Normally, my wife, Patricia, and I do our own travel planning, relying heavily on the Internet and reading ITN. But a trip to an entire continent was something different, so we looked for ads in ITN for customized itineraries in Australia, reviewed various websites and selected Australia Travel Planning (4428 E. Willow Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85032; 800/830-8999, www.australian.com. The owners, Michael and Gayle, also run Tasmania Travel Planning [same address, phone]; visit www.tasmania.com)....

On a September ’06 cruise, four of us went ashore at Yalta, Ukraine, and met Sergey Tsakapora (e-mail sergo2@yalta.crimea.ua), who leads guided tours in and around this historic city.

Fluent in English, Mr. Tsakapora teaches history and is a lecturer at Kiev International University. We found him to be courteous, very well informed, and efficient in guiding us to the many important sites. With his warm and friendly personality, we felt secure and at ease with him.

His van was...

I’d like to second the recommendation made by Dina Fulmer in the letter titled “Fending Off Diarrhea” (Aug. ’06, pg. 85). When I was preparing for a trip to Guatemala in 1998, the group leader suggested Pepto-Bismol tablets (which don’t turn your tongue black; the chewables do that!) to prevent stomach disorders. I’ve taken them ever since, on trips to Guatemala, India, Cambodia, Africa and China, among other places, and have never had a serious problem with traveler’s diarrhea.

I...