| Masters of Travel |
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Page 2 of 6
©iStockphoto.com/syagci
Photo by Greg Sacks
Briton Jack Dancy Got his start in the travel business in the late nineties, guiding luxury bicycle trips for Butterfield & Robinson. In 2004, he and two other B&R alums pooled their experience and launched Trufflepig, “a tiny travel company with a big nose.” These days he and his fellow “pigs” craft bespoke trips. “Everyone tries to see so much so quickly, but for me, the real luxury is time,” says Dancy. “I’d just want to get off the grid, away from BlackBerrys, phones, and e-mail.” 1. Amorgós, GreeceWHY > A largely empty island in the Cyclades, dotted with traditional Greek villages and a stellar network of craggy old goat paths.STAY > The Pagali Hotel. MUST DO > The Pagali’s owners will arrange for shark fishing with local watermen, hikes from one taverna to the next, and cruising on motorboats between pebbly coves for swimming and snorkeling. 2. The Nile, EgyptWHY > Cruising the Nile is “so classic,” says Dancy—as long as it’s done the right way.MUST DO > Forget the gigantic, floating casinos that attract most tourists and embark instead with Nour El Nil, a small outfit that has refurbished four 19th-century flat-bottom sailboats, or dahabiyyahs, for an unhurried six-day float from Esna to Elephantine Island. VISIT > The Cairo Museum. Once on the Nile, the cruise highlights include the biggies—Valley of the Moon and Wadi El Chatt—as well as the riverside temples of El Kab, Djebel Silsileh, and Kom Ombo. 3. Kumaon, Indian HimalayasWHY > So remote (no cell-phone reception, thank you) that you have to hire a charter flight or hop the overnight train from Delhi, disembark at Kathgodam Station, drive seven hours, and hike another hour.STAY > 360˚ Leti, a back-of-beyond retreat. Privacy is why you came, but luxury is why you’ll stay: The four solar-powered cottages are tricked out with private outdoor fire pits and downy beds dressed in fine linens, and all have views through floor-to-ceiling windows. MUST DO > Shakti, 360˚ Leti’s parent company, also organizes four-day pampered village-to-village treks in the Kumaon. 4. Argentinian PatagoniaWHY > “This is just about the most perfect definition of ‘end of the road’ as you can get,” says Dancy.STAY > Estancia Colomé, outside the 17th-century outpost of Cachi, is a self-sufficient working ranch that takes hedonism seriously. Colomé has nine spacious, sublime guest rooms, an organic farm, and a high-altitude, biodynamic vineyard that produces the self-titled house wine. MUST DO > Fly to Salta, in the foothills of the Andes. Hire gaucho Hernan Uriburu for a three- or four-night ride that climbs from the pampas through cloudforest and past river canyons, winding higher each day. |
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