Smag31

Beijing is vast. Although you could spend all your time without ever straying too far from the area around central Tian’an Men Square, you would be missing out on a lot. Way out in the northwest of the city is a cluster of sights that includes the unmissable Summer Palace, with the almost equally intoxicating … Read more

Xicheng, which in Chinese means “West City”, is the central district west of the Forbidden City and the lakes. Beijingers think of this area mostly as a seat of money and learning – both the Financial District and the Haidian University are located here. Western Beijing is best experienced as a series of half-day expeditions: … Read more

Wilderness and wedding trees Sporting pink lipstick, pink T-shirt and a pink, skunk-like streak in her hair Nicky McArthur greets us on the steps of Shearwater Lodge with a basket of warm muffins and a cool drink. This is luxury hiking; not a wet tent or outdoor Dunny in sight. The outdoor table is set … Read more

I am in God’s country to test my fitness. If these mountains are wild enough and remote enough for a seabird to test Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory, I can only imagine what they will do to me. There’s a knack to traversing scree slopes. However, judging by the white-knuckle grip I have on … Read more

UK Founded in 1988 to campaign against light pollution, the International Dark-Sky Association has given two areas in the UK an International Dark Sky (IDS) status as a park or reserve. One is Exmoor National Park, which was designated a Silver Tier reserve last year. The other is Galloway Forest Park in south-west Scotland, an … Read more

Chile The Atacama Desert in Chile is not just the driest place on Earth, but one of the very best places from which to observe the night sky. And it is a very promising location to watch the Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower, expected in late July/early August this year. Negligible rainfall tends to correlate … Read more

USA Utah is the location of the world’s first official Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park, an honour bestowed on the Natural Bridges National Monument in 2007. It is also home to Amangiri, not merely one of the most beautifully designed hotels in the Amanresorts portfolio, but one with a resident astronomy guide and a … Read more

The stellar mysteries of the skies have inspired earthbound fascination for millennia. As the rare sight of the transit of Venus approaches this summer, Claire Wrathall picks the best places to stay and gaze at the beauty of the heavens Stars form arcs around the North Star above the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii Captain cook … Read more

Having sworn off Italy’s Amalfi Coast for being overcrowded, Emily Wright is won over by the glorious old-world charm of the Excelsior Vittoria and the classical education she gets as she walks the Path of the Gods Towns like Positano look much as they did when writers like John Steinbeck came to hang out in … Read more

Burned out from her urban lifestyle, ANNA HUNT went to South America in search of healing. She could never have imagined how she would find it I am sitting in a small, filthy restaurant 24 hours into a two-week trek around the north of Peru. The trek marks the start of a three-month sabbatical from … Read more

Getting there The easiest way to travel to Burma from the UK is via Bangkok, from where Thai Airways International (www.thaiairways.com) flies to Rangoon daily. Journey time – The flight from London to Bangkok takes about 12 hours, and to Rangoon 80 minutes. The writer and photographer’s visit was arranged by Ampersand Travel (020 7289 … Read more

However, Mandalay is a really outstanding destination mainly because of what lies immediately around it: the ruins of much older cities and religious sites sit decaying in an antique landscape. We took a boat trip 10 km up the Irrawaddy to Mingun, gliding past a timeless scene of bullocks ploughing a tapestry of fields on … Read more

As in other parts of Burma, visitors are welcome at the local pagodas and monasteries. Indeed, part of the charm of any trip to the country is the inclusiveness of the form of Buddhism practiced there and the fact that today you often join happy groups of Burmese travelling to these religious sites from far … Read more

Ethnic Burmese account for more than two-thirds of the country’s 56 million people. A bewildering number of other groups make up the remaining third (from the Atsi to the Wa and the Zo, some say there are 100, others say it’s more like 200). Most of these minorities want independence from the central government or … Read more

As a result, I subsequently returned several times, to write a book, to report, to visit friends, and my experiences were of a Heart of Darkness land, fascinating, picturesque and heart-rending in equal measure. Life was laden with a profound sense of unease. There was an incipient look of fear behind people’s eyes. The last … Read more

Cafés & Bars in Haidhausen Café im Hinterhof Hidden in a rear courtyard, this is a café with Art Nouveau atmosphere. Large breakfast menu and generous selection of newspapers make for a relaxing morning. Small meals at lunchtime. Sedanstr. 29 Café Wiener Platz Hip meeting place with a large breakfast selection available well into the … Read more

From Narrow Byways to the Sea Morning From the Haymarket “T”. follow Hanover Street to Richmond Street and continue to North Square. Stop at Paul Revere House for a glimpse of the domestic life of the revolutionary hero. Return to Hanover for an espresso and some prime people-watching at lively Caffè Vittoria . Continue up … Read more

The North End is Boston’s Italian village, where feast day blends into feast day all summer as the great-grandchildren of Southern Italian immigrants celebrate the music, food, and dolce vita of the old country. Every other storefront houses a restaurant, café, or bakery and the cheers of European football fans echo from the bars. These … Read more

East Side Exploration Morning From the Delancey Street subway walk south to Grand Street and Kossar’s Bialys Bakery,367 Grand , famous for chewy, onion-flavored rolls, or the Doughnut Plant, 379 Grand, where the oversize cakes achieve gourmet status. Walk east for two historic houses of worship, the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogue and the Bialystoker Synagogue. … Read more

The lower east side is alive with memories, a neighborhood still seeming to echo the calls of immigrants crowded into tenements, peddlers hawking wares from pushcarts, and children playing in the streets, the only open spaces to be found. Early churches became synagogues for the Jews who came in record numbers between 1880 and 1920. … Read more