Middle East

by Yvonne Horn

When I signed on for the 22-day/21-night “Turkey’s Biblical East” tour organized and led by Tamer Teoman of Teo World Culture Tours (New York, NY; 888/444-1110, www.teoworldculturetours.com), I knew little about that part of the world. Anatolia? I can’t say I even knew what part of Turkey that was. As I studied a map and pinpointed the towns and places we would visit, ghosts from my old schoolbooks came marching out of the past.

Getting around in Hong Kong is not bad if you’re walking, even with a walker (like me) or wheelchair. The subway entrances have elevators to the station. Always go to the information office to get a map of the subway and info on the handicapped entrances. The Star Ferry building has a great information office, and the ferry people are very helpful to us handicapped seniors. — VIVIAN WILDER, San Francisco, CA

On a tour to Israel with Overseas Adventure Travel, Sept. 2-16, 2008, we had a guide named Marina Schiff (Jerusalem; cell phone 00972 52 3056467, Skype marina.ergas.schiff or e-mail maschiff@gmail.com).

An amazing historian, Marina has been a free-lance guide for many years and is fluent in English, Hebrew, French and Italian. Whether for organized groups or private individuals, she can make complete tour arrangements, including transportation (car, van or minibus).

James Sibley of Houston, Texas, wrote (Dec. ’08, pg. 15), “I would like to see ITN readers regularly write in about which travel companies either 1) waive the single supplement if you are willing to share, whether the travel company is able to match you or not, or 2) discount the single supplement if you are willing to share, whether the company is able to match you or not.”

We took a trip along the “Silk Road” to the five “Stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) and Turkey, Aug. 17-Sept. 9, 2008. The total cost for two was $20,680, which included round-trip air from New York to Istanbul, visa fees (over $500 per person) and mandatory tips ($400 per person).

Except for the sights, which were fantastic, and the friendly local folks, we felt this was not a great trip.

I took a tour of Morocco with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) in April ’08. It had many excellent features, including a special guide. During the post-trip extension to Marrakech, two days before we were to leave, I fell while climbing to see a waterfall. (In the future, I probably should eliminate any tours with the word “adventure” in the title.)

Through my travel agent, I had purchased travel insurance with Mercury Claims & Assistance of Wisconsin, LLC. At the time, the deadline had passed by which I could purchase travel insurance through OAT.

by Elaine Lavine

During the summer of 2007, my nephew pursued a study program in Fès, Morocco. Some of my family joined him in August for a one-week tour of the main cities, and I became so intrigued by the travel stories they told that I made up my mind to go.

I felt the letter titled “Tour Members’ Encounters Distorted?” (Jan. ’09, pg. 26) presented an unusually negative characterization of a tour experience in Southern Africa with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com).

My wife and I traveled independently to many of the world’s countries, and, following her untimely death, I decided to take group tours since I didn’t want to eat by myself. Subsequently, I have taken 17 overseas group tours with different companies.