Mahabaleshwar gets a new resort

For long Mumbaikars have complained about the lack of choice for good hotels in Mahabaleshwar, which continues to be the weekend getaway for many of us in the city. Not any more. Le Méridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa has just opened its doors there, making it the first Le Méridien resort in India.

It has 122 rooms and suites, all with private balconies. Instead of the traditional lobby, the hotel has its signature Le Méridien Hub that transforms the public space into a social gathering place. You will be greeted by a curated soundtrack by French Bossa Nova band Nouvelle Vague, exclusive illy coffee prepared by Master Baristas, and Sparkling cocktails, inspired by Europe’s aperitif hour.

For F&B, the hotel has multiple options: Latest Recipe is an all-day dining restaurant that offers international, Asian and local cuisines. Chingari is an Indian restaurant. It also has a pool-side restaurant called Plunge Bar and Longitude 73 transforms from a casual coffee house by day to a vibrant social scene by evening.

Other facilities include the Explore Spa by Le Méridien with eight treatment rooms including a hammam bath and a vichy shower treatment room. It also has a fitness centre along with both a lagoon-style swimming pool and a rooftop infinity pool. Hurrah!

For families, the hotel offers Le Méridien Family Kids Club with programming. Children up to the age of 12 will also get a free LEGO Welcome Amenity so that they don't bother their parents during the stay! 

You can also arrange for a curated visit to the nearby Devrai Art Village and the 5,000 year old Krishna Devi temple. If strawberry picking at a farm interests you, that can be arranged as well. 

Ayers Rock Resort to host art installation ‘Field of Light’

A monumental art phenomenon, Bruce Munro’s Field of Light, will be created in its largest form to date at Ayers Rock Resort in the spiritual heart of Australia. The solar-powered installation will open on 1 April, 2016, remaining open throughout the Red Centre’s distinct seasons until 31 March, 2017.

This ambitious exhibition forms part of Ayers Rock Resort’s commitment to arts and culture, which includes staging once-in-a-lifetime experiences and will illuminate a remote desert area within sight of majestic Uluru. 

This presents an absolutely unique opportunity for travellers to enjoy not only the spiritual nature of the destination, but experience it in a unique and mesmerizing way.

Bruce Munro conceived the idea for the Field of Light while visiting Uluru in 1992, but it wasn’t until 2004 that the installation first materialized at both London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and in Munro’s own backyard in south-west England. Field of Light has since dazzled visitors at sites across the United Kingdom, the United States and Mexico.

In keeping with the desert’s vast scale, Munro and his team will install more than 50,000 slender stems crowned with radiant frosted-glass spheres. The coloured spheres, connected via illuminated optical fibre, will bloom as darkness falls over Australia’s spiritual heartland. Pathways will draw viewers into the installation, which will come to life under a sky brilliant with stars. 

Logistics for a project such as this are immense. Qantas, as the official airline partner of the Field of Light, is transporting 50,000 unique stems of light all the way from the Bruce Munro workshop in the UK directly to Ayers Rock Airport.

Guests at Ayers Rock Resort’s five properties will be invited to interact with Munro’s monumental experiential artwork. At a fee, of course! You can watch a 60-second video of this to get a better idea. 

The only underwater Wonder of the World beckons!

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef is the only place on earth where two World Heritage listed icons meet – the Great Barrier Reef and the ancient Daintree Rainforest. 

From kangaroos to diving with countless marine species, bungee jumping in the middle of a rainforest to unwinding in the lap of luxury on an island, Cairns is the perfect holiday that you deserve.    

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, is offering special, all-inclusive return economy fares into Cairns and Brisbane from India starting from Rs 62,000. The offer is on until 30th September 2015 and valid for travel till 31st March 2016. 


For more information, visit Tourism Australia site or their Facebook page.  

Visit Vellar Craft Village in Kovalam

The Vellar craft village at Kovalam is set to get a makeover as a tourist destination that offers visitors a unique glimpse into ethnic crafts. The Rs 10-crore project, divided into marketing and entertainment zones, is an attempt to provide exposure to Kerala’s handicraft and other ethnic craft products.

Spread along a 10-acre stretch, the craft village, modelled on the lines of Dilli Haat in New Delhi is built without disturbing the natural terrain of the region. Minor alterations in landscaping and rock cutting methods are used to build the craft village, which is in complete harmony with nature.

The marketing zone will have a total of 27 shops, with five shops constructed in hexagonal structures, for the exhibition, sale and promotion of traditional craft items and handicrafts from various artists, organisations and craftsmen.

Sellers and craftsmen will be aided with subsidy grants to provide financial security. New amenities being set up include signages, parking facility, landscaping, lawn beautification and a bio gas plant. 

The aim is to give a fillip to traditional crafts and artisans, to give artists a space to show the making of craft products for tourists who are curious to know about the technical side of craft practice.

The entertainment zone will have cafeterias, a park with a water feature and sightseeing spots. Four cafeterias, including two traditional ‘thattukada’ serving authentic Kerala delicacies, are also nearing completion. Cultural programmes will be here held during weekends.

An open auditorium, connected to the restaurants where performance arts can be held, adds to the facilities. Also, a conference hall with a capacity to accommodate 1,500 people is being built where international conferences can be conducted. 

Sargaalaya in Kozhikode is yet another craft village project set up by Kerala Tourism in the state.

Oktoberfest coming to country close to you

One no longer needs to go all the way to Munich to experience Oktoberfest! Macau, the entertainment capital of Asia ushers in the seventh Oktoberfest between October 15 and 25, 2015. You can experience Munich's famed festival in the truest sense at MGM Macau. 

 

This 12-day beer fest captures the essence of Bavarian festivities through authentic German beer, live entertainment and a party atmosphere. Furnished with classic long wooden tables and benches under a huge tent, the venue comes alive every day from 6pm till midnight, with the clinking of beer mugs and the sounds of traditional accordion and oompah music.

Ceiling wreaths and buntings, taps flowing with Spaten beer, carnival game booths, folk dancing and sing-along are all part of the fun. You can enjoy the rhythmic Bavarian whip-cracking, the playing of traditional Alpenhorn, and dance to the Högl Fun Band, flown in all the way from Germany. 

 

Over the years, Macau Oktoberfest has already received more than 77,000 guests and has served 74,166 liters of beer, 15,895 kilograms of pork knuckles, 6,996 roasted chickens and 9,485 pieces of homemade pretzels!

 

Beer is the essence of the Oktoberfest, and MGM Macau has specially brought one of only six brews that is regarded as the genuine Oktoberfest beer – the Spaten from Munich. First served at 1872’s Oktoberfest, the beer features a rich, textured palate with an underlying sweetness that is true to tradition. Besides Spaten, this year’s Oktoberfest also features Franziskaner Non-alcoholic Beer, Franziskaner Wheat Beer and Fruit Flavor Beer. 

For 12 knee-slapping days, guests can feast on bratwurst sausages, roasted free range chicken, roasted pork knuckles and other German specialties while enjoying a stein or two of the beer.

 

Oktoberfest admission tickets and food and beverage coupons are available for sale from September 14 to October 25, 2015.  Entrance fee is MOP 130 per person, inclusive of one drink. 

 

Time:               1pm – 8pm Daily

Email:              oktoberfest@mgmmacau.com

Your ticket to the Caribbean!

The must-attend happening in Trinidad and Tobago in September is the Trinidad +Tobago film festival (ttff), which will be held this year from 15–29 September. A hot-ticket event, the ttff was voted one of the 25 coolest film festivals in the world by MovieMaker Magazine in 2014, and one of the top ten unmissable events in the Caribbean, by Culturetrip.com in 2015.

The festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Some of the standout events taking place are the opening-night red-carpet gala and after-party, the exciting awards ceremony, and the screening of nearly a hundred feature-length and short films made by people living in the Caribbean and its diaspora, many of them making their world premiere. Digging deep into the archives of the region’s cinema, the ttff will also screen ten classic Caribbean films as part of its birthday celebrations.

For those interested in the art of film-making itself, there will be panel discussions and workshops, including a documentary masterclass from renowned documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield, as well as a three-day academic symposium, Caribbean Cinema Now, examining the status of contemporary Caribbean cinema.

There will also be lots of limes—parties—with opportunities to meet local directors, and visiting filmmakers from the Caribbean and across the globe. You will also be able to purchase Festival memorabilia including T-shirts, mugs and bags with this year’s slogan, “it starts here.”

Adding to the excitement of this year’s festival will be Pras Michel of the Fugees, who will be in T&T to promote the Caribbean premiere of his film Sweet Micky for President, at the opening night gala and after-party.

Trinidad & Tobago: 
They are two islands with two unique experiences. The twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a unique and true Caribbean paradise boasting of a heady mix of cultural activities, eco-adventure and culinary delights. From relaxing on palm tree-lined white sandy beaches, to swimming in aquamarine clear waters, from the picturesque Maracas Beach to enjoying the greatest show on Earth, the Carnival, Trinidad and Tobago is indeed a paradise with their lush forests and nature reserves, rare tree frogs, pristine corals, unforgettable hiking and exotic birds. The twin-islands undoubtedly offer a one-of-a-kind island escape. 

Visas: Because of historical ties and/or bilateral agreements between Trinidad and Tobago with India, citizens of India do not need visas to travel to the twin islands. However, one must procure a UK or a USA visa in order to transit from the respective ports for flights into Trinidad & Tobago. 

Fast Facts:
Official Name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Capital: Port of Spain
Population: 1.3 million
Official language: English
Currency: Trinidad & Tobago Dollar (TTS)
Airport: Trinidad – Piarco International Airport
           Tobago – A.N.R Robinson International Airport
Climate: Tropical; rainy season (June through December)
             Dry Season (January through May)

Celebrate Bonderam festival in Goa

Goa is all set to organize the Bonderam festival, which is celebrated in the island of Divar, located 12 kms from Panjim city, on the fourth Saturday of August. This year the festival falls on August 22, 2015.

The name Bonderam originates from ‘Bandeira’ – the Portuguese word for flag. During the Portuguese rule there were frequent disputes between the villagers on the Divar island over property issues. Thus the Portuguese introduced a system by putting up flags to demarcate the boundaries.

The otherwise laidback island of Divar comes alive on the day of the Bonderam festival. The day begins with a flag parade from the main Divar junction, which is accompanied by a brass band. 

With this the Bonderam festival is officially declared open. 

Later in the day there is a fancy-dress competition followed by the traditional float parade and a live musical performance featuring famous music bands of Goa. The festival begins at noon and concludes by late evening. 

For more details check the Goa Tourism website.