Margaret river

Eat
MR providore
Clairault
Wills domain
Must MR
Vasse felix

Rajasthan

Oct issue UK CN traveller
Stay Sher Bagh. Ramathra Fort. Shahpura Bagh (close to Pushkar). Chhatra Sagar. Mihir Garh. Raas in Jodhpur. Serai Jaisalmer. Mool Sagar Jaisalmer.

2011 CNY ideas

If have Mon Tue Wed off
Cartagena
1/28 Fri 2345/2015 2220/0600+1 (19hr)
1/29 Sat 1310/1546 (5 hr)
Stay Cartagena Sat--Fri
2/4 Fri 0910/1155 1800/2050
2/5 Sat 2220/0545 (Mon)

If no break or 1/2 day only

2/2 Wed 1955/0020+1 2/2 overnight Mumbai
2/3 Th 0705/0825 Nagpur
2/3 th, Fri, Sat Banjaar Tola
2/6 Sun 1930/2050
2/7 Mon 0130/0920 take 1/2 day??
Or Oberoi Vanyavilas as alternative from Jaipur stay Ramathra Fort on way to Ranthambore

restaurants to try in Australia!

SYDNEY FOOD TO TRY FROM CX MAGAZINE DEC 2010
~ QUAY @ SYDNEY HARBOUR
~ AD LIB BISTRO 1047 PACIFIC HIGHWAY, PYMBLE
~ PORTENO 358 CLEVELAND ST., SURRY HILLS
~ MANLY PAVILION, WEST ESPLANADE, MANLY COVE
~ ROCKPOOL BAR & GRILL: 66 HUNTER ST
~ SPICE TEMPLE: 10 BLIGH ST
~ SEPIA: 201 SUSSEX ST
~ ORMEGGIO: D'ALBORA MARINAS, THE SPIT, MOSMAN

Sydney, NSW
Manly Pavilion
tomislav

Melbourne, Vic
Maze

Brisbane, Qld
Urbane

Perth, WA
Greenhouse

Barossa Valley, SA
Appellation

Mumbai

Sleep Taj mahal. Eat ziya at Oberoi. Kala ghoda cafe. Drink at Leopold Cafe in Colaba causeway. Drinks Aer four seasons. Shop bombay electric 1 reay house. Good earth 2 reay house.

food in HK (a sampling of where I go)

where to take out of town guests
~ cafe deco /peak lookout /pearl on the peak
~ felix
~ cafe gray
~ Aqua, Hutong or Yun Fu
~ hullett house
~ the pawn (eat at ovologue)
~ sevva

if in causeway bay
~ sml

nice & sometimes quick meals in funky neighborhoods
casual
~ lot 10
~ box thai
~ bacar (tapas)
~ uno mas (tapas in Wanchai)
~ basement (off gough)
~ dragon i for dim sum

formal
~ Azure (better for drinks)

central for work lunch
~ zuma
~ inagiku
~ isola
~ kiku
~ lian

special occasion / client events
~ Bo innovation
~ caprice
~ french window
~ robuchon
~ pierre / krug room (seats 12)
~ nobu
~ spoon
~ verandah ( repulse bay )

my favorite hot pots
~ dong lai shun (lamb)
~ san xi lou

fez food

WHERE TO EAT
DAR ROUMANA 30 Derb el amer www.darroumana.com (B&B with terrace that looks over medina)
DAR ANEBAR 15 Derb el miter, Zenjafour www.daranebar.com pretty latern lit courtyard
RIAD EL BARTAL

WHAT TO SEE
BOU INANIA MERDERSA
PLACE NEJJARINE
PLACE SEFARINE: Metalworkers' souk
GUERNIZ TANNERIES: Oldest
CHOUARA TANNERIES: Smartest

El Salvador

I've only been in ES for one night as a transit from Belize to the US... but even my bro has heard wonderful things about it, mainly the surf.... but according to my all time fav magazine Wanderlust, this is what else you can do....

~Southwest Coast: coast around La Libertad has some of the best waves, dive in volcano lakes or hike in the primary forest of El Imposible National Park
~ volcanoes and views : peaks around Santa Ana
~ Suchitoto: most popular town after the capital
~ Ruta de las flores: hills near Apaneca, string of cobbled, colonial villages overlooked by spine of dramatic volcanoes
~ eat: Pupasas

Tasmania

fly to Hobart (closer from Melbourne vs. Sydney), 3 hours drive, check out
www.saffire-freycinet.com.au

or go to kangaroo island

Lesotho

Lesotho, an unsung hero. A tiny kingdom with torrents of wild flowers and snow-capped peaks and the only place in Southern Africa you can ski. To get here you can either fly in, or drive up and up and up into the sky. The surrounding South Africa feels like a different world; everyone here travels round on horseback covered in blankets held together with big nappy pins. Now there is somewhere to stay, beautiful and smart. The bedrooms are like teapots with thatched lids and log fires and the main building has a deck with wondrous views. A place to explore, riding on hardy ponies, days peppered with picnics and cold beers. It’s a gorgeous, lost world – and for now it’s empty.

Franschhoek south africa

La Residence
You can try to be cynical about this hotel, but it won’t happen. It turns the hardest of hearts into Gollum-like disciples of preciousness. People helicopter in, then disappear into their rooms for days, poring over every floorboard, doorknob and tap. It’s the most over-the-top hotel in the world, but somehow over-the-top spectacular, not over-the-top brash. If it didn’t follow through, the show would be a flop. And it’s not. Recently, a Milky Way of British Michelin-starred chefs came here and claimed they had eaten the best food in South Africa. Richard Gere loves it. There are roughly eight staff per guest (no exaggeration). The spa still isn’t open, nor the family villa, but trip out on the opulence – it will make you giddy.

Pakistan hindu kush

It’s exhilarating. Get out here and get stuck in. A short walk from the border with Afghanistan and clinging to a hilltop overlooking the valley is this hotel, owned by the charming descendants of the once princely state (Ghazala ul-Mulk is particularly amusing, so seek her out). No one in their right mind would want to come in winter, but in summer there’s hiking with expert trackers past glacial lakes, trips to the highest, dustiest polo match in the world, picnic lunches with local chieftains, trout fishing and a kind of extreme paragliding which is like flying but you’re attached to a kite (eek!). The Aga Khan has stayed here, so has Robert De Niro, in the peaceful, idiosyncratic rooms with their simple wooden furniture. Eat hearty lamb feasts, then snuggle up in blankets on the terrace and drink in the view – bumping into former president Musharraf enjoying his favourite tipple in the tea bar on the way.

Uganda

**Clouds mtn gorilla lodge**
The glimpse of jet black through the trees, the sound of shoots breaking, a deep chesty sigh, eyes peering through the undergrowth. This experience is a 60-minute shot for the soul. At last count, there were just 700 mountain gorillas left; this new property on the edge of the Impenetrable Forest has access to half that number – so there’s as good a chance here as any to track down a troop. Facing Rwanda’s volcanic cones and Congo’s green valleys are eight stone cottages, more mountain chalet than rugged refuge. Your butler stokes the fire. The maid slips a hot-water bottle between the sheets. But, best of all, guests can stroll from their rooms to the start of the gorilla trek. Until now, the nearest hotel was several hours by four-wheel drive. Cross the continent for this, cross five.

Mollymook 3.5 hr from Sydney south

stay either Paperbark camp or Bower at Broulee, www.thebower.com.au

eat
berry doughnut van @ Queen st, Berry
Berry Sourdough bakery & cafe 23 Prince Alfred St, Berry
the gunyah at paperbarkcamp
cupitt's winery vineyard rd, ulladulla cupittwines.com.au
the river moruya www.therivermoruya.com.au in Moruya
pilgrims wholefoods, the settlement, princes hwy, milton

see/do
the husky pub www.thehuskypub.com.au
jim wild's oysters 2/170 green's road, greenwell
kingstudio 328 Princes Hwy, Milton www.kingstudio.com.au
revival antiques & 20th century design, shops 2a & 5a, the settlement, milton
kiama fisheries, Kiama harbour, Kiama

interesting article, explains my addiction maybe

http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/12/why_we_travel.php

Venezuela

from NG
most V beyond Caracas, remains virtually unexplored by outsiders, extraordinary landscapes: snowcapped mtn, misty cloud forests, dune scalloped deserts, Caribbean beaches, towering tepuis (mesas) festooned with some of the highest waterfalls. Add to this a roadsystem that is the envy of S. Am & colonial Spanish pueblos free of the tourism claptrap. among the attractions: Posadas (inns) linked with organic farms, pueblos (Jaji) promoting artisans, colonial coffee plantations (Hacienda la victoria)

Columbia

Bogota aka as Athens of the Americas for its unis & museums
Cartagena (powerdery beaches)
colonial towns of Santa Fe de Antioquia, Popayan, Villa de Leyva

Rwanda

from NP
track mountain gorillas in Volcanoes nat park
explore the rain forests in Nyungwe Nat park (haven for chimpanzees & other primates)
relax on shores of Lake Kivu

Zanzibar, finally

Some places like Timbuktu, just sound like fable cities once mentioned in childhood bedtime stories. Sometime last year as my best friend was planning our next holiday, villa in Bali or Phuket? 4seasons in Langkawi, there were many choices, but none sounded exciting, all were fine for a 2/3 days weekend get away, but for a 4/5 days Chinese new year weekend, only a place like Zanzibar would do. As I was trying to figure out how best to tell her that I had no interest in a familiar comfy luxurious beach holiday, she asked me herself, where do you want to go? Zanzi?

So fast forward weeks later, I am in Zanzibar, after flying 2 legs of econ class on Emirates totalling 16 hr not counting the 6 hour transit. + a one night stayover in a beach hotel near by Dar es Salaam that took almost 3 hr plus total RT (incl a short ferryride) & a 2 hr delayed flight on Precision Air that had no air con/ air and freaky airline safety standards. (though they did manage to kick off almost 10 passengers that already boarded due to overload), while sweating the way I would normally in a sauna, I kept on thinking of whether the 2 hr ferry ride may have been wiser??

still it's worth the trip. Even though I could have just lounged around Asia in an Aman/4 seasons/Banyan/6 senses. It's the discovery of new sights, smells, senses that I crave for over and over again. Arrived into the Zanzibar palace hotel only to be reminded not to take comfort for granted. Coz the island has not had electricity since December so even the hotel generator runs even less hours per day vs the beach hotel I stayed in last night close to Dar es salaam, still, a very pretty town, kind of like living in a postcard, yet so much more interesting, too bad it's such a short stay

2010 dream list

Feb 12-16 Zanzibar
Apr 2-6 Jaipur
May 20-23 Fez

June 16 (take 17th 18th off) -20th Montenegro? (dubrovnik to kotor to budva to dubrovnik)?

July 1 (take July 2nd off) -July 4th

Sep 23 (take Sep 24 off) - Sep 26

Oct 1-3

Dec 27 (take last 2 wk off)

Madagascar: best Sept- Nov
Myanmar: see Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Inle Lake (best in Dec)