Features

by Andrea Granahan, Bodega, CA

Several times while in Peru, I felt as though I had reached the end of the world. Upon reaching the island of Amantani on Lake Titicaca, I felt that way again. Not only had we traveled far into the Andes to get to the lake, we had been riding for hours in a boat across the vast body of water.

Our day on the lake coincided with the first rainy day we had had in three weeks. Even though it was Peru’s spring, the rain was cold and the winds, sharp.

We all remember Lake Titicaca from school because of its funny name (which is the Aymara word...

by Ed Kinney, Contributing Editor

On return flights from Europe, my wife, Moreen, and I often looked down from the sky in awe at the subtle montages of Iceland and the massive ice fields of Greenland, both islands surrounded by the blue Atlantic. We would ask ourselves why we hadn’t visited either place, especially since they are relatively close.

Early in 2006, we began searching the Internet and perused ads and comments in ITN about both islands before we selected Iceland Saga Travel’s 12-day “Magic of Iceland Tour” with a 3-day extension to eastern Greenland for August ’...

by John Penisten, Hilo, HI

On a March ’07 trip to Japan, my wife, Susan, and I wanted to experience something of the country’s hectic urban life as well as the slower pace of its small towns and countryside. We got both during our train trip through the heart of Honshu Island.

The small, sedate market town of Kurashiki, the vibrant city of Hiroshima and its solemn atomic bomb museum, the quiet majesty of Miyajima’s temple, the simple seaside village of Amanohashidate and the historic shrines of Kyoto: these special places gave us close-up views of old and new Japan....