Travel Briefs

In August, in response to women passengers’ complaints of sexual harassment and groping on the public rail system, Indonesia became the latest country to offer women-only passenger cars. Two coaches on each of 10 eight-coach Jakarta-Bogor commuter trains are designated women-only, with female conductresses and security officers.

Currently, 12 countries have women-only train cars. The others are Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

In August, under pressure from international human rights groups and various foreign governments over human trafficking violations, the Senegalese government began enforcing a 2005 law against using children to beg on city streets.

Chile-based LAN Airlines and TAM airlines of Brazil have agreed to a merger. The new company will be called LATAM. When the merger is complete, in April or June 2011, it will create the largest airline in South America, flying 241 aircraft to 115 destinations in 23 countries.

LAN also plans to purchase the second-largest airline in Colombia, the domestic airline Aires, at which point LATAM would be among the 15 largest airlines in the world.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines will be using a new logo after the merger of the two airlines in early 2011. The logo will incorporate the name “United” and Continental’s globe image.

Azerbaijan has ceased providing transit and short-stay single-entry visas (for up to 30 days) to visitors. (There are exceptions for diplomatic and official visitors.) Travelers entering at Heydar Aliyeve International Airport in Baku must obtain a transit visa in advance through an Azerbaijan embassy or consulate.

The Historic Monuments of Dengfeng, China, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in August 2010, and now — to protect the buildings from damage caused by excess carbon dioxide, incense smoke and humidity levels — the government plans to restrict the number of tourists during peak travel times, according to China Daily.

The cluster of 11 monuments in the Songshan Mountains includes the Shaolin Monastery, Three Han Que Gates and the Observatory.

“Dwelling in the Fu-ch’un Mountains,” a 14th-century, 22½-foot-long and one-foot-tall Chinese scroll painting, was the magnum opus of Yuan Dynasty painter Huang Gongwang.

The book “Circles in the Sky” and the website www.ferris-wheel.org relate the history of George Ferris and Ferris wheels. Included is a short section on 32 of them around the world that people can ride (on the website, click on “Map of Wheels”).

The 164-page book, published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (800/548-2723, www.asce.org), costs $35 (if purchased from their website, shipping is free).

The list below shows the current and planned policies regarding smoking in public in various countries in Europe. Note that in many, various versions of legislation are still being debated and challenged in courts. In general, however, most countries in Europe still allow smoking in bars and restaurants but require separate smoking and nonsmoking sections.