The Discerning Traveler

by Philip Wagenaar, M.D. (Part eight of a series)

In the March 2011 issue, I described the Indian tribal markets that my wife, Flory, and I visited as part of our ’round-the-world tour. This month, I continue with a story about our travels in Oman.

Before checking in with Oman Air in Mumbai, India, we had thrown away the few sleeping pills we normally carry, as the Omani website listed them as prohibited imports and made it clear we could be jailed or deported if the drugs were...

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by Philip Wagenaar (Part seven of a series)

In the February 2010 issue, I recounted the Indian tribal villages that my wife, Flory, and I visited as part of our ’round-the-world tour. In this issue, I continue with a story about the intriguing tribal markets.

As these markets often are far away from towns and each takes place on a specific day of the week, we stayed overnight in three different locations. In order to have enough time at each market, careful planning is...

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(Part six of a series)

In the January 2011 issue, I recounted how my wife, Flory, and I transited China on our way to India. This month, I continue with the India portion of our ’round-the-world tour. (As I mentioned, for India, Oman and the UAE our private touring and hotels were arranged through Original World [Mill Valley, CA].)

Our overnight in Bhubaneswar, capital of the ancient kingdom of Orissa, was at the sumptuous Mayfair Lagoon Hotel (8B Jaydev Vihar, Bhubaneswar -...

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by Philip Wagenaar (part five of a series)

In recent issues, I recounted the Australian part of the ’round-the-world tour that my wife, Flory, and I started in the fall of 2009. This month, I continue with the China and India portions of our trip.

On Oct. 12, 2009, we were treated like royalty once again as we checked in with China Southern Airlines (CZ) for our business-class flight from Sydney, Australia, to Guangzhou (Canton), China. (In part one, I describe how we booked...

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by Philip Wagenaar (Part 4 of a series)

Having narrated our Australian travels from Broken Hill to Sydney last month, in this issue I will conclude the Down Under portion of our ’round-the-world trip.

After leaving Sydney, my wife, Flory, and I drove north through lovely rolling countryside under an azure sky to our overnight at Mount Seaview Retreat (315 Mt. Seaview Rd., Mount Seaview, NSW 2446, Australia), the head office of Australian Wilderness Tours, the company that had...

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by Philip Wagenaar (Part 3 of a series)

This month, I continue the discussion of our travels in Australia, the second country that my wife, Flory, and I visited on our 72-day, ’round-the-world trip, August-November ’09. The arrangements for the five-week tour that we took in Australia included lodging, breakfasts, dinners, SUV, driver and extensive sightseeing,

From Broken Hill, our last stop, it was on to Lake Mungo, part of the Willandra Lakes Region, a UNESCO World Heritage...

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by Philip Wagenaar, M.D. (Part 2 of a series)

After relating last month the beginning of the 72-day, ’round-the-world trip that my wife, Flory, and I took, Aug. 31-Nov. 11, 2009, in this issue I describe some highlights of the Australia portion.

Note that an electronic visa (ETA), costing AUD20 (near US$18), is required for US and Canadian citizens for a stay of up to 90 days in Australia. This is available online at www.eta.immi.gov.au or through a travel agent.

On Sept...

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by Philip Wagenaar (Part one of a series)

I heaved a sigh of relief. For months I had been preparing a trip ’round the world (RTW) for my wife, Flory, and myself. For each of us, I had amassed the 220,000 frequent-flyer miles which Northwest Airlines required for RTW business-class travel.

I wondered if Northwest would ever let me do it, given the airline’s restrictions on traveling with miles. (Northwest was one of the airlines in the alliance SkyTeam and has, since then, been...

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