Lisbon - Hg2 – Independent.

The Hedonist: Lisbon

What to see and where to be seen

By Guyan Mitra from Hg2 luxury city guides

Saturday, 16 October 2010

Party people: the On the Rocks bar at the Farol Design Hotel in Cascais

The sun is rising overhead, stretching our morning shadows across the peach-hued Atlantic. A dawn chorus of house music pulsates across the sea from the DJ booth on Tamariz, a beach club in the Lisbon suburb of Estoril. Another night in the Portuguese capital swings seamlessly into another day.

Rewind 24 hours and I'm catching a very similar sunrise. After which I spend the day drinking sangrias (oddly, a trendy drink in Lisbon) and sunbathing on the all-white cushions and deckchairs at Kubo (00 351 21 393 2930; grupo-k.pt). This outdoor riverside "beach bar", with views over the Rio Tejo's estuary, is an easy place to lose a day, or weekend. Cool beats and flirtatious chatter are accompanied by the lap of the river licking the rocks below. As my skin began to crisp I decide to move on.

I make for Lisbon's chi-chi seaside suburb of Cascais and the Farol Design Hotel (00 351 21 482 3490; farol.com.pt). Here the poolside On the Rocks bar is having one of its legendary parties. Atop a rocky headland sprayed by the Atlantic, this is where matchstick models come to pose – there's even a catwalk.

I sink passion-fruit martinis around the ocean-facing pool, do a bit of rubbernecking and watch a sanguine sun slink into the sea, before heading back to the city for a pre-dinner disco-nap: a ritual etched into Lisbon's schedule.

I'm staying at Hotel Bairro Alto (00 351 21 340 8288; bairroaltohotel.com), well positioned near the bars of the boho Bairro Alto district. The restored 18th-century hotel is a slick affair of gold and black with cloud-size beds. My wake-up call is at 9pm and before I know it, I'm sinking a caipirinha in the piano bar.

I've spent a lot of time at Largo (00 351 21 347 7225). Designed by Miguel Câncio Martins (of Paris's Buddha Bar fame), the dining room is set in a series of cavernous brick arches with a 30m aquarium containing dancing jellyfish. The menu is excellent, but I never stray from the cod marinated in port and soy sauce, which challenges Nobu's celebrated black cod with miso.

Tonight I'm meeting some know-it-all Lisboetas, so I try to impress them and suggest down-at-heel Ramiro (00 351 21 885 1024). It's a local joint where I can graze on goose barnacles washed down with brain-freeze-cold lager.

My friends arrive late (inevitably) and we move on to an old favourite, Eleven (00 351 21 386 2211; restauranteleven.com). Named after the 11 friends who own the establishment, it was the first restaurant in town to receive a Michelin star in 1996. It still sits at the head of Lisbon's culinary table. Dishes here include tuna tartar, veal pie, crayfish carpaccio and crunchy shrimp risotto, all washed down with bottles of earthy Alvarinho. After a few ginjinhas (cherry brandies), we head out to mingle on the hilly, cobbled lanes of Bairro Alto. The medieval streets host hordes of hipsters. It doesn't matter which bar you choose, as most people only grab a beer before joining the street party.

Once done with the street banter, we rise above it all at Silk (silk-club.com). Six floors up, the penthouse bar hosts a social elite. Waistlines are thin, wallets are fat and the tans are year-round. It's members only, but we'd arranged entry beforehand (and were asked to email headshots).

Music Box (00 351 21 347 3188; musicboxlisbon.com) has a live DJ and MC performing breakbeat to a mid-twenties crowd.

Sweat drips from the ceiling as we gyrate to the heavy bass. I'm just getting into it as I am dragged off to that beach party at Tamariz in Estoril. So the daily cycle of libertine Lisbon continues ... 

www.hg2.com

Las Vegas – Sunday Times

Las Vegas

“Did you win?” It’s the clichéd question every air steward asks on flights leaving Las Vegas. The fact that you’re cramped in cattle class hiding your martini-weary eyes behind fist-sized shades should tell them everything.
Everyone knows that Vegas is all about betting (there’s boozing and boobs as well, but mainly betting). However – as sure as the house all ways wins – after an hour in Vegas your ears will be ringing from the monotonous combination of chiming slot machines and moaning Rick Astley classics. You’ll try and escape to the casino next door but you’ll just find more of the same. There’s only so much you can say about the casinos: they’re kitsch, gaudy, money sucking establishments (I lost, obviously). But there’s plenty more to Vegas. $21 billion worth, in fact. Of the $39 billion Vegas made in 2007, only $8 billion was from gambling. It would appear people are looking beyond the slots.
Try experiencing a holocaust (see below). Or test-driving a Maserati down the Strip. Maybe you’d like your very own Britney and K Fed-themed wedding, filled with trailer-trash guests and a plastic bump for under your wedding dress – to give that shotgun wedding effect. It truly is a modern wonder of the world – least of all because they’ve re-created most of the ancient ones in the one town.
Plus, there’s more beyond the Strip. In the surrounding desert you’ve got the grandest of canyons, rolling scrublands to play ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and if you’re still not satisfied, look up – to the most UFO-filled skies on earth. In and around America’s playground you’ll find every type of amusement that’ll ensure you win big every time.


Striptease

Ironically weddings became so popular in Vegas because of Nevada’s soft divorce laws. Quick divorces led to quick re-marriages. And so, for 50 years Elvis has been marrying folk at The Graceland Chapel (001 702-493-2401 619 Las Vegas Blvd), including celebs such as Jon Bon Jovi and Def Lepard. It’s now a Vegas institution worth seeing even if you don’t intend to tie the knot.

Gals will love the romance (but more the shopping) to be found at the Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. Take the serenaded gondola ride from St Mark’s Square through the canals of Venice. Then stroll, arm-in-arm, through the cobbled streets towards the Guggenheim exhibition – of course, stopping on the way to try on the shoes at Jimmy Choo and Kenneth Cole.

Outrageous shows such as The Blue Man Group could only have started in Vegas. But one of the hot tickets right now is Cirque du Soleil's Love, at The Mirage (001 702 792-7777), tickets from £40. The spectacular circus show combines surreal acrobatics with a psychedelic light show, all to the sound of original Beatles recordings. Book tickets long before you go as it sells out long in advance.

Of course, Hugh Heffner has a joint in Vegas. His Playboy Club, The Palms, 4321 West Flamingo Road is surprisingly classy. Sure the bunny girls serve you martinis while you lounge in zebra-skin armchairs. But the playmate Blackjack dealers do keep their clothes on, which is refined for Sin City.

In the early Fifties the Nevada atomic testing site was so close that tourists could see the mushroom clouds from the strip! The Atomic Testing Museum, 755 Flaming Drive, has quirky displays of test site memorabilia but the big draw is the nerve-shattering Ground Zero Theatre that simulates an earth-trembling atomic explosion. Entry £6



Just Deserts

Stand with only six inches of glass between you and the 4000ft drop into the rocky abyss known as the Grand Canyon. Appropriately, Buzz Aldrin was the first person to step out into the newly opened Skywalk – a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that juts out onto the canyon. Only a 45 minute chopper ride from Vegas, All Las Vegas Tours has tours from £80pp.

Lounge on the golden shores of Lake Las Vegas. Nevada’s only beaches are found on the manmade lake’s edges. Folk escape the neon madness of the strip to fish, sail or golf. For soul-soothing after the excesses of Sin City, slink off to the waterside Ritz Carlton Spa (00 1 702 567 4700, www.ritzcarlton.com) where men’s pedicures are kept masculine by combining the treatment with beer tasting.

Don your chaps and spurs and trot off into mid-west sunset. John Wayne wanabes can gallop through the cactus-filled desert up to Red Rock Canyon. Dusty desert views sprawl across the scrubby highlands – even as far as the Grand Canyon on a clear day. Cowboy Trail Rides (00 1 702 2457) has a tours from £55pp.

Opened in 2007, the Spring Preserve Project (www.springpreserve.org) is a uniquely un-Vegas experience with 180 acres of botanical gardens, museums, amphitheatres and even an area dedicated to the research of sustainable desert living. Sin City’s guilty conscience no less.

Spot the flying saucers on the Extraterrestrial Highway. 100 miles north of Vegas, Route 375, on the edge of Area 51, claims more alien sighting than anywhere else in the world. Call in to the Little A’Le’Inn, Rachel, to hear the local’s stories of alien encounters, or just to pick up one of those silly alien face mugs.








WHERE TO STAY


No Expense Spared

The Wynn (3131 Las Vegas Bl, 00 1 702 770 7000, www.wynnlasvegas.com). The newest kid on the strip is awash with opulence ($2.9 billion worth, to be exact). From the gargantuan beds with floor-to-ceiling views of the desert to the shiny Ferrari dealership, you know you’re mixing with the high-rollers here. Doubles from £200


The Bellagio (3600 Las Vegas Bl, 00 1 702 693 7111. www.bellagio.com). The Italian-themed hotel is full to the brim of gaudy treats you could only get away with in Vegas. Marble is everywhere, from the grand reception to Roman garden-themed pool. Bag a room facing the strip for views of the dancing fountains and neon metropolis behind. Doubles from £200


Middle of the Road

Hard Rock Hotel 4455 Paradise Ave, (00 1 702 693 5000, www.hardrockhotel.com)
The hippest digs in town is where Hollywood ‘does’ Vegas. Celebs and the beautiful people lounge at the artificial poolside beach where it’s great fun to watch the bobbing silicone at the swim-up blackjack table. Doubles from £150

The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Bl (00 1 632 7777,
Run as a sister tower to Mandalay Bay, the all-suite non-casino hotel is the only design hotel in Vegas. Slick black marble is at every turn, while rooms keep the elegant allure with satin shades and metre-deep tubs. Double from £140.

Budget

Luxor 3900 Las Vegas Bl (00 1 702 262 4000, www.luxor.com)
The Luxor is such a fun over-the-top hotel. Set in a pyramid – with a sphinx standing guard outside – you’ll find, instead of lifts, the hotel has ‘inclinators’ which zip up the corners of the pyramid at a 39 degree angle. Rooms are Egyptian themed with hieroglyphic bedspreads and tiger-print touches. Doubles from £60.

Flamingo 3555 Las Vegas Bl (00 1 702 733 311, www.flamingolv.com)
The first hotel in town, the former mafia-owned establishment was the spark that started the Las Vegas fire. Check out the swaying palms and lagoon style swimming pools where there’s an island with live flamingos and African penguins. Doubles from £30.


WHERE TO EAT

No Expense Spared

Mix, The Hotel
Multi-Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse comes to Vegas bringing French fare with a Vegas twist. Try the lobster BLT or sautéed scallops with 64th floor neon views whilst sat in space-age white and silver surrounds. Mains from £16.

Aureole, Mandalay Bay
The centre piece here is the 42-foot wine tower from where ‘wine angels’ – dressed in cat suits – are zipped up by wire to retrieve the highest bottles. Beyond the gimmicks, the food is the best in town serving dishes such as fennel steamed Alaskan salmon. Three-course fixed price menu from £40pp, excluding wine.


Middle of the Road

Makino Sushi 1101 West Charleston Blvd, (00 1 702.797 7777)
Strangely, in this land-locked town you can get some excellent seafood. Flown in daily from San Francisco, Makino serves all-you-can-eat sushi to an outstandingly high standard. Buffet costs £15 pp

Bootlegger Bistro (7700 Las Vegas Boulevard South, 702-736-4939)
Bootlegger has been serving veal and linguine to the original mafia hoods that set up this town since the 40’s. Big band and swing play nightly, plus there’s good celeb-spotting to be had. Mains from £8


On the Cheap
Pink Taco, Hard Rock Hotel
One of the city's trendiest bites caused quite a stir due to its risqué name. But the Margarita-swilling crowd don’t seem to mind as they tuck in to over-flowing plates of beer-battered rock shrimp. Mains from £4.


Jodi Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom, New York, New York 3790 Las Vegas Bl
Originally a hot dog stand on LA’s Venice beachfront, Jodi Marioni’s is simple food stand serving all manner of ‘dog’ from bratwurst to chorizo. Hot dogs from £3.50.




BARS & CLUBS

Body English, Hard Rock Hotel
A regular feature in Us Weekly and the like, the chandelier-lit dance floors are celeb-filled and teaming with paps outside.

Light, Bellagio
The refined ‘ultralounge’ is the hippest bar in town. Pick your A-lister and slink off to one of the purple cushioned corners for champers and romance… it could happen!

Bar ar Time Square, New York, New York
A raucous Manhattan-style boozer where a pianist belts out classics from Sinatra to Elton John – singing along is mandatory.

SHOPPING

Forum Shops, Caesars Palace, 3500 Las Vegas Bl
Stroll through ancient Rome’s forum where you’ll find more than togas and wreaths. Diesel, Boss, Louis Vuitton and Banana Republic are a few of the names that were big in antiquity, apparently.

Las Vegas Outlet Centre 7400 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (00 1 702 896 5599)
For real bargains head a few miles from the strip for warehouse shopping. You’ll get everything from Bose speakers to Cartier watches for under half price.

Ask a Local

Brandon Reed is Elvis at the Graceland Wedding Chapel and has lived in Vegas for 16 years.

An old favourite for us locals is Chicago Joe's 4th St, (www.chicagojoesrestaurant.com). It’s a converted little house that serves unfussy Italian fare and has been around for 30 years – longer than most of the casinos.

You’ll meet a lot of folk from Vegas at the Ice House Lounge, a South Beach-style club that hosts live music and has a chilled hookah (not hooker, as you’ll find elsewhere in town) lounge.

Every local knows that the best ice cream in town comes from Luv-it Custard 505 E. Oakey Bl (luvitfrozencustard.com). It’s frozen custard so it comes thicker and richer than ice-cream, my favourite is the butter pecan flavour.

If you can, come on the first Friday of the month when Vegas holds its monthly arts fair; with art, music, fire breathers, ice sculptures and sidewalk artists. It's the coolest cultural scene in Vegas.

For less manic shopping head to the tree-lined suburb known as The District, here you’ll find quaint little boutiques and bakeries. It’s where normal people in Vegas hang out.


GETTING THERE
Maxjet (0800 023 4300, www.maxjet.com) flies only business class from Stansted, from £900.
Virgin Atlantic (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com) flies from Gatwick, from £470
British Midland (0870 6070 222, www.flybmi.com) flies from Manchester, from £490


Tour Operators
Expedia has seven-night trips to Las Vegas from £807pp, departing Gatwick, staying at the Luxor Hotel. Regional add-ons available departing Manchester and Heathrow.

Further Info

Porto – Sunday Times

A complete guide to Porto

Guyan Mitra
Published: 8 May 2010

Everything seems to be upside down in Porto. It’s a Latin, southern European city,
but it’s on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s Portuguese, but plastered across the rooftops are British names. It’s a coastal port, but instead of seafood it’s famous for tripe. The area had been famous for wine until they chucked in some brandy to the mix and accidentally made it even more famous for port. And finally, it’s renowned for its historic baroque architecture, but a bizarre 21st Century crystal-shaped building (the Casa de Musica) is the pride of the city.
Historically, we Brits have been tied to Porto since the early 1700’s, when one of
our many disagreements with France resulted in the area becoming our main source
of wine. To help the wine keep for the longer journey, they poured brandy into it,
creating port… the city’s never looked back since.
Beyond the sweet spirit, weekenders will find an off-the-chart cuddly town of charm,
history and romance. Scrunch up the map and get lost in the meandering medieval
passageways of Ribeira, the city’s old town. The ancient district is a hive of rippling ancient facades that tumble down to the riverbanks of the River Douro’s glistening mouth. Here you’ll find a medieval time warp, as stout, apron-wearing grannies gossip from their balconies across the narrow ally ways.
Paradoxically, the city is also Portugal’s centre of commerce, culture and creativity. Despite being steeped in history, the city’s youthful students – usually seen wearing medieval black capes – are reaching out to the future with some experimental attitudes to music, art and architecture, ensuring that complimenting a weekend of historic streets is a smattering of 21st Century treats…

10 things to see and do

1. Porto is too strange to appreciate when sober. So start your weekend by sampling the tipple the town lends its name to. At Vila Nova de Gaia, in the south, scores of the old port wineries brandish Brit names, such as Cockburn and Taylor’s. Sandeman (00 351 22 374 0533, www.sandeman.eu; £3.50; on map) is the best place to learn about Britain’s historic romance with the city and its famous drink.

2. Now you’re ready for a bit of time travel, with a trip on one of Porto’s ancient trams. Line 1 trundles prettily along the waterfront from downtown at Massarelos to Ribeira (the old town) at little more than a brisk walker’s pace. Devoted tram-spotters should poke around the Electric Tramcar Museum (Alameda Basílo Teles 51; £2.50, including tram travel for the day; ). Not just for anoraks, the museum also hosts alfresco summer concerts.

3. If its grand designs you’re after, the Neo-Gothic bookstore, Livraria Lello (Rua das Carmelitas 144; ), is one of Europe’s prettiest shops. Archaically easy on the eye, the store centres around two split, semi-spiral staircases that curl out towards an intricately carved ceiling. A stained-glass skylight provides illumination for the bookworms in the second-floor coffee shop, who leaf through tomes while chewing on cigars and sipping meia de leite (‘half milk’ – aka white coffee).

4. Time for reflection (in more ways than one), at one of the city’s numerous Catholic churches. Portuguese colonists imported a continent’s worth of New World gold back in the 16th century, and it seems as though most of it ended up here. Grandest of all, Igreja de São Francisco (Rua do Infante Dom Henrique; £2; ) is decked out in 100kg of gold leaf. Only the floors and pews have escaped a dazzling.

5. Brave the hollering fishwives at Mercado do Bolhão, a 200-year-old market (Rua Sá Da Bandeira). Though everything from fresh fruit and flowers to feather-dusters is sold here, many visitors make a beeline for the sensational market cafes. Here, nose-to-tail eaters tuck into Portugal’s most challenging national dishes, including tripe, brain and blood sausage.

6. Now for some 21st-century stimulation: the city’s greatest ode to modern architecture is the bonkers Casa da Música (Avenida da Boavista; 00 351 22 0120220, www.casa damusica.com; guided tours £2.70). Resembling a chipped sugar cube, the blinding white building makes no attempt at symmetry or logic. But inside, harmony reigns: the concert hall’s perfect acoustics complement everyone from Brazilian samba stars to the Porto National Orchestra.

7. You’ll find Porto’s hipsters loitering in the halls of Serralves (Rua Dom João de Castro 210; www.serralves.pt; £4.50 museum and park), the city’s sexily minimalist modern art museum. Check the website for details of what’s on and, afterwards, escape the all-white halls and wander the beautifully manicured lily ponds in the museum grounds.

8. It may be 20 years behind the rest of Europe, but raving is the height of fashion here. The warehouses in Zona Industrial do Porto (try Via Rápida or Vogue; ) are home to thousands of wild-eyed revellers, vibrating and gyrating to rapid beats. The party scene is refreshingly unpretentious – fun, even.

9. Pestana Porto Hotel (Praça da Ribeira 1; 00 351 223 402300, www.pestana.com). The 48 riverside rooms here are the city’s best, housed in three interconnected Medieval buildings. Insist on a view of the Douro, and open the windows to let the gentle patter of river life aid your siesta. Riverside rooms from £140, B&B.

10. Infante Sagres (Praça Dona Filipa de Lencastre 62; 00 351 223 398500). Porto’s oldest grande dame is a real Jekyll and Hyde. The newly updated rooms are a faux-Philippe Starck nightmare of red and white plastic-lined sofas and screenprint cushions. Yet, the impeccable regal suites seem untouched since the 1800s, all four-poster beds, oil paintings and antique chests of drawers. Suites from £268, room only.

Where To Eat

Piolho (Praça de Parada Leitão 43; 00 351 405 0456). This is the place to try Porto’s signature sandwich, the Francesinha – a monster mix of ham, sausage and steak, covered with molten cheese and a sticky tomato and beer sauce. Mains around £2.

Taberna San Pedro (Rua Agostinho Albano 84, Aforada; 00 351 916 585046). Here’s a hidden treat five minutes across the river by boat, in the fishing village of Aforada. There’s no menu, so point out what you fancy to the portly gents on barbecue duty outside. Sardines, squid and pork ribs are favourites. Mains around £2.

Pedro dos Frangos (Rua Bon Jardim 219; 00 351 222 008522). The name means ‘Peter of the Chickens’, so between that and the scores of birds spinning on a spit in the window, you can guess what’s on offer here. Local custom dictates you should stand at the bar whilst tearing at juicy thighs with your hands and shouting loudly at the football on the telly. Mains around £4.

Cafe Majestic (Rua de Santa Catarina 112; 00 351 222 003887, www.cafemajestic.com). For almost a century, the city’s finest cafe has poured the hoi polloi’s morning coffee. The marble chessboard flooring, leather seats and brass fittings are as pristine as the classic Portuguese menu. Try the ovos moles (sugar-coated egg yolks). Mains around £5.

Dom Tonho (Cais de Ribeira 13-15; 00 351 222 004307). Built into the riverside arches of the old town and owned by the Portuguese pop star, Rui Veloso, Dom Tonho is about as traditional as you can expect in quirky Porto. Hearty dishes such as bachalão (dried cod) and porco a Alentejana (pork and clam stew) are gobbled up by suited types. Mains around £9.

Bull & Bear (Avenida da Boavista 3431; 00 351 226 107669). Run by Miguel Castro Silva, Portugal’s answer to Spain’s alchemist-chef Ferran Adrià, this establishment has a sampler menu that includes excellent Portuguese-with-a-twist fare such as seabass carpaccio and port-soaked foie gras. Mains around £15.


Nightlife

Casa do Livro (Rua Galeria de Paris 85). In this dimly-lit converted bookshop, the city’s sophisticates dance and sip Caipirinhas around a piano, surrounded by leather-backed literature.

Zoo Lounge (Rua de Monchique). It’s non-stop waterfront partying on this open-all-hours converted boat on the Douro. The all-white beanbags on deck are much in demand at dusk – for viewing the city’s super sunsets over the water.

Solar do Vinho do Porto (Rua Entre Quintas). If you’re going to savour port like an aristocrat, do it here, in the palatial grounds of a 19th-century mansion overlooking the river.


Where to shop

Rua de Santa Catarina is the main pedestrian drag of boutiques, where you’ll find Spanish labels including Zara and Mango at cheap, cheap prices.

Ana Salazar (Rua Nova de Alfândega), Portugal’s leading lady of fashion fills her boutique with sultry and sexy party dresses – just perfect for a Porto night out on the (azulejo) tiles.

Travel independently
TAP (0845 601 0932, www.flytap.com) flies to Porto from Gatwick and Heathrow from £113 return. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to Porto from Dublin, Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham and Stansted. EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) flies to Porto from Gatwick.

Go with a package
Expedia (0870 050 0808, www.expedia.co.uk) has three-night packages staying in three-star accommodation from £206pp, including flights from Gatwick. Cities Direct (01242 536900, www.citiesdirect.co.uk) has three nights in a four-star, from £345pp, including flights from Heathrow or Gatwick; regional add-ons available on request. Or try Cresta Holidays (0870 238 7711, www.crestaholidays.co.uk).

Getting around: The easiest, and cheapest, way to see the city is with an Andante Tour 1 card (£4.50), which allows unlimited use of public transport for 24 hours. If you visit for three days or longer, upgrade to the Andante Tour 3, valid for 72 hours (£10). Buy one at the Andante office at the airport Information Centre. And for more info on the city, see www.visitportugal.com.

Budget South East Asia

Bargain hideaways in South-East Asia
Guyan Mitra finds six of the best excellent, independently run hideaways that score high on style, individuality and affordability - all for under £75 for a double, before haggling

But now there's a third way to enjoy the area: just a little off the beaten track, you'll find some excellent, independently run hideaways that score high on style, individuality and affordability. And the boom in low-cost airlines such as Air Asia (easyJet's Eastern equivalent) has made travel across the region easier than ever - so secret corners are no longer a secret.

All it takes is a little independence: most of these hotels remain hidden - and cheap - because they don't work with international tour operators. Booking flights, board and transfers separately may be slightly more awkward, but hotels will happily assist, and it does mean you can enjoy the time-honoured local tradition of haggling over hotel rates (prices quoted here are highly negotiable, especially in the low season of April to October - apply the opposite months for Indonesia). Exploring, after all, is not just for the intrepid.

ANGKOR VILLAGE RESORT
Siem Reap, Cambodia

Built to traditional Khmer design, the villas - with their sloping rooftops and twisting spires - are a serene vision in cedar wood. Rooms have a country B&B feel: wood floors, high-beamed ceilings, four-poster beds and shutters. Outside, long balconies open up on to thick tropical gardens and a swimming pool. What could easily have fallen into the plastic Disney showboat category is, in fact, charmingly unique (although the after-dinner dance to traditional music is questionable).

Evening meals are eaten in a traditional hall, where excellent local food is served at knee-high tables on cushioned floors. Order the beef lok lak (beef in hot pepper sauce with tomato and lemon) or try the mild Khmer curry (chicken in turmericand ginger).

During the day, tackle the magnificent temples of Angkor (they're at their most beautiful by sunrise or sunset). And at night in Siem Reap, go for a spot of Pinot Noir or pastis. The French influence in the region is inescapable: be it the pâté served before your noodles for breakfast or the Calvados nightcap.

Details: Angkor Village (www.angkorvillage.com), doubles from £50.

VILA OMBAK, GILI TRAWANGAN
Gili Islands, Indonesia

From the minute you wade in from the hotel speedboat at midnight, you know you're in for something different. Each raised thatched wooden bungalow has a trap door and ladder that descends to an alfresco shower. Inside, the look is designer Tarzan, the simple wooden beds draped with ubiquitous, but actually rather chic mosquito nets. Balconies have comfy sun loungers and ocean views. Below are four-poster daybeds and hammocks. For the less fleet of foot, there are also grounded villas that still have outdoor bathrooms.

The beach by the hotel is pure coral, though fear not - lovely sandy beaches are a short stroll away on this 3km-long island. Naturally, the seafood is excellent. For dinner at the sea-front alfresco restaurant there's a choice of fresh-out-the-ocean barbecued snapper, mackerel and tuna, before you round off the evening on the stone chess tables near the pool.

Details: Vila Omak (www.hotelombak.com), doubles from £40.

LES 3 NAGAS
Luang Prabang, Laos

This collection of three colonial-era royal buildings was created at the turn of the 20th century - and, wonderfully, it shows. Accommodation is divided between the two largest dwellings, giving you a choice of roadside or riverfront housing.

And while the obvious choice is the riverfront house, with its peaceful garden sloping down to the river and traditional rooms built using lime screed and bamboo, the roadside building - a converted ice-cream shop - has its own merits.

For a start, the verandas allow the Provençal atmosphere of Luang Prabang to breeze gently into the room. And if you're up early enough, you'll catch a picture-book glimpse of the 500 or so saffron-robed monks who walk through the town at dawn for the purpose of collecting alms and appearing in photos.

Again, minimalism is central: torchis (clay and straw) walls, polished dark-wood ceilings and white-cushioned sofas mean the calm interiors are consistent with the serene exteriors. The town - a fascinating hybrid of Mekong and Gallic culture, where riverside cafés sell freshly baked pastries with potent Laotian coffee in thick tropical gardens - moves at a Mediterranean pace, and all you have to do is amble around and breathe it in.

After a morning spent wandering among the various temples and markets, join a hotel-arranged bike trip to the local waterfalls where you can splash about in mint green waters with the junior monks who venture up there after classes.
When it's time for dinner, tuck in to a plate of laarp (minced beef with fresh mint and chilli) on the lush green hotel balcony, where you'll be thankful for the large colonial-style rotating fans to cool you down.

Details: Les 3 Nagas (www.3nagas.com), doubles from £40.

THE PILGRIMAGE VILLAGE
Hue, Vietnam

Hidden deep in the central Vietnamese countryside, a few kilometres beyond the small cultural town of Hue, The Pilgrimage Village has 50 French colonial rooms in
well-kept floral gardens. The size of the hotel can seem impersonal to some (even the 400-seat restaurant, for instance, sometimes gets crowded).

So for maximum tranquillity, be sure to get a room on the outskirts of the complex, where mountain-lined paddy-fields spread beyond your mimosa-shaded balcony. The individual bungalows are modern, in their bare brick and pale blue design, and ever-so-Asian in their uncluttered style.

Being out of town, and therefore slightly isolated, the resort offers plenty of onsite activities. As well as a swimming pool, there's a lake and afternoon handicraft classes, where you can learn to make traditional Vietnamese embroideries, ceramics and woodcrafts.

The hotel arranges tours to Hue, as well as 4WD jaunts to the nearby ancient citadel and Imperial City. The day trips by boat up the Perfume River to see the ancient tombs of past emperors are worth it - if only to witness the interesting quirks of rural South-East Asian river life. Beach it on a day trip south to the blindingly white Lang Co Beach and the many azure lagoons nearby.

Details: Pilgrimage (www.pilgrimagevillage.com); doubles from £35.

Page 3: Thailand

PANVIMAN
Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand

This tiny island is famed for out-of- control full-moon parties bursting with backpackers spinning fire and dancing maniacally to monotonous euro-trance. But when people talk of it in this way, they really mean Haad Rin Beach on the south-east coast. The rest of Koh Pha Ngan is
blessed with cove after cove of empty beaches and, thanks to the poor road infrastructure (and the herd mentality among backpackers), they tend to stay that way year-round.

Isolated from the rest of the island by one such dodgy road, the Panviman (on the island's north-east coast) is best accessed by one of its own boat transfers direct to its secluded bay from the nearby island of Koh Samui - to which you can fly from Bangkok or Phuket.

The hotel, placed elegantly on the side of a cliff that divides a double bay, is a scattering of very private individual whitewashed cottages on either side of the rock face. The raised location allows for views of the Gulf of Thailand from almost every corner.

Wooden walkways intertwine through the rocks and coconut trees to link the cottages, and a few
stone steps lead down to the quiet beach. Bedrooms are light wood with elegantly hand-crafted Thai designs. Splash out on a deluxe suite for panoramic views through glass shutters, and huge outdoor stone baths you could scuba dive in.

Details: Panviman (www.panviman.com), doubles from £40.

COSTA LANTA
Ko Lanta, Thailand

Like many of the Thai islands, Ko Lanta was whispered about among those in the know idling away in the corners of Khao San Road backpacker cafés. But someone was eavesdropping and, by the turn of the millennium, 7 Eleven and co had arrived in force.

Then, the Boxing day tsunami washed away much of the construction, perversely returning the island to its original, natural state - at the tragic cost of many lives.
But with typical Thai resilience - and hard work - a whole guidebookful of places have opened and reopened on the island, and Costa Lanta is one of the best.

The wood and concrete bungalows are box-shaped and stand-alone, which may sound uninviting, but effectively means tasteful minimalist luxury with no impact on the surroundings. The success of the design is simplicity. The 22 dark-wood and bare-concrete bungalows display an innovative use of material and design, without being overbearing in an area of such natural beauty.

The southern Thai menu served in the beachfront restaurant makes a mockery of UK pub Thai fare: start the day with a tum yum kung (hot and sour prawn soup), then later catch the sunset on the west-facing beach with a mussaman curry (potato and cinnamon curry) before rolling onto your super-large futon to rest up for the gruelling day to follow.

Details: Costa Lanta (www.costalanta.com), doubles from £74.

Freediving in Thailand

Freediving in Ko Tao, Thailand – Sunday Times



No snorkel, no air tank, no tubes... freediving is diving without the annoying equipment and less classroom time
Guyan Mitra

Oh to be a mermaid, or merman in my case, and swim, unbounded, with the wilds of the ocean. This was my goal.

So with a chest-swelling intake of air and a graceful flick of my prosthetic fin, I swoop, head first, into an abyss of dark-blue ocean.

With only a pair of full lungs to sustain myself, I drop five, then 10... 15... 20 metres to the sea bed. I grab a fistful of sand before twisting up and gliding through a school of neon-coloured parrotfish, which naturally recognise me as a fellow fish.

Finally, I burst through the surface for a well-earned breath of crisp ocean air. Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be done. My personal experience of freediving involved less graceful flicking and more flailing and flapping, but I was just a beginner, after all.

Cruising around the depths of the ocean without any form of breathing aid may sound like the bold realm of fearless adrenaline nuts. But in reality, freediving is open to everyone with a pair of lungs and a rough idea how to swim.

In the diving mecca of Ko Tao, a rocky isle of chalky-white beaches, surrounded by a rainbow of coral gardens in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, divers flock to see the whale sharks that often pass through the local waters.

The vast majority do it weighed down with scuba gear, but a pioneering few are choosing to freedive instead of using the clunky and awkward scuba clobber. And now I was one of them.

“The most important element of freediving is being in a calm mental state,” claims Monica Ganame, the Argentinian co-owner of Apnea Total freediving school. Probably the closest being to a mermaid that you’ll ever encounter, Monica has been swimming with the whales and dolphins off Argentina’s Atlantic coast since her teenage days.

In her brief moments above sea level, she practises yoga and meditation. Beyond the holistic techniques helping to work the respiratory organs needed to freedive, the disciplines promote a calm personal state. The logic goes that a relaxed freediver has a slower heart rate, therefore uses less oxygen and is able to dive for longer periods.

In the spirit of seeking my “inner calm”, I enrolled in morning yoga classes on Ko Tao’s appropriately serene Sai Ree beach. As a total novice to anything remotely holistic, my thoughts towards yoga had always been that it was simply the stretching I would do before going for a run.

One miserable attempt at “downward dog” proved how wrong I was. An hour later, I hobbled off the yoga platform, puffing, panting and bent out of shape like a broken Lego man — more humbled than calm, I’d say.

Limbered up, to a degree, I limped off to learn how to freedive. The dive school is full of hard-bodied male instructors, who all boast a cringingly handsome resemblance to Jean-Marc Barr, satisfying the fantasy of the many female pupils clearly here in search of re-enacting Luc Besson’s cult classic The Big Blue.

The crux of the class centres on a breathing technique, which involves a four-minute “breathe up” before each dive. This entails inhaling and exhaling deeply 12 times, while pushing out the belly and expanding the chest. The purpose is to fill the body with plenty of oxygen while maximising expansion of the lungs.

At full-breath capacity, I’m informed, your pushed-out belly is supposed to give the impression of having an enormous gut. A session of pranayama — a nasal yogic-breathing technique, which exercises the respiratory muscles — ended with most of the class unattractively blowing snot all over themselves. A natural occurrence, I was told as I reached for the tissues — we now all had stronger sinuses and diaphragms, apparently.

Once in the sea, it took a few nervy attempts before I was 12 metres deep, swimming among the sea fans on the ocean floor. Quite frequently there would be a little voice of panic in my head.

According to my instructor, there’s a nerve in the human brain that triggers warning alarms, or voices in my case, once underwater. “If you ignore it, eventually it will go away. In reality, your body has enough oxygen to stay underwater for plenty of time.”

While much of the early classes are spent bobbing up and down around the surface, practising the breathing techniques, the more experienced divers dart around the coral gardens of the sea bed like jovial seals for up to four or five minutes at a time. Their confidence is annoyingly enviable to the beginner, but some of them are only a couple of weeks ahead of us.

Back on dry land, I’m introduced to the school’s co-owner, Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria. In 2005 he was ranked third in the world, has dived to depths of more than 80 metres and can hold his breath underwater for more than seven minutes.

“At depths of more than 30 metres, the human body reacts just like other mammals, such as whales and dolphins,” he explains. “What happens is known as the mammalian diving reflex. The heart rate drops, some organs shrink to a fraction of their size and the human body adapts to the underwater pressure while producing and conserving as much oxygen as possible.”

I’m relieved to hear this doesn’t come into effect for the depths I’ll be going to. I’ll leave the mammalian diving reflex for my next visit.

“When I go freediving, I do it for therapy,” chimes in Monica. “Being like a fish helps me stay calm, which is why I like to do it with yoga and meditation.” There’s certainly a left-field, hippie association with freediving that fits in well with the surrounds of Buddhist Thailand. Perhaps the monks should try freediving for medi­tative purposes? “They really should,” says Monica, without sarcasm.

By the end of the two-day course, I was comfortable at 20 metres, a depth that had sounded inconceivable 48 hours earlier. Plus, I was able to dive Ko Tao’s newest underwater site. A boat had recently sunk — without casualty, thankfully — creating a modern wreck around which a kaleidoscope of tropical sea life was investigating.

Using my new-found skills, I was able to probe and glide in and around the wreck, just like my fellow fish. Not quite a merman, but getting there... definitely getting there.

- Guyan Mitra travelled as a guest of Thai Airways

Travel details: there aren’t any direct flights from the UK or Ireland to Ko Samui, but Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) has connections via Bangkok, from £620. Ferries from Ko Samui to Ko Tao take 1Çhr and cost about £50 return.

Apnea Total (00 66 87 81 32 321, apnea-total.com) runs two-day free­diving courses from £99pp.

Imaginative Traveller (0845 077 8802, imaginative-traveller.com) can tailor-make seven nights in Thailand from £800pp, with two nights in Bangkok and five nights on Ko Tao (both B&B), including flights from Bangkok to Ko Samui, and the ferry crossing. It can help by booking international flights and freedive courses, too.

Or try Dive Worldwide (0845 130 6980, www.diveworldwide.com) or Worldwide Dive and Sail (020 8099 2230, worldwidediveandsail.com).

For further information, go to tourismthailand.co.uk

Dublin's Best Hotels

Dublin's best hotels
A design hotel with a saucy side, a guesthouse with a crackling grate and a restored grande dame
Guyan Mitra

From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine January, 2008, issue

The Shelbourne - ‘For Yeats, Princesses and rock stars’

Having rested on its laurels for the last 100 years, The Shelbourne Hotel emerged glamorously from a two-year renovation in March – as much to the excitement of Dubliners as to weekend tourists.

Since it opened in 1824, the hotel has been seen as a locals’ joint first and foremost, thanks to its excellent bars and key role in the city’s history and culture.

The drafting of the Irish Constitution took place in Room 112 in 1922, and, over the years, luminaries from WB Yeats to Bertie Ahern could be found propping up the oak-panelled Horseshoe Bar.

Regulars are relieved that little has been altered in the cosy Horseshoe, while the bright No. 27 Bar has attracted a fashionable new crowd for cocktail hour. Pop into the Saddle Room for dinner, however, and you might clock a Rolling Stone staggering out of the Oyster Bar.

Rooms are just as regal as when Princess Grace of Monaco stayed here back in the ’50s, but the makeover has brought in crisp Italian linens, marble bathrooms and flat-screen TVs.

The renovation has returned this grande dame back to her best, abuzz with class, prestige, and Dubliners drinking Guinness.

The Shelbourne Hotel (00 353 1 663 4500) has doubles from £210, room only.

The Dylan - ‘Indulge in a Kama Sutra massage oil’

If The Shelbourne represents the historic heart of Dublin, then The Dylan is the brazen face of new money. In a swish postcode (D4) where property prices are rivalled only by Mayfair and the Upper East Side, The Dylan elbows out the also-rans as Dublin’s latest design hotel.

Instead of the yawningly rolled-out minimalist look, The Dylan has opted for the opposite end of the design spectrum with a collage of inspirations – Georgian here, Asian there, and hints of Rococo everywhere.

Set in a Victorian townhouse, the rooms mix the obligatory hi-tech gadgetry with sensuous luxury, urging you to indulge in a Kama Sutra massage oil kit or candle-lit, rose petal-filled bath.

The main draw is the hotel bar, which plops buttoned-velvet sofas and Murano chandeliers on a lime-green and blood-red background. Here the (Dubl)-in crowd pouts and poses while raising a pinkie over the best Bellini in town.

The restaurant, Still, serves fancy fare, such as assiette of rabbit and salmon gravadlax, in swanky white surroundings – its nouveau riche decor makes it clear that this is Platinum-card territory. Like the hotel, Still is best kept for those occasions when only somewhere one-in-a-million will do.

The Dylan (00 353 1 660 3000, www.dylan.ie) has doubles from £166, room only.

Number 31 - ‘Guests come back for the “Full Irish” alone’

There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread to make you feel at home. So perhaps it’s the owners’ doughy habit – fruit, white and soda go in the oven every afternoon at 1pm – that keeps drawing visitors back to Number 31. Or maybe it’s the open peat fire licking about in the sunken lounge, imbuing the place with a cosy feel and oaky aroma.

The smells are much needed – luring you down an alley with no signpost to Number 31, where owners Noel and Deirdre extend a jovial reception, as if to congratulate you for discovering their lovely abode.

The 21-room property inhabits a Georgian townhouse and a Modernist mews. Rooms are simple but sink-into comfy, with high ceilings, wooden blinds, marble bathrooms and large, handsome beds. A few minutes’ walk from the city centre and the chic neighbourhood of Ranelagh, the location is spot-on for shopping, sightseeing and socialising.

Noel is one of those types born to run a guesthouse, dispensing volumes of local knowledge (and gossip) – which helps explain why every guest seems to be on their umpteenth visit. Most say they keep coming back for the breakfast alone: a lively affair with poached pears, muesli, the ‘Full Irish’ and, of course, plenty of fresh bread.

Number 31 (00 353 1 676 5011) has doubles from £115, B&B.

Best of the rest…

THE SCHOOLHOUSE HOTEL…is a converted Victorian schoolhouse by the canal, with a boisterous bar attached. Doubles from £199, B&B (00 353 1 667 5014, www.schoolhousehotel.com).

BROWNES… has a Georgian theme with looming ceilings and open fireplaces. Doubles from £175, room only (00 353 1 638 3939, www.steinhotels.com).

ABERDEEN LODGE… is a B&B in the chic Ballsbridge area, which garners rave reviews from guests who return time and again. Doubles from £100, B&B (00 353 1 283 8155, www.halpinsprivatehotels.com).

ELIZA LODGE GUESTHOUSE…is within stumbling distance for partying in the hip Wexford St or Temple Bar areas. The best rooms have Jacuzzis and views of the river. Doubles from £100, B&B (00 353 1 671 8044, www.dublinlodge.com).

HOTEL ISAACS… is a large hotel near O’Connell St, with a mix of rooms from regal Georgian suites to business-style twins. Doubles from £55, room only (00 353 1 813 4700, www.isaacs.ie).

Six of the Best Irish Pubs

Six of the best Irish pubs
From Dublin to the remote taverns of Kerry’s Atlantic coast, the Irish pub scene mixes trad with the rad
Guyan Mitra

From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

O’Connell’s, Skryne Hill, County Meath

If you think the exterior of this pub looks familiar, it’s because Guinness liked its stunning location (high above the sea on Skryne Hill) so much that they used the pub in one of their adverts. Lush green hills tumble out towards Dublin, and the noise of the waves masks the chatter around the bar.

Regulars don’t come to O’Connell’s for the view though, or the interior design: the only furniture in its two rooms is a line of rickety wooden benches along the wall, a few stools at the bar and a battered old pool table. But Mrs O’s (as it’s known in these parts) has one of the warmest welcomes in the country.

Smiley soaks turn their heads to the door and greet every newcomer, while the elegant old landlady shuffles around the pub solicitously until she’s sure that everyone’s happy.

The only evidence that you haven’t been transported back to an older, friendlier time is the dates on the newspapers (although there’s still a few yellowing cuttings decorating the place – mostly concerning sports and the ancient Hill of Tara burial site down the road).

As the evening draws in and the stout and whiskey take hold, the banter among the locals and the landlady reaches an almighty crescendo (Mrs O shells out so many free pints to help the atmosphere along that it’s a wonder she keeps a roof over her head).

Her favourite nights, she says, are when the fiddles and bodhráns (shallow one-sided drums) take over the corner by the grate fireplace – and everyone joins in a singsong.

O’Connell’s, Skryne Hill, County Meath (00 353 46 902 5122).

The Bulman, Kinsale, County Cork

Why does a pub need its own pier? Well how else are they going to source their famous claw-cluttered trays of crustaceans?

And the exquisite seafood isn’t the only reason to moor up at The Bulman: after an afternoon spent boating around a yacht-filled harbour, where baby-blue skies blend into bottle-green briny, this solitary little watering-hole on the edge of the shore is a welcome stop-off point.

Known, incongruously, as the Monte Carlo of Ireland, the south coast town of Kinsale earns its nickname with clement weather, posh food and glamorous residents. In fact, anybody who’s achieved anything in Ireland has a palatial home here – and spends plenty of time in The Bulman.

Chris de Burgh and film director Neil Jordan can often be heard setting the world to rights under the kitsch glass lampshades that hang from the stone ceilings, in front of a backdrop of ragged stone walls and an open fireplace. But nobody gets much serious talking done on Wednesdays or Thursdays, when violins, harpsichords and tin whistles invade the bar for the always-raucous traditional music nights.

To pass yourself off as a Bulman regular though, order a pint of Murphy’s (the local stout of choice in Cork, not ‘that Dublin muck’ Guinness), and join the patter among the punters outside, where the singsong lilt of the Cork accent and the lapping Atlantic provide a jovial soundtrack to a drink or few in the sunshine.

l The Bulman, Summercove, Kinsale, County Cork (00 353 21 477 2131, www.thebulman.com).

Cassidy’s, Dublin

Cassidy’s is the latest arrival to make a ripple in the boozy ocean of pubs on the Dublin scene.

The five-storey building couldn’t be more central, just a stone’s throw south of the Liffey Bridge, which unofficially marks the city’s mid-point.

And – despite having been open for little more than a year – the place already feels like a city institution thanks to the constant crowd of agreeably scruffy hacks who work around the corner in the Irish Times offices. Wednesday night is student night though, when Trinity College’s debating and traditional music societies make the short walk from their lecture halls to intellectualise, sing and dance.

It’s a seriously merry affair with deliberating academics shouting over humming bagpipes in the pub’s two ecclesiastically-themed lower floors. On the second storey, meanwhile, Cassidy’s

26-year-old landlord Barry has ambitiously changed tack and installed a Charleston-themed cocktail bar. A white grand piano stands out against the red, black and purple velvet cushions.

And, as you’d expect, it’s serving slightly more exotic tipples: try the Tipsy Trinity – a lethal mix of fresh cranberry juice, vodka and Jägermeister. Or, if you want to go straight for the mainline, they also serve vodka and Red Bull. On tap.

Strangely, the combination of traditional Irish pub and burlesque cocktail bar works, and Cassidy’s brings in Dublin’s young and beautiful crowd for a very mixed kind of craic.

Cassidy’s, 27 Westmoreland Street, Dublin (00 353 1 670 8604, www.cassidysbar.ie).

South Pole Inn, Annascaul, County Kerry

An old chap spinning a yarn is the essential accompaniment to any pint in Ireland.

At the South Pole Inn, the yarn spins to the other side of the Earth and back. Founding landlord Tom Crean opened for business in the village of Annascaul in 1927, after Antarctic expeditions with Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

He’d decided to dedicate the rest of his life to the less demanding career of pulling pints, but word has it that his wife, Ellen, did all the work while he regaled wide-eyed patrons with tales of his travels.

Now, decades later, the pub has been carefully restored to its original 1920s state, with wooden tables, stone walls and a crackling fireplace that toasts the toes of ramblers stopping off on hikes along the Dingle Peninsula. Photos of ‘Tom the Pole’ on his various expeditions adorn the walls; pull a stool up to the bar, invest in a nice Jameson for any of the elderly flat-capped regulars and ask them to tell you about the time Tom bravely strode alone for 50km to get help for his snowed-in, scurvy-ridden companions.

It’s a heroic story (no doubt enriched by years of whiskey-induced poetic licence), and made all the grander for the rural Kerry drawl it’s told in.

l South Pole Inn, Annascaul, County Kerry (00 353 66 915 7388).

The Gravity Bar, Dublin

It’s shamelessly touristy but no visit to the capital would be complete without a trip to The Guinness Storehouse and its brewery. It’s the thumping heart of alcoholic Ireland, from which thousands of kegs of the ‘black stuff’ are pumped through the main arteries of the country each day.

You can take a tour and learn about the brewing process, find out how to pull the perfect pint, and visit a tasting laboratory – or just head straight up to the seventh-floor Gravity Bar. The circular room feels like a spaceship hovering 40m above ground, but is actually perched on top of the old 1904 brewery building – with spectacular 360º views across Dublin from its floor-to-ceiling windows.

Take in a panorama of grey skies etched with the ragged chimneys of the Georgian city to the west; pull up a pew on the south-facing side to drink in the shadow of the Dublin Mountains; or look east to the sights of the city centre, with the River Liffey snaking out to the Irish Sea.

You can’t just walk in on views this good, though; in fact, there are only two ways of getting in: you either come on one of the daytime tours, or blag your way into one of the regular evening private parties (not as hard as it sounds; Dublin’s an open-book sort of city).

And aside from the views and celeb-filled bashes, there’s another reason to visit: this place serves the best pint of Guinness in the world.

l The Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse, St James’s Gate, Dublin (00 353 1 408 4800, www.guinness-storehouse.com). Tours cost £10 (includes a free pint).

Moran’s Oyster Cottage, Kilcogan, County Galway

It’s the picture-postcard image of an Irish lunch: the silky black pint, the creamy ribbon on top, and the ramshackle pile of oysters. The argument as to where you’ll find the best aphrodisiac mollusc in Ireland is an old one, but Moran’s has featured heavily in that discussion since the mid-1700s, when the thatched-roof cottage-cum-pub served its first.

Landlord Willie Moran grows his own oysters for the bar in a Bond-like secret location nearby. Fittingly, Roger Moore has popped in for a visit, as has Woody Allen. The oysters have even been given royal approval by the Emperor of Japan – who probably knows a thing or two about fine seafood.

And when gourmet types descend on Galway for the annual September Oyster Festival in Clarenbridge, Moran’s is always their first stop.

Indeed, with the sun peeking through the West Country drizzle, there are few finer places to slurp at shellfish than the wooden tables on the shores of this weir, which opens on to the Atlantic. Swans glide by, while in the distance oyster fishermen work knee-deep in water. If it’s raining – it occasionally happens here – grab an inside table by the peat fire and breathe in its homely, oaky aroma. Order slivers of smoked salmon and some freshly baked soda bread.

You’re only a thick layer of Irish butter and a lemon squeeze away from cosy culinary perfection.

Moran’s Oyster Cottage, The Weir, Kilcogan, Galway (00 353 91 796113, www.moransoystercottage.com)

South East Asia's Best Beaches

Southeast Asia's best beaches
It’s hard to find a scrap of white sand to call your own these days – but they do exist. Try these pure shores...
Guyan Mitra

From the December issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

Think of a Southeast Asian beach holiday, and you’ll probably imagine vast swathes of sand, shaded by coconut trees that lean in to sip at mouthwash-blue water.

Book a Southeast Asian beach holiday, however, and you may find yourself on a strip crowded with hulking chain hotels, neon-lit go-go bars and cackling, dollar-hungry hawkers.

The hunt for untouched, idyllic beaches around these parts has traditionally been the preserve of intrepid backpackers: the only types with the time, the temperament and the trust funds to sort the brash from the beautiful.

But with Asian infrastructure modernising at an Industrial Revolution pace and low-cost airlines spreading their wings across the continent, buses and rucksacks are not the only way. You, too, can find your own slice of serenity.

BEST FOR

LITERATURE-LOVERS: Matinloc Island, Philippines





The novel of choice for Southeast Asian sunseekers is Alex Garland’s The Beach, based in an undiscovered paradise. Ironically, most flick through it while sprawled shoulder-to-shoulder on a sunlounger-heavy stretch. Perhaps it’s because they followed Garland at his word and headed for Thailand – where the film version was shot – when the isolated haven that is thought to have inspired him is actually in the northern Philippines.

Hidden on the east coast of sparsely populated Matinloc Island (pictured), ‘Secret Beach’ is word-for-word accurate to the cult novel’s depiction: a pond-still, mint-green lagoon circled by milky-white sand and sealed in by soaring limestone cliffs, which stand as protectorates defending it.

Don’t miss: The entrance. As described in the novel, the best way to reach the beach is by swimming into the lagoon through a crack in the outer limestone wall.

Stay: Miniloc Island Resorts (00 63 2894 5644, www.elnidoresorts.com), a 20-minute speedboat ride away from Matinloc Island, is a strip of cottages sandwiched between rainbow coral and green limestone cliffs. Garden cottage from £122pp, full board.

Get me there: Cathay Pacific (020 8834 8888, www.cathaypacific.com) flies to Manila from Heathrow, from £540 return. Sea Air (00 63 2849 0100, www.flyseair.com) flies from Manila to El Nido from £52, one way.

BEST FOR CRUSOE WANNABES: Gili Meno, Indonesia



The smallest and quietest of the three Gili Islands, just off Lombok’s northwestern tip, is no more than a sun-baked mound of sand sprouting coconut trees. A near-perfect hoop of beach (above) circles the one-by-one kilometre patch, and there’s little to do but listen to the waves and count grains of sand… Which is exactly why you washed up here.

Don’t miss: Turtles, reef sharks and the neon-hued coral and marine life (the fishermen are paid not to dynamite their catch here).

Stay: Villa Nautilus (www.villanautilus.com) has comfy Balinese-style villas with private sundecks facing the beach, from £42, B&B.

Get me there: Singapore Airlines (0844 800 2380, www.singaporeair.com) flies from Heathrow to Lombok, via Singapore, from £665 return. Villa Nautilus (see above) can arrange boat transfers from Lombok (one hour).

BEST FOR FRANCOPHILES: Kep, Cambodia

 


Once Indochina’s homage to the Côte d’Azur, the golden coves around Kep-sur-mer (as it used to be known) made up the region’s most famous beach resort. These days, many of the splendid old French villas are as overgrown as the temples of Angkor, but Kep (above) is slowly being spruced-up and the tourists are trickling back. Gallic touches are everywhere – from Provençal architecture to the steaming pots of bouillabaisse-influenced crab curry.

Don’t miss: A day trip to Rabbit Island. This uninhabited cluster of beaches is reminiscent of those found in Thailand 30 years ago.

Stay: Knai Bang Chatt (00 885 2321 2194, www.knaibangchatt.com) harks back to Kep’s pre-civil-war heyday, with its Art Deco exterior and dark woods. Doubles from £92, room only.

Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Phnom Penh, via Bangkok, from £657 return. It’s a three-hour taxi ride to Kep (£30).

BEST FOR DIVERS: Sipadan, Malaysia

 

No more than a speck of sand in the fluorescent waters of the Celebes Sea, Sipadan (pictured) has desert-island looks and heart-stopping aquatic beauty. Jacques Cousteau described the islet ‘an untouched piece of art’. It’s also a diver’s Holy Grail: a couple of lengths out to sea and you’re floating above a 600m coral wall that’s home to more than 3,000 species of fish. Look out for sharks, eagle rays, turtles and barracudas.

Don’t miss: Diving with endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks. Sipadan is one of the few places in the world where you can see these odd-looking creatures with their dustpan-shaped heads. Don’t worry: the schools that head to Sipadan’s reef wall are here to breed, not feed, so the chances of being eaten are slim.

Stay: Sipadan Water Village (00 60 8975 1777, www.swvresort.com) is a 10-minute speedboat ride away on Mabul island. Your home will be in one of 45 ‘Bajau Laut’ (local sea gypsy) cottages on stilts above the water. Morning dips are a cinch: throw yourself off the balcony into the coral garden below. Doubles from £210, room only.

Get me there: Air Asia (0845 605 3333, www.airasia.com) flies from Stansted to Tawau, via Kuala Lumpur, from £300 return. Sipadan Water Village can arrange car and boat transfers (three hours) from Tawau.

BEST FOR GROWN-UP BACKPACKERS: Bottle Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand
 


Best reached by long-tail boat from the fishing village a few coves along the coast of Koh Phangan, this perfect banana-like curl of beach (left) is cut off from the rest of the island by impassable jungle. It made its name as the ‘chill out’ beach during Koh Phangan’s Full Moon Party heyday in the ’80s, and is now drawing second visits from grown-up hippies.

There’s one important difference though: now, instead of didgeridoos and bongos in well-worn backpacks, tourists bring BlackBerries and trolley suitcases stuffed with nappies. Despite the more mature crowd, this stretch has a relaxed vibe, with open-to-all games of beach volleyball and nightly bonfires.

Don’t miss: The tastiest Thai curry on the island at Smile Restaurant. At the far western end of the beach, guests play cards around knee-high tables, while ‘Mama’ -– as she’s affectionately known -– whips up fiery hot kingfish curries.

Stay: Haad Khuad Resort (book through www.phangan.info/bottlebeach/index.htm) has the fanciest digs for the newly discerning clientele, with split-level beach bungalows. From £20, room only (closed Oct 21 to Dec 20).

Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Koh Samui, via Bangkok, from £620 return. Haad Kuad Resort (see above) can arrange boat transfers to Koh Phangan (30 minutes).

BEST FOR TRAILBLAZERS: Karma Beach, Koh Lipe, Thailand


 

Hate those smug I-was-there-before-anyone-knew-about-it travellers? Go to Koh Lipe and you’ll get one over on them. This paradise island in the Andaman Sea has been home to the semi-nomadic Chao Leh people (known as sea gypsies) for centuries. And, for the moment, it’s still more a fishing base than a tourist hotspot.

Just north of Koh Lipe’s only fishing village you’ll find Karma Beach – the island’s prettiest stretch – with a Maldivian-style, squeaky-white sandbank that juts out into luminous, coral-filled waters. What you won’t find are any major hotel developments: the big guns haven’t made it here… yet.

Don’t miss: The rest of the islands that make up the Butang archipelago. Kho Rawi (20 minutes by taxi-boat from Karma Beach) has some spectacular dusk-orange coves to explore, as well as a Bounty-ad beautiful (but ice-cold) waterfall.

Stay: Scattered across the clifftop overlooking Karma Beach, Mountain Resort (www.mountainresortkohlipe.com) has basic-but-comfy wooden bungalows, with yawning views across the Andaman Sea. Doubles from £22, B&B.

Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Hat Yai, via Bangkok, from £677 return. From here, Mountain Resort (see above) can arrange car and boat transfers (three hours).

BEST FOR SEAFOOD-LOVERS: Bai Sao Beach, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
 


Phu Quoc is a classic example of the double-sided Southeast Asian beach scene. Its over-developed corners are a clutter of concrete and Coca-Cola parasols, but slices of solitude can be unearthed if you know where to look. Head for Bai Sao Beach on the east coast for a glimpse of how the island looked before the tourists conquered: a long silk scarf of white sand, with only fishermen to disturb the peace.

Don’t miss: Nearby Han Ninh fishing village, where local traders gather daily with mounds of wriggling catch. You’ll see freshly caught mackerel, langoustine and anchovy – vital for the pungent fish sauce that’s made locally.

Stay: My Lan has the only rooms on Bai Sao Beach itself – pretty basic wooden shacks from £10pp. Luxury-lovers should head for Cassia Cottage (00 84 7738 48395, www.cassiacottage.com), 30 minutes away on Ba Keo Beach; from £90, room only.

Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Ho Chi Minh City, via Bangkok, from £700 return. Vietnam Airlines (00 84 8383 20320, www.vietnamairlines.com) flies from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc from £47 return.

BEST FOR WILDLIFE-ENTHUSIASTS: Golden Beach and Turtle Beach, Malaysian Borneo
 


These slivers of sand in Similajau National Park are where the undergrowth of Borneo tumbles down to the South China Sea. On Turtle Beach, a waterfall cascades through a succession of rapids onto the sand, gloriously announcing to the ocean that the jungle has arrived.

This is a place for lovers of creatures great and small: hornbills screech and squawk over the honeyed beaches, while salt-water crocs sunbathe on the banks of the estuaries and rock pools (needless to say, these stretches aren’t for swimming). You’ll even see two kinds of dolphins: river and ocean dwellers.

Don’t miss: The chance to watch sea turtles laying their eggs in April. It can be a tiring vigil to stay up all night staring at the silvery moonlight – but it’s worth the wait, when you see mama turtles emerging from the sea to deposit their tiny eggs on the beach.

Stay: Accommodation is run by the National Park (00 606 082 391284, www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my). Expect a range of options, from camping to wooden chalets on the seafront, which are simple, but clean and comfortable. Doubles around £30, room only – nightly macaque-led serenades included.

Get me there: Air Asia (0845 605 3333, www.airasia.com) flies from Stansted to Bintulu, via Kuala Lumpur, from £440 return; it’s a 45-minute taxi ride to the National Park.

Cork by Kayak – Sunday Times

Cork by kayak

Why splash around in the sea when you can paddle on a kayak into the centre of Ireland’s second city?

Guyan Mitra

"If Cork were a book, the River Lee would be the pages it’s written on,” slurs a stout-clutching, loose-tongued local as I barge through a crowd of Friday-night pub-goers towards the river pontoon. Isn’t it amazing how the Irish manage to achieve eloquence even in the most extreme stages of inebriation?
“True, to know the river is to know Cork, and us locals are fiercely proud of it. It’s the centre stage for all our culture, tales and folklore,” affirms my guide, Jim Kennedy, as we set off in our kayaks onto the velvety midwinter waters that run through Cork’s boisterous city centre.
From the water-level cockpit of our kayak — with the golden lights of the austerely illuminated churches misting off the water — the raucous town takes on quite the serene and hallowed air. Night kayaking may seem an odd urban venture, but the lit-up city from the river is a mystical sight. And our trip was more about the tales, patter and local gossip than hardcore sightseeing, which succinctly sums up any trip in this part of the world.
Once into the meditative rhythm of paddling, we are regaled with tales of Jim’s elegant Georgian home town in his singsong Corkonian brogue. “This is how everyone used to get around Cork. Well, not by kayak, but in rowboats and such. Time was, the city was a maze of interconnecting rivers, and men would row from their house to the local for a pint.”
He goes on to explain how Cork, a proud port “built on butter, beer and beef”, was once an ancient city spanning 13 islands of marshland and water. Odes to its riverine history are everywhere, from the raised first-floor street entrances, allowing for doorstep-reaching tides, to the 200-year-old Cork Bonded Warehouse, on Custom House Quay.
We twist around the broader opening of the river — which eventually breathes out onto the largest natural harbour in the world bar Sydney’s — before navigating up the north channel of the river. There’s an element of stealth in skimming up a river at night. As passers-by pay no heed to our presence, it’s easy to imagine an invading Viking or Cromwellian army sneaking up on the jovial city unnoticed before ruthlessly ransacking it.
We pass the Church of St Anne — with an 18th-century tower known as the Four-Faced Liar because each of the four clock faces tells a different time. “Sure, if they were all the same, we wouldn’t need four of them,” I’m told, with a chuckle that betrays this isn’t the gag’s first outing.
Joining in with the laughter, herons and egrets cackle and squawk as they swoop in on the water. Seals and otters are regularly spotted as well, I hear. Some years ago, three orcas spent a couple of weeks feeding off the plentiful supply of mackerel in the town-centre section of the river, much to the enjoyment of the locals.
The story goes that a pod of 20-odd orcas waited at the mouth of the river while a dying grandmother — too weak to feed in the Atlantic — was escorted upriver by her son and grandson to graze on the easily caught river fish. The orcas are now celebrities, etched into contemporary folklore — there was even a famous local song written about them. That’s the thing about Cork — it’s one of the few places still creating and celebrating folklore, and the River Lee is usually the inspiration.
Travel details: there are flights to Cork from 18 UK airports. Airlines include Aer Lingus (0871 718 5000, aerlingus.com), BMI Baby (bmibaby.com) and Ryanair (0871 246 0000, ryanair.com).
Atlantic Sea Kayaking (00 353-2 821058, atlanticseakayaking.com) has a range of trips around Cork. A 2½hr city paddle, starting and ending at the Boardwalk Bar and Grill, on Lapp’s Quay, costs £40pp, a 6hr sea kayak £105pp.
Cafe Paradiso (21 427 7939, cafeparadiso.ie) has doubles from £88, half-board; or try the Clarion (21 422 4900, clarionhotelcorkcity.com; doubles from £75).
For more information, visit www.tourismireland.com.