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January 2008 issue

Refined dining in Nara Park

Less than an hour’s train ride from Kyoto, Nara’s huge wooded park’s complex of shrines and temples offers much to visitors. Unfortunately, its popularity means that the park can be crowded and chaotic. A quiet, relaxing lunch at Noh provides a welcome respite from the hordes of tourists and visiting school groups.

Noh is located on the ground floor of Nara-ken New Public Hall (as it’s listed on Nara’s tourist map) in a centrally located and quiet section of Nara Park, readily viewed through a glass wall on one side of the restaurant. It’s a mid-sized restaurant featuring both...

March 2007 issue

Penguins in Africa

Why go to Boulders Beach, south of Cape Town, South Africa? To see the African penguins, of course. Formerly called jackass penguins (for their donkey-like braying), they are native to South Africa, and this beach is one of their three breeding grounds.

After a not-so-short walk from the parking lot, we were able to walk down the raised paths to see them. And there were lots of them during our trip in late July ’05.

These penguins mate for life and we saw many pairs, some with young of varying ages and a few sitting on eggs in their nests. Since they felt safe, we were able...

July 2008 issue

Insurance came through

Four of us were scheduled to depart Sydney, Australia, March 9, 2008, on a month-long cruise. However, on Jan. 9 one member of our party suddenly died.

We were insured with STA Travel (800/781-4040, www.statravel.com), which was notified on Jan. 11. They were so sympathetic and compassionate and immediately helped us on the steps to be taken.

Our friend received her husband’s death certificate on Feb. 5, and the process of recovering our losses began. We had checks in hand by March 10, and they covered all of our losses.

We are totally satisfied and will continue to...

December 2007 issue

Buenos Aires bargain

I thought the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires was way beyond my budget, but, thanks to an incredible package from WOW! Argentina (Santa Fe 882 12th floor, C1059ABP, Buenos Aires, Argentina; www.wow argentina.com), we stayed there July 18-20, 2007.

For the two of us, $866 plus tax included three nights’ stay in a double room and two dinners for two in the hotel’s Le Mistral restaurant, including two glasses of the wine of the week (a delicious Catena Zapata’s malbec). An outstanding buffet breakfast was also included each morning.

I was pleasantly surprised with the free...

April 2007 issue

Learn language from a native

I travel often to Thailand and have always wanted to be able to speak with Thai people in their own language. I have also wanted to be able to travel to areas of the country where there are few tourists and where there may be few people who speak English.

I’ve tried the usual phrase books and tapes and CDs. They were good for learning words and phrases, but they did not teach grammar and they could not answer questions about the language. I checked my local community college course catalog, but they had no Thai-language courses.

I finally placed an ad on Craigslist.org under...

May 2007 issue

Poor pinotage

In the article on East Africa in the March ’07 issue, on page 45 the author gave a description of the wines he tried in Zimbabwe: “. . . some of which was drinkable and some of which was truly horrible (e.g. something called ‘pinotage’).”

Actually, pinotage is a fine varietal popular at the best wineries in South Africa. It has now been transplanted to other wine-producing parts of the world and is becoming more popular. I sampled an excellent pinotage from a Northern California winery just this February.

The problem is not with the pinotage; it’s with the government of...

February 2008 issue

‘Excellent’ guide in China

If you are traveling to China on your own and planning to spend a few days in Beijing and/or Chengde, you may like to consider employing the services of Mr. Sun Qingjun, or Harry (harrysun@ heinfo.net), an excellent bilingual guide from Chengde now residing in Beijing.

I met Harry in 2002; he was the leader of my first escorted tour to China. At that time, he was Assistant Director at the Chengde office of CITS (a government-sponsored tourist agency). I decided to pursue Harry’s friendship because I was so impressed by his knowledge of all things Chinese, not to mention his...

August 2008 issue

Cusco restaurants

While vacationing in Cusco, Peru, April 23-May 17, 2008, and going to school there for Spanish lessons, I had opportunities to try many good restaurants. I am pretty convinced that it would be hard not to find a good meal in Cusco.

Look for the “Meñu del dia” outside a restaurant or ask if they have one. It usually includes a soup, entrée, dessert and coffee or tea and generally runs from 11 to 18 soles ($4-$6) — a good deal.

Here are some good places.

Kusikuy (Calle Suecia 339, www.kusikuy.com) — off the Plaza de Armas and through the archway to the left of the...