After purchasing a time-share in August ’03, I started reviewing the large catalog with listings of hundreds of time-share properties around the world, including information on availability, amenities, nearest airport and more. I have been traveling internationally for some 30 years and thought a time-share would give me greater selection for accommodations abroad.
Our group of four toured VIET-NAM in February ’05 on an 18-day trip (not counting travel days) arranged by Varini de Silva of Ceylon Express International (9542 Dumbreck Dr., Huntington Beach, CA 92646; phone 800/423-9566 or visit www.ceylonexpress.com).
We visited the Mekong Delta (Can Tho), Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat, Nha Trang (stopping at Phan Rang to see the Cham towers), Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, SaPa, Halong Bay and Thai Binh (to see the Keo Pagoda, Tam Coc and Phat Diem). The trip was superb.
My wife and I took the 14-day “Highlights of VIET-NAM” offered by Bestway Tours & Safaris (8678 Greenall Ave., Ste. 206, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5J3M6, Canada; phone 800/663-0844). The tour, in April ’05, cost approximately $1,500 per person, ground only. My wife and I were the only ones in our “group.”
Our 2-week trip began in Ho Chi Minh City (still referred to as Saigon by locals) and ended in Hanoi. Along the way we visited Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hoi An and Hue.
Our trip to Ho Chi Minh City, VIET-NAM, and Bangkok, THAILAND, in March ’04 was grand. Darryll at Asian Affair Holidays (360 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Ste. 3008, El Segundo, CA 90245; phone 800/742-3133 or visit www.asianaffairholidays.com) made all the arrangements and planned each detail. Nothing went wrong. As independent travelers, we need to know all legs of our trip will work out. This was our second trip planned by Asian Affair Holidays and we highly recommend this company.
During my visit to Turkey, Feb. 20-27, ’04, a friend and I had the good fortune to have as our tour guide Ms. Gülden Güllü (1786 s. 8/1 Sagsoz Apt., 35540 Karsiyaka, Izmir, Turkey; cell 90 532 441 9685 or e-mail gulden90@yahoo.com).
Licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism, she was the best guide ever (and I am 70 and have been “around” a lot). She was full of facts, history, humor and energy and was most kind.
During the week of March 13-20, ’04, we stayed at the Karl Schranz Hotel in St. Anton, Austria. We went with a group of six couples, booked by Alpine Adventures.
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is GORDON W. DRAPER of Livonia, Michigan:
I led student tours to Europe for five summers. We traveled by Eurailpass and went from the train stations to our hotels by taxi.
In the ’90s, my wife, Alice, and I three times hired a car and drove through the newly opened countries of Eastern Europe, but we had yet to visit the three countries that were former Soviet states: Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. In May ’05 we made up for that omission.
If we were younger, we would have handled the trip totally independently, but we’re now in our mid-70s and the thought of arriving at airports and train stations and trying to sound out the Cyrillic alphabet (let alone understand the language) in places where few speak any English was daunting.
According to tour operators and tour wholesalers serving Latin America, there has been an increase in leisure travel to this area. The demand for alternative foreign destinations has whet the traveler’s appetite for soft adventure and indigenous cultures. The availability of upscale travel products in the sector of country inns, jungle lodges and expedition cruises has made the area more appealing to the less adventurous traveler.
The purpose of this column will be to keep our readers abreast of recent news from this corner of the world.