Travelers' Intercom

Richard E. Smith of Long Beach, California, urged readers to comment about tipping on tours (April ’07, pg. 4). Questions he asked included 1) “Should the cost of tipping be included in the tour price?,” 2) “Should there be an existing standard for tipping adhered to by most tour companies?,” 3) “Should an escrow tipping account be set up for each traveler, to be refunded partially or in toto (the reason being that some cheapskates never tip a penny)?,” and 4) “Should travel companies be required to advise of their tipping recommendations in their advertisements?

Richard said that...

Namba is the heart of the shopping and entertainment area in Osaka, Japan. On a trip in September ’05, my husband, Don, and I took the Chuo Line subway from Osaka to Honmachi, then boarded the train on the Yotubashi line (blue color code). Once we emerged in Namba, we had no problem locating the roofed shopping street.

Dotonbori street runs off the shopping street. Here, Shochikuza Theater, the National Bunraku Theaer, Shin Kabukiza Theater, the Namba Grand Kagetsu Theater (which features comedy performances) and the Museum of Kamigata Performing Arts stand side by side with cinemas...

Nakhichevan or Naxcivan: whatever the name, it’s a small piece of land separated from but part of Azerbaijan. It’s located 250 miles west of Baku, the country’s capital, and is surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey.

When I visited the domestic airlines office in Baku in late January ’07, the staff looked at me as if I’d just turned green and walked through a wall. Foreigners don’t go there, they told me, and they tried to discourage me by saying that a special visa is required, which is not true. On it went for two hours before I finally received my $100 ticket.

On my...