July 2005

The Wieliczka Salt Mine (www.kopalnia-wieliczka.pl/english) in Poland is still a working mine, but not the part where tourists are allowed. The section we saw on our trip in August ’97 is a museum with figures carved in salt. There are two chapels dating from the 17th century made entirely of rock salt.

The highlight of the tour was the cathedral of the Blessed Kinga, a huge salt cathedral many feet underground. It was beautiful, and the artwork was magnificent. The tour involved descending 490 feet by elevator and taking a moderately strenuous walk, with steps.

In April ’05 I returned from Gatwick Airport, London, to Newark International as I have for several years, twice a year. Please be informed that travelers arriving at Newark now must pay $3 for the use of a luggage cart. Needless to say, I saw no one taking advantage of the “bargain.”

JEANETTE HARDIE
Park Ridge, NJ

Only those who have witnessed Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) will fully appreciate Dr. Larry Baratta’s May ’05 “Travel & Health” column on that subject. I’ve observed its debilitating effects twice: in an elderly man crossing from Pakistan into China on the Karakorum Highway at more than 15,000 feet and in a young physical education instructor in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. In the first case, we had to descend quickly, and in the other the woman stayed in the lodge during the only two days we were at this 10,000-foot elevation.

Our Czech daughter-in-law, Iveta, was most concerned to read of the reply made by the guide to Mary Anne DeBriyn’s pleasant greeting of “Tesi me,” which is quite correct (May ’05, pg. 56). The Czech phrase for “Will you sleep with me?” is “Vyspis se se mnou?” It sounds nothing like the greeting phrase.

Iveta would like to apologize to Mrs. DeBriyn and her husband for the rudeness of this guide. Apparently, he was toying with them, and that’s not nice!

In December ’04 we visited Rome for the first time. Prior to leaving home, we booked two half-day “courses” with IDC Rome, Institute of Design & Culture (in the U.S., leave voice mail at 214/853-5603 [we did not use this], e-mail rome@urban-iconography.org or visit www.idcrome.org [the best place to get information]). IDC’s website says, “We don’t give tours; we lead discussions.”

In New Zealand, the word “brilliant” is used frequently as an adjective, as in, “brilliant food, brilliant view, brilliant idea.” My husband and I spent two weeks in South Island in March-April ’05. Our driver/guide, Malcolm Latta, was brilliant. What a superb trip we had.

This is not a day-by-day report but rather an overview, indicating the highlights of our journey among the Kiwis. Hopefully, it will provide inspiration and suggestions for those of you contemplating such a trip.

If you’ve never been to New Zealand, you really need to go. Those wonderful stories about the place are all true. If you’ve already gone, chances are you didn’t visit the North Island’s Bay of Plenty. Not a lot of people do. Stuck up in the northeastern corner about two hours from Auckland, this part of the North Island is rather off the beaten tourist path — and that means things are less crowded and more authentic.

December 26, 2004, is a day Sri Lankans will not forget in a hurry. In fact, it might take a couple of generations, considering the number of children left without parents because of the devastating tsunami.

Places with names like Weligama, Mirissa, Matara, Tangalle, Galle, Hambantota and Unawatuna may sound foreign and exotic, but today they hardly exist. Some are ghost towns. Most are struggling to cope with displaced people, and many survivors are still mourning their losses.

by Judy Hodges, Denton, MD

by Larry Taylor, Fullerton, CA

Japan is a land of contrasts: temples and technology, kimonos and karaoke, Buddhas and baseball. . .