Travelers' Intercom

During a March-April ’12 India trip, my husband, Clyde, and I arrived in Darjeeling late in the afternoon to check into the Dekeling Hotel* (51 Gandhi Rd., Darjeeling 734101, West Bengal, India; phone 91 354 2254159, fax 2253298 — room rates, INR1,400-INR3,300 [near $25.50-$60] per night).

I had sprained my ankle a week earlier in Kolkata, but the doctor we visited said I could hobble about with my walking staff, resting as needed. To my dismay, the Dekeling hotel’s lobby was four flights up a narrow stone staircase, and it was another two flights up to our room.

We had...

In the article “Enjoying Albania without the Cost and Crowds” (Dec. ’12, pg. 36), there was no mention of Enver Hoxha, the dictator who ruled Albania from 1941 to 1985 using brutal Stalinist methods. He became more Communist than Stalin.

One interesting thing to note — during (and after) Hoxha’s regime, over 700,000 bunkers were built, from 1967 to 1986, to isolate and keep complete control over the population. When my husband, Charles, and I were in Albania on a private tour in November ’11, it was amazing to see the hillsides littered with these bunkers.

ALLA CAMPBELL...

My daughter, Gina, and I were in Heidelberg, Germany, on April 24, 2011 (Easter Sunday). It was a glorious day and we decided to take a cruise upriver to Neckarsteinach.

From April 16 to Oct. 16, boats of the Weisse Flotte, or White Fleet (Neckarstaden 25, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany; phone 06221 20181, fax 20211), leave every hour, in both directions, from below the Old Bridge. The round-trip fare from Heidelberg to Neckarstaden was €11.50 (near $15.50). We bought our tickets at a kiosk right at the landing.

We left, punctually, of course, at 10 a.m. One of the nice...