The Week USA - 06.02.2020

Travel^ LEISURE^27

Taiwan, for several years now, “has

been close to my heart,” said Chris

Schalkx in Condé Nast Traveler. I

met a girl named Etty when I first

visited the Maryland-size island off

China’s eastern coast and soon also

met her parents—“because that’s

what happens in a place where fam-

ily is everything.” Today, Etty and I

are married and raising a 1-year-old

son in Bangkok. And given how

often we return, I can’t help see-

ing Taiwan as a home of sorts, “a

place for crammed dinner tables and

kaoliang toasts to Popo, Etty’s late

grandmother.” But there is so much

more to see, as my father-in-law will

mention while getting misty-eyed about

temples, waterfalls, forests, and the sun-

rise over Yushan, Taiwan’s highest peak.

A road trip was called for.

Highly varied geographically, Taiwan is “a

land where a traveler can go from tropi-

cal coast, through soaring mountains, to

This week’s dream: Beautiful Taiwan, all in a few days’ journey

Alamy

“Even the grandest of dames

need face-lifts,” said Randy

Than thong-Knight in

Bloom berg .com. Bangkok’s

oldest luxury hotel has just

emerged from a $90 million

renovation, one that coin-

cides with wider renewal in

the Thai capital. All 331 guest

rooms now open onto the

Chao Phraya River, and the

décor honors the city’s his-

tory as a silk center. The

glass-walled lobby, “one of

Bangkok’s most photogenic

rooms,” has “gone breezy

and tropical,” and there are

now 11 on-site restaurants,

including a French spot with

two Michelin stars and a new

10-seat kaiseki counter.

mandarinoriental.com; doubles

from $473

Hotel of the week

When people think of Elvis, they think Memphis,

said Patti Nickell in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But Tupelo, Miss., is where the rock legend grew

up—“and don’t think Tupelo isn’t aware of it.”

I recently visited the town of 38,000 during its

annual Elvis birthday celebration. The party

began at his birthplace, a museum complex sur-

rounding the two-room cottage built by Elvis’

father, Vernon, in 1934. I also enjoyed visiting the

small church where Presley grew to love gospel

music; Tupelo Hardware, where Gladys Presley

bought her 11-year-old son his first guitar for

$7.75; the Lyric Theater, where the future heart-

throb had his first kiss; and Johnnie’s Drive-In,

where he generally ordered the Dough Burger and

a milkshake. That’s not the only Tupelo eatery

with food fit for a king. Connie’s Fried Chicken

is famous for its biscuits and gravy, as well as its

deep-fried blueberry doughnuts. “Hey, what did

you expect—Elvis was a Southern boy.”

Getting the flavor of...

A terrace on the Chao Phraya

Last-minute travel deals

Pamper yourself in Spain

Almanac Barcelona is reducing

rates by 20 percent for stays

through the end of March.

Guests at the boutique hotel on

Gran Via can enjoy a sauna, fit-

ness center, and rooftop yoga.

With the discount, doubles start

at $245 a night.

almanachotels.com/barcelona

Snorkeling the Indian Ocean

Tahiti Legends is offering a

package that includes a fishing

trip, snorkeling among whale

sharks, and seven nights at the

Centara Grand Island Resort

in the Maldives. Rates start at

$4,150 a head for travel through

April 10. Use code MHI-WINDIV.

tahitilegends.com

See Europe by riverboat

Explore vineyards in Germany,

castles in Slovakia, or Buda-

pest’s Gothic architecture on

a trip with Avalon Waterways.

Select European river cruises

booked by March 9 include

either free airfare or savings of

up to $2,500 per couple.

avalonwaterways.com

dense woodlands in under two hours.” I

start my journey in the mountains east of

Taipei in Jiufen, a picturesque village whose

teahouses date to the late 19th century,

shortly after Japan began its half-century of

rule. Zigzagging south, I marvel at the mar-

ble gorges in Taroko National Park, pass

a lazy afternoon at Sun Moon Lake, and

board the Alishan Forest Railway for

a journey to the mountain resort of

Alishan that becomes “a two-hour

slideshow of kaleidoscopic green.”

The train chugs past rice paddies and

“through citrus orchards so close I

can almost reach out and nab the

fruits from my window.”

As I move south, “a different Taiwan

emerges.” The dialects grow trickier,

the food sweeter, and “everywhere

seems to bathe in a permanent

golden glow.” By the time I reach

Dulan, a laid-back surf town full of

mom-and-pop shops and windswept

palms, I am beginning to grow as

happily enchanted as I was when I first

encountered Taiwan. “Taiwan still feels

different from the rest of Asia. It may have

become a home of sorts, but it remains

somewhere else entirely.”

Remote Lands (remotelands.com) offers

seven-night tours of Taiwan starting at

$750 a person per day.

Elvis Presley’s humble hometown

“If you love sailing, or even the idea of sailing,

you’ll appreciate a clipper ship,” said Diane Bair

and Pamela Wright in The Boston Globe. We

recently cruised the Mediterranean aboard the

Royal Clipper (starclippers.com), which is the

longest, tallest, and fastest sailing ship in the

world. “Even with its 42 sails down, this 439-

foot, five-masted, squared-rigged clipper ship is

a stunner. It draws attention even in a port that’s

wall-to-wall with mega-yachts. You’ll feel like

a celebrity as you languidly wave at passersby.”

Best of all, “you don’t have to know a jib from a

jibe to appreciate it.” We enjoyed our lively din-

nertime conversations with European strangers

and lounging on rafts tied to the stern. But any-

one who boards should strap on a harness and

take advantage of one of the ship’s inimitable

thrills. “You will be transported to the glori-

ous Age of Sail as you climb up the mast to the

crow’s nest, 75 feet over the water.”

The world’s largest sailing ship

Bangkok

The Mandarin Oriental

The Alishan Forest Railway glides past blossoming cherry trees.