Columns

Rick Steves poses with teenage girls in Iran, a place that might give many Americans culture shock.

Many Americans board a plane for an overseas destination without fully realizing that they are flying into a completely different culture. Some experience culture shock: a psychological disorientation caused by immersion in a place where people do things — and see things — differently.

Most cultural groups develop separately, with their own logical (as far as they’re concerned) answers to life’s basic needs. While every culture is ethnocentric, thinking...

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Its name means “mound of the dead,” but in its time Lothal was anything but moribund. It was a thriving seaport, part of one of the world’s oldest civilizations.

In the same way that Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile, Mesopotamian on the Tigris-Euphrates rivers and Chinese along the Yangtze, there arose a civilization in the fourth millennium BC in the Indus River Valley in the area that is now Pakistan and northwestern India. It was called the Harappan Civilization,...

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Patan is Nepal’s ancient city of beauty and art. Photos: Keck

(4 of 4 on India plus Nepal)

Kathmandu

During the latter part of my May 2008 visit to India, I had the chance to experience the Kathmandu Valley region of exotic Nepal. My short trip focused on some of Nepal’s prime historic locations, including several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Those who have more time likely would be well rewarded by venturing farther afield to some of Nepal’s rural cultural destinations. Seasonal hiking and walking tours of various grades...

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Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 393rd issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine, the ORIGINAL forum for overseas travelers.

In ITN, most of the feature articles and essentially all of the letters are written by travelers who paid their own way and are sharing what they’ve learned not for profit but to help others better enjoy their trips.

Whether it’s a full-blown description of an interesting place you’ve found plus photographs (as on page 6) or a simple travel...

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R.J. Pazara of Arlington, Texas, wrote the following to ITN:

“My wife and I took a cruse aboard the Azamara Journey from Miami, Florida, to Santos (for Saõ Paulo), Brazil, Nov. 11-29, 2007.

“We learned that all of the cruise lines of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., including Azamara Cruises, had the following as section 3 on their Cruise/CruiseTour Ticket Contract: ‘No undertaking or warranty shall be given or shall be implied as to the seaworthiness, fitness or condition of the...

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English office workers and savvy travelers get tasty sandwiches at delis. Photo: Steves

Fresh from researching London, Bath, York and Edinburgh, I’ve discovered some new restaurant deals and confirmed some previous favorites.

In general, I found British portions huge. Rather than getting two appetizers, two main dishes and two desserts with wine for $70 each, a couple can order two appetizers, split a main dish, split a dessert and drink tap water. You’ll probably fill up fine, enjoy the same atmosphere and get out for $30 each.

Don’t be shy...

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by Yvonne Horn

Visitors are encouraged to touch, smell and even nibble a berry or two as they stroll through Alnwick Castle’s walled 12 acres of shrubs, trees and flowers. . . until they reach the Poison Garden. Here some of the world’s most toxic and hallucinogenic plants are grown, some so virulent or hallucinogenic that they are incarcerated in caged beds.

Whirlwind of controversy

When the Poison Garden opened in 2005, the year of my visit, it was but the latest...

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In Varanasi, seeing is believing, including a bull in a fabric shop.

Part 3 of 4 on India & Nepal

It is an impossible task to convey in these few pages any real detail concerning the numerous varied attractions of the four distinct destinations in central India that are the subject of this column. My goal, instead, shall be to convey essence and hopefully inspire readers to further explore this important region.

I will proceed in the order of my visitations during a May 2008 individual tour of India and Nepal hosted by SITA World Tours (...

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