When I plan a trip to a new destination, I always like to read books about the place before, during or after my travels.
I recently took a trip to Turkey with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/955-1925). Our guide recommended that we read, prior to our departure, “Birds Without Wings” by Louis de Bernières (2004, Knopf). It was a great suggestion and certainly enriched my understanding of Turkish history.
Annually for the past 12 years, most recently in February 2014, I have spent time serving as a civilian noncombatant volunteer on Israeli military bases. I offer my services through the nonprofit program Volunteers for Israel (866/514-1948, www.vfi-usa.org and www.sar-el.org).
I always go in February, serving for two weeks each time, although volunteers can serve year-round and for longer or shorter periods of time. My wife has served twice.
While we were in Bodrum/Milas, Turkey, in March 2014, I visited bank after bank in an effort to find one that would exchange American Express Travelers’ Cheques. Nobody would change them.
In the past, this was never a problem; even the hotels would cash them. But this time everyone said ‘No.’
IRMA HESS
Mt. Vernon, NY
After Dec. 31, 2014, any traveler to Turkey requiring a visa will need to have an e-Visa. Turkey’s e-Visa program started in April 2013 and is available to visitors from 94 countries, including the US.
The new visas are meant to be easier to obtain. If approved, travelers are able to receive their e-Visas immediately upon completing the applications. Travelers can also get e-Visas at kiosks upon arrival. The e-Visas are less expensive as well — $20 if purchased in advance, $30 if purchased on arrival.
An exact replica of Tutankhamun’s tomb was scheduled to open in Luxor, Egypt, on April 30. The facsimile was a gift to Egypt from the Factum Foundation of Madrid, Spain, the Society of Friends of the Royal Tombs of Egypt in Zürich, Switzerland, and the University of Basel.
A panoramic, site-specific painting depicting the siege of Istanbul by Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II can be found in the museum Panorama 1453 (Topkapı Cultural Park, Istanbul, Turkey; phone 0212 415 14 53, www.panoramikmuze.com [in Turkish only]).
Including images of 10,000 individuals, the painting covers the entire interior of a dome 131 feet in diameter and depicts the siege as it might have appeared on May 29, 1453, from the museum’s location. Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Museum entry costs TRY10 (near $4.50).
I find it ineffably sad whenever I see an old friend for what I believe may be the final time, and so it was with Istanbul on my sixth and last visit there in January ’14.
On my final night, I feasted with longtime Turkish buddies in the Asian part of that venerable and booming city, topping the meal off with something special, tavuk gogsu, an amazing dish of sugar-infused mashed chicken covered with ice cream.
Yes, I know it may sound gross, but don’t knock it until you try it. A traditional dessert pudding, it cost TRY3, or about $3.
Until Sept. 11, 2014, in Jerusalem, 11 of the world’s oldest masks, dating from 9,000 years ago, will be on display at the Israel Museum (Ruppin Boulevard, Jerusalem, Israel; phone 972 2 670 8811). The stone masks, which were found in a 20-mile radius of the city, were created in the Neolithic period.
Open 10 a.m.-5p.m. Sun., Mon., Wed., Thurs.; 4-9 p.m. Tues.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fri. and 10-5 Sat. Entry, NIS50 ($15).
Jo Ann Michetti’s letter (Jan. ’14, pg. 49), reflecting her visit to Morocco in 1992 and referencing Steven Emmet’s experience in 2011 (Nov. ’13, pg. 54), said that Moroccans don’t want their pictures taken. From our experiences in 1997, I’d like to qualify that statement.
This is in response to the request for lodging information from those of us who travel “on a shoestring.”
I traveled independently in Turkey in May of 2012. I left my wheeled suitcase at the Coşkun Pension in Istanbul and traveled for three weeks with only a backpack.
The transportation was delightfully simple. I took dolmuses (minibuses) for cheap regional travel, two 5-hour coach rides and two in-country flights on Turkish Airlines.