Travelers' Intercom
Cusco restaurants
While vacationing in Cusco, Peru, April 23-May 17, 2008, and going to school there for Spanish lessons, I had opportunities to try many good restaurants. I am pretty convinced that it would be hard not to find a good meal in Cusco.
Catching up with the ship
My husband, Lynn, and I were to join my parents in Philadelphia where all four of us would continue on to England and begin our anticipated 2-week Baltic cruise aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Constellation, June 2-16, 2007.
Beautiful Uluru
Ayers Rock, or, as it is now designated, Uluru/Ayers Rock, is the world’s second-largest monolith.* This huge red rock is spectacular, especially at sunrise and sunset. It changes from red to orange and various shades of purple as the sun rises or sets.
Wheeled back-packs
Rick Steves in the June ’08 issue notes that he travels with a convertible suitcase/backpack, adding that he avoids soft-sided suitcases with wheels.
Paris bargain
I really liked Richard Berner’s story “Apartment in Paris” (May ’08, pg. 6). Ironically, when I read it we had just returned from a week in Paris, where we, too, had rented an apartment.
Africa Easy
The “secret season” in South Africa is during September and October. That’s what Nadia Eckhardt of Africa Easy Travel Company (2212 Queen Anne Ave. North #148, Seattle, WA 98109; 800/617-2319, www.africaeasy.com) told us years ago.
Visit Myanmar
For over six months, my husband, George, and I had been working on a trip to Bhutan, Laos and Myanmar set for May 16-June 16, 2008. When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on May 2, we weren’t sure if we should go.
Getting calls overseas on home number
Since my husband, Jim, and I have elderly family members, we wanted a way to keep in contact with them while on an Overseas Adventure Travel tour of Greece in May ’08.
Mendoza, Argentina
On your next visit to Argentina, leave the tango behind, for a change, and take a dive into the real culture, history and splendor of nature in Mendoza, which is only a 2-hour flight from Buenos Aires.
Beautiful, friendly NZ
The following tips are the result of three trips to New Zealand (in 1983, 1993 and 2008) totaling some 16 weeks. The last visit my wife, Carol, and I made, in February, reconfirmed our conviction that NZ is the most beautiful and friendly country in the world. Here are some general suggestions.
Senses-filling India
India! Many love it, and some say they hate it, but no one is indifferent to this vast subcontinent teeming with almost one billion people.
Line canceled shore tour, charged cancellation fee
In August ’07 my husband, Robert, and I booked a 14-day South America cruise on the Norwegian Dream; we would leave Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Feb. 3, 2008. At the same time, we booked a shore excursion, “Antarctic Flightseeing,” online for $2,199 per person.
Macaw Mountain, Honduras
When my daughter, Heather, and I made a spring visit to Honduras, we stayed at a B&B in the country’s second-largest city, San Pedro Sula, close to the Mayan ruins at Copán.
Two studios, perhaps
When I read Rick Steves’ article on packing light (June ’08, pg. 82), I recalled a trip from about 10 years ago.
Saving on calls overseas
While planning for a July ’07 trip to Norway (July ’08, pg. 32), I was given a tip for making long-distance telephone calls.
Incredible Real India Tours
My wife, Gina, and I took Holland America’s 114-day world cruise aboard the Amsterdam, Jan. 4-April 24, 2008, out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While we booked many shore excursions with the ship, we felt their overland excursions were overpriced.
Urubamba’s ‘old-world charm’
My wife and I took a trip to Peru, Bolivia and Chile, Nov. 11-Dec. 22, 2007. I had traveled most of South America as a single young man more than 30 years earlier, and I wanted my wife, who had not been there, to experience the warmth of the people and their culture.
Rental damage-check ‘grace period’
My wife and I made plans to spend four weeks in the UK in September ’07 in order to attend college reunions at Cambridge University. Since our ports of call were widespread, we decided to rent a car.
All set in Santiago
Cecilia Parodi of Sol International Tours (Kodak, TN; 800/765-5657, http://solintl.com) provides excellent service. She arranged for our Feb. 6-7, 2008, stay in Santiago, Chile, and we found her to be efficient and professional, responding immediately to all our questions and concerns.