20 June 2015

travel 51

1 MexicoSwim in a cenote sinkhole and explore ancient temples in Yucatan

2 ScotlandStop by the Taynuilt Hotel, where good food and hospitality flourish

3 iSraelTake a tour on a Segway and enjoy Mediterranean-Israeli cuisine during 48 hours in Jerusalem

PlUSbargain breaks

this weeks destinations A tour of Jerusalem by Segway

1

3

2

Historic temples, deadly basketball and cocktails made for Shrek Kate Wickers and sons are charmed by a visit to Mexicos Yucatan

Magic of the Mayans

The Mayan temple, Chichen Itza, main

PHoTo

grA

PHS: KATe W

ICKer

S

My nine-year-old son, Freddie, isnt sure about the green stuff on his poached eggs.

Its chaya, a Yucatan superfood, three times more nutritious than any other leafy green vegetable, and used in everything from eggs to ice cream to drinks. Hell have to get used to it. Its our

first morning in the Yucatan, the region on the eastern tip of Mexico. We flew in to Cancun airport the night before, then headed by private transfer 180km inland to lovely

Hacienda Chichen, built in the 16th century by Spanish conquistadors, located in the grounds of Chichen Itza the regions most famous Mayan temple and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Guest bedrooms are the chalets used by archaeologists in the 1920s. The haciendas biggest draw is its private gate to the ruins and by 8:30am we are raring to be first in. Our first glimpse of the 25m high Castillo de Kukulcan is a wow moment. We hire a guide, who is astute, focusing on all things of interest to my jetlagged sons aged 14, 13 and 9.

Did they know the Mayans played a game a bit like basketball? And that the captain of the winning team was sacrificed by having his head chopped off? He points out images of skulls and eagles eating human hearts. I dont see them yawn once.Yucatan has the largest

underground network of caves, subterranean rivers and sinkholes or cenotes in the world and swimming in them is a treat, especially in temperatures pushing 30 degrees. We head to Cenote Ikkil, which is 26m below ground level but open to the sky. Access is via a

stone staircase on one side but vines and small waterfalls cascade down the other. My sons jump off the side while I float on my back alongside the catfish, staring up through shafts of sunlight to a tunnel of tropical forest. Back at the hacienda we go

birdwatching with Berberno, a naturalist he also plays in the hotels guitar trio who leads us through the kitchen garden, where we pause to snap off a snack of warm bananas. Within minutes we have seen a beautiful blue-

crested motmot, with its long tennis racquet-shaped tail, and a young, crimson-crested woodpecker having a go at a domestic papaya. But the highlight is the perfect, six-inch high Mexican pygmy owl, which sits scowling at us from a low branch.From here we travel to the

coastal town of Celestun, for a boat trip through the 146,000-acre protected Bio Reserve. More than 300 species of birds pass through here and thousands of flamingoes flock to nest and breed. They are such alluring creatures, and at their most curious in the air. We watch them flying in, their necks and legs equidistant from their wings so at times they look like they are flying backwards. The skipper fishes out the tiny red shrimp the flamingoes feast on to give them their pink plumage. We sail into the mangrove, where termite mounds teeter on the branches and crocodiles lurk just metres from where people splash in a natural spring. Celestun is a pretty fishing village,

with a clash of colourful casas on the less-visited west coast facing the Gulf of Mexico. On the weekend the beach is packed with kids flying kites, families barbecuing, their obligatory buckets of iced Sol beer buried in the sand. Cafes serve up blue crab, flour tortillas

Merida is possibly the happiest city Ive visited

20 June 2015

and rice, and beach stalls sell starfish, conch shells and shark jaws. Wed never get one through customs, I tell my hopeful sons. From here its just 90 minutes to the city of Merida, Yucatans cultural hub. We stay at the quirky Luz en Yucatan, a boutique hotel without the high prices, which has a homely atmosphere, with large family rooms, private terraces with hammocks and a communal pool. Merida is possibly the happiest city Ive ever visited. On Sunday the central roads are closed off so that everyone can enjoy a nice bike ride and senior citizens dance in the squares. We dine at La Chaya Maya (Oh no, its named after that green stuff, moans Freddie), where they serve up Yucatan specialties (try the poc-chuc, marinated pork with tortillas) and I really disgust my sons by opting for a frozen chaya margarita. It looks like the kind of thing Shrek might order, but is delicious. We explore the iguana-ridden ruins at Uxmal and swim in the nearby natural cenotes, lunching at the atmospheric Hacienda Ochil, once a thriving plantation. Even with its great restaurant and artisan shops it has a satisfyingly spooky ghost town vibe. Wed promised ourselves four

luxurious days of doing nothing on a fabulous beach, so travelled to the Caribbean coastline and the Belmond Maroma Resort & Spa, on the Riviera Maya. Its a gorgeous resort and its understated, tasteful Mexican dcor blends perfectly with its 25 acres of jungle gardens. But by day three my sons are twitchy. Grab your snorkels. Were going on an adventure, I tell them, and we hop on a boat to the second-largest reef in the world, which lies on the resorts doorstep. Were in the water just seconds before an eagle ray flies by, and we cant believe

our luck when, in his wake, comes a sedate green turtle. Stopping by at Freddys Bar, with his 120-strong range of Tequila, before dinner becomes a habit. I slip off to Kinan Spa an enchanted forest of a place where non-stinging bees are kept to produce honey for treatments and the leaves from grandpa tree (a huge Banyan) float gently down to cover me as I lie on one of the day beds watching butterflies flit by. The lovely facial is simply a bonus. We end our trip in Tulum, which

in the last ten years has morphed from backpackers enclave to cool, laid-back resort full of quirky

boutique hotels and funky restaurants. We hire bikes to explore the isolated ruins at Coba, just an hour from Tulum. Unlike the other Mayan ruins weve explored, most here remain jungle-clad and youre allowed to

scramble up the near vertical steps of Nohoch

Mul, at 42m, the Yucatans tallest pyramid. Views from the top are stunning jungle and lakes as far as you can see but the leg-burning climb separates those whove been eating their chaya from those who have not. Theres never been a better time to point out to my sons the importance of eating greens. Its just a shame Im so out of breath.

Thomas Cook fly to Cancun from Glasgow. Fares start at 480.98 adult return, www.thomascookairlines.com; double rooms at Hacienda Chichen start at 80 plus taxes, www.haciendachichen.com; rooms at Luz en Yucatan start at 36 per night, www.luzenyucatan.com; a deluxe view room at the Belmond Maroma Resort & Spa costs 342, based on two sharing, inclusive of breakfast and taxes, www.belmond.com/maroma-resort-and-spa-riviera-maya; Kate used Yucatan Connection for private transport, www.yucatan-connection.com

travel52

The Belmond Maroma resort & Spa on the riviera Maya, inset; swimming in a cenote, bottom

bargain breaksThe best deals

nights full board aboard the five-star MS Concerto, seven nights all-inclusive at the five-star Sonesta Pharaoh resort in Hurghada, and return flights from London gatwick between 16 november-15 April. Book by 27 June. Call 0208 5889943 or see www.travelinteraction.co.uk

neTHer-neTHerLAndAvailable from 27 June-31 August, the five-star dylan hotel in Amsterdam is offering a Summer garden Package. It starts from 353 and includes an overnight stay for two in a Luxury double room, buffet breakfast, three-course dinner and more. Flights not included.Call 0031 205 30 20 10 or see www.dylanamsterdam.com

BIg APPeALMy America Holiday is offering three nights at the three-star Wellington hotel in new York, on a room-only basis, from 469pp, based on two adults sharing, including flights with Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow. Book by 30 June for dates in december and January.Call 020 8290 9797 or see www.myamericaholiday.co.uk

nILe To See YouPrices start from 499 for a 14-night nile cruise and stay in Hurghada with Travel Interaction. This includes seven

i dont know about you, but Ive never given Taynuilt a chance. Head west on the A85, and theres no real incentive to do so. Theres

a sign pointing right to the village, the station and the golf course, one pointing left to some holiday chalets, theres a war memorial and a whitewashed hotel at the crossroads and thats that. Ahead, theres the coast, Oban, and the prospect of islands. Just a few hundred yards further on and the streetlights stop. You accelerate again, and its gone from the rear view mirror.Next time, slow down. Have

another look at that hotel at the foot of Ben Cruachan. Its the building that gave Taynuilt its name (house by the burn in Gaelic), a ten-bedroom coaching inn dating back to the 17th century that was bought two years ago by a chef, John McNulty, who is just 25 and determined to turn it into one of Scotlands finest gastro-pubs.Its a bit of a gamble. Motorists

like me, blinkered by that rush to see the sea that never truly leaves those of us whose childhoods were spent

far from it, might always tend to zoom past. Worse still, those tourists who DID stop off for a meal there before it reopened in March 2013 mightnt want to do so again.From what I can gather from

friends who live nearby, the Taynuilt Hotel as it was when McNulty bought it out of administration was the kind of place that gave Scottish tourism a bad name. Microwaved meals. Basic beers

and lagers. A kitchen with just one cooker and a hotplate. A bar with a ceiling painted black, white walls stained with nicotine, and an uneven, rotting floor that occasionally flooded. At a cost of 225,000 over and

above the purchase price, McNulty has transformed the place. The bar has been rebuilt, cleared of its tired copperware, given a white ceiling, its carpets replaced by a level wooden floor, the kitchen and the bedrooms comprehensively upgraded, the building rewired and provided with a new boiler. But the biggest change is in the

food and drink. Our tourism chiefs are forever banging on about the

A talented chef has made a pub in Taynuilt a destination rather than a place to pass, writes david robinson

Gastro hub

20 June 2015

travel 53

sheer quality of Scottish produce, but how many pubs take that message so seriously that it informs everything on their menu? How many, when making a fish or a venison pie, will deliberately use only the choicest cuts and not just leftovers? How many, when you order lobster at 6:30pm, will be able to tell you its so freshly caught that it hasnt yet arrived? If McNulty has been financially

helped by his family (his father owns a small chain of local pharmacies) in buying the hotel, the passion for high-quality affordable seasonal produce is entirely his own. Its what he picked up first at the Kilberry Inn on Kintyre, where he would have learnt how far people are prepared to travel for good food, then working

for Emily Watkins at the Kingham Plough, in Chipping Norton, one of Englands finest gastro-pubs, where he might have wondered why such places were all too scarce in Scotland. Its not been easy. Hes worked

the last 12 months without a break, and when he moved in, he and his partner Rachel and their baby daughter lived in the bedroom above the front entrance as the hotel was being gutted and refurbished around them. We spent the first five weeks just clearing the place out, he said. Its only because were young enough and daft enough that wed take something like this on.Finding a general manager like

David Lapsley must have helped. The son of the Tiree policeman,

and a former soldier with the Argylls, Lapsley is that rare creature: someone who who can convey his passion for food and drink without leaving the customer feeling browbeaten or hopelessly ignorant. If you are passionate about putting the best food and drink you can find in front of people, he says, this job is really simple. Between them, they have plenty

of plans. Already, they are trying to lure visitors from Oban by taking the cost of the train ticket from their bills, have introduced loyalty cards for locals and midweek pensioners lunches at less than 8. In the future they plan to build on their whisky tastings (a flight of 12, 14 and 21-year-old Balvenies for 13, anyone?), introduce meals based

around their excellent wine list and craft beers and buy a few mountain bikes to hire out. If theres a prize for commitment

and enthusiasm in this, Scotlands Year of Food and Drink, Id happily nominate the two of them. If there isnt, there should be. In 1803, when Dorothy and

William Wordsworth passed this way on their journey around Scotland, they stayed at the Taynuilt Hotel too. It was, Dorothy noted, very congenial, with good breakfasts, excellent supper, and including accommodation for the horses, all at a modest price.Apart from that bit about the

horses, it still is.

Bed and breakfast at the Taynuilt Hotel starts at 85 per room. Tel: 01866 822437, visit www.taynuilthotel.co.uk or email enquiries@taynuilthotel.co.uk

Clockwise from main: Ben Cruachan in silhouette; the exterior of the Taynuilt Hotel; a scallop dish from chef/owner John Mcnulty

PHoTo

grA

PHS: THInKSToCK; FIonA LAIng

48 hours in The skyline above the Western Wall, below

Friday, 5pm Check into the Mount Zion Hotel (www.mountzion.co.il) and as dusk falls have a goldstar lager in the lobby, taking in the cityscape.6:30pm Quickly head to the Tower of david (www.towerofdavid.org.il, 55ILS/9) for the 45-minute sound and vision show which introduces you to the dramatic history of the city.8:30pm Walk to First Station (www.firststation.co.il), the old railway station where trendy restaurants and shops have replaced the trains and tracks. Chef Moti ohana specialises in Mediterranean-Israeli inspired grilled

meat, casseroles and fish at Hachatzer (www.thecourtyard.rest-e.co.il, tasting menu, 230ILS/38). Saturday, 9am Head for the old City. It is Shabbat so Jewish businesses will be shut, but that shouldnt stop you seeing the important sites. Avoid the worst of the queues by going first to the traditional site of Jesuss crucifixion, burial and resurrection, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Then explore at leisure, fuelled by fresh pomegranate juice or a snack, until exhausted. 3pm Test drive a Segway (created by a Jewish inventor dean Kamen) with SmartTour (www.smart-tour.co.il,195ILS/32.50 for two hours). A guide teaches you the techniques before

leading you through the city, explaining the sights as you go. 8pm dine at Adom at First Station (mains from 62ILS/10), where the fusion is French-Italian. If you see seaweed, calamari and crab risotto on the menu, dont miss it. Sunday, 9am After a leisurely breakfast, discover the hotels past as an eye hospital built by the British order of St John in the 1880s. In the 1940s, when Israelis were blockaded in the old Citys Jewish quarter, a secret cable car ran at night from the building to Mount Zion, carrying supplies to those who needed them.

10am Take a taxi to the Israel Museum (www.imj.org.il, 54ILS/9). See the dead Sea Scrolls and the 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem just before it was destroyed by the romans in 66Ad. enjoy the art,

both inside and out, and then have one last Israeli feast at the on-site restaurant Modern before your flight home. FiOna LainG

Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion) airport is 45km from Jerusalem. Easyjet (www.easyjet.com), El Al (www.elal.com) and BA

(www.ba.com) have regular flights from the UK. For further

information on Israel, see www.thinkisrael.com

Jerusalem