Getting the flavour of…
Portugal’s secret lake It’s a mystery that so few foreign tourists visit Alqueva, says Liz Connor in the London Evening Standard. Europe’s biggest manmade lake is a “spectacularly beautiful stretch of water”, and it’s only two hours’ drive from Lisbon, yet it is “wonderfully remote”. Anyone keen on living on a boat can “pilot their own private vessel” around its shores, stopping off at “sleepy” towns and ancient villages. No prior experience is needed – cruising cabins have a top speed of 10mph, and come equipped with GPS, sonar and maps. You can swim, kayak, or just spend days pootling “blissfully” along. One essential port of call is the medieval town of Monsaraz, where the magnificent fort was once the scene of fierce “battles between invading Muslim forces and the Knights Templar”. Amieira Marina (www.amieira marina.com) has boats for up to ten people. A 7-night hire for four costs from £1,700. Lazy days in Laos To dodge the crowds on the backpacker trail in southern Laos, head to Si Phan Don (“4,000 Islands”), an archipelago at the widest point of the Mekong River. Most of the islands are tiny and uninhabited, says Holly Williams in The Independent; even the largest, Don Khong, is soporifically sedate. There’s not much to do other than hire a bicycle and absorb island life, or “toast the sunset with a Beerlao”, while swinging in a hammock. Upstream lies the Unesco cited Vat Phou, an “atmospheric” 11th century temple overlooked by mist-wreathed mountains. Semi-ruined, it’s “like a mini Angkor Wat, minus the tourists”. Lao Airlines flies to Pakse from Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam from £210 return.
India’s first official bike trail Darjeeling’s new bike route provides cyclists with “a welcome escape from India’s dieselbelching vehicles and tooting horns”, says Sarah Marsh in The Guardian. Covering almost 12.5 miles from Darjeeling to Chatakpur, via the Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, it is India’s first official bike trail and a sign of the sport’s growing popularity on the subcontinent. The route is hard going in places – “rugged” and scattered with rocks – and the altitude, here in the foothills of the Himalaya, doesn’t make it any easier. But at Chatakpur, there’s “warm hospitality and hot tea” for visitors, who can stay overnight in guest cottages or in a homestay. You might spot red pandas and clouded leopards, but the views are the real attraction: “thick pine forest”, clear blue skies and the peaks of the world’s highest mountains in the distance. Ashmita Trek & Tours (www. ashmitatrek.com) has guides and bikes for about £25pp. Jet Airways flies to Bagdogra via Abu Dhabi for about £780 return.