Travelers' Intercom
‘Shop on your own!’
Everyone knows that the first rule of travel is ‘Don’t drink the water,’ but on my trip to Egypt and Jordan, Feb. 23-March 12, 2010, I was amazed at how few people had learned the second rule: ‘Don’t shop where your guide takes you!’
Found parts of Turkey tour offputting
The following is a greatly edited version of a subscriber’s letter.
Northern Lights in Iceland
For our winter getaway, my husband, Jerry, suggested we go to Iceland to see the Northern Lights. Although Iceland sounds so cold, the average temperatures in February aren’t worse than New York City’s, and when I read up about the lights, I was hooked.
Long line into Bali
When my friend and I landed at the airport in Bali, Indonesia, on April 29, 2010, it was 12:15 a.m. and the temperature was about 90°F with very high humidity. The wait to get through Immigration was in excess of two hours, and there was no air-conditioning, nowhere to sit and no way to get a bottle of water.
Three days in Wales
My wife, Rose, and I along with our English friends Betty and Allan Madden spent a few days in Wales in May ’09.
Root canal in Colombia
While staying for a month in the city of Medellín, Colombia, in January ’10, I started having a toothache.
‘Masterful job’ by GCT
About to depart for home on April 17 after Grand Circle Travel’s “Holland & Belgium in Springtime” — an excellent cruise-tour aboard the R/V River Aria — we got word that all flights were canceled due to the ash cloud from Iceland.
Istanbul guide
My companion and I visited western Turkey on the 14-day/13-night “Glories of Turkey” tour from Neon Tours (Istanbul, Turkey; phone +90 [212] 274 90 00), a subsidiary of Key Tours (Fairfax, VA; 800/576-1784), i
Belize delights
“The Flying Sauna” was what we dubbed the 16-seat puddle jumper that flew us from Belize City to Placencia. My mother, brother and three-year-old nephew, Daniel, and I were on the last leg of the flight that began our 8-day vacation in Belize, April 21-30, 2010.
Charged foreign-transaction fee
The letter “Foreign-transaction Fee” (May ’10, pg. 14) really struck a nerve with us. In early April we were on a cruise from Miami to Barcelona with Oceania Cruises, and while on board we decided to place a deposit for a 2011 cruise.
Obtaining a visa for India
My wife, Eve, and I booked a trip to India and a pretrip visit to Sri Lanka with Overseas Adventure Travel, or OAT (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824), for February-March ’10. After an amount of ordinary procrastination, in early December we applied for our India visas.
Thai food in India
In Delhi, India, I recommend the splendid Spice Route Restaurant in the Imperial Hotel (Janpath, New Delhi 110001, India; phone +91 11 2334 1234). The venue itself is like visiting an art gallery.
Won’t leave without me
The letter titled “Private Shore Tours” (April ’10, pg. 14) was written by a traveler with a preference for taking independently arranged excursions as opposed to ones purchased from a cruise ship.
Tended by Voyages of Discovery
I signed up for the April ’10 “Egypt & Eastern Mediterranean” cruise with Voyages of Discovery (Ft. Lauderdale, FL; 866/623-2689). It cost $6,238 including air from San Diego, two nights in London, one night in Istanbul and my single supplement.
Guide in Rio
My husband and I had 10 hours between disembarking a cruise ship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a late flight to Miami on Dec. 10, 2009.
Tour options for super-senior travelers
For Barbara Johnson of Sierra Vista, Arizona, ITN printed her plea for names of companies offering overseas tours geared to active octogenarians and nonagenarians (Jan. ’10, pg. 56 & April ’10, pgs. 32 & 69).
Funniest Thing for July '10
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN.
Viking and the volcano
My husband and I took the eight-day “Paris & the Heart of Normandy” cruise with Viking River Cruises (Woodland Hills, CA; 800/304-9616). Excluding air, we paid $5,211 for two plus, for a three-day pretour in Paris, $1,398.
CroTouring in Croatia
My husband, Carl, and I toured Croatia privately, Sept. 9-24, 2009. For the first part of our trip we used CroTouring (Milutina Baraèa 20, 51000 Rijeka, Hrvatska, Croatia; phone +385 51 277 086). Their guides made it not just a good trip but a great one.