Armed robbers boarded the Amazon Discovery cruise ship on the Amazon River near the Peruvian city of Iquitos on July 14, stealing more than $20,000 worth of money and goods from crew and passengers. Passports were locked away. The captain suffered a minor injury, but no one else was injured during the robbery. Passengers included 21 Americans, six Australians and two New Zealanders. The ship is regularly chartered to river-tour companies.
On the island of Java in Indonesia, at least 12 people died during a 3-day traffic jam in early July. The 13-mile-long traffic jam at the westbound toll plaza near the town of Brebes was caused by a combination of roadwork and the large number of people traveling west, in the direction of Jakarta, on the weekend after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Most of those who died succumbed to heat and exhaustion, with one reportedly dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust fumes.
In the Apulia region of southeastern Italy, two passenger trains collided head-on on July 12 between the towns of Andria and Corato, killing 23 people and injuring 52 others.
The rail service in the area, which consists of a single track, requires stationmasters to notify each other when trains are on the track. The stationmaster at Andria admitted that he had OK’d the southbound train, not knowing that a northbound train was incoming.
The US Department of State warns that Venezuela has one of the world’s highest crime rates and that armed robberies and street crime take place throughout Caracas and other cities, including in areas generally presumed safe and frequented by tourists countrywide.
It is not often that you have the opportunity to experience 5,000 years of archaeology in just eight hours. In March 2016, my husband, Paul, and I visited Qatar, a small country roughly the size of Connecticut that juts out into the Persian Gulf. It shares a land border only with Saudi Arabia to the south.
I’ve always felt that taxis are underrated, scenic time-savers that can zip you effortlessly from one sight to the next… except during rush-hour traffic, when they’re stuck like everyone else.
In the past, cabs were expensive for a lone budget traveler but a good deal for a group of three or four. Now, with the advent of ride-sharing services like Uber, there are more deals than ever for getting around European cities.
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I was shaking uncontrollably and curled up in the fetal position in the corner of my sofa when my friends found me in my stateroom.
“What happened to you?”
“I don’t know,” I replied.
They immediately called the ship’s onboard emergency number (911), ordered a wheelchair and took me to the doctor’s office six decks down and several long halls away. It was April 2016.
When the nurse asked me what the problem was, I could hardly answer her. “I feel just miserable,” I said.
7-day, 6-night tour in Sierra Madres of Michoacán, MEXICO, Feb. 23-March 1, 2017. Highlights: El Rosario and Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuaries/in Morelia, city tour, five nights in 18th-century hotel/in folk art villages of Pátzcuaro, Tzintzuntzán and Santa Clara del Cobre, see hand-loomed fabrics, straw sculptures, hand-carved wooden furniture. $2,095 ppdo. Single supp., $450. S&S Tours (Sierra Vista, AZ; 866/780-2813, http://ss-tours.com).
10 days, 9 nights, Feb. 1-10, 2017. Highlights: In Luang Prabang, LAOS, bike along Mekong River/boat to Pak Ou Caves/Tad Kuang Si waterfalls/fly to Siem Reap, CAMBODIA/at Angkor Wat, temple of Ta Prohm/in Phnom Penh, board 5-star Aqua Mekong for 4-day, 3-night Mekong cruise to Tan Chau, VIETNAM/ride skiff to Binh Thanh Island. From $19,495 ppdo. Butterfield & Robinson (70 Bond St., Third Floor, Toronto, ON, M5B 1X3, Canada; in No. Am., 866/551-9090, www.butterfield.com).
21 days, 20 nights, Nov. 27-Dec. 17, 2016. Highlights: Arrive Kolkata/in Manipur, floating Keibul Lamjao National Park, home to over 450 types of orchids, 100 bird species/in Imphal, Kangla Fort and Imphal War Cemetery/in Kisama Heritage Village, tribes perform at Hornbill Festival/at Jorhat, begin 7-night cruise on Brahmaputra River/Sibsagar, former capital of Ahom kingdom/in Kaziranga National Park, boat safari and elephantback game drive. $5,695 ppdo or $8,185 single. A Classic Tours Collection (Redondo Beach, CA; 888/605-8687, www.aclassictour.com).