EsquireUK-June2018

Camps Bay ofers Cape Town residents and

visitors golden sands and a tidal seawater

swimming pool right on the edge of town

Hong Kong, a ciy that both works and plays

hard, has a soaring syline that dominates

both shores of the famous harbour

In Washington DC’s historic Georgetown

district, find setler homes, art galleries and

artisan cafés alongside the Potomac River

Where first? Look no further than the

quintessential long-haul long weekend

destination, Cape Town. Overnight flights

both ways and minimal time diference mean

that even though the flight is a good 12 hours

you’ll arrive ready to take all the Cape can

throw at you. Eat incredibly well (and cheaply,

relative to the UK), drink exceptional local

wines, cage dive with great white sharks,

trek up Table Mountain (tablemountain.

net) and stay in the stupendous new Silo

Hotel (theroyalportfolio.com), stufed with

contemporary African art, in the buzzy

Waterfront neighbourhood. Tick.

Next there’s Hong Kong, where the expat

communiy still pary like it’s 1996 and China

has yet to regain control of the territory. he

flights ain’t so easy as Cape Town as you’re

flying west to east across several time zones,

but on arrival the ciy’s sheer energy will

guarantee a second wind. Eat the world’s best

dim sum, drink in some of most jaw-dropping

syscraper bars imaginable, see the ultimate

laser show illuminate the harbour (ideally

on board a junk) in the evening, stay in the

revamped and iconic Mandarin Oriental

(mandarinoriental.com) and repeat for three

full-on days before a late night flight that lands

in London in time for work the next morning.

OK, with an eight hour-ish flight there

burning a day — not ideal on a holiday

allowance-scrimping weekend — Washington

DC is still worth it. Trump’s town (at time of

going to press) is a hive of intrigue, gossip and

power plays at the best of times, but the current

administration is pure theatre. Pull up a front

row pew at any of the many drinking dens

where wonks and policy-makers in the world’s

most powerful nation plot and pull their hair

out. Get fresh air on a kayak paddle along the

Potomac River flowing through town, before

the red-eye flight back to London.

Style 55

Holden Rhodes | Gety