Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

May 2008 issue

Found fault with guide in Mongolia

My husband and I took the tour “From Mystical Tibet to Nomadic Mongolia,” May 29-June 13, 2007, with Nomadic Expeditions.

The land cost per person was $4,695. Internal airfare (Beijing-Lhasa-Beijing and Beijing-Ulaanbaatar-Gobi-Ulaanbaatar) was included, and the trip “ended” in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; participants had to additionally buy airfare from Ulaanbaatar back to Beijing.

We and another couple who had signed up with Nomadic Expeditions traveled with five others who had signed up with MIR Corp.; the companies’ brochures for this tour were identical.

The Tibet...

November 2008 issue

Condors in flight

On a trip to Peru in October ’07, I went to Cruz del Cóndor, an observation point where the magnitude of the Colca Canyon can be appreciated. It is the best spot for seeing the spectacular condor.

Right on “schedule,” the condors began to fly. They are truly magnificent creatures. With wingspans of over 12 feet, they sail majestically on the updrafts that flow from the canyon floor, hardly moving their wings. They were awesome to observe.

The condors flew directly over our group before retreating to their cliff-side nests.

On the way back to the bus, we were given an...

June 2007 issue

India (and Asia) travel tips

• In addition to the various Lonely Planet guides on India, the DK’s “Eyewitness Travel Guide: India” is well worth looking at; the copious illustrations make it very easy to find your way through tourist sites without a guide. If you are heading to the South, George Mitchell’s “Blue Guide: Southern India” is a must. Two other books we never travel without are Lonely Planet’s “Healthy Travel: Asia & India” by Isabelle Young and “The Pocket Doctor, A Passport to Healthy Travel” by Stephen Bezruchka, M.D.

• My husband, Clyde, and I got our visas from the Consulate General of...

November 2007 issue

Smithsonian Journeys’ Travel Adventures vs. Signature Tours

My husband, George, and I went on a 16-day Smithsonian Journeys tour, “Treasures of Angkor Wat and Vietnam,” March 19-April 3, 2007.

The cost was $1,899 each, excluding airfare. Air travel from Thailand to Cambodia; Cambodia to Vietnam; within Vietnam, and from Vietnam to Hong Kong was billed separately and totaled $850 per person. Entry and departure taxes were not included and were collected during the tour. We arranged our own international air.

We booked through Smithsonian Journeys. We had never heard of Collette Vacations, but, as it turned out, they did all of the...

October 2007 issue

Early dining in Paris

Well off the usual tourist track in Paris is a very French restaurant that serves wonderful 4-course meals for €24 (about $32). It is À la Biche au Bois (45 avenue Ledru Rollin, Paris; phone 01 43 43 34 38), located in between Métro stops Gare de Lyon and Ledru Rollin. It also can be reached by the No. 29 bus.

I was there in September ’06 and had a dish of two slices of pike mousse with herbs and a sauce; a good piece of beef, rare; a huge dish of French fries; a selection of cheese, from which I picked chevre and Pont l’Evêque; green-apple sorbet, and a glass of the house wine, red...

March 2008 issue

Lighting the way

Great idea to carry lightbulbs for sufficient reading light (Dec. ’07, pg. 88)! We have been doing that for years.

A word of caution, however — while bulbs in the U.S. are 120V, remember that in Europe as well as many other places the voltage is 220, so you should carry the proper bulb for the country you are going to be in. To be sure, you might even buy them when you get there.

SKIP SIEGEL

West Bloomfield, MI

April 2008 issue

On visiting Cartagena

Colombia has a reputation as a potentially dangerous destination, but I felt no uneasiness when walking around the old walled city of Cartagena for five days in January ’08.

The Old City remains a living place. Yes, there are several hotels and plenty of restaurants that attract foreign visitors, but the streets and shops are alive with Cartageneros going about their business. Some buildings have been carefully restored; others retain their somewhat dilapidated charm. Go now before gentrification and growing tourist demand transform it into a more sterile place.

WHERE TO STAY...

May 2008 issue

Giant’s Causeway bus

During a 14-day “Celtic Kingdoms” cruise on Holland America Line’s Prinsendam, on Aug. 31, 2007, I took a day-long shore excursion from Belfast to Giant’s Causeway.

Before the trip, I had read in a guidebook that the walk down to the causeway took 15 minutes but that a shuttle bus made continuous round trips. As I walked out of the rear door of the Visitor Center, a shuttle was returning up the hill and deposited people nearby, so I hopped on. At the bottom there was a group waiting to get on.

My shore excursion book called it “Causeway Coaster Minibus,” and I saw at least...