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June 2014 • `100
www.outlooktraveller.com
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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
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Primping for the camera at Chandoori Sai, near Koraput
13T
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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
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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]
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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
TH
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
TH
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