Asia
15 Feb
I.M. Pei was coaxed out of retirement at the age of 91 to undertake the building of Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art. After traveling through the Muslim world for many months to learn about Muslim architecture and to soak up the culture, he came up with this extraordinarily inspiring building which sits off the Qatari capital’s corniche on...
8 Dec
My favorite spiritual places are those where worshippers are at home with their god and at home with themselves. Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Burma is a city in itself, a place where friends pray together, where children accompany their parents, where a monk will share space with a tourist guide, where the sorrowful find solace. Photographs: Jeremy...
26 Oct
It is there in the eyes of a face different from ours halfway around the globe, in the fingertips of an artisan’s handshake, in the irrepressible joy of a child at play, the truth that more connects us than separates us, that we can communicate deeply without words, that we are of one family, Perhaps travel, as John Ruskin said of art, has the twin...
25 Aug
Places, like people, have their auras. I have felt this power in the mountains of Mexico, the heart of Java, in the Himalayan foothills and mountains, on a desiccated Turkish coast. The numinous quality of these sacred sites comes from their geology and perhaps, even, from their geographical coordinates. Sages, attracted by their energy, by their...
8 Aug
A few months ago, Oberoi opened its newest hotel in Gurgaon, the increasingly sought after business and residential suburb of New Delhi. It’s great. With an interesting location just minutes from the new – and equally great – Indira Gandhi International Airport, The Oberoi Gurgaon is the obvious choice for the overnight before...
3 Aug
The three pillars of Ananda are Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedanta. This Himalayan environment is Ayuveda’s birthplace, and the age-old herbal medicines are still sourced here. The cardinal principle of Ayurveda is that there is no dividing line between body and mind and, at Ananda, drawing on the skills of qualified therapists and doctors trained in...
2 Aug
A vacation from daily decision-making can be a welcomed one. I have jokingly said that we are all inmates here, dressed as we are in our identical white kurta pyjama. There is much that is brilliant about this outfit which I found, upon arrival, sized appropriately, hanging in my closet. Every day thereafter, two freshly laundered outfits are given...
2 Aug
In spite of the fact that the majority of us adhere to some kind of daily schedule of treatments, exercise, lectures and diet, this is certainly no boot camp for the physically and spiritually flabby. Ananda is rather a safe haven, a remotely beautiful place and emotionally tender family that receives you with no preconceptions and no demands, that...
1 Aug
The journey begins in Dehradun, a 45 minute plane ride or 4+ hour rail journey from Delhi. The drive onwards to Ananda in the Himalayan foothills winds upward along an ever steepening road, trafficked by mud spattered Land Rovers, trucks, trishaws and bicycles, and slaloms around lingering cows and monkeys skittering from one verge to the other....
30 Jul
The newest addition to Delhi’s stylish hotel crop is Aman’s city center hotel resort located next to – and enhanced by the leafy green of – Delhi Golf Course. A new build, the two stone towers are remarkably graceful and light. The interiors, of wood, glass and stone, are the work of Kerry Hill, preferred designer of a...
25 Jul
This week I will be departing on a journey up to the Himalayan foothills and deep into the wisdom of the Vedas, India’s most ancient scriptures. For a week I will be nurtured by the quiet of the forested hills and the slow pace of the ancient Ganges, calmed with meditation practice and restored with yoga, long walks and Ayurvedic therapies...
25 Apr
The misconception is that you always think you will have time to see these places.
11 Apr
Willing Foot has added China to its roster of 19 countries for which it has designed itinerary modules! With six spectacular trips that range from two to six days in length, they cover a geographically wide area and diverse interests. Start with Beijing and Shanghai, visit Xi’an, once a cultural, religious and economic center, and then step...
25 Jan
Armani has arrived big time in Dubai. Not only is his brand ubiquitous in Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world, but he has also bagged the tallest building in the world to house his first hotel. Located in Burj Khalifa, a mixed-use soaring tower, the Armani Hotel is exactly what you would expect if you are familiar with his couture and his...
24 Jan
In a part of the world where the fabulous glass and steel skyscraper cities feel, sometimes, like stage sets, it was a delight to come across Six Senses at Doha’s (Ritz Carlton) Sharq Village and Spa. Supposedly referencing local domestic architecture (there is none of it left in Doha if there ever was any), Six Senses has created a village...
23 Jan
I.M. Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art is one of the most stunning installations I have ever seen. Shadow and light, surrounded by water, and filled with light in its soaring atrium, it is a marvel. And the permanent collection, stunningly presented on three floors, contains objects of great age and marvelous beauty. Jewelry from India, ceramics...
20 Jan
My favorite hotel architect is Jean-Michel Gathy, one of the three architects who has designed AmanResort’s properties and the choice for many of the GHM hotels, of which The Chedi Muscat is one. It is very beautiful..at least to my eye. This sleek, superbly maintained hotel on Muscat’s beachfront, is world class. Superior, deluxe and...
20 Jan
Six Senses Zighy Bay, secreted away on the Sultanate of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, is a retreat from the full-on materialism of Dubai. An average drive of 2 hours through desert, across Oman’s border post (no visa required if coming from Dubai), and over the Hajar Mountains, brings you to 82 stone and wood cottages clustered at one end...
20 Jan
I drove back early to Dubai from Zighy bay, Six Senses Hideaway on Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, to catch my midday plane back to Oman’s Muscat. Sounds crazy but, I am assured, it’s the better way to transfer, the road being long and boring. My road back was long though not boring; we had a flat tire and, three hours later, I arrived...
18 Jan
I couldn’t quite believe it. 36 hours after I had left the snows of New York, I was dining beachfront en plein air, in an Italian restaurant located on the trunk of the Dubai Palm development. I gazed across at the truly beautiful soaring sail of Burj al Arab. My welcome to Dubai. Most everyone who knew I was coming here said how little I would...
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