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I was sorry to read, in the subscriber’s letter “China Countryside Tips” (June ’12, pg. 14), that her tour company abandoned her partway through her trip. While I sympathize with her situation, I can’t agree with her conclusion that you should not travel in China without a guide or a Mandarin-speaking companion or that you should stay only in high-end hotels.
by Herschell Gordon Lewis; Pompano Beach, FL
We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part seven in this ongoing series, are about events attended in the United Kingdom.
We asked you to write about a restaurant, shop or other business housed in a historic, unique, spectacular or interesting building (outside of the US) that can be entered without paying an admission fee. We weren’t looking for a place like the Hard Rock Café that just has pictures and antiques everywhere but, if it is a café, a place where the architecture is as much the experience as the meal. Or it can be a working library in a castle. Or a butcher shop in an old cathedral.
My wife, Susan, has end-stage renal disease and needs to have dialysis treatments at least three times a week. My question for ITN readers is, ‘What are some travel packages on which this is possible?’
To get the ball rolling, I’ll tell you about a company we used for a cruise we took.
As part of a 6-week tour of Brazil in January-March 2011 (July ’12, pg. 29), we spent several days in São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. Our guide, Juan Pitacco (jmpitacco@hotmail.com) took us on a walking tour of Praia Grande, the historical city center.
I visited Quito, Ecuador, four times from late June to mid July 2011, staying each time at El Arupo Hostel (Juan Rodriguez E7-22 y Reina Victoria, Quito, Ecuador; phone [593 2] 2557 543 or fax [593 2] 2225 716), originally recommended by a friend.
A renovated brick-and-wooden house, the hostel is spotlessly clean and safe. Guests could use the kitchen and laundry facilities. There was a free storage room, a safe-deposit box, free Internet access and WiFi. A refrigerator holds bottled water, soft drinks and local beer which you can buy.
When my wife, Jean, and I wanted to take a Danube cruise, we contacted several ITN advertisers. While speaking with Corinna Vargas at Value World Tours (Fountain Valley, CA; 800/795-1633), I knew I had found the right person at the right agency.
A wonderful place to stop when on a Black Sea vacation is Hotel Selena (Yani Popov str. 7, Sozopol 8130, Bulgaria; phone/fax +359 550 25200 or phone +359 550 25300). This lovely, 72-room hotel is located on the shore of a horseshoe-shaped bay. Odd-numbered rooms overlook the beach and harbor.
My wife, Sandy, and I stayed there June 1-9, 2012. For €30 (near $38) per night, we had a very comfortable, clean room.
