Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

September 2006 issue

Old greenbacks rejected

There are two things I learned from a July-August ’05 trip to Africa.

1) You MUST have the new U.S. dollars in Africa, especially to pay for your visa at the Kenyan border. We didn’t know this and, had it not been for the gentleman pushing my wheelchair at the Nairobi airport, I doubt we would have gotten in. He argued with the Immigration official for at least 20 minutes to get him to accept our old-style U.S. dollars. They wanted the “big portrait” ones only.

We also saw a sign at one of the lodges during our trip that said that the old bills are no longer considered legal...

June 2006 issue

Medical info online

I read Dr. Wagenaar’s excellent summary of medical websites in the February ’06 issue (pg. 93).

Some time ago I picked up in one of the medical publications to which I subscribe a reference to www.patientinform.org. At the time, it only led one to the cancer, diabetes and heart websites. Now, in its expanded form, one can delve into such sites as www.pubmed.com, www.pubmedcentral.com, www.freemedicaljournals.com and www.eurekalert.com. It is a very user-friendly site.

Its goal — “patientINFORM’s primary function is to educate and empower health care consumers with the latest...

August 2005 issue

Highlights of Egypt

Well, we finally did it, and I must say that there is not much of Egypt that we did not see! My husband and I, our son and daughter-in-law and our daughter and grandson started a 14-day independent tour of Egypt on June 24, ’04.

Our flights on Iberia Airlines were long, with very long airport layovers. In Madrid we had 10 hours, so we took the metro to the city and visited the Prado Museum. This was very easy to do, as our luggage had been forwarded to Cairo out of New York’s JFK and we stored our carry-ons in lockers provided outside the Madrid airport.

We arrived in Cairo...

November 2006 issue

Upscale Indian dining in London

For many, traveling and eating are synonymous. I just had an exquisite experience at an Indian restaurant in London’s Berkeley Square: Benares (12a Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BS; phone 020 7629 8886 or visit www.benaresrestaurant.com).

Owner and acclaimed chef Atul Kochar adapts homemade recipes he acquires while traveling in India, then adds his own twists to craft an eclectic and savory menu with contemporary panache.

We went to Benares on a Monday night in July ’06 without a reservation. There were no tables available in the dining room, but we...

January 2006 issue

Czech Republic guide

We took a wonderful trip to the Czech Republic in July ’05. Since my husband’s hobby is genealogy, this theme has directed our last several trips.

We found, through ITN, a wonderful guide for our days in Prague. Sárka Pelantová (tel. [+420] 777 225 205, e-mail saraguide@volny.cz or visit www.prague-guide.info) continues to live up to her reputation for having excellent guiding abilities. She is knowledgeable, accommodating, organized — the best.

She took us (four adults and one 10-year-old granddaughter) on a custom tour of Prague and environs for five days. For day trips and...

July 2006 issue

Grand Voyage demographic

There is nothing like the excitement and romance of a cruise. If it’s a long cruise, like a Grand Voyage (50-plus days) or a World Cruise (105 days), so much the better. But think twice. I wish I had known about the following before we spent $30K.

We took the Grand Voyage “Orient Explorer 2005” on the ms Amsterdam, Holland America’s 1,300-passenger flagship, Oct. 6-Dec. 7. Over 62 days we sailed from Seattle to Russia, Japan, Korea, China (including Hong Kong), Singapore, Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii and then San Diego.

The ship was beautiful. Our veranda...

May 2005 issue

Separate credit cards recommended

Betty Patterson’s letter titled “Coping With the Red Tape of an Overseas Death” (Feb. ’05, pg. 16) was very helpful as well as disturbing. The part about cancellation of the business AmEx card prompted me to call American Express for clarification about what does happen in the case where a couple has personal cards and (as is usually the case) one of them is the prime account holder and the other has his or her own card with an individual number.

I was told by an AmEx representative that when the primary card account holder dies and the company learns of the death, such as through...

February 2006 issue

‘Golden weeks’ in China

My wife and I returned on Oct. 16, ’05, from an 18-day tour of China and Hong Kong. The trip, called “Yangtze River Splendors,” was operated by Orient Flexi-Pax Tours (New York, NY; 800/545-5540 or www.orientflexipax.com) and booked for us by our local travel agent. Our departure was from San Francisco on Sept. 29, with arrival in Beijing late on the 30th. Touring activities began on Oct. 1.

Unknown to us and everyone else in our 16-person tour group was the fact that the week of Oct. 1-8, honoring National Day, was the biggest of China’s three week-long holidays, called “golden...