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June 2014 • `100 www.outlooktraveller.com 8 904150 800003 6 0 Colin Thubron Naomi Wolf Valmik Thapar Ved Mehta Travellers Fellow NEW TRAVEL WRITING nniversary A ISSUE 13 th Great Escapes in India Hills Beaches Heritage Wildlife Irwin Allan Sealy Pamela Timms Srinath Perur Pankaj Sekhsaria Japan Kerala Oman Italy Egypt Bengal Cruise New York Lifetime Holidays OF A

Transcript of Outlook Traveller June 2014 - magsonwink.commagsonwink.com/ECMedia/MagazineFiles/MAGAZINE-157... ·...

June 2014 • `100

www.outlooktraveller.com

8 904150 800003 60

Colin Thubron •

Naomi Wolf •

Valmik Thapar •

Ved Mehta •

TravellersFellow

NEW TRAVEL WRITING

nniversaryA I S S U E

13th

GreatEscapesin India• Hills • Beaches • Heritage • Wildlife

• Irwin Allan Sealy • Pamela Timms • Srinath Perur • Pankaj Sekhsaria

• Japan • Kerala • Oman • Italy • Egypt • Bengal Cruise • New York

Lifetime Holidays

OF A

SAN

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Primping for the camera at Chandoori Sai, near Koraput

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Great Escapes in India

V O L U M E 1 4I S S U E 6

ContentsJUNE 2014

Monte CarloKashmir to Kanyakumari with

See page No. 30

73

107

69

104

87

116

89

119

LADAKH by Bibek Bhattacharya

THE LIST: HILLS by Bibek Bhattacharya

SOPARA by Zac O’Yeah

THE LIST: HERITAGE by Lalitha Sridhar

GOKARNA by Raji Sunderkrishnan

THE LIST: BEACHES by Anurag Mallick &

Priya Ganapathy

GIR by Mita Ghose

THE LIST: WILDLIFE by Lalitha Sridhar

Travel Writing 50 FROM THE SMALL WILD GOOSE PAGODA: AN ALMANACK by Irwin Allan Sealy

52 FROM THE LAST WAVE: AN ISLAND NOVEL by Pankaj Sekhsaria

58 FROM KORMA, KHEER & KISMET: FIVE SEASONS IN OLD DELHI by Pamela Timms

64 FROM IF IT’S MONDAY IT MUST BE MADURAI by Srinath Perur

Features126 JAPAN by Mohit Satyanand

135 HOOGHLY CRUISE by Rimli Sengupta

146 OMAN by Shabnam Minwalla

158 ITALY by Annie M. Mathews

172 EGYPT by Ranee Sahaney

190 NEW YORK by Mayu Saini

202 KERALA by Nandini Mehta

214 THAILAND by Sopan Joshi

Fellow Travellers222 VED MEHTA by Sanchita Guha

224 COLIN THUBRON by Lalitha Sridhar

226 NAOMI WOLF by Lalitha Sridhar

228 VALMIK THAPAR by Lalitha Sridhar

CONTENTS158

126

146

Total no. of pages 234 + Covers

MANAGING EDITOR AMIT DIXITCREATIVE DIRECTOR BISHWADEEP MOITRA DEPUTY EDITORVENKY VEMBUCONSULTING EDITORLALITHA SRIDHARWEB EDITORSANCHITA GUHASENIOR EDITORSBIBEK BHATTACHARYA, PARVATI M. KRISHNANASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORSHRUTI SINGHSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHERPUNEET K. PALIWALDESIGNERS PRAVEEN KUMAR G., GULSHAN SHARMAPRODUCTION ASSISTANTKULDEEP KALIALIBRARIAN ALKA GUPTA

BUSINESS OFFICE PRESIDENT INDRANIL ROYADVERTISEMENTSVICE PRESIDENT–DIGITALJASPAL SINGH SAHIGENERAL MANAGERS SWASTIK BANERJEE, KABIR KHATTAR (Corporate)REGIONAL MANAGERS ANTHONY JOSEPH (Bangalore), MEGHA MISHRA MANAGER ANKEET R BHAYANIDEPUTY MANAGERS KAUSTAV MITRA, RUCHIKA MEHTA

BRAND & MARKETINGSHRUTIKA DEWAN

CIRCULATIONNATIONAL HEAD VIPUL JAIN (CIRCULATION)GENERAL MANAGER B.S.JOHAR (Subs.)ASST. GENERAL MANAGERSANINDYA BANERJEE (West), G. RAMESH (South)ZONAL SALES MANAGER VINOD KUMAR (North)MANAGER VINOD JOSHIDEPUTY MANAGER SHEKHAR SUVARNA

PRODUCTIONCHIEF MANAGERSHASHANK DIXITSENIOR MANAGERSHEKHAR KUMAR PANDEYACCOUNTSGENERAL MANAGER AG SUBRAMANIAMCOMPANY SECRETARY PRADEEP SINGHMANAGERDIWAN SINGH BISHTADMINISTRATIONASST. GENERAL MANAGERRAJENDRA KURUP

HEAD OFFICE AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi 110029 Tel: 33505500; Fax: 26191420Customer care helpline: 011-33505562, 33505500e-mail: [email protected] subscription helpline: [email protected]

OTHER OFFICES MUMBAI Tel: 33545000; Fax: 33545100 KOLKATA Tel: 33545400; Fax: 24650145 CHENNAI Tel: 33506300; Fax: 33506327 BENGALURU Tel:45236100; Fax:45236105 HYDERABAD Tel: 23371144 Printed and published by Indranil Roy on behalf of Outlook Publishing (India) Private Limited. Editor: Amit Dixit. Printed at International Print-O-Pac Limited, C4-C11, Phase II Noida, and published from AB-10 Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029.

Released on 01-06-2014

EDITORIAL CHAIRMAN: VINOD MEHTA

Best New

Walk like an Egyptianpage 230

Regulars8 INSIDER

10 LETTERS12 ASK MARCO

16 NSEW28 GO NOW 34 HOTELS

230 BACK OF THE BOOK

KashmirNot for nothing is Kashmir called ‘heaven on earth’. The state has �������� �� ���� ��� ��� ������������� ������� �� ����� ����� �������� ������ ��� ������� ���� ������������� ��������� ������ ���������� ���� ��������� ������������� ��� ������� ����� �� �������������� ���� ������� ��� �� ���������������!������"�#���������$���%���� ��� &�������� ��� ����� �� ����'� �� ����� ���� �(������ )�������������������������*�����"�+��������������������������������,�����������������-�/�����������������*����������������(�������������������������������������������������0����1�����������������,�����������������2����������"�/��������������������������������������������������������3������������*�������������������������������������3��������������,����*����������������������������������"�4����������������������������5������������*����������������������������������������������6��������������"�

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TRAVEL PROMOTION

KASHMIR TO KANYAKUMARI – THE FASHION TASTE IS Monte Carlo

KASHMIR TO KANYAKUMARI – THE FASHION TASTE IS Monte Carlo

OUTLOOK TRAVELLER � JUNE 2014 69

GREAT ESCAPES HILLS

THE GREAT WIDE OPENBIBEK BHATTACHARYA is captivated by the Changthang plateau’s phantasmagoric sights. Photographs by SANKAR SRIDHAR

A mule train makes its way down to the wide

waters of Tso Moriri

ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

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Up Above the World So High

BIBEK BHATTACHARYA brings you 10 great altitude-positive ideas

Goecha La Trek, Sikkim

For many Himalaya lovers, the mighty mountains of Sikkim often seem too remote for a visit. This should be rectified as soon as pos-sible, especially when it comes to this trek. The Goecha La is a 16,000-foot high and windy pass on a ridge overlooking an awesome panorama of glaciers, peaks and the third highest mountain in the world—Kangchenjunga. But that isn’t all. You climb through rho-dodendron forests in full bloom, past impossibly beautiful alpine meadows and many lakes, including the spectacular high-altitude Samiti lake. Every day of the trek is different from the previous one, and the climax of watching the first rays of the rising sun touching the Kangchenjunga massif is known to move even hardened mountaineers to tears. The entirety of the trek lies in the Kangchenjunga National Park, a veritable biodiversity hotspot. Many operators offer this trek, but the cheapest is the ten-day round-trip from India Hikes (`12,650 per person all inclusive; indiahikes.in).

CORBIS

OUTLOOK TRAVELLER � JUNE 2014 87

ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

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GREAT ESCAPES HERITAGE

LOSTWORLDZAC O’YEAH unearths Buddhist treasures in the solitary bliss of forgotten Sopara

Staring close up at the colossal Sopara Stupa, set in a tiny palm-fringed Archaeological Survey of India garden, it is hard not to be amazed. Its bricks were of such superior quality that this structure has survived for millennia on the outskirts of Mumbai, just a few kilometres from the Nalasopara suburban train station. According to estimates the stupa may be an astonishing 2,200 years old.

Once containing a piece of the Buddha’s begging bowl and other religious treasures, and presently surrounded by curious ruins that may have been part of a monastery, the stupa is the best evidence we

have of the ancient city of Sopara’s global prestige (and indeed Mumbai’s). Sopara is thought to be synonymous with the legendary port of Ophir, from where biblical kings bought sandalwood, ivory, and peacocks in the 8th century BCE. It is also the Suraparaka mentioned in the Mahabharata as well as the Supparaka of the Buddhist Jataka tales.

Around the time of the Buddha, it would have been the largest city on the west coast—the end point of caravan routes from Ujjain, converging with sea routes from Mesopotamia and Egypt. Ships capable of carrying upwards of 500 merchants docked at this

The main image of Buddha at the stupa

in Sopara

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZAC O’YEAH