Middle East

I feel I have to respond to two letters, one dissing an airline (Oct. ’06, pg. 31) and one a cruise line (Dec. ’06, pg. 29).

After reading in ITN (March ’04, pg. 17) only praises about Samir Fayek (cell phone 011 20 12 399 5147 or e-mail samirfayek@hotmail.com), I decided to contact him for my Egypt trip in January-February ’06. I would have some free time in Cairo on two occasions and needed suggestions on where to stay and what to do.

My husband, Dick, and I took the “Essential Iran” tour with MIR Corp. (85 South Washington St., Ste. 210, Seattle, WA 98104; 800/424-7289, www.mircorp.com), Sept. 8-17, 2006, and thought ITN readers might be interested in the observations of two ordinary American tourists, a rarity there.

by Judith Anshin, Contributing Editor

I took an independent trip to Egypt, Oct. 26-Nov. 3, 2007, especially to see el-Amarna, where Nefertiti and Akhenaten had their City of the Sun.

by Julie Skurdenis

To me, it’s always been one of the most vivid passages in the New Testament.

My wife, Sandy, and I took a 16-day trip to Morocco, Aug. 29-Sept. 15, 2006, visiting via train the Imperial Cities of Fes, Meknes, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech. We traveled with a private driver/guide for four days from Marrakech to Fes. We booked our arrangements through the Internet and, excluding airfare, our total cost was about $3,600.

What follows are random thoughts that we hope will be helpful.

by Noel Canfield including text and photos from Roger Canfield, Contributing Editors

Six of us toured western Turkey in 2004 with Mehmet Ozbalci of Turfantastik (Milet cas. Inan Is Hani No:5/610, Aksaray, Istanbul, Turkey; phone [90] 212-589 33 25, fax 586 32 56) and committed to another journey with him in 2005. Our eastern Turkey trip took place May 23-June 9, 2005, and to see Mehmet’s smiling face as we walked through the door after claiming our baggage was like seeing a special friend. Once again we had a fabulous time.