Off to my biggest fan club... in India
CONTINUING our series featuring the holiday experiences of famous people, this week novelist JEFFREY ARCHER recalls his lifetime of adventures…
My first holiday
I was brought up in Weston-super-Mare so we didn’t need to pop to the seaside – we had sand and sea right where we were. I remember visiting my uncle and aunt in Leeds and that being a holiday. The first time I went abroad was to Paris to run for England schoolboys against France when I was 17, but I can’t pretend I saw much of Paris.
My honeymoon
Mary and I went to Killarney, Limerick, Blarney and Dublin in 1966 – it was what we could afford. We hired a car and drove around, staying at guesthouses that we hadn’t booked in advance. I loved it all, especially Dublin.
Favourite cruise
I speak on cruise ships every other year and have seen more of the world this way. One of the best trips I’ve ever done was from Amsterdam to Budapest. If you’re on the ocean, all you can see is sea. If you’re on a river you can see mountains, trees, castles and churches. We have a dear friend, Simon Bainbridge, who is a scholar and travels everywhere. So for every port we visit, he writes us a comprehensive briefing telling us what to see.
Favourite escape
Every year I go with Simon and gallery owner Christopher Beetles to two Italian cities to look at art. Normally I can last about an hour in a gallery before I wobble but we focus on seven paintings and seven sculptures. They’ve trained my eye and taught me to look at the best. They’re also food experts, so they know the best restaurants.
Off-beat locations
Mary and I get a lot of invitations. Someone once lent us a yacht and we went to the Greek islands – Mary was able to visit war poet Rupert Brooke’s grave on Skyros. On another occasion, we went to Chappaquiddick in Massachusetts.
Dream destination
I’ve been to Russia seven times and three times to Hong Kong, but never to China. That’s the only place I want to see before I die. Now people are telling me that I should have gone there 20 years ago because it’s changed so much.
My favourite hotel
I go to India once a year and usually, with a new book to promote, will travel to five cities in six days. The Indians are the biggest readers of the English language on Earth. According to the Times of India, 50million Indians have read Kane And Abel.
Because I love cricket, I’ll give talks about cricket as well. I always stay at the Taj hotels because their owners, the Tata Group, publish me in India and own all the bookshops. The Taj Mahal in Mumbai is one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in.
Best souvenirs
I’m published in 137 countries and in 29 languages and I buy a marble egg from every country I visit. I don’t like trinkets but I do take the eggs seriously. I’ve now got so many that I can’t remember where I got some of them.
Favourite city
Vienna is the loveliest city I’ve ever been to. It probably sounds a bit pathetic to say I like it because it’s so clean and there is no graffiti or rubbish.
On the other hand I also admire Mumbai with its squalor. It makes me feel a little guilty, though. I have led such a privileged life for a boy from Weston-super-Mare. I’m grateful for every day.