TRAVEL

A North Indian odyssey India is one of those places that polarises travellers – some people become addicted to the contrast of hurly-burly and pockets of tranquility of this incredible nation and make countless return visits, while others visit once and vow to never go back again. I’d always been intrigued by India but ended up becoming obsessed with South East Asia instead and as a result, I became fixated on places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. But when the opportunity to travel to India came my way,
Tokyo blossoms Traditions endure in the modern city that is Tokyo. They’re not all Japanese either. I’ve just done the lead-up to Christmas in Tokyo and saw more Christmas trees than in Lapland, spotted more Santas than have been down the chimney of a heritage-listed house. The wealth of Tokyo means superb shopping. This is a city where 94.3 per cent of women in their 20s own Louis Vuitton products, where the department stores include Cartier, Tiffany, Prada and Hermes boutiques, and where a
Shanghai surprise You think Dubai is moving fast? Hop on a plane and take a squiz at Shanghai. My two top global chic cities are Tokyo and Paris, with New York third, but Shanghai is challenging their benchmarks at a fast-forward rate.
Turkey Trek There are some stretches of earth that have seen more action than the area now called Turkey, but you could count those places with about three fingers. The land of the Turks lies on the pathway between Europe and Asia and if there’s been a conquest, campaign, significant message or invasion – almost all of them, since the start of mankind, have passed through and/or started in Turkey.
Stay another day our mission starts by checking into the luxurious and stately Dorchester Hotel (Park Lane, 44-20-7629-8888, www.thedorchester.com), which, as a young Naval Officer, Fleming frequently visited for romantic trysts with one of the hotel’s prominent residents, Lady Rothermere (who would later become his wife). Years later, the Dorchester would be immortalized in Fleming’s novel Goldfinger.
Paris for men Le Bleus might have it in their own backyard, but most experts believe a team called the All Blacks has the next rugby World Cup all but sewn up. Whatever the results are on the field, there can be no doubting the sixth rugby World Cup in France starting September 7 will produce a mountain of highlights off the field too. The kind of highlights that everyone can enjoy and the live spectacles will be spread throughout France for a full month.
Nepal - top of the world Nepal is many things to many people. For some, it’s the best place to go to get held up for a few hours by guerillas and then use the whole experience as an excuse to avoid work, which is something that I saw happen once. For others it is a place to get high on life and all kinds of other stuff. For decades, the capital of Nepal has acted as a magnet for “serious” travelers, from hippies seeking great clarity of thought and adventurers looking for a place totally removed from Western culture.