Travel Briefs

Over the protests of Spain’s scientific community and preservationists around the world, the Spanish Culture Ministry announced that it plans to reopen the Caves of Altamira to tourism, possibly by the end of this year. The caves, discovered in 1868, contain prehistoric art estimated to be from 14,000 to 20,000 years old. 

As many as 3,000 people a day visited the caves during the 1970s. Although the number of daily visitors was sharply curtailed from 1982 to 2002, the paintings still...

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Predating Angkor Wat by 500 years, the Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site — halfway between Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat, Cambodia — contains over 100 temples and other structures dating from the seventh century AD.

Located in Kampong Thom province, the complex consists of three groups of temples spread over a three-square-mile area. The temples are dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The site, once called Isanborei, was the capital of the kingdom of Isanapura.

English-speaking...

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The exhibit “I, Augustinian: Woman of Action, Sister of Faith,” celebrating the contributions of the Augustine religious community to Quebec’s health care system, runs to March 20, 2011, at the Musée de l’Amérique française (2, cote de la Fabrique, Québec City, Québec, G1R 3V6 Canada; 866/710-8031 or 418/692-2843, www.mcq.org/index_en.html).

Over 370 years, the order has founded and managed 12 monastery-hospitals. Their history and ongoing work is shown through multimedia displays and...

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The “Yorkshire Pass” is good for admission to more than 70 attractions in northern England’s Yorkshire County, including castles, museums, amusement parks, train rides, canal boats and more. 

It’s available in one-, two-, three- and six-day increments (must be used on consecutive days). A one-day pass costs £28 (near $42) adult or £18 child, and a six-day pass, £68 adult.

To have the pass shipped to you before your trip, allow at least 10 days; overseas shipping costs £3.45. Or...

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The China-Tibet Mountaineering Association, which issues permits to climbers who want to scale Mt. Everest from the north (Tibetan) side, announced new age restrictions in June. Climbers must be between 18 and 60 years of age. The CTMA says it may consider climbers outside this range if sufficient proof of good health is provided.

Nepal, which issues permits for attempts from the South Face, has a lower age limit of 16 but no upper limit.

The new rule may be partly in response...

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Google Goggles, a free application for Google Android smartphones (version 1.6 or higher, and a data connection is required), can translate text, identify artwork and landmarks or even help you research the wine you’re ordering.

First, use the phone’s camera to take a picture of the text or object you want to identify. For text, you input source and destination languages (the application currently reads English, French, Italian, German and Spanish).

For an object, such as the...

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In Chatham Marine, Kent, England, the indoor visitor complex Dickens World (phone 016 34 890 421, www.dickensworld.co.uk) shows Charles Dickens’ England, with streets, courtyards, dockside, shops, a school room and a themed restaurant. One of Europe’s largest themed dark boat rides transports visitors from (in a re-creation) the depths of London’s sewers through streets, courtyards, markets and shops and on a “flight” across the rooftops.

A 250-seat “theater” provides an animatronic...

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The “Otto Wagner Vienna Map” shows the locations of 26 buildings in Vienna, Austria, designed by the architect, who was influential in Art Nouveau and Modernism. 

English and German versions are available for €4 ($5) at the Architekturzentrum Wien (Museums­Quartier, Museumsplatz 1, 7th District; www.azw.at), Kirche am Steinhof (Baumgartner Höhe 1, 14th District), Wagner: Werk Museum Postsparkasse (Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1st District; www.ottowagner.com) and Otto Wagner Pavilion...

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