Travel Briefs

In October 2003, a man who had been working in a rural village in Haiti returned to Pennsylvania and was admitted to a hospital with a severe sore throat and respiratory distress. He was diagnosed with respiratory diphtheria and died. The clinical efficacy of the diphtheria vaccine is 97%, but the man had never been immunized.

Diphtheria is contracted by inhaling the bacteria directly from an infected person. It can lead to heart failure, paralysis and coma. Even death can occur in as little as a week; the mortality rate for diphtheria can be as high as 20%.

Britain’s Department of Health is closing loopholes that allow foreign tourists to take advantage of free medical care in public hospitals. Some were abusing the system, including pregnant women who timed their visits to give birth in British hospitals, where they would not be charged.

As of April 2004, under the new regulations travelers who become ill or are injured during their visit to the U.K. will have to pay for treatment, even in National Health Service facilities. Overseas students studying full time in the U.K. will be exempt from charges for treatment.

A cross-border tunnel opened between France and Spain through the western Pyrenees on Jan. 17. The 5.3-mile Somport Road Tunnel starts near Urdos, less than two kilometers south of Fort du Portalet on the French side, and emerges near Canfranc, the terminus for trains from Jaca in Spain.

Much controversy surrounds the building of the tunnel as environmental groups, who favored reopening a rail link instead, fear heavy traffic in the frontier will bring pollution and also threaten France’s last population of brown bears.

A fierce cyclone hit Niue Island in the South Pacific, Jan. 6, leaving infrastucture disrupted and many vacationers’ plans canceled until further notice.

A Brazilian judge in early January ordered police to stop fingerprinting and photographing U.S. visitors to Rio de Janeiro, arguing the practice might hurt tourism in the city. The judge, in Brasilia, overturned a Dec. 29 order by a judge in northwestern Brazil to retaliate for U.S. fingerprinting and photographing of visitors. (In January, the U.S. began taking digital photographs and inkless fingerprints of visitors from countries that require visas, part of a program intended to thwart terrorists.) The Brazilian practice led U.S.

A number of parades, salutes and rituals are coming up in which traditional ceremonies will be held at the Tower of London.
April 21 — at 1 p.m. a 62-gun salute for HM The Queen’s birthday.

Princess Cruises ships in the Caribbean now are showing up to three feature-length films a day on deck at poolside, using a 300-square-foot LED screen and a 69,000-watt sound system. Chaise lounges can be reserved. The first movie to be shown was “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Sri Lanka is an often forgotten but absolutely fascinating travel destination. A friend and I were most fortunate to travel there for 10 days in April ’03 with Ceylon Tours, Ltd. (8A Sir Ernest de Silva Ave., Colombo 07, Sri Lanka; phone +94-75-531611, e-mail info@ceylontours.com).

Many of the monasteries listed in Elizabeth Barish’s “The Guide to Lodging in Italy’s Monasteries” (ISBN 1-884465-19-6 — 512 pp., $22.95) and “The Guide to Lodging in Spain’s Monasteries” (ISBN 1-884465-17-X — 480 pp., $22.95) are hundreds of years old but provide visitors with modern and updated accommodations. Rates can be as low as $30 per day, and many include meals.

Obtain the guides at major bookstores or from the publisher (800/496-2665) or visit www.monasteriesofitaly.com and www.monasteriesofspain.com.

Founded in 1981, Wolsey Lodges is a consortium of 188 privately owned houses providing lodging in England, Scotland and Wales. Arrivals are treated as family or friends, rather than guests, and often dine with their hosts. 

Entries include stylish houses in London and Edinburgh, but most are in the countryside. Even a Scottish castle is listed.

Bed and breakfast ranges from £25 (near $45) to £90 ($161) per person per night, with an average of £38-£40 ($68-$72). Optional dinners average £25.