Travelers' Intercom

I traveled solo and on the cheap in Turkey for nearly all of May ’09. I described my visits to Bodrum (Oct. ’09, pg. 14), Selçuk (Jan. ’10, pg. 30) and Marmaris (March ’10, pg. 47). Heading south along the Aegean coast, I next hit Fethiye; the bus trip — a great way to see the country — took three hours (TL16, or near $11), and again I used the Pamukkale Bus Company (phone 0 232 892 3961).

I got a room at the Ideal Pension (I.Karagözler Zafer Cad. No:6 48300, Fethiye, Turkey; phone +90 [252] 614 1981, fax 612 8049) for TL25 ($17) per night, including breakfast and free WiFi. I had...

Kimberly Edwards’ letter “Tips for Communicating in Japan” (Nov. ’10, pg. 12) contains a lot of good advice, much of which is applicable throughout Asia. From my own experience, I would add an additional suggestion: never ask a question that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

The person behind the desk often will have no clue about what you are asking, but his or her response will almost invariably be ‘Yes,’ because a ‘no’ or a request for clarification would be insulting to the distinguished foreign visitor (that’s you!).

For example, if you are trying to find out whether...

We took an eastern Mediterranean cruise aboard the Azur, Oct. 29-Nov. 8, ’03. It was booked through White Travel Service (127 Park Rd., West Hartford, CT 06119; phone 860/233-2648). The price of $3,006, for my wife and myself, included airfare from New York’s JFK to Venice, Italy, with port charges and taxes added.

Ports of call were Dubrovnik, Katakolon (for Olympia), Alexandria, Limmosol, Antalya, Rhodes and Piraeus (Athens). The shore excursions were optional, and we opted, for the most part, to take the less expensive half-day excursions, as about all that the full-day...