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February 2009 issue

Whirling Dervishes

In Konya, Turkey, we visited the Mevlana Mausoleum, where Mevlana Rumi, the founder of the Whirling Dervishes, has his tomb. The Dervishes practice Sufism, a mystical form of Islam founded in the 13th century. The building, which is also a museum, contains many artistic and religious treasures and is very popular with the Turkish people.

One evening we attended a performance by the Dervishes. The 50-minute presentation upended our preconceived ideas about this group. They whirled at a steady and stately pace accompanied by haunting flute music. They seemed to float around and...

November 2009 issue

Spirit of India ‘marvelous’

In defense of the company Spirit of India, I must respond to the reader’s letter titled “Temporarily Left in the Desert” (Sept. ’09, pg. 28), about an experience on a tour in Mongolia.

With five other women (all of us ITN subscribers) in three SUVs, I enjoyed Spirit of India’s tour (modified itinerary) of the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in October-November ’08.

Confronted with several unforeseen, unavoidable events, our capable escort, Mr. Sanja Verman, further modified the itinerary on the ground to provide safe, fascinating, authentic alternative...

January 2010 issue

Refunding made disadvantageous

After booking, on Air Berlin’s website (www.airberlin.com) on Feb. 9, 2009, a round-trip flight between New York and Düsseldorf in May, I unhappily discovered that reserving two economy seats would cost an additional €60, or $86, round trip. Nevertheless, on Feb. 20 I phoned Air Berlin’s US office (866/266-5588) and paid this amount to ensure that my wife and I would have adjacent aisle and window seats.

With a scheduled departure time of approximately 6 p.m., the outbound overnight flight (AB 3551) from JFK Airport on May 26 was nearly full. The seats we reserved (as well as the...

March 2009 issue

Assumed cabin was booked

In January ’08 I reserved a cruise to Norway for May 31-June 11, 2008, with Taitbout Voyages. I sent them a check for €1,180 (about $1,636) for the basic price and added €346 ($480) for a single cabin.

I asked Taitbout in several letters at what time I would have to meet the group on May 31 to take the bus from Paris to the cruise ship in Amsterdam and at what location. Taitbout Voyages never answered my letters or e-mails. The telephone number on their brochure was not reachable from the US; it was a number that could be used only inside France.

Taitbout did not return my...

December 2008 issue

Credit card purchases

Responding to a reader’s request (Oct. ’08, pg. 94), I know of a credit card with NO 3% foreign exchange fee. Any card from CapitalOne.com has this feature. My choice is the “No Hassle Cash Rewards Credit Card.”

This one also has NO annual fee plus an excellent cash-back program, which doubles for groceries and drugs at supermarkets as well as for gasoline.

AVI BASS

DeKalb, IL

April 2009 issue

Notes on Australia

In the March ’09 issue, page 55, Wanda described her pretrip planning before she and her husband, Ray, took the tour “Ultimate Australia” with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com) in October-November ’07. Here are her tips from the trip itself.

• In MELBOURNE we stayed at The Crossley Hotel (www.crossleyhotel.com.au) — small, comfortable and well located, with a helpful staff.

Do go to the Federation Square Information Office to request free walking-tour maps. These maps help organize explorations more efficiently.

Do go to the...

May 2009 issue

Eastern Turkey’s ties to the world

When I signed on for the 22-day/21-night “Turkey’s Biblical East” tour organized and led by Tamer Teoman of Teo World Culture Tours (New York, NY; 888/444-1110, www.teoworldculturetours.com), I knew little about that part of the world. Anatolia? I can’t say I even knew what part of Turkey that was. As I studied a map and pinpointed the towns and places we would visit, ghosts from my old schoolbooks came marching out of the past.

Anatolia is what we called Asia Minor. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers start there, and between them is the northern part of what the ancients called...

February 2010 issue

Simply reachable

Thank you, thank you, John Putman, for your letter (Nov. ’09, pg. 52). I, too, cannot see the point of the endless e-mails, phone calls, etc., that leisure travelers feel it necessary to make. It’s annoying when time is wasted on a tour so that people can find an Internet cafe to “keep in touch.”

I leave an itinerary behind for emergencies and make the occasional cell phone call if I’m unavailable for any length of time, but that’s it other than a few postcards. I’m so glad someone else feels the way I do.

BARBARA GLAVISH

Incline Village, NV