Uganda now requires travelers to apply online for e-visas before visiting. To receive a single-entry e-visa, visit visas.immigration.go.ug and fill out the application, attaching scanned copies of your passport biopage, a recent passport-sized photograph and proof of vaccination for yellow fever. The application fee is $50. If approved, your e-visa will be emailed to you as an attachment.
Many travelers return home annoyed or furious with their recent airline experiences, but I have to share with you my very positive experience with British Airways (800/247-9297, www.britishairways.com).
In taking the reverse itinerary of the river cruise “Eastern Europe to the Black Sea” with Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/221-2610, www.gct.com), April 2-18, 2016, I flew to Bucharest, Romania, the day before the cruise-tour began and, following the cruise, disembarked in Budapest, Hungary.
A suicide-car bomb killed six Jordanian soldiers and injured 14 other soldiers in Jordan, near the Syrian border, on June 21. The attack occurred near the Rukban refugee camp in Syria, home to more than 50,000 Syrian refugees. No refugees were injured in the attack. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which came from the Syrian side of the border.
I read with interest the article “Spending Time in St. Petersburg” (March ’16, pg. 18), as my husband and I are sailing with Viking Ocean Cruises (866/984-5464, www.vikingcruises.com/oceans) soon and will spend two days in St. Petersburg. I was surprised by the author’s comment, “there is a much-less-expensive visa available to cruise-ship passengers who only leave the ship with their guide and don’t stay in Russia for more than two days.”*
The European Union and Turkey agreed to a compromise in late March that will ease Europe’s handling of migrants who have had asylum denied. According to the agreement, denied Syrian asylum seekers in Europe will be returned to Turkey in exchange for an equal number of Syrian refugees living in Turkey who have made “legitimate requests” for asylum in Europe. Also being sent back to Turkey are migrants who have crossed into Europe illegally who have not made an asylum claim, including non-Syrians.
On March 24, the Argentinian government suspended the $160 reciprocity fee imposed on US passport holders traveling to Argentina. Until further notice, US citizens visiting Argentina for fewer than 90 days for tourism or business will have free entry. Visa applications still must be submitted at least 30 days before the date of arrival and approved before travel.
This month’s winner is DENZIL VERARDO of Elk Grove, California:
A trip to the “Stans” and Iran with Road Scholar in fall 2015 necessitated several border crossings, where group members had to portage our own luggage on foot, exiting through one country’s Immigration station and walking a couple of hundred yards to the next country’s entrance. This was not an easy task, since we were outside in cold weather and on poor walkways.
In Negril, guests of the Rockhouse (West End Rd., Negril, Jamaica; phone +1 876 618 1533, www.rock house.com) each receive a “passport” with which to build up points — by purchasing or participating in local activities and visiting sites — to redeem at the hotel for rewards.
Among many activities listed are cooking classes, reggae concerts, cliff diving and day tours. A guest gets a stamp for each activity, and his reward is based on the number of stamps in his passport. For example, 25 stamps will earn a complimentary spa treatment.
This month’s winners are CHUCK and ELIZABETH JOHNSON of Lees Summit, MO:
About 10 years ago my wife and I were waiting in the Cancún, Mexico, airport for our flight home to the US and we spent some time in the duty-free store. An American woman with bright clothes and carefully coiffed hair walked up to the sales clerk. In a strong Texas accent, she asked, “How many bottles of tequila can we take back to the US?”
The clerk answered, “Two liters.”
She then asked, “OK, how many bottles can we take back to Texas?”
The 20-day tour of Vietnam that my wife, Barbara, and I took in May 2015 with Vietnam Royal Tourism (HH3 Bldg., Level 5, Me Tri Road, Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam; phone +84 4 2242 5892, www.vietnamroyaltourism.com) was our second visit to that country. Our first was in 2012, also with Vietnam Royal Tourism. I would recommend them and would use them again.