International Travel News

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April 2014 issue | Appears on page 32

Rustic B&B in Samarkand

By Carl Boyer

The driver of the taxi I shared with my travel companion, Bob, dropped us off at a bus station on the edge of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It was May 2013.

There, another driver was waiting with his old Zhiguli (Lada). He wanted “10” for the ride into town, meaning either $10 or €10, almost as much as we had paid for one person for the 286-kilometer ride from Tashkent. Then he came down to “five.”

I wrote “5000” on my hand, meaning 5,000 som, or about $2.25. At that, the driver...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 33

Timur’s summer palace

By David J. Patten

Tamerlane, also known as Timur the Lame and Amir Timur (1336-1405), is probably the best-known ruler of ancient Central Asia. Pictures of his mausoleum — the Gur-e Amir, located in Samarkand, Uzbekistan — are among the photographs most often seen in the travel literature on Central Asia.

The remains of Timur’s most ambitious construction, however, are found some 50 miles south of Samarkand in Shakhrisabz, known in his day as Kesh.

The town of Shakhrisabz,...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 35

Be nice to your airline agent

By James A. Thorson

In her letter “Air Travel Tips” (Jan. ’14, pg. 10), Ms. KT Porter could not have been more right about the value of being nice to airline agents.

My wife and I were ticketed to fly on United from Chicago’s O’Hare airport to Las Vegas on Dec. 4, 2013. Shortly before boarding time, it was announced that the airline had delivered the wrong equipment, an airplane with 40 fewer seats than the one originally scheduled. It was also announced, “If you have a boarding pass with a row and seat...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 51

The pleasures of Plan B

By Paula Prindle

The Iron Age Farm at Ullandhaug, Norway, consists of two longhouses, smaller buildings, wells, stone fences and burial mounds from AD 350 to 550.

“When on a cruise, reserve ahead the tours you feel you must take.” I know you have heard this before and so have we, but on a cruise my husband, David, and I took from Copenhagen, Denmark, up the coast of Norway (Oslo, Stavanger, Ålesund, Geiranger, Bergen and back to Copenhagen) in September ’12, we ignored this advice and missed out on a fjord cruise we had hoped to take.

We were sailing aboard the Vision of the Seas of Royal Caribbean International (866/...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 52

Macaws into the wild

By Nili Olay

A picture I took of two young scarlet macaws appears in my article on Costa Rica (Dec. ’13, pg. 32). These birds had been raised and released by the ARA Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rebuilding the wild scarlet macaw population

While vacationing at Hotel Punta Islita (Islita Beach, Guanacaste, Costa Rica), on the Nicoya Peninsula in northwestern Costa Rica, I walked to the ARA compound and learned the steps the staff takes to raise and then release the macaws.

...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 52

Wants affordable single rooms

By Karen Caldicott

As a single traveler, I read with great interest the article “Avoiding the Dreaded Single Supplement” in Lew Toulmin’s column “The Cruising World” (Jan. ’14, pg. 53). On the subject of single supplements, I’m always looking for any tips. Routinely, as in Mr. Toulmin’s article, these articles suggest matching up with someone of the same gender on a trip, whether a cruise or land tour. Really??

Those of you who travel as part of a couple, put yourself — just for a moment — in the...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 52

A Massage to Die For: Shiatsu in Kathmandu

By Wanda Ross

While in Kathmandu, Nepal, in September ’13, I had a massage at the Club Nirvana spa in Hotel Yak & Yeti (GPO Box No. 1016, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal; phone +977 1 4248999. Rooms/suites, $240-$750 + tax).

My hour-long shiatsu massage was a superb combination of therapeutic massage, stretching and gentle chiropractic movements. After two weeks with lots of stair climbing, it felt terrific. The cost was only $25.

We were at the end of a tour booked through Airbound (San...

April 2014 issue | Appears on page 53

Pedicure in Vietnam

By Cicely Lawson

I recall having a memorable pedicure while in Vietnam a few years ago. I was on a private tour of Southeast Asia with four ladies, and we were staying at the Life Resort Hotel (now called Anantara Hôi An Resort, 1 Pham Hong Thai St., Hôi An Town, Quang Nam Province, 10000 Vietnam; phone +84 510 391 4555. Suites may start from $185, $203 or $350).

The hotel was a large property with park-like grounds and individual deluxe cottage suites. Our stay was comfortable in the extreme.