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I was in Burma (Myanmar) in November ’04. In Pagan (now Bagan) there was a very pretty young girl selling postcards at the Ananda Temple. She was appealing and vivacious without being pushy, so I not only bought a strip of postcards but took her photograph.
Travelers to Turin, Italy, who stay at the Holiday Inn Express will find a clean, modern, comfortable hotel at a reasonable price (€75, or about $97.50, per night for two, including a lavish breakfast), but it is located rather a ways from the center of town and in a neighborhood surprisingly bereft of restaurants, trattorias or, for that matter, any place where one can sit down and have a meal.
Editor’s note: The following letter refers to the January ’05 “Cruising World” column in which Dr. Lew Toulmin wrote about a woman who, in advance of a cruise, objected to signing a document authorizing the line to put a “hold” of a certain amount on her credit card to ensure there was sufficient credit to pay for her on-board expenses.
On a trip to lesser-known territory of the U.K, Sept. 11-24, ’04 (April ’05, pg. 16), my travels took me to western Scotland.
The Cagaloglu Hamami (Turkish bath) is the oldest bath in Istanbul — over 300 years old — and I arrived at about 3 o’clock one afternoon in July ’04 after a day of sightseeing and shopping in the Grand Bazaar.
First things first. The hamami is not a spa. It smells a little musty (think hundreds of years of humidity and heat). There are separate sections for men and women; the women’s entrance is around the corner, down an alley. Men still rule in Turkey.
by Patricia Arrigoni, Fairfax, CA
We would second the recommendation (Aug. ’04, pg. 67) of Rabbie’s Trail Burners (207 High St., Edinburgh EH1 1PE, Scotland; phone + [0] 44 131 226 3133 or visit www.rabbies. com).
We took a most memorable 8-day tour of Bhutan in September ’04, thanks to the efforts of Lingkor Tours & Treks (P.O. Box 202, Thimphu, Bhutan; phone 975-2-323417, fax 975-2-323402, e-mail trepatsang@aol.com or visit www.lingkor.com). A Buddhist monk referred us to Lingkor and through e-mail we set up a customized itinerary with Tenga at Lingkor before leaving the U.S.
I want to thank all the ITN readers who answered my “Person to Person” request for tips regarding an economical way to visit Japan. I chose General Tours (53 Summer St., Keene, NH 03431; phone 800/221-2216 or visit www. generaltours.com) and took their 9-day “Japan Sampler” tour, Sept. 18-26, ’04.
Tokyo, Hakone (for Mt. Fujiyama), Osaka and Kyoto were on the itinerary. All the hotels were excellent, with full breakfasts daily. One of the hotels had four restaurants to choose from.
“Uruguay’s Colorful Birds and Gracious People” was a fine trip which my husband, Don, and I took with Elderhostel (11 Ave. de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111; phone 877/426-8056 or visit www.elderhostel.org), Nov. 4-16, ’04.