January 2012

Tunisia’s newly elected assembly had its opening session on Nov. 22, 2011, with outgoing officials from the interim government joining in the ceremony celebrating the transition.

In November in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed the deal to give up control of the government that was brokered by the Arab League. The senior opposition leader, Mohammed Basindwa, was named as interim prime minister, and elections for the new government are scheduled for February 2012.

Saleh had ruled for 33 years, and his government brutally suppressed the opposition movement that began in January 2011. Opposition leaders, while welcoming the removal of Saleh, are refusing to accept the aspect of the deal allowing Saleh immunity from prosecution.

The Department of State continues to urge avoiding all travel to Lebanon.

Due to increased activities by the terrorist group al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the US Department of State continues to warn of the risks of travel to Mauritania as well as to Mali and to recommend against all travel to northern Mali and throughout the Sahel region due to kidnapping threats against Westerners.

After the United Kingdom and the United States announced new financial sanctions against Iran on Nov. 21, the UK embassy in Tehran was stormed and ransacked by hundreds of protesters on Nov. 29. The UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Norway recalled their ambassadors to review the situation. On Nov. 30, the UK ordered the closure of the Iranian Embassy in London and expelled all Iranian diplomats.

In Egypt, the security situation in most tourist centers, including Luxor, Aswan and Red Sea resorts such as Sharm el Sheikh, continues to be calm, the US State Department says.

Since March 2011, demonstrations throughout Syria have been violently suppressed by Syrian security forces. In late November, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the death toll had reached more than 4,000.

Some of the Syrian army and military have defected and joined the protest movement calling for an end of the government of President Bashar al-Assad. There are concerns that the country might be heading for civil war.

In Israel for only one week (Sept. 1-7, 2011) for a family wedding, I hadn’t planned on any sightseeing. However, a friend who had moved to the town of Zichron Ya’akov, a place I had not toured before, invited me to spend the day.

During my Italy trip in May ’11 (Nov. ’11, pg. 15), I was set to travel by train from Riva del Garda to Varenna on Sunday, May 22, when I heard the ominous news: Trenitalia was on strike!

The first part of the journey went as planned, by taxi from Riva del Garda to Rovereto, about 27 kilometers away, for €40 (near $55).

My wife, Jane, and I took a two-week private tour of the Philippines in May ’11 with Marsman Drysdale Travel (19F Robinsons Summit Center, 6783 Ayala Ave., Makati City 1227, Philippines; phone +632 8870000, ext. 302, 303 or 305, fax +632 8880228, e-mail reservations@marsmandrysdale.com). The tour price was $2,045 per person, including one internal flight, daily lunch and one dinner.

I have taken many tours with a guide and driver, but this was one of the best-organized, most enjoyable tours I have ever taken.