Features

May 2006 issue

The Gobi Desert — On the trail of Genghis Khan

by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

We certainly weren’t about to travel all the way to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, without expanding the adventure to include the Gobi Desert.

In July ’05, my wife, Margo, and I had boarded the Trans-Siberian Express in Moscow, traveling for eight days across Russia and Siberia and arriving in the capital of Mongolia in time for the annual Naadam Festival, the celebration of athletics such as archery, horse racing, wrestling and a strange event called anklebone shooting.

As exciting as the opening ceremony of the festival was —...

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August 2006 issue

India — Living like maharanis on a Ranthambore National Park visit

Trucks, lined with tourists sporting assorted hats like exotic crested birds, raced jeeps to the gatehouse in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India. After securing route assignments, the drivers fanned out like beaters on a tiger hunt over dirt roads pockmarked by monsoon rains. My daughter, Anna, and I were among the lucky few in a jeep.

We zipped past colorfully saried women and children processing to temples hidden within an ancient fort, its stone fortifications snaking across the hilltops above us like the Great Wall of China. The worshipers called, “Hello, hi,” and...

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June 2005 issue

Stopping at select sites on a Eurail tour of Austria, Hungary, and Romania

by Beth Habian, Features Editor

It sounded like the perfect itinerary to me. We would begin in Vienna, a city I had been dying to see but had not yet had the pleasure of visiting. We would continue to Hungary, which is emerging as a fashionable travel destination while still exuding Old World charm, and end in Romania, my father’s boyhood home, before returning to Vienna for my flight back to the States.

Okay, maybe it was a little ambitious for a 9-day trip (most press trips are arranged to get in as much as possible in the shortest amount of time), but it was a nice...

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December 2006 issue

Malaysia — an independent journey

by Lillie Echevarria, Livermore, CA

Traveling to Malaysia with my friend Michelle in February ’05 was somewhat more challenging than traveling in neighboring Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam due to the limited number of local tour companies available, especially in Borneo.

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur, our first stop as independent travelers was to book our free tour of the Petronas Towers. Tickets went fast — at 9 a.m. I was able to get reservations for 1:30 in the afternoon.

Our tour included an informative background film on the towers’ construction and a short ride to...

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September 2005 issue

St. Moritz — Summer in a Swiss winter resort

by Don and Betty Martin, Columbia, CA

We had our faces pressed against the cool window like kids outside a candy store. However, we were enjoying scenic candy as our train climbed through a steep, wooded valley toward the noted Swiss Alps resort of St. Moritz.

Each twist in the tracks brought a new alpine vision: verdant pasturelands glowing greenly in the sunlight; cascading streams milky with glacial silt; villages with slender church steeples standing like architectural exclamation points, and the distant promise of the Alps with their glossy white glaciers.

On the...

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December 2005 issue

Catching the Christmas spirit in France’s Alsace region

by Mary Beltran, Associate Editor, ITN

Some years, as the Christmas holiday approaches, I get a definite “Bah, humbug” attitude. I feel overwhelmed by the boxes of decorations, the cards to be mailed and the shopping and baking to be done in preparation for family celebrations. During the 2004 season, I was invited to go to France’s Alsace region to get a taste of how they celebrate Christmas. I decided it would be a good way to get over the “glooms,” and it was an opportunity to learn more about French holiday traditions.

Strasbourg

Our Christmas traditions journey...

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March 2006 issue

Tuva — way off the beaten path

by Bill Altaffer, Mammoth Lakes, CA

A bit about Tuva

Northwest of Mongolia, in the Russian Federation, is the autonomous region formerly known as Tannu-Tuva. Its native people are related, ethnically and culturally, to Mongolians. They practice Buddhism and shamanism, often blending the two religions in daily practice.

The area, being part of Siberia, is also populated by European Russians, partly due to the exile there of their ancestors. They make up roughly one-third of Tuva’s population of 370,000 and are primarily Russian Orthodox. Both Russian and Tuvan are...

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May 2006 issue

A novel approach to travel

What books or movies inspired you to travel to another country (outside of North America and the Caribbean)? ITN asked that question and received many responses, which were printed in the June through September 2005 and February 2006 issues. Here are a few more.

If you have suggestions to share, write to A Novel Approach to Travel, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mail editor@intltravelnews.com (please include the address at which you receive ITN).

Although I had always wanted to visit the BRITISH ISLES, I’d never thought much about specific areas. That was...

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