Tango in its various forms became a focal point of our December ’04 journey to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We have always enjoyed watching tango dancers and listening to tango music. We sought out tango lessons and tango salons, tango in the streets and tango in theater performances. And we never got our fill, as there are so many varieties. We decided that we did not want to do the usual tourist thing — a dinner show with professional tango dancers — but wanted to seek out Porteños (B.A....

On a tour of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Siberia, Russia, with Betchart Expeditions (Cupertino, CA; phone 800/252-4910 or visit www.betchart expeditions.com), we flew by helicopter to the Uzon Caldera and the Valley of the Geysers.

Uzon Caldera, the large, fairly flat-floored crater of a collapsed, long-dormant volcano, is largely open meadowland with many wildflowers and several ponds. The first things we saw were a mother brown bear with two of her cubs frolicking on the far side of a...

I took a month-long tour to both North and South India with Adventures Abroad in February ’06. The basic cost of the tour was $4,870, but my total of $6,203 included single accommodation and an extra night in New Delhi pre-tour.

I cannot recommend this tour on several counts. I found the pace very strenuous, though very hardy travelers did not. As an example, on one day we started out at about 8 a.m. and did not reach our hotel until 8:30 p.m. The following day we departed about 8,...