March 2006

During a 10-week trip to Asia, January to April ’05, we had the pleasure of staying in several excellent hotels.

I enjoyed a 2-week trip to SWITZERLAND in September ’05 and recommend the following places to stay. They are each a great value in a country where a small bottle of water sells for $4 and mailing a postcard costs $1.44.

• Hôtel de Sonloup (1833 Les Avants sur Montreux, Switzerland; phone 011 41 21 964 34 31, fax 964 34 80 or visit www.sonloup.com) is perched on a knoll; your room will overlook either the Alps or Lake Geneva. My single room with bath cost CHF90 ($72) per night, with breakfast. Swiss hotel prices include tax and tip.

Château de Labessière (55320 Ancemont, FRANCE; phone 33 3 29 85 70 21, fax 33 3 29 87 61 60 or visit www.labessiere.com or www.au-chateau.com) is a wonderful bed-and-breakfast near Verdun. The château is easy to reach by car or train.

Just wanted to share a great apartment in Baltimore, West County Cork, Ireland: Harbour View Apartments (phone 353 [0] 864029566 or 2820142, e-mail info@harbourapartments.com or visit www.harbourapartments.com). The owner is Sarah Connolly.

On a trip to SCOTLAND in November ’05 we stayed at the Schoolhouse B&B (Caroline St. Dornie; phone 01599 555 482 or e-mail leigh@eilan.freeserve.co.uk).

by Todd Vogel, Silverton, OR

My wife and I traveled to Turkey with Umit Dogan, the owner of Treasures of Travel (Box 714, Edmonds, WA 98020; 800/572-0526). The land price of our 21-day tour was $2,800 per person. We used frequent-flyer miles to fly Air France to and from Istanbul.

Because we wanted to book the tour as early as possible so as to be able to use our miles for free business-class air, we made our arrangements for the tour in early January of 2005.

As a serious amateur photographer, I had seen many portraits of the colorful painted faces of the tribal people of Papua New Guinea. Finally, I had the opportunity to go see for myself. I joined Greg Stathakis of Trans Niugini Tours (408 East Islay St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 800/676-1241 or www.pngtravel.com) on a 2-week tour in July ’05. An excellent leader, Greg fell in love with PNG and has led small-group trips there for over 20 years.

I had some concerns about crime in Guatemala after reading reports in ITN and other publications about bandits and attacks on tourists. I hope these reports do not discourage people from visiting this country. My friend Roni and I never felt unsafe or threatened on the 14-day “Route of the Maya” tour that we took with Overseas Adventure Travel (Box 3167, Boston, MA 00241; 800/221-0814 or www.oattravel.com), May 8-21, ’05.