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July 2005 issue

Riding horses in Bali

I spent three weeks in Bali with my husband in March ’05, and one of my outstanding memories was riding horseback along the coast north of Sanur.

I was picked up at my hotel in Sanur at 8:30 in the morning by a driver and taken to the Saba Bay Stables about 40 minutes north. The horseback ride was approximately three hours long and was along the black-sand Saba Beach, by local temples and through bamboo plantations. It was a ride to see the Bali people at their daily activities.

Near the end of the ride we were met by two people from the stables who had climbed a coconut tree...

April 2004 issue

The haunting loveliness of the Lot Valley

The region of the Quercy in France offers the visitor the experience of waking in another time and place. We have seen this area twice through the sensitive eyes of Claudia de Guère, most recently in June ’03.

Madame de Guère is a highly cultivated American who created a fairy-tale house, Domaine de Castan (46330 Saint-Circ-Lapopie, France; phone, from the U.S., 011.33.5.65.31.23.04), by restoring a 300-year-old stone “bergerie” in the hills overlooking the river Lot near the medieval village of Saint-Circ-Lapopie.

“Six Days in the Quercy” cost $2,400 for two persons, all...

May 2004 issue

Rental car woes re full tank

Have you ever wondered if you really got a full tank of gas when you left the airport rental car parking area? Our recent experience with Avis at Milan, Italy’s, Malpensa airport is a classic case in point.

We rented a Citroen C3 from Aug. 24 to Sept. 16, ’03. When we picked up the car, the dashboard had six illuminated lights to indicate a full tank, but the first light to go dark did so after only about 20 kilometers. When our first fill-up resulted in gas mileage of only 12.6 kilometers per liter (that’s about 30 mpg), I thought that we were stuck with a gas-hungry monster in the...

February 2004 issue

Village Vacations in England

My wife and I and our daughter and son-in-law spent a week in May ’02 in southwest England with David and Christine Hale, who have a B&B and a tour service called Village Vacations (Brookmead, Rimpton, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 8AQ England; phone/fax [UK] 011-44-1935-850241, e-mail villagevac@aol.com or visit www.villagevacations.co.uk).

We are retired antique dealers who have spent two to three weeks buying antiques in England twice a year every year for the last 30 years. On those buying trips, we went where the antiques were.

The trips always included the weekly and...

March 2011 issue

Driving in Europe

I just read S. Ryan Edgar’s article “Pulling Out All the Stops on a Self-Drive Tour of Europe” (Jan. ’11, pg. 35) and would like to add some comments on driving that his article didn’t include. I rented a car and drove from Paris to San Marino to Andorra and back to Paris over five days, Nov. 13-18, 2010.

Roads in France are smoother than those in the US. The reason is the government leases out sections of the road to contractors to maintain and profit from the tolls they collect.

The major highways are toll roads and very expensive. Few toll plazas I came to had toll takers...

October 2010 issue

Vietnam’s forgotten Champa kingdom

The ruined, ancient Hindu temples slowly emerged from the lush, green jungle. It had been a long ride from my hotel outside Hoi An, Vietnam, but as soon as I viewed the temples of My Son, I felt transported back in time to Vietnam’s long-lost kingdom of Champa (AD 192-1832).

My tour, “Cultural Treasures of Vietnam & Cambodia,” with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 800/322-6677), took place Dec. 3-22, 2009. The price, including air from Tampa, Florida, and single supplement, was approximately $6,600.

Designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999, My Son...

December 2010 issue

Remarkable Rome

What can one say about Rome’s charms that hasn’t been said before? It seems that every sight has been seen, written about and filmed. Yet, as much as I thought it would be another overcrowded European city, Rome captivated my imagination and fueled a mad dash to see everything possible.

Our enchantment began almost immediately upon checking in at the posh Hotel Eden (Via Ludovisi 49), where my husband and I and our two friends stayed for three nights, courtesy of Starwood hotel points, during September ’09. (The rate for a double room is €342 [near $477] per night.)

The...

March 2004 issue

Pickpocket ploy

As an avid traveler and ITN reader, I thought I was familiar with most of the means by which people were separated from their money, but the following was a new one to me.

In fall 2003, following disembarkation from our ship in Barcelona, Spain, our group was taken on a brief tour of the city while our hotel rooms were being prepared. The tour guide, while passing out pertinent information, also warned us about pickpockets. The “good news” was that the thieves are now very good at it and seldom resort to physically harming their victims!

Later that day, my companion made the...