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All Aboard » TGV Est Premiére
—All Aboard! is written by Jay Brunhouse It is through flat, green, French countryside surrounded by fields of grain that my TGV train really flexed its muscles. Powering ahead, I didn’t feel any curves, and when I encountered slightly rolling hills, raw embankments rose high above my window. The level ride over the new Est européene [...]Far Horizons » Hue and Hoi An
(2 of 4 on Viet-Nam & Cambodia) The second stop in my March 2007 journey in Viet-Nam and Cambodia, the land portion of which was hosted by SITA World Tours, focused on Hue and Hoi An in central Viet-Nam, a region that many Vietnamese feel is the historic cultural heartland of the now-thriving country. Many of Viet-Nam’s [...]Focus on Archaeology » Rapa Nui: the navel of the world
by Julie Skurdenis Its first inhabitants called it “Te Pito o Te Henua,” or “The Navel of the World.” Nowadays we call it Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua or Easter Island. It’s one of the most remote and isolated places on Earth. Situated in the Pacific Ocean, Easter Island is almost exactly equidistant from South America and [...]Eye on Travel Insurance » Q&A
by Wayne Wirtanen Following are some ITN readers’ letters and inquiries that I have received recently regarding travel insurance. The first came from Judie Kesson of Coronado, California: Q: “As longtime subscribers and sometime contributors, my husband, Ken, and I want to report back on our very positive experience with Divers Alert Network, or DAN (Durham, NC; 800/446-2671, [...]Ask Steve » Choosing a tour company, leftover foreign coins
by Steve Venables, CTC Q: Steve, my wife and I are starting to plan a trip to Africa next year to experience a wildlife safari. Usually, ITN has about 18 to 24 different companies advertising such journeys on a monthly basis. Is there a website or other source to cut through the covers of these companies and [...]Mideast & Mediterranean » Deir ez-Zor & its Armenian Genocide Memorial
By Ed Kinney, following the Euphrates River in Syria. See the May ’07 article. It is difficult for me to imagine Deir ez-Zor being anything but a friendly, laid-back town. When my wife, Moreen, and I visited there in 1997, locals waved and children followed us saying “Hallo,” and we’d reply likewise: “Mehaba.” But now Deir [...]The Discerning Traveler » Cabin air quality
by Philip Wagenaar, M.D. 14 tactics to increase your flying comfort The following essay was inspired by a letter from ITN reader Mrs. Carey Casey in Cathedral City, California. “Who are those two strange-looking people?” our fellow travelers must have wondered. Our faces covered by oxygen masks with their extended hoses dangling toward the supply tanks, we must have [...]Ask Steve » Trusting a stranger, tips on getting around England
Dear Reader, my December 2006 account of being lost in France and getting directions from a local jogged the memory of Patricia Arcaro of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. She and a friend had lost their way in France when a motorcyclist stopped to help, going out of his way to take them to their hotel, driving [...]The Cruising World » Cruising with Claire
Claire McElarney is the energetic and always-smiling Activities & Dive Mate aboard the S.V. (sailing vessel) Mandalay, one of the fleet of four tall ships run by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (Box 190120, Miami, FL 33119; 800/327-2601, www.windjammer.com). I interviewed Claire on the deck of the Mandalay in summer 2006 as the 236-foot vessel sailed from Grenada [...]All Aboard » Terminus Zaragoza
by Jay Brunhouse When you first step off your Spanish high-speed Talgo 350 train and out of Zaragoza’s (Saragossa’s) 2003 Delicias Station, the first thing you see 2,000 feet across the River Ebro are the risings of pavilions, towers and exhibitions sponsored by more than 78 countries for Zaragoza’s 2008 World Expo, June 14 to Sept. [...]
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