Condé Nast Traveller India May - June - July 2021

VIDYA BALACHANDER Writer; Girls, Uninterrupted; p80 “One of my all-time favourite summer trips with my family was in 2001. We travelled through a swathe of Tamil Nadu, making pit stops in Madurai, Ooty, Kodaikanal and Coimbatore. We took long walks on wooded roads scented with eucalyptus, and felt the distinct chill of the mountain air. I wrote a travelogue about our trip in my journal after I returned—my mum treasures it as my first ever piece of travel writing (while I cringe).” @vidya83 CHAITALI PATEL Writer; 50 Essential India Experiences with the Kids; p28 “A summer we spent in London in 2016 was one of my favourites. All of four, my daughter was a real trooper. We walked, used public transport, explored museums, spent days at the park and treated ourselves to afternoon teas.…

As it turns out, today is the 50th wedding anniversary of my parents. Naturally, the celebration is a muted one; but what a gift it is to simply be together today, doing pretty much the same things we’ve been doing every day for the past year: vowing to stop watching the news while watching the news, for instance, and obsessing over the perfect quantity of our Thai food delivery order. In the pre-pandemic, ‘normal’ world, my sister and I would probably have planned a getaway for us, to Kashmir, perhaps, where my parents spent their honeymoon, or Switzerland, where they’ve always wanted to visit. Or to the Golden Temple, to which we feel a magical connection and yet have never been to together. The last trip all of us went…

OUT THERE: Sunset at White Desert National Park, Egypt RIGHT HERE: Moonlit camel ride, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat As the sun sets over the sprawling Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, the landscape slowly changes under the soft moonlight. The sky shifts into a pale pink and settles into a deep purple-blue, as the white of the sand and salt begin to shimmer. The best way to take in the beauty of these unique salt marshes is on a slow and moody camel ride across the land at night. Of course, you could travel to Egypt to camp among the chalk white rock formations in the Farafra depression. But since travel is tricky at the current moment, this pristine salt desert closer home, will provide you with an equally spellbinding night under the…

The chef, traveller and writer Anthony Bourdain was authentic before it was a buzzword. He embraced the unknown, whether an out-there destination or what-the-hell dish, and had an infectious enthusiasm for the world. “Tony encouraged a greater sense of curiosity, kindness and understanding,” says his longtime assistant, writer Laurie Woolever. “It was about connecting with people through the sharing of food.” Almost three years on from his death in June 2018, his last book, World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, written in collaboration with and finished by Woolever, globe-trots from momos in Thimphu to laksa in Kuala Lumpur and meat every which way in Montevideo, mixing tips with Bourdain’s trademark no-bullshit wit and essays by his inner circle. “We only had one meeting to plan the book in spring 2018, but…

Communication has been part of the way we travel ever since someone wanted to tell their fellow cave-dwellers that the elk in the next valley looked a lot tastier than their usual prey. And the ways we communicate are diverse—from the telegram to Telegram, the messaging app favoured by protest movements around the world. Social media, of course, has been puffing more smoke signals than anything and many may be aware of Clubhouse, the iPhone-only audio app that appeared last year and whose early adopters include Elon Musk, Ai Weiwei and Virgil Abloh. It’s by invite only (members initially get two to send out) and once in, you can browse a growing number of virtual chat rooms—each with a moderator supervising—eavesdropping on any discussions happening in real time and raising…

SUJÁN JAWAI A delicious way to get drenched in the earthy scent of petrichor is to go out on safari. Guests can explore the wild on foot, by jeep, or on horseback, observing leopards and also witnessing the monsoon’s bounty in the valley’s lakes, waterfalls and flowers. Riding on SUJÁN’s Marwari horses is a new experience at the property, a great way to improve personal well-being and connect with the natural world. thesujanlife.com ANANDA IN THE HIMALAYAS Set on a 100-acre mountain estate that turns lush in the monsoon, this retreat in Uttarakhand offers the Ananda holistic programme to deal with the imbalances that tend to occur during the rainy season, impacting digestion and immunity among other functions. Stimulating and detoxifying practices work to bring the body and mind into balance.…