Bestway Tours & Safaris

18-day/16-night tour of four countries, departing May 26, Oct. 18 & Nov. 22, 2013. Highlights: In ETHIOPIA, castles in Gondar/in Axum, Stelae Park, Queen of Sheba’s Palace/carved pink-granite churches in Lalibela/gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National Park, RWANDA/gorilla tracking in Bwindi National Park, UGANDA/in DUBAI, Bastakia, Fort Fahidi, spice souk, gold souk. From New York, $8,875 (if arranging own air, $6,875). Single supp., $690. Bestway Tours & Safaris (Burnaby, BC, Canada; 800/663-0844).

17-day / 16-night Silk Road tour; departures April 13, May 12, July 14, Sept. 8 and Oct. 6, 2013. Highlights: 11th-century caravan towns near Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN / Almaty, KAZAKHSTAN / Akbar’s pottery house in Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN / visit artisans in Ferghana valley / Samarkand / Bukhara / Khiva / Khujand, TAJIKISTAN / Ashgabat, TURKMENISTAN. Land, $5,280. Single supp., $620. Bestway Tours & Safaris (Burnaby, BC, Canada; 800 / 663-0844).

14 days/13 nights or 20 days/19 nights, departing May 25 & Sept. 14, 2012. Highlights: Nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites/Belgrade in SERBIA/in BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, Mostar, Sarajevo, Mount Zlatibor National Park/in MACEDONIA, 2,000-year-old Skopje and Ohrid, “City of 365 Churches”/in ALBANIA, Berat, Durres, Tirana/Riviera town of Buda in MONTENEGRO/For 20-day tour, CROATIA, including Dubrovnik, Split, Plitvice Lakes, Zagreb. Land price, 14-day tour, $4,785; single supp., $595. 20-day tour, $7,690; single supp., $850.

by Julie Skurdenis (part 3 of 3 on Balkans)

by Julie Skurdenis (part 2 of 3 on the Balkans)

(First of three parts)

Of the many Roman emperors who ruled between the first century BC and the sixth century AD, it is extraordinary to me that 17 of them were born in what is now Serbia.