Travelers' Intercom

My two daughters and I traveled to Moscow in October ’08. Via the Internet, we had arranged for an apartment with Uncle Pasha, aka Paul or Pavel or Pasha Voytinsky (www.unclepasha.com). His website was attractive and he quickly answered our e-mails. We requested a room for three people, close to the metro, at $100 per night.

When we finally arrived at the apartment (identified as “Street Skakovay, the house 15/1, apartment 5. A floor 1 — underground stop ‘Belarussky’”), we were met by...

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For a stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December ’08, my husband, Roger, and I rented a flat for 13 nights on Anchorena. During our stay, Roger had a medical emergency that required us to leave early.

Upon our arrival in Buenos Aires we had signed a contract which, in my opinion, did not clearly state that in the case of our leaving early, the whole fee could be kept by the apartment owner. Nevertheless, the owner refused to return any part of the rental fee, although we stayed only...

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My husband, Ken, and I went on the 15-day tour “Japan’s Cultural Treasures” with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com), April 25-May 15, 2009.

The base price was $4,695 per person from San Francisco. Pre- and post-trip optional extensions cost $1,790 per person extra. (We took a three-night pretrip to Tokyo, $795, and a four-night post-trip to the Hiroshima area for $995.)

We were impressed with how many places we were taken that the “...

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For years I toiled to put together for myself a land tour that would include Bosnia & Herzegovina plus Montenegro and Albania, but the inaccessibility of air flights between these countries combined with border crossing technicalities made the process too complex.

When my article “Cruising the Danube” was printed (Dec. ’08, pg. 34), I noticed on one of the pages an ad for a five-country/seven-night Adriatic cruise package that included these three countries. Value World Tours had...

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While in India for five weeks in February-March ’09, my companion, Frank, and I decided to experience the northwestern state of Rajasthan, land of maharajas, palaces and ancient forts.

Fellow travelers recommended hiring a car and driver as the best way to get around. Although buses and trains connect most towns, a personal driver is more efficient.

We planned a two-week tour through a Delhi travel agency, Silver Line Travel (7-8-9 Krishna Mkt., Pahar Ganj, New Delhi; e-mail...

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In her article on Morocco (April ’09, pg. 24), I was pleased that Elaine Lavine wrote about Casablanca and Fés and included a photo of the Jewish Cemetery in Fés. Whereas, in Casablanca, the Hassan II Mosque is a major feature for tourism, there are other very interesting sites and features as well, particularly pertaining to Jewish culture.

There is a lovely Jewish museum with artifacts centuries old, and there is an area with several synagogues and kosher food stores. In addition,...

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For a stay in Yerevan, Armenia, the week of Sept. 13-20, 2009, I hired a private car (Mercedes) and driver from Beau Monde Service (Republic Square, 1 Amiryan St., Yerevan, 0010 Armenia; phone 374 10 59 99 64, fax 99 65, www.rentcar.am), located in the Marriott Hotel where I stayed. They have cars and drivers available 24 hours a day.

My guide, Karo Kouyoundjian, was an excellent driver and spoke perfect English.

I had a list of things I wanted to see, and we did the following...

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Following a fantastic 11-day trip in May ’09 with ITN advertiser Galapagos Travel (783 Rio del Mar Blvd., Ste. 49, Aptos, CA 95003; 800/969-9014, www.galapagostravel.com), we had a four-day extension on the Ecuador mainland arranged by their sister company, Galápagos Travel Proinvertur C (Av. Amazonas 477 Y Roca. Ed. Rio Amazonas 1012, Quito, Ecuador; phone [593 2] 562990 or fax 564440). The cost was approximately $800 per person.

Our mainland guide, Carlos Lara (cell phone 593 [0]...

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