During a private tour, we visited Eritrea, Feb. 5-14, 2010. Sana’a was fabulous. I’ve been to 111 countries, and the Old City is one of the most intriguing places I have been. However, we feel ITN readers should be made aware of the deteriorating tourism situation in Eritrea.

We were not able to go to Senafe, Segeneiti and the ruins of Qohaito and Metera, as the government has made travel difficult.

For each and every destination out of Asmara, our tour company, Explore (we...

Almost all tour itineraries at Cambodia’s ancient Khmer capital, Angkor, include a stop at the Elephant Terrace. If you’re lucky, your guide may mention the Leper King Terrace located north and to your right as you face the Elephant Terrace. You’re even more fortunate if your guide mentions the narrow corridor excavated behind the facade of the Leper King Terrace. This corridor is concealed and not marked well, so it’s hard to find without having it pointed out to you.

This corridor...

My husband and I did a tour to Mali, Jan. 3-18, 2010. We used Air France because it was nonstop San Francisco-Paris and nonstop Paris-Bamako, Mali — as easy as it gets for such a long distance.

Air France allowed two checked bags, not to exceed the usual dimensions and the usual 50 pounds. It was not a problem for us, as we never travel with more than one suitcase of 15 pounds or so plus, perhaps, an extra-smallish duffel for any purchased items.

On our trip of 11 travelers,...