Condé Nast Traveller India November - December 2021 - January 2022

Conde Nast Traveller is the world’s most iconic luxury travel magazine. It is the most independent and authoritative source of luxury travel and lifestyle. CNT India is created for the sophisticated Indian traveller who is looking for authentic travel experiences, discoveries and journeys.

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in this issue

IN THIS ISSUE

CONTRIBUTOR SPEAK

SRIMOYI BHATTACHARYA Writer; An Unaccustomed Earth; p28 The one common ritual in all my homes has been to buy flowers every week. When I quizzed my neighbour in Goa, the best advice I was given was to tend to my garden and forage through for natural beauty—find joy in the process and encourage local blossoms. It’s actually a new way of life! sripeepul ROSHNI BAJAJ SANGHVI Writer; Desi-ish; p110 Siem Reap, December 2017: At a fine local restaurant on an offbeat food tour, I nibbled off a plateful of beetles, a water snake, a tarantula—and also discovered that humans have been into entomophagy for a long, long time. roshnibajaj TOBY SKINNER Writer; Edge of Reason; p136 In a bar in Reykjavik, a local musician drew up a list of Iceland’s best hot springs and baths on the back of a…

2 min

IN THIS ISSUE

EDITOR’S LETTER

Moving countries during a pandemic isn’t an enviable task, but in my case, it came with a perk: a four-day break in Switzerland, at the Condé Nast Traveller award-winning Bürgenstock Resort in Lake Lucerne. I’d never been before, but I had a strange sense of déjà vu, possibly the result of flipping through too many magazine pages for the past 18 months and fantasising about everything from the views through aeroplane windows to in-flight meals to actual landscapes and breathtaking scenery. As we ascended 1,400ft, slowly gaining sight of the crystal-blue lake below and the Alps ahead, I realised that This is what I’ve missed. “As we ascended 1,400ft, slowly gaining sight of the crystal-blue lake below and the majestic Alps ahead, I realised that this is precisely what I’ve missed” That…

3 min

FRONT OF BOOK

AN AFGHAN GIRL

When I first told my father about my decision to become a tour guide, he was angry. He asked if I intended to bury myself alive as this would threaten the honour of our community. On tours, I remember men on the streets laughing and looking at me strangely, saying, “See her, a Hazara girl [Hazara is an Afghan ethnic minority group], walking alone with strange men.” I remember the Sufi at an old shrine who judged me for spreading “vice and apostatizing”. Each time he saw me, he would say, “You are walking with heretics and strangers. You have to repent soon.” I would reply with a smile, “Yes, kaka jaan (dear uncle).” It was tough enough that there were the restrictions of the pandemic to consider. WRITING ON THE…

6 min

FRONT OF BOOK

HEAD SPACE

A few years ago, swishing through the monotone nothingness of the Arctic tundra in Norway’s frozen north, I realised I might have had the whole idea of adventure wrong. The predominant feeling from my five-day, 120-km trek across the Finnmarksvidda plateau, dragging a sled on cross-country skis, was an acute sense of my own tininess. As our little herd quietly moved eastward through the unyielding white landscape, reliant on an almost-military set of routines, I felt mostly vulnerable and desperately dependent on my fellow travelers. One long lonely night, as the temperature dropped to minus 22 degrees, I found myself clammy and borderline feverish in an icy sleeping bag, my eyelashes frozen solid, wondering how long it would take for the remorselessly creeping chill to turn me into a well-preserved corpse. Until…

4 min

IN THIS ISSUE

DESTINATIONS

FAVOURITE LEISURE DESTINATION IN INDIA If you had one ticket out, where would you go? Goa—sun, sand, sea, susegad and, going by the travel stats this past year, the perfect place to strike a harmonious work-life balance too. Gujarat is a fresh entry on this list, while Rajasthan, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh continue to win your heart. 1. Goa 2. Rajasthan 3. Gujarat 4. Himachal Pradesh 5. Kerala ⋆NEW CATEGORY⋆ FAVOURITE INDIAN STATE FOR ROAD TRIPS 2021 was the year of road trips, particularly short journeys to nature spots and more offbeat locations. Perhaps the secret is the jaw-dropping scenery too: Rajasthan’s sand dunes and fort palaces, the immense valleys and peaks of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the coastal and hilly loops of Maharashtra and God’s Own Country. 1. Rajasthan 2. Himachal Pradesh 3. Maharashtra 4. Kerala 5. Uttarakhand FAVOURITE OVERSEAS DESTINATION It’s no surprise…

1 min

IN THIS ISSUE

HOTELS

FAVOURITE INDIAN BOUTIQUE HOTEL 1. The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa, Gulmarg 2. Samode Haveli, Jaipur 3. Suryagarh, Jaisalmer 4. Narendra Bhawan, Bikaner FAVOURITE INDIAN HOTEL FOR DESIGN 1. The Lodhi New Delhi 2. ITC Royal Bengal, Kolkata 3. Umaid Bhavan Palace, Jodhpur 4. Roseate House, New Delhi 5. The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai FAVOURITE INDIAN HOTEL FOR SERVICE 1. The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai 2. ITC Maurya, New Delhi 3. The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur 4. Roseate House, New Delhi 5. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur FAVOURITE BAR IN AN INDIAN HOTEL 1. Rock Pool, W Goa 2. The Blue Bar, Taj Palace, New Delhi 3. Asilo, The St. Regis Mumbai 4. Bar Palladio, Narain Niwas Palace Hotel 5. Library Bar, The Leela Palace New Delhi FAVOURITE SAFARI LODGE IN INDIA 1. The Oberoi Vanyavilas Wildlife Resort 2. SUJÁN Sher Bagh 3. Samode Safari Lodge 4. Evolve Back Kuruba Safari Lodge, Kabini 5. Mahua Kothi, A Taj Safari -…

2 min