Struth! In the Lake of Luxury

STRUTH !

IN his continuing search for the more weird, whacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says if you reckon you deserve a bit of regal service on that next holiday, book yourself into the Taj Lake Palace at Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan in Western India, and play at being one of the country's maharajahs of old.

This hotel occupies the entire one-time palace of Rajasthan's maharanas (known as maharajahs in other parts of India,) being built in 1746 by Maharana Jagat Singh II, and occupying all of a 1.6ha (4-acre) island in the middle of Lake Pichola.

You'll have a choice of Luxury Rooms, Palace Rooms or Royal Suites – with Royal Butlers who are descendants of the original palace retainers on hand to ensure your every creature comfort.

And while it's got all mod-cons for today's tourist from world-class local and international dining to a spa that features ancient Indian techniques, its old-world ambience and privileged lifestyle is enhanced all the more when you call for some transport to get you into town: after a short boat ride to the jetty, you can have a vintage or classic car take you shopping or sightseeing.

If you want to know more, hop onto www.tajhotels.com

COUPLE OF TARTS ALMOST CAUSE FOR DIVORCE

david ellis

IN the absence of my wife who was attempting to wreak as much havoc as possible to her credit card in the shortest time available, a travel-writing colleague and myself made the near-fatal decision of asking our Lisbon hotel barman where we could find a couple of local tarts – and if it would be okay to bring them back to the bar.

So on enquiring of our possible whereabouts on her return, my wife was told that "Mr Ellis and Mr Andrews asked where to find tarts, and I told them to go to Belem down on the waterfront," the helpful barman told her. "The tarts there are Portugal's best."

And thus on our return soon after, I was invited to 'fess up very quickly – after 46 years of marriage – as to just what we two had been up to.

Fortuitously we were saved by the evidence we still carried in a box: not two, but a half dozen of Lisbon's famous Belem Tarts, sweet and more-ish little custard pastries that are considered somewhat of a Portuguese national treasure.

When discussion turns to the finest of the world's more-sugary creations, Portugal seldom springs to front of mind, thus on our recent travel-writing mission there we decided that rather than do the usual round of ancient buildings, Malcolm (who writes and talks about travel on radio in Port Macquarie) and I decided to go in search instead of the tart that had put a town on the map.

We found Belem itself no longer a town, having been absorbed many years ago into Lisbon's urban sprawl, and that it's Pasteis de Belem is the best-known patisserie not just here, but in the whole of Lisbon and Portugal.

The story of today's Belem Tart goes back to 1837, although its origins lay   centuries before that in the nearby Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (the Jeronimos Monastery.)

It seems that in days of yore, nuns used huge amounts of egg whites to, somewhat strangely, stiffen their habits, and to also remove cloudiness from monastery-made wines, leaving them with great quantities of egg yolks to find a use for.

Many imaginative dishes were thought up at the Jeronimos Monastery, one being a small baked puff-pastry tart with a custard filling of crème brulee-like consistency. But the Monastery and others were closed during the liberal revolution of the 1800s, putting an end to the making of the tarts.

However on also finding himself suddenly out of work, an enterprising lay baker at the monastery and who knew the tart's recipe, Domingo Rafael Alves bought a small shop nearby and began making the tarts there to considerable success amongst the locals.

Today that same shop is now the Pasteis de Belem and is run by the Clarinha family who are descendants of Domingo Alves – and of these, only three know the recipe of the filling for the Belem Tart, each day meeting in a locked kitchen to make the egg custard mix.

Whatever it is it's been drawing locals and tourists to the shop for nearly two centuries, with around 18,000 of the little tarts with their caramelised tops sold each day.

Customers can queue for an hour or more if they want to take tarts and drinks at the patisserie with its yesteryear blue tile walls, but take-away service is quicker. And if you see tour coaches outside, do yourself a favour and have a look at the Jeronimos Monastery nearby until the mobs have gone – the beautiful old building is the resting place of many of Portugal's kings, queens and the explorer Vasco da Gama.  

As good scribes we tried out best to discover the secret of the Belem Tart recipe, even tracking down a waiter who has worked at the patisserie for nearly 40 years, but who pleaded total ignorance.

We did learn from others, however, that the pastry and custard are made during the day and rested overnight – and then baked for 30-minutes at a furnace-like 400-degress Celsius. 

And while we'd expect the custard filling would comprise the usual milk, cream, egg yolks, caster sugar, plain flour, cinnamon, probably lemon peel and vanilla extract, just what the secret ingredient that sets those of Belem apart from the rest will remain just that.

A secret.

 

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] NATIONAL treasure: Lisbon's famous Belem Tarts – the caramelised top comes from being baked at a furnace-like 400C.

[] QUEUEING-up is a daily ritual outside the Pasteis de Belem that opened in 1837 and sells 18,000 Belem Tarts a day.

STRUTH - Bumped by the Queen

STRUTH !

IN his continuing search for the more weird, whacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says that 90-something holidaymakers booked on the boutique 5-star British cruise ship Hebridean Princess in July have been told to take their holiday somewhere else – because the Queen wants the ship for a getaway with the Royal Family.

Hebridean Princess that boasts "outstanding service, fine cuisine, unusually spacious cabins for just 49-guests, and some of the most elegant public rooms afloat," will take the Queen and her family out of Scrabster on Scotland's far north coast for a week's cruise through the country's northern islands, followed by a week down the Scottish west coast.

They'll visit such delightfully-named places as Muckle Flugga, Unst, the Vat of Kirbister, Cape Wrath, Tanera Mor, Rum and the Isle of Muck – with escorted shore excursions for those who want, although we think they'll most-likely pass-up on one to the Castle of Mey: it was the home of the late Queen Mum.

The Queen is reportedly paying around $600,000 for her little family jaunt, and operators of the Hebridean Princess say those other guests whose holidays were cancelled to make way for the royals, "are being generously compensated and offered other dates."

LANGKAWI’S BEAUTY IS WRONGED BRIDE’S HERITAGE

david ellis

WHEN a spiteful village hag on the Malaysian island of Langkawi maliciously spread the rumour that a beautiful young bride had been unfaithful to her new husband, she knew that if found guilty by the village elders it would mean the death penalty for the young beauty.

And when those elders did ultimately order that the young bride, Mahsuri die by a blade plunged into her back, she beseeched the gods to wreak havoc on her island for seven generations in revenge for her wrongful death.

And wreak havoc they did.

Within day's of Mahsuri's death tidal waves swept away coastal villages and fishing ports, floods drowned crops, torrential rains collapsed mountain sides onto villages and gardens, then drought withered the ground and fishing boats sank unaccountably at their moorings.

And raiding Siamese warriors plundered already depleted villages of their few remaining valuables.

Then miraculously at the end of seven generations the havoc abated, and so that Mahsuri's beauty and her unjust death would be remembered for ever more, the gods transformed Langkawi into Malaysia's most beautiful islands – 99 dots of emerald green hills fringed by golden beaches set in a Hollywood-blue sea, and on which even the roads appear to sparkle.

The Curse of Mahsuri goes back to a time none can put an exact date to, but which historians believe was probably around 1820.

Mahsuri was the most beautiful girl in her village in Langkawi, whose islands lay off the north-west coast of Malaysia, and married a handsome warrior who spent much time away from home on matters of war. It was during one of these absences that a wandering salesman called at Mahsuri's home to sell her some cloth and haberdashery.

The two became friends, Mahsuri delighted by the poetry he would recite on subsequent visits to her village and the traditional songs he would sing.

One night Mahsuri invited him to stay for dinner, with her father as chaperone because of her husband's absence. When Mahsuri announced soon after that she was expecting a child, the jealous hag Mahura spread the rumour that Mahsuri was pregnant to the traveller.

Acting purely on the word of the old woman, the village elders ordered Mahsuri's death – rejecting her father's pleas that he had chaperoned her on the night the traveller had dined with her, and despite her husband proudly proclaiming how their child looked exactly like he.
 
As she was tied to a tree, Mahsuri beseeched of the gods: "If I am guilty of this thing, let red blood flow from my body; if I am innocent, let white blood mark this spot (and) there shall be no peace and prosperity on this island for a period of seven generations."

Several attempts were made to slay Mahsuri, first with a sword and then by knife. Wounded by these failures and to get it over with, Mahsuri begged that her executioners use a razor-sharp family dagger to end her misery.

But as the weapon was successfully plunged into her young body, the assembled villagers fell back in collective shock: white blood flowed into a great pool at Mahsuri's feet proving her innocence. Desperate attempts by the village medicine men failed to revive her, and she died in the arms of her sobbing husband soon after.

Mahura was driven out of the village, but it was too late and within days the gods responded to Mahsuri's beseechment by wreaking their wrath on Langkawi.

Many visitors to Langkawi pay a visit to Mahsuri's Mausoleum at Kampung Mawat about 15km out of the main township of Pekan Kuah; it contains Mahsuri's tomb, an aviary of local birds and peacocks representing peace and beauty, and a traditional house with a small museum.

And visitors are smitten with the beauty that the gods bestowed on the island at the end of their seven generations of havoc... including roads that can sparkle as the sun shines on them.

Is it because rubble from Langkawi's marble mines is mixed with the roadbase, or are those gods still reminding us of the beauty of the ill-fated Mahsuri?

Malaysia Airlines has fourteen flights weekly from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, twelve ex-Sydney, nine Perth, five Brisbane and four ex-Adelaide, with thrice-daily onward connections to Langkawi. Details 132 627 or  www.malaysiaairlines.com

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] MAHSURI's Mausoleum outside the town of Pekan Kuah.

[] LANGKAWI's beaches are amongst the most beautiful in Malaysia.

[] ONE of many artist's interpretations of the beautiful Mahsuri.

Lima: City of Kings

Founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535, as La Ciudad de los Reyes, or ‘The City of Kings’, Peru’s capital Lima, is an enchanting city which is guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who visits there.

Top 10 Haunted Places in Britain

Did you know that half of all adults believe that ghosts might exist? It’s no wonder then that so many people come to Britain and visit one of the thousands of sites here that are said to be haunted… are you one of these people?

Here are Britain’s top 10 most haunted sites (visit them if you dare):

STRUTH - Wedding's in the can

STRUTH !

IN his continuing search for the more weird, whacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says a couple in Spokane in America's Washington State are paying for their wedding and a 3-day honeymoon with 400,000 discarded aluminium beer and soft drink cans.

Calling themselves just Pete and Andrea, they've collected over 35,000 cans themselves in their first month – and had relatives, friends, workmates, and as a result of local Media coverage, complete strangers give them a further 75,000 that they've sold to a scrap dealer.

"It leaves us 290,000 cans and seven months to reach our goal of 400,000 cans to pay for our July 31 wedding," Andrea said.

To further cut costs they've got family and friends making floral decorations, taking the wedding pictures… even helping with the wedding breakfast and the bridal cake.

And in keeping with the atmosphere of it all, the outdoor wedding, the reception, the morning-after breakfast and a 3-day "honeymoon" will all be held in a somewhat off-beat replica Bavarian castle in neighbouring Idaho State that's called The Idaho Castle.

"It's a vacation home and we're getting it for four days for what you'd normally pay most reception halls for just four hours, so that's another saving," said Andrea, who says they hope to keep the cost of the wedding, reception, honeymoon and everything else associated with it to under US$4000.

"With 400,000 cans worth roughly US$3800 at current rates, we should just come in budget," she says,

"And we've even got friends gonna make the home-brew beer for the reception," she says enthusiastically, which we think could well make for another story for another day…

(Our pictures show Pete and Andrea with the results of a night's work on the streets of Spokane collecting discarded cans, and The Idaho Castle vacation home that will be the venue of their outdoor wedding, the reception, morning-after breakfast and a 3-night honeymoon.)

DOING IT IN STYLE – YOU GOTTA BE DREAMING

david ellis

ITS only January and we're already planning on exiting 2010 in style.

Mates remind us, however, that we're mere scribblers, and suggest we're dreaming.

They're right.  

But our dreams are sea-dreams because we're taking ourselves aboard the world's most highly-rated boutique motor-cruiser – SeaDream I – that come October will journey 6,100 leisurely kilometres (3,300 nautical miles) from one side of the Atlantic to the other.

Yet bizarrely the tab for those handful of fellow holidaymakers joining us, will start from just US$2803pp – including government and port taxes – and is a steal at our current high rate against the US$.

And we'll be indulged in 5-star luxury by more crew than passengers (95 crew for probably no more than around 85 or 90 guests,) we'll dine on the finest gourmet fare, take drinks from the bars any time we want and not have to sign chits or worry about a bar bill when we get off, enjoy bottomless glasses of wines at lunch and dinner (and again not have to sign or worry about how much they'll cost,) join our fellow passengers for nightly pre-dinner cocktail gatherings with Champagne and caviar, and not have to concern ourselves with putting aside for those annoying tips.

More amazingly it's not for just a week, but a whole 12-nights as we swan our way from Malaga in Spain to Madeira in Portugal, and across the Atlantic to San Juan in the Caribbean.

If you, too, think we've lost the plot, let us explain. When summer comes to an end in the glitzy Mediterranean, the twin mega-motor-cruisers SeaDream I and SeaDream II chase the yellow ball across the Atlantic for six months in the balmy Caribbean.

And because these "Crossings" don't have the associated costs of daily ports of call, they're priced as much as a half below the norm.

We've done a couple before, and which is why we've put our hand up again for this year*.

SeaDream I and II each have just 56 staterooms, but last year our "Crossing"  was "full" with only 82-guests – including ten Aussies – because some staterooms were occupied by single holidaymakers.

Days started with breakfasts on deck under shade covers, and we quickly found we couldn't get more than a couple of steps from the lavish buffet of fruits, cheeses, yoghurts, juices and cereals, without a waiter whipping our plate from us and delivering it to our table. Saved us all that effort.

And then we'd be presented with menus for "the mains" that could include scrambled eggs topped with truffle oil, corn beef hash, lamb cutlets, hash browns, Traditional English Breakfast of bacon, eggs, chops, tomatoes…

Following this we'd venture to the golf simulator to take-on St Andrews one morning, Pebble Beach another, Princeville a third. And by noon be adjourning for boastful drinks at the outdoor Top of the Yacht bar….

Then on-deck lunches of maybe Alaskan crab claws, soups, salads, seafoods or steaks, pastas, vegetarian selections, decadent desserts and pastries…

After which we'd retreat to an afternoon lecture, a kip in our stateroom, or take a good book poolside, raising a languid hand on arrival to have a waiter appear almost instantly by our deckchair with our favourite drink. And to mist us with a moisturiser spray – before asking if they could also polish our sunglasses while at it.

Then a shower and change before nightly cocktails… and dinner in the Main Salon (and occasionally on deck too) with such delights as Grand Marnier Soufflé, whole roast prime rib-eye, roast duck with orange, honey and oyster sauce, rack of lamb, vanilla crème brulee with pistachios, Baileys cheese cake…

And there was no call for ties and jackets at dinner: slacks and collared shirts sufficed.

And finally nightcaps at the Piano Bar, before collapsing to our queen bed in preparation to do it all again next day.

If this sounds your kind of holiday – particularly at the price that's for 12-nights and includes 5-star dining and service, wines with lunch and dinner, drinks from the open bars, and gratuities – come and join me.

See your travel agent, or visit www.seadream.com 

(* Veteran travel writer David Ellis was invited by SeaDream Yacht Club to escort a group of fellow writers on SeaDream I's October 2008 and 2009 Atlantic Crossings.)

 PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] SEADREAM I steams into the Caribbean at the end of a 6100km journey across the Atlantic

[] CHEF Surprised this group of Aussies on last year's Atlantic Crossing with Aussie Party Pies and Aussie Wine under an Aussie flag

[] ON deck dining for two on SeaDream I's Atlantic Crossing

[] THE Big and the Small: SeaDream at just 4300 tonnes is dwarfed by the 91,000 tonne Jewel of the Seas