Informing the international traveler since 1976.
Oct 2005 issue.
Boarding Pass
Dear Globetrotter: Welcome to the 356th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine. In this issue of ITN you’ll find letters from travelers who answered our questions about “money matters overseas,” specifically, how they deal with cash, credit cards, travelers’ checks, etc., and go about making purchases for goods and services while traveling. More information and advice [...]Travel Tidbits
On our trip to Thailand in February ’02, we found Bangkok hot and crowded, and the pollution was unbelievable. The northern part of the country was much nicer.— BARBARA RAGLAND, Oroville, CA New Zealand appeared very “user friendly” to me during a tour my wife and I took in January ’98. The costs were reasonable, though [...]Cruising the Ross Sea — a journey to the ‘other side’ of Antarctica
by Larry Flinner, Cincinnati, OH Compared to other destinations, Antarctica is visited by relatively few travelers. Those who do visit usually depart from South America and perhaps visit the Falklands, South Georgia or the Antarctic Peninsula, areas with spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife. In February ’04 I visited the other side of Antarctica, the Ross Sea. A [...]Heathrow Connect
There is now an alternative to paying €14 (near $26) for a 15-minute ride on the quarter-hourly Heathrow Express from London’s Heathrow to Paddington Station. On June 12, 2005, Heathrow Connect began half-hourly rail service on the same tracks but with a big difference, a fare of €9.50 ($17.50) and a slower, 25-minute ride as it [...]Virgin Air’s ‘suites’
On a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to England on Virgin Airlines in late April ’05, we had an opportunity to try out the new upper-class suites. Each suite is a small cubicle with high sides and a very comfortable seat that converts to a bed at the touch of a button. Your back is to [...]Ecuador refusing $100 bills
Ecuador is currently being flooded with near-perfect counterfeit bills, mostly arriving from Colombia. As a result, Ecuador’s commerce and banking sector is no longer accepting any U.S. 100-dollar bills. Even the banks will not exchange these bills, at present. This might not seem odd at first glance, but the legal currency of Ecuador is, in fact, [...]CDG Airport woes
From a May-June ’05 trip to Europe, here are two caveats. 1. Beware of the short flight connection. My wife and I decided to use up our Skymiles before the airline went bankrupt, so we organized a 3-week trip to Ireland. It was too late to get a direct flight, but a young lady at Delta worked [...]Tips for rail travel in Germany
The German railway system offers a great way for travelers to get around while visiting that country. Many guidebooks and websites describe how to use the rail service but often omit facts that would be very useful to novice travelers. The following isn’t a complete primer on the German rail system but is intended to [...]Melbourne’s tram restaurant
On our trip to Australia in October several years ago, we spent two days in Melbourne, staying at the Hilton. We enjoyed this conservative, most British of Down Under cities with its many parks (we especially liked the Royal Botanic Gardens), museums, cultural events and attractive buildings. A highlight was dinner on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant [...]Europe gas prices
The following probably won’t make you enjoy filling your gas tank here in the States, but it may ease the pain a tiny bit. In May of 2005, my wife, Josie, and I paid the following for gasoline, converted to dollars per gallon from euros per liter: $5.97 at a Shell station in France; $5.83 in [...]Funniest Thing for October
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries [...]Cool places … in hot Malaysia
by Jay Brunhouse, Contributing Editor The pet monkey named Joyng bit through her leash and romped through the fronds of the palm trees, celebrating her freedom. She paused occasionally to heave a coconut down at the sweat-soaked baseball cap of her frantic owner, who was chasing wildly after her and, in the Terengganu dialect which Joyng [...]Bhutan arrangements ‘challenging’
My wife and I took a trip to India (the “15-Day Romantic Rajasthan Passage”) and Bhutan (4-day extension) with Pacific Delight World Tours, March 12-April 1, ’05. Pacific Delight partnered with Creative Travel of India to handle the Indian component. Creative Travel in turn partnered with Etho Metho Tours & Treks of Bhutan to handle [...]Travel problems compounded in PNG
I traveled to Papua New Guinea (PNG), Aug. 12-29, ’04, using the services of a locally based company called Budget Tours. I paid them to make all my tour arrangements, including transportation within PNG, accommodations, guide services, etc. I prepaid the land package, and my in-country PNG airline tickets were given to me on arrival. However, [...]‘Kudos’ to Horses North
I was scheduled to depart June 30, ’05, for a “Thorsmork Riding Tour,” which was to be five days of riding with a herd of Icelandic horses. I had made my flight and trip plans through Holly Nelson and Brad Vogel, owners of Horses North, LLC, aka Iceland Adventure, LLC (P.O. Box 475, Millerton, NY [...]Appreciated Global Alert!
For a 3-week trip to Sicily in May-June ’05, I purchased travel insurance from Global Alert! Travel Protection through M.H. Ross Travel (800/423-3632). (The claims are administered by Trip Mate; visit www.tripmate.com.) Because my luggage was misdirected, I was required to make interim purchases. While in Italy, I had occasion twice to call Global Alert! at no [...]Re airport wheelchairs
In reply to my complaint about not having a wheelchair waiting when I got off the plane, printed in the August ’05 issue, page 14, Continental Airlines sent me a 2-page letter that said essentially that the treatment I received was not according to procedure and next time I should ask to speak to a [...]Indochina — beautiful and affordable
In October ’04 my wife and I had a sensational journey through Indochina. We booked our tour through All Asia Travel Company (57-59 Do Quang Dau St., District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet-Nam; tel. 848-9203493, fax 848-9203446, e-mail allasia@hcm.fptvn or visit www.allasiatravel.com). For our party of four, our 22-day tour cost $1,800 per person and [...]Recommendations in Viet-Nam
Here are some recommendations on places in Viet-Nam, from a trip my wife and I took April 28-May 12, ’05. We found three good eating places in HANOI. At the Cyclo Bar restaurant and garden (38 Duong Thanh Street), you sit on barely converted cyclos (3-wheeled bicycles that carry passengers). The food is Vietnamese with a strong [...]Looking for Leonardo da Vinci … in France?
by Harvey Hagnan, Fort Myers Beach, FL Soon we’ll all be in the da Vinci mode as Dan Brown’s page-turning “The Da Vinci Code,” a tale of conspiracy, art history and clandestine societies, comes to theaters. The book is based on the premise that a find in Paris’ Bibliotheque Nationale suggests Leonardo da Vinci was a member [...]Money Matters Overseas
(First of two parts, jump to part 2) ITN asked readers to write in about how they deal with money and making purchases overseas (anywhere outside of North America and the Caribbean). We asked, “Do you procure some cash of the country you’re traveling to before you leave the States or wait until you step off [...]What to use overseas: cash, travelers’ checks or credit cards?
by Mary Beltran, Assistant Editor, ITN Paying for purchases overseas has gotten complicated. If you exchange your U.S. cash for currency overseas, you may lose some value depending on the exchange rate, and you may also pay a fee for the transaction. If you take travelers’ checks, you may be able to use them at hotels and sometimes [...]Accomodations Worldwide
The following is a listing of some of the hotels, B&Bs, etc., in which ITN readers have stayed over the past year or so (outside of North America and the Caribbean) plus restaurants or sights nearby. Prices are those paid at the time of the visit and conversion rates are approximate. When writing to ITN about [...]Enchanting Isle of Man
by Dennis Cavagnaro, Oakland, CA Where can one travel in the English-speaking world and expect unfailing courtesy and respect? New Zealand and much of Canada come to mind, but, for me, the tiny Isle of Man could be tops. Lay of the land The Isle of Man is small — 33 miles long and 13 miles wide [...]Tanzania & Kenya with 2Afrika, Inc.
If you would like to go to Africa, go with 2Afrika, Inc. (444 Washington Blvd., Ste. 2526, Jersey City, NJ 07310; phone 866/462-2374 or visit www.2afrika.com). Our 13-day trip to Tanzania was $2,595 with air from San Francisco, and the Kenya trip was $895. We left on our safari Jan. 29, ’05, and returned on [...]China with Grand Circle Travel
I had not been on an organized tour for over 30 years, preferring cruising and my own disorganized independent travel, but I decided that China was a place where I would be more comfortable relying on the expertise of a company like Grand Circle Travel (347 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210; phone 800/837-4735 or visit [...]England with HF Holidays
An excellent organization for anyone interested in walking in Britain is HF Holidays (Imperial House, The Hyde, Edgeware Road, London, NW9 5AL, U.K.; phone + 44 [0] 20 8905 9556 or e-mail info@hfholidays.co.uk. . . or book through Teachers’ Travel Service, Ltd., 21 St. Clair Ave. East, Ste. 1003, Toronto, Ont., M4T 1L9, Canada; phone [...]Northern Ireland with Journey Through Ireland
I had an excellent 9-day escorted motorcoach tour of Northern Ireland in June ’05. There were 12 in our group (the maximum number allowed on this company’s tours) in a comfortable coach with seating for 24. The trip was run by Journey Through Ireland (Box 65229, University Place, WA 98464; phone 800/828-0826 or visit www.ireland touring.com). [...]Peru with Overseas Adventure Travel
I took an 11-day trip with Overseas Adventure Travel (347 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210; phone 800/493-6824 or visit www.oattravel.com) that included six nights in a small boat traveling on the upper Amazon in Peru. It was the May 27, ’04, departure and cost $2,790 from the Southeast. This trip, which included several days in Lima [...]Malaysia with smarTours
A delightful adventure: that was what I had on the “BORNEO Adventure” from smarTours (501 Fifth Ave., Ste. 1402, New York, NY 10017; phone 800/337-7773 or visit www.smartours.com). My trip, 15 days plus a 3-day Penang extension, took place Jan. 9-26, ’04. (The 2005 price for this tour is $1,899 from Los Angeles plus $299 [...]Online planning for a perfect trip to Germany & Austria
Jennifer Petoff, Yardley, PA Outfitted with a rudimentary knowledge of German and a jam-packed itinerary populated with ideas gleaned from the Internet (e.g., www.europeforvisitors.com), my husband and I embarked on a 9-day trip around southern Germany in September ’04. Our adventures took us from Munich along the Bavarian Alps to the outskirts of Frankfurt via the [...]Holland and flowers
My husband, Al, and I traveled through Holland and Belgium, April 18-May 6, ’05, at the peak of the spring flower season. We planned the trip ourselves and drove a rental car, a Ford Fusion (similar to a Ford Focus). It cost $35 per day plus taxes and Schiphol Airport pickup ($75). We rented it through [...]South Africa guide
Anne Short (Box 101, Henley-on-Klip, R.S.A. 1962; phone 016 366 0603 or mobile 072 220 8325 or e-mail anneshort2003@ yahoo.co.uk) is a tour guide “extraordinaire.” On our 20th trip to Africa (our second to South Africa), in April ’05, we encountered this remarkable woman on four occasions whilst on a 2½-week tour. She is a freelance [...]Easter Island guide
We cruised to Easter Island on Discovery World Cruises’ Discovery in February ’05. Dissatisfied with the excursions being offered by the ship, I arranged in advance for two half-day tours of Easter Island for our party of six. I had a list of eight sites I wanted to visit and allowed enough time to explore [...]Concern from carabinieri
My wife and I booked a transatlantic cruise on Celebrity’s Galaxy, sailing from Galveston to Civitavecchia (for Rome) in May ’05. The crossing was uneventful, we found it even boring, during the five consecutive days at sea. Except for a complete breakdown in our dining arrangements and a final billing error, the food and service [...]Keep it hidden
I read in the January ’05 issue the letter about a reader’s unfortunate experience with a purse snatcher in Barcelona (page 32) as well as the very helpful letter on protecting valuables while going through airport security (page 78). I would like to see ITN readers address the wider issue of keeping valuables safe while [...]Hot pocket
I wish to add something to the readers’ excellent advice about protecting valuables (Jan. ’05, pgs. 78-79). Whenever I buy a pair of pants, I immediately sew in a 5″x5″ inside pocket, which I attach on the right side, next to the outside pocket. It can hold documents as well as a wallet containing cash. The pocket’s [...]Visegrád bridge
In the June issue, page 50, Kit Lane of Douglas, Michigan, asked if anyone had recently seen the old bridge in Visegrád, Bosnia. I’m happy to report that I saw that wonderful bridge on June 3, ’05, on an extensive tour of the Balkans. The bridge is in excellent condition, and if it did suffer [...]Get rail ticket punched
In Paula Prindle’s article about Italy (July ’05, pg. 20), she said the conductor was not worried about their unpunched train ticket on the way from Rome to Venice. I suggest that travelers not rely on that as the standard for Italy. As part of our November ’04 trip, my husband and I spent some time [...]Claustrophobia in salt mines
I couldn’t resist adding a P.S. to Norine Matteson’s note about the Wieliczka Salt Mines (July ’05, pg. 85). I was there (with a Rick Steves tour of Eastern Europe) on May 29, ’05, and our experience, while similar in many respects, was also shadowed by a serious problem in getting OUT of the mines [...]Wizz Air fees an ‘eye-opener’
In his July ’05 column, Rick Steves mentioned Wizz Air as a low-cost carrier out of Budapest, so when I decided to tack on a second river cruise out of Antwerp to Basel following an already-booked October-November ’05 cruise that will end in Budapest, I checked out Wizz Air in early August. The fare I [...]Right-side driving
In the letter “Tips for Driving in Britain” (Aug. ’05, pg. 73), the comment that more people drive on the left side of the road than on the right is incorrect. The latest figures I have seen (from 1996) estimate that about four billion people drive on the right versus two billion on the left. [...]On the other hand. . .
I would like to offer one more suggestion to those of the great letter titled “Tips for Driving in Britain” (Aug. ’05, pg. 73). During the summer of 1996, my husband and I hired a car at Heathrow, and after an “adventure trip” out of the airport complex we headed north into Scotland, taking in [...]Budapest café
On a trip to Budapest in September ’04, I ate at the Fresco Fi Café Restaurant (1052 Bp. Vigado ter 3, Budapest, Hungary; tel. 266 2010 or visit www.fresco.hu). It’s located three blocks from the Budapest Marriott. Excellent food. Friendly service. Pleasant ambiance. Reasonable prices — salad and entrée, $25. It’s able to accommodate groups of [...]Turkey in spring
Springtime turned out to be a great time of year for touring Turkey. As we drove through central Anatolia in April-May several years ago, the wheat fields, stretching to the horizon, were just greening up. Farther south, near the Mediterranean coast, fruit trees were blooming and brilliant red poppies were a splash of scarlet along [...]Rotterdam repositioning cruise
From the moment the MS Rotterdam left Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, we moved into another world, a world of opulence in which the rich and famous indulged. Betty and I were sailing on the flagship of Holland America Line with 1,250 other guests, all bound for an exciting 23-day adventure. The meals on our ship were always [...]Unaware ship required shot
In April ’03 we booked a cruise with Orient Lines’ Marco Polo. We would embark February ’04 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We then personally applied for our visas at the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco. We asked if shots were needed and were told, “No inoculations of any kind are required for Brazil,” although a shot [...]Tahitian Princess in French Polynesia
We visited Tahiti years ago and always wanted to go back. When Princess Cruises announced their 2005 cruises to Tahiti, we booked a 14-day trip. It included pre- and post-cruise overnights at a hotel in Los Angeles. The price was $1,495, excluding airfare. Tips ran about $100. On Jan. 11, we flew from Philadelphia to Los [...]Viking Pride tulip cruise
My wife, Judy, and I took a “tulip cruise” in the Netherlands in April ’05 aboard the Viking Pride of Viking River Cruises (Woodland Hills, CA; 877/668-4546 or visit www.vikingrivercruises.com). We booked it through Covina Hills Travel (Covina, CA; 800/688-8728 or e-mail info@covinahills.com). The 9-night cruise was listed as $1,402-$2,154 per person, depending on class. For [...]The Cruising World » John Poh of Crystal Symphony
As the head chef at the famous Asian restaurant, Jade Garden, aboard the 5-star cruise ship Crystal Symphony, John Poh has reached the pinnacle of cruise cuisine. He owes his success to talent, hard work, a passion for food, and experience in over 100 kitchens around the world. I spoke to Mr. Poh while on [...]Better Travel Photography » Flash ’em!
by Janet Denninger Whether we travel to take pictures or just take pictures as we travel, we all want to come home with images which tell the story of our adventure and we are proud to share with friends and family. Each issue, this column will suggest simple techniques anyone can use, with any camera, to [...]The Discerning Traveler » Settling your debts abroad
by Philip Wagenaar (First of two parts) Olpe, Germany, May 9, 2005. . . With disbelief, I stared at the notice on the wall next to the ATM in the Volksbank’s small foyer. No, I was not mistaken. It clearly said, both in German and in English, that cash withdrawals were subject to a 1% fee if you used [...]Mideast and Mediterranean » The Kurdish village of Egil, Turkey
Moreen and I consider ourselves fortunate to have visited the Middle East often. Friends say perhaps we have tempted fate, though we disagree. We don’t speak Arabic, Turkish or other languages in this Muslim and Arab world, but we do respect carefully its many cultures. We believe personal travel articles, similar to those presented in [...]Adventure Travel » Distinctive cities and the Sahara
(Part 2 of 3 on Morocco) Casablanca The arrival/departure city for international flights to Morocco, Casablanca is a bustling major city with a population estimated at anywhere from three to eight million. Like all large Moroccan cities, Casablanca has an Old Town — a walled, self-contained marketplace and residential center (or medina) in the middle of the modern [...]Far Horizons » The case of the lost room
by Randy Keck Most seasoned travelers at one time or another have arrived at a hotel with a reservation in hand only to be informed that the type of room they thought they had reserved was not available. In this edition of “Under the Microscope,” I will examine strategies for finding acceptable solutions for such situations [...]Report Cards for October
On SOUTH AMERICA, July ’05. . . • We took a 14-day tour, July 3-16, ’05, with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/955-1925 or www.oattravel.com). The “Route of the Maya” started from Miami and covered San Salvador in El Salvador; Copan in Honduras; the colonial city of Antigua as well as Lake Atitlán and Tikal in [...]
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