Travelers' Intercom
Trusts Adventure Center
I always have Adventure Center (1311 63rd St., Ste. 200, Emeryville, CA 94608; phone 800/228-8747) arrange my air tickets when I book air and land together; it may cost me a few bucks more, but it is well worth it!
Argentina and Uruguay
In January ’04 we took a self-directed trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and to Montevideo and Punta del Este, Uruguay. We experienced a delightful and safe adventure at a very reasonable price.
Budget Europe Travel Service
My husband and I like to travel by rail when we are in Europe, and we have found that a wonderful place to purchase rail tickets is Budget Europe Travel Service (Ann Arbor, MI; phone 800/441-2387 or 800/441-9413). There are no handling fees and your tickets are sent by certified mail at no cost.
Surprised at bill for call from hotel
During the latter part of October ’03 we visited London and stayed at the hotel De Vere Cavendish St. James’s, located just behind Fortnum and Mason. In general, we were very pleased with our hotel stay. . . until we received the final billing.
Tips for visiting Spain
My husband and I spent three weeks in Spain in April ’03. We made all of our lodging and car reservations online or by phone. Although we usually prefer to be less restricted schedule-wise, we were there during Holy Week and Easter and rooms would have been hard to find in our price range without reservations.
Tips for a Prague visit
In September ’03 my wife and I took a train from Berlin Ost Bahnhof to Prague, a 5-hour trip.
Pacific Islands Festival
I’d like to alert fellow ITN readers to the upcoming 9th Pacific Islands Festival of the Arts. It’s held every four years by 27 island nations (including Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia) to meet and greet each other and share their traditions and cultures.
Cruise aborted
On our way to St. Barts and ultimately Manaus, Brazil, aboard the Olympia Voyager in December ’03, our eagerly awaited “Grand Amazon Cruise” was aborted — a great disappointment to most of the passengers (and we never used our Brazilian visas).
Travel is...
ITN asked its readers to write essays on the subject “Travel is. . .” in 250 words or less. Originally, we were going to print only the top five, but your words were so inspiring that we decided to print the top 10 essays. We featured half of them in the February issue.
Re currency conversion charges
A letter in the November ’03 issue, page 38, stated that MBNA does not charge for foreign currency conversion. That’s true. What it doesn’t say is that the various credit card companies themselves are the ones that charge; e.g., Visa, 2%; AmEx, 2%, and MasterCard, 1%.
The friendly Bhutanese
My wife, Jackie, and I took an 11-day trip to Bhutan in October ’03. The trip was arranged by Ron at Starlink Tours (5250 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 617, Los Angeles, CA 90045; phone 866/337-0909 or visit www. starlinktours.com).
Paradise on a freighter
The passenger freighter Aranui 3 is the best way to see the lush, raw beauty of the remote French Polynesian islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago and the Marquesas. I sailed on the Dec. 13, ’03, voyage out of Papeete, Tahiti.
Russian river cruise
Clutching our tickets, passports and visas (at — gasp! — $100 each), my husband and I inched into the Aeroflot line. It was Sept. 5, ’03, and we were bound for Moscow from San Francisco.
Paris shuttle
The airport-to-Paris shuttle service PariShuttle (visit www.paris-anglo.com) was mentioned previously by ITN readers (Feb. ’02, pgs. 74-75). For a trip in September ’03, I tried to call the service and learned that their toll-free number from the U.S. is no longer available.
Belleau Wood WWI ceremonies
Many Americans will visit Normandy on June 6, ’04, for events surrounding the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
Given insufficient connect time
In March ’03 we took a trip to India and around Africa with Orient Lines, which arranged all flights. Our troubles began early on.
‘Small World’ Department: Nice name
On April 8, ’03, the QE2 was making a port call at the island of St. Helena, where Napoleon had been exiled and where he died. Through the St. Helena Tourist Bureau I had obtained a car and driver for a tour of the main points of interest on this tiny island in the South Atlantic.
Trekking among the rebels
I want to respond to the news item “Fighting Rebels in Nepal” (Feb. ’04, pg. 18).