Informing the international traveler since 1976.
Archive for September, 2005
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On CHINA, May-June, ’05. . . • Laurus Travel (3195 Granville St., Ste. 45, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6H 3K2) arranged our trip to China, May 18-June 2, with China Odyssey Tours (Guangxi, China; visit www. chinaodysseytours.com). The price was $3,500 per person for the 18-day trip and included airfare from the U.S., four flights within China and [...]Adventure Travel » Morocco — Africa’s California?
by Wayne Wirtanen (First of three parts) Partway through my visit to Morocco in September ’04, I realized that there were similarities there to what one might find on a trip in California. A quick look at a map showed that Morocco is roughly the same size as California, it has a long, west-facing ocean shoreline and, like [...]Mideast and Mediterranean » Mosques of Kairouan, Tunisia
Fifteen hundred years ago, Kairouan was only a desert crossroads, a caravan stop in the sands of what is now Tunisia in North Africa. But this quickly changed. In fewer than 100 years following the death of Muhammad in A.D. 632, caravans from Saudi Arabia had spread his word of Islam from India to the [...]Latin America Watch
by Deanna Palic CRUISE NEWS • Clipper Cruise Line, a division of INTRAV, offers spectacular savings on South American cruises this fall aboard the 122-passenger expedition vessel M/S Clipper Adventurer. On a space-available basis, the discount offer applies to any Category 1-5 cabins booked on Clipper’s 13-day cruise “Exploring the Route of the Conquistadors” (departing Colón, Panama, on [...]The Discerning Traveler » Car rentals and leases
(Third of three parts) In this issue I will continue last month’s discussion of overseas car rentals and leases. Picking up the car If you drive directly to your hotel after picking up the car, it will help to map out your route ahead of time. This is facilitated in a country covered by the Michelin Red Guide, [...]Travel & Health » The sun and skin
by Larry G. Barratta, M.D., Ph.D. Traveling to any exotic destination where sun, surf and beach activities are involved and where there are concerns of being overexposed by the sun can be the beginning of more than just a bad case of sunburn. Skin cancer is a serious health condition that comes in several forms, melanoma [...]Modernizing the greatest shortcut on Earth
What cruise destination is older than most grandmothers, needs an $8 billion face-lift and yet still earns $1 billion in revenues every year? It’s the amazing Panama Canal, one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Why fix it if it ain’t broke? According to Roberto Alfaro, Panama’s ambassador to the U.S., “Almost 45% of [...]All Aboard » 75 years’ Glacier Express
by Jay Brunhouse On June 26, 1930, the highly anticipated Glacier Express chugged for the first time over the 6,668-foot Oberalp Pass. Privileged passengers between Zermatt and St. Moritz praised the prime rolling stock deployed by the (then) three cooperating rail partners. A dining car, specially ordered by Mitropa in Neuhausen, completed the train. Travel time [...]Eugenie le Bain
One of the delights of the area in which I live, the Laree region of southwest France, is Michel Guérard’s famous restaurant, Eugenie le Bain. My wife and I last ate there at the end of May ’05. The food was so well prepared and so well presented. After the amuse-bouche (a little starter), my wife [...]Guide in Tuscany
Six of us had several delightful days in May ’05 doing excursions from Florence in a 6-passenger Mercedes minivan with tour guide Dr. Marcello Grandini (Frazione Padule 109/A, 50039 Vicchio-Firenze, Italy; phone/fax 011-39-055-8407830 or e-mail marcello.tourguide@tiscali.it). Marcello is extremely knowledgeable and well trained and speaks excellent English. He took us on full-day excursions to Pisa, Lucca [...]
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