February 2004

by Kevin Keating

(First of two parts on the Philippines)

A kind of frenetic mania pervades the urban streetscape as the cultural combine of East and West continues to define itself while the business of daily life goes on. In the Philippines, all journeys seem to begin and end in the sprawling megalopolis that is Manila. One cannot know or hope to understand the modern-day Philippines without comprehending Manila.

by Ed Kinney

by Deanna Palic (Part one of two)

by Philip Wagenaar, first of three parts

“You now have to set your watch one hundred years back,” the captain announced as the plane descended toward the Johannesburg airport.

by Linda Ledray

We had been alternating cheap and luxurious hotels, $60 one night and $6 the next, during our September ’02 trip to Morocco, and now we were looking for a cheap place to stay between the Moroccan desert and the city of Fez. We had been told that Midelt was a nice town, and our guidebook reported that there was a family-run hotel in the middle of it, Hotel Atlas. As two women traveling alone, we were drawn to the idea of a family-run place. Also, the price was right: $6.

During the many years I have spent traveling throughout the world, I have used a number of private guides. None has provided such exquisite service as Francois Viljoen (P.O. Box 6178, Welgemoed, 7538, Cape Town, South Africa; phone/fax 27/21-9136150 or e-mail fransuz@mweb.co.za). For three days in October ’03, he was at our complete disposal in Cape Town.

In reference to the reader’s letter “Driver’s License Sufficient” (Dec. ’03, pg. 78), regarding International Driving Permits, years ago a friend of mine and her husband were on a trip to Italy when they had an accident in a rental car that was her husband’s fault. The police took his California license and kept it! He didn’t have an international permit, and my friend hadn’t taken her California license, so they couldn’t rent another car. This caused them a huge problem.

I visited the astoundingly beautiful, inspirational and impressive sites of Borobudur and Prambanan on Java, Indonesia, in September ’03 and am sad to report that both left a bad taste in my mouth because of what has been allowed to develop at these sites.

After climbing the 3-dimensional mandala of Borobudur and being awed by its 2.4 miles of bas-reliefs, in order to exit the grounds visitors are forced to walk a very long, Disneyland-like snake-line of stalls. This line seems to go on forever with no way of escape. It is tacky and certainly not in the spirit of the ruins.