EXPLORING IN ANTARCTICA
Visiting Antarctica is on many travellers’ bucket lists, but very few are lucky enough to tick it off (the number of tourists worldwide who set foot on the seventh continent last year would only fill half of Wembley Stadium). Journeying to the ends of the Earth requires an adventurous spirit and deep pockets, but it changes your appreciation of the planet for ever. To reach our expedition cruise ship, Silver Cloud, we fly overnight to Santiago, then south across the Andes at Punta Arenas in Patagonia. Two days’ travel but, finally, we’re at sea! It doesn’t take long to get used to the all-inclusive luxury conditions on board, including a choice of restaurants, a spa and an outdoor heated pool. My suite has the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in, an en suite with Bvlgari toiletries, private veranda and Laurent Perrier practically on tap. I’m even looked after by my own butler, Prem. There are just 209 passengers and almost as many crew.
We sail via the Falkland Islands (stopping at two unexpectedly beautiful nature reserves that wouldn’t seem out of place in Cumbria). The expedition’s marine biologists, naturalists, geologists and other experts do an excellent job of briefing us on what we’ll see on the voyage, and run through the biosecurity rules we must observe.
Sailing through the notorious Drake Passage is a necessary evil for any Antarctic traveller. Confession time: I get horribly sea sick. I didn’t tell the editor this because I knew I couldn’t let a little thing like that stand in the way of the adventure of a lifetime – and nor should you, if you are a sufferer. It’s so worth it!
After two days at sea, I almost squeal with joy when I first spot an iceberg.
It’s hard to take a bad photo of these exquisite towering ice sculptures, and the more ancient they are, the more bluey-green they appear. Setting foot on Antarctica feels like landing on the moon: it’s so alien, with pristine expanses of pure white and utter stillness evoking a feeling of reverence among me and my fellow passengers.
It’s summer here and just above freezing (-10°C with wind chill), but all you need to feel snug is the right gear: I’m dressed in three layers, plus life jacket (for the ride in the landing craft), hat, gloves, neck warmer, snow boots, polarised sunglasses and sun cream. A little huddle of gentoo penguins meets us on the beach before we trek up a steep hill through the snow, past a seal sleeping with its pup in the sunshine, and across the penguin highway (the rule: always give way to the penguins walking to and from the sea). At the top, we find a chinstrap penguin colony – busy, noisy and joyfully calling to each other. I sit in the snow, just watching them, for ages.
It’s impossible to do justice here to the extraordinary places I visit on this expedition, from the Falklands to Cuverville Island and Elephant Island on the Antarctic Peninsula and, our final port of call, Ushuaia in Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. But for the adventurous traveller, Antarctica’s wildlife-rich coastline, snow-covered mountains, glaciated landscapes, remoteness and beauty are the ultimate rewards. As we set off back to civilisation, I am intensely aware of the fragility of this unique place, and the need to do everything we can to protect it. CAROLINE BLOOR
TRIP NOTES
A 15-day Antarctica cruise on Silver Cloud starts at £15,500 (Vista suite), including hotel stay, shore excursions, flights, butler service and gourmet cuisine. Departs Ushuaia 20th December 2019. Visit silversea.com/destinations/antarctica-cruise. Silversea is a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
‘I AM INTENSELY AWARE OF THE FRAGILITY OF THIS UNIQUE PLACE’
‘THE VIBRATIONS OF LIFE SEEM CALMER; THE PACE, SLOWER’
The scent of lemongrass wafts over me as I open the doors to my villa in Anantara Quy Nhon. It took a long time to get here: a 12-hour flight followed by an extended stopover in Vietnam’s bustling capital, Hanoi, which has left me feeling shattered and slightly stressed. But as I drop my bags and inhale the calming citrus scent, all that tension disappears. The city of Quy Nhon, which remains inaccessible by international flights, is quite clearly Vietnam’s best-kept secret. While most travellers favour the natural wonders of Ha Long Bay, Ho Chi Minh City or Hoi An, Quy Nhon remains relatively undiscovered by tourists. Located in Vietnam’s Binh Dinh Province, it boasts lush greenery atop a glittering coastline, peppered with tiny fishing villages. Anantara’s hotel sits right on Quy Nhon’s beach – a private stretch of mustard-coloured sand. My villa is glass-fronted, and outside there’s a private infinity pool with a patio leading just three steps down on to the cushiony sands below. The room is stocked with yoga mats, a gorgeous wicker bag and a gigantic bath complete with Elemis products.
It’s tempting to lounge on the double bed on my patio for the entire trip, but there’s a whole world to discover nearby. The hotel’s tour, the
Quy Nhon Explorer, takes my group around the region: we drink strong Vietnamese iced coffee and try our hands at the local trade, making incense sticks. We visit the Thien Hung Pagoda, a Buddhist temple that is so peaceful that I have to suppress an overwhelming urge to lie down on the floor and stay there for ever. The food is even more enticing: we eat beef pancakes wrapped in rice paper, as well as seafood plucked directly from the water.
Back at the hotel, a Vietnamese massage (delicate, but firm) in Anantara’s tranquil cliffside spa makes me feel as though I’m suspended in mid-air. That evening, at the hotel’s chic restaurant, Sea.fire.salt, we eat meat cooked – and served – on bricks of Himalayan rock salt. Salt, it turns out, is the speciality – there are dozens of options to choose from (ginger and basil are my favourites).
Something about this place makes me feel dazed, but in a good way. Maybe it’s the quiet, undisturbed hum of the ocean outside my window, or the ever-present scent of essential oils. I feel so detached from my everyday reality that it’s almost like a dreamland. The vibrations of life seem calmer; the pace, slower. I vow to remember this moment and hold on to it when the minutiae of the everyday consumes me again.
Now rejuvenated, I sleep the entire way home. My trip seemed to pass in a heartbeat, but after a long day in the office, I’ll drop lemongrass oil into my aroma diffuser at home and transport myself to the peace and sheer joy of Quy Nhon once again. ARIELLE TCHIPROUT
TRIP NOTES
A stay at Anantara Quy Nhon Villas costs from £382 per villa per night, including breakfast. Visit anantara.com/en/quy-nhon. Flights to Quy Nhon start from approximately £360 per person, one way with a stop in Ho Chi Minh, via Vietnam Airlines (vietnamairlines.com).