Middle East

From Rome, ITALY, Nov. 10, ’06. . .

by Ed Kinney

Four of us took a 2-week trip with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 888/734-0188) in August ’06 that included a 10-day eastern Mediterranean cruise, “Roman Empire,” on the Noordam of Holland America Line (Seattle, WA).

In my previous letter on how to handle money abroad (Oct. ’05, pg. 53), I noted that going to the ATM was virtually always the best way to get local currency. At the time of that writing, ATM withdrawals (straight from a bank account) were usually executed at the interbank exchange rate, and there were few “add-ons” other than the basic usual fee of $1-$2 for using an ATM other than your own bank’s ATM (a fee sometimes refunded by Internet banks, USAA Bank and others).

I enjoyed the article in the September ’06 “Mideast and Mediterranean” column regarding the Bardo museum in Tunis. I’ve been there and it just keeps getting better.

Fethiye, Turkey, has a wonderful small market with everything you might wish to buy — great jewelry, rugs, spices. . . . On a June-July ’04 tour with Treasures of Travel (Edmonds, WA; 800/572-0526), I found wonderful things there for my home and for my friends. — PEGGY LONG, Portland, OR

East of Amman, Jordan’s capital, stretches the desert, a seemingly endless empty expanse of land wedged in between Syria to the north, Iraq to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south. It’s mostly flat, dotted with low-growing shrubs, bushes and cacti. There are few roads here, but there are dozens of desert tracks crisscrossing the expanse. They’ve been used for hundreds of years by pilgrims en route to Mecca and by caravans carrying goods from one trading post to another.

Some friends shake their heads, and others are envious of Moreen and me for our travels in the Middle East. They ask, as do some ITN readers, if it is safe there for travelers. I can’t offer a definite yes or no, but I believe it’s relatively safe in many Middle Eastern countries.

For example, I had planned to take a trip to Libya in April of this year. The tour was canceled, not for security issues but because Libya stopped granting tourist visas for U.S. citizens. When Libya again offers visas, I plan to go there.

My husband and I are experienced travelers (125 countries) and know there are very few travel bargains any more. When we read an ad in ITN for a 15-day/13-night tour of Morocco for $2,085 each including air from New York, we thought the price was too good to be true.

Where have you, in the last few years, had a great massage overseas (outside of North America and the Caribbean)? In a first-class hotel? A spa? An airport lounge? Tell us where it was (include contact info, if possible), when you were there and approximately how much it cost (discuss the gratuity too). What made it great? Have any tips for others interested in a relaxing or invigorating massage?