Destinations

This exotic Arabic fusion restaurant is located in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. The space is romantic with beautiful colors and soft Arabian music playing in the background. The food at Saha is a unique blend of Yemenese Arabic, full of exotic flavors of the world. We were promptly seated at our 7pm reservation time. The wait staff is attentive and very knowledgeable about the wines and the various items on the menu. Saha offers small plates and entrees, and we opted for both! I recommend the Saha sampler plate, which includes pita bread with about seven different dips, including fireroasted eggplant & tomato and zahaweg. Another wonderful small plate choice is the Seafood Kibbeh.  Their special heirloom tomato salad was so good, I wanted to ask for seconds! Two entrees I can recommend are the Sage Duck and the Branzini.  I’m still dreaming about the cinnamon orange reduction that came with the Sage Duck…

In addition to the wonderful, exotic food and accommodating wait staff, the restaurant has a convenient parking option directly across the street. I recommend this restaurant to locals and visitors alike. For some parting advice, I recommend on the dessert menu, the “Slap Ya Mama”.  Not only is it fun to say, but this baked sweet is a little slice of heaven!  Bon appetite!

Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from 794 until 1868.  It is one of the few cities in Japan that still has an abundance of ancient buildings.  For example, the Nijo Castle, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kiyomizu-dera (which has a spectacular view of the city), and the Ryōan-ji, famed for its Zen garden. It is important to plan your itinerary prior to arrival because the plethora of sites can be overwhelming.  There is so much to see and do in the Kyoto area, you will need at least a week to explore the city.  I have been to Kyoto twice and have not seen it all!

You may travel to Kyoto via rail or air.  The Tōkaidō Shinkansen provides passenger rail service linking Kyoto with Nagoya and Tokyo (in one direction) and with nearby Osaka and points west (in the other). The trip from Tokyo takes just over two hours. Another way to access Kyoto is via Kansai International Airport in Osaka. The Haruka Express carries passengers from the airport to Kyoto Station in 72 minutes. If you are taking the train, you will have to travel light; there is no place to store large pieces of luggage.  However, the scenery can prove to be rather spectacular.  If the weather is cooperating, you will see Mount Fiji en route from Tokyo.  I was able to take a photo that I keep at my desk.  Upon arrival at the Kyoto train station, it is easy to take a taxi to your local hotel.  It’s best to have your hotel name written in Japanese so that you can show it to the driver and prevent confusion.

Visit Kyoto in either the spring or fall for optimal weather—fall for those who are searching for some lovely autumn colors and spring for those who wish to be surrounded by cherry blossoms.  Kyoto is best explored on foot—be sure to check out the Philosopher’s Walk.  It is a 1 ½ mile-long path through north-eastern Kyoto. The walk runs south from Ginkakuji (the Silver Pavilion) beside an aqueduct to Nyakuoji Shrine and passes several temples en route. Japan National Tourist Organization offers a Kyoto Walks brochure, with information about touring the city on foot.

I stayed at the Kyoto Hotel Okura in the city center.  Just steps outside of your hotel is the Gion district. The flagstone-paved streets and traditional buildings are where you’re most likely to see geishas.  Unfortunately, you cannot go to a geisha house without a prior introduction.  There are an abundance of small mom-and-pop restaurants in the Gion district as well.  Even if you cannot speak Japanese (and the owners cannot speak English), you’ll be able to communicate by pointing at the plastic food in the window. Some of these restaurants take credit cards, but it is best to have some Yen.  You usually pay at the cash register instead of leaving cash on the table.  Tips are not necessary and tea (bancha) is free of charge.

After all that walking and touring, I would highly suggest that ask your hotel to recommend a local Japanese bathhouse or sentō.  The baths are separated by sex (men go through the blue door, and women through the reddish door—but you can also check with the attendant) and normally have a bathing area, boiler room, and sauna; most also offer massages.  Bring along a large towel for drying, a small towel for washing, and soap.  Some bathhouses sell these items.  Be sure to take off your shoes before entering the bathing area! (just as you would when visiting someone’s home)  It is also important to shower first before relaxing in the baths.  Spending the afternoon at a sentō is a real treat!

India is not an easy country to travel, which makes the choice of hotel even more important. After a day of sightseeing or meeting with business clients, your hotel can be a quiet refuge from the noise and jostling of a city. Each day we were grateful for our accommodations. The Taj and Oberoi Hotels were welcoming and provided relaxing surroundings with an exceptionally attentive staff constantly offering assistance to enhance your stay.

All the Hotels have beautifully appointed rooms, public areas, restaurants, etc. Because some lobby areas are open there is no air conditioning in them. However, we never had an issue with a lack of air in our rooms. Quite the contrary some rooms were very cool. The suites were spacious; bathrooms tended to be all marble and varied in size from large to huge with rain showers. Two of the rooms we stayed in were the standard double and a bit small. All rooms had slippers, robes, fruit plates, a pillow menu, great bedding, etc. The amenities in the suites included a bottle of wine and better products in the bathrooms. My daughter used the gym/health club in each place we stayed and was impressed with the equipment, staff, trainers and surroundings. Each of the gyms was quite busy. The only exception was the Umaid Bhawan Palace. They don’t have a facility on site but will drive you to a gym a couple miles away. However, that venue was not open when Samantha inquired.

The grounds at each property were absolutely perfectly manicured; shrubbery, trees, flowers, etc well cared for and nicely laid out. The swimming pools and their surroundings were amazing and in some instances jaw dropping gorgeous. We never had enough free time to take a dip. However, other guests seemed to be enjoying the pool areas.

The hotels all had several choices for restaurants; everything from coffee shops to Chinese to Indian fare etc. The food was well prepared and the service attentive. A couple were outstanding and detailed below.

Samantha had her laptop with her and never had a connection problem in our rooms. WIFI use was reasonably priced. I used the business centers in each hotel that had one. (In Udaipur, Jaipur and Jodhpur there weren’t “official” business centers but I was given a laptop to use in my room. For some reason on the borrowed laptops the connections weren’t as good.) The business centers were well equiped and had knowledgable, helpful personnel standing by.

Miscellaneous observations about specific hotels:

In our tour of the Oberoi in Udaipur there was a lot of walking to get from point A to point B. It may not be suitable for older less active travelers.

The Lake Palace is very charming but the “lake” has barely enough water in it for a boat to get to the hotel. You can pick a specific room for your client on the internet.

The Rambaugh Palace and the Lake Palace have Indian dancing each evening to entertain guests.

Samantha and I ate in the Wasabi Restaurant in the Taj Mumbai and Delhi (In the latter the restaurant opened the day we arrived). They are operated by Chef Masahuru Morimoto (the Japanese Iron Chef) and the food is receiving rave reviews. They are in our top ten best meals ever.

Also, making that list was a group lunch at the Imperial Hotel with a site inspection. The hotel is a classic from the British era and still retains its place in Delhi history. Samantha and I went back for dinner on our last night in India.

Abercrombie and Kent did their usual excellent organization of the land portion. Kudos go to the bus we traveled in (We heard over and over from people it’s the best bus in India.) The driver knew how to safely navigate the Indian highways and keep us alive. There are some scarey moments when on the roads so driving ability is huge. We didn’t really have any free time although in our itinerary we were suppose to. It just takes a lot longer to get around than you think and random events can wreck havoc with a schedule. Such as the morning we were going out to the countryside of Jaipur to ride elephants, traffic was at a standstill because villagers had blocked the highway to protest a nonarrival of their water supply. India is not a place for clients who can’t be a little flexible. When I book anyone I will suggest a couple down days worked into the schedule. Our three days at the end in Delhi were much appreciated. There were a couple museums (Folk Art and National Museums) in Delhi that Samantha and I went to that were not on the itinerary which I would recommend to people. All of our guides did a great job teaching us about India. I would especially recommend Pritam Singh Rathore in Jodhpur and Devesh Kumar Agarwal in Varanasi. Our tour director Shagun Mohan was one of the best we’ve ever had.

There were several bombings in Jaipur a couple days before we got there. As a result our schedule for a day or two kept very public crowded places to a minimum. Having experienced this type of activity in other countries, Samantha and I knew we would be kept safe.