Traversing landscapes

By Smriti Daniel

The Mirror Magazine speaks to the duo behind The Fields Travel Company, which offers a unique take on travel planning services

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Savindri Talgodapitiya and Vindhya Buthpitiya will be the first to admit they are unlikely travel companions. They met at St. Andrews several years ago, where despite being the only two Sri Lankans on campus, they were still an odd pair – “Vindi was this really quiet girl who didn’t want to make friends, and I was this super enthusiastic undergrad,” says Savindri, laughing.

Rome

Today, Savindri works in the private sector and moonlights as a maths teacher, Vindhya is a freelance consultant and policy researcher. Savindri is an extrovert, Vindhiya an introvert. One loathes local markets and theme parks, the other is a connoisseur of both.

But it took an extremely uncomfortable trip to India, courtesy an incompetent travel agent,to really show them what they had in common: a desire to see the world; a willingness to tolerate each other for long periods of time and, most crucially, a shared commitment to a perfectly planned holiday.

Savindri and Vindhya have since visited Cambodia, Italy, Vietnam and the UAE together. Along the way, they’ve honed their vacation planning skills to an art, and are finding there’s a demand for this kind of thing.

Through The Fields Travel Company, the duo offer travel planning services including custom itineraries, flights, accommodation, restaurant recommendations and bookings, concert tickets “and anything else you might fancy.”

Often, clients will give them a budget and a location and they do the rest; at other times, there’s just the budget and the two get to have the fun of choosing a great destination as they did recently when they sent a couple off on a backpacking tour of Taman Negara, the world’s oldest tropical rainforest.

To get a first-hand experience of their process, they were recruited to help with an upcoming holiday to India, beginning in Bangalore, and wandering down to Mumbai, for a first visit to the city.

PORTO VENERE

For Rs. 5,000, they will handle flight reservations, suggest and book accommodations to suit budget and taste, compile a city guide to each destination detailing key sights, food and other recommendations, and book or direct travellers to local transport options. They take no ‘middleman’ fees on any of these bookings.

To make the process as uncomplicated as possible, they send us a detailed questionnaire to fill in over email. (Conveniently, the whole thing can be handled online.) Budgets, individual travel preferences for everyone in the group and lots of options on the kind of thing we would like to see and do during the trip are collected.

The two then divide the work between them – Savindri might manage the flight bookings and room reservations for instance, while Vindhya takes on the city guides.

The latter are quite deliberately compact – Vindhya’s suggestions are tailored to match interests and include details such as contacts, locations, opening hours and even what to eat where.

There’s a little bit of history, cultural context where it is needed and a whole lot of logistical detail. In Bangalore, there are the classic touristy sites like the Lalbagh Gardens which the guide informs us has a ‘glasshouse inspired by London’s Crystal Palace.’

We’re told that the char siubaoat the rooftop Asian gastro-bar The Fatty Bao is delicious and that the three-storey second-hand bookstore Blossomson Church Street is definitely not to be missed.

Dubai

In Mumbai, we find out where to go for antique silver jewellery (Zaveri bazaar), see one of the most impressive collections of paintings and sculpture in India (The Prince of Wales Museum), eat kebabs (Bedemiya), drink raspberry soda (Theobroma)and devour cold kulfis (Badshah Juice Bar).

There are plenty of options: fancy alternatives, less fancy alternatives and local legends all mingle on the page.

“I would plan a trip for a customer as I would plan a trip for myself,” says Vindhya. “When I travel, I obsessively read up on the place, I look up reviews, I want to know which restaurant to eat at, where to stay…” Wherever possible they draw on their own experiences of the place.

The two are just starting out but think their boutique firm will tap into a demand for customised, unique holidays. They’d like people who automatically assume that hiring a travel planner is an expensive luxury to realise that simply isn’t the case.

“We’ve planned both backpacking trips and luxury holidays,”says Savindri, “Our job is simply to ensure that you get the best out of your trip.”

Around the world in a Fields guided mealKick off with the best Perkedel Jagung and chicken satay in Bali at Warung Pushpa in Candidasa, Indonesia.

Step over to the Hoi-An Central Market for a steaming bowl of Cao Lao, a dish found only in this central coastal town of Vietnam where the noodles are stone-ground and mixed with firewood ash from the Cham Islands and water from ancient wells scattered around the province.

Don’t miss the Cacio e Pepe and fried artichokes at Da Gildo in Trastevere, Rome and round off with a hot off the stove Künefe and iced clotted cream from Saray Muhallebicisi, Istanbul.

Room for more? Try the exquisite lime black pepper sorbet at Romdeng, Phnom Penh or wash down with a punchy condensed milk iced coffee from Yut Kee’s Kopitiam in Kuala Lumpur.

For more information: www.thefieldstravelcompany.com