Travel Briefs

With the categories Traditions, Outdoors, Cuisine, Cities, Nature, Art and Relaxation, the booklet “100 Experiences in Japan” describes things to see or do that were handpicked by the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The categories are divided into four pamphlets, each of which can be downloaded as a PDF at www.jnto.go.jp/brochures/eng/index.php?keyword=100+experiences.

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San Rafael Waterfall, at nearly 490 feet the highest waterfall in Ecuador, disappeared in late February after the Coca River, which fed it, diverted into a sinkhole upstream believed to have been created by a series of landslides earlier in the month. Naturalists do not believe the waterfall will return naturally. It was a centerpiece of the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve, a national park in the Amazon rainforest.

The Bondi to Manly Track, connecting two of Sydney, Australia’s, most famous beaches, opened Dec. 8, 2019. The nearly 50-mile trail follows the coastline from northern Sydney through the central city to southern Sydney, also crossing the Harbour Bridge. Highlights include historic buildings, gardens and Aboriginal sites as well as natural splendor.

For maps and suggested walks or multiday itineraries, visit www.bonditomanly.com.

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In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, you can leap into the world’s largest indoor skydiving chamber at CLYMB (Yas Island, Abu Dhabi; phone +971 600 511115, www.clymbabudhabi.com). With a height of 104 feet and a width of 32 feet, about double the size of a standard indoor skydiving chamber, the chamber keeps skydivers (as young as 3!) aloft with 16 high-power fans.

Each skydive lasts around 60 seconds. The experience must be booked in advance and costs AED235 (near $64) for two...

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MGM Resorts has revealed, after the stolen information was posted online, that a hack of their guest databases in the summer of 2019 exposed the personal information of more than 10.6 million guests. The stolen information included names, addresses, telephone numbers and, in some cases, passport numbers. The hotel does not believe that any financial information was exposed.

A barrier has been set up around Rome’s Trevi Fountain to stop people from sitting along its rim. As described by Rome’s mayor, the barrier will neither block views of the fountain nor prevent people from throwing coins.

Sitting on the fountain was made illegal in 2019, but the city had not enforced that law by erecting a fence until now. The barrier will also help obstruct the occasional visitor who illegally climbs into the fountain.

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In a reversal of a plan that would have completely outlawed guided group tours in Amsterdam’s Red Light District (May ’19, pg. 4), the Dutch city announced in mid-February 2020 that guided group tours could still visit the neighborhood, but they could not include visits to the area’s display windows where sex workers pose for potential clients.

The sex workers’ union asked the city to allow tours to continue, saying that tour guides helped keep them safe by...

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The South American airline conglomerate LATAM is leaving the airline alliance oneworld on May 1. Due to separately negotiated bilateral agreements, LATAM will continue to allow passengers to redeem miles from most oneworld airlines for LATAM flights, as well as allow members of those mileage programs to earn miles for flights purchased from LATAM.

American Airlines, the only US-based member of oneworld, does not have an agreement with LATAM, so American Airlines’ mileage-program...

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