Reims Cathedral at 800
In honor of the 800th anniversary of Reims Cathedral in Reims, northeastern France, special services, concerts and exhibitions are being held May 6-Oct. 23, 2011.
Religious Sites
India with Worldview Tours
I love India. I visited again at 83, traveling with my 60-year-old son on the 16-day “Ancient Heritage of South India” tour, March 6-23, 2010, with Worldview Tours (Newport Beach, CA; 800/373-0388). It was offered with no single supplement, making it affordable for us.
Thailand/Cambodia clash
On the border of Thailand and Cambodia, a dispute for control of an ancient temple (known as Prasat Khao Phra Fiharn in Thai and Preah Vihear in Khmer) became violent in early February when fighting erupted for four days. Eight soldiers were killed. After intervention from the UN, the governments agreed to a cease-fire and monitoring of the temple border by international observers.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the temple complex was built in the ninth to 11th centuries and covers about two square miles.
Holy Trinity Church and its graveyard, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
The sun never sets on the (former) British Empire. March’s photo depicts the very Anglican-looking Holy Trinity Church and its graveyard, located in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka.
Peja, Kosovo, plus Albania
by Randy Keck (Part 2 of 2)
Tibet
To journey to Lhasa and continue on to Everest Base Camp to see the mighty Himalayan massif up close was a longtime dream of ours. For my husband, Larry, and me, this dream came true with our terrific guide in Tibet, Samdup Gyal (“Sam”), and our excellent, safe driver, Choeden.
We traveled to Tibet, May 12-23, 2010, with arrangements made by Third Eye Travel (Fremont, CA; 800/456-3393); the local company was Tibet YongDru Adventure.
Hitting the highlights on a guided tour of Turkey
by Diane Harrison, Creve Coeur, MO
Using Globetrotter Guides’ “Turkey Travel Guide” to compare the itineraries offered by several large tour companies, my parents and I started planning our 2010 vacation. We decided on smarTours’ 14-day “Treasures of Turkey.”
Attn: Bogota pilgrims
In Bogota, Colombia, visitors to the popular 17th-century Monserrate church are being reminded to take the aerial cable car or funicular railway up the mountain. A road up the hill was closed in 2009 due to the possibility of landslides, although pilgrims still walk it. In January, a group of 30 persons walking up the steep road was robbed by armed men.
Sagrada Família
My wife, Rosalie, and I spent three days in Barcelona in June ’10. One of Barcelona’s most popular tourist attractions is Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, the church Sagrada Família.