Press Archive

This holistic spa harnesses ancient techniques from the temple-rich region of Thanjavur in southern India. You can go as spiritually deep as you like, with sound healing, yoga and meditation on tap, chanting with a Vedanta priest, astrology readings, and plenty of treatments led by reiki master, Beni Kikon. …Read More

Wild Coast Tented Lodge, Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Surreally beautiful, this safari camp is made up of 28 ‘cocoons’ scattered across a jungly plot in the buffer zone next to Yala National Park that crumbles into a thick strip of golden dunes and wave-bashed coastline. With their steel exoskeletons and porthole windows, the chrysalis- and teardrop-shaped cocoons are appealingly bonkers, their effect entirely UFO. Inside, the theme is industrial explorer: copper-pipe washstands and bathtubs from Jaipur, teak floorboards, Turkish rugs and leather campaign chairs. The owner operators, Resplendent Ceylon, know how to make an impression, whether that’s the shingled, boulder-shaped dining room with infinity pool where suppers of fish curry are served, or the private, crowd-free Yala game drives for leopard or sloth-bear sightings. This is Sri Lanka, which means safari is only one of the attractions: there’s blue-whale spotting in offshore channels, and an important Hindu site down the road – reached by car, avoiding the elephants crossing the road. …Read More

With the right wind you’ll smell the Banda Islands before you see them. Also known as the Spice Islands, this archipelago of ten volcanic eruptions in the remote backwaters of the East Indies is so small that modern-day cartographers often overlook it. Yet in the 17^th century, Portugal, Britain and Holland fought over them bitterly, for their mineral-rich soil nurtures a fragrant secret. They were the only place in the world where nutmegs grew, a spice once worth more than gold because of its exotic romantic flavour and the fact that it was rumoured to cure the plague. In those days money quite literally grew on trees for those prepared to overcome shipwrecks, warring tribes and tropical diseases to claim the spice. …Read More

Waking up in the Duke of Serbelloni’s bedroom is a singular experience. Like emerging from sleep and finding yourself in a dream done by Mr Franco Zeffirelli. The sun makes its slow, inching progress across the pontiff-red silk on the walls. There is a writing desk to my right, strewn with silver, which looks like it has been borrowed from a doge; two Empire-gilt mirrors either side of the bed; and across from this aristocratic assemblage, the main event: the shimmering lake and boats of Como, the beetling crag behind it lit by sunlight that flows in through the windows. All is well in this particular square footage of the world. …Read More

The Temple Experience

Once one of Myanmar’s most glorious kingdoms, Bagan was home to over 10,000 temples, pagodas and monasteries, built between the 19^th and 13^th centuries AD. Today, 2,000 of these historic sites remain and make for awe-inspiring scenic views – their tapering spires stretch out across the vast plain, creating mesmerising silhouettes against the horizon. Some glint golden in the sunshine, while others peek out from beneath the copses of palm and tamarind trees. Most are very well-preserved, having been restored by UNESCO, with many containing intricate frescoes and carvings, as well as statues of the Buddha in various sizes. Unlike Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, which is now hugely crowded with tourists, Bagan is still relatively free of visitors; step inside the tranquil stupas (Buddhist monuments) and be enveloped by the otherworldly atmosphere. Explore this magical site by foot, bicycle or even horse and cart. Or take to the skies in a hot-air balloon – floating above the temples is a truly unforgettable experience. While you can explore on your own, the government is currently restricting access to some temples, so a tour is recommended …Read More

Intimate Group Tours in 5 Unique Countries, by Ampersand Travel

Ampersand Travel thrives un creating luxurious, tailor-made journeys. For their new experiential travel collection launch, small groups are invited to “Seven Unusual Escorted Journeys”, a selection of new destinations ranging from medieval Irish castles to family-run farmhouses in South Africa. Ampersand Travel’s experts on the ground are renowned in the area, which is exactly the case for their tour of Rajasthan, taking place during India’s iconic festival – The Festival of Lights. Writer and South Asia specialist and social maestro Cosmo Brockway will take guests from Udaipur to Delhi, exploring the “Venice of the East”, drinking expertly mixed cocktails at the City Palace, sailing across Lake Pichola for a candlelit dinner and of course a nights stay in Delhi’s Taj Mahal Hotel …Read More

James Grace Jayasundera, the founder of Ampersand Travel, is the go-to resource for all things Sri Lanka for those in the know - but his outfit's reach, and know-how, hardly begin and end there. Witness an intriguing new Ampersand itinerary that explores the Himalayan region of Ladakh later this summer, and for which a few places still remain...camping under the stars at 3,500m, trekking across high desert plains, paying dawn visits to monasteries and rafting along the Indus River, before journeying up to the mystical Nubra Valley to immerse in local village life ...Read More

Megacity? Oh, no. You must think bigger. Shanghai is one of the world's dozen or so hypercities - those with a population in excess of 20 million. It might actually be the biggest, the hypermost city of all. Depends on who you ask and how they're counting. Truth to tell, nobody knows for sure how big Shanghai is. Twenty-six million people? Twenty-eight? Thirty? More? Well, if it isn't quite that big today, it will be tomorrow. Likewise the physical space it occupies, already greater than that of many nations, is continuously expanding. Even from the air, you can't make out its boundaries ...Read More

Surfer's Paradise... Once upon a time, there was a New Jersey adventurer called Claude Graves, who, in the way of the free-spirited, washed up on wild shores of Sumba Island in the late 1980s. There, along with his wife Petra, they founded and built Nihiwatu, an 11-shack surfer's paradise that gained a cult following. Claude is still part of Nihi, now Nihi Sumba Island; indeed, you can even rent their cottage, part of the 28-villa enclave that has been re-imagined to take it out of hippy surf-shack mode. Happily, the original ethos and natural beauty remain. Here, you can surf, of course, ride the fabled Sumba horses bareback down the beach, take 'floating yoga' classes at dusk, relax with alfresco NihiOka Spa treatments and indulge at the sandside barbecues. Guests are encouraged to engage with the culture and conservation of the island; and the knowledgeable staff are mainly from neighbouring tribes. It also helps that, despite Nihi's vast 567 acres, only 15 percent is ever allowed to be developed. Mamole Tree House, which sleeps six, is designed around the huge trunk of an ironwood tree and conceived in the Nihi spirit of sustainable, rustic luxury - it's the perfect spot for extraordinary views of the Indian Ocean surf. Catherine Fairweather ...Read More 

Shaped like a teardrop, Sri Lanka is stunningly beautiful, mainly Buddhist and ‘India lite’: it’s so much easier to travel here than in India. It’s safe, friendly and remarkably hassle-free, full of nature, culture, smiling faces and charming people, a beautiful, serene, slow-paced island nation all of its own …Read More

Number #1 The Andaman Islands, India

This remote archipelago in the Bay of Bengal is most people’s idea of a tropical paradise, with coral-ringed beaches, mangrove creeks and crystal-clear waters, yet it has stayed under the radar due to poor flight connections and lack of luxury accommodation. That’s all set to change with the recent expansion of flights to the islands’ main gateway Port Blair (from Delhi, Mumbai. Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata) and the opening last month of a Taj Exotica Resort & Spa on the island of Havelock. Surrounded by jungle (the owners boast that not a single tree was felled during the construction) and overlooking Radhanagar beach, the resort has 72 villas, which pay homage to the style of the indigenous Jarawa tribe’s pitch-roofed stilted huts. Butlers are on hand to arrange island excursions, snorkelling, scuba diving and kayaking through the mangroves …Read More

I arrive in Bali in the weeks of festivities that follow Nyepi – The Day of Silence, a public holiday when electric lights are dimmed and bonfires forbidden, and even the airport shuts down, so that the islanders can concentrate on prayer, fasting and meditation – although, legend has it, the shutdown is to fool any evil spirit flying overhead into thinking that Bali is a deserted island …Read More

Thotalagala Plantation House

Stay here and step back in time at Sir Thomas Lipton’s beautiful 1890 Damatenne tea plantation, balanced on the edge of an escarpment in Hill Country, with spectacular views. At Thotalagala (a handsome bungalow built for his manager) lounging on the terrace, by the pool, or in the panelled library feels like the best sort of house party. You won’t want to leave …Read More

‘A culture is no better that its woods,’ WH Auden declared. I am inclined to agree, though I wonder whether, in his flush of pleasure at having produced such a tidy epigram, the tree-hugging poet was giving short shrift to those cultures that, through no fault of their own, have had to make do without an abundance of greenery. …Read More