find an available flight.

“Frequent-flier miles are getting harder to use, even though the airlines claim they’re giving away more free seats,” says George Hobica of airfarewatchdog.com. But as belts tighten amid the global economic slowdown, cashing in your miles might seem more desirable than ever. Plus, if your account remains inactive for too long, your miles will start to expire. Here, our tips on how to navigate the system and put your hard-earned mileage to better use.

T

RIED REDEEMING

1

CHECK THE EXPIRY DATE Here, a rundown on how long miles last on Asia’s major airlines: ANA 3 years Cathay Pacific 3 years EVA 5 years Korean Air 5 years for miles earned after July 1, 2008; no expiry for miles accrued before Japan Airlines 3 years Malaysia Airlines 3 years Singapore Airlines 3 years Thai Airways 3 years

26

TRANSFER FUNDS Many airlines allow frequent fliers to transfer miles to friends and family, with minimum increments of 1,000 or 5,000 miles.

What to know Many experts place the value of a mile at around one U.S. cent, so large transfers rarely make sense. But if a friend or relative is just short of a significant reward and won’t be able to earn those last needed miles before a trip, this is the time to help out.

2

PICK UP THE PHONE It’s difficult to secure a trip using points, even if you plan ahead.

A limited number of seats on any given flight are released 331 days in advance, and others are added somewhat randomly thereafter. “The supply of seats is constantly changing,” says Randy Petersen of the website FlyerTalk. “The new rule is to start searching six months from the flight date.” A better solution is to get off the Internet, dial the airline and get a professional to sort it all out for you.

What to know A small fee can buy you creative options a website can’t replicate, including having an airline reservationist

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link you through a secondary city or check for redemptions through partner carriers. “The airlines have done a great job training consumers to book online,” says Tim Winship of smartertravel.com.

“Many people don’t even think about calling the [toll-free] number. What they don’t realize is that they only pay the booking fee if the agent is successful.”

And ask for a supervisor, who may override capacity controls or bump you up to elite status if you’re close to the award threshold.

3

DON’T LET YOUR HARDEARNED MILES LAPSE Most accrued frequent-flier miles are destined to expire, typically after an account is inactive for a year to 18 months (down from the former industry standard of 36 months). In 2007, 39 billion miles went poof.

What to know Using reward travel is the obvious way to keep an account active.

If you discover that your miles are about to disappear, consider booking any available trip, then paying a nominal fee to change your itinerary later. But if planning a getaway is simply not an option at the moment, don’t worry.

“There are thousands of ways to earn a few miles without flying,” says Petersen.

Keep your account active by renting a car or booking a hotel with a partner company. A small charge made to an airline-branded credit card will reactivate your account as well. Websites like MileageManager keep track of when your miles expire and e-mail you reminders when a given date approaches. Among the major regional carriers, Singapore Airlines does let members extend their miles for six more months for a small fee, but you can only do this once.

4

BE FLEXIBLE With financially strapped airlines going under, declaring bankruptcy, or seriously considering mergers, customers need to monitor their miles.

What to know When airlines merge, so do their mileage banks. Passengers who didn’t have enough miles for a free ticket before suddenly will, potentially creating a demand bottleneck. Those who’ve racked up miles with one carrier can appeal to competitors to see if they will honor their existing balance. To reach elite status more easily, you’re better off logging as many miles as possible with one member of an alliance. What happens when an airline shuts down altogether? Sometimes another airline will purchase its frequentflier program; sometimes your miles disappear. Follow airline news and seek advice from fellow travelers on message boards like the one at flyertalk.com.

5

SPEND YOUR MILES To allow frequent fliers more flexibility and to address customer concerns about redemption constraints and restrictions, many programs have expanded the ways frequent fliers can use their points.

What to know If your program allows it, consider spending miles on a hotel-room upgrade, which can be obtained more easily than an airline seat. Given that room rates have been rising more rapidly than plane fares, you may save more money. And many non-airline-affiliated credit cards and other programs allow you to choose from a panoply of products besides flights, hotels and car rentals. Need a new camera? Put your miles to work.

Check out Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles (asiamiles.com), which has perhaps the most wide-ranging program in Asia.

6

BE PARTIAL If you’re short on miles, airlines are offering ways to let you use your mileage before you’ve accrued enough for an entire flight—or when only one leg in a round-trip itinerary has available reward seating.

What to know Northwest’s new PerkChoice allows you to redeem a roundtrip reward seat using a combination of WorldPerks miles and cash. PerkChoice

is valid only on round-trips. Singapore Airlines announced recently a more flexible loyalty program that allows members to use less miles. If you redeem online (krisflyer.com), you get another 15 percent off of the required miles.

7

KNOW WHEN TO UPGRADE The best return on your miles in straight financial terms is often an upgrade—or even a first- or business-class ticket. To give an example as to why this is the case: the baseline is typically 25,000 miles to fly within the continental United States, and those seats often sell out right away, leaving only 50,000-mile seats. Also, in order to limit the number of travelers cashing in on low-level reward seats, many airlines now require a Saturday-night stopover when booking one. But according to Hobica, your miles effectively become less valuable, since many low-cost fares no longer require a Saturday-night stay.

What to know Do the math to see what your miles are getting you. “I recently cashed in 150,000 miles for two first-class, one-way seats from New York to London on British Airways,” Hobica says. “That would have cost US$15,200 on ba.com.

So what’s better—spending 50,000 miles for an inexpensive domestic trip, or using your miles for very expensive seats?”

8

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR SALES While most airline promotions offer discounted fares or ways to earn bonus miles, some allow you to stretch your miles when redeeming them.

What to know These special offers are fairly uncommon, but it’s worth checking the websites of your preferred airlines to make sure you don’t miss them. At press time, Malaysia Airlines is flying from Kuala Lumpur to New York, return, for a cost of only 63,000 miles—a savings of 27,000 miles. This is a major deal when you consider that the cheapest round-trip fare at press time cost US$1,632, on a flight that includes two stops. ✚

GOING GLOBAL: ROUND-THEWORLD AWARDS If you’ve got the inventory and the time, a Round-the-World (RTW) award is a great way to make the most of your miles.

It allows you to circle the earth in one direction, with up to a year to complete the trip, on a single reward ticket. Some options to consider: Oneworld includes up to 16 stops and is priced according to your trip’s total miles. So you could stop at Cairo, Dubai and Auckland during a 43,500-kilometer New York–Madrid–Sydney–Rio de Janeiro–New York itinerary, and the whole journey would still only cost you 140,000 miles. Caveat: with only 10 partner airlines, Oneworld’s routes and availability may be limited compared to those of other RTW’s.

SkyTeam’s RTW gives you six flight segments for 140,000 miles. Be aware, however, that open-jaw trips (landing in one city, making your way to another city and then departing from there instead) count as half-segments, and that each of these flights may incorporate one stopover of up to 24 hours.

Star Alliance’s 20 airlines give travelers the best worldwide coverage, but its RTW requires the most miles: 200,000 for a fivestop RTW trek.

— C AT E S BY C . H O L M E S

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best

Beyond the Conference Room From left: The courtyard at Seattle’s Inn at the Market; arriving by helicopter at The Peninsula Hong Kong; inside the Four Seasons Hotel New York; the rooftop garden at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.

In Travel + Leisure’s recent World’s Best Awards survey, readers rated hotels on how well they serve the business traveler. Here, the hotels that scored the highest LOS ANGELES

ASIA BEIJING THE PENINSULA BEIJING 93.52 CHINA WORLD HOTEL 85.00 GRAND HYATT 83.33 SHANGRI-LA HOTEL 80.95

HONG KONG THE PENINSULA HONG KONG 93.97 GRAND HYATT 85.00 THE INTERCONTINENTAL 83.78 KOWLOON SHANGRI-LA 83.75 JW MARRIOTT 80.17

SHANGHAI GRAND HYATT 92.31 FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 84.72

SINGAPORE RITZ-CARLTON MILLENIA 87.50

TAIPEI GRAND HYATT 87.50

TOKYO PARK HYATT 90.28

INTERNATIONAL

THE PENINSULA BEVERLY HILLS 90.22 FOUR SEASONS HOTEL LOS ANGELES AT BEVERLY HILLS 87.86 BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL & BUNGALOWS 87.50 BEVERLY WILSHIRE, A FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 80.39

MADRID WESTIN PALACE 82.00

MIAMI MANDARIN ORIENTAL 84.17 FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 83.33

MUNICH HOTEL VIER JAHRESZEITEN KEMPINSKI 82.44

NEW YORK FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 89.58 RITZ-CARLTON BATTERY PARK 84.82 WALDORF TOWERS 84.72 NEW YORK PALACE 84.00 RITZ-CARLTON CENTRAL PARK 82.96 ST. REGIS 82.41 MANDARIN ORIENTAL 82.29

PARIS FOUR SEASONS HOTEL GEORGE V 88.95 THE RITZ 84.72

PHILADELPHIA

ATLANTA RITZ-CARLTON 80.26

BOSTON RITZ-CARLTON, BOSTON COMMON 87.93 ELIOT HOTEL 85.71 FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 82.41 NINE ZERO 81.62 GREAT VALUE

CHICAGO FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 90.20 THE PENINSULA CHICAGO 88.54 RITZ-CARLTON, A FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 85.47 THE JAMES 84.72 SOFITEL CHICAGO WATER TOWER 84.48 PARK HYATT 80.97

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 87.50 RITZ-CARLTON 85.00 SOFITEL PHILADELPHIA 83.04 PARK HYATT AT THE BELLEVUE 80.26 GREAT VALUE

SAN FRANCISCO MANDARIN ORIENTAL 87.50 RITZ-CARLTON 86.84 FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 85.11 PALACE HOTEL 84.09 OMNI SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL 83.70 INTERCONTINENTAL MARK HOPKINS 82.58 INN AT THE MARKET 82.90 GREAT VALUE GRAND HYATT 80.98

FOUR SEASONS RESORT & CLUB DALLAS AT LAS COLINAS 90.63

PARK HYATT 80.65

HOUSTON

WASHINGTON, D.C.

LONDON THE DORCHESTER 85.23 MANDARIN ORIENTAL HYDE PARK 83.75 FOUR SEASONS HOTEL* 82.96

SYDNEY

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 89.06 WILL ARD INTERCONTINENTAL 86.82 SOFITEL LAFAYETTE SQUARE 86.36 RITZ-CARLTON 85.42 MANDARIN ORIENTAL 85.16 RITZ-CARLTON, GEORGETOWN 84.21 MAYFLOWER HOTEL 80.29

*The Four Seasons Hotel, London will be closed for renovations until early 2010.

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Booming economies in the Far East mean that an increasing number of globe-trotting professionals are on their way, and hotel groups are seizing the opportunity to serve them.

CHINA >>Accor’s Pullman Hotels (pullmanhotels.com), which launched in 2007, has become the company’s fastest-growing brand in Asia — due in part to its unique in-room amenities, like ergonomic chairs. Look for properties in Beijing, Dongguan and Sanya.

INDIA >>In September, Taj Hotels, Resorts, and Palaces opened the Taj Residency Trivandrum (tajhotels.com) in Kerala and launched the affordable Gateway Hotel brand, which so far has properties in 13 Indian cities. >>The Delhi-based Oberoi Group is expanding its portfolio of eight Trident Hotels (tridenthotels.com) — all of which blend resort niceties with state-of-the-art business equipment. Six more hotels are in the works.

SEATTLE

DALLAS

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL 82.90

ASIA’S NEW BUSINESS HOTELS

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SINGAPORE AND THAILAND >>Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts opened extended-stay Pan Pacific Serviced Suites (panpacific.com) in Singapore and Bangkok in 2008, offering business travelers lower rates and personal assistants.

—JENNIFER FLOWERS

F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E SY O F I N N AT T H E M A R K E T; C O U R T E SY O F T H E P E N I N S U L A H O T E L S ; C O U R T E SY O F FO U R S E AS O N S H OT E L S & R ES O RTS ; CO U RT ESY O F T H E P E N I N S U L A H OT E L S

World’s Best Business Hotels.

The past is present.

A historic landmark is reborn in Shanghai <(page 44)

Old Man Riviera: Pierre Gruneberg, swim instructor to the stars <(page 49)

Everyday eats.

Five eateries in Los Angeles take comfort food to new heights <(page 40)

+

• Southeast Asia’s tastiest brunches • A comic book artist tackles Burma • Where to find Hanoi’s best cuppa

(Insider) Photo credit by tktktk

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: DA R R E N S O H ; CO U RT ESY O F P I E R R E G RU N E B E RG ; N A N A C H E N ; CO U RT ESY O F A H A

Cambodian cool.

What to do after dark in Siem Reap (page 42) >

Where to GoWhat to EatWhere to StayWhat to Buy

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| newsflash

Vietnam on Two Wheels There’s no better way to explore the Vietnamese countryside than by cycling. Victoria Can Tho Resort (Cai Khe Ward, Can Tho; 84-71/810-111; victoriahotels-asia. com; doubles from US$128) now offers guests one-day biking tours (US$97 per person) through the heart of the Mekong Delta.

Stops include handicraft and rice paper–making villages, and the picturesque town of Sa Dec, where French author Marguerite Duras lived as a child.

TOUR

ART

Beyond Pop When it comes to culture, South Korea is better known for exporting soap operas and boy bands than provocative art, but that’s slowly changing. Stop in at the Singapore Art Museum this month to catch its first ever show devoted to Korean art, “Transcendence: Modernity and Beyond in Korean Art” (71 Bras Basah Rd.; 65/6332-3222; singart.com; through March 15; admission S$8 per person).

Among the highlights are New York–based Suh Do Ho’s installation work, Kim Tschang Yeul’s abstract canvases and Hong Kyoung Tack’s brightly colored phantasmagoria.

SHOP

Fendi’s New Roman Boutique Delfina Delettrez Fendi is following in her family’s fashionable footsteps. The young jewelry designer recently opened a namesake boutique near Rome’s lively Piazza Navona. The store looks like a modernday alchemist’s shop, with 185 antique pharmacy drawers lining the walls, penicillin-green shelves, and a Giò Ponti dressing table. Luckily, Fendi’s Gothic-inspired pieces—enameled insect charms, sapphire-encrusted snake rings—are more bijou than beast. 67 Via del Governo Vecchio; 39-06/68-134-1105.

— VA L E R I E WAT E R H O U S E

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F RO M TO P R I G H T: CO U RT ESY O F S I N GA P O R E A RT M U S E U M ; CO U RT ESY O F D E L F I N A D E L E T T R E Z F E N D I ; CO U RT ESY O F V I CTO R I A CA N T H O R ES O RT ( 2 )

insider

E AT

CO U RT ESY O F C L ASS I F I E D M OZZA R E L L A BA R

Cheese Glorious Cheese From the team that brought Hong Kong its first bonafide walk-in cheese room is Classified Mozzarella Bar (Ground floor, 31 Wing Fung St., Wanchai; 852/2528-3454), a compact, unpretentious eatery with communal tables that serves several varieties of its namesake, all flown in from Italy. Helmed by a Welsh chef, the kitchen sends out cheese-centric fare such as bacon-wrapped, deep-fried mozzarella with fig jam (dieters, look away) and prime rump with fig jus and burrata, a creamy— and highly perishable—type of mozzarella that’s seldom seen on Asian shores. The blackboard is where you’ll find the real goodies: fresh mozzarellas that you purchase for take-out. T+L Tip: Drop in on Tuesdays and Fridays, when the shop receives its cheese deliveries.

insider

| newsflash

A New Look for Pattaya

HOTEL

Pattaya officials have been working hard in recent years to improve the image of the muchmaligned resort town. Last month, they received a boost to their efforts with the opening of the dusitD2 baraquda pattaya (485/1 Moo 10 Pattaya 2 Rd.; 66-38/769-999; dusit.com; doubles from Bt7,000). Like its sister property in Chiang Mai, the 72-room hotel boasts ultramodern interiors and amenities, as well as a swanky restaurant and bar. Give it a few more years, and Pattaya could become the next lifestyle destination for weekending Bangkokians.

Asia’s Best Brunches

34

Four restaurants that dish up the tastiest eggs Benedict and other favorites. By JENNIFER CHEN

Bangkok

Singapore

Hong Kong

Jakarta

MINIBAR ROYALE ● The Place This modish eatery was started by friends longing for the downtown brasseries of their New York student days — including the three sisters behind fashion label Sretsis. It’s the closest thing Bangkok has to a Parisian sidewalk café. ● The Food Classic brunch fare such as the filling eggs Florentine, corned beef hash or mini-pancakes. The tiger prawn roll (a tropical take on the Maine lobster roll) and the croque with smoked salmon, dill and capers are also excellent. Save room for the lushly satisfying banana pudding. Citadines Bangkok, Soi 23, Sukhumvit; 66-2/2615533; minibarroyale.com; brunch for two Bt1,100.

AU JARDIN ● The Place Housed in a 1920’s bungalow in the Singapore Botanic Garden, this spot is the refined choice in a town rife with hotel brunches. Weather permitting, grab a table on the garden terrace. ● The Food Provençe provides the inspiration for Sunday brunch: the buffet offers foie gras terrine, Parma ham and Cavaillon melon, and potato salad with truffles, while diners can choose between grilled tuna or roasted pork served with boudin noir for their mains. T+L Tip: Children under seven eat for free. EJH Corner House, Singapore Botanic Garden; 65/6466-8812; lesamis.com.sg; brunch S$78 per person.

ISOLA BAR + GRILL ● The Place Boasting enviable views of Victoria Harbour, this still buzzing eatery in the IFC Mall rolls out a Mediterranean brunch on weekends. Alfresco dining is a popular option, but the floor-to-ceiling windows also afford diners a spectacular and comfortable prospect indoors. ● The Food For HK$268, diners can sample the famed antipasti buffet with a variety of imported Italian cheeses and cured meats, and roasted vegetables. Mains include the homemade fettucine with traditional oxtail tomato sauce, followed by the lavish dessert buffet. Level 3, IFC Mall, Central; 852/2383-8765; isolabarandgrill.com.

KOI KAFÉ & GALERI ● The Place The South Jakarta outpost of a longtime favorite in the Indonesian capital dishes up hearty portions of both Asian and Western comfort food in a laid-back dining room smartly decorated with Javanese furniture. ● The Food If you’re ravenous order the steak and eggs.

Other brunch temptations include the Koi Breakfast Special (scrambled eggs with Camembert, leeks and smoked beef, served with home fries), ricotta pancakes and French toast made with roti sobek, a traditional Indonesian sweet bread. Saberro House, 10A Jln. Kemang Raya; 62-21/719-5707; koiindonesia.com; brunch for two Rp85,000.

J A N UA RY 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

F R O M L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F M I N I B A R R O YA L E ; C O U R T E S Y O F A U J A R D I N ; C O U R T E S Y O F I S O L A B A R + G R I L L ; C O U R T E S Y O F K O I K A F É & G A L E R I T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F D U S I T D 2 B A R A Q U D A P AT TAYA .

FOOD

| newsflash Q+A

Burma in Pictures

David Yeo The Hong Kong– based restaurateur tells T+L his picks in the region David Yeo, director of Aqua Restaurant Group.

● What are your favorite eateries in Hong Kong these

days? “There is a lovely Italian [Cenacolo Steak & Pasta; 45–53 Graham St., Central; 852/2525-2430] that I like to go to, but it’s not run by Italians, and part of the reason why it’s quirky is that I believe they’re either Indian or Bangladeshi, which means the chili and garlic factor are particularly heavy-handed, but it makes it very, very interesting.” ● Singapore’s your hometown. So where do you eat when

you’re there? “Singapore is a little bit disappointing these days.

I only say that in terms of local food because I remember what it was when I was young and it seems to be, because there are so many hawker centers these days that everyone seems to be serving the same thing. I do love the Italian at Garibaldi [36 Purvis St.; 65/6837-1468].” ● What sights should travelers not miss in Hong Kong?

“There used to be Wedding Card Street… and that’s been absolutely killed single-handedly by the government. But there are still interesting areas—Shanghai Street in particular, where restaurateurs such as ourselves go to get our pots and pans and stuff. And that’s still very interesting, you’ve got handmade joss sticks, incense, paper, goldsmith shops. It has the original flavor of Hong Kong.

The other place to go is the Jade Market [junction of Kansu and Battery streets, Kowloon]. It’s fascinating because the stall owners thread all these designs. So you just buy all the beads and they will thread them for you.” ● Dream food destination? “I would like to get the El Bulli lucky draw. I recently went to Puglia, the heel of Italy. I think there are a couple of Michelin-starred restaurants, but we went to a few well-regarded local restaurants and the first thing that hit me is those places, together with places I’ve been to in San Sebastián, were all absolutely incredible. In Puglia, amazing swordfish. Everyone does this amazing swordfish that melts in your mouth.”

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Guy Delisle, an animator from Quebec, has made something of a career documenting repressive regimes in graphic travelogues. In his latest, The Burma Chronicles (Drawn & Quarterly), Delisle chronicles the year he spent in Rangoon, where he’d lived in 2005 with his wife, an administrator with Doctors Without Borders, and their infant son. Using appealing simple, black-andwhite drawings, our narrator is a dry-eyed and gently humorous observer of daily life under authoritarian rule, its absurdities as well as its indignities. It’s more than a reminder of the outrages committed in the country; it’s also a testament to the resilience of the Burmese.

BOOK

F R O M T O P L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F D A V I D Y E O ; C O U R T E S Y O F D R A W N & Q U A R T E R LY

insider

CO U RT ESY O F S U P P E RC LU B ( 2 )

AFTER DARK

Time for Bed Now you don’t have to get out of bed for a night out on the town. The original Supperclub, which first introduced the bed-in-nightclub theme in Amsterdam 15 years ago, has landed in Singapore (Odeon Towers, 331 North Bridge Road; 65/6334 3080; supperclub.com). Dinner starts at 8:30 P.M., and the Asianinflected five-course menu (S$109 per person) changes weekly. Accompanying dinner are various acts, ranging from conventional live music to more challenging performance pieces. After the dishes are cleared at 11 P.M., the focus shifts to the dance floor and the lovelies who flock here.

— S O N I A KO L E S N I KOV - J E S S O P

insider

| drink

Hanoi’s Café Society. In a city that runs on coffee, where VIETNAM

to find the perfect cuppa. Story and photographs by NANA CHEN

Best Beans From left: A big cup of cappuccino at Little Hanoi; the peaceful courtyard at The Green Tangerine; Nuong’s Dream, one of the tempting desserts at Le Café des Arts.

THE GREEN TANGERINE THE PLACE Tucked inside a quiet alley in the Old Quarter, this popular expat hangout is housed in a 1920’s two-story townhouse with a gracious courtyard for outdoor seating. Inside, proprietor Stephane Yuin has beautifully restored the interiors, adding period touches such as a display of an antique cookbook and old-fashioned lamps. French chef Benjamin Rascalou heads the kitchen, which whips up elegant Gallic fare, winning out-of-town fans like Jane Birkin and Jacques Chirac.

THE BREW Using only the mocha bean, which is traditionally grown in Yemen, the café is famed for its strong, smoky espresso. Want milk? The latte and cappuccino also satisfy any coffee cravings. 48 Hang Be St.; 84-4/825-1286; lunch and coffee for two US$9.

LE CAFÉ DES ARTS THE PLACE Just around the corner from scenic Hoan Kiem Lake, this spacious French-run coffeehouse doubles as an art gallery and a venue for live jazz performances that bring in the city’s creative class. Rattan furniture, tiled floors and a long bar on the first floor lend it a gently nostalgic ambience. On clear days, find a table on the roof terrace; it’s a perfect spot for people watching.

THE BREW Bracing European coffee drinks are a sure bet here, though the menu also lists creative desserts that would tempt any sweet tooth. Dive into Nuong’s Dream, ice cream with crushed macaroons draped with a sticky dark chocolate sauce—all underneath a cap of spun sugar. 11b Ngo Bao Khanh St.; 84-4/8287207; cake and coffee for two US$10.

MOCA CAFÉ THE PLACE Opened by an American and a Vietnamese more than a decade ago, this bohemian establishment was one of the early pioneers on now-bustling Nha Tho Street.

Housed in an old French building, the café retains much of the original brickwork, while

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Dutch-Javanese lamps and wooden armchairs make up the atmospheric interiors.

THE BREW With 16 types of coffee drinks and seven different kinds of coffee, Moca has the most extensive Java menu in town. So zealous are the owners in their pursuit of the perfect brew that they roast their own beans on the premises, bags of which are also available for purchase. 14–16 Nha Tho St.; 84-4/825-6334; snacks and coffee for two US$10.

PARIS DELI BOULANGERIE ET CAFÉ THE PLACE Walk through the curtained wooden doors, and be greeted with the smell of coffee mingled with freshly baked pastries.

Locals and visitors alike pack this café’s two locations for its wide selection of salads, sandwiches and pastries. Both locales evoke their namesake, with photos of the City of Lights hanging on the walls, but we prefer the Nha Tho café, which boasts a small courtyard and wrought-iron balcony.

THE BREW Espressos and lattes here pack a punch. But the pastries are the true stars. Pair a cup of strong, black coffee with an apple tart, chocolate-dipped cream puff or croissant for a blissful breakfast. 13 Nha Tho St.; 84-4/9286697; 6 Chu Trinh St.; 84-4/934-5269–70; pastries and coffee for two US$15.

LITTLE HANOI THE PLACE A brisk walk from Hoan Kiem Lake, this tiny spot offers a full range of tasty treats and drinks, making it a standout on a street crowded with cafés. Unlike Hanoi’s classic cafés, the owners here use native materials such as bamboo to give the café a more indigenous flavor. Nestled near a busy intersection, it’s also the perfect spot to watch life go by.

THE BREW Mocha beans from Vietnam’s highlands—which were introduced by the French in the 19th century—are used to make Little Hanoi’s coffee drinks. 21 Hang Gai St.; 84-4/828-8333; snacks and coffee for two US$10.

Java Dreams From top: Inside Moca Café; a glass of iced Vietnamese coffee at Little Hanoi; the dining room at Le Café des Arts; the façade of Paris Deli Boulangerie et Café.

T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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insider

| eat THE BURGER Chef Sang Yoon made his name at the Santa Monica gastropub Father’s Office (1618 Montana Ave.; 1-310/736-2244; burger US$12), where his burger—topped with Gruyère, Maytag blue cheese, arugula and applewood-bacon compote—ranks among the nation’s finest. Last spring Yoon opened a second outpost of F.O. (3229 Helms Ave.; 1-310/736-2224) that’s twice as spacious, making his haute American standard even more enjoyable.

U.S.A.

THE CUP OF JOE In funky Silver Lake, Lamill Coffee Boutique (1636 Silver Lake Blvd.; 1-323/663-4441; caffè latte US$4.50) offers a five-page menu of java drinks—all prepared in your choice of brewing device, from a siphon (which resembles a very elaborate bong) to a one-of-a-kind La Marzocco espresso machine sheathed in hand-pounded brass.

Fast Food Clockwise from top left: Yoon’s burger; Chef Sang Yoon at Father’s Office; Yuca’s grilled-meat tacos; Silver Lake’s Lamill Coffee Boutique; a frothy Lamill cappucino; Let’s Be Frank’s all-beef hot dog.

L.A. Cult Classics. Four restaurants in

THE HOT DOG Let’s Be Frank (Helms Ave. near Washington Blvd.; 1-888/2337265) is a seriously ambitious hot-dog stand run by Berkeley-based Chez Panisse veteran Sue Moore, who started the chain in San Francisco.

Moore’s grass-fed beef and Berkshirepork dogs are subtly seasoned with organic spices (garlic, paprika and black pepper).

THE TACO New York’s esteemed James Beard Foundation called Yuca’s (4666 Hollywood Blvd.; 1-323/661-0523; taco US$2) an “American classic” back when it was a mere shack in a Los Feliz parking lot. Last year, Yuca’s became a proper sit-down joint, where chef Dora Herrera’s sublime tacos al pastor, filled with grilled pork and peppers, can be savored not only on the hood of a car, but also on sidewalk tables under plastic-thatch umbrellas. ✚

Los Angeles are taking humble everyday dishes to new heights. By PETER JON LINDBERG 40

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Photographed by JOE SCHMELZER

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| night out

6:00 P.M. Khmer Vogue Clockwise from left: Inside The Red Gallery in the FCC Complex, in Siem Reap; the silk offerings at Kokoon shop; McDermott Gallery, which focuses on photography; the Elephant Bar at Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor.

6:00 P.M. CAMBODIA

6:00 P.M.

■ 6:00 P.M. Nostalgic and low-key, the Elephant Bar (Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, 1 Vithei Charles de Gaulle; 85563/963-888; raffles.com) is the perfect spot for a quick, cool drink after a hot day exploring the ruins. Settle into one of the large rattan chairs and order an Airavata, a beguiling mixture of rum, Malibu, banana cream, lime juice, sugar syrup and coconut juice, served in an elephant-shaped glass (US$8), in honor of its namesake. Afterwards, stroll across the nearby royal gardens, heading towards the river, and duck into the FCC complex. There, you’ll find two browseworthy galleries: McDermott Gallery (Pokambar Ave.; 85563/760-842; mcdermottgallery.com), featuring fine art photography, and The Red Gallery (Pokambar Ave.; 855/92822-323; redgalleryasia.com), which displays local artists.

■ 7:00 P.M. Take a tuk-tuk to the Old Market. If you’re in the mood to spend some money, make sure to hit the shops before 8 P.M. Go past the vendors selling the usual schlocky 42

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souvenirs and head for Angkor Candles (565 Pi Thnou St.; 855-63/760-778; angkorcandles.com), which offers essential-oil candles molded into various Angkor motifs, and Kokoon (next door to the Blue Pumpkin, 365 Mondol 1; 855-63/963-830), which stocks high-quality scarves, tea-sets and wood carvings. A few doors down, Senteurs d’Angkor (85563/964-801; senteursdangkor.com) offers a selection of flavored teas and coffees nicely packaged in boxes artfully fashioned out of local palm tree leaves, plus spices, natural soaps, balms and aromatic oils.

■ 8:30 P.M. Though not as popular as Thai or Vietnamese, Khmer cuisine has gained more acolytes in recent years. For a taste of some authentic dishes, stop into the Sugar Palm Restaurant (Ta Phul Rd.; 855-63/964-838, dinner for two US$35) set on the second floor of a charming traditional wooden house. Most of the seating is out on the balcony, so you can enjoy the night street scenes below.

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: CO U RT ESY O F J O H N M C D E R M OT T; CO U RT ESY O F KO KO O N ;

After Sunset in Siem Reap. A buzzing scene offers travelers plenty to do after a day of temple-watching. By SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP

C O U R T E S Y O F J O H N M C D E R M O T T C O U R T E S Y O F R A F F L E S G R A N D H O T E L D ’A N G K O R F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F A H A ( 2 ) ; CO U RT ESY O F M A RT I N D I S H M A N ( 2 )

8:30 P.M.

7:00 P.M.

HOW TO GET AROUND Siem Reap’s city center is small and you can easily get around on foot. To save time, tuk-tuks are fairly inexpensive.

Most of the bars and restaurants, though, are clustered around the town market.

Wine and Dine From top: The dining room of AHA restaurant; sesame-coated fish cakes at AHA; outside the Linga Bar; two bartenders at the ready in the Linga Bar.

WHEN TO GO The best time to go is between November and February, when it’s dry and relatively cool. Temperatures crescendo from March through June, while July to November are the wettest months.

8:30 P.M.

Make sure to order the smoked eggplant with minced pork or the stir-fried beef with ginger. Dedicated carnivores should pull up a chair at the Cambodian BBQ (Pub Street Alley, near the Old Market, 855-63/966-052; dinner for two US$30), a do-it-yourself grill joint where you can order exotic meats such as snake, crocodile and kangaroo (more pedestrian choices such as chicken and beef are also available). For a more rarified atmosphere, diners might want book a table at AHA (The Passage near the Old Market; 855-63/965-501), a small, funky space serving modern interpretations of Khmer classics.

■ 10:00 P.M. Skirt the rowdy backpackers crowding Pub Street and make a beeline for the colorful Linga Bar (The Passage; 855/12-246-912; lingabar.com), where you’ll find a more sophisticated ambiance—contemporary art hangs from the walls and chilled lounge music serves as the soundtrack. Test the barman’s prowess and order one of the cocktails on offer. Want to strut your stuff? Guest DJ’s in the backroom keep a selective group of revelers—those not getting up at 5 A.M. to catch sunrise over Angkor—going until the wee hours. ✚

10:00 P.M.

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| preservation

Slaughterhouse 1933.

CHINA

An old abattoir in Shanghai gets a new lease in life as the city’s latest creative center.

By JENNIFER CHEN

T

HE FIRST TIME PAUL L IU SAW the Art

Deco slaughterhouse in Shanghai’s northeastern district of Hongkou, he was struck by the building’s beauty: interlocking staircases and ramps reminiscent of an Escher lithograph; a carved, geometric façade; tapered pillars; a domed glass atrium.

The friend who brought him there urged him not to forget it. But the Chinese-American developer did, until several years later when one of his business partners called and breathlessly told him that they were being given the chance to take over and manage an incredible historic landmark. “And then I remembered. I knew exactly which building she was talking about,” Liu says.

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Asia’s biggest slaughterhouses, it was converted into a cold storage facility after the Communist revolution and then a medicine factory. It even served as the backdrop for a 1960’s propaganda fi lm. But in recent years, it stood derelict and forgotten; by the time restoration work began, trees were growing on the top floor of the five-story building. But its Gotham-like majesty was still undiminished.

Five years and RMB100 million later, the building, along with the adjacent power plant, reemerged last fall as Shanghai’s latest retail, food and arts complex. But don’t expect another Xintiandi, the flashy entertainment zone that’s built around replica alley houses.

Instead, the architects and developers of 1933 decided against beautifying the original: “We wanted to keep the scars because they’re part Photographed by DARREN SOH

of the history of the building,” says Liu. Liu and his partners are also carefully vetting would-be tenants to avoid becoming yet another luxury mall. So far, the shops and eateries fit into their idea of edgy consumerism in Asia: American Apparel, Apple and a funky eyewear boutique join Jade Garden, a modern Shanghainese restaurant tarted up with pony-skin chairs.

The complex’s focal point, however, is the glass-floored theater located beneath the dome, where exhibitions, performances, seminars and lectures will be held. They’re part of Liu’s grander vision for Hongkou’s revitalization. He compares the area to Brooklyn in the 1980’s, when Manhattanites sneered at the thought of going across the river, before the borough of kings became the

land of hip and quirky. In a way, it’s a return to Hongkou’s cosmpolitan roots. During World War II, more than 20,000 Jewish refugees from Europe settled here, bringing with them a rich cultural and intellectual life.

Lu Xun, the father of modern Chinese literature, also lived in Hongkou during the last nine years of his life. “Shanghai is in danger of becoming purely commercial— like Hong Kong,” argues Liu. “But it still does have the chance to become China’s first global metropolis, if it ... develops more the spiritual aspects of life.” Lu Xun, a leftleaning writer who was the first to write in colloquial Chinese, would have agreed. ✚

T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

Resurrected Gem The top floor of 1933, a former abattoir, now a lifestyle center in Shanghai. Opposite page from top: 1933’s Art Deco façade; the glass-floored theater; the building’s Escherlike structure.

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| where to go next Green Acres From left: Dining by the Mekong; Tad Fen waterfalls in the Bolaven Plateau; Wat Phou.

LAOS

Perfect Pakse. The gateway to southern Laos, this idyllic town by ESTLED IN spectacularly scenic southern Laos, Pakse has long lured adventurous travelers seeking views of some of Asia’s biggest waterfalls, and treks among hill tribes and the coffee plantations of the Bolaven Plateau. In the past, tourists had to endure a long, bumpy road to get here. Now, bridges, better road access and increased flights are quickly turning the town into an emerging regional hub.

Still, most treat southern Laos’ largest town as a staging area, visiting nearby attractions before moving south towards the World Heritage–listed ruins of Wat Phou and the Four Thousand Islands archipelago that dots the Mekong. Only a few linger in Pakse. But those who do fall under the spell of this tranquil riverside town that’s changed little over the decades.

Q WHEN TO GO November to February are the coolest months during dry season, but the rainy season has its attractions, including fewer visitors and the verdant landscape. At the height of the rains, July to October, roads can be muddy, making river travel a better option.

Q GETTING THERE Besides domestic flights from Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Pakse also has air

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links to Siem Reap and Bangkok.

Overland, there are several night buses from Vientiane, and convenient connections across the border from Ubon Ratchathani in Thailand, and south to Cambodia.

Q WHERE TO STAY Not many hotels in Pakse are truly fit for a king or queen, but the Champasak Palace Hotel (Southern Road 13; 856-31/212-263; doubles from US$30) is a genuine palace, originally built for the royal family. Service can be slow, but the views over the river remain regal. Another royal descendent recently returned to Laos with a French husband in tow to convert the Pakse Hotel (Street 5, Ban Wat Luang; 856-31/212-131; hotelpakse. com; doubles from US$20), formerly a backpacker favorite, into a comfortable mid-range bargain. Centrally located, the hotel boasts Wi-Fi, a good travel desk and a fabulous rooftop bar that stages occasional live jazz performances. Pakse’s oldest inn, Hotel Salachampa (Street 14; 856-31/212-273; doubles from US$25) retains a massive wood staircase and expansive terraces common in the 1920’s, when it was built. Opt for the upstairs rooms, which are significantly better than the ones around the garden.

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Q WHAT TO DO Central Pakse is compact and easy to navigate by foot. But renting a motorbike (US$6–8 per day) gives you more flexibility to explore the nearby countryside. As with other major towns in Laos, temples here are the main attractions. There are two dozen temples in Pakse. Wat Luang is the largest and one of the oldest; it has an old wooden seminary with spectacular carving. A visit to Wat Phou (one-hour by taxi, US$70 roundtrip) is a must.

Believed to be the birthplace of Khmer civilization, this is a stunning site, atop a mountain with dazzling views. From Pakse, it’s an easy day-trip, although many travelers prefer to stay in the charming town of Champasak.

Q WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK On a breezy night, try the venerable riverboat restaurant Khem Khong (Street 11, on the Mekong River; 85631/213-240), serving everything from southern Lao spare ribs to blackened Mekong fish in chili oil. No visit to southern Laos is complete without sipping the local coffee, which fetches top dollar on the global market. Café Sinouk (13 South Rd.; 856-31/213-601) offers a wide range of varieties, hot or cold on site, or bagged beans for a flavor-fi lled souvenir. ✚

F R O M L E F T : © J S O M P I N M / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M ; © F R R K O N LY / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M ; © J S O M P I N M / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M

the Mekong River is a destination in its own right. By RON GLUCKMAN

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| neighborhood

Old-Time Revival.

Gough Street has become one of Hong Kong’s hippest neighborhoods.

By HELEN DALLEY

printing presses and mom-and-pop noodle shops, the two-block-long thoroughfare of Gough Street is now packed with trendy boutiques, restaurants and bars. Gentrification, thankfully, hasn’t ruined its laidback ambience, which makes this street the perfect antidote to Hong Kong’s high-energy charge. ✚

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A 12-year veteran of Gough Street, this airy, white design boutique sells inventive household items, such as pivoting glasses that avoid spillage and rock-shaped doorstops that can be filled with water or sand. Also in stock are funky, flower-shaped light fixtures from Normann Copenhagen and irresistible, animalshaped diminutive chairs for children.

47 Gough St.; 852/2858-6919; axiscollections.com.

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From stone Buddha hands and heads to polished jade coasters and chopstick sets, As Art embraces Asian sensibilities with a finesse reminiscent of the smaller establishments found along Hollywood Road. If you’re looking for a significant memento, consider a pair of gleaming golden horses or an intricate Thai carving.

Other good buys include embroidered Chinese purses and ornate incense burners. 9 Gough St.; 852/21160973; asfurniture. com.hk.

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4 HOMELESS

From its hot pink neon street sign to its splendid spiral staircase, the flagship Homeless store is one of Hong Kong’s most distinctive-looking shops. The lifestyle store is esteemed for its eclectic range of avant-garde furniture and home wares from cutting-edge international designers such as j-me and Diamantini & Domeniconi.

But it also stocks quirky items intended to appeal to your nostalgic streak, such as spinning tops and lava lamps. Make sure to pop into No. 7, the Wun Ying Collection, an affiliated gallery that showcases the whimsical work of local illustrator Carrie Chau, who is celebrated for her beguiling bug-eyed characters.

29–31 Gough St.; 852/2581-1880; homelessconcept.com.

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Quee n’s R oad C e

3 PAUL’S KITCHEN

The focus at this plainly decorated eatery is firmly on the food. Dig into the delectable Mediterraneanstyle offerings such as peach, mozzarella and prosciutto salad, pan-fried sea bass and bread-andbutter pudding—all served in hearty portions. And while some eateries overwhelm you with choice, the menu here (which changes regularly) takes a refreshingly pared-down approach. 24 Gough St.; 852/2815-8003.

nS tre

Looks can be deceiving at this spacious, glass-fronted home wares store whose stark white walls let its wares do the talking: vases are fashioned out of test tubes, while candles shaped into cupcakes look tasty enough to eat. Other items are merely cute, though tempting in their own fashion, like Donna Wilson’s family of knitted lamb’s wool creatures with twee names: Cyril Squirrel, Stick the Snail and Mitten Kitten. The zany Alphabet and Robot mugs are also eyecatching. 15 Gough St.; 852/25812779.

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1 ADDICTION

This inviting space features a small gallery on the first floor, where you can muse over the work of Hong Kong artists such as Kenny Wong. His recent Mickey Mouse–themed exhibition included forsale limited edition designs such as a Mickey figurine with stars adorning his ears. Upstairs, the racks are filled with a host of cool labels, including sexy, fluid fashions from Swedish designer Ann Sofie Back (Rihanna is a fan) and acid-bright bags from Susanbijl of the Netherlands. 45 Gough St.; 852/2851-1848; gallerydevie.com.

cool jobs |

insider

In the Swim From left: Pierre Gruneberg at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat with his signature straw hat and teaching aid; at the hotel’s swimming pool, in 1953; Gruneberg’s book on swimming.

Pierre Gruneberg, Swim Instructor. T+L talks to a Côte d’Azur legend who has been teaching different strokes to famous folks for more than 50 years. By JOSH SENS N THE FRENCH SEASIDE town of St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, long the basking ground for plutocrats and Hollywood princes, the season doesn’t start until a sun-bronzed senior strips down to his Speedos, dons a straw sombrero and takes his post beside a saltwater infinity pool. Since 1950—a year after he hitchhiked here from Paris with a rucksack and his net worth jingling in his pocket—Pierre Gruneberg has held court every summer at Club Dauphin, in the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, teaching the aquaphobic A-set—including everyone from Gérard Depardieu to Tina Turner—to swim.

Born in Germany, Gruneberg fled the Nazis with his family at age three and lived underground in France during the war. Had he not been uprooted, Gruneberg says, he’d likely have followed in the footsteps of his father, an attorney. Instead, his

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transient childhood led him to want to connect with people in a meaningful way. “I’m often told I’m living a dream because I get to work outdoors all day in this luxurious location,” he says. “I don’t disagree.”

Unlike most desirable jobs, which tend to lose their luster under closer scrutiny, Gruneberg’s has managed to sustain him for 58 years. Most mornings, he leaves his waterfront apartment at sunrise, jogs or bicycles 20 minutes to work, then caps off his day with a 1.6-kilometer swim in the Mediterranean. Regardless of his students’ age or renown, they’re mostly beginners, so every Gruneberg lesson begins next to the flowerrimmed pool, not in it. His method involves a plastic salad bowl, which he fills with water so that his pupil, face submerged, can master the rhythms of relaxed breathing before advancing to the pool. The copyrighted technique

FRANCE

(thegrunebergmethod.com) is described in his book How to Be Happy in Water, which he gives to students.

Decades as a swim instructor have left Gruneberg with not only a sunny disposition but also a deep tan. “I worked for many years without sunscreen,” he says. “Now I always wear it, along with a Mexican sombrero and a T-shirt.” (Winters, he teaches skiing at Courchevel, in the French Alps, and uses similar methods.)

Even the good life has its challenges, however. Over time, his clients have come to expect more than tips on proper breathing. They regularly e-mail him for weather reports or flight updates. As for his most trying students, those who can’t put down their mobile phones, Gruneberg regards them as a source of inspiration.

“I admire their sense of drive,” he says. “And I like to think I help them improve their lives.” ✚

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StylishTraveler Metallic-leather gladiator sandals

by K. Jacques.

STANDOUT

Made in St.-Tropez for the past 75 years, the K. Jacques gladiator sandal is as chic as the Côte d’Azur itself. Photographed by NIGEL COX FRENCH RIVIERA’S most exclusive destination was just a quaint fishing hamlet when Jacques Keklikian arrived in 1933 and started making footwear for the local tradesmen. His hand-stitched leather sandals were so resilient that the pêcheurs could wear them into the sea without a care. As St.-Tropez gained glamour points in the 1950’s and 60’s, so did K. Jacques’s tropeziennes (sightings of Brigitte Bardot frolicking in a pair on the shores of her adopted hometown didn’t hurt). Around that time, Jacques’s son Georges traveled to Rome, and voilà—the gladiator, with its signature straps, was introduced. The style quickly became a hit, and has remained a top seller ever since. Today, the company’s original atelier on Rue Allard also does bespoke work for the likes of Angelina Jolie and Jack Nicholson, with more than a hundred looks ranging from patent flats to bejeweled heels. Chances are you couldn’t think up a flourish they haven’t already.—A L E X A N D R A M A R S H A L L

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| fashion

Beyond the Sea

Some styles never go out of fashion. Here, six timeless looks that are perfect for every wardrobe. Photographed by NAT PRAKOBSANTISUK. Styled by ARAYA INDRA

Wool dress with black trim, Disaya. Glass cuff, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own.

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| fashion Bikini top, Louis Vuitton; denim shorts, Lacoste; black cotton shirtdress, M.L. Chiratorn Chirapravati; watch, Cartier; sunglasses, Ray-Ban; wedge sandals, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own.

Opposite: Striped turtleneck and wool cardigan, Lacoste; printed cotton scarf, Louis Vuitton; watch, Cartier.

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Cotton striped hooded dress, Zenithorial; bikini, Louis Vuitton; sunglasses, Miu Miu; watch, Chanel.

Opposite: Bikini, Louis Vuitton.

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Silk cashmere turtleneck, wool trousers and printed silk scarf, Hermès.

Hair and make-up: Apichart Norasethaporn.

Model: Irena@apple.

Photographer’s assistant: Sangarun Champawan.

STOCKISTS Cartier cartier.com Chanel chanel.com Disaya boudoirbydisaya.com Hermès hermes.com Kai kaiboutique.com Lacoste lacoste.com Louis Vuitton louisvuitton.com Miu Miu miumiu.com M.L. Chiratorn Chirapravati No. 32, The Promenade Decor; 2/4 Wireless Rd., Bangkok Ray-Ban rayban.com Senada senadatheory.com Zenithorial zenithorial.com

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must-haves stylish | traveler

OFF THE CUFF Proving that style is often all in the details, these classy cufflinks are the perfect complement to a classic suit Photographed by SITTIPUN CHAITERDSIRI. Styled by ATINAN NITISUNTHONKUL

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1 Gold-plated metal aviator cufflinks, Dunhill, dunhill.com; 2 Round cufflinks with floating diamonds, MontBlanc, montblanc.com; 3 Gold-plated knot cufflinks, MontBlanc; 4 Silver coral cufflinks, Thomas Pink, thomaspink. com; 5 Precious stone bar cufflinks, Hugo Boss, boss.com.

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| shopping Northwest by Design Clockwise from left: A vintage dress at Velouria; Glassybaby’s colorful votives; examining a necklace at Souvenir; a model Winnebago at Hitchcock; antique furnishing at Hitchcock; a French wedding dome at Souvenir.

SEATTLE’S INDIE-CHIC STYLE Want to capture the city’s signature indie look? In two up-and-coming neighborhoods, these shops will help you tap into Seattle’s creative culture. By SHANE MITCHELL

U.S.A.

a small town, complete with historic buildings, green plazas and a quaint business district. But not everything here is old-fashioned: independent designers are setting up shop behind the brick façades, injecting the area with a fresh sensibility. One of the most exciting designers in the area is Lee Rhodes, who has a cult following for her handblown votives, which double as drinking glasses or bud vases and come in a crayon-box range of shades. They are on display at Glassybaby (3406 East Union St.; 1-206/ 568-7368; glassybaby.com), a 530-square-meter boutique-slash-studio where visitors can watch the elegant vessels being made. Rhodes, who is a cancer survivor, also produces a Goodwill line; proceeds support local and national organizations.

On the main shopping drag, Hitchcock (1406 34 Ave.; 1-206/8387173; shophitchcock.com) sells semiprecious jewelry, vintage housewares and Midcentury art pieces. Don’t miss the avant-garde necklaces, made from vintage pearls and silk ribbons, and chandelier pieces by Subversive Jewelry.

The space’s theme changes quarterly; recently, it was preppy-inspired, with madras curtains, Astroturf covering the floor, and tennis rackets lining an entire wall.

Seattle pooches have their own upscale turf at Fetch Pet Grocery (1411 34 Ave.; 1-206/720-1961), where owners can spoil their best friends with organic biscuits, cashmere sweaters and Swarovski crystal–studded collars.

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■ MADRONA Set on the edge of Lake Washington, Madrona feels like

One block down, Jaywalk (1105 34 Ave.; 1-206/328-7776; jaywalkseattle.com) is a tiny spot crammed with curios—mosaic wall hangings, stone sculptures—that are produced locally by working artists or imaginative moonlighters (e.g., a psychiatrist who knits socks). Our favorite find: Sarah Woodson’s understated glazed ceramic rice bowls.

■ BALLARD It’s known more for its Scandinavian flavor

and fishing-village past than for its shopping possibilities, but a crop of openings is putting a several-block stretch of this neighborhood on trendsetters’ maps. The curiosity shop Souvenir (5325 Ballard Ave. N.W.; 1-206/297-7116; curitssteiner.com) is the brainchild of artist Curtis Steiner, whose 1,000 Blocks project (a thousand painted wooden blocks that can be arranged to form different patterns) is in the Seattle Art Museum’s permanent collection. The store is almost like an art project: Steiner’s handmade greeting cards line the entire back wall; found objects, collages and clever tableaux are all tucked into display cabinets that serve as miniature installations. Collectors of obscure treasures will love Steiner’s early 19th-century French rose-cut garnet and gold choker and Asian textiles.

Owner Tes de Luna deals in colorful dresses, silk-screened tops, hand-sewn bags and letterpress stationery at her girlie boutique Velouria (2205 N.W. Market St.; 1-206/788-0330; shopvelouria.com). Most labels hail from the Northwest: the best include Portland-based Elizabeth Dye, a line of 60’s-inspired mod dresses, and de Luna’s own brand, the flirty Zuzupop.

Dave Voorhees is crazy about vinyl, and he stocks more than 650,000 titles at Bop Street Records (5129 Ballard Ave.; 1-206/297-2232; bopstreetrecords.com), a throwback temple to undigitized music. The emphasis is on jazz, blues, soul and funk, so those hunting for Jimi Hendrix or Curtis Mayfield rarities will be in luck.

The year-old concept store Pulp Lab (1912 N.W. Dock Place; 1-206/706-7857; pulplab.com) functions more like a gallery than a retail outlet: proprietress Kate Pawlicki commissions limited-edition items from a group of witty pop brands (one-off hand-stitched handbags by Brooklyn-based Chris Habana) and hosts exhibitions to introduce them to the public. Last fall, Project Runway alum Sweet P, along with visual artist Sage Vaughn, debuted a capsule collection of dresses and accessories; Pawlicki oversaw the creation of a short film to complement the line. ✚

SHOPS BY NEIGHBORHOOD

Souvenir

MADRONA 1 Fetch Pet Grocery 2 Glassybaby 3 Hitchcock 4 Jaywalk

Crown Hill

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T+L Journal A 1959 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta at Galleria Ferrari outside Modena.

ADVENTURE 68 HOTELS 72 REFLECTIONS 76 CITYSCAPE 80

The Art of Speed

ITALY

In and around the countryside of Modena, ROBERT LEVINE hits the autostrada for a closer look inside Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car culture. Photographed by DAVID CICCONI

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Modena Beauty Clockwise from above: Workers take a break at the Maserati factory in Modena; a close-up of the stylish 2002 Enzo Ferrari 660CV at Galleria Ferrari, in Maranello; the 12th-century Duomo di Modena, in the old city — the perfect setting for driving a classic Italian car.

S I DRIVE MY TINY RENTAL CAR down a winding country road into Modena, the first thing I see is a giant spire puncturing the clouds. It is “Il Tridente,” a stylized steel trident that is the emblem of the Maserati motor company and to many serves as the symbol of this city. At first, the landmark’s prominence seems overstated. But as I explore this former medieval ducal capital in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, I realize just how fitting it is. For if the Modenese do not worship the automobile, they certainly honor it—the city may be best known for its production of balsamic vinegar, but the sign on the autostrada welcomes visitors to LA TERRA DEI MOTORI. To car aficionados like me, the spire points to a place of pilgrimage. It was here, in 1929, that Enzo Ferrari founded the racing team that became the world’s most famous sportscar manufacturer; here that Maserati made the Birdcage race cars that scorched European tracks in the late 50’s; and only 19 kilometers east, in the village of Sant’Agata

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Bolognese, that a Ferrari fan named Ferruccio Lamborghini expanded his tractor factory into one of the world’s most prestigious auto plants. Without a doubt, the Modenese pride is justified. The fastest four-wheelers in the world are made in their city, and they regard sports cars the way Bordeaux natives regard wine: as something they may not have invented, but certainly perfected.

The Modenese approach to the automobile as art becomes clear at Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, a suburb 20 minutes south of Modena. By the 1950’s, high modernism had infiltrated consumer culture, and looking at these cars, you would be hard-pressed to find a purer expression of the idea that an object realizes its potential for beauty in pure functionality. These cars were built for speed and, no less important, built to look fast. Tours of the 2,500-squaremeter modern glass-and-steel factory, which was set up here in 1947, are strictly reserved for Ferrari owners (patrons considered worthy—and wealthy—enough). Luckily, there’s

Fast Lane Clockwise from above: The distinctive Maserati headquarters in Modena’s Crocetta district; the choices when it comes to custommade upholstery and exterior colors at the Maserati factory; the distinguished Umberto Panini with a 1957 Maserati 250 F at his museum.

an adjoining museum, and I queue up with Italian students on a field trip. Enzo Ferrari, a former race-car driver, had more passion for racing cars than making them, and much of the museum is dedicated to the company’s victories on the track. Inside, racing lanes map the floor, where a half-dozen Formula One cars sit side by side—small, sleek automobiles that resemble spaceships out of Star Wars and are packed with enough advanced technology that they probably operate like them, too. The first floor is dedicated to Ferrari’s big wins, but classic street cars dominate the upstairs.

Arranged in a circle—hood down, on an angular floor—are the most gorgeous cars the company has ever made. Some, like the 275 GTB4, are old roadsters; others, carbon-fiber modern convertibles. My favorite, however, sits in a corner by itself: a glistening, red Ferrari GTO. Its smooth geometrical form gives the illusion that it’s about to speed away on its own.

The next stop is the Collezione Umberto Panini, a private

car collection owned by Umberto Panini, a retired Italian business mogul. Off the SP486 highway, a small sign for the museum points left, down a long driveway to what looks more like a dairy farm. A rugged-looking Italian working under the hood of an old red English roadster looks up at me. “Il museo?” I ask, pointing to the barn behind me.

“Yes,” he replies.

As a young man, Panini worked as a test driver at Maserati before starting a trading-card business, which he sold in 1990 to become a gentleman farmer. A few years later, when Fiat bought the company, the Maserati collection was excluded from the deal, so Panini bought 19 of the cars to keep them in Modena. While Ferraris were associated with flash and speed, Maseratis were built for the Italian gentleman.

The museum is dark and quiet, but when I turn on the lights, 40 cars lined up like colorfully wrapped candies in a box surround me: a green Mistral from the 60’s, a gleaming red Bora from the 70’s, a dark metallic brown Khamsin » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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| touring GUIDE TO MODENA

GETTING THERE Cathay Pacific (cathaypacific.com), Malaysia Airlines (malaysiaairlines.com), Thai Airways (thaiairways.com) and Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com) all fly to Rome, while Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines also fly to Milan.

From either city, there are convenient connections to Bologna, where trains depart every half hour to Modena.

WHAT TO DO Maserati Factory 322 Viale Ciro Menotti, Modena; 39-059/590-511.

Collezione Umberto Panini 320 Via Corletto Sud, Modena; 39-059/510-660.

SPORTS CARS TOURS Bepokes In England, get behind the wheel of an Aston Martin, Bentley or Porsche. bespokes. co.uk; from US$337.

Club Sportiva rents out Maseratis, Lamborghinis and more in Germany. clubsportiva.com; from US$3,500 a year.

Red Travel guides guests on Ferrari tours throughout Italy. red-travel.com; one-day tours from US$5,170.

A 1930’s Maserati 6CM, the centerpiece of the Panini museum, in Modena.

—for a time Maserati named its cars after winds, some of them rather obscure. While I’m examining an old engine a group of businessmen walks in. With them is Panini himself, a distinguished old man, along with the guy who was working on the roadster, who turns out to be his son. Panini is gesturing wildly, as he points toward his prized possessions.

Eager to convey my appreciation, I point to the cars.

“Bellissima,” I say. His eyes light up. “Bellissima,” he agrees.

I drive to the Maserati facility, a set of factories in Modena’s Crocetta district, the following morning. My guide is Giorgio Manicardi, a retired executive who loved Maserati too much to leave and is now a volunteer. He speaks of the cars as if they were sculptures, and tells me that the company is so particular that it turns out fewer than 10,000 cars per year—what most factories do in a week.

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half hour, they advance in stages along the tracks until they are lowered to the ground to be joined to an engine and fitted with an interior. The workers often finish their tasks in 20 minutes. There is none of the frenetic energy that I expect to see in an auto plant. Their tradition of hand assembly, so full of craftsmanship and at times so prone to quirks, is part of what Maserati is selling. In the 80’s, its Biturbo even had a suede-lined roof and a Swiss clock set in its dashboard.

On my way out, I spot yet another group of schoolchildren listening to their guide recounting the history of car manufacturing. As a kid, I remember visiting places like the National Air & Space Museum and other institutions dedicated to the technological advancements of our country.

They were doing the same here—only Italian rockets take off parallel to the earth.

Robert Levine is a New York–based writer who contributes to The New York Times, Portfolio and Rolling Stone.

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In Indonesia’s Aceh province, a group of former rebels has taken its knowledge of the land and put it to good use leading treks into the province’s rugged, jungle-clad mountains. By CHAD BOUCHARD

INDONESIA

Peaceful Days From far left: The mouth of the Pucoek Krueng river; two former rebels now act as guides in Aceh.

F YOU FALL HERE, you will die.” That’s what my guide says as he hands me the end of a freshly cut liana vine, jabbing his machete toward the edge of the cliff. I laugh nervously. He coughs back a failed chuckle. “Please,” he says, in English. I survey the landscape over my shoulder through the green filter of the jungle’s canopy. Layered rows of mountains, looking like shark’s teeth, stretch into the wilderness of north Sumatra. I take solace in the fact that I am not being shot at, as might have happened several years ago, before going over a rocky battlement.

A few hours earlier, I had met my hiking guide Don and his brother Yuni at the mountain’s base. They know these peaks as well as anyone, because they live here. Having spent most of their teenage and adulthood as foot soldiers for the Free Aceh Movement known as GAM, they are the last generation to fight in a long and brutal war for independence from Indonesia.

Their wounds are fresh. And to this day they don’t use their full names for fear of putting their families at risk. Indonesian soldiers abducted and killed their younger brother as retribution for their involvement in the insurrection. Yet he was the only male in the family who was not connected with GAM. Now the brothers are doing their »

FROM LEFT: ANDREW WHITMARSH; CHAD BOUCHARD

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best to move on. They have turned in their Kalashnikovs and ammo clips, laced up new pairs of hiking boots and signed up with a tour operator to shepherd foreign tourists into the jungle.

The cathedral peaks of western Aceh are a wilderness trekker’s paradise. They include the Bukit Barisan mountain range, a chain of volcanoes, that forms the spine of Sumatra. The “GAM roads” we follow up its precipice are not designed for easy travel. They knit their way through brambles and around crags, making sure I am constantly out of breath. At one point, I sit on a ledge, pull deeply from my water bottle and think about how this trail would be shut down in a country with any semblance of liability laws.

Don is patient but clearly not ready to rest. He shows me a bluish scar where an Indonesian army bullet grazed his hand during a firefight nearby. “The army got to our meeting place first and we fought for two hours. I didn’t have a weapon that day and they just opened fire,” he says. “We had to keep moving.” Point taken.

Further down the path, Don stops to show me the scat of a sun bear, a nocturnal and reclusive beast that sometimes wanders this abandoned valley along with the even-rarer Sumatran tigers. He pokes at the reddish lump of berry husks with a stick, weighing its freshness. A distant screech peels out from the canopy above and he freezes, cocking his head to the side. “Monkey,” he says. He tells me the sound we hear was GAM’s best alarm system for tracking intruders across the valley, and that the monkeys make a different

sound, more like a laugh, when people get close. “You have to understand monkey language.”

Further on, the canopy yawns into a valley, where a stand of stately durian trees marks an old plantation site. Their trunks are still collared with sheet metal to keep monkeys from snatching the crop. The plantation has been fallow for several years, abandoned because of the war, which had been one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies. Wild foliage has taken back the farm. A hornbill makes what sounds like a laugh of its own in the distance.

Yuni disappears for a moment and returns, offering some small, incredibly sour star fruits, a handful of fern tops and a grubby tuber. “GAM vegetables,” he says. He explains how a troop of 20 men survived here for several days on nothing but jungle food. So when is the best time of year to live off the jungle? His answer is to point at the durians. In late summer, this famously stinky fruit grows fat.

Guerilla life was clearly an education in fighting skills, wildlife behavior and horticulture. But it did not prepare the brothers for ordinary life. They are not qualified to work in an office, sell consumer goods or hold other good-paying jobs in the city.

After 30 years of a brutal insurrection, peace came relatively quickly and unexpectedly to Aceh. The December 2004 tsunami sent a wall of water crashing over the province’s coastal plain, destroying almost everything in its path, a disaster that killed more than 160,000 people in Aceh alone. The insurgency was crippled along with it. By

A screech PEELS out from the canopy and Don freezes. “Monkey,” he says

Lost World From left: A guide with his parang; sunlight streaks down to the forest floor outside a cave; atop Goh Leumo mountain, overlooking Banda Aceh and its harbor.

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FROM LEFT: CHAD BOUCHARD; ANDREW WHITMARSH; MENDEL POLS

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the following summer, GAM had signed a peace deal with Indonesia, bringing what everyone hopes is permanent peace to the province.

Mendel Pols was living in Aceh in the aftermath of the tsunami when it occurred to him to hire former soldiers to lead hiking trips. He thought that those same mountain-soldiering skills would make them the best, perhaps the only, suitable guides—they are the gatekeepers to a lost world, and lost worlds do not last long these days.

Bringing that notion to life proved to be its own uphill battle. NGO’s were reluctant to invest in the project because of its connection to former GAM soldiers, afraid to disturb the fierce sensitivity and resentment both sides of the conflict still harbor against each other. “They just laughed, and said it was a crazy idea,” says Pols.

It’s only been three years since his guides fired guns at the Indonesian army. The whole of Aceh is still on tenterhooks from old tensions. The guides are friendly with foreigners, but their anger toward Jakarta still stings. Many of them say they would not want to give tours to Javanese people, who make up the bulk of the Indonesian army.

Pols recruits most of the guides in the nearby village of Keude Bieng. He meets them at a grungy coffee shop, because coffee shops, known as warkop, are where all business is done in Aceh. During the conflict, this town was controlled

by GAM and there is still just a whiff of lawlessness mixed in with the dust. In the heat of the day, rough looking men with nothing to do hang out along the dirt road. NGO symbols that are plastered across the tsunami zone are absent here.

The town suffered little damage from the giant waves and has been ignored by most aid groups.

Guides are paid well, about three times the average daily wage for working on reconstruction. They also get cash on the day they work, an attractive advantage over the monthly salary they would receive working for their former commanding officers. “I am proud to do this work,” says Yuni. “Many other former soldiers want my job. I tell them to be patient.”

Pols also helps the guides’ families from time to time.

When one guide discovered that his two-year-old son had an eye tumor, Pols rallied Dutch donors to pay for an operation.

Aceh Explorer Adventure Tours employs about 20 men in all, though Pols can only use a few at any given time.

The outlook for the business is perilous. Most of Pols’ customers are foreign aid workers living in Banda Aceh, and with the lion’s share of reconstruction done, the NGO’s are pulling out now. Still, Pols has a valuable commodity on his side: this rich and varied jungle, and its history.

Back on the trail, we pass through coffee bushes and clove trees. We kick up the piquant sting of freshly trampled nilam, one of the plants used to make patchouli oil. For a moment,

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it is hard to imagine this tranquil place as a battleground.

Then I am taken to the remains of an old hideout, and the picture becomes clearer. Suddenly, the jungle around us is full of ghosts. Charred bits of burned plastic litter the ground. I recognize the remains of a makeshift washbasin made out of logs and a tarp. Yuni explains how six GAM recruits held off 30 Indonesian soldiers from the top of this post for several hours before they were captured. Given the number of extrajudicial killings during the conflict, “captured” is probably a polite way to indicate something much worse.

As we head back down the mountain, it starts to rain. The guides exchange a foreboding glance. Within minutes, the sky opens, and instead of hiking, we are being washed down the slope. The dark loam underfoot completely gives way, I’m holding on to a vine, swinging through the jungle, skiing down a small landslide. “Like Tarzan!” I shout. “No,” says Don, “Like Rambo,” parking the curved blade of his parang on his hip like a machine gun. He’s laughing, but I wonder if the joke is on me. Rambo is a fighter, and so is Don, but I am just a pale guy who works at a computer and has to stop a lot to catch his breath. It’s fun to try to keep up with the soldiers for a day, but in the end I’m really looking forward to a hot shower.

GUIDE TO ACEH

WHEN TO GO The dry season in Aceh and north Sumatra stretches from May to September. Wet season conditions are unpredictable, and heavy rain makes some trails impassable.

Temperatures range from 25 to 30 degrees year-round.

GETTING THERE From Jakarta, Indonesian airlines Garuda, Lion Air and Sriwijaya fly daily to Banda Aceh via Medan.

WHERE TO STAY Hermes Palace Hotel A palatial four-star accommodation convenient for the city center

with a fitness center, pool, spa and Wi-Fi access. Jln. T. Panglima Nyak Makam; 62-651/755-5888; hermespalacehotel.com; doubles from US$103.

Grand Nanggroe Hotel Spacious rooms, a pool and Internet access. Jln. Tengku Imun Lueng Bata; 62-651/35788; aceh-hotels. com/Grand_Nanggroe; doubles from US$55.

Hotel Green Paradise Quiet location about 20 minutes from the city center. Perumahan Kompleks Puskopo Jln. Ajun Jeumpit; 62-651/7411-5541; doubles from US$28.

WHAT TO DO Aceh Explorer Adventure Tours operates along 25 trails with a wide array of trips available, from three hours to one- or two-night expeditions available. Transport from hotel, water, first aid and a pack lunch are all included. Bring hiking boots or shoes with rugged soles, a long sleeve shirt, sun block, insect repellant with DEET and light-rain gear. 17 Jln. Panglima nyak Makam; 62/812698-4216; acehexplorer.com; from US$45.

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Stylish Niche From left: Designer Philippe Starck at JIA, the city’s first boutique hotel; the soaring exterior of Hotel LKF.

South China

Chic

Hong Kong’s take on boutique hotels is still in its infancy, but there are a few addresses that make the grade. DAVE WONG checks them out

KONG IS NO STRANGER to top-flight hotels. It is, after all, home to some of Asia’s most exalted luxury hotels—The Peninsula, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental and the Four Seasons, just to name a few. But when talk turns to boutique hotels, the city is still in its infancy.

Jason Cohen, Asia Pacific managing director for HIP Hotels Media, a company that publishes guides to the world’s coolest stays, is quick to point out that, although Hong Kong is a great location for a boutique hotel, visitors shouldn’t expect to see many more of them crop up any time soon. With astronomical rents and various other hefty overheads to consider, not to mention the large number of fullscale hotels offering all manner of facilities like massive fitness and business centers, the yields are simply not there to support more growth.

But some small hotels have managed to flourish, carving out an attractive niche market that caters to travelers who are looking for something different. In fact, they’ve evolved into hubs of creativity, precisely

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because of the type of guests they attract. “You get more people who live and work from their laptop, and generally appreciate their surroundings in terms of design and architecture. At the end of the day, a good hotel is about like-minded people,” says Cohen. “Boutique hotels have become great networking spaces for creative industries. You’ll meet people who are very similar in what they do for a living and what they are interested in.”

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JIA Ever since boutique hotels first entered Hong Kong’s hotel vernacular, the concept has been synonymous with the JIA name. With good reason—it was the city’s first boutique hotel and the first in Asia designed by Phillipe Starck. Hong Kong also got a taste of the holy trinity of boutique addresses: an emphasis on designer style, an individual identity and highly personalized service.

And it’s even brought a quirky-cool street cred to its location, commerce-driven Causeway Bay. As you’d expect from a such a property, JIA excels in the details. From a 35-square-meter studio all the way up to 149-square-meter penthouses, the serene 54 guest rooms mark something of a departure from Starck’s usual dramatic aesthetic, though splashes of color add welcome warmth amid the cool white décor. JIA’s penchant for details isn’t limited to design. It provides a handful of services that bolster its image as a savvy hotel, including special access to KEE private members’ club and a 10 percent dining discount at Dragon-I. Since its debut in 2005, JIA has earned a reputation—not just in Asia, but around the world— as an outstanding example of what a boutique hotel should be. Even its now-closed restaurant Opia gained global respect (a new eatery will open in March). “It is all about creating a place of personality,” says Andre Fu, designer of Opia and parts of sister property JIA Shanghai. “I seek to create a shabby chic residential look of haute heritage. It should be an edgy public space that is welcoming, yet homey at the same time.”

LAN KWAI FONG HOTEL

heart of the city’s burgeoning NoHo area, nestled among the many art and antique galleries, trendy restaurants and chic nightspots that branch off Hollywood Road. With the Central–Mid-Levels escalator just a few minutes away, Lan Kwai Fong Hotel is well placed to experience not Lan Kwai Fong, but the SoHo/NoHo area. “We’re lucky to have such a perfect location for Hong Kong,” says Rebecca Kwan, the hotel’s general manager.

“With such easy access to everywhere, it helps us stay connected to the surrounding area.” In fact, the staff ’s intimate knowledge of the neighborhood is one of the hotel’s major perks. With new restaurants and galleries opening and closing all the time, Kwan and her staff must make sure »

Detailed Designs From top: A one-bedroom suite at JIA; the Azure L30 dining room, Hotel LKF; Chinese influence at the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel.

One of the first things a visitor to the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel will notice is that the hotel is not actually located in Lan Kwai Fong. It’s really about 15 minutes west of the neighborhood, at the T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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City Comforts Clockwise from left: The balcony of a harbor-view suite at Lan Kwai Fong Hotel; the hotel’s stylish interior; The Fleming’s airy lobby.

Subtlety is not the order of the day–this is BLING country. And in this hotel, the bumf about the city’s trendiest neighborhood rings true

they stay ahead of the ever-changing cityscape.

“Almost every day we dine out and search for new places. We then bring our recommendations back to our clientele. Many interesting restaurants are in commercial or even residential buildings, and they would be very hard to find without specific directions.” This ongoing research ensures guests 74

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an off-the-beaten-track experience—something that Kwan believes boutique hotel visitors seek.

Inside the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel, the look is a subtle blend of contemporary minimalism and Chinese design. Window-side daybeds lined with silky cushions of red and gold offer comfortable views of the city and harbor, while gilded sets of doors adorned with Chinese lions grace the coolly modern bathrooms. While it may seem painfully clichéd to say it’s an East-meets-West style, they pull it off well here, accomplishing an aesthetic that is measured but unpretentious.

THE FLEMING Wanchai has enjoyed a transformation in recent years. It’s still home to some of Hong Kong’s seedier streets and a number of after-hours bars, where it isn’t unusual to hear techno beats still thumping away when the sun rises. But it’s also rapidly developing highend offerings. The Fleming is one such place, and the 66-room boutique hotel has already garnered acclaim on some of the hottest hot lists in the world. According to John Hui, managing director and former pro tennis player, a big part of their success is the ability to offer topflight service at affordable prices and with a more intimate ambience. “Since we only have 66 rooms, we try to provide the service of staying at a quality hotel, while offering a lower rate,” he says. “Our main clientele are business travelers, and typically they do not spend too much time in their room as they are mostly out for meetings. So when they come back to The Fleming, we want them to come back to a very warm and friendly environment.”

To that end, rooms are graciously designed with subdued hues and simple furnishings. There’s nothing challenging about these rooms, which is exactly the point. Business travelers aren’t looking for quirk; they’re just looking for a place to rest after a long day of meetings. Other features in the hotel work to make life convenient for its busy guests: plasma-screen TV’s and broadband Internet

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complement the business center, while diners who are too weary to venture into the city can enjoy delicious fusion cuisine and signature cocktails at Cubix on the hotel’s lobby level.

Perhaps the most interesting feature on offer here is Hong Kong’s first female-only floor known as “Her Space.” Guest rooms feature additional beauty amenities (including toiletries by L’Occitane), a jewelry box and a minibar of herbal teas and healthy snacks. But most importantly, it’s meant to give solo women travelers a sense of security and privacy.

HOTEL LKF by Rhombus

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Towering high above the cacophony of bars, restaurants, clubs and cafés that is Lan Kwai Fong, Hotel LKF by Rhombus offers arguably the best location to immerse oneself in this vibrant hotspot. The lavish interiors of the hotel’s public areas fit right into the neighborhood’s spirit.

Oscillating disks hang from the ceiling by the reception desk; velvet couches and lacquered tables populate Azure, the hotel’s sleek signature 29th-floor restaurant. They’re positively dripping with confident metropolitan cool, to the point that even the most seasoned city hopper would take an extra moment to soak in the shimmering style.

Subtlety is not the order of the day here—this is bling country, baby. And in this hotel, the marketing bumf about being home to the city’s trendiest

bars and restaurants actually rings true. On any given night you’ll find many a high-rolling local frequenting the eclectic dining and nightlife mix here: FINDS Scandinavian Restaurant, Balalaika Russian Restaurant (complete with a freezer room where fur hats are de riguer), live-music venue The Cavern, the Japanese-themed Kabuki Lounge or Azure, another Andre Fu–designed eatery where a major draw is the terrace that seems purpose-built for watching the rabble below.

Ranging from 46 square meters to 88 square meters, the hotel’s 95 rooms and suites, however, reflect a different vibe. While the lobby and restaurants embrace glitz with abandon, things are more restrained in the guest rooms. Blond wood, white linens, and beige and brown tones are deployed, creating a soothing effect. And if you’re after more peace in this bustling hub, wander over to the 1,400-square-meter yoga and spa center. ✚

ADDRESS BOOK JIA 1–5 Irving St., Causeway Bay; 852/3196-9000; jiahongkong.com; studios from HK$2,500.

LAN KWAI FONG HOTEL 3 Kau U Fong, Central; 852/3650-0000; lankwaifonghotel.com.hk; doubles from HK$1,600.

THE FLEMING 41 Fleming Rd., Wanchai; 852/36072288; thefleming.com; doubles from HK$2,180.

HOTEL LKF by Rhombus 33 Wyndham St., Central; 852/3518-9688; hotel-LKF. com.hk; doubles from HK$2,188.

Bright Lights Clockwise from left: It’s all in the details at the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel; The Fleming in Wanchai; a comfortable harbor-view room, Lan Kwai Fong Hotel.

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NAKING ITS WAY 4,300 kilometers through Southeast Asia, the Mekong River is a majestic waterway that never fails to stir the imagination. Within Thailand, it forms the kingdom’s border with Laos and is busy mainly with local goings-on, seeing few tourists. The country’s northeast, known as Isaan, is also its least developed region, a dry, hot and sparse landscape that, despite all that, has its attractions. Along the serpentine Mekong, the topography is hilly, the towns reflect their riverine culture. Most notably, Isaan cuisine is remarkable. Iconic dishes like fiery papaya salad, sticky rice and barbecued chicken are the tasteful norm, so where better to set off on a drive holiday? Beginning my trip in Nong Khai, directly across the river from the Lao capital of Vientiane, I first head west before doubling back, following the flow of the river to the east and then due south through a series of Thai towns.

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River Escapes Cruising along the mighty Mekong, or at least on the Thai highway that runs beside it, NEWLEY PURNELL develops a taste for all things Isaan. Photographed by AUSTIN BUSH

DAY 1 NONG KHAI TO CHIANG KHAN AND BACK 300 KM Nong Khai is the home of the legendary naga, a mythical serpent that believers say inhabits the river. Crowds gather for a festival in this province every October to witness glowing fireballs that rise from the Mekong into the air at the end of Buddhist Lent. Local lore has it that the orbs are the breath of the naga. As I sit at a café next to the muddy river, orange-clad novice monks stroll along the promenade. A cool breeze comes off the river as I get in my car to start the trip.

My first day is an out and back drive to the small town of Chiang Khan. Across the chocolate-brown river, mountains in Laos poke up. Chiang Khan turns out to be a quiet town where people sit in doorways of traditional, dark-timber shophouses and chatter, mildly surprised to see an outsider here. On the return journey, I roll through the village of Ban Nong, set in a cloistered river bend. A steep hill rises on one side, its flanks cloaked in thick green palm trees. The sun has started to set now, and the town—with the river on one side and the rising hill to the other—is washed in a golden light.

Back in Nong Khai, after a long day behind the wheel, I visit a tiny Vietnamese restaurant called Mae Ut. The woman who prepares the food here, Mae Ut herself, does so in the style of her mother, who came to Thailand from Hanoi. A sizable group of Vietnamese settled in Isaan after the French reoccupied Indochina after World War II. Today, this stretch of the Mekong is home to some of the best Vietnamese food available in all of Thailand. The restaurant, which has operated for 40 years, is an open-air affair, merely a collection of metal tables and plastic chairs under an awning. Mae Ut’s deep-fried spring rolls, known in Thai as miang thot, are filled with ground vegetables and pork.

They’re crisp and delightfully spicy, seasoned with white pepper. The khanom paak mor—a Thai take on the Vietnamese dish called bánh cuôn—is also is filled with ground pork, and is encased in a soft steamed noodle topped with fried shallots. I wash down the meal with a local beer and mull over the next day’s drive. »

Mekong Glimpses From top: The Mekong River seen from Pha Taem National Park, Ubon Ratchathani; steamed noodles at Mae Ut; off to school in Chiang Khan; monks from Wat Phanom collecting alms.

Opposite: Fishing near Chiang Khan.

As I sit in a café next to the MUDDY river, novice monks stroll along the promenade

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Cultural Mix Clockwise from below: The promenade in Mukdahan; pedaling by Frenchcolonial buildings in Nong Khai; a Catholic church in Nakhon Phanom; khai katha, an Isaan breakfast.

Clusters of buildings— many of them FRENCH colonial-era mansions—line the riverfront

DAY 2 NONG KHAI TO NAKHON PHANOM 350 KM Today’s journey is like the river, flat and smooth. The twolane road that hugged nearly every bend of the Mekong today gives way to a vast, straight stretch of highway. The river comes into view only occasionally, and the road mostly cuts through the countryside a few kilometers away. Water buffalo sit in fields and stare at the cars and motorcycles driving past. In villages along the way, vendors are selling bunches of bananas and mangoes from roadside carts.

Craggy mountains begin to poke up on my left, across the river, in Laos. I arrive in the city of Nakhon Phanom, or “City of Hills,” so named for those same peaks across the Mekong. Ho Chi Minh spent several years here in the late 1920’s. Clusters of buildings—many of them French colonial-era mansions—line the riverfront downtown, and huge banyan trees provide shade along a wide walkway.

Throughout the day, boats come and go from Laos, depositing passengers in Thailand. The stately architecture and the slow-moving river give the city a genteel feel.

Come nightfall, men play sepak takraw under floodlights along the river. There’s a large night market, and food is everywhere. Standard Isaan dishes like fried chicken, sticky rice and papaya salad, or som tam, are exquisite. There’s roti sai mai, silky strands of cotton candy wrapped up in a pancake. And there are more dried squid vendors than I can count selling the pungent snacks from the backs of their rickety bicycles.

DAY 3 NAKHON PHANOM TO KHONG CHIAM 300 KM For breakfast, I fortify myself for the day’s drive with a regional specialty: khai katha, or “pan eggs.” This consists of

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two eggs fried in an aluminum pan and sprinkled with sliced Vietnamese sausage, green onions and black pepper.

Further south along the river is Wat Phra That Phanom.

The temple’s Lao-style chedi juts above the river, one of the most sacred sites in Isaan, dates from the 5th century B.C. Legend has it that the temple contains a relic of Buddha.

Outside the temple grounds, an old woman is selling slimy eels and tiny turtles in plastic bags. There are also baby sparrows on offer, though not to eat. She urges me to pay a small fee to release the birds. Doing so, I make merit, which should bring me good luck. I agree and she hands me the small cage. Just as she does this, another vendor—a man in his sixties—offers to help me. I ask him to hold the cage but there’s a misunderstanding; he opens the door and the tiny birds flit away, rising up into the sky. I smile and thank him, wondering for a moment whether we’ll share the luck between us.

In the town of Mukdahan, I find a small café that’s incongruous in Isaan. It’s called Good Mook, a play on the town’s name. The place is decked out in funky furnishings befitting the hippest restaurants in Bangkok: antique typewriters, toy tin robots, replica airplanes and multicolored throw pillows are scattered throughout. The menu consists of Italian sodas, coconut cakes and other desserts, coffee drinks, spaghetti and other pasta dishes. I have an iced coffee to cool off.

Further along the road, I stop at a gas station. In front of me is a farmer in his thirties, and he’s refilling his tractor. He turns to me and looks down at my small Honda from his high perch. It dawns on me that in this part of Thailand, my mode of transport is more unusual than his.

I pull into Khong Chiam—Thailand’s last town on the Mekong before the river veers off into Laos. I check into a riverside cabin and then sit down in an open-air restaurant

for dinner. Two men invite me to join them at their table.

One is a high school English teacher, the other is the school’s director. They’re drinking whiskey and soda. They’re curious as to what I think of Isaan. How does Thailand compare to the West? And, most importantly, do I like spicy Isaan food?

We talk for an hour or so, and I’m struck by their honesty, openness and enthusiasm. Their simple gesture—inviting me to sit with them—is typical of the generous nature found throughout Isaan. They insist on paying for my meal. “You are our guest here,” the younger man says.

DAY 4 KHONG CHIAM TO UBON RATCHATHANI 60 KM I slurp down a bowl of chicken and rice soup, khao tom, for breakfast. Then I’m off to Pha Taem National Park, a remote area famous for its 3,000-year-old rock paintings.

On the road approaching the ranger’s station, the terrain changes: suddenly I’m driving over black rocks that seem to have a pockmarked, lunar texture. I stare out over a cliff at the green hills rolling away, the valley sinking into a crevice below. I walk down a 2-kilometer path beneath the cliff and gaze up at the cliffside. The paintings clearly show stick figures of people, outlines of hands and even giant Mekong catfish, which are still periodically caught in the river.

The final stretch of my journey is through a verdant countryside to Ubon Ratchathani. Ceremonial gongs are made in this area, and the instruments hang outside many of the houses. Some are the size of basketballs, while others span the circumference of a satellite dish.

As my journey comes to an end, I think about the birds I released—or that were released for me, that is—at That Phanom. The creatures most certainly were harbingers of good luck for this part of Thailand is special indeed, and I feel fortunate to have made the journey.

M A P BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

GUIDE TO THAILAND’S MEKONG WHEN TO GO Thailand’s tropical climate is warm year-round, so it’s best to visit the northeast during the cool, dry season, which runs from November to February. The hot season lasts from March to May.

com; approximately US$45 per day.

GETTING THERE Both Thai Airways and AirAsia have daily flights to Udon Thani and Ubon Ratchathani from Bangkok.

NAKHON PHANOM Nakhonphanom River View Hotel 9 NakhonphanomThatphanom Rd.; 6642/522-333; nakhonphanom riverviewhotel.com; doubles from US$45.

GETTING AROUND Thai Rent a Car 6623/188-888; thairentacar.

KHONG CHIAM Banrimkhong Resort 37 Klawpradit Rd.; 66-45/351101; banrimkhongresort. com; riverside cabins from US$35.

WHERE TO STAY NONG KHAI Mekong Guest House 19 Rimkhong Rd.; 66-42/460689; mekongguesthouse. com; doubles from US$25.

T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

WHERE TO EAT Mae Ut Superb Vietnamese food is on the menu at this institution. Meechai Rd., Nong Khai; 66-42/461-04; dinner for two US$5.

Good Mook A comfortable café near the river. Song Nang Sathit Rd., Mukdahan; 66-42/612-091; lunch for two US$10. .

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Tomorrowland U.A.E.

DON’T MEAN TO SOUND like an undergrad philosophy

major, but in Dubai I have no choice. Again and again, I find myself pondering the nature of reality. Sure, the city is a real place populated by real people—1.32 million, last anyone checked. But it has the look and feel of fiction, like a landscape inside a computer game. Bizarre objects pop up at odd intervals, like the pyramid-shaped Raffles hotel or the local answer to the Arc de Triomphe, the Gate, at the Dubai International Financial Centre, which resembles a monumental Parsons table. And visible from all over town is the improbable beanstalk silhouette of Burj Dubai, not scheduled to top out until September 2009, but already the world’s tallest skyscraper. When completed, it will be more than 790 meters tall.

As it turns out, some of the astonishing sights I’m hoping to see simply don’t exist and likely never will. Missing in action is the Dynamic Tower, an 80-story building in which each individual floor revolves 360 degrees—like a quavering stack of hotel cocktail lounges—and generates energy as it turns. The project, designed by Florence-based architect David Fisher, hasn’t broken ground. Another dazzler, Hydropolis, an underwater hotel originally scheduled for completion in late 2007, remains unbuilt and underfunded.

Indeed, Dubai, fiercely sunny, dusty and sprawling, can be as disillusioning as Las Vegas when the neon signs are off. Most of the newer buildings hew close to the Sheikh Zayed strip, a straight line stretching all the way to Abu Dhabi, originally laid through uninhabited desert. Novelty high-rises face off across six lanes of traffic like opposing pieces in a wacky chess set. But the future Dubai is also feverishly under construction on sites well removed from Sheikh Zayed, deep in the desert and out in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

While some of the novelties may never get beyond their sexy renderings, what I find being built is often even more astonishing. There are developments under way the size of whole cities, like Waterfront, an urban habitat for 1.5 million people, with a Manhattan-inspired downtown planned with the help of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. And there’s Bawadi, a 9.5-kilometer-long entertainment district with 51 new hotels, including Asia Asia, predicted to be the world’s largest, with 6,500 rooms. And there’s Business Bay, a new central district with 220 skyscrapers going up all at once.

What I keep hearing during my visit is that the Dubai I can 80

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Amid the man-made islands and theme parks and ever more preposterous architecture of Dubai, KARRIE JACOBS finds a city building the future at warp speed

see is nothing compared with the Dubai that will soon emerge.

Half of what’s printed on the map isn’t really here yet; vast tracts are marked U/C, meaning “under construction.” Also, despite the fact that the present-day city is built on big cars, aggressive air-conditioning and energy-eating seawater desalinization plants, green architecture is now the law of the land. Since last January, according to a decree issued by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, all new buildings must be built according to LEED guidelines. One architect I meet, Shaun Killa of the British firm Atkins, who began his tenure here working on Burj Al Arab, the dramatic sail-shaped hotel that is the city’s unofficial icon, has, in his spare time—not that architects here have spare time—sketched out the zero-energy, zero-waste City of the Future. No client yet, but in Dubai you never know. He also lobbied unsuccessfully for solar panels on the city’s new metro system, the first line of which, paralleling Sheikh Zayed Road, is scheduled to open later this year. One of Killa’s genuine projects sounds almost as outlandish as the highly speculative Dynamic Tower. The “low carbon” Lighthouse Tower will be topped with a trio of jumbo wind turbines and will have 4,000 photovoltaic cells embedded in its façade. Scheduled completion date: 2010.

Over at the firm FXFowle International, managing director Steven Miller speaks for most Dubai-based architects when he says, “It’s like I died and I’m already in heaven.” Among other things, he’s been helping Waterfront adhere to LEED Gold standards. The buildings will reuse water that condenses on the windows, waste will be turned into energy, and shaded walkways and a system of trams will encourage residents to drive a lot less.

Meanwhile, Miller’s firm is hard at work on the new Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing: two long spans supported by graceful arches that will meet on a man-made island, adjacent to the projected site of a Zaha Hadid–designed opera house. “In 2013, the bridge will be the next icon,” predicts Miller.

Even the things I think I know about Dubai, projects that have been relentlessly hyped, turn out to be both more and less real than I’d imagined. For instance, I’ve heard plenty about the Palms, three enormous clusters of islands made in the shape of trees, and the World, 300 artificial islands representing every country and landmass. But none of the publicity prepared me for the overall oddness of the dome-topped sales center for Nakheel, a major developer, as lavishly decorated as the lobby of a luxury hotel. Tourists roll in by the busload—real estate showrooms are among Dubai’s most compelling attractions— first the Germans, then the Japanese, and snap photos of a giant scale model of Atlantis, a version of the undersea-themed resort in the Bahamas. Of course, when it opens for business in Dubai this fall, travelers will be able to experience the real thing. The new Trump Dubai hotel is scheduled to open near Atlantis in 2009. Aaron Richardson, the media-relations manager »

Tourists roll in by the BUSLOAD—real estate showrooms are among Dubai’s most compelling attractions

A rendering of the Lighthouse Tower, scheduled to open in 2011, which will use wind turbines in its design.

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for Nakheel, tells me they’re also planning an adjacent project called the Universe, with islands in the shape of the solar system. I assume he’s joking. But, of course, he’s not.

Later I venture to the Dubailand showroom, another project that has been long heralded, but at the moment manifests itself as a desert full of earth-moving equipment and the most extravagant scale model I’ve ever seen. Dubailand will someday be a 280-square-kilometer agglomeration of theme parks interspersed with housing and hotels, including a Tiger Woods– branded golf course development, which, I guess, is why there are live tigers in a glass enclosure adjacent to the reception area.

Among Dubailand’s future attractions are Al Sahra, an “ecotourism resort” with a working date farm and a 1,200seat amphitheater; the City of Arabia, which will combine serviced apartments and a theme park stocked with “over 100 animatronic dinosaurs;” and Falcon City, where residents will live amid reproductions of ancient pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, and the Taj Mahal. The utterly over-the-top landscape I see in the model, an almost random assemblage of everything anyone could possibly imagine, seems like it

could be Dubai in microcosm—you know, the city as theme park—except that there’s nothing micro about it.

Unaccountably, the most satisfying thing I see in Dubai is a modest office tower—a mere 22 stories—that is still being built when I visit. It’s in Business Bay, a new district going up along an inland waterfront that was created by dramatically extending Dubai Creek. Developer Shahab Lutfi is putting up 0-14, the first freestanding work built by the experimental New York firm Reiser + Umemoto, which has turned out to be, in Lutfi’s words, “an adventure.” The undulating, column-free shape is created by pouring concrete into steel molds custom-made in China. The façade’s oddly spaced round openings—think Swiss cheese—are created by cutting into the mold and inserting thick foam plugs. The process is remarkably complex, because each floor is different. This one will not rotate, or shimmy, or generate its own electricity or break any world records, but unlike so much of what’s being built at a frenetic pace all around it, I think there’s a good chance that it will be beautiful.

I admire Lutfi’s dedication to his short-but-demanding tower, and I’m also grateful to him for giving me as authentic

Residents will live AMID reproductions of ancient pyramids

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C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: CO U RT ESY O F FX FOW L E A RC H I T ECTS ; CO U RT ESY O F R E I ST E R + U M E M OTO ; C O U R T E SY O F DY N A M I C A R C H I T E C T U R E ; C O U R T E SY O F AT K I N S

Future Dubai The Trump Dubai hotel (opening this year). Clockwise from above: A rendering of the Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed crossing (2013); Reister + Umemoto’s 0-14 building; the 80-story Dynamic Tower, where floors revolve independently.

CO U RT ESY O F AS DA A ; CO U RT ESY O F RA F F L ES

Sky High Left: The Burj Dubai, which will be the world’s tallest structure at 818 meters. Above: The pyramid-shaped Raffles hotel.

an experience as it’s possible to have in Dubai: an off-road jaunt around a major construction site. As Lutfi, elegantly dressed in a traditional white dishdasha and head scarf, maneuvers his silver Hummer through mushrooming Business Bay, rumbling through potholes and deftly avoiding monster trucks, he observes, “In Dubai, the roads and the buildings get built at the same time. Sometimes the buildings finish before the roads.” To Lutfi, at least, the logic is obvious: “We are trying to build in 10 years what other people take 100 years to build.”

Actually, I think 100 years is an understatement—1,000 years’ worth of city in a decade is more like it. Every 10 seconds I alternate between profound admiration and sheer terror. One afternoon I max out on the whole big-is-beautiful ethos. I seek refuge in the Palace, a newly opened “historic” Arabian hotel, part of a freshly minted district called Old Town. I sink into a comfortable chair in the Palace’s tranquil lobby, and notice I’ve got the best possible view of a 21stcentury icon. There, beyond the Persian arches of the shaded terrace and the lush gardens, looms the Burj Dubai. I figure that this is it—reality, Dubai-style—sipping tea while staring across the ages from a make-believe version of the 16th century to a somewhat implausible version of the 21st.

Karrie Jacobs is a T+L contributing editor.

GUIDE TO DUBAI

WHEN TO GO The best time to visit is late autumn to early spring.

waterfront resort. Dubai Marine Beach Resort & Spa; 971-4/3461111; dinner for two US$104.

GETTING THERE There are nonstop flights to Dubai on Emirates from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore.

Blue Barjeel Restaurant & Café Classic Middle Eastern restaurant in Bur Dubai, one of the older parts of the city. Al Ghubaiba Rd.; 971-4/353-2200; dinner for two US$27.

WHERE TO STAY Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Beach Rd.; 971-4/301-7777; burj-al-arab. com; doubles from US$2,330.

Palace-The Old Town Old Town Island, Downtown Burj Dubai; 9714/428-7888; sofitel.com; doubles from US$329.

Raffles Dubai Sheikh Rashid Rd., Wafi City; 1-800/768-9009; dubai.raffles.com; doubles from US$1,000.

WHERE TO EAT Al Qasr Lebanese restaurant with outdoor tables overlooking a

WHAT TO SEE AND DO Atlantis, The Palm Outer crescent of the Palm Jumeirah; 971-4/426-1000; atlantisthepalm. com.

Burj Dubai Burj Dubai Blvd., Business Bay; 971-4/367-3333; burjdubai.com.

Business Bay Spans more than 5 square kilometers, from Dubai Creek to Sheikh Zayed Rd.; 9714/391-1114; businessbay.ae.

The Gate Dubai International Financial Centre; 971-4/3622222; difc.ae.

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Tiananmen Gate, the Forbidden City.

CHINA

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CHINA MADE EASY

ORIENTATION China can seem as • impenetrable as it is imposing. Consider the numbers: It’s the world’s most populous nation (1.3 billion), where more than 100 cities have populations over a million. Fifty-six ethnic groups are spread across 22 wildly distinct provinces and five autonomous regions, in a landmass slightly larger than the contiguous U.S. Its history seems limitless and its traditions just as deep. But here and now, change is the only real

constant — and it is accelerating at a dizzying pace: One thousand new cars hit the streets of Beijing every day. How do you begin to fathom a country of such extremes? The futuristic cities glittering above timeworn villages; the great rivers and vast empty deserts; the radical new architecture juxtaposed with millennia-old monuments; the ceaseless push-and-pull between Confucianism, Communism and commerce.

Where do you even begin? Have no fear. Start here.

Great Wall Datong

Beijing

Taiyuan Pingyao Xi’an

Chengdu

Three Gorges Dam

Suzhou

Shanghai

Y A N G T Z E R I V E R Yellow Hangzhou Mountain Dazu

Lijiang Guilin Dali

Kunming Hong Kong Macau

CHINA Illustrated by RODICA PRATO 88

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Taking Flight Inside the new Foster & Partners–designed Terminal 3, at Beijing Capital International Airport, below. Below right: A Chinese taxi stand sign.

GETTING AROUND

TAXI TIPS HOW TO CATCH A CAB In Beijing

and Shanghai, look for the comfortable new Hyundais and Volkswagens.

Elsewhere, reputable cabs have a red light in the windshield and an illuminated light box on the roof to indicate availability. Steer clear of illegal black taxis, with no license on the dash. It’s customary to hail a cab with your palm facing down, forearm pulling inward, though simply raising your arm should also work. Catching a cab in city traffic is difficult during rush hour (8–10 A.M. and 5–7 P.M.); it’s best to have your hotel call for one.

FROM TOP: © LIYUECU / DREAMSTIME.COM; © CHEE WOON PENG / DREAMSTIME.COM

Smooth Arrivals As rapid as China’s march into the 21st century has become, if you’re flying aboard a GETTING THERE mainland airline, don’t expect top-flight service particularly in domestic economy class. Without making too much of it, on any long-haul flight, it’s a good idea to bring along earplugs. Cathay Pacific and Dragonair have introduced a mainland China reservations hotline (4008886628) for its passengers in the country.

BEST NEW ROUTES All of Asia’s biggest airlines now fly to China’s major cities, with Dragonair (dragonair.com) flying to 20 destinations out of Hong Kong, including their code-share services; Singapore Airlines (singaporeairlines.com) servicing five destinations in the country; and Thai Airways (thaiairways.com) seven. But the biggest news about flying to China is that travelers can now do so directly from Taiwan, with services to 21 cities on the mainland, part of the ever-evolving relations between the two countries.

· WHAT IT COSTS

If you’re willing to forgo customer service for considerable savings, consolidators are a good choice; economy seats are often discounted an average of 10 percent below fares found on search engines like Expedia and Orbitz. Finding a reputable consolidator can be a challenge, since most advertise only in Chinese newspapers, if at all, and business is generally conducted solely over the phone. The best option we found: FlyChina.com, a website that includes deals found via consolidators and other sources, as well as customer support via phone.

AIRPASS ADVICE If you plan on taking domestic flights within China, save money by using the new Star Alliance China Airpass (staralliance.com). With the Airpass, you can use any Alliance-member airline for the international leg and then transfer to either Air China or Shanghai Airlines for domestic flights. Best of all, the pass lets you rebook your internal segments at any time—without penalty.

WHERE TO FIND VALUE

HOW TO COMMUNICATE Don’t assume your driver will understand much more than hello. Always ask your concierge to write down your destination’s address, phone number and any nearby landmarks. And be sure to bring a business card from your hotel, with the address in Chinese, for the return trip. Beijing and Shanghai also have free tourist hotlines that offer a translator to serve as a liaison between you and your driver (in Beijing call 86-10/65130828, and in Shanghai call 86-21/962-020). For non-Mandarin speakers, it’s worth picking up a few pleasantries such as ni hao (hello), xie xie (thanks) and zai jian (goodbye).

WHAT TO PAY Expect to spend about

US$2 for a 10-minute trip; US$5 to head across town; and US$15 to get out of town.

Taxis accept only cash, so it’s wise to make sure you have change. Tipping is not customary.

Bowl of noodles: US$1.50 (RMB10) Coca-Cola from a street vendor: 43 U.S. CENTS (RMB3) Subway ride: 43 U.S. CENTS (RMB3) T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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Where to Go, What to See BEIJING: 2–3 DAYS China’s political, historical

and cultural capital demands at least three days—for the familiar landmarks of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and also for Beijing’s 21st-century architecture, such as the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron and the glass-and-titanium dome that is the National Grand Theater. China’s contemporary art scene finds its nexus in the galleries and cafés of the Dashanzi Art District, home to the new Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. Beijing’s atmospheric hutong, or traditional alleyways, are fast disappearing; explore the bustling lanes off Nanluoguxiang, near the 13th-century Drum and Bell towers. Then check out the Legation Quarter, a high-end restaurant, entertainment and cultural development set within the former American Embassy compound. And save a morning to stroll the manicured, 267-hectare grounds of the Temple of Heaven, site of the circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the 15th-century apogee of Chinese ritual architecture.

THE GREAT WALL Numerous stretches of the Great Wall are easily accessible from Beijing (ask your hotel to arrange a car or bus tour). But avoid the tourist trap of Badaling and head to the slightly less trammeled Mutianyu section, a 90-minute drive northeast of the Forbidden City. Early morning is best; try Asia 1 on 1 (asia1on1.com) for day trips.

SHANGHAI: 2–3 DAYS First stop: the riverfront promenade known as the Bund, with its Art Deco, Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts façades, bars and shops, and views of the spaceage towers of Pudong. In People’s Park you’ll find the Shanghai Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Weekdays are the best time to wander among the pine trees and ponds of the 16th-century Yuyuan Gardens. Xintiandi was the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party; now this restored two-block district is defined by upscale shops and restaurants. The leafy, rustic French Concession is the favored destination for cutting-edge fashion and designs for the home. Shanghai’s latest secret? Lane 248, a gritty, narrow street now inhabited by artsy cafés and intimate boutiques, hidden behind Taikang Road.

THE ESSENTIALS

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EARTHQUAKE UPDATE While the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province in May 2008 caused major devastation, the capital city of Chengdu was left mostly unscathed. Certain sites, such as the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, were unaffected, and the area is eager to welcome back visitors.

The Shanghai skyline, with the spherical Oriental Pearl Tower. Below: The Great Wall of China. Above: The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, in Beijing’s Temple of Heaven park.

Past Present From left: Hangzhou’s West Lake; the city wall in Xi’an, which dates to the 14th century; a Buddha at the Yungang Grottoes, in Datong; Guilin’s Nan mountain range, in southern China.

FROM LEFT: © JIANQING GU / DREAMSTIME.COM; © LIHUI / DREAMSTIME.COM; © DONG HJ / DREAMSTIME.COM; © REST / ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

· WHAT IT COSTS

Pot of tea: FROM US$3 (RMB20 AND UP) Pack of 10 postcards: US$1.50 (RMB10) 10-minute rickshaw ride: US$7 (RMB50)

GUILIN: 2 DAYS With its sheer limestone peaks jutting up from the Li River, Guilin is straight out of a traditional Chinese landscape painting, and remains one of China’s most breathtaking sights. Take in the view from Solitary Beauty Peak and marvel at the formations of the Reed Flute Cave. Spring and autumn are best; avoid the heat of July and the crowds of the holiday seasons. (Two hours by air from Shanghai.)

XI’AN: 2 DAYS China’s ancestral capital is renowned for its “terra-cotta army,” created during the Qin dynasty (221–207 B.C.): thousands of life-size clay warriors stand in formation as part of the funerary complex of China’s first emperor, with much more yet to be excavated. You’ll need at least two days here to take in the warriors, see the Shang dynasty bronze relics at the Shaanxi History Museum, walk along the Old City walls, and visit the Da Mai market. (Two hours by air from Beijing.)

DATONG: 2 DAYS Majestic Qing dynasty frescoes are the standout in the celebrated temple district. Nearby excursions include the awesome Buddhist sculptures in the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple of Mount Hengshan, which clings precipitously to the side of a cliff. Not far away are some especially beautiful eroded mud-brick ruins of the Great Wall. (One hour by air or six hours by scenic train ride from Beijing.)

HANGZHOU: 2 DAYS Fabled West Lake is the major draw here, with its elegant causeways, pavilions, gardens and arched bridges. Hangzhou is also renowned as a culinary capital: local specialties include stuffed-beggar’s chicken and fatty dongpo pork; sample both at the great Louwailou restaurant. (Two hours by bullet train from Shanghai.)

SUZHOU: 1 DAY Famous for its Ming- and

Qing-dynasty gardens—don’t miss the Garden of the Master of the Nets and the Humble Administrator’s Garden—Suzhou was once called the Venice of the East for its canals. But smart travelers know the most picturesque waterways—fringed by whitewashed houses and 1,000-year-old humpbacked bridges—are in the village of Tongli, a 50-minute drive away. (45 minutes by train from Shanghai.)

KUNMING: 1 DAY This city is one of China’s most pleasant, in climate-blessed Yunnan province. Visit the 15th-century Bamboo Temple and the 17th-century Golden Temple, stroll the pavilions and bridges of Green Lake, and savor the raucous energy of the Kundu Night Market. (Three hours by air from Shanghai.)

DALI: 1 DAY Like nearby Lijiang, Dali has a strong ethnicminority flavor, a walled Old City with cobblestone streets, and striking mountain scenery—but without the same tourist mobs. Explore on foot, peek at the Three Pagodas, or go for a boat ride on Erhai Lake. (45 minutes by air from Kunming.)

TAIYUAN: 1 DAY The capital of Shanxi province, Taiyuan is home to the Shanxi Provincial Museum, offering a superb survey of the region’s 5,000-year history, and the Jinci Temple weaves a thread between Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. And a further 90 minutes southwest by car is Pingyao, a stunningly preserved walled city and veritable time machine that unforgettably carries you back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. A worthy side trip. (One hour by air from Beijing.)

THE EXTRAS

CRUISE NEWS Later this year, the controversial Three Gorges Dam — the world’s largest, at 185 meters high and nearly 2.4 kilometers long — will have fully submerged the picturesque canyons above the Yangtze River. See the canyons while you still can: Abercrombie & Kent (abercrombiekent.com) has just launched three- to four-day luxury river cruises that take passengers to the dramatic Wu and Xiling gorges, the “ghost town” of Fengdu, and the impressive dam itself.

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CHINA MADE EASY Rest Assured From left: A one-bedroom suite at the Aman at Summer Palace, just outside central Beijing; birdcages hanging in the lobby of the JIA Shanghai; Suite 45 at The Opposite House, in Beijing; on the grounds of the Banyan Tree Lijiang, in southern Yunnan province.

· WHAT IT COSTS

Bowl of noodles: US$1.50 (RMB10) Coca-Cola from a street vendor: 43 U.S. CENTS (RMB3) Subway ride: 43 U.S. CENTS (RMB3)

China’s Hotel Boom: Where to Stay Now BEIJING Noteworthy newcomers include the Ritz-Carlton, Beijing, with its traditional Chippendale furniture, and its sleeker cousin, the Ritz-Carlton, Beijing, Financial Street; the Raffles Beijing Hotel, which occupies an early1900’s French-Asian–style building; and the Park Hyatt Beijing, the city’s tallest hotel, crowned by a 66th-floor restaurant within a glass pyramid.

• The capital’s boutique hotel scene received a boost with the 99-room Opposite House, in the burgeoning Sanlitun area; it’s the first property from the recently formed Swire Hotels group.

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• The eagerly anticipated Mandarin Oriental, Beijing, in a dramatically angled tower within the Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren–designed CCTV complex, is slated for completion in mid-2009.

• Just outside central Beijing, Amanresorts is transforming century-old pavilions adjacent to the Qing dynasty Summer Palace into a modern traveler’s oasis that’s due to open this fall.

• And on the horizon for later this year is a Four Seasons in the Chaoyang district, the diplomatic area of the Chinese capital in the northeast.

SHANGHAI The Park

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Hyatt Shanghai surveys the city from the 79th through 93rd floors of the new Shanghai World Financial Center, which at 101 stories ranks as China’s tallest building.

• For a more intimately scaled alternative, check into the 55-room JIA Shanghai, a contemporary art–driven boutique hotel in a 1920’s building.

• Watch for the fall 2009 opening of the Art Deco–inspired Peninsula Shanghai, located in Waitan Yuan, with views of the Bund.

OTHER DESTINATIONS

The mountainous Yunnan region has two new highprofile luxury retreats: the

Banyan Tree Lijiang, with its traditional-style suites and villas, and the more rustic, Tibetan-influenced Banyan Tree Ringha.

• Set along the dramatic limestone peaks of Guilin within a contemporary sculpture park, the recently revamped, 46-room HOMA Libre resembles a grasscovered pyramid.

• Meanwhile, on Hainan Island, off China’s southern coast, Sanya is becoming a top-notch beach resort.

The Banyan Tree Sanya has 61 villas lining the shore, and this winter, Mandarin Oriental, Sanya will bring an additional 297 luxury rooms, all with views of the South China Sea.

F RO M L E F T: CO U RT ESY O F A M A N R ES O RTS ; CO U RT ESY O F J I A S H A N G H A I ; CO U RT ESY O F P R E F E R R E D H O T E L S & R E S O R T S ; C O U R T E S Y O F B A N YA N T R E E R E S O R T S

Name a hotel group, and chances are it has big plans for China (last year alone saw more than 330 openings). Here, our hit list of top entrants

Eat Like an Expert Jennifer 8. Lee — author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food — shares her six must-try regional dishes

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whom you ask, China has four, eight or 10 great culinary traditions: the Canton, Sichuan and Hunan cooking familiar to Americans, and also a variety of regional styles that have not yet jumped the Pacific—and which scarcely resemble what we call “Chinese” food. MuslimChinese cuisine emphasizes lamb, cilantro, cumin and breads; the cooking of China’s Yunnan province has more in common with that of Southeast Asia; and Uighur cuisine—from the northwestern region of Xinjiang—makes liberal use of tomatoes and peppers. To fully appreciate this dizzying variety, you must embrace unfamiliar textures (the Chinese place great importance on kougan, or “mouth sensation”). Be willing to try creatures from the deep. And, above all, do not fear fat.

• Loosely translated as “knife-shaved noodles,” daoxiaomian are a Shanxi specialty. Short ribbons are cut off a block of wheat-flour dough minutes before they’re flash-boiled; the result is fresh and chewy.

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The Uighur specialty dapanji (big-plate chicken) is a scrumptious combination of bone-in chicken, peppers, potatoes and a savory tangy sauce, sometimes served over thick, hand-pulled noodles.

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Laced with powerful, tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan-style mala huoguo (spicy hot pot) is not for the faint of heart. For less intensity, ask for it split into hong (red) and bai (white).

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Xiaolongbao, also known as soup dumplings, are Shanghai’s most ingenious export: a delicate translucent satchel filled with meat or seafood in a fragrant, piping-hot broth.

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Beijing kaoya (Peking duck) is beloved for its crispy skin, which is injected with air to separate it from the fat.

It contrasts beautifully with the crunchy spring onions, soft pancakes and velvety hoisin sauce.

Hailing from the ancient capital of Xi’an, roujiamo is China’s answer to the hamburger — except this Muslim-Chinese sandwich is made with minced lamb and cilantro, and served in a dense wheat bun.

Photographed by BERTON CHANG

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CHINA MADE EASY Made in China Clockwise from right: Gold statuary for sale at a Beijing market; traditional wolf- and sheephair calligraphy brushes; Chinese glass beads from the Beijing market.

READING LIST

Great New Books on China • Serve the People, A Stir-Fried Journey Through China (Harcourt, Inc) by Jen Lin-Liu is a mouthwatering cook’s tour of China today, from cooking student to intern at a chic Shanghai restaurant. The capital city’s traditional — and quickly vanishing — hutong neighborhoods come to life in Michael Meyer’s memoir The Last Days of Old Beijing (Walker & Company). In Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper (W.W. Norton & Company), British culinary whiz Fuchsia Dunlop recounts her 15year immersion in Sichuan cuisine and culture. London-based expat novelist Ma Jian explores the repercussions of Tiananmen Square in Beijing Coma (Farrar, Straus). Mid-20th-century Sinophile Joseph Needham takes center stage in Simon Winchester’s The Man Who Loved China (Harper). J. Maarten Troost may be a China neophyte, but he makes for an observant traveling companion in Lost on Planet China (Broadway). Mark Leonard answers the popular question What Does China Think? (PublicAffairs) by tracking the country’s intellectual awakening — and ongoing growing global dominance.

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HEAD STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE While you might find the same traditional crafts and goods in every Chinese city (fans, brushes, dolls), each originates from one or more regions. Go there, and you’ll find the best quality. In Xi’an, the ancient street of Shuyuanmen is a good place to pick up calligraphy brushes from art-equipment stalls. Or, if you’re in search of hand-painted decorative fans, it’s worth the three-hour trip from Guilin along the Li River to the small village of Fuli, where you’ll find Fan Street.

KNOW WHEN TO FAKE IT Sometimes it’s best not to buy the real thing.

Beijing’s massive Panjiayuan flea market is chockablock with ceramics, furniture, beads, curios and collectibles, many of them affordable, attractive—and fake. Except for the jewelry, there are very few real antiques, but that doesn’t make the experience of wandering the aisles any less enjoyable.

GET OFF THE BEATEN TRACK Often, the best finds really are worth the

search: Tianjin, 130 kilometers southeast of Beijing, is where you’ll come across the warehouse of antique Chinese furniture expert C. L. Ma, with both restored and unrestored pieces, as well as quality reproductions.

BARGAIN AT THE RIGHT TIMES Bargaining is expected in markets and

well-touristed areas, though not in shopping malls or high-end boutiques.

Patience and a sense of humor are key. Offer 25–50 percent of the opening price, and don’t worry about going too low, as a vendor will never sell at a loss. At a shop like Spin, in Shanghai, a stylish, contemporary warehouse space with pared-down simple ceramics, prices will be fixed.

TALK TO THOSE IN THE KNOW There’s nothing better than first-hand information from an expert. Chris Buckley, author of Tibetan Furniture, can trace the history of the handwoven carpets and centuries-old textiles in his new Torana Carpets gallery in the Shunyi district of Beijing.

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Shopping Strategies: Tips and Tools for the Best Buys

Where the Guides Go

In search of authentic, accessible experiences, T+L asked five China experts to share their favorite recent discoveries KRISTI ELBORNE “Last fall, I traveled to Lijiang, in China’s southernmost

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region, to see the Naxi, descendants of Tibetan nomads and one of the world’s only remaining matriarchal societies. Eighty-year-old women sat drying crab apples, their faces as wrinkled as the small fruits. They were eager to have their photos taken—most are no longer afraid that the flash will whisk away a piece of their soul.” Toronto-based Elborne uses her Mandarin to find off-the-radar sites (Butterfield & Robinson; 1-866/551-9090; butterfield.com).

KARIN HANSEN “One special landmark that not many people see in Sichuan province is the Dazu Grottoes. Outside, there are large and colorful carvings etched on the mountains, all portraying Chinese fables and ancient dynasties. Inside the temple, the whispers of prayer bring you into a different world.” Over the past decade, Hansen has honed her knowledge of the country’s ethnic groups (Frosch Travel; 1-800/866-1623; frosch.com).

GERALD HATHERLY “Xi’an is the link to China’s most cosmopolitan past: its Silk Road heritage. The local Hui people live around the 14th-century Great Mosque. It’s an architectural marvel, a mélange of Buddhist design and Islamic accents. There is no secret to arranging a tour—once you get to the Drum Tower, open your mind, and observe.” A&K’s China expert is based in Hong Kong and specializes in contemporary Chinese literature (Abercrombie & Kent; 1-800/554-7016; abercrombiekent.com).

CATHERINE EVANS HEALD “My favorite place in Suzhou is the Garden of the Master of the Nets, which dates to the Song dynasty. In

the main area, covered walkways open onto a pond with arched bridges and flowering shrubs. Following Taoist philosophy, the garden was designed for contemplation. I love to imagine those who came before me—each person in search of peace and tranquility.” Heald designs tailor-made trips to some of China’s undiscovered regions (Remote Lands; 1-646/415-8092; remotelands.com).

GUY RUBIN “Huang Shan, or Yellow Mountain, is in Anhui, west of Shanghai. I first climbed it in late October. Clouds glided across the granite tusks; it was overwhelmingly beautiful. I later asked the contemporary artist Zheng Zai Dong why he had never painted the mountain. He shook his head. ‘How could you be equal to the task?’ ” Rubin creates ultra-luxe itineraries for travelers in search of the trip of a lifetime (Imperial Tours; 1-888/888-1970; imperialtours.net).

· WHAT IT COSTS

Souvenir T-shirt: US$3 (RMB20) One-hour massage: US$29 (RMB200) Full-day private guided tour: US$58 (RMB400)

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FASHIONABLE DELHI ON PARADE AT INDIA GATE. PHOTOGRAPHED BY FRE´ DE´ RIC LAGRANGE

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VIENTIANE on the move, slowly A new, ambitious attitude in DELHI Scenes from AUSTRALIA, the movie Uncovering another world in LOMBOK 97

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ientiane

still has some room to

boom

The Lao capital is at once sleepy and undergoing change, though at a very local pace. RON GLUCKMAN takes the pulse of the city he loves to visit. Photographed by PAUL WAGER

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Transport by three wheels.

Must-Sees An ornate Lao river boat moored in Vientiane. Opposite page from top: John Stirzaker, project manager at a preservation group in the city, outside one of the group’s projects; local art students sell their work along the Mekong.

When you cross into Laos from Thailand heading towards nearby Vientiane, the roadside scenery alters drastically, the pace becomes less hectic. Gone are signs for 7-Elevens and McDonald’s. Laos, it turns out, is one of a handful of nations without a fast-food franchise.

Here billboards are descriptive for what they don’t advertise.

Some are even blank.

Yet in a nation that typifies sleepy, even Laos has to surrender to the fact that, all too often, the only constant in the world is change. In the 1970’s, travel to the isolated country was difficult because it issued few tourist visas. Twenty years later, things had picked up marginally, though even short-stay visas took weeks to arrange. These days, access is easy, and tourism is soaring in Laos, properly called the People’s Democratic Republic, although the long-running joke is that PDR really means, “Please Don’t Rush.” Caution is the backbone of the country, and that has preserved this land, which is always a privilege to visit.

While Asia’s boom has transformed practically every major city in the region, Vientiane remains little altered from the 100

blissful backwater I first encountered more than 15 years ago.

Then the center of activity—practically the only activity— was a central fountain.

The venerable Scandinavian Bakery still stocks cakes and croissants by that fountain. Tables are set with fine linen each night in an arc of French cafés like Nam Phu, run by the same owners since 1982. “Laos is changing,” the founder’s grandson tells me, serving a thick steak smothered in pepper sauce. “But change, Lao style—slow and careful.”

Stalwarts like wild boar are still on some menus, but a slew of trendy new cafés and silk boutiques near the fountain attest to tourism’s surge. Longtime residents say a boom—but not in, say, the Beijing style, they hasten to add—has swept the city. “Vientiane has boomed the last couple of years,” says Sandra Yuck, a Montreal native and an Asia-based textile trader for decades. She visited Laos in the 1980’s, “when there were no tourists,” moving in 1997 to Vientiane, where she runs Caruso, a high-end wood and home-ware business with several Lao showrooms and exports around the world. »

Wat Si Saket, Vientianeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest temple,

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dates to 1818 but FEELS centuries older

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Artist Vankham poses with some of her sketches and a painting. Opposite page: The colonnaded ordination hall at Wat Si Saket.

“In 1997 there were few foreign tourists,” she recalls. “The breakthrough,” she notes, came in 2003. “Indochina became hot. Everyone had been to Thailand. When Vietnam emerged, Laos started picking up.”

Eric Howe, manager of the historic Settha Palace hotel, concurs. “That’s when the Internet came and mobile phone service improved. We got traffic lights and parking laws.”

Still, he feels Vientiane retains its small-town charm. “It’s a laid-back city, the kind of place Mick Jagger comes to,” he says, “and nobody recognizes him. He told me that. Where else in the world is that possible?”

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ONG OVERLOOKED AS a destination, today Laos is undeniably hip, topping lists of must-see countries.

Vientiane saw little traffic once an international airport opened in Luang Prabang, a World Heritage site of stunning temples. But tourists are venturing further afield and the capital now benefits.

Admittedly, Vientiane lacks Luang Prabang’s picturesque temples. Still, Wat Si Saket will satisfy any sightseer. Set inside a walled compound, Vientiane’s oldest temple dates to 1818 but feels centuries older. Built in a Thai style that may have

spared it of a sacking during a Siamese raid in 1828, it has been left unrestored. On misty mornings, visitors often have the place to themselves; the courtyard is a great area to unwind, surrounded by thousands of images of Buddha cast in stone, silver, bronze or wood.

Closer to the Presidential Palace are several other temples including Haw Pha Kaew, the former Royal Temple. It was originally built in 1600’s, or the previous century—historians continue the debate—but none dispute that it has been razed and rebuilt many times, most recently during World War II. While critics note that it has scant historical value—the Emerald Buddha, despite alleged magical powers, was repeatedly snatched by Siamese forces and now sits in Bangkok’s Wat Phra Kaew—it does boast exquisitely carved columns. There is also a small artifacts museum on the grounds, which have been spruced up, as have most of Vientiane’s temples. Credit the flow of tourism, which has also helped transform many colonial-era buildings into boutiques and cafés.

Of course, few would compare Vientiane to Hanoi or even Phnom Penh. “Luang Prabang was the capital until 1912, so Vientiane really doesn’t have that much that stands out and » 105

I spend MANY afternoons among monks,

Lao Arts From left: Spinning silk for weaving at Lao Textiles; the silk weaving house run by Carol Cassidy for Lao Textiles; Pack, a Khop Chai Deu staff

grabs you,” concedes Allison Brown, founder of Bolisat Anulak Heuan Lao, a locally based group devoted to saving historical sites. Focusing on buildings that date back to the 1960’s, it preserves historical structures by helping owners restore the properties and then rent them out. Some of the best examples are on Vat Chan Street, where the group headquarters are in a wooden Lao house on a leafy estate.

This is in the Chanthabuli District, a neighborhood that includes many villas from the mid-1900’s. It’s an atmospheric area to stroll in: Alleys left entirely to foot traffic exude a sense of bygone times. Chanthabuli also claims a series of temples like Wat Inpeng and Wat Mixay. None is particularly important in the big picture, but all feature spacious grounds and a large population of young, inquisitive monks eager to hear about your culture as well as share insights into Lao life with visitors.

I spend many afternoons among them, soaking up the tranquility of the temple grounds, answering their endless questions about the outside world. This, too, is reminiscent of my earliest visits to Vientiane. I recall eating in a restaurant where the owner emerged from the kitchen to offer me a gift 106

simply as thanks for dining there. The glow from that visit resurfaced months later when I received letters written in broken English from some of the novices I had met in the city’s temples, each signed off with exaggerated expressions of affection.

Those days are long gone, I think one day sitting at Wat Inpeng as a young monk pulls out a mobile phone straining to the sound of Western hip-hop. This city and its historic areas were once virtually untouched by the outside world.

Then, weeks later, I receive e-mails in broken English from some of these same monks, expressing almost the same affectionate expressions as years earlier. The technology had changed, but the message was the same.

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VIENTIANE these days are budget travelers who congregate along the Mekong River, whether in the guesthouses, lively cafés and pubs, or at wooden stalls offering beer, barbecue and stunning sunset views. Few amble down the river, which is a shame since so much local color is found along the banks. Fishermen wade in the water with OST VISITORS TO

soaking up the tranquility of the temple

member; Pha That Luang, the country’s most distinctive national monument; enjoying a cappuccino at JoMa Bakery Café, one of the city’s best.

enormous nets, propelled by machinery that dates to the French era, although much modified. You can rent bicycles (from US$1 a day), which provide a perfect sightseeing pace for a compact and flat Vientiane.

The obvious exception when it comes to color is the area around Patuxai, or Victory Monument, the city’s own Arc de Triomphe. Built of concrete, it’s actually higher than the Paris original and, if you manage to climb all the steps to the top, offers sweeping views of Vientiane.

Another towering landmark is Don Chan Palace Hotel, an ugly box by the river that sent Vientiane’s skyline soaring—to all of 14 stories. The restaurant is worth a visit, if only for amazingly uninterrupted views that some joke stretch all the way to Vietnam.

Otherwise, Vientiane is all about sampling local life at ground level. A great spot to start is the Morning Market, which, as the name suggests, perks up soon after sunrise. Stalls offer a fine selection of famed Lao silk, along with temple gongs, local crafts and all manner of house wares. Revamped as the city’s first modern mall, it sports escalators and attracts crowds who fearfully mull the “moving stairs.” Outside,

though, the market remains timeless with its mix of lottery sellers, Lao snacks and artisans assembling jewelry with welding equipment that looks much better suited to be museum pieces.

Another mainstay of Vientiane is Carol Cassidy, an American who arrived 20 years ago to help revive the local weaving trade and fell in love with the country. Her Lao Textiles sells fine silk fabric from showrooms in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, and ships to customers and design studios around the world. “Globalization has had a positive impact,” she says, showing looms where dozens of Lao women recreate the patterns handed down to them by their grandparents.

“Now we get orders by Internet and Skype, send samples by Federal Express, and can support a new generation of weavers earning a good salary.”

Still, she grows nostalgic remembering all the tribulations of the early days. Phone calls had to be booked days in advance. Faxes and e-mails didn’t exist. Now there are traffic and parking regulations. “There used to hardly be any rules.

It used to feel special. I really hope as Vientiane grows we can hang onto that, those things that made it so special.” » 107

The view across a slow-changing city towards Patuxai.

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NDEED THE CITY HAS HAD its growing pains, but also some pleasures. Dining has grown increasingly sophisticated especially in the past year. Friends, a charity running two restaurants staffed by rescued street children in Phnom Penh, recently set up shop in the Lao capital with Makphet. The simple, but smartly decorated restaurant offers traditional Lao food—banana blossom salad, Mekong steamed fish—with a modern spin.

Best among a slew of new bistros and cafés opening in the past year is Amphone, serving upmarket Lao cuisine. With wooden tables set on a breezy terrace, jazz tunes and stylish décor, the restaurant is more reminiscent of hip scenes in Bangkok or Bali, aside from the beautifully presented traditional dishes like sun-dried beef, marinated quail and other mouthwatering grilled meats.

A few years ago, San Lo was practically the only bar in town. I’ve got a soft spot for the pub because it’s where I met my wife. Like much of Vientiane, it’s stuck in a Rip Van Winkle state—the design, décor, even the dust balls seem dated. Hardly romantic, and in fact run down compared to the new bars, cafés and boutique hotels courting travelers.

In this regard, Vientiane has changed, much for the better.

Khop Chai Deu, meaning “thank you” in Lao, is in a wonderfully restored French villa near the fountain. The menu is as sprawling as the restaurant covering several cuisines with tables tucked into hidden nooks across a few

floors. This long-running meeting point is a lively nighttime option, but now has welcome competition. Across the street, Jazzy Brick serves chilled tunes and cool cocktails on two levels under the gaze of Miles Davis posters.

Still, some fret that the future is coming too fast. “Prosperity is good and it’s wonderful to see the young people blossom,” says Yuck, the textile trader, who recalls when the view from her showroom was of water buffaloes in rice fields rather than street traffic. “I think you’ll find the reason so many people are so protective of Laos is because it really is so different, like the last place on earth.”

The last place one would be expected to find caution on commerce would be the Settha Palace. The 29-room hotel, which opened in 1932, was taken over by the Communists and turned into a boarding house. The original owners bought it in the mid-90’s, then struggled through a decade of isolation. Now, the restored 29-room inn ranks with Asia’s classy historical hotels, and turns a profit. But even Howe worries that too much tourism too fast may not be a good thing. “What makes this place special is what it is not. It’s not Bangkok, or even Hanoi. There is nowhere like Vientiane.”

That’s what draws repeat visitors like Jagger. But you don’t have to be a rock star to marvel at locals learning about escalators or see them gawking at a 14-story building.

Vientiane is growing, but I’m happy to report that, after all this time, it still feels a privilege to be here.

GUIDE TO VIENTIANE

WHEN TO GO November to February is the coolest part of the dry season, but also the busiest time for tourists. The rainy season offers lush greenery in surrounding countryside — and steep discounts at hotels — but roads can be muddy in the height of the rainy season, July to October.

GETTING THERE There are good connections to Vientiane from Bangkok, though AirAsia has added a route from

Kuala Lumpur. Overland, travelers from Thailand can enter the country via the Friendship Bridge accessible by mini-van from the airport in Udon Thani.

WHERE TO STAY Settha Palace Hotel The 29 rooms here evoke old-world atmosphere, from ceiling fans in the stylish salon to antiques in each individually decorated guest room. 6 Pang Kham St.; 85621/217-581; setthapalace.com; doubles from US$125.

Hotel Novotel The hotel has a good pool and buffet, but service and facilities can sometimes feel parked firmly in the Communist Party past. Samsenthai Rd., 85621/213-570; novotel.com; doubles from US$150.

Day Inn A charming, bargainpriced city hotel that is a favorite of NGO’s and aid workers. 059/3 Rue Pangkham; 856-21/222-985; dayinn@laopdr.com; doubles from US$30.

Beau Rivage Mekong An artistic boutique inn, with 16 spacious suites, out of town along the river. Fa Ngum Rd., Seetarn Neua; 856-21/243-350; hbrm.com; doubles from US$60.

WHERE TO EAT Khop Chai Deu 54 Setthathirat Rd; 856-21/251-564; dinner for two US$25.

Don Chan Palace At 14 stories high, the riverside hotel towers over this tranquil city. Unit 6 Piawat Village, Sisattanak District; 856-21/244-288; donchanpalacelaopdr.com; doubles from US$150.

Tai Pan After a recent restoration, the 44-room property is now a mid-range option with a pool and a sauna, and is in a central location. 2-12 Francois Nginn St.; 856-21/216906; taipanhotel-vientiane.com; doubles from US$60.

JoMa and Daofa Breakfast is a pleasure around town — thank the French legacy of croissants and coffee — and these are two of the best options, both facing Kop Chai Deu on Setthathirit.

Expect fantastic coffee, delicious whipped up eggs and, for day trips outside the city, great pack lunches. Breakfast or lunch from US$15 for two.

Amphone 856-20/771-1138; dinner for two US$30.

Makphet Setthathirat Rd., opposite Wat Impeng; 85621/260-587; dinner for two US$20.

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Scene Stealers Clockwise from right: The Imperial hotel’s 1911 restaurant (dress by Allegra Hicks); a street in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi); the Imperial hotel after dark; at the Bara Gumbad tomb in the Lodi Garden (skirt worn as a dress

by Hermès); at Delhi’s fashionable Smoke House Grill.

DELHI HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS AN “UNLOVABLE CITY.” That’s nonsense, but one can see how the claim arose.

India’s capital, so the canard goes, is a city of migrants from all corners of India whose ancestries are elsewhere, and who still regard Delhi as a temporary home. Every cab driver here can enumerate the charms of his far-off birthplace, even if he hasn’t been back in decades. But few wax rhapsodic about Delhi. No single community may call the city its own, nor can any group be said to belong here.

“People don’t come because they necessarily love the city,” says Ashok Malik, a columnist for India’s Pioneer newspaper.

“Primarily they come to make a name for themselves.”

Mumbai has Bollywood, Kolkata its intellectual life, Varanasi the holy Ganges. But what, besides ambition, is Delhi really about? Once the sole domain of government bureaucrats and babus (clerks), it’s now also a global hub for fashion, media, business, technology and manufacturing. With the dozens of languages, ethnicities and agendas that coexist here, Delhi is impossible to pin down. Even the origins of its name are indeterminate. One possible source is the Persian dehleez, or “threshold”—an apt symbol for a town full of arrivistes.

Travelers, too, have seen Delhi as a doorway to be passed

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through, quickly, en route to more exotic points: Jaipur, Goa, the Taj Mahal. For visitors and residents alike, Delhi was what happened while you were making other plans.

What we’ve overlooked is a singular city, one finally fulfilling its role as a world capital. Home to India’s largest mosque, the world’s biggest Hindu temple and South Asia’s largest shopping mall, the capital is nothing if not outsize. “The one persistent identity Delhi has always had is that of power, which has been its unique selling point for centuries,” writes Ranjana Sengupta in her insightful book, Delhi Metropolitan.

Power has taken many forms here—from the sandstone forts of the Mughals and the blinding-white bungalows of the Raj to the smoked-glass tech parks and call centers of the present day. But the city can also disarm you with intimate moments: on the tranquil grounds of Humayun’s Tomb, where only the flap of pigeon wings breaks the pervasive hush; in the chilly, shell-like hall of the Baha’i Lotus Temple, far from the clamor of the city; even in the quieter corners of Shahjahanabad (a.k.a. Old Delhi), where car horns give way to the squeak of an unoiled spinning wheel.

Unlovable? Hardly. »

I FIRST VISITED DELHI IN DECEMBER 1993, PLANNING TO stay three days. I didn’t leave for three weeks. Those 22 days still rank among the most soul-stirring of my life. On my second night in town, I walked the entirety of Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi’s 800-meter-long bazaar. A winter chill hung in the air, along with moped exhaust and the aroma of fresh chapatis; I’d brought along a sweater but was soon warmed by the heat of street-grill fires, sputtering generators, and a thousand bodies leaping to avoid bullock carts and pedicabs. Stray cows lapped at the pavement. Visions burst out of the shadows. The mere act of walking down the street was as thrilling as a skydive. It certainly wasn’t easy: the pollution was overwhelming, the squalor so distressing that at times I thought I’d have to take the next flight home. But it was too late: on that night in Chandni Chowk, I had fallen in love with India.

I soon realized that the challenge with Delhi, a sprawling city by any measure—how else to accommodate nearly 17 million people?—was in locating a focal point, because there isn’t one. Delhi’s successive rulers didn’t just rework the same central core, as Sengupta explains; instead they built whole

The 16th-century tomb of Humayun, the second Mughal emperor.

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new settlements, often not contiguous with the previous ones.

Present-day Delhi contains the remnants of at least seven different cities—from the legendary city of Indraprastha, on the banks of the Yamuna River, to the Mughal city of Shahjahanabad, founded in A.D. 1638 three kilometers north.

When the British resolved in 1911 to move their colonial capital from Calcutta to Delhi, they chose a remote site eight kilometers southwest of Shahjahanabad; here they created a grand, European-style city from scratch and called it New Delhi. (That name refers specifically to the capital district, while Delhi is still used for the city as a whole.)

Delhi’s centers of gravity have kept right on shifting. As it expanded through the 20th century, the city was organized into self-contained vihars or “colonies” (Lodi Colony, Jor Bagh, Vasant Vihar and so on), each with its own market, school and services—and its own distinct character. Moving across the city, you get a sense that it is not just seven but 100 discrete villages.

You also realize how shockingly green Delhi is. Riding in a taxi that first visit, mere blocks from Parliament, I stared

dumbfounded as we passed a dense and seemingly endless forest. I asked the driver what it was, and he waved his hand dismissively: “That? That’s just jungle.” Jungle, in a city of 17 million! (It was actually the Central Ridge, a 864-hectare reserve populated with jackals and wild boar.)

Whole swaths of the city are still given over to gardens, parks and protected woodlands. In New Delhi, each major thoroughfare is lined with a particular species of tree— neems on Janpath, tamarinds on Akbar Road, banyans on Willingdon Crescent. Then there’s Lodi Garden, one of the world’s great urban parks. I suppose New York could compete if Central Park had 14th-century tombs of Afghan emperors or thousands of emerald-colored parakeets. Lodi’s treetops are aflutter with birds: black drongos, Indian tree pies, mynahs, red-vented bulbuls. But the park is also a functional playground: joggers in tracksuits rest on crumbling mausoleum stairs; yogis do sun salutations beside the pond; vendors proffer glasses of cool jal jeera—salty limeade with cumin and mint—while picnicking families keep an eye on greedy macaques. Wild monkeys are a growing nuisance in Delhi’s parks; the city has hired a corps of monkey-catchers to solve the problem.

“Every third day, I travel to my office and see something that wasn’t there before,” says Manish Arora, one of Delhi’s preeminent fashion designers. “It’s changing so fast, and I must say it’s changing for the good.”

Flush with new money and eager to impress, the capital is on a serious civic improvement drive. One motivation is the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, coming to Delhi in October 2010. The Indian government is spending US$15 billion in preparation: updating infrastructure, expanding highways, spiffing up monuments, even—horrors!—outlawing streetfood vendors, which in this town is tantamount to banning water, so beloved are Delhi’s sidewalk chaat stalls. (The ban is enforced only sporadically.) Delhi’s notorious air pollution has been dramatically reduced as well, thanks to a 2002 law requiring that buses, taxis and auto rickshaws switch to compressed natural gas. The change is visible—and the air, for once, is not.

The first phase of a long-planned Metro system opened in 2002; 1.2 million people rode it the first day. Everybody loves the Metro. Even South Delhi socialites rave, as if riding a subway for the first time (they probably are). So beloved—so exotic—is the Metro that it’s become a bona fide tourist attraction; people ride it to places they have no interest in going, just to say they did. A clear-voiced announcer who sounds uncannily like Judi Dench tells you precisely when

the train will arrive, please mind the gap, but a notice board reminds you this is still India: “Traveling on the roof will involve a fine of 50 rupees or imprisonment for one month.”

The Metro’s hub is a sleek, skylit terminal in Connaught Place. “CP” was the nexus of privilege and glamour in the twilight of the Raj. Opened in 1931, it consisted of three concentric rings of white stucco buildings framed by classical colonnades and shopping arcades. Intended to rival Chandni Chowk, three kilometers north, as the city’s main market, Connaught Place was also the Raj’s deliberate rebuke—a model of European order and sophistication. Here were the glitziest cinemas, the major newspaper offices, the most fashionable tailors and jewelers, and the finest restaurants: Gaylord, Embassy, La Bohème, Wenger’s, Volga and Kwality (which spawned the national ice cream brand).

After a time the arcades grew dirty and derelict. The wellto-do stopped coming for their saris and suits. Parking became a nightmare. By the end of the 20th century, CP was seen as tacky and downmarket, and appeared bound for the same fate as New York’s Times Square.

However, like Times Square in the 1990’s, Connaught Place is in the throes of renewal. Some of the façades are actually white again. The oncevacant dirt lot in the center ring is now a grassy park bedecked with flower beds, directly above the Metro station.

Trendy restaurants are returning to the arcades, joined by state-of-the-art cinemas and coffee-bar chains like Barista. Meanwhile, a few stalwarts soldier on, including A. Godin & Co., the famous sitar shop; and the beloved, 74-year-old Nirula’s—where, as Dilliwallas of a certain age remember, schoolchildren who scored high marks on exams were rewarded with free sundaes.

In the early 90’s Nirula’s was one of the few places where you could enjoy a cold drink and functional air-conditioning. Delhi, for all its chaotic energy, felt decidedly provincial back then. “We used to say that the only culture in Delhi was agriculture,” jokes Rohit Saran, editor of Business Today magazine. It was hard to find a beer outside of a hotel bar.

There were certainly no massive malls, no multiplexes and no McDonald’s—just a lone Wimpy in Connaught Place, where, to cater to Hindus, the hamburgers were made with lamb.

Neither Coke nor Pepsi had pierced India’s insular economy; the market belonged to local brands like Campa Cola and the charmingly misspelled Thums Up. Indian television ran few Western shows besides Baywatch, which didn’t count—back then it aired everywhere. At that time the lines were clear: there was the rest of the world, and there was India. You left the other behind the moment you passed customs. »

DELHI HAS BEEN GLOBALIZED, MONETIZED, MAXIMALIZED: A CITY IN THE THRALL OF CIGAR BARS AND HARVEY WALLBANGERS

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Style Parade Clockwise from right: At Ogaan, a shop in the Khan Market (dress

by Tracy Reese); the grounds of The Oberoi hotel; Indian fashion designer Manish Arora at his store in Lodi Colony; the skylit Metro station below Connaught Place; a corner in Old Delhi (top by Tracey Reese; pants, Naeem Kham; sandals, J.Crew; bracelets, Tejani).

Let’s just say that is no longer the case. You can now buy pretty much anything you want. Coke and Pepsi are ubiquitous; Thums Up and Campa Cola have become obscure regional brands. Heroes is a top-rated TV show. Delhi has been globalized, monetized, maximalized: a city in the thrall of cigar bars and Harvey Wallbangers, chimichangas and PlayStation 3’s. Where once was the drone of a harmonium is now the pulse of Finnish lounge music. And where once was a pot of biryani is now just as often a plate of risotto.

“Ten years ago Indians didn’t eat out frequently,” says Ketaki Narain, a longtime resident. “The best restaurants were necessarily in hotels, catering to tourists and businesspeople. Now, as Indians grow wealthier and go out more, we’re seeing more freestanding places.” Delhi has hundreds of restaurants serving regional Indian cuisines, from Maharashtrian to Bengali. But younger Delhiites—some of whom dine out every night—prefer non-Indian food. Tabula Rasa, one of the new breed of restaurants, serves dishes from every continent: African chicken stew, Australian lamb, Brazilian pork chops, Spanish ham, Chinese pot stickers.

At the enormously popular Olive Beach, a whitewashed bar straight out of Mykonos, you can order top-shelf caipiroskas till 1 A.M., while Louis Armstrong warbles “Summertime” 116

and Bollywood starlets preen around the fire pit. The original branch in Mumbai is a film-crowd favorite.

Hold on. Is Delhi becoming … Mumbai?

Like London and Paris, Delhi and Mumbai are forever twinned as rivals and antipodes. The capital is the society bastion and type-A player—competing in every arena from handbags to weddings. As a friend says, “Delhi likes to show.”

No wonder all the top Indian fashion houses are based here.

Mumbai, on the other hand, is aggressively unpretentious: a city of frayed jeans and T-shirts, not the saris or salwar kameez you find in Delhi. (Rarely do you see denim here.)

TWO EVENTS DEFINED, OR redefined, Delhi’s character. The first, in 1947, was Partition.

As India cleaved in two, untold numbers of Muslims left the capital for the new state of Pakistan, and thousands of Hindu and Sikh refugees fled Punjab for Delhi, changing its demographic mix overnight. The capital would remain for decades a predominantly Punjabi city.

The second event, though not nearly so traumatic, had broader effects. “Delhi’s transformation really began in 1991, with the opening of India’s economy,” Saran explains. »

Liberalization unleashed a flood of foreign investment. Hyundai, Dell, Sony, GE and others set up vast office parks and factories around the capital. Deregulation of the television industry inspired a wave of media start-ups. (India now has more than 60 news channels, the majority of them with headquarters in Delhi.) Between 1991 and 2001, as new arrivals poured in from every Indian state—entrepreneurs, educated workers, illiterate farmers seeking construction jobs—Greater Delhi’s population grew by 5 million. Rohit lives across the river in East Delhi, in a middle-class neighborhood that’s 90 percent “outsiders” (his term): Tamils, Gujaratis, Keralites.

India’s capital is now a more accurate representation of the entire nation. Of course, the whole idea of what India is has changed a great deal of late, and it is in Delhi that the future is being written.

Drive 16 kilometers southwest of the Qutb Minar—the world’s tallest brick minaret, erected in 1193—past the brand-new Cyber City complex, and you’ll arrive at a dustchoked, 13-hectare construction site—the future Mall of India, in the burgeoning suburb of Gurgaon. Designed by the team behind the Mall of America near Minneapolis, and scheduled for completion next year, it will be one of the largest shopping centers on the planet.

In just over a decade, globalization—and the huge burst in the service economy—has utterly transformed Delhi’s perimeter, which readers of Thomas Friedman will recognize as Outsourcing Central. Although fewer than a quarter of all Indians work in the service sector (compared with 60 percent in agriculture), it accounts for more than half of India’s GDP. British Airways’ worldwide call center is in Noida, another futuristic suburb across the Yamuna River, where creepy signs point the way to BIOTECH CITY and SECTOR 12-B. Gurgaon, which 15 years ago was a rural farming community (gaon means village), is now a full-fledged satellite metrop-

olis. Apartment towers named Magnolia and Belaire tout “24hour electricity and water” as a selling point, along with the requisite swimming pool, health club and lily pond. Many residents are fleeing central Delhi for enclaves such as this, with their toll expressways and 10,000-car parking lots. If the story of Delhi in the 20th century was one of ceaseless migration to the city, the narrative of the last decade is that of the long exodus to the outskirts—for those who can afford it.

This wasn’t all what Edwin Lutyens had in mind. The London-born architect who created New Delhi remains, nearly a century on, a controversial figure.

As Sengupta notes, Lutyens had little affection for Indian architecture, deeming it “cumbersome, poorly coordinated and tiresome to the Western mind.” When the British decided in 1911 to relocate the colonial capital, Shahjahanabad was considered too unhygienic and dangerous a location. So Lutyens set about conjuring a new city from the slopes of Raisina Hill, well removed from what he termed the “nuisances” of Old Delhi.

Influenced by the fashionable garden-suburb movement, Lutyens envisioned a wide-open plan of sweeping lawns, radial boulevards and grand monuments—a deliberate echo of Washington and Paris, with India Gate as a sandstone Arc de Triomphe. The manner was decidedly Occidental, but despite his misgivings, Lutyens did incorporate Indian elements—domes, loggias, chhatris (canopied pavilions) and jaalis (latticed screens)—into his classically inspired edifices.

New Delhi was finally inaugurated in 1931; the British enjoyed it for only 16 more years. Yet Lutyens’s plan endures to this day, a symbol of the glory and vanity of the Raj. The writer William Dalrymple calls New Delhi “one of the most elegant urban landscapes anywhere in the world.” Highranking Indian ministers still reside in Lutyens’s gracious »

DELHI IS A CITY OF COMMITTED DRIVERS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH TRAFFIC THEY MUST ENDURE

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A street in Old Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s garment district. Opposite: Walking near India Gate (blouse and skirt by Just Cavalli; sandals, J.Crew).

bungalows, with their broad lots and chalk-white façades.

New Delhi was conceived strictly as a government town, like Canberra or Brasília, and civilians were kept safely outside; the original plan accommodated just 70,000 people. But with New Delhi’s population now swollen to five times that, the bungalows take up increasingly precious space. In spite of their landmark status, Lutyens’s buildings are succumbing to wear and tear and encroaching development; a significant minority is lobbying to raze them altogether. The World Monuments Fund lists “Lutyens’s Bungalow Zone” among the world’s most endangered cultural sites.

Lutyens’s gently curving parkways, unique in India, made getting around the capital far easier. The problem was that they encouraged everyone and his nephew to buy a car.

Delhi now has three times as many automobiles as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai combined. In Mumbai even CEO’s ride commuter trains to work. But Delhi is a city of committed drivers, no matter how much traffic they must endure.

One has to admire the sheer nerve of Lutyens and all the would-be Delhi-tamers who followed. Imposing order on any city is a Herculean task; trying to do so here is downright quixotic. Delhi is, as Sengupta writes, “a cityscape that refuses to listen to reason.” Along any street in the older quarters, look up, and you’ll see hundreds of exposed and frayed electrical wires, lashed together with barely a thread. Sparks occasionally shower the sidewalk. No one pays any heed.

This ramshackle, improvised power grid is typical of Delhi’s infrastructural anarchy. Sixty percent of the city’s residents

GUIDE TO NEW DELHI Hussain Marg, New Delhi; 9111/2436-3030; oberoidelhi. com; doubles from US$426.

WHEN TO GO October through March are the best months to visit Delhi in northern India.

GETTING THERE Air India flies to all of the major Southeast Asian cities, while all the region’s major carriers fly to Delhi from their hubs.

WHERE TO STAY The Imperial The Raj-era art collection, clubby bar and neat lawns are reason enough to visit this 1936 Art Deco icon.

Janpath, New Delhi; 91-11/23341234; theimperialindia.com; doubles from US$532.

The Oberoi, New Delhi The city’s top business hotel overlooks Humayun’s Tomb. Dr. Zakir

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Taj Mahal Hotel Beloved

by Delhi society as a see-and-beseen spot, the landmark Taj Mahal is all about bling, with its glittering Mughal motifs, opulent fountains, and zardozi domes.

1 Mansingh Rd., New Delhi; 91-11/2302-6162; tajhotels.com; doubles from US$512.

Park Hotel The future to the Imperial’s past: a pulsing, 220-room hive of hypermodern design whose flashy restaurant, bar and dance floor draw Delhi’s chic young things.

Rooms are a bit small but stylish in a cool, Ian Schrager–y way.

15 Parliament St., New Delhi; 9111/2374-3000; theparkhotels.com; doubles from US$377.

GREAT VALUE

WHERE TO EAT Dakshin Delhi’s best South Indian food (dakshin means “south”) is served thali-style, with no silverware. Use spongy appam bread to scoop up crisp spicy prawns or pan-fried mutton with coconut and ginger.

Sheraton New Delhi, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi; 91-11/4266-1122; lunch for two US$47.

Olive Beach Hotel Diplomat 9 Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi; 91-11/4604-0404; drinks for two US$21.

Smoke House Grill Almost every dish on the contemporary European menu is cold-smoked to often brilliant effect — don’t miss the smoked-tomato–andlemongrass soup. VIPPS Centre, Masjid Moth, Greater Kailash II, New Delhi; 91-11/4143-5530; dinner for two US$117.

Threesixty° This smart upstart at The Oberoi has dazzling interiors and an extensive menu: from sushi and yakitori to wood-fired pizza and a knockout butter chicken. Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg, New Delhi; 91-11/2436-3030; dinner for two US$85.

Tabula Rasa Square One Mall, C2 Saket, New Delhi; 91-11/29562666; drinks for two US$29.

WHERE TO SHOP In Delhi, the best shops tend to be clustered together in outdoor marketplaces or glitzy malls.

Here are a few not to miss.

Greater Kailash I South of LSR College, in South Delhi. Expats and Indians alike have been known to furnish entire houses and buy a whole year’s wardrobe at Fab India (14 N-Block Market; 91-11/2923-2183), a superstore of cotton clothing, wool kilims,

furniture — you name it — spread across several showrooms.

Khan Market Near the Taj Mahal Hotel. Highlights at Ogaan (Shop 17; 91-11/4175-7302) include opulently embroidered dresses from Gaurav Gupta, silk chiffon tops from Gauri & Nainika, and Pashma cashmere stoles and sweaters. Ranna Gill (Shop 53A; 91-11/4175-7770) has Westernfriendly Indian-style women’s fashion. Silverline (Shop 7A; 91-11/2464-3017), a 30-year-old, family-run wholesale jewelry firm, offers outstanding quality and value. Good Earth (Shop 9; 91-11/2464-7175; goodearthindia. com) has whimsically designed furniture, as well as delicioussmelling bath products. Anokhi (Shop 32; 91-11/2462-8253; anokhi.com), one of India’s most celebrated brands, offers Rajasthani block-printed linens and clothing in tasteful florals.

Santushti Shopping Complex Race Course Rd., Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Visit the most elegant “mall” in town for ethereal scarves by designer Neeru Kumar (Shop 19; 91-11/26870339) and for brightly colored shawls made of kashgar, a fine sheer cashmere gauze, at Noor Jehan (Shop 23; 91-11/2611-2971).

STAND ALONE SHOPS Manish Arora Fish Fry 3 Lodi Colony Market; 91-11/2463-8878; manisharora.ws.

A. Godin & Co. 1 Regal Building, Parliament St.; 91-11/2336-2809.

live in dwellings that are unauthorized or patently unsafe, and not just in slums and shantytowns—the dilapidation extends even to middle-class neighborhoods. Lately officials have been cracking down on illegal construction, but it’s a futile effort, like those old smash-the-weasel arcade games.

In parts of Delhi it seems as if the mold of a metropolis has been abruptly slapped down over a rural village. Here and there the old world pops up from the rubble to carry on its business: a farmer steers his cart across six lanes of traffic, a barefoot girl draws a bucket from a well beside a water park, an ox chews the lawn at a five-star hotel. Yes, the country dwellers came to the city, but the city also came to them, and in most cases swallowed them whole.

It’s this perpetual collision of what is and what came before that makes Delhi so compelling and, it must be said, so challenging for travelers. Feeling violated, confounded and downright angry are not unusual reactions here, nor are they always unjustified. Service in shops and restaurants remains officious at best, and otherwise blithely indifferent. Taxi drivers now have fancier cabs—the 1948-designed Ambassadors are gradually being phased out—but they drive like lunatics, and are still intent on introducing you to their entrepreneurial cousins. (I was all but hijacked one morning when I directed a cabbie to a jewelry shop in Bengali Market. “You want gold?

I know much better place—we go there,” he announced.

Protest was futile. I finally fibbed that I was donating a kidney to the owner of this particular shop and if I didn’t arrive within the hour he would likely die.)

Prepare yourself: Delhi’s airport is a shameful mess. The main terminal, purportedly under renovation, looks as if a tornado tore through it. Huge mesh nets suspended above the immigration desks catch bits of plaster that actually fall off the ceiling as you watch. A veil of blue smoke hangs over baggage claim—whether from tobacco or a chemical fire is hard to discern. Rats scamper through duty-free.

Smile! You’re in India! This is the way of things here, and it’s useless to complain, even if it’s impossible not to.

Traveling here isn’t “for everyone,” though I have a feeling we’d all be better off if everyone on earth could see India, in all its ragged glory.

AND, WHAT, MEANWHILE, HAS become of Old Delhi, the most ragged and glorious place of all? Thankfully, it endures—as beguiling as ever, with much of its peculiar charm intact. This is one area where a Western visitor can still be totally ignored; Shahjahanabad’s denizens are too consumed with their work and errands to notice a stranger in their midst.

The walled city built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century has been touted as the Rome of Asia.

Some of India’s most dazzling sites are found here: the imposing Red Fort; the Jama Mosque, India’s largest; and of

course, the thrill-a-second boulevard of Chandni Chowk, still teetering on the brink of chaos. At the street’s western end, in the warren of the Khari Baoli spice market, thousands of burlap sacks overflow with gorgeously colored powders.

At the eastern end, the Kinari Bazaar spills over with glittering garlands, tinsel and other wedding accessories. In an alleyway too narrow to walk down two-by-two, determined teenagers eke out a cricket game—the ball ricocheting off stone walls, laughter echoing down the lane. A baby goat dodges a man on a moped with a hundred badminton rackets lashed to the backseat. A girl rushes by carrying 20 chickens in a square cage. Look out for that mango cart!

That burbling cauldron of oil! Curd vendors, hair-tonic vendors, car-door salesmen and ammunition dealers occupy the minuscule storefronts that line these mazelike streets. Flimsy bicycle rickshaws groan under the weight of 10 uniformed schoolchildren, on their way home for lunch, balanced precariously atop their book bags. Particularly after a rain, the air carries an acrid, metallic tang not unlike the smell of a Teflon pan left on the stove all day. It mingles with joss smoke and propane fumes and the sugary stench of fried jalebi batter.

But just when your senses are thoroughly overloaded, you spin around a corner and onto a tranquil lane of 19th-century mansions whose upper levels are framed by wrought-iron balconies and ornate cornices—a reminder of an era when Shahjahanabad was a pinnacle of Muslim society, a paragon of courtly refinement and grace. This is where Mirza Ghalib and the other great Urdu poets found their inspiration (Ghalib’s house still stands here; it’s now a museum). In the exodus of Partition, however, as much of the city’s Muslim population left for Pakistan, Urdu poetry virtually disappeared.

British administrators never had much love for Shahjahanabad; its twisting, congested lanes were impossible to police. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 made this explicit. But even after Independence, a 1962 report by the Indian government took a similar attitude toward the old city—labeling Shahjahanabad “socially and culturally stagnant” and too filthy for the common good. The “problem” of Old Delhi has been around almost as long as Old Delhi itself.

What a conundrum that the very places travelers are drawn to—for being so eye-opening and transporting, so Other— are often what the local powers-that-be desperately want to fix or shake clean like a dirty old rug. Beyond the ramparts of Shahjahanabad, the new Delhi rushes ever-forward to meet the world and reflect it back upon itself. Yet in these dusty overlooked corners, and along the footpaths of Lodi Garden and among the faithful at Nizamuddin’s Shrine—despite chimichangas and PlayStations and all the vain efforts to change it—India is still India, at least for now.

Peter Jon Lindberg is editor-at-large for T+L (U.S.).

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Way Down

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A raised safari bungalow at the Bamurru Plains bush camp, in northern Australia.

Under Baz Luhrman’s epic, Australia, is set mainly in the country’s Top End outback, a landscape that’s remote and mysterious even for most natives. SHANE MITCHELL navigates the terrain. Plus: Australia’s Hugh Jackman’s insider guide to Sydney. Photographed by JAMES FISHER

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VEN THE CROWS SOUND DIFFERENT HERE.

Sitting in front of the Warmun Roadhouse in Warmun, Western Australia, I note how their strangled clacking has a higher timbre and a more staccato rhythm than that of their larger cousins back in my hemisphere. The cry of these birds, clustered in the gray gum trees that shade this dusty pit stop on the Great Northern Highway, triggers memories of a year I once spent in Fremantle, another town on the outback’s verge. It was a rough little seaport in a region that Australians, who perennially apologize for their remove from society, call the “back of beyond.”

The real bush—with its sore-throated birds, blackened stumps and searing light— wasn’t far from my door. I could head there on a horse, riding fence lines until the animal was lathered in foamy sweat and my face was caked with sand. All this time later, I figure my familiarity with the outlying realm’s cadences has prepared me for a stranger landscape of ocher escarpments and Aboriginal Dreamings. Little did I know.

The stretch of northern Australia known colloquially as the Top End covers more than a 1.29 million square kilometers within the neighboring states of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, between the pearl-farming town of Broome on the Indian Ocean and the subtropical Cape York Peninsula. It encompasses some of the world’s least populated but most climatically diverse regions—saltwater estuaries, arid savanna, hidden thermal springs and impassable peaks. Film director Baz Luhrmann, who was raised in rural New South Wales, recently spent more than a month in the Top End (as well as time in Sydney) shooting Australia, a pre–World War II epic set on the cattle ranches of the outback, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Luhrmann used the landscape to reveal an Australia most people have never seen. “This is an untouched frontier with a rare abundance of nothingness,” Luhrmann says. “You [Americans] have your Wild West. We have the Wild North.”

Luhrmann chose to rough it on the range during filming. “I decided that instead of traveling to the location and back every day, why don’t I just camp there?” he says. “I didn’t leave for the whole five weeks. This is what I had come looking for, to be forced by the power and scale of the landscape to be still, to be in the moment. There was a unique magic in this place on the edge of the world.”

The crows eventually settle as dusk fades. I finish a cup of bitter black tea and watch the people hovering by the roadhouse’s gas pumps: blond German girls in a battered Wicked rental camper, two Aboriginal drovers in Akubra hats, “truckies” clutching hypercaffeinated sodas. This roadhouse, like many of its kind along the Top End’s barren highways, is a gathering point where travelers can stop for insulated souvenir beer cozies, basic bed-and-shower facilities and carb-heavy fried dinners. (Whoever invented Chiko spring rolls should be boiled in his own vat of grease.) I’m waiting for Nora Saliba, the Sydney-based casting director who managed the 50 or so indigenous extras on Luhrmann’s film and who continues to be welcomed into their communities, where some of the world’s most ancient narrative traditions still flourish. Aboriginal mythology has been sustained by an unbroken line of storytellers, generation after generation, since the Stone Age. No oral history quite like it exists in the era of YouTube and Amazon Kindle electronic books. Saliba has agreed to a trek around the Top End, which makes entrée to this closed world possible for me.

Teeth clamped on her cigarette, Saliba pulls up in her four-wheel-drive. “Get in, Shane-o,” she yells over the rumble of a passing road train, those supersized trucks that haul supplies between Aussie outposts. Tonight we are meeting the singer and celebrated artist Peggy Patrick, an Aboriginal elder. Patrick also instructs young girls in joonba, or ceremonial performances. Saliba spins out of the lot and drives to a nearby cluster of concrete ranch dwellings and trailers belonging to the Gidja people, who are »

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Visual History From top: Chef Michael Zerbes serves canapés, including smoked crocodile, at Bamurru Plains; artist Daisy Bitting with one of her paintings; the Swim Creek Flood Plains, near Kakadu National Park.

Trees, rocks, creeks, patches of desert and mountain ranges are part of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;songlinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that serve as a moral compass

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Orange bluffs rise in front of us, we pull off the main considered the East Kimberley region’s traditional owners, or “TO’s.” She stops at a lot where several women are surrounded by children chasing a football. As some of the women rake a clearing under a paperbark tree, Patrick, tall and wiry with a gaunt face, asks me in pidgin English to sit next to her on the bare ground, close to a fire that’s staving off mosquitoes and the evening chill.

In the Aboriginal Dreamtime origin myths, totemic ancestors traveled the nascent landscape, scattering a trail of musical notes that are also geological markers. Trees, rocks, creeks, patches of desert, whole mountain ranges and diminutive dust storms are part of “songlines” that serve as both a map and a moral compass. Every creature is connected to a specific aspect of this sacred geography by a “Dreaming” story and “skin name,” or bloodline. In a culture that has sustained a spoken-word tradition for millennia, passing these tales down through the generations intact is critical. I watch as Patrick’s granddaughters paint white dots around one another’s eyes. While she barks instructions, they giggle, swing bunches of eucalyptus leaves, poke each other. Patrick’s friend Phyllis Thomas keeps time with carved rhythm sticks, and the girls commence their joonba, but they’re self-conscious and step awkwardly. Patrick, gray hair wild, employs a universal form of emotional blackmail: walking away in disgust, declaring that she will quit teaching. “Useless, these kids.” It works.

Coaxing Patrick back to sing, the girls sway and step properly.

Finally excused, they run off into the dark.

Then Patrick and Thomas start singing the Barramundi Dreaming. It tells the ngarranggarni, or Dreamtime story, of an ancestor barramundi fish that swims through a nearby mountain range while being chased by clanswomen with woven spinifex-grass nets. Squeezing through the nets and a fissure in the rock, the fish scrapes off its sparkling scales. (The world’s largest pink diamond mine is in Barramundi Gap, right up the highway from Warmun.) As they chant, Patrick’s raw alto soars, wavers, cracks with laughter. When the music stops, I ask how long she has been singing these same notes.

“Since I was a kid,” she says. At this point, it’s late and the women are ready to retire. As I rise, Patrick points emphatically at me and says, “Tonight, you dream.” I’m too exhausted to take her seriously as I head back to the roadhouse.

The next morning, we pick up an elder named Shirley Drill for the bumpy drive into Purnululu National Park. (In Gidja, purnululu means sandstone.) This UNESCO World Heritage »

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road into a valley overgrown with eucalyptus

The pool deck at Bamurru Plains.

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After my first hot shower in days, I collapse onto a soft bed, as wallabies hop around in the brush outside

Dreamy Times Clockwise from left: The Bungle Bungle rock formations, in Purnululu National Park; Melissa Ling, a seasonal worker at the Warmun Roadhouse; bush fires that are used to renew the landscape, light up boab trees; Peggy Patrick’s granddaughters prepare for a joonba.

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site encompasses the Bungle Bungle Range, 20 million–year-old striped rock formations that resemble giant beehives. It’s also the country of Drill’s Dreaming story, and she can grant us permission to enter restricted Aboriginal areas. Along with two of her granddaughters, Drill climbs into Saliba’s car. Phyllis Thomas and her sister Nora decide to ride along. We jolt over dry creek beds, then splash through wet ones. Orange bluffs rise in front of us, and beyond the point where tour buses are permitted, we pull off the main road into a valley overgrown with low bush eucalyptus. The peaceful dale is sheltered by limestone outcroppings. The older women, who’ve been complaining about the rough trip, settle on the porch of an abandoned house. Drill waves her workroughened hands at the surrounding hills, saying, “My great-great-great-grandmother is buried up there.” She then wanders over to a ghost gum to gather bark. Saliba speaks to me quietly: “Do you see the change in them? They can be themselves here. It’s like coming home.”

The children start sneezing. Drill decides there must be bees nearby, because these girls belong to the Sugarbag Dreaming, which means they are hypersensitive to the presence of wild honey. A foraging expedition begins, but since I’m allergic to bee stings, the Thomas sisters take me instead to Echidna Gorge, one of several narrow canyons that cut through the Bungle Bungle. As we progress deeper into a fracture between the massifs, cool air swirls along the shielding stone walls, and Phyllis points out black streaks where water gushes downward during the wet season, between November and March. In the gloom, I lean against the towering, immovable rock. Suddenly I’m spooked by striped yellow bees, which swarm around my white linen shirt.

They ignore the Thomases.

Turning back, we race against the twilight, a swoop of scarlet dividing the descending indigo sky and shadowed escarpment. Phyllis Thomas reveals she is an ocher painter. (The typical Aboriginal art palette is based on the natural tinctures available regionally, such as ground ocher and white clay.) Top End artists are considered some of Australia’s most creative; Rover Thomas, Phyllis’s uncle, exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1990. Aboriginal art, once strictly ceremonial, has skyrocketed in value during recent decades. These days, the finest works are abstract interpretations of Dreaming landscapes that often resemble Pointillist satellite maps. It takes a rare talent to be able to conceptualize a perspective from above without having been airborne, but these are artists uniquely attuned to their environment.

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ORTH OF WARMUN, in the mining and cattle town of Kununurra, Saliba and I head for the Waringarri Aboriginal Arts studio. “These painters are spiritually based,” she explains. “They can’t just paint anything. They can only tell a story related to themselves.” In the studio, a white-haired woman named Mignonette Carlton fronts a primed canvas. She usually interprets sites significant to her Dreaming around Majalindy Valley. Another artist, Daisy Bitting, looks solemnly at a water-damaged painting that needs retouching. Two tourists walk over from the adjacent gallery and, without asking, videotape the scene. Bitting and Carlton ignore them.

Beyond Kununurra lie the East Kimberley plains, fenced in by sprawling cattle stations. We traverse a parched salt flat fronting the Cockburn Range, hook onto Gibb River Road, then ford the Pentecost River. A cluster of boabs and a new stone wall indicate the entrance to Home Valley Station. Held in trust for the Balanggarra and Ngarinyin peoples by the Indigenous Land Corporation, which fosters sustainable partnerships for native title landholders, this 249,000-hectare parcel is managed by a stockman named Nick Bradley. He grew up at Carlton Hill Station, where Luhrmann shot key location scenes for Australia. Bradley shows me around the campgrounds and livestock paddocks, discussing the station’s Aboriginal education mission. “I’m not out here to play cattle king,” he says. “We have a training program for the locals that gives them skills and pays them to learn on the job. Some have never had that.” »

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IN AND AROUND SYDNEY WITH AUSTRALIA’S HUGH JACKMAN

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hile Baz Luhrmann’s Australia is set mainly in the Top End, Sydney makes an important appearance. Strickland House, a white-pillared Italianate manse on Rose Bay, is the setting for a poignant ballroom scene. It’s also located on a trail through Hermitage Foreshore Scenic Walk, a spot frequented by lead actor Hugh Jackman, who makes good use of his native city’s numerous parks. Here, Jackman’s hometown favorites.

Rose Bay Home to the Woollahra Sailing Club, this eastern harborfront is packed on weekends. “Kayaking is one of my favorite things to do in this bay,” Jackman says. “From October to May, you can be out paddling on the harbor within minutes.” Rentals: sydneyharbourkayaks.com.au.

Sydney Harbour National Park This

Bronte to Bondi Coastal Walk

patchwork of urban green spaces protects most of the city’s foreshore and islands. Hermitage Foreshore Walk, a 1.6-kilometer-long trail, reveals vest-pocket beaches, hidden coves and rock outcroppings along Rose Bay in Woollahra. “Australians need

Bronte Walk is a coastal trail that begins at Ben Buckler Point, on the northern end of Bondi Bay, and winds south for 3 kilometers along cliffs and beaches, ending at Waverley Cemetery. Don’t miss the Aboriginal rock carvings south of Mackenzies

Hugh Jackman in Sydney Harbour National Park.

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space,” Jackman says during a hike along this casuarina-shaded path.

“You can breathe here. Who wants to be shut off from views like these?” environment.nsw.gov.au.

Point. Jackman’s Saturday-morning routine starts with a dawn swim on Bondi Beach, followed by a run along Bronte Walk and breakfast in a café on Campbell Parade. “And I’m back home by 7:30 A.M., when the kids get up,” he says. waverley.nsw.gov.au.

Catalina Seaplanes land right in front of this restaurant, a modern glassand-steel space in Rose Bay. Jackman loves the fresh-shucked Sydney rock oysters. Lyne Park, Rose Bay; 612/9371-0555; catalinaosebay.com.au; dinner for two US$140.

Australian Museum Established in 1827, this natural history and environmental sciences museum is a favorite for family outings. Jackman’s 8-year-old son, Oscar, is a budding anthropologist. 6 College St.; 61-2/ 9320-6000; austmus.gov.au.—SM

Nick’s brother, Richard, unexpectedly flings open the car door and jumps into the backseat. When Richard hears I’m eager to get back on a horse, we saddle up for a ride in the scrub. A thrill-seeking jackeroo who wears custom-made Spanish riding boots, Richard can cling to a bucking horse—at least, until the saddle bunches forward and he’s thrown to the ground. Since my Tony Lama boots keep slipping out of the steel stirrups and I have no desire to eat eucalyptus, I keep my mount at a safe trot.

When we finally dust off the trail, I meet Nick and Richard’s mother, Susan Bradley. Luhrmann says locals call her “Queen of the Kimberley.” He consulted her about outback life at Carlton Hill. She directs a campaign to protect the isolated northwest Kimberley, a wild region lacking much modern infrastructure, from industrial development. Not only is the Top End rich in minerals, it has untapped reserves of uranium ore and natural gas, some of them temptingly sited on Aboriginal land trusts. “This is a powerful country of great extremes,” she says. “Some things should not be for sale. I have lived in the Kimberley for 40 years and hate to think my grandchildren or great-grandchildren will not be able to camp out under the stars in unpolluted river gorges.”

At last, I see a willy willy. It blows across our path on Gibb River Road when Saliba and I start the long trek eastward toward Darwin. Shirley Drill, who belongs to the Willy Willy Dreaming, mentioned it during our visit days ago in Purnululu. Perhaps it’s her parting gift. These harmless twists of wind puff up; as the dust storm dances ahead of the car, I watch leaves whirl upward in a column before they drop onto the spinifex plain.

It takes a day to drive to the Mary River floodplain, three hours beyond Darwin, on the doorstep of Kakadu National Park. We gratefully unpack at Bamurru Plains, an eco-conscious bush camp that occupies a stretch of Swim Creek Station. The earth-toned lodge has a collection of modern Aboriginal art, a communal dining table and an open bar of coveted Australian vintages. That night, I eat kangaroo shepherd’s pie by kerosene lamp. After my first hot shower in many days, I collapse onto a soft platform bed, as wallabies hop around in the brush outside.

At dawn, Bamurru Plains manager John O’Shea takes me out on the river in a Tornado airboat. A former Australian army commando, he wears a .357 Magnum strapped to his belt as defense against crocodile attacks. When I ask how good his aim is, he just smiles. We drift through clumps of blooming pink sacred lotus. Magpie geese and long-legged jabiru hunt for breakfast among rushes. O’Shea steers toward the opposite shoreline, and nudges the flat-bottomed boat between acacias growing in a backwater clogged with algae. Our only croc sighting is a coy pair of ridged eyes; however, a foot-long barramundi churns to the surface and, just as quickly, disappears again.

After two thankfully uneventful nights on the Mary River, Saliba and I finally leave the Top End. By the road, halfway to Darwin, we pass a small nature marker. The sign depicts a frilled-neck lizard, its spiny orange ruff extended in full display. A jolt of recognition leaves me unnerved. This creature inhabits savanna woodlands across northern Australia, and for Aborigines it’s a powerful totemic rainmaker, bringing both emotional storms and cleansing. I’ve seen this lizard only once before—after the Warmun joonba, glittering gemlike in the absolute darkness of a dream that Peggy Patrick predicted for me. When I confess this to Saliba, she doesn’t even blink. “Mate, they let you in for a second,” she says. “They’re in your heart, and you are in theirs.”

GUIDE TO NORTHERN AUSTRALIA WHEN TO GO During the wet season, from November to March, temperatures can reach 38 degrees. April through October is the cooler dry season.

HOW TO GET THERE Airnorth (airnorth.com.au) flies to Darwin from Bali, while Jetstar (jetstar.com.au) serves the city from Bali, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore. Airnorth also flies from Darwin to Kununurra. In Kununurra, Budget (61-8/9168-2033; budget.com.au) rents fourwheel-drive vehicles.

WHERE TO STAY Bamurru Plains Swim Creek Station, N. Territory; 61-2/9571-6399; bamurruplains.com; doubles from US$1,370.

Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge Tent cabins, ensuite baths, and an open-air dining room. Closed during the wet season. Bellburn Creek, Purnululu National Park, W. Australia; 61-8/9168-7051 or 613/9277-8444; kimberleywilderness.com.au; doubles from US$340.

Home Valley Station Gibb River Rd., East Kimberley, W. Australia; 61-8/9161-4322; homevalley.com.au; doubles from US$155.

GREAT VALUE

Kimberley Grande Recently updated hotel in a gateway town to the East Kimberley outback. 20 Victoria Hwy., Kununurra, W. Australia; 61-8/9166-5600; thekimberleygrande.com.au; doubles from US$160.

GREAT VALUE

TOUR OPERATORS Wundargoodie Aboriginal Safaris Rock-art tours and extended camping expeditions with Gidja guides to the remote Mitchell Plateau, in North Kimberley. 61-8/9161-1145; wundargoodie.com.au; from US$275 per person per day.

ART GALLERIES Jirrawun Arts Modern gallery representing top Western Australia artists, including Peggy Patrick and Phyllis Thomas. Wedge Dr., Wyndham, W. Australia; 61-8/9161-1500; jirrawunarts.com.

Waringarri Aboriginal Arts Studio with work by Mignonette Carlton and Daisy Bitting. 16 Speargrass Rd., Kununurra, W. Australia; 61-8/9168-2212; waringarriarts.com.au.

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Tropical Paradise From left: The view from the west coast towards Lombokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mountainous interior; the cidomo, still a popular form of public transport on the island; a coconut farmer climbs a palm tree in Kuta; taking in the surf action on the south shore of Lombok, near Kuta.

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Idyllic Islands Clockwise from top left: The pool villa at The Oberoi; a cluster of surfers on a break off Kuta, southern Lombok; a typical cemetery with the classic frangipani trees that adorn Muslim graveyards in central Lombok; catching some rays on Gili Trawangan, affectionately called Gili T; a beach vendor shows off a pearl oyster shell; Gili Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s laid-back streets; the speedboat service from the west coast of Lombok to Gili T is a 10-minute trip when conditions are good; Gili T through the palm trees from Lombokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s west coast.

O P P O S I T E PAG E TO P L E F T: CO U RT E SY O F T H E O B E RO I LO M B O K

T LOOKS LIKE HEAVEN needs a good rain. The outskirts could not be drier. There are a few struggling tobacco plots in the parched brown hills, one next to a compound of thatched bamboo shacks with satellite TV. There are, you might have guessed, many things you didn’t know about heaven. For starters, you get there via a narrow dirt track, which feels more like a trench. I actually grunt as my rental car—yes, you can drive to heaven—lurches forward. Even skateboarders have it better than most: heaven is equipped with an expertly molded, concrete half-pipe. Oh, and I should also mention that heaven is actually right here on earth. In Lombok.

Yes, Lombok. Bali’s less-renowned neighbor, an island rich in white sand beaches, epic surf, spectacular diving and more than its fair share of car-less islands. A getaway that, thanks to an upcoming international airport and a US$600 million makeover, may soon be Southeast Asia’s hottest destination.

Which is how, 13 days after leaving Bali, I found heaven.

The city of Mataram is quintessentially Indonesian: Chaotic and dirty, full of traffic and life and, although tens of thousands of tourists funnel through the airport every year, they usually go straight to the beach. Almost no one explores the city. On those streets, locals shout, “Hey Mister!” from every angle. Some motorbike mechanics wave me over for bitter Lombok coffee, and a local artist insists I join him for some tangy noodles at a stand behind the mall. The place is packed with the local version of the young and beautiful. One pearl-skinned girl keeps looking over with her big eyes, silky jet-black hair and coy smile. Her smile stops the rain.

Given its drop-dead good looks—a labyrinth of turquoise bays, white sand, world-class beach breaks, undulating tobacco fields and massive headlands—it’s no surprise that Kuta »

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A stream of swirling clouds feed a tapestry of rice paddies, cashew and mango trees

A cafĂŠ view from the beach on Gili T.

also happens to be at the center of a fast-changing Lombok.

The town rambles for a kilometer or so on two main roads that circle Kuta Bay. There are surf shops, local cafés, backpacker homestays and legions of friendly locals, all of whom are Sasak, Lombok’s indigenous Muslim culture.

After finding a bed, no mean feat at the peak of the August high season, I stumble onto a street party celebrating Indonesia’s independence day. There’s an electronic marching band, a traditional Sasak drum corps and young girls carried around on thrones. They gather beneath the trees and parade through Kuta’s streets. In the musical mayhem I meet Mia, a Sasak girl in a sarong with a kind, crooked smile. She invites me for Lombok coffee at her souvenir stall.

Soon I am sitting on yet another concrete floor, holding another cup of Lombok’s signature muddy black. Mia sits next to me then moves away with a smile. Concerned, I give myself a whiff. She laughs. “No, not your smell!” She says.

“It’s Sasak culture. We not sit too close to man.”

“Oh, so in Lombok if a girl moves away from you it’s a compliment?” I ask.

She nods. “That’s the Sasak way.”

We sip and snack on fresh mango in silence. I stand and survey the line of bamboo souvenir stalls on the beach. Mia shrugs. “There’s not much money here,” she says. Oh, but there will be. Emaar Property, a Dubai development concern is poised to transform Kuta’s pristine coast. The team planned their Kuta takeover at Astari, a stylish vegetarian restaurant nestled high in the hills with a commanding view. Gaz, one of the owners, watched unnoticed as they unfurled blueprints and eyed a plot of land that encompasses three enormous bays. “They pointed from the west end of Kuta Bay to the east end of Tanjung Aan,” he tells me over beers at Ketapang Café. “They also talked about doubling the road.” Gaz and his wife Helen came here 20 years ago, and they’ve heard talk about Kuta’s development before. “But this time, it’s different,” he insists.

The next day I drive my motorbike to Tanjung Aan and find a virgin horseshoe bay with five silky, sugar-white sandy beaches. At high tide, the bay is ideal for swimming in bathtub-warm waters. At low tide, the villagers descend to harvest seaweed, which will eventually find its way to more than a few Japanese sushi bars.

If the Emaar plan called for one or two hotels here and there, Gaz and Helen would be less concerned. But with US$600 million to play with, Gaz says he has a feeling that Kuta will become another Nusa Dua—the Bali resort that has transformed a sweet beach village. But the truth is, nobody knows what is about to happen. All the small businesses on the main road may soon be wiped out when the road doubles in size. Or they may not. In Indonesia, developers are not required to divulge information to the public. There is no public voice, and there are no development standards. As a result, Kuta is in limbo.

N GILI TRAWANGAN, THE LARGEST and most popular of Lombok’s white sand, car-less Gili islands, Lombok’s tourism surge has already begun. The Gilis first blipped on the tourism radar during the 1990’s, when Bali was rising to global prominence and backpackers and divers descended in search of quieter beaches, warm water and coral reefs teeming with life.

This is my second trip to Trawangan in as many years and a lot has changed. As I hunt the coastline in a desperate search for a vacant beach bungalow—last year finding a room was a snap, this year I am lucky to snag one—I pass a dozen construction sites and slalom between a half dozen young families. When I find a beach lair it’s on the newly developed, yet still pristine, northwest coast, where the water is the shade of turquoise you dream about. The snorkeling is superb and you’re still just a 20-minute stroll from the scrum of restaurants and bars.

Gili T is still a small town and, within an hour of checking into my room, I run into Simon Liddiard, the first Westerner with a Trawangan address. Liddiard is a handsome, stocky fortysomething Brit. He was already an accomplished diver when he came here from London 20 years ago to start Blue Marlin Dive, the first dive resort on the Gilis.

These islands have a certain addictive quality. I’ve felt it myself. Something about dropping 30 meters and practically tickling the chin of a sea turtle as reef sharks circle in the morning, observing a huge school of mantas soaring through the blue in the afternoon and dining on fresh grilled seafood on the beach as the moon rises, makes Gili Trawangan difficult to leave.

“Tourism has risen every year since 2002,” says Liddiard.

“We didn’t even have a low season this year. And all the development is going high end.” Not long ago, it was all backpackers. Now, young parents are bringing their children along.

Still, diving remains the heart of Trawangan’s tourist economy. On my last dive with Liddiard, I sink to 50 meters.

Visibility is tremendous and from my vantage point, a vast Technicolor wall appears infinitely deep, dropping to more than 1,500 meters. Going this deep has a certain psychedelic affect on the brain. Coral throbs and sways as I commune with a 15-centimeter long, fluorescent green nudey branch— the biggest I’ve ever seen. I am convinced it knows the secrets of the universe. »

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EW THINGS IN LIFE MAKE you feel as glamourous or as badass as a speedboat trip from a rustic, barefoot island to a five-star resort. Take it from someone who is skimming directly from the white sand and turquoise water of Gili T to The Oberoi, arguably Lombok’s best hotel.

From the jetty, my sweetheart and I are ushered into a teak pavilion outfitted with antique Sasak art and sculpture, and a wide veranda with sea and sunset views. Over the next two days, we swim in a four-level infinity pool, nap in the shade of a canopied daybed, enjoy a couple’s massage that lures us to edge of consciousness, feast on mixed grill satay and icy beer by candlelight, and bathe together in an exquisite marble tub. I don’t mean to brag, but my lovely guest is quite obviously impressed with the entire experience. Which proves that, although Oberoi’s brand of luxury may not make you sexy, it can, at least for a few days, make you sexier.

Leaving The Oberoi is less fun than arriving. As my partner heads back to Bali, I hit the gritty road to the foot of Gunung Rinjani, Indonesia’s second tallest volcano. Rinjani has spiritual gravitas. Both Balinese Hindus and Sasak Muslims consider it a sacred mountain and make pilgrimages to its peak in flip-flops throughout the year. Tourists in hiking boots make the grueling three-day trek to the peak as well. They take pictures.

The mountain also has climatic significance. Its peak attracts a steady stream of swirling rain clouds that shower the valley with fertility and feed a tapestry of rice paddies, tobacco, cashew and mango trees, banana and coconut palms. Some of that water gushes down the slopes in the form of jaw-dropping waterfalls.

I visit Air Terjun Singang Gila in Senaru, the de facto starting point for most Rinjani treks. The falls are a popular weekend picnic spot for locals. Arriving after an easy 20-minute walk, I am quickly baited to the falls where the hearty and foolish edge close to the hard foaming cascade that explodes over black volcanic stone 40 meters above. The water is frigid, and the closer I get to the mist, the more difficult it is to catch my breath. At the point of contact, I am hammered with blissfully chilled Rinjani water. The locals go wild.

Lombok’s lush interior, though, isn’t nearly as captivating as her beaches. Heaven On The Planet, a surf resort nestled on the cliffs near Ekas, is within spitting distance of some of her best. Keary Black originally developed this land »

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Island Life Clockwise from bottom right: A family, or three, heads to the beach in southern Lombok; a classic face of a village elder near Bayan; drying field rice near Senaru village; a farmer heads to the ricefields of central Lombok; a group of hikers sets off from Sembalun for the climb up Mount Rinjani; the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lush and varied interior; a waterfall in the forests in the north of Lombok, along the walking trail that climbs up to Mount Rinjani; carrying just-picked coconuts home in Kuta.

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Posing for a friendly welcome in Bayan.

while running an economic development project for the local village. That project failed, but his surf lodge succeeded and ended up bringing the village much-needed revenue. It would be easy to say that the location deserves all the credit for their success. The lodge is actually five detached, basic but comfortable chalets, four of which are set high on the pristine cliffs, with spectacular views. There are three world-class breaks. One is a beach break, and the others are short boat rides away. Although surfers are the main patrons, divers can drop along a nearby, seldom-explored, 45-meter coral wall.

But it’s not all about nature and adventure on these islands.

“I knew we were in a special place when we were building and something went wrong. The locals stopped everything, killed a chicken and poured blood into a hole,” Black recalls.

“Then something worse happened, so they slaughtered a

goat and poured blood into another hole. Then they roasted the goat.” Local input didn’t end there. Villagers were so captivated by the possibility of heaven, they often sat around in wonder as Black and his wife and business partner, Moira, ate dinner. Afterward, they’d all pile into the couple’s house to watch DVD’s. That family atmosphere is still alive: the staff eats and surfs with guests.

If this were, in fact, the afterlife, nobody would be disappointed. Especially at sunset, when the rippled bay flashes hot pink then melts into a deep purple, before the light fades and the stars carpet a black dome sky. “We don’t have a five-star resort. We have a million-star resort,” Keary boasts over one last shot of Sauza Blanca. I look up, then ask, “Would you mind if I stay a second night?” Keary and Moira grin. The word “no” doesn’t exist in heaven.

GUIDE TO shore of Gili Trawangan. 62370/632-424; kelapavillas.com; villas from US$150.

Novotel Lombok A modest but appealing four-star resort with a Sasak theme that spills onto a superb beachfront. 62370/653-333; novotel-lombok.com; doubles from US$105.

WHEN TO GO The best time to visit is from May through August to avoid the rainy season.

GETTING THERE There are non-stop flights to Mataram from Bali, Singapore and Perth. An alternative is to take one of several fast boat options from Bali to Gili Trawangan and Senggigi on Lombok.

WHERE TO STAY Heaven on the Planet The chalets here are scattered among the cliffs of Lombok’s southeast coast where you’ll have mind-blowing, bird’s-eye views of the sea. 62/812-3705393; heavenontheplanet.co.nz; US$97 per person all-inclusive.

Kelapa Villas Fourteen private villas, varying in size from one- to five-bedrooms, all within strolling distance of the deserted western

The Oberoi Lombok All the rooms, villas and pavilions ooze classic Indonesian luxury. 62370/638-444; oberoihotels.com; doubles from US$240.

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK Astari Moroccan-themed vegetarian lounge-restaurant with spectacular vistas of pristine bays and rocky peninsulas that take turns spilling further out to sea. The delicious, health-conscious menu lives up to the setting. Mawan Road, Kuta; lunch for two US$12.

Coco’s The kind of café every town should have. With terrific espresso, mouth-watering bacon and egg baguettes for breakfast and roast turkey or meatball sandwiches at lunch. Gili Trawangan; breakfast or lunch for two US$10.

Lombok Lounge A backpacker diner if ever there was one,

which means they have cheap eats, whether Indonesian or Western. But they also have a scintillating, finger-licking, meaty chili crab dish, a ChineseIndonesian classic. Kuta; dinner for two US$9.

Sama Sama Locally owned and easily the best reggae bar in Indonesia. It has a top-end sound system, a killer live band and great barmen who mix tasty mojitos. Gili Trawangan; 62/812376-3650; drinks for two US$7.

Scallywag’s Open, shabby-chic décor and plush patio seating make this new Gili T hotspot a major draw. There’s a daily selection of Aussie pies, a tasty barbecue and salad bar and an organic ethos. Gili Trawangan; dinner for two US$15.

The Shore Beach Bar This renovated dance hall has a topend sound system, breezy patio seating, cushy red booths and an expansive bar. Kuta Beach; drinks for two US$6.

watch weavers work their old looms. This one has the best selection of Sasak textiles, including ikat and songkat.

Sukarara; 62-370/660-5204.

Wadiah A terrific selection of traditional gerabah pottery is available here in the craftsman town of Penujak in South Lombok. Made from terracottatinted local clay, it’s handburnished and topped with braided bamboo. Penujak; 62/819-331-60391.

WHAT TO DO Dive the Gilis Commune with reef sharks, eagle rays and massive turtles in the rich reefs surrounding the lovely Gili islands. There are several dive shops on Gili Trawangan to consider, including Blue Marlin Dive (bluemarlindive.com), Trawangan Dive (trawangandive. com) and Manta Dive (mantadive.com).

Tir na Nog Known affectionately as “The Irish,” this spot has a sports-bar interior with big screens and a brilliant outdoor bar with a live DJ that draws the biggest crowds on the island. Gili Trawangan; 62-370/639-463; drinks for two US$5.

John’s Adventures Revered by Muslim Sasak’s and Balinese Hindus, Indonesia’s second tallest volcano, Rinjani, beckons from every angle of Lombok.

Climb to its peak, then to the crater and soak in some hot springs. 62/817-578-8018; lombok-rinjanitrek.com; four-day treks from US$185 per person.

WHERE TO SHOP Dharma Setya Sukarara’s main drag is the domain of traditional textile shops, where you can

Kimen’s Surf The shop will hook you up with a board and surf guide to enjoy the swells that fold into perfect barrels on south Lombok. Kuta; 62-370/655-064.

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(My Favorite Place) Dawn in Lhasa. Below: Comic Margaret Cho.

TIBET

IBET IS SURREAL, TRIPPY, dusty, beautiful, awesome, tragic, holy, unbelievable, unimaginable, foreign. For me, it is a migraine throbbing in my head like a heartbeat, my brain screaming out for more oxygen. The air is thin in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which sits at about 3,000 meters above sea level, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from wanting to go there. They bring giant balloons filled with oxygen to your hotel room, and you can take hits of them just like they were bongs, but you don’t get high, because if you are in Tibet, you must already be high. The most exciting spot in Lhasa is the Barkhor Square, which is a market, a meeting place, a destination unto itself. It reminded me of the mall, except instead of

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overly friendly employees greeting you at a Gap or a Sephora store, equally cheerful and aggressive vendors hawk human skulls and freshly butchered yak parts, but I promise it isn’t scary—not at all. It is mind-blowing.

In the center of Barkhor Square is the Jokhang Temple—where the multiplex would be if this were your local shopping galleria. Pilgrims prostrate themselves in circles, 108 times, a real workout—all the while dragging bloodstained cardboard flats underneath their knees with bright smiles on their faces and god on the mind. The air is heavily perfumed with the aroma of yak butter candles, which smells just like movie theater popcorn, burning the mall metaphor even deeper into my mind, in my favorite place. ✚

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Award-winning, wild and irreverent American comedian Margaret Cho is constantly on the go. But she paused long enough to tell PAUL EHRLICH what destination gets her high