August 2010

When traveling, I have always depended upon getting funds in the local currency by using my ATM card, a debit Visa card with a local credit union.

In May and June 2010, I visited southern Spain and Barcelona with friends. In all locations, I used US-issued credit cards with no difficulties. Restaurants, shops and hotels all accepted these cards without question.

After being thoroughly alarmed by ITN’s piece on European “chip-and-PIN” cards, with accounts of the blanket nonacceptance of US cards, this was a great relief!

JOHN T. WAGNER

Palm Springs, CA

The May edition of ITN had five pages of letters from subscribers’ telling the difficulties they had using magnetic-stripe debit and credit cards from the United States in Europe.

When my friend and I landed at the airport in Bali, Indonesia, on April 29, 2010, it was 12:15 a.m. and the temperature was about 90°F with very high humidity. The wait to get through Immigration was in excess of two hours, and there was no air-conditioning, nowhere to sit and no way to get a bottle of water.

These conditions made me sick to my stomach. I have had heat stroke before.

On a birding trip to Namibia in March-April ’10, my wife, Kathy, and I had to purchase some safari clothing. We went to Safariland/Holtz (Gustav Voigts Centre, 129 Independence Ave., Windhoek, Namibia; ), which is a medium-sized store crammed with a wide selection of safari clothing and other gear.

On our travels overseas I have never applied for a VAT (value added tax) refund, but since the VAT of 15% was a fairly significant amount in this case, I saved the receipt on the chance that we might be able to get a refund upon our departure.

I spent six weeks in India in February-March ’10, traveling through Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Rajasthan, with brief visits to Ahmedabad, Delhi, Khajuraho and Varanasi (June ’10, pg. 27 and July ’10, pg. 30). I have the following tips to offer.

Reconfirm flights in India a day or two before departure. Jet Airways canceled my flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi on two days’ notice, and I learned about this only because I happened to have a chance to check my e-mail.

Everyone knows that the first rule of travel is ‘Don’t drink the water,’ but on my trip to Egypt and Jordan, Feb. 23-March 12, 2010, I was amazed at how few people had learned the second rule: ‘Don’t shop where your guide takes you!’

Throughout the world, owners of tourist-trap shops pay large kickbacks (read “bribes”) to the guides, tour companies, taxi drivers and even street people who bring you to their stores.

The following is supplemental advice for your first trip to Egypt, based upon experiences from an April ’10 trip I made with my wife and several friends. These tips and observations cover topics that either were not addressed or, more commonly, did not receive sufficient emphasis in the guidebooks and Internet resources we consulted pretrip.

These tips only complement your guidebooks. Guidebooks contain lots of good information and useful suggestions that are omitted here (e.g., don’t drink the water).

The train from Fiumicino Airport to Stazione Termini in central Rome cost €14 (near $20) per person in May ’10.

by Walt Huse, Fort Myers, FL

A cruise on the Douro River, in the heart of Portugal’s port wine district, offers visitors many opportunities to taste both red and white port wine as well as explore several historic places.