For that one guy who will only accept a check, I take care of him separately before the trip. Then I am carefree for a long trip.

I use two credit cards for travel, because both my MasterCard and Visa have been refused in the past. Near Bø, Norway, my girlfriend purchased a silver bracelet. She proffered a MasterCard, which was refused. My Visa was accepted with a big smile.

In the city of Iloilo on the island of Panay in the Philippines, after my Visa card was refused at two different restaurants in a row I switched to my MasterCard, which was happily accepted.

I also carry an extra Visa card, just in case. The bank pays it also. I use USAA (United Services Automobile Association, a financial services company based in San Antonio, TX; 800/531-2265, www.usaa.com), which combines their MasterCard and Visa statements on one document. Keep things simple.

With my system, I feel I have the freedom to enjoy my travel experiences totally. My backups give me even more security and peace, and it’s all easy and cheap.

R. CASEY HASEY
Cathedral City, CA

I couldn’t arrange to get a replacement card while I was there, but I did have a backup American Express card.

JAMES JOHNSON
Incline Village, NV

I met Harry in 2002; he was the leader of my first escorted tour to China. At that time, he was Assistant Director at the Chengde office of CITS (a government-sponsored tourist agency). I decided to pursue Harry’s friendship because I was so impressed by his knowledge of all things Chinese, not to mention his friendliness, integrity of character, common sense and good judgment. In addition to maintaining an epistolary relationship, I have since visited with him twice.

A friend and I traveled with ElderTreks from April 17 to May 23, 2007, touring the Yunnan Province and Tibet in China plus Nepal. Prior to that excursion, we used Harry’s services for six days and five nights in the cities of Beijing and Chengde, April 12-16. We visited the Chengde Mountain Resort of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and two nearby magnificent Buddhist temples (Puning Temple and Putuo Zongcheng Temple). These ancient monuments are in Chengde, four hours away from Beijing by train.

Harry picked us up at the airport in Beijing, made the train and hotel reservations for our trip to Chengde and accompanied us throughout. Everything worked out well. Harry is so knowledgeable that it was not necessary to use local guides in Chengde or Beijing.

Before we left for Kunming, we visited with Harry at his home in the outskirts of Beijing. There we met his wife, a physician at a nearby army hospital, and his teenage daughter. We then enjoyed a memorable meal as their guest in a local restaurant within walking distance of their home.

I cannot recommend a Chinese guide more highly. His English, knowledge and reliability are impeccable. For his services, Mr. Qinjun charges $75 per day (not per person) for one to six persons. Including a well-deserved generous tip, the total of $500 that we paid did not include accommodations, meals, car, driver, train fares, entry fees, etc.

I’ll be happy to answer any question about Harry; contact me c/o ITN.

KEMBELL HUYKE
Flushing, NY

Our group of eight friends met in Istanbul on Sept. 13, 2007, the day before embarking on a Mediterranean cruise (Norwegian Jewel).

Prior to arriving in Istanbul, we had made arrangements with Lale (pronounced Lolly) Kosagen (e-mail kosagan@yahoo.com or visit www.tourguidesinturkey.com) to give us a walking tour in the Old Town area. She met us in our hotel lobby at 9 a.m. and we finished the day at 6 p.m.

Extremely knowledgeable in history and fluent in English, she was a delight.

Lale and her husband, Kagan, are both tour guides. Her fee was $120 for the day. This did not include lunch nor admission charges, such as at Topkapi Palace or the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum.

PAM AMES
San Diego, CA

After meeting our inbound flight from Paris at the Casablanca airport, Said Baadoud (phone +212 76 3020 41 or e-mail saidbaadoud2001@yahoo.fr) escorted us for a week through Casablanca, Rabat, Volubilis, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech.

After a few days in Marrakech, Said then guided us on a 3-day trek through the High Atlas Mountains and onward to the coastal fishing village (small city, actually) of Essaouira for three days, with many great photo ops. He then took us back to Marrakech for farewell shopping excursions in the endless souks.

Said is one of those rare individuals who demonstrate outstanding “people skills” with both his native Berber brethren and Western tourists with their peccadilloes. Not only does he possess a great reservoir of factual knowledge of his country and its history, he has developed tremendous social, economic, religious, cultural and political insights into both historical and modern Morocco.

Intellectual and thought-provoking, Said truly “gave his all” in providing us a window into his unique country. From a practical perspective, I was most impressed with his excellent knowledge base of local restaurants and hotels in each city to fit a wide variety of travel budgets.

Said maintains a busy schedule contracting his services to local tour companies representing international agencies, but he does enjoy assignments from individual groups.

Four of us on the tour each paid the agency for which Said worked $1,600. This included 2-star hotel accommodations (with breakfasts), ground transportation and local tours in each city. The 3-day “Atlas Walk” portion included all meals.

TOM MYERS
Longboat Key, FL

It was another hot, steamy and sunny afternoon in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, as we were making our way out of the Lake Gardens district about two miles from the Petronas Towers.

The Lake Gardens are a large urban park with wooded areas, rolling hills, lakes and several attractions immediately southwest of KL’s center city.

After a visit of several hours — including touring the butterfly park (with the oddly appropriate-sounding Malaysian name of Taman Rama Rama), the orchid garden and the hibiscus garden — we were walking alongside Jalan Perdana with the bird park in a wooded area to our left and the Memorial Tun Abdul Razak across the street to our right.

As I was looking off into the bird park, my wife suddenly called out that the sidewalk ahead of us was blocked by monkeys. We had been married almost 20 years and that was the first time I had ever heard her say that. Sure enough, there was a group of a dozen or so monkeys apparently in the process of leaving the trees to our left and crossing the road toward the nearby memorial. The group was a mix of males and females of all ages.

We were uncertain how to react.

The monkeys made no aggressive moves, so we slowly approached them and began taking photos. The younger monkeys continued to climb and play in the trees just a few feet above the ground. Two older female monkeys cradled infant monkeys in their arms as they cautiously crept across the sidewalk and into the street, carefully looking both ways before crossing. They kept a wary eye upon us as we approached within two to three feet but otherwise ignored our actions.

As we watched and photographed the monkeys, the Muslim call to prayer could be heard emanating from loudspeakers at the nearby National Mosque (Masjid Negara). So there we were, sweating profusely in the February heat and humidity and listening to the Muslim call to prayer, with monkeys crossing the sidewalk in front of us. It was clearly one of those “We’re not in Kansas (or, in our case, Charlotte) anymore” moments that make travel so interesting.

STEPHEN O. ADDISON, Jr.
Charlotte, NC

This trip was two weeks in Damascus with the exception of five days exploring Palmyra, Aleppo, Hama, Crac des Chevaliers and the Saladin Castle. We arranged it ourselves but on a previous trip used Silk Road Travel & Tourism (Fardoss Street, P.O. Box 12958, Damascus, Syria; phone +963 11 2230500, fax 2231138, www.silkroad-tours.com). They developed an excellent itinerary and had excellent guides.

We enjoyed walking through the streets of the Old City of Damascus and relaxing in the courtyard of the great Umayyad Mosque after admiring its paintings.

On this last trip we stayed for two weeks in the new Beit Al Mamlouka (Damascus; phone 963 11 543 0445, fax 11 541 7248, www. almamlouka.com), a boutique hotel (beit means “house”) in the heart of the Old City. Room rates ran $125-$289. Our reservations were made by e-mail directly through Mrs. May Mamarbachi, and she sent us an invitation letter for the visa.

The Beit Al Mamlouka dates back to the 17th century and belonged to a noble family. The entrance is discreet, facing one of the many narrow alleys of the Old City and across from a public bathhouse, Hammam al-Bakri.

As you enter the Beit, you find yourself in a lovely courtyard with a traditional fountain and beautiful orange and grape trees that lead to a “Syrian-style alcove” with comfortable chairs and lovely pillows where, first, juice or tea is served.

The highlight of the Beit Al Mamlouka is the “Suleiman the Magnificent” main suite with its spacious living room and romantic central fountain. This suite is beautifully decorated with frescoes depicting scenery of the time. May Mamarbachi didn’t spare any detail and she managed to combine quality, comfort and taste to this special room as well as the other seven suites, all appointed with period furniture. The rooms are all identified by names, not numbers, helping us learn more about Syrian history and culture.

The Beit Al Mamlouka serves breakfast only, but it’s a delicious blend of Syrian and Western dishes. There are many fine restaurants nearby for lunch and dinner.

One final note about the Beit Al Mamlouka — between 5 and 7 a.m. one hears a magnificent chorus with birds in the courtyard plus the calls from the mosques and the bells from a variety of neighborhood churches.

My husband and I are very interested in Middle East antiques and we love to visit our favorite store, that of George Dabdoub (e-mail georgedabdoub@gmx.net), near the Azem Palace Museum in Damascus.

The owners are old friends and always welcome us with kind smiles and a wonderful variety of teas. In the Arabic world they say that the first time you drink tea together you are strangers, the second time you become friends, and the third time you are part of the family!

Upon entering the shop, you feel that you have just found an unknown museum. One can find beautiful Baccarat, Bohemia and opaline in every shape and shade; exquisite antique tiles; antique swords, daggers and guns; elegant mother-of-pearl inlaid chairs, tables and chests of drawers; jewelry; the best Persian rugs; brocade textiles, and incredible backgammon boards.

We also enjoy visiting their workshop, where they restore antique furniture coming from all regions of Syria.

Damascus is a blend of many religions, with all the people living together in apparent harmony. It is wonderful to be in a place that is so accepting, especially now with all that’s happening in the world.

We felt incredibly safe during our entire trip to Syria. In fact, for those who’d like to see the country by car, we highly recommend the driver/guide Mr. Belal Khalifeh (phone/fax 963 11 445 3181 or e-mail bikhalifeh@mail.sy). For the dates March 19-23, he charged us $150 per day in his car; we paid for all our and his entrance fees to various sites and museums plus our and his meals, which were reasonable. He did pay for his own (different) hotel accommodations.

Anyone using his services has to, first, set an itinerary and then negotiate the price. Our friends in Damascus referred him to us. A very knowledgeable guide, he speaks in excellent Italian, and his English as a third language suited us just fine.

MARIA MEIER
Boca Raton, FL

Upon arrival at the Aviles airport in Asturias, the most remarkable sighting is the triskele, an ancient Celtic symbol, which marks everything. T-shirts, shot glasses, jewelry and wood all are painted, pressed and carved with the triskele’s three spirals.

The three spirals represent the three aspects of a power. The fact that they are spirals signifies motion and purpose. For example, time as past, present and future. Another example — human existence including body, emotion and spirit, seen projected outside of ourselves as earth, water and sky.

So what is the triskele doing in northern Spain? How did the Spanish end up with a Celtic emblem?

A look through the area’s turbulent history shows that, of dozens of newcomers, Celts are the only ones who joined with and supported the fine people and lands of Asturias instead of pillaging and plundering (think Romans).

Celts made a home there around the same time they settled parts of the British Isles and northwest France, among many other localities. And many contemporary Celts, including Asturians, are nurturing and honoring ancient heritage.

Celtic art belongs and is present throughout Asturias, from beneath the wood beams of the hórreo, ancient Roman granaries, to the evening air as the neighbor boy practices his Asturian bagpipes.

While Celtic influence is obviously carved deeply into the framework of the area, Asturias is also the true home of Spanish culture. There in the lush green mountains of northern Spain, the Spanish language is spoken more purely, local apple cider is poured from higher overhead (for perfect aeration), and the ancient Roman roads and Spanish hamlets are the best-preserved of all of Spain.

Cattle, sheep and horses roam free. Bells on their collars tinkle softly as they browse. Dogs and cats patrol the village. And nearly every meadow holds a burrow, his morning brays welcoming the sun.

In long stretches of sunny days, the verdant valleys are kept green thanks to perfectly interspersed visits of rain. During the rain, the fauna find shelter deep in forests of chestnut and mountain ash which frame the valley floors. These forests roll up against the very foot of the towering limestone walls.

Kin to but separate from the woods, the sprawling oak and expansive yew are deciduous sentinels throughout the high and low valleys. Protected by their grand boughs is often a tiny, bell-towered chapel.

The Quirós Valley, in the region of Asturias, northern Spain, offers a natural paradise enhanced by antiquities of Celtic, Roman and Spanish culture. During my holiday there, sitting quietly with the tree/chapel pair, listening to a stream and considering the clouds was my favorite thing to do.

I took this all in during a delightful one-week walking adventure guided by Judy Colaneri, owner and operator of Spanish Steps Adventure Walking Tours (Box 8653, Aspen, CO 81612; 877/787-9255, www. spanishsteps.com).

The cost, including seven nights of lodging and eight days of guiding plus breakfast and one main meal each day, was around $1,000.

A lovely guide and host, Judy is gifted in the kitchen, on the trail and in planning and communicating. She is an American and her husband, Juan Carlos, is a Spaniard. Together they recently established a bed-and-breakfast, called Fuentes de Lucia, in a tiny hamlet within the Quirós region of Asturias.

Judy and Juan Carlos offer guided local experiences, including walking, bicycling, mountaineering, rock climbing, horseback riding, massage, yoga retreats, writing workshops and cultural explorations (from 10th-century churches to trailside taverns).

I took a side trip to the eastern corner of Asturias, into the even more mountainous region of Picos de Europa. From the village of Arenas de Cabrales, mountaineering, hiking, rock climbing and cheese-sampling forays were abundant. This Picos region has higher, sharper peaks and more developed tourist destinations compared to the Quirós, which is enjoyed more for its verdant valleys and relic hamlets.

Good contacts in Arenas include Jorge Granda Aguado (jorgentrya@hotmail.com), a native Spaniard, English-speaking philosopher, historian, wild crafter (he enhances evening meals with culinary herbs picked during the day’s hike) and guide; John Rogers (john@picos-guides.com or www.picos-guides.com), a colorful Englishman, transplanted to Spain via Wales, multiday tour outfitter and guide, and Neil Abbott (neilylad@hotmail.com), the man in town for yoga, energy work or massage.

All manner of water, rock, trail and equestrian sports are available through these folks in Quirós and in the Picos. Rates for a guided mountaineering trip in the Picos, all support included, run about $130 per person per day (an estimate based on a 10-day package for three people).

Judy and the others are amazingly friendly and welcome your holiday ideas and preferences.

PEG O’BRIEN
Woody Creek, CO

While in New Zealand in 2007, my husband, Jim, and I were impressed that most of the toilets had two levels of flush. You could do a low-use flush or a full flush. What a boon in water saving, even if there were no instructions and it took me two days to figure it out!

MARION DURHAM
Tempe, AZ

In my opinion, it would work better to learn how to say, “I need the direction to…” and simultaneously point (in any direction) with a “querying” look on your face.

Similarly, if you ask the question “What time” or “When?,” you’re not likely to understand the answer. Assuming you’re wearing a watch, the “point with querying look” should handle it.

In many cases, try to structure a question so it can ONLY be answered “Yes” or “No.” This will make it much simpler for both questioner and respondent.

I remember one morning, many years ago, dropping off a motorcycle wheel for a tire repair in Mykonos. While I did speak a fair amount of basic Greek, I had difficulty with accents. When I asked (correctly, it turned out) when I might pick up the wheel, the response was unintelligible to me. This was disconcerting as, in MY opinion, I could count quite well! So I asked again, and he in a VERY exasperated voice said, in Greek, “When the sun is there” and pointed at an angle in the sky.

I was in the middle of the village so did not know directions. My next question was “Which way is north?” THEN I could decipher his comment and say, “See you at 2 o’clock.”

DAAN VAN ALDERWERELT
Merritt Island, FL