This jet-set lad’s friends all seem to be alpha-influencer types, the ones who visit a country long before it hits the mainstream and who dine at restaurants that lack signage and telephone numbers. Take my great pal Leslie, for instance, who traveled to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan a few years back when the county had barely opened its doors to foreigners. She has also visited Mongolia twice and dined innumerable times at Monkey Bar, the hottest restaurant right now in Manhattan.
I attempt to stay abreast and atop the trends, but ultimately, I’d rather keep up with the Joneses (and the Leslies and the Larrys) in other ways, such as growing prize-winning roses rather than being the first to go heli-skiing in the Atlas Mountains. Still, my travel schedule is hardly lacking in the least (it just incorporates more London and Paris than llamas and pygmies), but my upcoming Middle Eastern sojourn will undoubtedly give me some world-class credibility in the wow-ee! wanderlust department.
This Wednesday it’s off to Cairo for four days at the Mena House, a former hunting lodge within walking distance of the pyramids.
Check out the incredible vistas from the grounds of the Mena House, located just minutes from the pyramids. Divine, huh?
Then I am off to Dubai (with a stay-over at the Park Hyatt Dubai and dinners at the fabled, sail-shaped Burj Al Arab resort), Oman, and Jordan before returning to Egypt and the Valley of the Kings and, finally, on to Athens. Whew, what a whirl!
The glorious palm-fringed swimming pool at the Park Hyatt Dubai, a sophisticated sanctuary in the glitzy oasis by the sea.
I’ll report back as to whether the fabled Burj Al Arab resort deserves it seven-star accolades. Stay tuned!
And tomorrow I am dining at Monkey Bar.
So there.