Travelers' Intercom

Springtime turned out to be a great time of year for touring Turkey. As we drove through central Anatolia in April-May several years ago, the wheat fields, stretching to the horizon, were just greening up. Farther south, near the Mediterranean coast, fruit trees were blooming and brilliant red poppies were a splash of scarlet along the roads and in the pastures. Tomatoes were being harvested in the acres and acres of greenhouses.

We had heard that Turkey had more classical sites (Greek and Roman) than Italy or Greece, but we did not realize how much of the early Christian church...

Re the letter “Armenia’s Military Highway” (March ’06, pg. 19), actually the Military Highway and Mt. Kazbek are in Georgia, not Armenia. The highway follows the Terek River, which cuts an 8½-mile gorge, the Daryal Gorge. The route of the 1992 Russian exodus, the highway goes north from Tbilisi and terminates at the Russian border.

The scenery is stunning, and if one goes on a Sunday there are many fascinating Sunday markets straight out of the last century, as I found on a visit in September ’99.

MARY ANNE REARDON Olathe, KS

I’ve noticed that some readers disdain the use of travel agents. My wife and I have traveled extensively (several trips yearly, to a total of 75 countries) and we’ve found our local travel agent invaluable and well worth the modest air travel booking fees.

There are rotten agents, so-so agents and excellent agents, and a traveler would do well to solicit recommendations for the latter from other travelers.

We use one particular agent at our local Carlson Wagonlit agency, so she knows our preferences for seating, connection times, quality of lodging, etc. Even so, I have...