Sapa is also the perfect base for day trips or overnight treks to 10,312-foot Mount Fansipan (the country’s highest peak), or to Montagnard villages built around steep, terraced vegetable gardens and crystal-clear mountain streams. Trekking and mountain biking excursions can be arranged through the beautifully situated Topas Ecolodge, with 25 bungalows just 11 miles from Sapa. The Alpine-style Victoria Sapa Resort & Spa has incredible views of the town and emerald green valleys below and its staff will also help plan hiking excursions. To arrive in relative luxury, guests can take the hotel’s overnight Victoria Express—a special carriage attached to the nightly departure from Hanoi. The opportunity to bed down in comfort should help overcome any disappointment about missing the exceptional scenery outside.
The Red Dao tribe is one of the most populous of the dozens who live in the hills surrounding Sapa.
WHERE: 23 miles/38 km southeast of the Chinese border; 211 miles/340 km northwest of Hanoi. HOW: U.S.-based Global Spectrum offers a 12-day trip to Sapa (with 5 days trekking). Tel 800-419-4446 or 703-671-9619; www.asianpassages.com. Cost: $1,945, inclusive. Originates in Hanoi. TOPAS ECOLODGE: Tel 84/4-3715-1005; www.topasecolodge.com. Cost: from $90. VICTORIA SAPA RESORT: Tel 84/20-387-1522; www.victoriahotels-asia.com. Cost: from $175; Victoria Express train from $180 round-trip. BEST TIMES: Mar–May for the warmest, most settled weather; Oct–Nov for minimal rain; late Nov–early Dec for Hmong New Year festival, celebrating the end of harvest.
AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Spectacular Scenery in Sydney’s Backyard
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
New South Wales, Australia
Microscopic droplets of oil from the leaves of densely growing eucalyptus trees hang in the air here, refracting the sunlight to create the misty blue haze that gave this park its name. Just 90 minutes away from Sydney, Blue Mountains National Park is a glorious playground of forest containing 26 small townships that offer everything from antiques shopping to bushwalking. The highlands surrounding them are not truly mountains but a vast sandstone tableland whose dramatic, eroded scenery is best enjoyed from lookouts such as Govett’s Leap or Echo Point, a good vantage point from which to enjoy the park’s famous sandstone pillars, the Three Sisters. Just to the west are two more of the park’s highlights: the Scenic Skyway, a glass-floored gondola traveling 1,000 feet above the canyon, and the Katoomba Scenic Railway, an open-sided cog-rail incline that descends at 52 degrees but feels nearly twice as steep. The park also affords opportunities for rock climbing, horseback riding, spelunking, and canoeing, though most visitors are here for the dozens of walking paths. Explore them on your own or sign up for the Aboriginal Blue Mountains Walkabout, an intimate experience that combines a 4.4-mile nature walk with storytelling and lessons on Aboriginal culture.
You can get a quick overview of the area on a day trip from Sydney, but it really deserves a longer stay, and for that the country hotel–style Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort is hard to beat. It’s one of Australia’s best getaway destinations, with a fantastic setting, magnificent panoramas, and Darley’s, a smart, award-winning restaurant where your meal is created from produce sourced from the surrounding countryside. Looking every bit the gracious European manor, the hotel perches 3,300 feet above sea level, almost at the edge of the cliff at Echo Point, with the canyons and ravines of the Jamison Valley below. Guests at the nearby century-old Lurline House stay in one of seven rooms, all with four-poster beds, and awaken to a full English breakfast and bush-walking trails just outside their door.
Cable cars glide past the Three Sisters: Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo.
WHERE: 75 miles/122 km west of Sydney. ABORIGINAL BLUE MOUNTAINS WALKABOUT: Tel 61/408-443-822; www.bluemountains walkabout.com. Cost: from $80. LILIANFELS BLUE MOUNTAINS RESORT: Tel 61/247-801-200; www.lilianfels.com.au. Cost: from $300 (off-peak), from $450 (peak); tasting menu at Darley’s $115. LULINE HOUSE: Tel 61/247-824-609; www.lurlinehouse.com.au. Cost: from $145. BEST TIMES: Mar–Apr for fall colors; Mar for the Blue Mountains Music Festival in Katoomba; Sep–Oct for spring weather.
Australia’s Oldest Vineyards
THE HUNTER VALLEY
New South Wales, Australia
The scenic Hunter Valley, home to over 120 wineries, is Australia’s oldest continuously planted region. Associated with the country’s most famous varietals, it draws lovers of fine wine from across the globe. They find here some of the world’s best shiraz and some of its most acclaimed sémillon, along with award-winning chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. A vibrant gourmet food culture also flourishes, replete with artisanal cheeses and locally smoked meats, olives, and olive oil, plus stylish, contemporary restaurants showcasing the area’s finest talents.
Visitors may recognize such international labels as Rosemount or Lindemans, but smaller, limited-production operations that do not export also enjoy respect at home. An easy 2-hour drive from Sydney, Hunter Valley can feel chockablock on weekends, but roads are quiet and dinner reservations easy to come by on weekdays. Gourmands partial to picturesque country hotels gravitate to Halls Road in Pokolbin, where two of Australia’s favorite lodges are situated. Pepper’s Convent is an impressive 17-room complex in the heart of the valley, occupying a turn-of-the-century former convent; your suite might be a former kindergarten or music room. Nearby Tower Lodge is a more intimate, 12-room Spanish Mission–style inn; its acclaimed Roberts restaurant serves leisurely meals in an 1876 settler’s cottage, accompanied by vintages from vines you can practically reach out and touch. You can also dine at the lodge’s exclusive Nine Restaurant, where you’ll savor nine-course dinners matched with wines from Tower Estate. Pokolbin is also where you’ll find the cozy Splinters Guesthouse, consisting of a few rooms and cottages with views of vines and mountains. Long a favorite of weekending Sydneysiders, it is within walking distance of boutique vineyards and small welcoming restaurants.
Vineyards first came to the valley during the 1830s.
WHERE: 125 miles/200 km north of Sydney. PEPPER’S CONVENT: Tel 61/249-984-999; www.peppers.com.au/convent. Cost: from $430; 9-course dinner at Nine $180 (weekends only). TOWER LODGE: Tel 61/249-987-022; www.towerlodge.com.au. Cost: from $755; dinner at Roberts $85. SPLINTERS GUESTHOUSE: 61/265-747-118; www.splinters.com.au. Cost: from $190. BEST TIMES: Mar–Apr for the Harvest Festival; Jun for Hunter Valley Food & Wine Month; Sep–Oct for spring weather.
A Forgotten Paradise in the Tasman Sea
LORD HOWE ISLAND
New South Wales, Australia
Hailed as one of the most beautiful subtropical islands in the Pacific, the tiny crescent of Lord Howe Island boasts 90 species of coral on surrounding reefs—the world’s southernmost—500 species of fish, and more than 130 recorded bird species, including the endemic wooden hen. Several of these had a close brush with extinction before a successful recovery program boosted their numbers. The island is home to approximately 350 human residents as well—also protected, although by just one policeman.
The tallest stack of volcano pinnacles in the world was formed here, millions of years ago, by massive eruptions. One of them, Ball’s Pyramid, juts 1,800 feet out of the ocean 14 miles south of Lord Howe. It is one of countless spots nearby that lure divers with their access to a kaleidoscopic underwater world. Snorkelers can rent goggles and snorkels on the beach and simply walk into the surf from various points on the island to find themselves on the reef.
Given Lord Howe’s size (it’s 7 miles long and just 1.2 miles across at its widest), biking and walking are the preferred modes of transportation, and the networks of trails for both range from easy to rigorous. Most of the handful of accommodations on the island are owned by welcoming locals, including the beautifully sited all-inclusive Pinetrees Resort, which hosts jazz concerts from June through August. Luxurious Capella Lodge is perched above romantic Lover’s Bay, with spectacular views of the ocean and mountains. Have your hotel prepare a picnic lunch for you to enjo
y on the white sand of Ned’s Beach; you’ll discover that its crystal-clear waters are a favorite of tropical fish that will eat right out of your hand. No matter where you go, crowds on the island will never be an issue: Visitors are limited to 400 at a time.
Known for its unique topography, Lord Howe Island is full of rocky cliffs, owing to marine erosion.
WHERE: 445 miles/717 km east of Sydney. VISITOR INFO: www.lordhoweisland.info. PINETREES RESORT: Tel 61/2-9262-6585; www.pinetrees.com.au. Cost: 5-night all-inclusive package from $1,065 per person (off-peak), from $1,760 (peak). CAPELLA LODGE: Tel 61/2-9918-4355; www.capellalodge.com.au. Cost: from $650 per person, all-inclusive (off-peak), from $700 (peak). BEST TIME: Dec–Mar for summer weather.
Great Icons of the Magnificent Waterfront City
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE AND THE HARBOUR
New South Wales, Australia
Sydney is Australia’s largest, oldest, and brashest city, and its Opera House—initially lambasted for its startlingly modern, sail-like shape—has come to be as emblematic of the city as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris. Chosen from more than 200 submissions from world-famous architects in 1958, the design generated instant controversy. During the 15 years the building took to complete, its disillusioned Danish creator, Jørn Utzon, removed himself from the project. Today the opera house, commanding a prime spot on Sydney’s busy harbor, is Sydney’s cultural heartbeat. Those without tickets can repair to the Opera House’s Guillaume at Bennelong restaurant for an elegant meal with magnificent views.
For even more stunning vistas, you can’t do better than the elegant Park Hyatt Sydney. The hotel is conveniently located near Circular Quay, the launching point for hundreds of boats and ferries that zigzag across Sydney Harbour. On the east side of the Quay, the apartment-style accommodations of the Grand Quay Suites put you in the midst of the waterfront action with the Royal Botanic Gardens, a 70-acre green oasis offering some of the finest strolls in town, nearby.
The Rocks, the 19th-century haunt of brawling sailors and ex-convicts, is now home to restaurants, shops, galleries, exhibition spaces, and weekend markets. One of the few original buildings still standing is Lord Nelson, the city’s oldest continuously operating pub, opened in 1841. For Sydney’s most unusual tour, sign up for the BridgeClimb, a 200-step trek to the top of the Harbour Bridge—the largest (though not longest) steel-arch bridge ever built. It guarantees dramatic 360-degree views and bragging rights for life.
Climb back down and catch a ferry to Manly. Stroll or bike the 6-mile-long Manly Scenic Walk for spectacular harbor views, then head over to Doyles on Watsons Bay, a beloved waterfront seafood restaurant that opened in 1885. Five generations later, the Doyle family continues to serve plenty of fresh fish, best coupled with a fine Australian wine.
Jørn Utzon received the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor, for his design of the Sydney Opera House.
VISITOR INFO: www.sydney.com.au. SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: Box office, tel 61/2-9250-7777; www.sydneyoperahouse.com. When: opera season New Year’s Eve–Mar and Jun–Oct. GUILLAUME AT BENNELONG: Tel 61/2-9241-1999; www.guillaumeatbennelong.com.au. Cost: dinner $80. PARK HYATT SYDNEY: Tel 61/2-9256-1234; www.sydney.park.hyatt.com. Cost: harbor-view rooms from $695. GRAND QUAY SUITES: Tel 61/2-9256-4000; www.mirvachotels.com. Cost: from $365. BRIDGECLIMB: Tel 61/2-8274-7777; www.bridgeclimb.com. Cost:$190. DOYLES ON THE BEACH: Tel 61/2-9337-2007; www.doyles.com.au. Cost: dinner $75. BEST TIMES: Jan–Feb for summer weather and festivals, including Sydney Festival, Australia’s largest celebration of the arts; Oct–Nov for spring flowers; New Year’s Eve—Sydney’s celebration is second only to New York’s.
Aboriginal Rock Art and Bush Culture
KAKADU NATIONAL PARK AND ARNHEM LAND
Northern Territory, Australia
The 8,000-square-mile Kakadu National Park is half the size of Switzerland, yet still remote and little known outside Australia. For now, its rugged frontier feel remains intact, while the resident population of 15-foot “saltie” and smaller “freshie” crocodiles still laze undisturbed in the shallows of its rivers and surrounding marshlands. In 1981, Kakadu received the rare double honor of being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural wonders as well as for culture: 5,000 rock paintings dating as far back as 50,000 years grace its sandstone caves. Ubirr, 27 miles north of park headquarters, is one of the most visited of these art sites; in its cavelike “galleries,” images record life from the Stone Age to the early 20th century.
Adjacent to Kakadu sprawls a vast indigenous reserve known as Arnhem Land, a place of unspoiled bush country, eucalyptus forest, and coastal wilderness endowed with abundant wildlife. It is one of the few places in Australia where Aboriginal culture still dominates (around 15,000 people live here). Lords Safaris is the only accredited outfitter to offer access to Arnhem Land as well as to a pair of other outstanding regional attractions, Koolpin Gorge and the Mary River floodplains. The Mary River’s vast coastal wetlands, rich in wildlife, is also home to the luxurious Bamurru Plains, an exclusive backcountry resort of just nine stylishly low-key safari suites on a working buffalo station. It is one of a handful of such stations on the western boundary of Kakadu, and is a 25-minute flight or a 3-hour drive from the territorial capital, Darwin. Mornings offer the chance to take an exhilarating airboat ride on the floodplains that form one of the most significant wetland ecosystems in Australia—keep your eyes peeled for blue-winged kookaburras. In the drier months, set off in open 4WD vehicles to view wallabies, wallaroos, dingos, and crocodiles.
WHERE: 150 miles/241 km east of Darwin. KAKADU NATIONAL PARK: Tel 61/8-8938-1120; www.environment.gov.au/parks/kakadu. LORDS SAFARIS: Tel 61/8-8948-2200; www.lords-safaris.com. Cost: guided day trips to Arnhem Land from Darwin, $230; to Jabiru, $195; multiday tours also available. BAMURRU PLAINS: Tel 61/2-9571-6399; www.bamurruplains.com. Cost: $990 per person, all-inclusive. When: Feb–Oct. BEST TIMES: May–Sep for dry season, though some prefer the greenness of wetter months, Nov–Apr.
Over the Top: Hunting and Gathering in Prehistoric Forests
THE TIWI ISLANDS
Northern Territory, Australia
All but unknown to the outside world, Bathurst and its sister island, Melville, are the ancestral home of Australia’s Tiwi Islanders, who originally came from mainland Australia and were isolated some 7,000 years ago when sea levels rose. As a result, the Tiwi (or “We People”) developed a rich culture and language distinct from other Aboriginal groups, maintaining religious customs that absorbed bits of Catholicism introduced by missionaries in the late 18th century. Despite the islands’ size—at 2,234-square-miles, Melville Island is Australia’s second largest—their population is a sparse 2,700. Traditional ways prevail: Dugong (a cousin of the manatee) and turtle eggs are still hunted and gathered, essential to the islanders’ diet.
Today, non-Tiwi can visit Bathurst Island only as part of a Tiwi-owned and -operated tour (Melville is closed to the public). Highlights include the Catholic church, which reveals the Tiwi’s unique blend of their ancient culture with Christianity; artists’ workshops and arts and crafts centers such as the Ngaruwanajirri Art Community; and a “boiling of the billy” tea with local Tiwi ladies who chat as they work on their weaving and painting. The proximity of the Indonesian archipelago is reflected in the use of batik patterns in the local textile crafts. And be sure to see the island’s renowned pukumani—elaborately carved and painted poles adorned with mythological motifs that are erected at gravesites.
WHERE: 50 miles/80 km off the coast of Darwin. HOW: Darwin Day Tours leads 1-day tours from Darwin. Tel 61/8-8923-6523; www.darwindaytours.com.au. Cost: $498, includes air and lunch. When: Mar–Nov. BEST TIME: May–Sep for nicest weather.
Spiritual Shrines in the Outback
ULURU AND KATA TJUTA (AYERS ROCK AND THE OLGAS)
Northern Territory, Australia
Never mind how many times it has appeared in movies or on postcards: The great red monolith of Uluru (Ayers Rock) still stirs those who
visit it. The sandstone formation rises 1,142 feet above the desert plain and has a circumference of nearly 6 miles. Revered as a center of spiritual power by the Anangu Aboriginal peoples—whose ancestors are believed to have lived here as long as 40,000 years ago—the orange-red rock subtly changes color during the day, seeming to glow from within at sunrise and sunset. Rich deposits of iron mean that Uluru actually rusts when it rains. Climbing the rock is discouraged because of its religious significance to the Aborigines, who have jointly managed the surrounding 511-square-mile national park since 1985. Maintain your respect—and your knees—and opt instead to walk the trail at its base.
About 30 miles west of Uluru lies Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), a similarly spectacular group of 36 gigantic rock domes reaching as high as 1,800 feet and spread over an area of 15 square miles. The main walking trail here is the Valley of the Winds, a 4.6-mile loop best experienced in the cool of early morning.
This otherworldly landscape may seem far from upscale comforts, but Longitude 131° provides unexpected luxury in the Uluru outback. At this romantic (and astronomically priced) resort, the accommodations are elegant safari-style tents, filled with fine furniture and outfitted with air-conditioning, private bathrooms, and the plethora of amenities reserved for top-of-the-line hotels. If a traditional hotel is more your style, you’ll find premium comfort at Sails in the Desert, highlighted by fine dining, stylishly appointed, art-filled rooms, and an extensive pool and patio area shaded by a series of canvas sails.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 102