12 days/11 nights includes four days of hiking. Highlights: Arrive Lima/Cusco city tour/Sacsayhuamán Inca fortress/in Sacred Valley, Pisac and Ollantaytambo/ruins of Tarawasi/hike toward Mt. Salkantay to 15,000 feet/descend into cloud forest/Llactapata Inca Trail/Machu Picchu/return via train to Cusco. Land, $4,160.
Vaya Adventures (Berkeley, CA; 800/342-1796).
by Joyce Bruck; Ocean Ridge, FL
After spending eight days in the Sultanate of Oman, I traveled on to spend six days in Dubai. The airport in Dubai was so big, it reminded me of Miami International, including the long lines at Passport Control.
My wife and I discovered a new beach paradise during our trip to Vietnam in January and February 2014. The temperature was 87°F every day, with a low of 70°F at night. Long Beach is a great beach, and during our visit it had hardly any waves. The water was so calm, we saw parents floating their babies on inflatables.
My husband, Bob, and I took a cruise from Italy to Israel aboard the Azamara Journey of Azamara Cruises (Miami, FL; 877/999-9553).
We had a balcony room, and the trip cost $3,499 per person (plus $137 in taxes), which included gratuities, drinks (but not specialty drinks) and a shore excursion. Insurance with Travel Guard cost $327 each. We purchased air travel through Azamara and ChoiceAir, paying $1,274 each and each getting a ship’s credit of $500.
Editor’s note: In the following letter, ITN is withholding the identities of certain individuals.
In late 2013 my wife, Sharon, and I started planning a trip to Hong Kong and sought to rent an apartment, as, versus staying in a hotel room, we like the extra space, and occasionally we like to cook a meal.
by Julie Skurdenis; Contributing Editor
I read with interest Fred Steinberg’s piece “Stepping Back in Time on a 4-day Tour of Luang Prabang, Laos” (June ’14, pg. 44). I have visited Luang Prabang three times, in 2002, 2004 and, most recently, 2011.
While Mr. Steinberg found the town small and laid back, I felt it had changed rather too much from the misty, magical city I fell in love with in 2002, and I may not return. Certainly, if you have not been, it would be a good idea to visit before it is even more overrun with tourists.
by Karen Wells; Traverse City, MI
The Villa San Michele School of Cookery is located in Villa San Michele (Via Doccia, 4-50014 Fiesole, Florence, Italy; phone +39 055 567 8200, fax 567 8250), an Orient-Express luxury boutique hotel in a former monastery overlooking Florence.
The school’s half-day cooking classes, “Morning with the Chef,” are offered to villa guests Mon., Thurs. & Sat., April through Oct. (except Aug.). The basic course costs $200 per person or, with six to ten people, $180 each.
I want to tell you about the wonderful dinner my wife, Jeanne, and I had in Indonesia on New Year’s Eve 2013.
We were staying in Yogyakarta at the Novotel Hotel (Jalan Jendral Sudirman 89, 55223 Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia; phone +[62] 274 580930).
Our travel agent had made reservations for us to have dinner at the hotel on the night we arrived, Dec. 30, but we got in too late to eat, so we arranged to eat there the next night instead.