Travelers' Intercom
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).
London’s Bloomsbury
I paid a return visit to London’s Bloomsbury in November ’03.
Accessible from Athens
A couple of readers who are going to the Summer Olympics asked for information on travel in Greece. I have been to Greece 20 times in the last 20 years, most recently in October ’03. I have traveled independently there and gotten to know many wonderful Greeks.
Gestures of courtesy
We were due to sail on the Olympia Explorer round trip from San Francisco to Hawaii on Jan. 5, ’04. In December, before Christmas, our travel agent phoned to say they did not believe the ship would sail due to bankruptcy of the ship owners, a subsidiary of Royal Olympia Cruises.
Maiden voyage of the QM2
There she was, in all of her advertised superlatives: the greatest, the largest (151,000 tons), the costliest (about $800 million), the most beautiful superliner ever built, ad infinitum. It seemed that not enough praise could be lavished on any one vessel. In our opinion, she deserved all these accolades and more.
Notification with specifics
The reader’s letter “Unusual Transactions” (Feb. ’04, pg. 41) brought to mind some of our experiences with credit card companies and our prevacation routine.
The haunting loveliness of the Lot Valley
The region of the Quercy in France offers the visitor the experience of waking in another time and place. We have seen this area twice through the sensitive eyes of Claudia de Guère, most recently in June ’03.
Recapping a month in New Zealand
Here are some notes on our October-November ’03 trip to New Zealand. We spent 13 days on the North Island and 16 days on the South Island.
Idyll, Ltd., a ‘wonderful solution’
My husband and I have done quite a bit of traveling. We research in depth the places to which we are going. We do not like traveling with large groups, as we travel for art, history and architecture and do not want to be rushed through places where we would like to spend a lot of time.
Fabulous guide in Paris
Our family (husband, wife, 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter) visited France and Belgium for three weeks in June ’03. While in Paris, we arrived at the Sainte-Chapelle minutes before a free English-language tour was to begin. It was the luckiest day of our trip!
WWII museums on London visit
After checking into our group’s London hotel in March ’03, my roommate and I caught the underground (the ticket seller advised us to buy a day pass instead of a round-trip ticket) to go to the Imperial War Museum to see the many World War II tanks, planes, guns, V-1 and V-2 rockets, Enigma secret code machine, etc.
The cruise that wasn’t
In mid-December ’03, 759 people — most from the U.S., Canada and Europe — gathered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to board a ship going 1,000 miles down the mightiest river in the world, the exotic Amazon. They looked forward to stopping en route at several Caribbean islands, including Devil’s Island.
An Oasis in the City
Have you ever been in a big, busy city overseas, dodging traffic, recoiling from the noise and gasping for air, when suddenly you came upon an oasis of calm and beauty in the form of a garden or park — a refuge of (relative) quiet and nature where people could escape the commotion of downtown?