28 KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22, 2014 www.katherinetimes.com.au

HOT DEALSMARKET FORCESA guided walking tour ofKathmandu is included in a new fly,stay and tour package from DirectFlights. The package includesreturn flights with Cathay Pacific toKathmandu, five nights at thethree-star Hotel Tenki in theNepalese capital and a guided citywalking tour with a market visit tobuy lunch ingredients, beforeheading to a nearby home to cookand eat with a local family. Thepackage must be booked byJanuary 27 for travel fromFebruary 3 to March 25, April 1 to 10and April 28 to June 26. It costsfrom $1413 a person twin sharefrom Melbourne and from $1430 aperson twin share from Sydney.directflights.com.au

COAST WATCHReturn economy airfares areincluded in an American cruisepackage along the Californiancoast and part of Mexico. Theeight-day voyage on CelebrityCentury stops at Los Angeles,Santa Barbara, San Francisco,Monterey, Catalina Island andEnsenada. The return economyairfares between Australia and LosAngeles are with Delta Airlines. TheDestination International packagecosts from $2399 a person,departing from Perth, Melbourne,Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane onMarch 21. ditravel.com.au

COOL FOR CATSA 13-day India tour with luxurysafari company &Beyond offersaccommodation in fabulous hotelsand lodges. Stays are for threenights at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi,three nights at the Banjaar TolaTented Camp in Kanha NationalPark, three nights at Mahua KothiJungle Lodge in BandhavgarhNational Park, two nights at theRambagh Palace, Jaipur and onenight at the Oberoi Amarvilas,Agra. The tour costs from $8533 aperson twin share and includesaccommodation, all transfers,sightseeing and overland trips, allinternal economy flights, park fees,guides and three meals daily withbeverages including wine and beer,laundry and emergency medicalevacuation insurance. The offer isvalid for travel until March 31.andbeyond.com

CRYSTAL CLEARBook a stay at Snow CrystalApartments in the heart of theNiseko ski area in Japan andreceive a complimentary breakfastgrocery pack on arrival. The pricealso covers an English-speakinggreeter at Chitose Airport, returnairport transfers, six ski- lift passesand on-ground support. It costsfrom $1780 a person based on sixsharing a three-bedroom deluxeapartment in the Snow Crystalcomplex next to the Ace Familychairlift. The offer is valid for staysfrom February 8 to 28. Pskijapan.com

Domes, sweet domesRichard Tulloch tours a historicpalace - and lives in it like a prince.

Viren bounces with the enthusiasm ofthe young manager in the film BestExotic Marigold Hotel. “I want you totake away a memory! I want you to

have an experience! Please be careful, sir, if youstep back to take that photo you will fall in theswimming pool.”

Viren’s passion for the history of the TajMahal Palace, combined with his theatrical flairwhen telling a story, encouraged his employersto allow him to work full-time researching thehotel’s colourful past and leading daily heritagetours for guests.

There’s plenty to tell. Mahatma Gandhi’sbare feet padded up the carpet of the colonialstaircase. Lord Mountbatten’s speech in thegrand ballroom ushered in Indianindependence in 1947. Ravi Shankar taughtGeorge Harrison to play the sitar here.

The elaborate domes, the central one areplica of the cupola of Florence’s cathedral, thelight filtering through latticework onto thepotted palms in the corridors, the gloriousmasses of fresh flowers and the turbaneddoormen all point to an exclusive institutionestablished by the British in the glory days ofthe Raj.

Quite wrong. The Taj is proudly Indian andalways has been. Parsee industrialist JamsetjiTata opened it in 1903 “for the common man”,meaning Indian guests were welcomed, whenmost hotels of the day excluded them. Roomscost from six rupees, at a time when a poundsterling bought 13 rupees.

The Taj was ahead of its time in other ways,

too. It was the first hotel in India with electricity,elevators, ceiling fans, a fine dining Indianrestaurant, and ensuite bathrooms. The firstfashion parade in the country was held there.During both world wars it served as a hospitalfor soldiers.

The celebrity guest list could be transcribeddirectly from Who’s Who. King George V andQueen Mary kicked things off by staying therein 1911. Since then, the hotel has hosted aconstant stream of royals and presidents,sporting stars and film stars. Photos of OprahWinfrey, Mick Jagger, Jacques Chirac, PrinceCharles, Sachin Tendulkar and John Lennon tellus discreetly this is the place to stay when inMumbai.

Viren goes around the nationalities in ourtour group, rattling off the names of our morecelebrated compatriots. My wife is associatedwith the former Dutch queen Beatrix. I scorethe Australian cricket team, Hugh Jackman,John Howard and Kylie Minogue.

In the Masala Kraft, one of 11 restaurants inthe hotel, we share a superb modern Indianmeal and learn we are sitting at Hillary Clinton’stable. Famous or not, we are all treated to thehighest level of service: friendly without beingcasual, attentive without being obsequious.

Local Mumbai people have a particularfondness for the Taj, too. “They say allmarriages are made in the Sea Lounge,” staffmember Nikhila says. She celebrated herengagement there, looking out at the ferriesbobbing on the bay.

Viren grew up just down the street from theTaj and, as a child, came for ice-creams, and torun screaming with excitement down theechoing marble corridors.

The Tata business empire is renowned

throughout India for its success and revered inMumbai for its philanthropy. A share of thehotel’s profits regularly goes to support localcharities, and people spontaneously tell us ofother generous gifts by the family.

On request, Viren runs art tours, too. The arton the hotel’s walls comprises more than 4000pieces, hundreds of them of museum-quality.During the 1950s and 60s, the hotel offeredgallery space to up-and-coming artists inreturn for donations of unsold work. Over theyears, some emerged to become India’s greatestartists, incalculably increasing the value of thecollection.

The witty interior of the iconic Joy Shoesshop is a work of art in itself. It was designed byIndia’s most successful painter, M. F. Husain;this is ironic, since the artist notoriously wentbarefoot all his life.

At the end of Viren’s heritage tour, we pauseat a list of 32 names inscribed on the wall in acorner of the lobby. It can’t be avoided. Thesepeople died in the terrorist attack on the hotelin November 2008. Among them are 12members of the hotel staff and, poignantly, adog. Including Lucy reminds us of theinnocence of all the victims.

The Taj people naturally don’t want thosedreadful events to be all that the hotel is knownfor. It’s one story in a continuing narrative. Butthey are justifiably proud of the heroism of staffmembers who placed the welfare of their guestsabove their own safety during those dark days.

As one of the first guests after the attacksnoted in the visitors’ book: “Your staff is asymbol of graciousness and resilience. BarackObama.”

The writer was the guest of the Taj MahalPalace in Mumbai and Abercrombie & Kent.

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