My wife, Joan, and I are inveterate independent travelers with 45 years’ international experience. We usually travel by car or rail, with vaguely planned itineraries and seldom with prebooked overnight accommodations.
We took a trip along the “Silk Road” to the five “Stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) and Turkey, Aug. 17-Sept. 9, 2008.
On a stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, during a September-October ’08 river cruise, instead of taking the ship’s tours we engaged a private guide to show us the city and countryside.
I just finished reading the reader’s letter titled “Impressions of Russia” (March ’09, pg. 32) and disagree with his evaluation of Moscow as dirty, expensive and unfriendly.
My husband and I took a 3-week tour of Laos in late November ’08. About a week before we were due to fly home on Dec. 3, citizens of Bangkok, Thailand, demonstrated their dissatisfaction with their government at the airport. No planes were able to fly in or out of the city.
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.
