Travel Briefs

The exhibit “Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gon­dwana,” focusing on dinosaurs of Gondwana, the supercontinent that became Africa, Madagascar and South America, continues until March 17, 2013, at the Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M5S 2C6, Canada; 416/586-8000).

Casts of unique and some of the biggest dinosaurs recently discovered are featured. Among multimedia exhibits are “reactive walls that use body-scanning technology.” Open 10-5:30 daily, closing at 8:30 p.m. Fridays. CAD25 (near $24) adult.

Košice, Slovakia, and Marseille, France, are the European Capitals of Culture for 2013.

Planned events in music, drama, art, history and literature in Košice are listed at www.kosice2013.sk.

On Egypt’s Giza Plateau, six Old Kingdom tombs, constructed in the Fourth Dynasty (2890-2686 BC), are to be opened by the end of 2012. The most famous, that of Princess Meresankh III, granddaughter of the pharaoh Khufu, has been closed to the public for 25 years.

The other tombs were built for the overseer of the House of Life, the overseer of the soul priests, the overseer of the king’s farms, the overseer of the royal treasury and King Khufu’s treasurer. The restored tombs have façades, rock pillars, large chambers and decorated walls.

Transitioning from paper to polymer currency, Canadian banks began issuing plastic 100-dollar bills in November 2011. In March 2012, plastic 50-dollar bills were issued, followed by 20-dollar bills in November; these are available through ATMs. The remaining denominations should become available in 2013. The partly transparent bills have holographic features difficult to counterfeit.

In Europe, fuel prices are reported to have risen more than 30% over those of 2011. Rising oil costs and additional fuel taxes applied by revenue-strapped governments are attributed as the cause. In September 2012, prices for unleaded petrol ranged from a low in Romania of (an equivalent) $1.64 per liter ($6.21 per gallon) to a high in Norway of $2.63 per liter ($9.95 per gallon). Diesel fuel ran even higher. Visit www.theaa.com and click on “Driving,” then “Latest Fuel Prices.”

Tourists will be largely unaffected by an August 2012 increase in Cuban import duties.

In Belize, the Ka’ana resort (P.O. Box 263, San Ignacio Town, Belize, Central America; phone, in US, 877/522-6221 or 305/735-2553) offers a private overnight stay for up to four guests in luxury tents at the base of a Mayan temple.

After all visitors have left, the guests will arrive at dusk for dinner cooked on a traditional Mayan stove and a tour of the site. After breakfast, the guests will take a boat to visit Mayan ruins across the lake.

The central bank of Myanmar and several private banks have begun installing ATMs in preparation for a nationwide network. Currently, the ATMs work only with accounts from Myanmar member-union banks, but the government is negotiating with Visa and MasterCard to bring international banking by mid 2013.

Years after their counterparts in much of the world, some US banks have begun issuing credit cards that, in addition to the magnetic stripe, have “chip-and-PIN” technology, enhancing security. (A microprocessor chip is embedded in the card, and when it is read at the point of sale, the customer inputs a personal identification number.)

Since mid 2011, the number of visitors at Machu Picchu has been capped at 2,500 per day, and Peru requires tickets to be purchased in advance. While tour operators will handle that for their clients, independent travelers need to make their own arrangements.