International Travel News

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June 2013 issue | Appears on page 27

Cartagena visit

Following a 9-day Panama stay, my wife, Faythe, and I flew to Cartagena, Colombia, for two weeks of exploration around the area, June 25-July 9, 2012. At the airport, we exchanged money at an ATM in the departure lounge before getting a taxi to our hotel.

Hotel Casa Relax (Calle del Pozo Nº 25-105, Barrio Getsemani, Cartagena, Colombia; phone +57 [5] 664 11 17) is located in the Getsemani area, outside the old walled city. The cost of COP150,000 (near $83) per night included an air-...

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 28

‘Gem’ in Siem Reap

About three miles outside of Siem Reap is a gem of a hotel: the Angkor Spirit Palace Hotel (Phneachey Village, Svay Dangkom Commune, Siem Reap, Cambodia; phone [855] 17 908 007). I found it on the Internet, and my husband, Bill, and I stayed there Nov. 16-17, 2012. The price per night was about $47 for a double or $36, single, breakfast included.

They have made the most out of their small piece of land. There’s a “controlled jungle” of tropical plants and trees all around the Khmer-...

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 28

Private guide in Latvia

My husband, David, and I wanted to see more of Latvia than just its capital. About six months before our June 27-July 1, 2012, visit, we contacted the guide Ieva Sala (email ieva-sala@inbox.lv) through Tours-by-Locals (Vancouver, BC, Canada; 866/844-6783).

Ieva provided us with a 5-day tour of her country by private car for €800 (near $1,054), which included lodging, her services for seven to eight hours per day and entrance fees. We could have chosen more expensive places to stay but...

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 29

Belugas and bears in the far north

Polar bear shaking water from its head in Coningham Bay — Nunavut, Canada. Photos: Grantham

We had boarded our expedition ship in Kangerlussuaq, western Greenland, and a few days later headed east across Baffin Bay to the Northwest Passage. Eight days after that we would reach Kugluktuk, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where we would disembark.

The Canadian High Arctic is better known for its rich and storied history of exploration as well as for the First Nations cultures, rather than for its wildlife, but the wildlife experiences that we had were outstanding....

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 52

Labrang Monastery, China

By John Schilling

I was going to be in Beijing in June ’11 with some time to spare. What to do? I have always been interested in Buddhist monasteries and had visited most of the important ones in Tibet (Gandan, Sera, Drepung and Tashilhunpo of the Yellow Hat sect) but not two elsewhere in China: Labrang and Ta’er Si (aka Kumbum). They are quite near each other, but I felt I had time to see only one, so I chose Labrang, near Xiahe, in Gansu province, northwest China.

To arrange for transportation and...

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 53

Apartment in Budapest

By Neil Johnson

My wife and I rented an apartment from Budapest Vacation Rentals (phone, in the US, John Farago at 917/913-0815 or, in Budapest, +36 20 945 1679) for the week of Sept. 8-15, 2012. This agency had seven apartments of various sizes and in various locations in the city. We selected Apartment Andrei (Bakáts tér 8) and were very happy with it.

The booking process was very smooth. The owner responded promptly to questions about the apartment and the area, including café and bakery...

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 54

Meal in Bolzano

During my third visit to Bolzano, Italy, May 5-9, 2012, I discovered an organic (in Italy, “bio”) trattoria called Aretè (Piazza Parrocchia 22; phone 0471 05 45 44). You can find it behind the Duomo, the latter just off the main square of Piazza Walther.

Aretè is very modern but with lots of character, including a small live olive tree in the middle of the room. An al fresco dining area is out front.

I had lunch there twice. One day I tried an excellent pasta made with farro,...

June 2013 issue | Appears on page 73

The “Merry Cemetery” in Săpânţa, Romania

By Steven Emmet

During a June ’12 trip to Romania, my wife, Yuki, and I visited the “Merry Cemetery” in Săpânţa. There, the headstones are almost all wooden structures painted with “naïve” pictures of folks in various trades, with amusing comments about the deceased inscribed below each picture. One has to buy one’s burial site, which includes the construction of the headstone and epitaph, then about $50 a year is charged for its upkeep.

STEVEN EMMET Solana Beach, CA