# Away with Anton Enus: ‘We blew a whole week’s budget on a hotel buffet’

In Guardian Australia’s weekly interview about travel, the SBS host recalls a luxury moment backpacking in India. Plus, why he always packs a pair of running gloves.

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## My earliest childhood holiday memory is …

As a family we always went camping over the Easter school holidays at Midmar Dam, a couple of hours outside Durban. Some years we camped in tents, in others we splashed out and rented a holiday shack. All pretty modest, but enjoyable family times.

Midmar Dam had a tennis court. My best memory was beating my dad for the first time. It took me years, but I was determined – and it didn’t matter one bit that his sports were rugby and wrestling, not tennis.

## Describe your most memorable travel meal – good, terrible or completely out there.

A long time ago on a backpacking trip through India, my partner and I blew a whole week’s budget on the buffet at the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, a very fancy hotel. But I can still remember the joy I got from those amazing flavours and the sheer luxury of the experience.

## What’s the most relaxing place you’ve ever visited?

Probably the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa. For years I would spend every Christmas with friends, hiking to the top of the plateau for five or six nights. The views, earned from a hard day’s slog with a heavy backpack, were spectacular and serene.



Anton in Paris, wearing running gloves: ‘Much lighter, thinner and more breathable than everyday gloves,’ he says.

## And the most stressful?

The centre of New Delhi. Unrelenting noise, a crush of people that reduced personal space to zero, scam artists at every turn, tireless beggars, masterful pickpockets. But, despite those frustrations, it’s also totally unforgettable.

## What’s one item you always put in your suitcase?

Running gloves. I tend to travel in early European springtime when the temperature can be bracing. Running gloves are much lighter, thinner and more breathable than everyday gloves.

And since I pack very lightly for my trips, having a pair of gloves that takes up no space at all, is very functional and doubles up for other occasions, is a big win.

## What’s your strategy for enduring long-haul flights?

Beg for an upgrade to a lie-flat seat. Sadly, this is a fantasy, as I’ve never been game to ask. Failing that, always have a really good book, plush eye mask and, not least, noise-cancelling earphones.

## What’s your biggest travel regret?

Not accompanying my partner to Machu Picchu when it was still possible to do it as a quiet, meditative experience.

It must have been 1995. I stayed home because money was tight. My partner, then working as an engineer, got to stay at a modest hotel near the entrance to the site. This afforded him an early and serene experience before the hordes arrived.

The hotel has since been taken over by a chain and is no longer affordable. I feel I missed my opportunity to see Machu Picchu without the crush of people.

- _Anton Enus hosts SBS World News, nightly at 6.30pm._

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