Travel Briefs

Japan’s 400-year-old Himeji Castle is undergoing its first major renovation in 45 years, to effect repair and cleaning of the white-plaster exterior walls, replacement of roofing tiles, and seismic evaluation and protection.

Available for iPhone (OS 2.0 or later) or iPod touch (with version 3.0 or before), the application “1,000 Words” shows simple pictures on the phone screen to help people communicate overseas.

Topics are organized into 12 categories, like money, activities, help (SOS), dining, hotels, etc. Simply tap the category, scroll through the pictures and enlarge the one needed to show to another person.

The app can be downloaded for 99¢ from the App Store and does not need Internet access to function.

The third edition of “Barrier-Free Travel, A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers” by Candy Harrington (2009. ISBN 9781932603835 — 312 pp., $19.95 softcover) covers the logistics of planning accessible travel by plane, train, bus and ship for the mobility impaired. It includes access laws, info on taking accessibility items on planes, and lists of companies that rent accessible vans in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

$19.95 plus $6.50 shipping. Demos Publishing (800/532-8663, www.demosmedpub.com).

In March 2009, China announced plans to make Lhasa, Tibet, into “a coordinated and distinctive modern metropolis by 2020,” with a target of 10 million visitors per year.

The plan includes the building of many parks, green spaces along the roadsides and renovation and expansion of seven urban roads. All buildings facing Beijing Road, the major road through the city, are to be renovated to “feature local ethnic characteristics.”

In the ancient Silk Road trading city of Kashgar, the government of China plans to level about 85% of the oldest mud-brick buildings in the Old City and build earthquake-resistant buildings, apartment buildings, public plazas and schools. Many of the 13,000 families are being moved. Relocation and demolition began in July 2009. 

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), which saw first light in 2005, is the largest single optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. Its hexagonal mirror array spans 36 feet.

SALT is part of the Southern African Astronomical Observatories (phone 023 571 2436, fax 571 1413, www.saao.ac.za), a complex of more than 10 observatories on a flat mountaintop in Sutherland, South Africa, 223 miles north of Cape Town.

The world’s most accurate topography map is a byproduct of the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission) project, a collaboration of NASA, Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Japan’s Ground Data System.

They used a satellite to make a minutely detailed record of Earth’s surface for scientific studies. The resulting topography map can be downloaded for free from NASA’s EOS Digital Archive. You need to register and follow some complex instructions, but it can be found at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gdem-wist.asp.

There are many online booksellers (Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.). With search results on Amazon.com, you may have to sort through 30 pages of used copies to find that one useful book.

What sets GuideGecko.com apart is it pulls up manageable 2- to 11-page lists without all the repeats and older-edition clutter, AND it includes major publishers (Frommer’s, Budget, etc.) as well as smaller publishers with more esoteric and specialized guides.

The Australian government has outlawed “component pricing,” a practice in the travel industry whereby products are advertised as “free” without extra costs being disclosed. Now all ads for, say, a free flight or free tour must declare all taxes and hidden fees up front. The law applies to businesses based in and selling in Australia and covers hotels, rental car companies, airlines and others.

From late November to the first week of January in Brussels, Belgium, the Winter Wonders festival features a skating rink (for 300 people plus another for kids), Ferris wheel, playground roundabouts, a brasserie and other booths along an illuminated 2-kilometer route through the streets. There are street artists, choirs, a sound-and-light show at the Grand’Place every evening till midnight and music on Saturday nights.