Travelers' Intercom

March 2013 issue

Namaste in India
By Kevin O’Brien

My wife, Jane, and I had a memorable tour of southern India with Namaste Tours (O-130, DLF Shopping Mall, Arjun Marg, Phase 1, Gurgaon Haryana-122002, India; phone +91 [124] 4040636 or 637), Dec. 16, 2011-Jan. 3, 2012.

One of the most efficient, well-organized companies I have ever used, Namaste Tours arranged all the internal flights and trains as well as a car and driver for parts of our trip. A representative met us in each place and helped get our bags on the train or check us onto our flight.

For 16 nights in hotels (all excellent), breakfasts, New Year’s Eve dinner,...

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December 2013 issue

Komodo, land of the dragons
By Nancy Gresham
Komodo dragons and one of the guards. Photo by Ronald Dohanick

My husband, Ron, and I are inveterate travelers, having been on 67 cruises and all seven continents. We also are enthusiastic viewers of nature programs and have long been fascinated by the huge lizards on the island of Komodo in Indonesia. So when we found that “The Great Barrier Reef Experience” cruise with Holland America Line (Seattle, WA; 877/932-4259) stopped there, we immediately booked it through our travel agent.

The 16-day cruise aboard the Volendam, Nov. 24-Dec. 10, 2012, left from Sydney and made stops in Australia at Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and Darwin...

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April 2013 issue

The story behind the scenes
By Fred Steinberg

There has been much discussion of tour-group travel versus independent travel in ITN, as there should be.

Tours are planned for you and usually entail no hassles. They’re safe, and you will see the outstanding tourist attractions. Independent travelers never quite know how the trip will go, and they like it that way. They often get the chance to meet and mix with locals and see spots that are off-limits to tours.

For example, on a business trip to China in the late ’90s, I was taken by a local woman to the hutong where she had lived with her family after moving to Beijing...

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June 2013 issue

Private guide in Latvia

My husband, David, and I wanted to see more of Latvia than just its capital. About six months before our June 27-July 1, 2012, visit, we contacted the guide Ieva Sala (email ieva-sala@inbox.lv) through Tours-by-Locals (Vancouver, BC, Canada; 866/844-6783).

Ieva provided us with a 5-day tour of her country by private car for €800 (near $1,054), which included lodging, her services for seven to eight hours per day and entrance fees. We could have chosen more expensive places to stay but were happy with her suggestions.

We first stayed two nights in Riga in the basement...

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November 2012 issue

Buying train tickets online
By Kathy Wilhelm

I am a big fan of rail travel and have taken quite a lot of trains in both Europe and Asia. These days, I often wait to buy my tickets in-country. On my last European trip, in Serbia, Bosnia and Hungary in fall 2011, I would buy each ticket on the day of travel or the day before travel.

Since I’m very bad at languages, I write down what I want — the source and destination stations; the date and time of travel, and the train number, if I know it — and just hand the paper to the clerk.

But for night trains or trains in more-visited countries, I still may buy before I leave...

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November 2013 issue

Battery bandit in Bamako

I have found that agents at many foreign airport security checkpoints are concerned about batteries in carry-ons. My most bizarre incident occurred in January ’13 when I was leaving Bamako, Mali, on a tour with Universal Travel System (Santa Monica, CA). 

After my carry-on passed through the scanner, our tour escort, Herb Gobles, and I were pulled out of the line for a detailed check of our carry-ons. The agent checking my bag confiscated my spare AA and AAA batteries that were packed in plastic containers and also took the batteries in my flashlight. When I protested, he allowed me...

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August 2013 issue

Trans-Siberian rail in winter
By Nyckle Wijbrandus

I read the article “The Great Train Journey — Vladivostok to Moscow” by Jack Ogg (March ’13, pg. 20) with great interest, as my longtime companion and I also were booked on the MIR Corporation trip, ours to take place March 9-23, 2013.

This was our first experience with MIR Corp., and we consider it to be one of the top travel companies we have dealt with over the years. Andrew Barron, Director, Scheduled Group Tours, is extremely efficient and responsive, and our air reservations, transfers, hotel bookings, etc., all were arranged flawlessly.

For the two of us, we paid about...

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January 2013 issue

A night out in San Miguel
By Judy Hodges

The Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende offers a number of cultural events every week, as my husband and I found in February and March 2012 (Nov. ’12, pg. 14).

Anything sponsored by Pro Musica, which offers classical music at its finest, will be first rate. All performances are held at St. Paul’s Church (Callzada del Cardo #6), and tickets cost 100, 150 or 250 pesos (near $7.75, $11.50 or $19). We buy the 100-peso tickets because the seats are folding chairs rather than church pews.

Another interesting venue is La Casa Verde (Prolongación de Pila Seca 65C), an art gallery...

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