Travel Tidbits
In San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the highlight, for us, was the Museum of Anthropology & History (corner of 3a Avenido and 4a Calle N.O. — open 9-4 Monday-Saturday and 9-3 Sunday; closed Tuesday. Admission, HNL10 [near 50¢]). Many of the exhibits bore captions in English. A few blocks away from the museum was Guamalito Market, with many opportunities to purchase crafts and souvenirs. — GENE McPHERSON, Sturgis, SD
We crossed the Chao Phraya River, which runs through Bangkok, Thailand, by ferry in February ’07 and visited Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn. Built in the 18th century, the 269-foot prang (a Khmer-style tower) is the highest in Thailand. Murals picture the Buddha at various stages of his life. An interesting feature of the structure is the broken Chinese porcelain that is laid into the mortar. This porcelain arrived in Thailand as ballast in Chinese ships. — HARLAN HAGUE, Stockton, CA
We took a boat up the Mekong from Luang Prabang, Laos, to see the Pak Ou Caves. Tham Ting, the lower cave, is almost invisible from the water. The locals used it to hide their Buddha statues from the invading Thais many centuries ago. After continually adding more, today there are more than 4,000 Buddha images in the cave. — NILI OLAY, New York, NY
In Auckland, New Zealand, the Sky Tower (corner of Victoria and Federal streets; phone + 64 9 363 6000, www.skycityauckland.co.nz) is a “must do.” Attached to a cable, you can jump off the tower to a trampoline 630 feet below. There’s also a glass floor at the top. Standing on that and looking down was as close as I wanted to get to jumping (January ’08). (Open 8:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sun.-Thur. and 8:30-11:30 Fri.-Sat. NZ$28 [near US$20]). — ROBERT A. RINGGENBERG, West Chester, OH