Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

August 2011 issue

Danube cruise with GCT

My friend Eileen Mine and I took the 13-day “Eastern Europe & the Black Sea” river cruise with Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/959-0405), May 1-13, 2010. Including round-trip air from Raleigh-Durham airport, it cost $3,564 apiece.

Aboard the River Concerto, we sailed over 1,100 miles on the Danube, with visits in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and, finally, Romania.

There were three Program Directors on board the ship: the leader, Miklos Maleczki, a native of Hungary; Sonya Bakalova from Bulgaria, and Cristian Pirv from Croatia. All three were multilingual, spoke...

June 2009 issue

Scoping out bargain airfares online

Finding the best airfare can be almost as much of a journey as the trip itself. ITN readers may find the following airfare journey an instructive example.

My late March ’09 journey to the graduation of Raquel, a nursing student whom I have supported through college, as well as a visit to several Rotary International friends in Bacolod, Philippines, began in January.

Bacolod is a rather undistinguished city in the Visayas, the central part of the Philippines between the big islands of Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south. Most of the wonderful Philippines beach resorts...

January 2012 issue

Kindness in the Philippines

My wife, Jane, and I took a two-week private tour of the Philippines in May ’11 with Marsman Drysdale Travel (19F Robinsons Summit Center, 6783 Ayala Ave., Makati City 1227, Philippines; phone +632 8870000, ext. 302, 303 or 305, fax +632 8880228, e-mail reservations@marsmandrysdale.com). The tour price was $2,045 per person, including one internal flight, daily lunch and one dinner.

I have taken many tours with a guide and driver, but this was one of the best-organized, most enjoyable tours I have ever taken.

While planning our trip, I was in constant communication with...

July 2011 issue

Turkey with Argeus

My wife and I took a 14-day tour of Istanbul and western Turkey, Sept. 18-Oct. 2, 2010. The tour with Argeus Tourism & Travel (Istiklal Cad. No. 47, Ürgüp/Nevsehir, Turkey; phone +90 384 341 4688) was more expensive than similar tours of other companies we investigated, but we thought the quality more than compensated for the cost.

The land price, $3,970, included everything except wine at dinner and tips to the guide and driver.

Argeus limits its groups to 10 people (we had eight) and, on our tour, used a very comfortable Mercedes-Benz van in which we could go places the...

October 2009 issue

Packing tips

Some preplanning of what and how to pack may make travel more enjoyable. Here are some suggestions.

• Divide your suitcase into segments, keeping items in the same place for the entire trip so that you can readily go to just what you want rather than have to search through the entire bag.

Within my suitcase, even on the road, I leave my medicine kit bag open while it’s in use, securing items in it by laying my rolled-up nightgown across the unzippered opening.

• Use baby wipes in a collapsible pouch (from the Dollar Store) for lots of cleaning purposes.

• Don’t...

April 2011 issue

Hidden repellent

My wife and I, along with our daughter and son-in-law, stayed three nights in Kerala, India, at the Coconut Lagoon (Box 2, Kumarakom, Kottayam 686563, India; phone +91 481 252 5034), Dec. 21-23, 2010.

We booked our stay, which cost about $250 per room per night, through Panache (47 Church St. #201 & 202, Bangalore 560 001, India; phone +91 80 4357 3000), located above Java City.

After the first night, my daughter and I each woke up with a severe allergic reaction and congestion. We both have asthma and allergy problems, so we thought our problems were due to pollen from...

May 2011 issue

Hints for haggling

Bartering may be viewed as an unpleasant chore, but the exchange offers the opportunity to connect with local people. I have experience at bargaining in India, South America and numerous Southeast Asian countries, but traditions differ in other parts of the world. I have haggled successfully using the following advice.

• Know what you want. When I arrive at a destination, I observe local products, study prevailing prices, compare quality and listen to what others have paid.

• Know where to buy. Ask your hotel or guide. Be aware that guides or taxi drivers may get paid for...

September 2009 issue

Ubud restaurant

In Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Restaurant Bali Yoga — located on the left side of Jalan Kajeng a 3- to 5-minute walk up from Jalan Raya — seems like a curious name for this little jewel of a place. The husband and wife who own it told me they named it after their first child, a son, Yoga.

I had asked them about the name of the restaurant. In Bali, there is a system of naming each child according to caste and the order of birth and often regardless of gender (Wayan and Putu are typical firstborn names). They said they just wanted to name their son something different and so named him Yoga...