Travelers' Intercom

To arrange our trip to Peru, April 28-May 13, 2009, my husband, Graham, and I followed a reader’s recommendation (March ’08, pg. 55) and decided to use the services of Eliu Campos and ECS Travel (Los Pinos St. 156 Of 502, Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru; phone +51 1 242 9716, e-mail info@ecstravel.com or visit www.ecstravel.com).

We are very glad we did. Prompt in responding to e-mails and very responsive to our wishes, Mr. Campos put together an excellent custom tour for us.

The...

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The 12-day Namibia safari “Hidden Tribes of Kaokoland” that we took Sept. 27-Oct. 7, 2008, was inexpensive and perfectly put together. We traveled with www.explore.co.uk, booked through Adventure Center (1311 63rd St., Ste. 200, Emeryville, CA 94608; 800/487-1600).

The tour cost only $2,000 per person, and the required travel insurance cost $396 each. Through Adventure Center, my wife, Kathryn, and I paid $1,935 apiece for flights on South African Airways from Washington, DC, to...

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During a trip to Portugal, Nov. 5-14, 2008 (July ’09, pg. 15), my husband, Kip, and I visited Madeira for some hiking and sightseeing.

Your TAP Portugal boarding pass will give you a free ride into Funchal on the express bus. Ask the driver to drop you off at the nearest bus stop to your accommodation. If it’s not near the bus route, you can take a taxi from the center of Funchal; otherwise, expect to pay about €25 ($32) for a taxi.

We were at first dismayed by the traffic and...

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I was a nervous wreck about making it to each train. I left Venice on May 8, 2009, and I HAD to be in Munich by May 15.

Fortunately, two of my hotels en route were within a block and a half of the local station, and the one in Vicenza was only a 7-euro taxi ride away. I ended up doing “dry runs” (without luggage) in each location, which eased my mind a bit. On the dry runs, I figured out where all the elevators were so I didn’t have to deal with the stairs under the tracks for the...

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After I had traveled to over 60 countries, my wife, Anne, and I decided to see what our brother/sister St. Vincent de Paul workers were doing worldwide.

We contacted the national office of SVDP — National Council of the United States Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (58 Progress Parkway, St. Louis, MI 63043-3706; phone 314/576-3993, www.svdpusa.org) — and a coordinator for 130-plus countries helped give us access to staff and volunteers in those we planned to visit.

Our first...

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Because I planned to use a companion ticket for my wife, Betty, I had to book our Delta round-trip flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago O’Hare, Oct. 14 and 21, 2009, by phone rather than online. I made my reservations on May 31 and was placed on flights actually operated by Northwest and stopping in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) both ways.

I confirmed the schedule and transaction online on the Delta website. My printouts showed the Delta flight numbers along with the Northwest flight...

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We returned from France on May 27 to find the June ’09 issue and Abbie Salny’s letter titled “Heads up on Paris Métro” (page 14), which said there are no longer any ticket booths in the Métro stations, only machines that accept credit cards or cash. There are, indeed, manned ticket booths in the Métro, just not in every station.*

We tried to use our American credit card in the ticket machine at the Gare de Lyon station, but it was rejected. European credit cards have a chip in them...

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I found the article about the Baltic States interesting (June ’09). The picture on page 7 is described as “Gate of Vilnius’ Old Town.” It is the Basilian Gate, which is the entry to the decrepit (2005) Holy Trinity Basilian Monastery.

In June ’05 we found the actual gate to the city, the Gate of Dawn (it faces east), not far away from the Basilian Gate. At the second level of the Gate of Dawn, on the interior, is a chapel with a “miraculous” icon of the Virgin. The Lithuanians will...

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