East Europe

My husband and I were very pleased with the travel arrangements made for us by MIR Corporation (85 South Washington St., Ste. 210, Seattle, WA 98104; phone 800/424-7289 or visit www.mircorp.com). We used their group tour to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania followed by their Bulgaria post-tour as models for our “independent traveler” trip. (The itineraries can be found on the website, so we won’t go into any detail).

We had concerns about the logistics of the transitions between guides and countries, but the technical aspects of the trip went flawlessly. In Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova we had a different driver and guide for each country. All guides were professional and each one met us exactly on time at the appointed location.

All our accommodations were well located, each right at the heart of everything. Most of the hotels were 3-star, with one 4-star in Odessa (Ukraine); in Bulgaria we stayed in two small B&B-type places. Breakfast was included everywhere; 10 lunches and five dinners were also included. Food is incredibly cheap in all of these countries, so non-included meals were not a big expense.

The entire 24-day trip in July ’03, including insurance, visas and economy-class round-trip flights from Boston to Minsk (Belarus), cost $13,459 for two people.

We highly recommend MIR Corporation to readers interested in this part of the world. Readers with inquiries may e-mail us c/o ITN.

— BOB & JOANNE KOWALCZYK, Dartmouth, MA