International Travel News

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May 2014 issue | Appears on page 22

Lessons learned in Australia

By Anne Adams Helms

My husband and I consider ourselves experienced travelers, and I thought I had gone over our itinerary with a fine-toothed comb, but there were a few glitches on our Oct. 12-26, 2013, trip to Australia that I might have been able to avoid.

My advice to others is (1) read all travel documents very carefully to make sure you know what is planned each day, (2) make sure you know what arrangements, if any, have been made for your transfers from dock to hotel to airport and (3) if an...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 24

Praise for Chilean Special Journeys

By Doreen Kennard

My husband and I have used ITN advertisers on several occasions and have never been disappointed with the excellent service we’ve received. But none could surpass the experience we had with Scott Jones of Chilean Special Journeys (Palacio Concha, Av. Concha y Toro 46, Santiago, Chile; phone +56 2 699 3633 or, in the US, 888/345-6077).

We had booked a South America cruise on the Marina of Oceania Cruises (855/623-2642) to sail Dec. 8, 2013, and contacted Scott in July to see if he...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 26

‘Greenland & Wild Labrador’

By Linda Jessell

Are you looking for a trip that few have taken and which includes natural splendor, archaeology, hiking, history, native culture, music and lots of laughter? My husband and I experienced such a trip, the 14-day “Greenland & Wild Labrador,” Sept. 5-18, 2013, offered by Adventure Canada (14 Front St., South Mississauga, Ont., L5H 2C4, Canada; 800/363-7566). We booked it through the travel agency Great Canadian Adventure.

From Toronto, we flew by charter aircraft to...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 26

Altours private Bulgaria tour

By Helen Wolkow

My husband, Leo, and I were going to take a cruise out of Istanbul, Turkey, and decided to also visit a nearby country first. Our choice was Bulgaria, which is small, uncrowded and loaded with antiquities and history. We arrived on Aug. 18, 2013, and spent the next eight days touring from Sofia in the west to the Black Sea coast and back.

Our tour was arranged by Altours (3 Galabetz Str., 1505 Sofia, Bulgaria; phone +359 2 9441405), a very small company directed by Alexandra Dimitrova...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 28

Driver in Cape Town

By Norman W. Petersen

My wife and I try to do a world cruise every year. Rather than take each ship’s shore tours, we usually hire local taxis, asking the drivers to show us what they are “proud of” in their city. We can never predict the results but are almost always pleasantly surprised.

On our world cruise aboard the MS Amsterdam in 2013, we encountered a taxi driver in Cape Town, South Africa, who was particularly noteworthy.

Julius (phone 082 738 0433 from South Africa or 27 82 738 0433...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 28

Guide in Ethiopia

By Tom Cassen

On a trip to several remote tribes in Ethiopia’s lower Omo Valley, Oct. 19-Nov. 1, 2013, my wife and I and five other photographers hired an experienced Ethiopian guide, Robel Petros (phone +251911 423112 or email robguide28@yahoo.com).

Our objective on this trip was to take photographs in several villages: Arbore, Kara, Daasanech, Hamar and Mursi. Fluent in English and quite knowledgeable about the tribes and the requirements of photographers, Robel translated for us and negotiated...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 29

‘Pleasant surprises’ of Turkmenistan

By Jeff Garrett

I have led group tours to Turkmenistan and the five ’Stans seven times over several years, most recently in May and October 2013, and all my clients have found the country of Turkmenistan to be one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire tour, so I was alarmed to read the negative comments about that country in the letter “Turkmenistan — Dangers & Annoyances” (March ’14, pg. 23), written by someone who traveled with another tour company.

The avenues of the capital city,...

May 2014 issue | Appears on page 29

Turkmenistan worth a visit

By Claus Hirsch

In a letter about Turkmenistan (March ’14, pg. 23), a subscriber made many valid complaints about travel in that country.

As he correctly pointed out, there are a number of challenges for tourists there. Entering the country usually involves delays at the border, and there is that little item about walking in the no-man’s land between borders, but this annoyance is not limited to that area of the world.

Arbitrary decisions by the authorities there can also be very frustrating...