Columns

February 2008 issue

The ancient Syrian city of Aleppo

by Ed Kinney

Like many cities in the Middle East, a relatively modern area surrounds the center of Aleppo, which claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Damascus disputes Aleppo’s claim, but who am I to argue with the antiquity claims of either?

Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. For this reason alone, it is unfortunate that travelers seldom visit Aleppo in northern Syria. Those who travel the monotonous road from Damascus, Syria’s capital, are rewarded when Aleppo suddenly appears — a city of buildings of wildly mixed colors surrounding...

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December 2008 issue

Boarding Pass
By David Tykol

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 394th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine, the one in which travelers like you pass along recommendations and warnings to others.

I can share a few news items with you, here.

Think twice before using an automatic teller machine in Lithuania. Banks there hope to have up-to-date security devices installed in all ATMs by 2010, but, for now, about 30% of them lack such safeguards, and criminals can use scanning devices to retrieve card data.

In the October issue I warned about phony e-mails being sent out that appeared...

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October 2007 issue

The wats of Angkor and beyond
By Randy Keck
Randy Keck and the “five peaks of Mount Maru” — outside Angkor Wat. Photo: Lin

(Part 4 of 4 on Vietnam & Cambodia)

After my 1½ weeks in Vietnam, an evening arrival in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from Saigon provided me with the opportunity for an overnight respite before touring the remarkable remnants of the ancient Khmer civilization in and around the vicinity of Angkor Wat. I had arrived at one of the surviving great wonders of our world.

My accommodation for the next three nights was the luxurious, 238-room Sofitel Royal Angkor Golf & Spa Resort, arguably the finest hotel in the Siem Reap region. Its traditional, Cambodian-style, low-rise...

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August 2007 issue

Choosing a tour company, leftover foreign coins

by Steve Venables, CTC

Q:

Steve, my wife and I are starting to plan a trip to Africa next year to experience a wildlife safari. Usually, ITN has about 18 to 24 different companies advertising such journeys on a monthly basis. Is there a website or other source to cut through the covers of these companies and find out which ones do the best job and are the best value for the high cost of such a trip, especially when one includes airfare from the States? We have read the “Tours in Review” column, but they are much less numerous than the ads that run monthly. Thank you. — Paul...

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November 2007 issue

Amasya in the Hittite heartland of Turkey

by Ed Kinney

When Moreen and I travel throughout the Middle East, we sometimes wish its intrinsic face wouldn’t change, although we realize this area is dynamic, not static. We can’t deny its people, for our own selfish interests, the advantages we have. The media, especially TV, provides such locals views of our world; hence, they too have dreams for tomorrow.

The city of Amasya, Turkey, demonstrates both, offering visitors an opportunity to see its progress, albeit slow, but also retaining some of its historical image. Blend these with Turks’ overwhelming...

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May 2008 issue

Guaraní-Jesuit missions of Argentina
By Julie Skurdenis

by Julie Skurdenis

The conquistadores arrived in South America early in the 16th century. They came hungry for land and hungry for gold. With them came priests and monks intent on spreading the Catholic faith among the many Indian groups.

One of the religious groups was the Jesuits, founded in 1540 by a Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola. The Jesuits were a very structured and disciplined multinational order concerned not only with their own spiritual growth but with active proselytizing.

They carried their organizational skills and their desire to make conversions to the...

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March 2008 issue

New welcome to Berlin

by Jay Brunhouse

When your high-speed ICE train arrives (or a TXL airport bus drops you) at Berlin’s 2005 Hauptbahnhof (Hbf, or main train station), walk out the Washingtonplatz exit. The panorama you see is stunning. All of Berlin seems to lie at your feet.

East Berlin’s television tower rises in the distance. The new Government Quarter gleams across the Spree River, and the magnificent glass dome of the Reichstag is a short walk farther. And below you, the white sightseeing ships on the Spree River are loading and unloading passengers.

From Berlin’s Tegel Airport,...

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September 2008 issue

Boarding Pass
By David Tykol

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 391st issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

No good deed goes unpunished.

In the city of Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, the number of beggars and street children rose from 870 in 2006 to 2,600 in 2008. In an effort to reverse the trend, in June the legislative council made it against the law to give money to beggars. The penalty is up to three months’ jail time or a fine of up to 1.5 million rupiah (about $170).

The beggars, themselves, can be jailed for up to three years or fined up to five million rupiah. The...

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