Travelers' Intercom

June 2011 issue

Guide in Nicaragua

My wife and I were assigned Juan B. Padilla (mobile phone [505] 86641048 or e-mail juansinmiedo44@hotmail.com) as our guide on four days of our visit to Nicaragua, Dec. 27, 2010-Jan. 3, 2011. We were using a package of hotels and day tours purchased through Tara Tours (Miami, FL; 800/327-0080), which advertises in ITN.

Tara Tours contracted with the Nicaraguan branch of Gray Line (Denver, CO; 800/966-8125) for our hotels; airport-hotel transfers; transfers between Managua, Granada and Leon, and several day trips, including a city tour in each and two volcano excursions. Juan...

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February 2010 issue

Shroud of Turin to be shown

Is it a fantastic forgery or a miraculous image? Either way, the Shroud of Turin is one of the most researched and most mysterious artifacts in the world. Thoroughly studied, yes, but rarely seen — in the past 300 years, the enigmatic piece of linen has been on public display only 17 times.

Soon that will be 18. In the city of Turin (Torino to her residents) in Italy, the Shroud of Turin will be on display in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, April 10-May 23, 2010. I’ve made my plans to see it and found the arrangements to be pretty simple.

Visits are by reservation only...

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January 2010 issue

Freighter around Europe

I traveled on a Grimaldi Lines freighter, Grande Spagna, June 6-July 5, 2009. From Valencia, Spain, we sailed past Gibraltar to England, Holland and Belgium. We docked at Portugal on the way back to the Mediterranean, stopping at Valencia again before heading on to Italy (three ports), Greece and Turkey and finishing at Valencia.

I was scheduled to leave Valencia on June 2. That was changed to June 3, and I finally left on June 6 on a different vessel than originally scheduled.

I had waited in Valencia a few days before the vessel was expected in port, and the Saturday of...

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March 2009 issue

Return to Myanmar

My husband, Paul, and I traveled to Myanmar (Burma), Oct. 12-26, 2008, with Asia Transpacific Journeys (Boulder, CO; 800/642-2742, www.asiatranspacific.com). The trip was wonderful.

Including round-trip airfare, Los Angeles-Bangkok, Yangon, in premium-economy class; internal airfare, and 4- to 5-star boutique hotels, this all-inclusive tour cost $6,840 per person. There were eight members in our tour group plus a tour leader and another guide.

This was our second trip to Myanmar, having visited previously in 2000. Of course, we were well aware of the devastation from the May...

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December 2008 issue

Keep numbers at hand

Returning from a trip to England in May ’08, my husband and I were in Philadelphia trying to get home to Las Vegas; however, Delta had delayed all their flights due to inclement weather in Philadelphia. People were camped out in long lines everywhere, and no one knew what the weather would be like in the morning.

My husband had Delta’s 800 number in his cell phone, so he called them and found out the last Delta flight out of Philly was leaving in an hour for Atlanta. We got the last two seats on that flight, and as we raced to that gate he called his brother in Atlanta and asked him...

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April 2009 issue

Tour companies and single supplements

James Sibley of Houston, Texas, wrote (Dec. ’08, pg. 15), “I would like to see ITN readers regularly write in about which travel companies either 1) waive the single supplement if you are willing to share, whether the travel company is able to match you or not, or 2) discount the single supplement if you are willing to share, whether the company is able to match you or not.”

He offered, “ElderTreks (Toronto, Ont.; 800/741-7956) waives the entire single supplement if they can’t match you. Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824) and Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston...

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September 2011 issue

Weather the leather

The “Where in the World?” picture of the tannery in Fez, Morocco, and those dying vats reminded me of when I bought a leather handbag in the shop above the tannery in December ’09.

I had to turn the bag inside out and hang it outside for two months to get the awful smell out! They don’t process leather very thoroughly, and it was really rank.

But, at $10, the price was right — and now it’s a very nice bag.

DORI PORTNER Larkspur, CA

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May 2009 issue

Caches of memories

Rick Steves’ March ’09 column was on journaling.

When my husband retired from his work in geology and we moved from Angola back to the USA, I continued to travel to foreign countries once or twice a year for more than 25 years. On every trip I took, I kept a journal plus photos, books, travel guides and everything that had to do with that particular trip.

Each trip went into a shoe box and onto one of the shelves in my art studio, located in a heated garage space. I knew the day would come when, as I got older, I would want to experience that trip again.

I can lift...

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