Travel Babel

Travel Babel -- Brief Hiatus

2010-09-20T07:54:00.003-06:00

Travel Babel is on brief hiatus while the site is being upgraded. Thanks for your patience. It should be back this week. This should not effect bookmarking or a subscription to posts.

London Hotels with Michelin Starred Restaurants

2010-09-17T08:08:00.003-06:00

Guest post about London by an expert on London

The last time I was in London was three or four years ago, just crossing by bus the city between two railroad stations. Everybody who knows me knows that I love to travel and to eat well (simple and ethnic, or fancy and creative). I also am a big fan of public transportation. But in my own schitzy way, I'm happy to take public transportation to and from a luxurious hotel. So when Paul Joseph, a London-based author and writer, offered to write a guest post for Travel Babel, I was delighted to accept. He is currently penning a nostalgic book called Vanishing London on his home city. He also works for a site called Tube Hotels, where you can find and book London hotels near theaters, tubes and train stations. I leave his British spelling intact

London hotels with Michelin star restaurants

There’s something eminently civilised about strolling down from a hotel room and settling down for something to eat without even leaving the premises. But whilst most high-end hotels have on-site restaurants, only a select few go the extra mile and offer fine dining.

In recent years London has seen a steady proliferation of Michelin starred restaurants opening in the city’s hotels. And whilst it is true that the Michelin accreditation has become somewhat devalued, with stars seemingly handed out like confetti, it is still a pretty reliable barometer for the quality of food you can expect.

This will certainly be the case at The Dorchester, one of London’s most prestigious hotels, located in the exclusive Mayfair district. The hotel is home to Alain Ducasse (left) at The Dorchester which boasts an impressive three Michelin stars to its name. Indeed, it was only the second restaurant in London to receive this accolade. The restaurant offers contemporary French cuisine in a modern and elegant décor.

Out in chic west London is The Capital, whose restaurant is lagging behind the Dorchester with a mere 2 stars to its name. The Knightsbridge establishment is just a stone’s throw from the famous Harrods department store, meaning you could do some pathological damage to your credit card in just a few hours if so willing.

Another historical London hotel with a Michelin starred restaurant is the Connaught. Also located in Mayfair, this hotel offers a platform for esteemed French chef Hélène Darroze to flaunt her gastronomic talents. The restaurant – called Hélène Darroze at the Connaught (incidently, I do love these restaurant names that depicts the chef as some kind of headline act. More evidence that cooking has crossed the realm into show business) – has been bestowed with one Michelin star.

Finally there is The Bingham, located some way out of the city centre in Richmond-upon-Thames, but well worth the trip. Led by highly acclaimed chef Shay Cooper, the hotel’s restaurant also owns possesses one Michelin star.

And there you have it. So if you ever find yourself in London, with a healthy appetite and an even healthier bank balance, you know where to head.

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Click on the hotel names for Tube Hotels' reservations links: The Connaught, The Capital, The Dorchester and the Bingham Hotel.

Courtyard by Marriott Previews New Lobbies at Three Airports

2010-09-15T06:34:00.005-06:00

Pretend you're in a hotel lobby without leaving the airport

We've gotten used to pop-up retailing -- Halloween stores, Christmas stores, temporary leocations for clearance sales and the like -- but here's a new one on me. Courtyard by Marriott’s is updating its properties' lobbies and is inviting travelers to experience the redesign right in the terminals of Denver International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport. These replica lobbies provide travelers a space to lounge, plug in, connect and relax before a flight.

Access is free of charge -- just like a real hotel lobby. They debut today, September 15 and remain in place through November 14. At DIA, travelers can experience the new lobby at the west end of the B Gates concourse. At Chicago's O'Hare, is in Terminal 2. These are after security. At Atlanta's Hartsfield, it is in The Atrium between the North and South terminals and is accessible to all, not just ticketed passengers. Features at the lobby replicas include a giant GoBoard touch screen with local weather and attraction information, flexible seating options, numerous power outlets (hooray!) and large communal tables and couches for guests to enjoy.

If you don't happen to be at one of these three airports but are checking in to a Courtyard by Marriott, the new "Refreshing Business" lobby concept (what an odd name) has been completed at more than 180 hotels in the United States with 250 more anticipated by the end of the yearand at 500 by the end of 2011.

The Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat

2010-09-13T22:53:00.001-06:00

Comfort? What comfort in Aviointeriors' proposed new design for a "semi-seat"

Just when we thought that flying could not possibly get less comfortable, here's SkyRider, a doozy of a so-called seat that will probably be introduced this week to airline buyers (that's buyers for airlines, not buyers of airlines). There's a trade show for everything, and the three-day Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas 2010 opens tomorrow in Long Beach, California. Expect Aviointeriors, an Italian company, to show its SkyRider semi-seat, which enables airlines to cram even more passenger seats into the cabins of low-cost carriers. The present none-too-generous seat pitch in ~~steerage~~ coach is about 30 inches. This new angled "seat" reduces it to "23 inches or less," according to the company, and that's not all.

Here's how Aviointeriors describes the SkyRider:

"The SkyRider has been designed and engineered to offer the possibility to even further reduce ticket prices while still maintaining sound profitability, which, even with a dual or three class seating arrangement, will allow maximum certified passenger capacity of the aircraft. With a much reduced seat pitch, the SkyRider preserves a comfortable position for the low fare passengers. The SkyRider is intended as a new basic class. The passenger’s seating position is similar to that of a touring motor-scooter rider. This posture permits that the overall longitudinal space occupied by the seat with the seated passenger is far less than that of a conventional, very high-density 28” economy class seat.Furthermore, in the SkyRider arrangement, a partial overlapping of the passengers seating between rows is allowed, thus further increasing the cabin density."

Take a look at this frontal view. I'm guessing that you semi-sit on that semi-seat with that blue saddlehorn thingy in your crotch. It must twist or fold or something so that you can get into the semi-seat and also dismount from it.

The seatback appears to have something resembling a tray table built into it.

I'm trying to picture the geometry. Passengers, who better not be too long in the leg or too wide in the beam, semi-sit in these angled semi-seats, presumably are kept from sliding to the floor in by the "saddlehorns" and/or seatbelts. And what about children? Small children? Families often must economize, but is this the way? I am not sure how the tray tables can possibly be used with "partial overlapping between rows" without knocked beverages over. Or maybe they are Potemkin tray tables, only there for show and not for use. What do you think? Will it fly?

CruiseWest Goes Bust

2010-09-13T08:34:00.001-06:00

Round-the-world cruise abruptly canceled as cruise line restructures

Some years back, our long-time friend Mike F. was briefly stranded in Tahiti when World Cruises (went bankrupt while he was in the middle of sailing around the world on a ship whose name I can't recall. He had fortunately purchased travel insurance, so his stranding was brief -- unlike some of his fellow passengers as well as crew members who had to figure out how to get home (and how to pay for it).

His trip-ending surprise came to mind when I heard a National Public Radio report about the abrupt end to a round-the-world cruise when round-the-world passengers aboard the "Spirit of Oceanus" were invited to disembark, permanently, in St. John's, Newfoundland, when CruiseWest foundered on financial shoals. I basically am not a cruise traveler, but in principle, I like both concepts. World Cruises used smaller ships that had be replaced by behemoths of the sea for itineraries that included smaller ports and definitely sold them at lower prices. CruiseWest, which is or was affiliated with or part of Holland-America, had been operating small-ship explorations for more than six decades. The "Spirit of Oceanus" is a luxury, all-suite ship with stabilizers, not trivial when making epic ocean crossings and is/was the largest in the CruiseWest fleet.

The line's mild-language, undoubtedly lawyer-approved press release stated, "CruiseWest, a global leader in small-ship explorations, today announced that they continue to work towards a restructuring of the company and its operations. The first move in this restructuring is the termination of the Spirit of Oceanus’ Voyage of the Great Explorers. Additional assets may be sold and other steps are being pursued towards a restructure. As part of this process, CruiseWest has suspended accepting any new bookings."

The other day, I received an E-mail alerting me that my annual travel insurance policy with Travel Guard expires right about the time I head for Germany. I can procrastinate as well as anyone, but my first order of business today was re-upping. I'll bet those people on the "Spirit of Oceanus" who might have been thrifty when booking their trip wish they had travel insurance too.

Seven Undersea Wonders of the World

2010-09-13T06:21:00.002-06:00

The newest "wonders" list spotlights the magical underwater world

Sometime ago, I posted about a spate of new"seven wonders" lists that popped up within a few months of each other. Now, after what seems to have been a hiatus, the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World list has been released -- or at least I just learned about it. As something of a lapsed suba diver, this is the visual equivalent of music to my ears. On the list:

Palau (photo left)
Belize Barrier Reef
Galapagos Islands
Northern Red Sea
Lake Baikal
Great Barrier Reef
Deep Sea Vents

CEDAM International (Conservation, Education, Diving, Awareness and Marine International), which is dedicated to conservation, education, diving, and marine research, began the Seven Underwater Wonders project in 1989. The message was simple then: If underwater wonders are not protected, they will be lost forever. With the ensuing awareness of climate change, global warming, overfishing and relentless, massive dumping of chemical and organic wastes into the sea (and most recently, the horrific Gulf oil spill), this message is more imprortant than ever.

And if the underwater wonders list piqued your interest, you can check out the various terrestrial seven wonders lists by clicking here.

9/11 Changed Travel -- and Us

2010-09-11T09:32:00.003-06:00

Do we need more obsessive looks back to 1991 -- or not?

In a blog post this morning, my highly respected colleague Chris Elliott rehetorically asked, "Am I the only journalist who hasn’t penned a Sept. 11 retrospective this morning? Or, at the very least, posted some memorable 9/11 quotes or photos online? No, I’m sure there are others out there. What else can be said about terrorism, travel, the 9/11 memorial, that hasn’t already been said?"

I replied:

No. Chris, you're not the only one who hasn't written a retrospective. When I look back at the past nine years, I find that the US has become a paranoid country ("the land of the free and the home of the afraid"), that the pleasure of traveling to or from someplace is now tedious and joyless, that rescue and recovery workers are suffering untold maladies because survivors insisted that every bit of rubble be searched through for DNA-containing body bits so that they could have "closure" and that the country has become unbearably polarized. IMHO, America's post-9/11 reaction, in short, gave Osama bin-Laden everything he could have wanted.

Now, I suppose that Chris and I have both written something about 9/11.

Travel Babel Makes Another "Top" Blog List

2010-09-11T06:40:00.004-06:00

More recognition for this blog -- this time, from an air-travel site

Travel Babel has been getting some awesome recognition lately. AirlineTickets, which sounds like a ticket consolidator site but in fact has some neat travel content, has included this blog in its new list of "Top 35 Travel Blogs." Again, I find my blog in august company, and again I'm thrilled. The blogger(s) doesn't/don't put his/her/their names on the AirlineTicket site, wrote of Travel Babel:

"Though this blogger is based out of Colorado, her blog writing takes you all over the world and offers real world advice for every type of traveler. It was also recently named one of the Top 25 Awesome Travel Blogs on Cheaphotels.net."

Airline Tickets is actually a blog mostly about airlines and air travel but also some posts about general travel, with illustrated lists of the best this ("Best Airlines to Earn Rewards") and worst that ("Worst U.S. Airlines"), plus general (air) travel tips and other cool info. I liked the "8 Annoying Types of Travelers." I think I've sat next to them all. AirportParking, its sister site, delivers the kind of info that its name implies.

Butterflies-Plus at the Butterfly Pavilion

2010-09-10T20:36:00.003-06:00

Tarantulas are latest denizen of Colorado invertebrate museum

I drive the Boulder Turnpike (US 36) a lot, because it's the main route between Boulder and Denver. I visited the Butterfly Pavilion shortly after it opened in 1995. I remember strolling through the large, plant-filled conservatory as butterflies flitted by from one rainforest plant to another. These beautiful creatures look so fragile but can be so strong, with some species making epic migrations. The conservatory was a magical place.

Between my first visit and my most recent one a few days ago, 3.25 million people have visited. I now have learned but didn't know then that the Butterfly Pavilion is the first freestanding butterfly house and invertebrate zoo in the United States. I'm not sure why I haven't been back in 15 years, other than the usual rationalization that it's so close that I can "always" return, or maybe because I no longer have a young child for whom to plan excursions. (I haven't been to a pro wrestling event since my son was young either, but these are two very different diversions). The Butterfly Pavilion is immensely family-friendly and highly interactive. I vicariously shared other people's children's fascination and joy, and it won't be another 15 years before I return.

Its slogan now is 'Butterflies Are Just the Beginning." Even the conservatory is rainforest habitat for butterflies with tropical foliage and beautiful blossoms that are far easier to photograph than the elusive butterflies.

While I wasn't looking, the Butterfly Pavilion added a tide pool called Water's Edge with touchable critters and has a saltwater fish tank that reminded me why I love scuba diving.

The newest beyond-butterflies attraction is the Legend of the Tarantula, which recently opened and runs through November 28. It explores and explains these eight-legged wonders. Visitors can see and learn about both arboreal (tree-dwelling) and terrestrial (land-dwelling) species.The show-stopper is is the opportunity to touch a tarantula. Visitors can line up to hold a female Chilean Rose Haired tarantula, a non-stinging sort. Her name is Rosie, but there are actually scores of Rosies who take turns being placed on visitors' hands so they don't get people-fatigue.

Admission to the Butterfly Pavilion is adult, $8.50; 65+, $6.50; 2 to 12, $5.50, 1 year and under, free. The Butterfly Pavilion, 6252 West 104th Avenue, Westminster, Colorado 80020; 303-469-5441.

Schiphol Installs World's First Airport Library

2010-09-04T05:02:00.003-06:00

Amsterdam's exemplary airport offers yet another amenity for travelers

Note: Dick van Tol, library project manager, left a commentto this post inviting readers to visit Schiphol Airport Library's own website. Reading it and seeing the real photographs, rather than the rendering that I used below, makes this initiative even more impressive. Hat's off to Schiphol Airport, the Dutch national library system and Holland.

Every airport has a bookstore or at least a little convenience store where travelers can pick up snacks, souvenirs and something to read. But Schiphol becomes the first airport in the world with a library. In fact, it is a joint venture between the airport authority and Dutch Public Libraries and offers literature, music and films. Passengers can read books in 29 different languages, listen to music, watch films and download these free of charge.

It is located can be found after passport control on Holland Boulevard, the connecting passageway between Piers E and F, and is open daily one and a half hours before the first flight departs and closes 30 minutes after the last flight departs. Leave it to the generous Dutch to provide something so uplifting -- and free to all.

It has been a long time since I have traveled via Schiphol, but even back then, it provided excellent shopping, food options and an extremely pleasant place to wait -- and frequent train service to the city and beyond. I loved people-watching, seeing the passing parade of international travelers and hearing many languages, some of which I could identify and others that I couldn't. In the days before fast-changing electronic arrival and departure information, television monitors all over the airport showed a smiling, uniformed and linguistically gifted woman reciting arrival and departure information for every flight in Dutch, English and whatever language(s) were used in the country each flight was going to or coming from.

Since the last time I was at Schiphol, the hospitable airport has added Holland Boulevard, a multi-faceted space where millions of passengers can enjoy a pleasant stay, shop (of course)and also soak up a bit Dutch art, culture and literature even if they are just in transit. Holland Boulevard also offers cozy living room-like areas with fireplaces, television sets and even a piano. Traveling families have use of the BabyCare Lounge and KidsForest for children to play in tree huts, on climbing structures and on slides. For longer layovers, Schiphol provides not one but two on-site hotels, the Hotel Mercure with conventional sleeping rooms and individual shower rooms for a quick refresher, and the innovative Yotel.

The world-renowned Rijksmuseum has an mini-museum at Schiphol where you can see paintings by Dutch masters -- like the library, for free. Among the shops are a a contemporary Dutch Design outlet, a shop selling Van Wely chocolatiers and Aviflora flower shop, though the US Department of Agriculture won't let you bring live plants back to the States. You can lose money at the airport's Holland Casino, or chillax with a Back to Life -chair massages. And if you have a few hours, Great Amsterdam Excursions can book a city tour. On the food side, such typical Dutch fare as poffertjes (miniature pancakes), kibbeling (small chunks of battered, fried cod) and croquettes are on offer in the Dutch Kitchen. The Bols Genever Experience pours Holland's most distinctive spirit.

Over the years, I wondered why US airports couldn't be as flier-friendly as Schiphol. Learning about the recently opened library, I still do.

"Overrated" Travel Sites Still on My Bucket List

2010-09-02T12:11:00.004-06:00

Graduate-degreed people dis world sites that I still want to see

I live in Boulder, Colorado, which has again been named the "smartest city in America" -- most recently by The DailyBeast and previously by Forbes. I sometimes think that I am virtually only person in town over the age of 25 without a master's degree -- or more. Now a website called OnlineMasters has come up with the six most overrated historical sites in the world.

Click on the link above to read their reasons, but meanwhile, here's the list:

1. Stonehenge
2. The Colosseum
3. The Alamo
4. Machu Picchu
5. Petra
6. Angkor

The only one I've ever seen is the Colsseum, and that was during a long-ago, post-college European tour that featured a lot of capitals, including Rome. I've seen other, smaller more remote stone circles in the British Isle but never Stonehenge. I would like to visit San Antonio, and if/when I do, I will certainly go to the Alamo.

Boulder's token dolt that I am, without a master's degree -- online or otherwise -- Machu Picchu, Petra and Angkor are still I my bucket list.

Airline Shake-Up at Newark Airport

2010-09-01T21:38:00.002-06:00

Southwest adds EWR Its schedule as Continental and United prepare to merge

When I lived in New York and then New Jersey, I used Newark International Airport (EWR) more than any other. Only when flying internationally did I trek to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), which for a long time was the only metropolitan airport that really merited "International" as its middle name.

Even then (and this was in the '70s and '80s), I avoided LaGuardia with its congested terminals and rare on-time flights. Back then I was fanatically loyal to Continental, which hubbed at Newark. I stayed faithful after I moved to Colorado, because Continental also hubbed in Denver. But the airline betrayed my trust and let me down when Denver International Airport replaced the old Stapleton, and my formerly favorite airline pared its Denver service to just a few daily flights to a handful of cities.

Since moving to Colorado in 1988, I have been going back to the New York now and again. Over the years, I have used both LaGuardia and Newark, and flown Continental, United and occasionally Frontier when New York-bound -- depending on the schedules, the fares and whether I was heading for the East or West Side of Manhattan. Come March, I'll bet EWR and I will be good friends again.

United and Continental due to merge on October 1, making room for another carrier at EWR -- and Southwest is poised to fill the gap, initially with 18 daily flights, hopefully including non-stop service from Denver. While the merger is predicted to raise fares in general (hello-o-o-o Justice Department!), some industry experts have predicted that EWR fares will buck the trend and actually drop, perhaps by 20 to 25 percent, when Southwest enters the market.

Expedition Cruise Ship Stuck on an Arctic Rock

2010-08-30T00:12:00.003-06:00

Passengers ferried to land, but ship is still stuck

The "Clipper Adventurer," a small eco-tourism expedition ship operated Ontario-based Adventure Canada ran aground on an "unmarked rock" in Arctic waters, according to a CNN report. The ship was "exploring" the Northwest Passage when the incident occurred. It was first reported on Friday, and crew was able to free the ship during high tide on Saturday, providing the 128 passengers and 69 crew members with more adventure than they planned on. Two days after the ship got stuck, the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker icebreaker "Amundsen" was ferrying passengers first to Kugluktuk, a small town on the shore of the Arctic Ocean, and from there, they are expected to fly to Edmonton.

The ice-strengthened "Clipper Adventurer" was built by the Soviets in 1976 and called the "Alla Tarasova." The ship may be stuck but she appears stable, resting with a slight list, according to Adventure Canada, whose website described the current situation. The company is also issuing updated info. While waiting to be taken off the ship, the company issued a statement to the effect that "Weather remains favourable as passengers continue to enjoy onboard programming and hospitality."

Climate change notwithstanding, sea ice begins to form in the Arctic Ocean in mid-September, and the company is sure anxious to get the ship off the rock well before.

Dreamliner Test Engine Blows Apart

2010-08-28T22:35:00.003-06:00

Another nightmare for the Dreamliner, Boeing's latest airliner

The Boeing Company pushed delivery of its first 787 to the middle of the first quarter 2011. It seems that a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 test engine blew apart recently while being run on a ground-test stand at the engine plant in Derby, England, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. According to Bloomberg News, which has also been tracking the Dreamliner's chain of problems, Rolls-Royce spokesman Josh Rosenstock said that "limited debris [was] released into the test facility." which was then shut down for "minor repairs."

Neither Boeing nor Rolls appears to have sent out a press release or reached out to the media on this.Did they think no one would notice? Flight International, a weekly aviation trade publication in England, broke the story. Bottom line is that Boeing needs the engine for the aircraft's planned final test flight scheduled before year's end. No engine? No test flight -- and a further delivery delay.

"An uncontained failure in flight could potentially bring down an airplane," wrote LA Times reporter Dominic Gates, using almost military language. The first aircraft was originally supposed to be delivered in May 2008. Now, the final rest flight will mot likely be in February 2011. Bloomberg ticked off six delays, counting this, one on the delivery of the Dreamliner.The most recent mega-problem, before the engine issue, was "poor workmanship" the 787's horizontal tails built by Alenia of Italy that pushed delivery into early 2011. I'm not a buy-American fanatic, but perhaps outsourcing components of such a complicated aircraft to overseas "partners" wasn't such a great idea after all.

Groundbreaking Today for Denver-DIA Rail Line

2010-08-26T09:21:00.002-06:00

At last, the first shovel of earth to turn for future rail link between Denver to its great airport

I know this is a travel blog, and I do try to be regional, national and global in my posts, but I'm as provincial as anyone else, and since my travels start in Colorado, often via Denver International Airport, I pay special attention to news that affects people traveling to and from this state.

My husband and I am going to Germany in October. Whenever I fly alone, I like to take RTD's SkyRide bus directly to the airport terminal, but when we fly together, we tend to drive and will probably do so. That means driving to DIA, parking at an outlying lot and riding a shuttle to the terminal. When we arrive in Frankfurt, we will go to the Deutsche Bundesbahn railroad station connected to the terminal and take an express train to Baden Baden and overnight in a nice hotel right at the railroad station there.

A (relaitvely) comparable experince should be available to DIA passengers in 2016 with the completion of RTD's 22.8-mile East Corridor between the airport and Union Station -- a "mere" 21 years after the airport opened. If rail had been done concurrently with the airport, the train would be old enough to drink legally by then.

Of course, I know how differently things were done in the expansionist 19th century and the cautious, litigenous 21st, but I cannot help but think of the first transcontinental railroad. In 1862, Congress approved it. In 1869, the ceremonial Golden Spike was driven into a bit of Utah track where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines met. This feat was accomplished, with the work done largely by hard-working immigrant laborers, despite such distractions as the Civil War and the understandably hostile actions of Native Americans who did not take kindly to the roadbeds, rails and temporary labor camps rocketing across their land.

The cars, like those in RTD's digitually manipulated image (above right), will be electric commuter rail cars, heavier than those used on current RTD lighrail routes but heavier than Amtrak-style standard gauge. They will ride on modified Union Pacific trackage. Today's first shovel full of dirt is symbolic, and "real" construction is slated to begin in 2011.

Still, I'm encouraged by the Denver area's embracing alternative transportation after decades of being enraptured by automobiles. You'll be able to see the groundbreaking ceremony on the evening news. When completed, the line will be wonderful for locals (both travelers and airport workers) and visitors to have options -- and the East Corridor is one.

Travel Babel Named One of the Top 25 Awesome Travel Blogs

2010-08-25T13:06:00.000-06:00

Latest recognition is awesome and then some from fellow travel blogger

What a thrill to get an E-mail from Chelsea (whose last name I don't know), letting me know that she selected this blog as one of the Top 25 Awesome Travel Blogs on her Cheap Hotels site, that she describes as "a travel blog covering hotel deals, travel information and reviews of some of the top hotels in the world along with a little fun." In describing her 25 faves, she wrote of Travel Babel, "Award-winning writer Claire Walter’s blog 'Travel Babel' provides comical relief about serious travel matters and showcases interesting information regarding the best vacation deals." Seems as if she and I are soulmates in the world of travel blogging.

A few months back, Awarding the Web picked Travel Babel as one of the Top 50 Travel Blogs of 2010, and it won third place in the Society of American Travel Writers' Western Chapter writing award this first year that there has been a blogging category.

Thanks, Chelsea for this honor. It truly means a lot.

Mexicana Airlines' Future Brighter But Still Uncertain

2010-08-23T10:16:00.003-06:00

Mexican flag carrier has new investors but its flight remains bumpy

Weather-casters occasion forecast "partly sunny with a chance of rain." And this pretty much the forecast for Mexicana Airlines, which along with Aeromexico is one of the two flag carriers of our neighbor to the south. I haven't written posts about all of its complicated problems that hit the boiling point over the last few months, though my Mexico City-based travel writer colleague Jimm Budd has done so im increasingly dispiriting posts. His latest Mexicogram report is finally somewhat more optimistic, so I share it here in its entirety:

"A group of Mexican investors organized under the name Tendora K has acquired 95 percent of Nuevo Grupo Aeronautica, the heavily-indebted holding company controlling bankrupt Mexicana Airlines and its two affiliates, Click and Link. The pilots union acquired the rest. Purchase price is reported to have been a “token amount.” Previously, the airline had been owned by the Posadas de México (Fiesta Americana and other hotels) plus some other investors.

"If the airline is to survive, debts must be paid, additional investments made and operating costs substantially reduced. In recent weeks, Mexicana has been obliged to reduce its frequencies of service to the United States from 50 each week to 38. Under current conditions, these Mexicana can restore these, but only if it uses the same equipment. The FAA will allow no other Mexican airline to take over these routes until Mexico improves air safety inspections."

Future Gringo James took the photo (above left) during an unplanned layover which he describes as "some sort of unnamed security issue causing us to deplane on the tarmac at MEX far far from the terminal and get bused around the airport. (Fun adventure)." I have no crystal ball as to wether Mexicana will succumb or rise Phoenix-like from the ashes of hard times, crushing debt, mismanagement and lesser problems, any one of which alone could kill any airline. Until Mexico solves its safety and other aviation issues to the satisfaction of US and Canadian regulators, good sense might dictate flying an American carrier. Stay tuned.

Travel Complaints: How To and How Not To

2010-08-22T11:25:00.001-06:00

Travel consumer advocate Chris Elliott provides answers and cautions

If I had to make a list of the most trustworthy people I know or have witnessed in public life, Christopher Elliott would be high on it. I've followed his published articles advocating on behalf of travelers and online consumer travel site for a long time, I admire both his willingness to go to bat for aggrieved travelers and his ability to get results or at least replies from travel providers in resolving problems. So I read with great interest his latest post, "Travel complaints that fail: 5 kinds of emails you should never write."

He identified the following five types of complainers/complaints and commented on their effectiveness:

The squeaky wheel
The special circumstances
The name-dropper
The laundry list
The break-up

Read the post, give it some thought now and remember it next time you have an issue with a travel provider.

Snow Mountain Ranch's Yurt Village is New Lodging Category

2010-08-19T12:14:00.000-06:00

Four yurts now with more to come provide affordable comfort

Snow Mountain Ranch/YMCA of the Rockies between Winter Park and Granby provides some of the best lodging and recreation values around. With accommodations ins large lodges, cabins and campgrounds. it has long provided affordable options in various types of lodging. Another was added this year: four yurts, one handicap-accessible and all available year-round. The yurts have few windows, so you have to go outside and around the back for the fabulous view.

Each sleeps up to six people (one big bed, two pairs of bunkbeds), plus a tent platform. Each has a microwave for minimal cooking indoors, picnic table and outdoor grill. A bathhouse with private bathrooms (indoor plumbing and no communal showers), laundry facilities and outdoor dish-washing sinks are steps away. The best part for economy-minded visitors is that they rent for just $89 per night up to maximum occupancy, plus a crib on request. Th Y has abundant recreational opportunities as well, many of them included in the modest rate. Here's what the "yurt village" looks like:

Make reservations online or by calling 800-777-9622 (central reservations) or 970-887-2152 (direct).

Unlimited Flying Passes

2010-08-17T22:09:00.001-06:00

Fly as much as you like for a month for one fee

Note on 8/18 8:25 p.m.: JetBlue just Tweted that its All You Can Jet pass has sold out.

People with large appetites love all-you-can eat restaurants. People who want to ski their legs off buy season passes for unlimited skiing at their favorite mountain(s). And two airlines are selling passes for unlimited flights for a month. I can understand gluttony at the table and an insatiable hunger for sliding on snow as much as possible during the short winter season. But considering the air-travel experience these days, the only gluttony I personally see in theses passes is being a glutton for punishment.

Seriously, JetBlue and Sun Country are pushing passes for unlimited flights for a month or more to all cities cities on their route maps for one set price. Last year, JetBlue initiated an "All You Can Jet" pass, which they've reprised this year in two versions. The deluxe (first class, if you will) version costs $699 and lets passengers fly on any flight available on any day of the week between September 7 to October 6. The $499 economy version is good daily except Friday and Sunday. The fees include those annoying taxes and fees. Buy the pass by Friday, August 20, or while supplies last.

Sun Country Airlines took a leaf from JetBlue's playbook and is selling the "Fall Free For All" pass for unlimited rides on available flights $499 and is valid from September 7 thought October 13. Sun Country calls itself "Your Hometown Airline," which is true if your home is in the Twin Cities. Taxes and fees are additional. Buy the pass by August 24 -- also while supplies last.

New York -based JetBlue is frequented by business travelers and also serves the leisure market and serves 61 cities. Sun County, a leisure-oriented airline based in Minneapolis (or is it St. Paul?), serves about 35 cities, many seasonally. These are actually good deals for peripatetic travelers. Both require reservations at least three days in advance of travel, and of course, they charge no-shows or those who change their reservations three days out.

Hotel Booking Sites are Not the Final Answer for Deals

2010-08-13T12:52:00.009-06:00

Go direct to the hotel if booking sites claim there's no room at the inn

The Society of American Travel Writers upcoming convention is in Germany. My husband and I signed up for a pre-convention hiking trip in the Black Forest. We are flying into Frankfurt, arriving on a Sunday, with the trip starting in Baden-Baden on Tuesday. We decided to come in a day earlier, spend an additional night in Baden-Baden and hop over the Stuttgart for a day. My husband was stationed in nearby Ludwigsburg and hasn't been there for 30-odd years, and I have never visited Stuttgart at all.

I started looking for hotels. The Hotel Neuer Karlshof was the obvious choice, since it is situated at the railway station and we are coming in from Frankfurt by train and will take the train to Stuttgart and back. The process of checking so-called discount booking sites was an odyssey through the Internet that kept looping me around.

First I tried TVTrip, which links to Booking.com, a Priceline company. When I checked two days ago as research, yesterday to reserve a room and today to write this post, upon entering our arrival and departure dates, I got the identical message that the last room was booked "1 day, 23 hours, 38 minutes ago!" The page did not volunteer a nightly rate. Priceline UK itself replied, "No rooms available. Sorry! Sold out [our requested date went here]".

TripAdvisor also uses Booking.com as the booking engine, so same reply. RealTravel, which quotes a $62.41 rate, also kicks back to Booking.com, which this time reports, "1 Hotel found, 0 Available." What? Trivago also uses Booking.com and of course reports, "Currently no offers can be found." Trying Maplandia landed me back on the RealTravel page, which quoted room rates as "from €55 (approx. £46)". Etc., etc., etc. I tried Agoda, saw that the hotel's rates start at US$76 but also had no availability that night. TravBuddy came back with, "Sorry, this hotel had no rooms available for those dates." ActiveHotels reports that the Neuer Karlshof has "rooms from €55," but informed me that "Unfortunately, this hotel does not have enough rooms available."

Hotels.com claims 90,000 hotels around the globe, but the hotel I wanted wasn't of them. It did offer links to four other hotels, two (Neuer Markt and Neuer Weg) actually in Baden-Baden, the Neuerweg in Wört and totally inexplicably, a link to "Atlanta, Georgia, United States." Expedia and Orbitz don't list the Neuer Karlshof at all. Travelocity automatically brought up IgoUgo, which both told me "We're sorry but we cannot identify the location that you entered" and also boomeranged to a Travelocity Black Forest page with more hotels outside of Baden-Baden than in Baden-Baden.

None of the booking sites that actually offered the Hotel Neuer Karlshof included a link to the hotel's own website, but I did eventually find it through the straightforward, multi-lingual Baden-Baden Convention and Visitors information website. It lists the city's hotels in order of standards from five-star luxury properties to simple unrated guesthouses. For each the site shows a picture, gives an address, indicates the price range for single and double rooms, whether breakfast is included and if so what kind of breakfast, gives the distance from the autobahn and airport, shows amenities and has click-to links to each hotel's website, further information and booking request.

For the record, the Neuer Karlshof website is http://www.hotel-neuer-karlshof.de/. It was renovated recently, reopening in January 2008. We have a reservation for the night we want at €69, which is not out of line when rates are quoted "from €55" on these book sites that proved to be dead ends when it came to actually getting a reservation. The website says that each room is equipped with television/DVD, free Internet access, iron/ironing board, safe and more, and the on-site Cafe Fellow means that we will not suffer from caffeine deprivation if we want to use it to readjust time zones. The breakfasts and the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff were praised numerous times on user reviews, and I don't need a user review to tell me the convenience of a hotel at a railroad station.

If you are frustrated by navigating through numerous booking sites that all seem to use the same hotel-supplied images, the same price quotes and in our case, the same unavailability, and whose main differences seem to be page design, go straight to the hotel's own website. Book online or pick up the telephone and call. A lot less hassle and often more satisfying results.

Airlines Report Profits and Spend Millions on Mergers

2010-08-09T23:25:00.000-06:00

The current cost of doing business as airlines consolidate

Repainting planes, merging headquarters, introducing new uniforms, ordering new stationary, integrating staffs....these are some of the issues that came to mind when airlines merge. Associated Press reported good news/bad news related to Republic Airways' takeover first of Midwest and then of Frontier last year. The good news was that second-quarter revenues grew by 113% to $683.3 million; the bad news is that income fell by 82%. Republic's merger-related costs were reportedly close to $20 million in items that hit the bottom line related to merger costs. "They ranged from $18.5 million of expenses related to the integration of the branded businesses and return of leased aircraft, $6.4 million in negative adjustments for fuel hedges and prior period fuel excise taxes; and a $5.2 million positive adjustment due to a reduction in lease obligations for Midwest aircraft and office facilities," according to AP, which also noted that Republic now owns Chautauqua Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Lynx Aviation, Midwest Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America.

Republic's numbers are small potatoes compared with the imminent Continental-United merger, which is expected to be consummated this fall. According to an annotated report on Wikinvest.com, "For the second quarter of 2010, the company reported its first quarterly operating profit since 2007 of $430 million, an improvement of $751 million since year ago second quarter." Continental, meanwhile, Thursday posted second-quarter earnings of $233 million, reversing a similar loss of $213 million loss a year ago. Comparing revenues with profits is an apples-and-oranges mix, but those are the numbers that I found -- but in a sense, they do demonstrate the differences in scale. If Republic's merger costs were $20 million, imagine what the United-Continental union will cost.

Merging or not, US carriers, which have been aggressively trimming costs, mothballing aircraft and charging passengers for formerly free services, are reporting second-quarter profits almost across the board. Three big legacy carriers -- Delta, United and US Airways -- among them earned a cool $1 billion in the second quart (April through June). At Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and Southwest, revenues also rose and black showed on balance sheets. Among the biggies, only AMR, American's parent company, bucked the trend ans was down compared with 2009.

With revenues rising and on the ledgers showing profits for the first time in three years, I still wonder how the cost of big mergers will impact the balance sheet, and down the road, whether more monopolistic merged companies will keep the money rolling in with continued add-ons. I don't know what the second-quarter revenues were, but in "Lawmakers Consider Taxing Airlines' Fees" regarding a Congressional hearing on these add-ons, the Wall Street Journal reported, "Airlines collected $1.3 billion from fees for checked baggage and reservation changes in the first three months of this year, a 13% increase over the same period in 2009, government data show."

Silly me. Why am I even asking the question. What will probably happen is that the add-ons will be locked in or perhaps even increased to help the airlines cover the merger costs and their top exectives' bonuses -- and the payment to law and accounting firms for effecting the mergers.

Eat, Pray, Love -- and Watch Your Tail

2010-08-06T05:10:00.004-06:00

Travel journalist Bruce Northam urges intuition when soloing

Julia Roberts is all over the tube these days promoting the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love," based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling bookabout her soul-searching odyssey to mend a broken heart. My travel-writer colleague Bruce Northam (left) wrote "Eat Pray Love, and Be Cautious," as the title implies, a cautionary but not paranoid piece on Huffington Post. He began, "The book Eat Pray Love issued no travel warnings; nor does the movie. However, somebody needs to remind women traveling alone that Halloween-night-style caution is always necessary. I'm the only guy I know who read Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert's wildly successful travelogue-cum-romance novel that's now a movie starring Julia Roberts portraying the lovesick and soul-searching editor who met her second husband in Bali."

I'm not paranoid when it comes to travel, and I don't advocate that travelers always leash themselves to a tour guide either, but caution and precautions make sense -- not just for women traveling solo but sometimes even for men as well. Northam is a believer in following your instincts about what is safe and what is a silly flirtation with trouble. Read his piece and the practical tips he includes from two well-traveled women writers, Carla King and Lisa Alpine. The more adventurous and out there the traveler, the finer line between reasonable caution and folly. Northam is just sayin'

Two High Points on a Short Road Trip

2010-08-05T20:24:00.004-06:00

Very teensy town and very large statue along Interstate 80

This past weekend four of us did a short road trip -- Boulder-Cheyenne-Laramie-Snowy Range-Boulder. Of Interstate 80's 2,909 miles between the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and New York-New Jersey's George Washington Bridge, the 47 modest miles from Cheyenne to Laramie contain two places that are worth stopping at. They are lliteral and figurative high points along a stretch of freeway that passes through a lot of wide-open country.

Buford, Wyoming - Pop. 1

How could we not stop in Buford, Wyoming -- population 1 and its own zip code. It is purportedly the smallest town in America and also the highest town between along I-80's entire route. Just south of the Exit 335 off the Interstate. road, we found a gateway to a ranch and Buford-- the signs below, one house, the Buford Trading Post and a bunch of gas pumps.

The sole resident wasn't manning the store, but his photograph graced the counter. Regretfully I neglected to ask his name, but I took a picture of his picture.

Buford was not always so tiny. Its population was purportedly about 2,000 as the transcontinental railroad was being built westward across Wyoming.

Lincoln Monument

The Lincoln Memorial is, of course, in Washington, DC, but the Lincoln Monnument is just of Exit 239. It is visible from the Interstate that closely follows the historic Lincoln Highway (US 30), the first auto road to cross the country.To honor this achievement as well as the president who most fervently believe in a union of all the states, Robert Russin, a University of Wyoming art professor and a Lincoln admirer, sculpted a monumental, 13 1/2-foot Lincoln head resting on a 35-foot stone base.

It originally stood at Sherman Summit, at 8,878 feet above sea level and the highest point on old Lincoln Highway, but when when I-80 was opened in 1969, the head was moved about 1 mile to this highpoint on the Interstate. It too is visible from the highway, but its worth a stop.

Pull into the Summit Rest Area and go into the visitor center, not just to use the restroom and have adrink of water, but also to watch a short interpretive film and look into the small museum room with exhibits about Wyoming and its natural and human history.

If you too are road-tripping through Wyoming in I-80, eachof these attractions is worth a stop.

International Travel Is a Laughing Matter...

2010-08-05T12:02:00.001-06:00

...in the eyes of a clever cartoonist

My friend and travel writer colleague Reed Glenn sent me the link to the New York Times' "Abstract City" and Christoph Niemann's "Red Eye," a spot-on pen-and-ink commentary on long-haul flights.I laughed till I cried as I was scrolling through the whole thing, so you might want to grab a tissue before you look at the whole thing. It gets better page by page. I may be walking a copyright tightrope by posting the opening page of his commentary here, but I'm treating it as if it were a short excerpt used as a quote from a longer article.

Medicine Bow Peak: Strike Three

2010-08-03T21:55:00.005-06:00

Weather deterred us once again from climbing iconic mountain in southern Wyoming

Wyoming's highest mountain is 13.804-foot Gannett Peak in the Wind River Range, and the 13,775-foot Grand Teton, the centerpiece of spectacular Grand Teton National Park is runnerup. At 12,013 feet, Medicine Bow Peak is not even in the same elevation league. Still, with a location in the scenic Snowy Range of south-central Wyoming, it has lured my husband, Ral, and me three times in th past few years. The first time, we left Boulder in the pitch-dark, began climbing early from the Lake Marie Trailhead but were only about half-way across the flat broad mountaintop before being spooked by lightning visible in every direction and retreated. The second time, we spent the night in Fort Collins and thought we had a head start, but again, the weather closed in when we were crossing the top, and again we turned around.

This past weekend, accompanied by our Boulder friends Andrea and Dana, we wanted to try for a third time. To be closer to the trailhead, we spent the night at the Old Corral Hotel in Centennial, Our plan was to ascend via the shortest, steepest route from Lewis Lake to reach the highest point -- roughly 1,200 feet of elevation gain in considerably less than 2 miles. Heavy clouds filled the sky, even in the morning, so it wasn't looking good. Our immediate destination was the junction with the trail to the summit -- just in case the clouds lifted and the sun emerged. They didn't.

Lakes Trail from Lewis Lake

From the trailhead at Lewis Lake (below), we passed lakes and tarns, lingering snowfields and spectacular wildflowers that filled meadows and seasonal marshes, poked up through willows and coniferous shrubs, and magically grew on tiny ledges on rock cliffs. I'm afraid my little camera can't do justice to the splendid displays.

The three-from-one conifer below is just a few hundred feet from the Lewis Lake trailhead.

The last of winter's deep snow still lingers on August 1, but its steady melting is what makes the flowers so dazzling.

Below, death camas, which also goes by wand lily and several other names.

Pale yellow Indian paintbrush, aster, elephantilla (that's the stalk) and one of the senisios or some other yellow composite.

Queen's crown is light pink in the Snowy Range but in the Colorado Rockies is usually dark red.

I can't identify the two small flowers below from this photo, and I didn't have my tundra book with me to look them up at the time. Still, I loved seeing the tough, low-growing blue and pink blossoms side by side, literally between a rock and a hard place.

After about 1 1/4 miles, we reached a three-way trail junction and had another decision to make. We had already discarded thoughts of the the steep ascent to the summit. A second option was to continue down to Mirror Lake and return the way we came, but if the skies opened, we'd be miles from the car. The third was to retrace our steps to Lewis Lake and drive to the Mirror Lake Trailhead and start up from there.

As we were discussing these options, up from the Mirror Lake side came a man carrying -- not skis, not a snowboard, but golf clubs. Surely, a mirage. The "mirage," named Ed Woods, travels a huge Rocky Mountain territory for Caterpillar. If you're on Facbook, you might be able to see Ed's golf images by clicking here.

Of course, we started chatting. And after we exchanged the usual pleasantries and questions of fellow hikers, Ed told us about what Caterpillar has been doing. As card-carrying, environ-conscious Boulderites, we were gratified to hear the company's heavy equipment is burning cleaner and more efficiently. While this doesn't make the enormous open-pit mines in Wyoming and elsewhere any easier on the eyes, at least the equipment is less polluting and using less fuel than in the past. Ed, his golf clubs and his companion headed up to the summit, while we turned back and drove around to the Mirror Lake Trailhead to check out the Lakes Trail.

Lakes Trail from Mirror Lake

The trail begins through the trees but soon Lookout Lake comes into view. Set against Medicine Bow Peak's steep eastern and rocky face where snow packed onto gullies even on the first day of August, it is a immensely scenic route.

The flowers were, if anything more abundant than on the first trail, but again, my modest camera in no way captures it. Below, avalanche lilies (aka, glacier lilies). This is a small cluster. We also saw large expanses carpeted in these lovely yellow blooms that come up in the wake of melting snow.

We saw very few blue columbines but many white ones, some with a yellowish cast, others a tad pink.

Parry's primrose, a gorgeous wildflower that loves moist areas, appeared in rivulets from recently melted snow and on moist slopes above the lake.

Across the valley, we saw a single snowboard track down the center of this lingering snowpatch. It's not clear on the image below, but it was visible to the naked eye.

A jumble of enormous quartzite boulders are landmarks along the most dramatic section of the 2.7-mile-long Lakes Trail.

The rugged scenery and the fabulous flowers chased away our initial disappointment. As my husband commented, if we had succeeded in climbing Medicine Bow Peak, we probably would never return and do these lake hikes. Now, maybe, just maybe, we will come back one more time.

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, 2468 Jackson Street, Laramie, WY 82070; 307-745-2300.

Denver International Airport Unveils Calatrava Addition

2010-07-30T06:55:00.004-06:00

$650 is the current price tag for Phase I and $950 for finishing DIA's original concept

Come 2016, assuming a dramatic proposal is approved, Denver International Airport (DEN) should have what travelers to and from many (if not most) major world airports take for granted: a hotel attached to the terminal and a rail connection with the downtown core of their respective cities and, in countries with decent train service, beyond -- all wrapped up in a dramatic sweeping new-for-Denver international style designed to complement the existing main terminal topped with a little Teflon range of peak-like tents..

It's about time, considering that DIA is the 10th-busiest airport in the world and the fifth-busiest in the US. Officials have revealed the conceptual design of what will be called the South Terminal designed by superstar architect Santiago Calatrava. The rail link is to be via RTD’s FasTracks East Corridor, which is also to be built. Calatrava's shop has designed a train station, a signature rail bridge (below) and a plaza. A 500-room hotel and conference center (probably to be branded by Westin) connected to Jeppesen Terminal is also part of the plan, which was originally part of DIA concept when the airport was still on the drawing boards some two decades ago.

The hotel, the landmark bridge and the train station, known as Phase I of the South Terminal Redevelopment Program Phase I, are estimated to cost $650 million. Phase II includes another new parking structure and renovations to the Jeppesen Terminal Great Hall, which was designed before the age of haute security with screening area clutter imposed on what was originally envisioned as an expansive, soaring futuristic space. Maybe in the process of renovating the terminal, someone will also figure out what to do with the terminal's center design element that had been a fountain of dancing waters and an indoor planter. It has been plagued by leaks and other flaws, which are inconsequential to the airport's operations but do impact on the passengers' aesthetic experiences. Phase II, if/when implemented, could cost an additional $250 million.

Calatrava has designed visually stunning and instantly recognizable structures such as the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California, the TGV Railway Station in Liège, Belgium, the new Sondica Airport terminal in Bilbao, Spain, and the Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. With Calatrava's name attached to so much of the project, the name of the hotel architect, "Gensler," kind of gets lost in the wash. It too is a global design and architecture firm.

The projected timetable is for the signature rail bridge to be finished by early 2013, the terminal station two years later and RTD’s train itself scheduled begin carrying passengers between Denver Union Station and the airport in 2016. The 22.8-mile airport corridor is the first for RTD to use commuter rail technology, with larger and heavier cars than the existing light rail system. Click here for more information,including the project description and additional renderings.

Travel Thumbnail: Terry Bison Ranch

2010-07-26T21:41:00.002-06:00

Tourist attraction attached to serious working ranch

This is the ninth of a series of periodic reports on specific places I've visited -- and which you might want see to as well.

The Place: Terry Bison Ranch, south of Cheyenne, Wyoming

The Backstory: Often when we have visitors from overseas or the East Coast, I or we take them to Cheyenne for a better glimpse of a real Western town to show how it resembles and how it differs from the Wild West they've read about and seen on large and small screens. Just after crossing the Colorado-Wyoming border, I generally pull off the Interstate at the Terry Bison Ranch exit. We drive into the visitor part of the ranch and almost always spot some bison, This is actually pretty easy to do, since the "tickler herd" is kept nearby for visitors to look at and photograph. Still, it is always a thrill to see the shaggy beasts, and then we move on. A few days ago, during a Frontier Days visit to Cheyenne, I did some of the touristy things the Terry Bison Ranch offers and learned more about this impressive operation. Sure, the ranch is touristy, but it does provide a predictable bison-viewing opportunity that doesn't exist in too many places -- and considering how many accents I heard and T-shirts from other parts of the country I spotted on the train, predictability is a good thing. A squadron of pink T-shirted day campers was also on the train, and although are little locals, they were excited to be on the train and thrilled to be able to toss food to the bison.

The Story: Chris Terry established the ranch 1881 and built the original ranch house was built four years later. Eventually, Terry sold it to Senator F.E. Morgan, whose elegant city home in the heart of Cheyenne is now a bed-and-breakfast called the Nagle Warren Mansion, where I stayed. Click here for the report on my stay. This huge ranch rambles across the high plains under the big blue dome.

The Place: The tourist part (properly called Terry Bison Ranch Resort) is an adjunct to the enormous 27,000-acre Iron Mountain Bison Ranch where thousands of bison graze to become such meat products as ribs, chuck roast, steaks, brats, buffalo chili and nuggets marketed under the Great Range Bison label. I think of this set-up like the front and back of the house in a restaurant or theater -- the resort is the front of the house that the public sees and the back is the working part. Two brothers, Ron and Dan Thiel, respectively own the public and working-ranch operations. Taken as a whole, the ranch is so intertwined with the history and important people of southern Wyoming that its sign (above left) bears more than passing resemblance to the Wyoming state flag.

The Experience: Summer is high season at the Terry Bison Ranch Resort, which is family-friendly and also accommodates groups. You'll find a general store stocked with souvenirs and basic groceries, trail rides, a small rodeo arena, a tiny fishing pond, old-time photo studio and assorted accommodations for people (cabins, 13-room bunkhouse, RV sites, tent camping sites) and horses (boarding stalls indoor and outdoor stalls, with or without hay). You'll also find Kid Corral, a rustic children's playground with old-style, non-plastic apparatus, pony rides, small Ferris wheel and a little barrel train (tickets required).

The main attraction for casual visitors is the Terry Town Rail Express (adults $12, children , which rambles along a two-mile loop track to the small show herd, passing corrals housing such exotic animals as ostriches, llamas and camels. Guests ride in open cars in summer and in a smaller, heated enclosed one in winter. Bags of feed pellets cost $1, and children of all ages from tots to grannies enjoy tossing them out to the animals in the bison pasture. The herd lumbers over during the lengthy stop, because they like the pellets. Even in this controlled situation, you can see alpha bulls chasing others away from a good pellet drop zone.

Most people like to look at the animals, and others like to shoot them. Looking at this tender Terry Mountain Ranch scene of a mother bison and her calf, it is hard for those of us who don't hunt to envision raising a rifle and shooting one like here at the neighboring Iron Mountain Ranch. But for those who thrill at going for big game, Iron Mountain offers guided hunts for $500-$5,000.

The train respectfully passes the grave of Tinker the Bull, the ranch's majestic stud bison who died earlier this year of old age at 35. In 1986, Ron Thin bought Tinker, a champion bull of the North Dakota Bison Association, to be the breeding bull for Terry Bison Ranch. Visitors marveled at this 2,300-pound bison bull who, in his 31 years of breeding, is estimated to have sired about 1,200 calves.

Dining: The Senator's Steakhouse and Wild Buffalo Saloon near the Terry Bison Ranch entrance has a barn-like atmosphere, with high ceilings, lots of wood, red-checked tablecloths and lots of Western antiques and artifacts. "Taste Ticklers" and lunch items are served from 11:00 a.m. to closing, and dinner items are also available beginning at 5:00 p.m. Bison is available in numerous forms, and even people who could never shoot one enjoy eating the meat. Bison burgers, bison bratwurst, bison rib eye, bison short ribs and buffalo meatloaf. The restaurant also offers beef, chicken (called "Yardbird"), seafood and even vegetarian options. Appetizers and side dishes are heavy on fried items. Also available are a soup and salad bar, good TBR beans, a kids' menu, desserts and a full bar.

Location and contact information: 51 I-25 Service Rd East (Wyoming Exit 2), Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007; 307- 634-4171

Cheyenne Frontier Days Evokes the Old West

2010-07-25T22:48:00.004-06:00

"The Daddy of 'Em All" provides a lot of rodeo action and bang for the buck

I've been to the National Western Stock Show any number of times. I've also seen rodeo action at the Greeley Stampede, in Steamboat Springs, Snowmass and elsewhere in Colorado and Wyoming. And in late in winter, I've visited the Old West Museum in Cheyenne's Frontier Park with its wonderful carriage collection and celebration of the rodeo lifestyle. But until yesterday, I'd never been in Cheyenne for Frontier Days, the world's largest outdoor rodeo -- which is kind of embarrassing to myself since I live just 90 miles away and have intended to go for years.

Finally, that situation was rectified at yesterday's opening of the 114th Cheyenne Frontier Days, whose slogan is "The Daddy of 'Em All." The day began with a terrific parade highlighted by horses, carriages, wagons, vintage autos, marching bands and more. Elected and appoint officials, as well as the Frontier Days committee chairs, paraded on horseback or in antique carriages to validate Wyoming's nickname, "the Cowboy State."

Then off to Frontier Park for a behind-the-chutes tour and a chance to walk on the soft earth of the rodeo grounds, see the chutes up close and hear a good explanation of rodeo events. Yesterday's rodeo, played before an audience that nearly filled the 17,000-seat stadium featured three rounds each of steer wrestling, team roping and bareback bronc riding. Last night, Brooks and Dunn played during their final tour, and later in the week, the bull riders (below) take over for two nights of adrenalin action.

I was impressed with the Indian Village. The dancers were wonderful, and the emcee, Sandy Ironcloud, a Northern Arapaho who teaches at the Wind River Indian College, not only introduced the Little Sun Drum and Dance Group (many of whom are her relatives), but also explained the dances, the symbolism and the costumes. The Indians (and they don't appear to want to be called Native Americans) bring what Sandy Ironcloud calls "our babies" to dance and carry on the traditions and share them with us too. Her words were very inclusive, embracing and inviting. Click on the arrow below to see a short video, one of a series of eight that I found on YouTube.

From a consumerist viewpoint, I was also so taken with how much at Frontier Days is free or inexpensive that, when I came home yesterday evening, I wrote a post for MileHighOnTheCheap.com, a site in partner, citing all the free and bargain activities and attractions. Click here for that post.
Cheyenne Frontier Days continues through Sunday, August 1 this year. I will have lived in Colorado for 22 years on August 15, and you can bet that it won't be another 22 years before I return to Frontier Days.

At Home in the Nagle Warren Mansion

2010-07-23T08:06:00.001-06:00

Wyoming's best B and B combines hospitality, grandeur, comfort, history and location

I've toured the public rooms of the Nagle Warren Mansion on previous visits to Cheyenne, and have made a point of driving by every time I've been in town, just like the Trolley Tours and the horse-drawn carriage tours do, just to gaze at this magnificent mansion set in a lovely garden. There was no one named Nagle Warren or Warren Nagle. The turreted mansion was built in 1888 Erasmus Nagle, a super-rich merchant in 1888 and bought in 1910 by Francis E. Warren, an even richer businessman, governor and US Senator. Now, it enables guests to feel like aristocrats on the Western frontier during the Gilded Age. I'm enjoying every minute.

The mansion, one of the few such palatial homes remaining in Cheyenne, occupies a prominent corner at 17th and House on the fringes of Cheyenne's historic core. The mansion is listed on National Register of Historic Places and belongs to Historic Hotels of the Rockies and probably other affiliations I don't know about.

Jim Osterfoss is the genial host. I'm sure that our paths have crossed sometime in the past. He used to own the Roost Lodge, one of the most affordable accommodations in pricey Vail. Now he owns the very best lodging in Cheyenne, a city where hotel and motel rooms are bargains compared with other state capitals.

I'm sitting in the home's tower right now, my little netbook placed on the wicker table in the image below. Whenever whenever I'm fishing for a word, I gaze out the window past the parking lots that I wish weren't here to the tower of the magnificently restored Union-Pacific Depot that I'm glad is here. .

Open the heavy oak doors and pass into a grand hallway with parlors on each side. Wonderful details and interesting antique furnishings (and a few faithful reproductions of old lighting fixtures) load the in with atmosphere and interesting things to look at: a couple of rare nickel-plated bronze mantelpieces, a transition chandelier designed both for gaslights and electric bulbs, a face on a newel post, an elaborate lav off the library that worth going to see even if you don't need to go. The Nagle Warren Mansion hosts special events too -- private receptions with gentle entertainment (top image, below), afternoon teas, murder mystery dinners and the like.

I can't believe my good fortune is getting a room here on the threshold of Cheyenne Frontier Days, one of the biggest rodeos around. My room is an east-facing charmer under the eaves with a an equally charming bathroom and a lucky view of one of Cheyenne's other remaining mansions -- one that happens to be for sale for anyone who wants to be a neighbor of the Nagle Warren Mansion.

Nagle Warren Mansion, 222 East 17th Street, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001; 800-811=2610 or 307-637-3333.

Travel Babel Named One of the Top 50 Travel Blogs

2010-07-21T01:22:00.006-06:00

I just received the happy news that Travel Babel was named one of the top 50 travel blogs of 2010 by Awarding the Web, which was begun in 2002 by two University of Washington students who seem to have hopped on the web-wagon relatively early. I wish I knew who they are, but I don't.

According to their own site, award candidates are selected by their team of "research associates scouring the web" or by nominations from their subscribers. I'm sure mine was the former. Their site further explains that five unnamed judges score each nominated blog "across 20 different attributes" to come up with their own subjective scores. These ratings are combined into an aggregate score, and the five judges' aggregates are then averaged to give the blog its final rating. wards go to blogs in the 99% percentile, meaning just the top 1% of nominated blogs receive awards.

When I look at the other travel blogs in the top 50, I’m honored to be in such good company. The list of award recipients is not numbered, but it's not alphabetical either. Travel Babel is No. 34 on the list of 50, and I have to say that I'm thrilled that five judges cumulatively consider this to be the 34th-best travel blog around.

Emirates Orders More Boeing 777 Aircraft

2010-07-19T10:38:00.001-06:00

Dubai-based airline expands its large Triple Seven fleet

Emirates Airlines, the Dubai-based, award-winning international carrier, has ordered 30 777-300ER aircraft to add to its 71 already on the books, of which 53 of this model are currently in service. The Triple Seven a long-range, wide-body airliner is the world's largest twinjet. Quite unsurprisingly, even before this latest $9.1 billion order, Emirates is the world’s largest operator of 777s. Plus, just last month, Emirates ordered 32 Airbus A380 planes.

The airline's strategy is to become a world-leading carrier and to establish Dubai as a central gateway to worldwide air travel. In all, Emirates already 86 777s (three 777-200s, six 777-200ERs, 10 7777-200LRs, 12 777-300s, 53-300ERs and two freighters, numbers that are mainly of interest to airline geeks. It operates the 777-300ER in a three-class configuration with eight first class suites, 42 business class seats and 310 Economy class seats, plus offers an additional cargo payload of 20.1 tons. Oh yes, it also operates 79 Airbus A380s, 70 Airbus A350s and seven Boeing freighters.

I didn't do the math because I don't do math, but Emirates did and says that its fleet totals (or will total, I'm not sure which) 204 widebody aircraft worth more than $67 billion dollars. In a lousy year for world aviation and the global economy in general, Emirates Airline recently reported its 22nd year of profit, up 416 percent to close at $964 million dollars over its 2008-09 profits of $187 million dollars. I add this only because there has been so much whining among US and international legacy carriers that I find all this quite remarkable. US gateways are New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Travel writer colleagues who flew Emirates not long ago to a meeting in Bangkok via Dubai reported favorably on the experience.

Free WiFi in the Air?

2010-07-16T10:37:00.002-06:00

Are airlines contemplating free wireless access in the air?

There's speculation in the blogosphere, fueled by an AP report, that free WiFi might be coming soon. If it does, it will be the first free benefit in several years. As has been discuees here and eslwhere, add-on fees for what was once free have mushroomed in the last three years. Fees are now charged for food, checked bags, a preferred seat, blanket and pillow and on Spirit carry-on bags intended for the overhead to all but elite fliers, adding tens of millions of dollars to airlines' coffers.

Passengers seem to be drawing the line at paying for inflight wireless Internet connections, which are available on some flights for $4-$13. It seems that many are unwilling to pay for what is available for free on land, including at an increasing number of airports. According to the AP report, "Airlines have offered promotions, including some free service, to draw attention to their Wi-Fi. But experts say only about 10 percent of passengers on Web-enabled flights have taken advantage." United Airlines, for instance, offered free WiFi to transcontinenal passengers late last year.

The piece also quoted airline technology consultant Michael Planey as believing that "Wi-Fi will be free as early as mid-2011. But if airlines want to go that route, there's a catch: They still have to compensate the service provider, such as Aircell, whose Gogo Inflight Internet serves every major airline except Southwest."

Again according to the AP report, Planey thinks airlines airlines have a few options to cover the costs:

•Getting big companies like Google or Verizon to sponsor free Internet service. Those providers would make money through advertisements.
•Pay for some part of the service themselves and then use it to cut costs. For example, a flight attendant could use the inflight Wi-Fi to connect with reservations at the terminal and make new arrangements for passengers who missed a connecting flight.
•Airlines could arrange ways to get a commission when travelers buy things online.

Some experts feel that the discount carriers that already promote their policies of giving passengers more for less (e.g., AirTrans, JetBlue and Southwest), will be the first to offer free WiFi.

Mummies and Melodrama

2010-07-15T15:43:00.004-06:00

"Reality" TV strikes again in creating a dreadful television series

I've been captivated by things Egyptian since I visited Egypt last year as part of a Society American Travel Writers Freelance Council meeting that included an audience with Dr. Zahi Hawass, the media-savvy, imperious and very gifted secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Dr. Hawass is an aggressive advocate for the protection of ancient Egyptian treasures. He has developed an ego the size of the Great Pyramid at Giza and has a high profile, personally escorting VIPs around the sites, personally announcing every significant discovery, whether or not he made it and appearing on numerous legitimate documentaries.

Against this background, I was looking forward to the History Channel's "Chasing Mummies" series that debuted last night. I have never written a television review-type post, but this misguided show merits a two thumbs down.

The plot was that a television crew was following Dr. Hawass and his team, including a comely intern, during the excavation of an early pyramid at Saqqara near Cairo. Comely intern Zoe, who unexpectedly showed up in place of intern Clare/Claire, but her papers were in order, so she was permitted to stay, often getting in the way. But Zoe is cute so she was invited to take her first look inside the pyramid. After a disjointed exploration, Zoe was improbably permitted, by one of Dr. Hawass's team, to stay in the labyrinthian corridors by herself "for five minutes" to take pictures, which she did with her little point-and-shoot while the chamber was brilliantly lit by television cameras.

Zoe's foot got jammed. Someone turned off the lights and locked the gates, and Zoe became reality TV's equivalent of the silent-film heroine tied to the railroad tracks. If this program were to be believed, only Dr. Hawass, who had to be called from Cairo where he was doing a book signing, had the ability to unlock the gate and turn on the lights. It was contrived, lame and added nothing to the body of knowledge about ancient Egypt.

And then, in the second part, Dr. Hawass and his team traveled to "an oasis near Cairo" to demolish villagers' homes that were built over ancient graves that contained mummies. Curious children watched homes being knocked down, and suddenly, the earth was pocked with holes that presumably led to underground burial chambers. An articulated loader, which was referred to as a bulldozer, broke through the surface of the ground, got stuck and then got unstuck.

Speaking of stuck, I stuck it out through the first episode, but I won't waste my time on another. New York Times television critic Neil Genzlinger didn't think any more of the program than I did. In his review, he called it "an annoying new show." The History Channel's website calls this a "documentary series." They sure have a wry sense of humor! In fact, this entire program was a joke.

International Travel Trade Organization Weighs in on 'Unbundling'

2010-07-13T06:57:00.001-06:00

Business travel trade reps press Congressional committee on hidden airline fees

I hardly ever simply post a press release, but this one from the Business Travel Coalition, founded in 1994 "to bring transparency to industry and government policies and practices so that customers can influence issues of strategic importance to their organizations" seems interesting enough to share it as it was released. My own comments, also in red italics, follow the text of the release.

Industry Survey Results Reveal Significant Concern Over Airline Unbundling Practices

U.S. DOT Rules Required To Protect Consumers, Managed Travel Programs

JULY 13, 2010, WASHINGTON, DC - Business Travel Coalition (BTC) today published results of a survey of 188 travel industry professionals from 11 countries, including corporate travel managers and travel agency executives, regarding airline product unbundling and ancillary fees. These survey results are being released ahead of a July 14 U.S. House Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation hearing regarding airline fees at which BTC is providing testimony.
The overriding message from survey participants is that ancillary fees are wrecking havoc on corporate managed travel programs and the U.S. Department of Transportation must, through it Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, require airlines to make add-on fee data easily accessible not only on their websites, but also to the travel agency channel through any GDS in which an airline has agreed to participate.

The following top-line results represent a sea change in thinking among travel industry professionals regarding government oversight in commercial air transportation:

• 100% of corporate travel managers indicated that unbundling and these extra fees have caused serious problems for their managed travel programs.

• 86% of travel managers believe that airlines, absent government regulation, will not make fair, adequate and readily accessible disclosure of their extra fees and charges so that travel managers and/or their TMCs can do comparison shopping of the all-in prices for air travel across carriers.

• 95% of travel managers support the proposal that the U.S. DOT require airlines to make ancillary fee data available and easily accessible to the travel agency channel through any GDS in which that airline has agreed to participate.

• 95% of travel managers do not support an airline distribution model wherein access to airfare and ancillary services content is available only on airlines’ websites, or through direct connections to multiple airlines’ inventory systems.

“Importantly, survey participants are business people who, as a general proposition, do not favor government intervention in a marketplace. However, as with BTC, who testified four times since 1999 against passenger rights legislation, these industry experts lived through 10 years of airline stonewalling and broken promises and finally realized that the airlines were never going to take extended tarmac delays seriously until made to do so, said BTC Chairman Kevin Mitchell. “Travel managers and travel agency executives do not want to wait 10 years, or even 1 more year to see if the airlines will properly disclose their ancillary fees in all channels in which they sell their products - and thus already make their published, but now incomplete, fares available, he continued.”

Here are sample comments from survey participants:

• “Determining the actual cost of transportation is now so difficult that we cannot help departments prepare travel budgets for the following year.”

• “The comparison of different providers’ options is difficult as there are all-inclusive, partly-inclusive, status-inclusive, non-inclusive prices. At the moment the extra services and fees are not available for total cost calculation in our preferred channel, the GDS.”

• “I can no longer manage costs as the fees are hidden. There is no way to determine if the traveler paid for baggage or upgraded to business class.”

• “Because airlines are not forthcoming with information, we cannot relay the true cost of an itinerary to the traveler.”

• “Many airlines want to hide these charges from buyers so that they can distort the real ticket cost in the GDS and other distribution channels.”

• “Many consumers still use their local travel agency as a resource for making travel arrangements, therefore, it is essential they have that all the information concerning ancillary fees available to them/and the consumer at the point of sale.”

• “All fee data should be made available to travel agents through their GDSs. All airlines should be required to provide full and fair disclosure by law.”

The bottom line is that represents of a business travel organization, which might be expected to be empathetic to the airline business, is very concerned over hidden fees and surprise add-ons. We individual travelers find ourselves paying all sorts of extras on top of our "bargain" fares, but for corporate travel, these surprises add up to a big debit on a company's balance sheet. (The release should read "wreaking havoc, not "wrecking havoc," but I'm splitting grammatical hairs over a very valid point made by an international trade group -- albeit one that I don't remember ever having heard about before.) Since Congress tends to listen to business much more than to us voters, I hope that this will make an impact that will help all of us who fly. Note: The end of the release also referenced an organization called the Consumer Travel Alliance’s "just-released analysis of hidden fees."

Airlines' Food Costs Are Pretty Low

2010-07-12T20:31:00.000-06:00

Inflight food costs predictors of lousy inflight fare

No domestic airline spends as much as $9, per passenger, for inflight food, according to Cranky Flier's post today called "What Airlines Spend on Food." The post, which I recommended reading, included a government chart (below) tracking key carriers' per-passenger food expenditures over the last decade.

Of course, nine bucks, which is about what Alaska Airlines used to spend, bought more and/or better food a decade ago than six dollars or less does today. What is unclear from this chart is whether it includes both Coach and the First Class. Free food and adult beverages are still offered in the front of the plane, but in steerage, passengers have to buy food other than perhaps a tiny little bag of free pretzels or peanuts. We have been doing so for nearly a decade, since carriers curtailed than eliminated free meals and phased in food fort purchase.

"United Airlines used to spend $100 million a year on coach-cabin food when serving free meals, but now spends $20 million and brings in $20 million in revenue," according to a Wall Street Journal report last September called "Pie in the Sky? Upgrading Food in Coach." I knew that carriers were spending less and earning more on inflight food, but I had no idea how much.

Cancun Tourism in Trouble

2010-07-11T17:09:00.001-06:00

Hard times at popular Mexican travel destination

Mexican tourism has taken well-documented hit after hit in the last couple of years (drug gang violence, weather, swine flu, global economic woes, you name it), and now, Cancun in particular has been slammed by malfeasance on the part of local officials. As Mexico City-based Jimm Budd reported under the headline "Cancun Broke":

"Cancun – officially the Benito Juárez municipality – is technically bankrupt according to the governor on Quintana Roo, the state where Cancun is located. It seems the city treasurer, Carlos Trigo, has vanished and taken the treasury with him. His boss, Gregory Sanchez, resigned a few weeks ago in order to run for governor. Since then, Sanchez has been arrested and now is in prison awaiting trial on charges he was working with narcotics smugglers.

"Nor is Cancun doing well as a travel destination. The airport reports that the number of passengers served thus far this year is still nearly ten percent below the 2008 figure. Number for last year were so dismal as not to be considered."

Travel Babel Wins SATW Award

2010-07-10T22:39:00.000-06:00

I'm thrilled that this blog has just been honored with a Bronze Award in the Travel Blog category from the Society of American Travel Writers Western Chapter, which has just wrapped up its meeting in Boise, Idaho.Writing awards have been presented for many years, but blogging honors were just added. I'm pleased that Travel Babel was in the freshman class.

Travel Thumbnail: Old Idaho Penitentiary

2010-07-10T19:14:00.003-06:00

Boise landmark, once a fearful prison, now a tourist attraction and history lesson

This is the eighth of a series of periodic reports on specific places I've visited -- and which you might want see to as well.

The Place: Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise

The Story: The Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historical Site, located on the outskirts of Boise, functioned as a prison for 101 years. Construction began in 1870 as a single cell house, with the first prisoners incarcerated there in 1872. Inmate laborers expanded it into a complex of several buildings that held, among others, Idaho's most notorious criminals. Until it finally closed in 1973, the Old Pen housed a total of more than 13,000 inmates -- including 222 women prisoners. The maximum population at any one time was 603 inmates. Eleven prisoners were executed there by by hanging. Below, an old image of the Old Pen from the page on the Idaho Historic Society website devoted to the Old Pen.

When visiting the Old Pen, you can watch an 18-minute video and look at small museum's exhibits and then either take a self-guided tour or take a 90-minute guided tour, which I highly recommend. Especially in the summer, the tour guides are historians or historians-in-the-making, largely young people who are studying or have graduated from Boise State College.

Below are some images from my visit:

Cost: The Old Pen is open seven days a week, except state holidays. Memorial Day to Labor Day, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Labor Day to Memorial Day, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Adult,$5; 60 and over, $4; ages 6 to 12, $3; under 6, free.

Location and information: 2445 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, Idaho 83712; 208-334-2844.

US Passport Fees Set to Climb

2010-07-09T17:08:00.001-06:00

If your passport needs to be renewed soon, if it needs extra pages for future travel or if you don't have a passport but might need one (and now you do for neighboring Western Hemisphere nations), do whatever you need to before Tuesday, July 13. Post offices handle passport applications.

Passport Book

New passport, adult, $135 (up from from $100).
Renewal, $110 (up from $75).
Youth under 16, $105 (up from $85).
Extra pages, $82 (new fee).

Passport Card

If you expect to travel only to Canada and/or Mexicom you can get a card instead of a book.

Adult, $55 (up from $45).
Youth, $40 (up from $35)

Reasons

No, the fee increases are not to help balance the budget. The US State Department says that passport fees cover the cost of actually producing the document but also but they also pay for emergency services provided to American citizens overseas by embassies and consular offices.

Palestine: Reflections

2010-07-07T08:28:00.003-06:00

Headlines provide signs of hope that Israeli-Palestinian tensions will ease and that peace will prevail

As I was recounting my Palestine/West Bank travel experiences and observations, I made notes to myself about how I wanted to wrap it all up. After all, this wasn't just a sightseeing trip featuring antiquities and sacred places. It was an experience that put me and my traveling companions on the cusp of "future history." Through my membership in the Society of American Travel Writers, I became aware of, but I am embarrassed to admit, not active in a not-for-profit group called the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism.

Originally, I intended wrap up my thoughts and observations unfiltered by politicians' spin and advocates for one side or another. I also was going to include links to IIPTT's site and to peace organizations working specifically in the Middle East and more specifically on the Palestinian-Israeli situation, because I believe that tourism can be a valuable tool for peace -- not just economically in troubled lands but also in allowing visitors to see a place and its people first-hand. This trip certainly was enlightening, even though we did not meet any overtly militant Palestinians or any Israeli Jews at all other than Army guards at checkpoints and security screeners at Tel Aviv Airport.

But today's headline in the New York Times, "U.S. and Israel Shift Attention to Peace Process," reports that "President Obama said Tuesday that he expected direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to begin 'well before' a moratorium on settlement construction expired at the end of September, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged to take 'concrete steps' in the coming weeks to get the talks moving."

Since I'm trying to restrain myself, perhaps I should not point out that in the past, Netanyahu's "concrete steps" have taken the form of pouring more concrete for more settlements in the Palestinian territory. 'Nuff said. I'd rather express a hope that it might be better this time, and that perhaps neither side will provoke the other into escalating retaliation measures. This eye-opening trip beyond the headlines and the rhetoric pointed out the social injustice of the current situation. I mentioned to some of my traveling companions that I am shocked that Israel, a nation established because millions of its people were the victims of such ruthless genocide, could treat other people so badly. One who is smarter than I pointed out that individual people who been abused often become abusers. The analogy was not lost on me or anyone else within earshot.
So I close this series with a wish that maybe, just maybe, the new talks will amount to something and the peace process will begin again -- and maybe, just maybe, it will be honored by all sides and be longer-lasting than in the past.

Palestine: Day 8, Jerusalem

2010-07-06T08:06:00.002-06:00

Winding down at the Temple Mount and old city

Our group started our light Day 8 schedule with a tour of the Temple Mount (Haram ash-Sharif in Arabic), At the bottom is Western Wall (Wailing Wall), the last remnant of the Israelites' Second Temple and a sacred to Jews. Men and women, facing the wall, pray separately, and respectful visitors are welcome. The two key Muslim sites flanking a broad plaza built atop of the former temple, are the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Like so many other Holy Land sites, control of the Temple Mount has over time shifted from religion to religion, jurisdiction to jurisdiction and often at great cost of life and/or treasure. King Solomon built the First Temple there in 967 B.C. The Babylonians destroyed it in 586 B.C. Jews rebuilt it as the Second Temple six decades later, but the Romans under Herod first expanded the site and later destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. Emperor Constantine's mother, Helen, was a 4th-century Christian activist who established the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre. And did I mention earthquakes?

In the 7th century, Muslims conquered Jerusalem and built the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock. Over time, all or parts of the Temple Mount were under Byzantine, Persian, Jewish, Crusader, Muslim, British Mandate, Israeli, Jewish and Muslim control. The timeline spans centuries. A visit to the compound in September 2000 by Ariel Sharon of Israel's rightwing Likud Party accompanied by 1with ,000 armed guards infuriated Palestinians. who started hurling stones at Israeli riot police, who in turn tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd. Sharon's visit set off a five-year Palestinian uprising often called the Second Infitada. The day after Sharon's provocative visit. On September 29, the Israeli government deployed 2,000 riot police to the complex. The prospect of peace hasn't been very encouraging since then.

Since then, it hasn't seemed to take much to set off a confrontation. Whenever archaeologists dig somewhere, they outrage some group. In the last five years alone, Jewish zealots' proposal to build a synagogue on the Temple Mountain infuriated Muslims, and Muslim proposals to add a fifth minaret ticked off Jews. Arabs protested a plan to rebuild an old earthen ramp leading to the Mugrabi gate. When a posse of right-wing Zionist rabbis entered the Temple Mount, provoking Palestinians and also both religious and secular Israelis who decried that particular provocation.,Also. some critics noted that Jews are not supposed to enter the Temple Mount but confine themselves to the Western Wall until the Messiah comes -- or something.

It was against this background that we visited the Temple Mount, again passing airport-style metal detectors, X-rays and bag inspection stations. Day 7 was a Sunday, the Christian sabbath and a "weekday" for Jews and Muslims. The large plaza was largely empty, save for small groups of Muslims reading the Koran or something under shake trees and some sightseers like us. Neither the Dome of the Rock nor the mosque is open to non-Muslims these days, but I can recall which particular incident caused the closure. In the old city beyond the Temple Mount, Christian churches welcomed worshippers from all over the world, while Jewish and Muslim shopkeepers and vendors in the old city welcomed shoppers, also from all over the world.

I reveled in some unscheduled time, sharing some quiet conversation and coffee with a couple of my traveling companions in a shaded cafe. I wandered through the narrow, shop-lined streets for a while. But I bought nothing. In the end, the endless displays of Christianiana made of olive wood, glitzy yarmulkes, rosaries, pottery, T-shirts with slogans like "Guns and Moses," metalwork, religious and secular costume jewelry, keychains, scarves and shawls were oddly dispiriting. I normally love prowling around marketplaces, but I began preparing for re-entry by spending a quiet, somewhat contemplative afternoon in a day room thoughtfully booked for each of us at the Holy Land Hotel.

Security procedures at Tel Aviv Airport were lengthy, as expected, but not excessive or unpleasant. And then, we boarded our Continental plane for the first of our respective flights home.

Palestine Day 7: Ramallah and Ein Areek

2010-07-05T15:52:00.001-06:00

Two more faces of Palestine: the capital and a small town with no major landmarks from antiquity

Much of the West Bank and Ramallah in particular remind me of every developing country I have ever visited: Roads in various states of disrepair. Incomplete buildings that are either under construction or abandoned and crumbling. Graffiti. Weed- and litter-choked empty lots. Wrecked cars. Busy markets with small shops open to the street that exemplify the most basic form of capitalism. No big-box stores here. Call it small-box retail.

Roadside repair businesses. Street vendors. Tailors and cobblers working out of impossibly small shops. Storefront doctors and dentists. In short, providers of goods and services that keep a community functioning, along with schools, houses of worship. There are also sparkling office buildings, banks, government buildings, good hotels, high-rise apartment buildings and prosperous residential neighborhoods, symbols of hope for better times to come.

Ramallah

Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian territories north of Jerusalem, was often in the headlines during the two Infitadas. Originally an agricultural community and primarily a Christian town, its residents were early adopters of resistance, many joining frequent protests, strikes and demonstrations. It is currently the capital of the Palestinian Territories and, if and when Palestine gains independence, it will be the capital of the country.

We started with a lavish poolside buffet breakfast at the Grand Park Resort and Hotel, a pristine property catering largely to business travelers and those with business at consulates in the Palestinian capital. The hotel was built in 1997 as a two-story building and renovated and expanded with three additional floors last year. A large screen was put up in the pool area for World Cup games.

Also, a new Mövenpick Hotel is under construction. The project began in 1999, remained in limbo between 2003 and 2005, was restarted with an anticipated completion date of 2007 and finally seems on track to open fairly soon. The renovation and expansion of one find property and the projected open of another are positive signs that things are getting better in Ramallah, even if progress is sometimes slow.

To Westerners, the name Yasser Arafat is m most often associated with his early years of Palestine Liberation Organization violence. To Palestinians, he not unlike George Washington to Americans or, in fact, David Ben-Gurion to Israelis -- in short, a leader in the battles for their respective independence and the first head of government once it was achieved (or in Palestine's case, partially achieved). Arafat achieved world recognition as a terrorist and was co-laureate with Israel's Itzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. Peres is still alive and active in government, but Rabin was assassinated by an ultra-Orthodox Jew for his peace-making efforts. A decade later, Israel re-declared Arafat to be terrorist and kept him under house arrest for some two years, releasing him only to die in Paris. His simple mausoleum of Palestine stone and glass remains a pilgrimage place for Palestinians, many of whom are willing to overlook the corruption that the political movement he had started eventually deteriorated into.

The Riwaq Center (Center for Architectural Conservation) is an NGO that seeks to inventory, document, protect, rehabilitate and reuse Palestine's architectural heritage, with the additional benefit of job creation and community involvement. With 50,320 historic buildings in 422 towns and villages, it has already been a Herculean task but one that has already earned it a prestigious UNESCO World Habitat prize in 2006. According to Riwaq's Farahat Mihawee, the immediate priority is to protect 50 of those 422 identified centers and 50 percent of the the historic (i.e., pre-concrete) buildings within them. Sixteen protection plans for cultural heritage protection have been drawn up. Funding is currently available for three out of those 50 priority sites. For visitors interested in antiquities and community, Riwaq's concept of a mapped Cultural Tourism Trail linking traditional villages is in the works with help from a Swedish International Development Agency.

Ein Areek

We drove to the village or Ein Areek (aka, Ain Arik), where we were welcomed by Father Giovanni Santee of the monastic community of St. Benedict. He has been in the Holy Land (here and in Jordan) for 30 years and is one of three brothers and five sisters who maintain this Catholic church as a "place of prayer and peace." Although they are all original from Italy, as part of their seven hours of daily devotion, they read the Old and New Testaments pray, say the Rosary and celebrate Mass in Arabic. He says that they maintain good relations with the increasingly Muslim community and also with the local Imam and Orthodox priest. The clerics communicate on social issues, especially education, that affect the community but stay away from each others' theologies. He says there are "no fundamentalists" in the village and that neighbors have "lived together for centuries."

Back to Jerusalem

Even after short time in the gentle tranquility of Ein Areek, it was a shock to return to Jerusalem passing yet another choked checkpoint, aggressive graffiti on the wall, children who should be in school hawking CDs and occasionally throwing rocks, and a tattered United Nations flag flying over a World Food Program warehouse.

This was the last full day of touring the West Bank.

Palestine: A Hope

2010-07-04T17:32:00.001-06:00

I still have one-and-a-half days of touring to report on. Re-entry from this trip has been tough, and I think that my brain is still half-way across the Atlantic. But on this Fourth of July, as the United States celebrates its independence from England, I keeping thinking about the Palestinians and their struggle for their own independence. Colonial patriots fought against the Redcoats, a superior fighting force but one that represented a government an ocean away. The English would have described General George Washington's ragtag forces as "insurgents," even "terrorists," if those words had been part of the 18th century vocabulary. But they prevailed, and 234 years later, America still celebrates July 4 as a day of freedom and liberation.

The Palestinian people want no less. And count me among those who want it for them and hope that they too will have their own Independence Day to celebrate, and that they and their Israeli neighbors will find a way to co-exist in peace.

Palestine: Day 6: Wadi Qilt and Jerusalem

2010-06-30T13:47:00.002-06:00

Wadi Qilt, a final desert drive and the last checkpoint into Jerusalem

At a Society of American Travel Writers' conference in Israel a quarter of a century ago, Wadi Qlt (or Wadi Qelt) was the first stop out of Jerusalem en route to several days of hiking and camping in the Judean and Negev Deserts. Back then, we drove to spot a spot directly below St. George's Monastery -- it might have been by van or by US Army surplus personnel carriers that made their way through the Israeli Army to an outfitter called Desert Safari that might no longer exist.

I can't rememver how we reached the inner Wadi Qilt canyon to visit the Monastery of St. George of Koziba, a 5th-century Greek Orthodox structure built against the canyon walls -- much like Jericho's Mt. Temptation Monastery, but it was the first I had ever seen other than in a book or travelogue. Wadi Qilt is also the site of an ancient synagogue dating from the first century B.C. and part of a Maccabean winter palace. I don't recall the synagogue (I'm not even sure whether it had been excavated then), but we visited the monastery and took a short hike along a shaded trail. I was still living back East and was unfamiliar with deserts, deep canyons and oases where there is a source of water, so this was all new climatic territory for me.

Flickr photo

Wadi Qilt

Since then, there has been considerable road damage to the route into the canyon, and it is impassable by bus. The Israeli government, which enthusiastically builds fine highways to its settlements, hasn't repaired the road leading to this landmark monastery on land that is still in Palestinian hands -- and neither has the Palestinian Authority. This time, the bus could reach a pullout with a short trail leading to a Wadi Qlt overlook. A few Bedouins were selling jewelry (lots of camel bone), scarves and miscellaneous souvenirs. Business isn't too good these days. I bought camel-bone earrings and a white scarp, which our guide Wasim (below, bottom image) said that, judging by the label, probably came from Iran.

Jerusalem
As we approached Jerusalem, traffic built up and finally crawled on the apporach to the city. We stopped at an overlook on the Mount of Olives for a view over the Old City of Jerusalem, which from a distance looks peaceful and harmonious. We then walked down a steep paved route. Partway down, we passed through a tranquil garden to Dominus Flevit, a small, tear-drop-shaped church that represents Jesus' tears as he looked over the Kidron Valley toward the city and wept for the destroyed Second Temple. In the church, a nun was reading for a small group of worshippers, who than sang a gentle Hallelujah!

The lower slopes of the Mount of Olives is covered with shoulder-to-shoulder graves, because in Christian belief that Jesus will return to Jerusalem, and in Jewish belief when the Messiah comes, it will be to Jerusalem and the Kidron Valley. It seems that everyone wants a prime spot for event. While a sister conducted a service at Dominus Flevis, the only people at the nearby Jewish cemetery where black-clad men, praying at graves. There is also a Moslem cemetery on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives.

We continued down to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed following the Last Supper and where Judas betrayed him. Ancient olive trees and lovely flowers make this a tranquil spot. The Church of All Nations stands beside the garden. One can only wish that the reality of Jerusalem mirrored the implication of that church's name, but it is a city full of religious and political contention.

We entered the old city via the Arab Quarter and walked its narrow lanes, following the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, that today encompass the sites of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. Writing in hindsight, this section of Arab Quarter is less congested than the Christian Quarter, and there appear to be proportionally more residents and fewer souvenir shops.

The original church that dates back to the fourth century was damaged in the seventh century, destroyed in the 11th century and soon reconstructed. The cavernous basilica was seriously damaged by fire in the early 19th century, though considering the amount of stone, it is difficult to understand how. It is a complicated place -- a church within a church built over other, older churches and small churches and chapels annexed to the main. Every one is presided over by a different denominations, and despite the obvious devotion shown by hordes of pilgrims from the world over, it is a contentious place rather than a place of peace.

In truth, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the focal point for unholy tussles among a number of Christian denominations. The Greek Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic churches each control large parts of the complex, and one order of Eastern Rite monks has been living on the roof for centuries. Competing denominations have even come to blows. In 2002, a Coptic monk assigned to a spot on roof to maintain some kind of ancient claim on Ethiopian place moved his chair from its official position into the shade, which the Ethiopians took as an affront. A monastic brawl broke out, and 11 were monks hospitalized.

As recently as 2008, there were two clashes that sank into violence. On Palm Sunday, a brawl erupted when a Greek monk was kicked out of the building by religious rivals and the police called to control the disturbance were attacked by the brawlers. In November, Armenian and Greek monks fought over something during the Feast of the Holy Cross. If Jesus did return, I believe he'd send them all to bed without supper.

The Jews don't behave any better toward one another. On June 17, two days before our group's depature for this trip, literally thousands of Israeli police were deployed in Jerusalem in an ugly dispute about court-ordered "integration" of the Beit Yaakov girls’ school in a West Bank settlement. Ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi (Jews of European origin) parents defied the ruling forcing them to send their daughters to school with ultra-orthodox Sephardic girls (Middle East origin). The day we were traveling to Israel/Palestine, what was reported as hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews battled riot police, again in Jerusalem, to protest against the city's decision to open a municipal parking lot on the Jewish Sabbath, which they view as desecration of the day.

Discord aside, of course, there was food in Jerusalem. We enjoyed another abundant lunch buffet at the Golden Walls Hotel in East Jerusalem and a talk by Father Attala Hannah aarchbishop of the of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, and after checking in to the Ritz Hotel, walked over to the Jerusalem Hotel Garden Restaurant for dinner to the sounds traditional, though over-amplified, Middle Eastern music. It was our last night in the Holy Land, and thoughout the trip, I felt personally safe, even walking through the dimly lit streets of East Jersusalem to and from dinner. centuries of contention, conflict and violence continue to this day.

Palestine: Day 5, Part 2: Jericho and the Dead Sea

2010-06-29T21:14:00.007-06:00

Jericho and the Dead Sea: Palestine's hot pocket

When it comes to records, an area of desert and water where the jurisdictions of the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Jordan meet, can lay claim to two impressive records. The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on earth, and Jericho claims to be the oldest city on the planet.

Jericho

Before this day, I had never heard of the Umayyad people, let alone of Caliph Hisham bin AbdulMalek, whose empire stretched from the Pyrenees to India some 14 centuries ago. His palace (actually, a hunting lodge) just north of Jericho was destroyed, not by a marching army like Jericho's city walls, but by an earthquake. Today, extensive palace ruins contain pillars, walls, mosaics and the stone frame of one lovely reassembled intricatedly carved hexagonal window that is said to have inspired rose windows in French cathedrals. A small museum holds artifacts unearthed at the site.

Jericho Resort Village, where we had lunch, is a luxury property by any standard -- at least judging from the immaculate lobby with.polished stone and gleaming woodwork. Simon Awad of the Environmental Education Centre gave a presentation about threats to wildlife in Palestine, where he said that 537 bird species, 110 mammals and 2,953 plant species have been recorded -- not really surprising since it lies at the junction of Africa, Asia and Europe. It is a migration corridor for some 500 birds and habitat to indigenous species and winter visitors. Habitat is continually threatened by dwindling water flow in the Jordan River Valley and Israel's practice of burning bushes that provide food and protection for the birds in the name of security.

It is therefore not surprising that environmental awareness is not a Palestinian priority. EEC is seeking to correct that with awareness-raising among Palestinians, youth education, community activities and hopefully a growth in eco-tourism. Symbolic of the political problems that impact the environment is that when Israel sought to designate the Palestine sunbird (Cinnyris osea) as its national bird, it had to be pointed out that it was already the official bird of Palestine.Both have issued stamps depicting this lovely little bird. It seems that Israel wants everything that would be Palestine's: as much of its land as it can pepper with settlements, control of its water, control of the Palestinian people to move about their land -- and now, their national bird.

Lunch was served in a large swimming-pool-view dining room, where a formal white-draped U-shaped table had been set up as if for a wedding party. The salads, as the regular array of dips, spreads and cold vegetables are called, were followed by two imposing pilafs, one with eggplant and one with cauliflower plus chicken or lamb.

In the afternoon, we toured the excavations of ancient Jericho (aka, Tell es-Sultan, below) located in a spring-fed oasis in the desert. Archeologists have found remains of 23 civilizations and date the original settlement to about 9,000 B.C., and the modern city has decided to celebrate its 10,000th anniversary this October -- specifically on 10/10/10. Plans are vague at best, but such calender symmetry won't come along for another century. Successive civilizations have inhabited this low-lying oasis 1,200 feet below sea level. Common references include the Biblical reference to its habitation by ancient Israelites after wandering around the desert for 40 years, Marc Antony gifting it to Cleopatra and modern Israel's capture of the city from Jordan during the Six-Day War of 1967. To the archeologically unschooled eye, the ruins don't tell much of a story, so the many interpretive signs are useful. I just wish I'd had time to read more of them -- despite the heat.

We went for a dip in the Dead Sea, stopping en route to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the winter of 1946-47 by two Bedouins. I can't tell you the name of the facility that we used for our dip into the saltiest, lowest-elevation lake on earth, but it included a shaded lawn, changing rooms, indoor and outdoor showers, snack bar and wooden pier leading out to the warm salty, mineral-laden water. It's a kick to just float in this remarkable sea, but I was mindful of the terrible degradation it has suffered.

With less Jordan River water to replenish it, the sea has shrunk. The water level has reportedly been dropping three feet per year and also shrinking in surface area, causing sinkholes to appear along its banks. Mining and extractive uses, ssewage and effluent from fish farms further degrade the lake. While Dead Sea water and mud have therapeutic effects, there's nothing healthy about the crud now allowed to flow into it. Since it is located between Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian controlled land, there seem to be no immediate prospects for mitigating the environmental problems.
For dinner, we rode six-passenger gondola cars (here called a cable car) from a bottom station next to the old Jericho archaeological site to a stony shelf high on Mt. Temptation, where Jesus is said to have fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and been tempted by the Devil. We didn't fast but feasted on the terrace of a multi-level restaurant, cafe and row of small shops set into caves in the cliff. And did I mention the outstanding views of the valley below? A monastery also occupies the shelf, but it was not open when we arrived. We watched the sunset and the full or nearly-full moon rise.

We overnighted at the InterContinental Jericho, the best hotel of the entire trip -- including the InterContinental Bethlehem where we stayed at the beginning. Stunning woodwork, attractive public spaces and really nice guest rooms made this a traveler's oasis in a geographic oasis. Oh, to have a half-day of down-time there!

Next stop: Jerusalem.

Palestine: Day 5, Part 1: Galilee, Jordan River Valley and Jericho

2010-06-27T10:36:00.003-06:00

From the lush Galilee to the parched Negev Desert

After the blinding light and barenness of the desert, Galilee green soothes the eyes and lifts the spirit. Much of the water that drains out of the south end of the lake and used to replendish the Jordan River's flow is now diverted for irrigation, causing the Dead Sea's level to drop.

Sea of Galilee
Galilee is the name of a huge lake and lush agricultural area in northern Israel and Palestine. It and the Jordan River Valley are the two nation's breadbaskets. Olive trees grow in dry, rocky soil, but just about everything else needs water and therefore grows in the Galilee. Christian pilgrims head for the Church of Beatitudes, an octagonal church set amid beautifully landscaped grounds on the north end of the lake. This enchanting locale was were Jesus is said to have given the Sermon on the Mount, Nearby, in the fishing village of Cana, he performed the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.

The Jordan River Valley and Jericho

Continuing south and paralleling the river, we passed into territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The farms looked ever rougher and less sophisticated. Eventually we entered the desert (below) and later drove up and over a sandy hill and here was the oasis where Jericho is located. It lays claim to being the oldest city on earth. It intends to celebrate its 10,000th anniversary on 10/10/2010, a clever date. No plans are in place yet, however, so it might come off --- and maybe not. Jericho is the lowest city in elevation on the planet. We experienced searing desert heat at 1,200 feet below sea level on a sunny day in almost-July.

As always, stay tuned for more.

Palestine: Day 4, Part 2: Nazareth

2010-06-26T21:09:00.006-06:00

Nazareth remains one of the world's major Christian pilgrimage centers, plus it's got a disco

As the site of Christ's birth and, equally important, a Palestinian town in Israel rather than in the Occupied Territories, Nazareth is set up for day-tripping tourists from Jerusalem, including the Nativity Village I wrote about previously.

Nazareth

As is so often the case in the Holy Land, Nazareth boasts a number of sites built and maintained by various denominations celebrating the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to Mary telling her that she would give birth to a very special child. Nazareth is also the city of Jesus' early years. Our group had time to visit only two -- and in the context of this land of old stones and ancient buildings, both are quite new.

The Basilica of the Annunciation, an enormous two-level Roman Catholic church on the site where Mary's home is believed to have been located. Consecrated in 1969, it is a contemporary structure with a large lower level built where many people can mill about. Small groups can reserve a sunken chapel-size area to hold their own services (below, top photo), and there is also an opening in the floor to reveal a beautiful mosaic floor from a fifth-century Byzantine church, one of several at that location. The nave of the upstairs church (middle photo) features depictions of the Madonna and Child that were given by Roman Catholics in countries from around the world -- each in the style of the country (bottom image, Japan). Outside, ruins of a Crusader church are also visible.

St. Gabriel's Church is an alternative site where the Angel Gabriel told her that she was pregnant with the Son of God. Work on this opulent Greek Orthodox church began, was stopped for decades, restarted and completed in the late 20th century. Visitors can sip water hand-drawn from a 125-foot deep well in a grotto under the church or buy items in the tiny gift shop.

My guidebooks indicate that Nazareth, the largest Palestinian town within Israel, is lively and has a great old market. But we were on a tight schedule, so we never saw it, but we did pass several other denominations' churches in the town where Joseph had his workshop and where Jesus grew up.

Another opulent dinner -- this time with whole St. Peter's fish from the Sea of Galilee as the entree -- was at La Fontana de Maria Restaurant, a large, attractive eatery. When we left, we heard blaring music from a disco down the street that demonstrates that not everything in the Holy Land is ancient or restrained.

Then, up up the mountain to the St. Gabriel Hotel, once a convent or monastery, with small, simple and dim guest rooms (below). The foot of the bed and the desk are so close that I had to lift the chair over the bed in order to work at the desk -- and I had to climb over the bed to sit on the chair. Who says travel writers always are accommodated in shameless luxury?

Palestine: Day 4, Part 1, Sebastia, Checkpoint Hassles and Nazareth

2010-06-24T22:36:00.005-06:00

Excursion into antiquity marred by arbitrary stop at Israeli checkpoint

What should have an easy trip from Nablus to Nazareth via modern highway was marred by a one-hour delay at a sizable checkpoint and an unexpected detour.

Sebastia
Sebastia, now a sleepy rural town in the hills above Nablus, traces six cultures spanning some 10,000 years: Canaanite, Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine plus "modern." It was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Herod the Great -- a great builder but a cruel and blood-thirsty ruler in other respects -- created the city of Sebaste on the site. On the outskirts are drive-to ruins of a grand public building with a shuttered cafe next to it. So many ancient sites are understandably roped off to protect them from crowds, visitors can roam freely among the remnants of walls and columns. A short loop trail leads up a hill past a Roman amphitheater, a small Crusader chapel and other ruins.

In the small village itself are the remains of a Crusader church , where John the Baptist was supposedly beheaded. The grotto is currently being stabilized.

A deep excavation shows an ancient Roman cemetery (below). The wooden frame remains from a pulley system used to hoist up artifacts that now reside in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. We did not have time to descend the stairs to see the cemetery more closely.

Checkpoint Hassles
As we were heading to Nazareth in Galilee, we were held up for an hour at a highway barrier checkpoint near the settlement of Ari'el, one of the hundreds of Israeli checkpoints that erupt from the Palestinian landscape like festering wounds. I often have been critical of the US Transportation Security Agency, but TSA screeners are amateur hasslers compared with the Israeli Army.,Often young, always armed soldiers are empowered to make arbitrary decisions about who may pass and who may not, who is searched and who is not. At small checkpoints, there are often only two soldiers, immediately answerable to no one. At larger checkpoints, there may be more soldiers and some kind of chain of command.

At the checkpoint near Air'el, our bus -- 14 American visitors, one Canadian, three Israeli Palestinians (including the driver) and one West Bank Palestinian with a permit to enter -- was diverted to a special screening area. We were asked to get off the bus and bring all our luggage -- the bigger pieces under the bus and all of our carryons -- to be X-rayed. Laptops were checked twice. We had to open our suitcases, and one of the guards poked around every one, riffling through the pages of books and generally wasting time by looking for things that were not there. We had to walk through a metal detector. In the end, our West Bank friend, who I repeat has a permit to enter enter Israel, was denied admittance through that checkpoint. We were ordered around politely. I suspect that Palestinians are not treated politely at all.

Our friend waited at the checkpoint while the driver continued to the next exit, turned around to pick him up and then took a long detour to another smaller checkpoint where the soldiers glanced at our assorted passports and IDs and let us through. The detour through stark and arid Bedouin country reminded me of Navajo Nation land. It was interesting to see, but it was not because the Army wanted us visitors to go sightseeing in an area we would have missed. It was simply to harass the Palestinians.

Nazareth
When we finally arrived in Nazareth in time for a late lunch and truncated tour at the Nazareth Village, an excellent living-history recreation of life in the this area at the time of Christ. It is the brainchild of the Herschend family, key developers in Branson, Missouri, and therefore is done very well. We sat on rough benches and ate food from that time brought by servers in period dress. There was soft round, chewy unleavened bread similar to a tortilla, delicious, lentil soup, chicken and vegetables all served rough pottery vessels.

The interpretive tour was guided by a young theology student from California, who was not in period garb. He took us through the recreated home, meeting house that served as a community gathering place and synagogue, workshop and showed how olives were pressed back then. We were so late that we didn't have time to visit the agricultural area.

More later on the Church of the Annunciation, lodging and dinner in Nazareth.

Palestine: Day 3, Part 2: Taybeh, Mt. Gerizim and Nablus

2010-06-23T21:21:00.009-06:00

Visits with two priests who loom large in their small West Bank towns

Taybeh
Tiny Taybeh is so much more than beer and antiquity. It is the location of St. George Church (below, top photo) and its remarkable, admirable, energetic parish priest, Father Raed Abu Sahlieh (bottom photo). He exemplifies the best of Christ's teachings, walking the walk but also talking the talk to explain to anyone who will listen why peace, social justice and the brotherhood of man are so important to humankind. He runs the church of course, but also a school for area children of all faiths, a 50-voice children's choir, the only care facility around for the elderly and the inspiring Peace Lamp project. His fund-raising idea was to put olive-oil-burning dove-shaped Peace Lamps in all the world's churches. Ambitious and admirable. The church grounds also feature the recreation of a Holy Land dwelling from the time of Christ.

Photos: Mac Lacy, Group Travel Leader

They say if you can't say something good, say nothing at all, so I'm not cyber-saying anything about lunch at the Asffoura Restaurant in Nablus.

Mt. Gerizim and the Last of the Samaritans
We drove to the top of Mt. Gerizim overlooking Nablus. On the windy summit is a small Samaritan village presided over by Kahen Husni, the priest of this tiny, ancient sect that in Biblical times counted millions of believers and now has fewer than 1,000. The Samaritans, who trace their unbroken lineage back to the ancient Israeli tribe of Levi, maintain practices from two millennia ago, including ritual sheep sacrifice that is so authentic that several thousand Israeli Jews visit annually to see how it was done in the really old days. The Samaritans' practices are similar the Jewish rituals (Saturday sabbath, reading from the Torah in Hebrew, etc.) but Arabic is their everyday language. They don't eschew modern life. They have televisions and cell phones, and a group of boys was energetically kick a soccer ball around on the area used for the sacrifice. Perhaps some of the children harbored dreams of some day playing on a Palestinian team in the World Cup.

Nablus
Back down the mountain to Nablus and a quick run through the ancient market, which is not under threat from Jewish settlers as Hebron is. I could have spent hours there, but we were directed to be on the fast track. Our only detour was to an olive factory that still has traditional hand-operated soap-making apparatus on display but now makes the soap elsewhere.

The simple, well-worn Yasmeen Hotel is our lodging for the night. The location on the fringes of the souk is fantastic, especially for those with time to meander through the market. Sadly, the exterior still bears the scars of bullet hits. My room resembles a monastic cell, but there is free WiFi, without which I'd be even father along than I am. Dinner at the nearby Saraya Restaurant is a traditional progression of small salads, spreads, dips, condiments and of course, pita, followed by roasted lamb and fragrant rice and then knafa, a local dessert made of sweet melted goat cheese, honey and a crunchy topping that might have been small piece of crumbled dough or something else that I couldn't identify.

Most of my traveling companions went to a Turkish bath, but I opted to return to the hotel and check on E-mail, write a blog post and get some sleep. I was still at it when they returned from the Turkish bath.

Palestine: Day 3, Part 1: On the Road to Taybeh

2010-06-22T21:46:00.013-06:00

In Taybeh and Nablus, rough history but non-violent peace activists

We left Bethlehem after breakfast, passing through the main security checkpoint in what is now a walled city -- not a pictursque medieval wall but an ugly concrete scar across the ancient landscape. We passed the outskirts of Jerusalem, the troubled holy city for three faiths that is a political pawn in an ongoing political tussle between the Palestinians who want their own state and the Israeli government which doesn't want to give up anything. The implementation of the two-state solution -- one Jewish and one Palestinian nation -- that came out of the 2007 Annapolis Conference remains stalemated, and meanwhile, Israel continues building settlements, maintaining checkpoints and extended the walls that in many places are higher than East Germany's Berlin Wall during the Cold War.

Photo: Odyssei Travel Community

The landscape noth of the city reminded me somewhat of the Southwest: golden hills with stone outcroppings (limestone here), bushes that from a distance resemble but darker, arroyos, deep valleys and occasional dirt tracks leading somewhere. Instead of grazing cattle, however,there are occasional flocks of sheep or goats watched over by a shepherd or goatherder, and here and there camels. The scene has existed since the land was settled and humans began domesticating animals. Also, the US Southwest has no olive trees or small villages on hillsides and hilltops, and thankfully no walls or military watchtowers every few miles to control civilians. The closest we get is the occasional penetentiary or prison where convicts are incarcerated.

The main West Bank roads built are well-constructed, immaculately paved highways that are very much of the 21st century -- built by the Israeli government to provide quick, smooth access to and from settlements plunked here and there on the Palestinian landscape, often in places where they can control the water to old Palestinian communities. It is yet another affront.

TaybehOn the outskirts of tiny Taybeh, said to be the only all-Christian village in this Arab country, the Taybeh Brewing Company is practicing peace through beer. Established by Nadeem Khoury, a Palestinian homebrewer, in 1994 when the Oslo Peace Accords had brought optimism to Palestine, it is the only microbrewery in the Middle East and the only Palestinian-owned brewery anywhere. It turns spring water, barley from France and Belgium, hops from Bavaria and the Czech Republic and yeast into four beers. They have won awards, are the first Middle Eastern brwery to license in Germany and export to France. The brewery also started bottling olive oil for St George's Church school and began developing an alcohol-free beer in case a more Islamist fundamentalist party wins a Palestinian election and alcohol is banned. The brewery owners are nothing if not practical.

We visited the ruins of a Byzantine church called El Khader/St. George. It is the site of baptisms in an ancient font, and townsfolk still come there to sacrifice a sheep for various festivals. The church dates from the fourth century and was destroyed by the Samarians in the sixth century. It is one of manymanifestations of the violence and religious conflict that tragically are nothing new to the Holy Land, but you'd think that humankind would have learned something in 15 centuries.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Palestine: Day 2, Part 2: Bethlehem and Hebron

2010-06-22T13:55:00.004-06:00

Great lunch in Bethlehem followed by a visit to Hebron, an experience in sorrow

Bethlehem

We visited the International Cultural Center, a youth and cultural center offereing education, enrichment, opportunities to build skills the arts, community support and health services to young people, plus a small guesthouse. The complex is one of the hopeful signs of better, more tranquil times to come.

Then we made our way through the old city for lunch at Afeem, down a little street near Manger Square in Bethlehem. Under vaulted stone ceilings, the staff brought out wonderful renditions of Middle Eastern specialties that we'd had before and would have again. Everything came out family-style, so the narrow table was packed with plates and bowls. The hummus was the best I've ever eaten. But the real discovery was lemonade mixed with finely chopped mint. A champion in the thirst-quencher competition.

Hebron

From Bethlehem, we drove to Hebron, a city that was an early hotbed of Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation to their territory and unprecedented retaliation on the part of the Israeli government, whose army has the big guns in this conflict. The city center is busy and lively, but pairs of armed soldiers stand around, and scores of checkpoints require Palestinians to show identification on demand when traveling around their own city.

Most controversial and provocative are the Jewish settlements plunked in the middle of old city, not on the outskirts as elswhere. Palestinians have been displaced to make way for these settlements, each protected by a high fence or wall and armed soldiers. The population of the three settlements is reportedly somewhere between 300 and 500, with something like 1,000 soldiers to protect them. Streets and alleyways that used to go through are now blocked off, and hundreds of shops in the old souk have closed, either their metal doors welded shut by the Israelis or abandoned by shopkeepers who no longer had business in this tense place.

One of the settlements looms above the centuries-old market. The settlers, fanatics by anyone's standards, took to throwing shows and trash down on the narrow market paths below. Nets and fencing suspended over the streets (below) now prevent this detritus from hitting passersby. Hebron authorities are so eager to repopulate the old city that they are offering free housing, free schooling and free medical care as incentives to Palestinian families to return to the heart of the city. It would take that for people to be willing to endure the inconvenience and even humiliation literally and figured heaped up them by the small minority of settlers in their midst.

Visitors get an eyeful if they walk through the market, passing many forever-closed shops, en route to Harem el-Kahlil Mosque, which should be sacred to all three major mono-theistic religions. It holds the red and white striped Tombs osf the Patriarchs -- where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and other members of the family are buried. They are revered by Arabs, Christians and Jews and should be sacred to all. But it was the site of one of the West Bank's worst incidents -- and there have been a lot of incidents. In 1994, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Israeli physician with undisputed credentials as a fanatic, donned his Army reserve uniform, entered to mosque and threw a grenade, killing 29 people and wounding 125.

When we left the mosque and again passed through a floor-to-ceiling metal turnstile watched by an armed soldier and walked down the net-covered byways and shuttered market stalls, I bought a beaded bracelet in the colors of the Palestinian flag from one of the young vendors. It was a sad and sobering afternoon. There are many Israelis and non-Israeli Jews who favor peace talks and peace. But the government, with its many travel restrictions, makes such talks difficult. I hope something clicks in, that the conservatives and fnatics on both sides lose power and influence, and that future generations will live in harmony and peace.

En route out of town, we stopped at a glass and ceramics shop (three photosjust below) with one traditional glass-blower showing off his craft for visitors' camera. Then we briefly visited the pools of Solomon, an ingenious water storage and delivery system from antiquity. The pools are located in a shaded area that is currently roped off (bottom) while workmen do some restoration or repairs. Across the street is is a newer resort amnd conference center.

In the evening, we had dinner with Palestinian tourism VIPs at the Tent Restaurant back in Bethlehem. I had to make myself chat and socials, enjoy the group of young dancers and tasty food. Everything was good, but in truth, I continud to be haunted by Hebron and had trouble focusing on the feast.

West Bank Travels: Day 2, Part 1

2010-06-21T22:27:00.008-06:00

Holy sites for beckon the faithful -- and their digital cameras

We started the morning at Shepherd's Fields (top image, below), where -- according to the New Testament -- the Angel of the Lord visited the shepherds to tell them of Jesus' birth. I learned that two millennia ago, the shepherds and also their animals spent their nights underground in caves and grottos in the soft limestone. The manger as usually depicted is therefore a much later European interpretation of where animals were kept. A hole in the ceiling let air and light in, and smoke out. A metal walkway down the side of the valley enables visitors to see some of these grottos, many with small rooms that are now used as chapels for small groups of the faithful to pray or sing. Benches and small altars (middle image) have been set up for these groups. On the valley rim is a domed church that we did not have time to visit.

We had breakfast at the nearby Golden Peak Hotel -- buffet and chance to meet with some Palestinians involved in various social justice and peace movementsa nd various good works, and also tourist promotion efforts to bring more visitors to Palestine and the West Bank. Nidal Abu Zuluf, who advocates for non-violence as inspired by anti-Apartheid actions in South Africa (and of course, Mahatma Ghani in India and Dr. Martin Luther King in the US) is most impressive. Karios Palestine is a Christian Palestinian document expressing that approach effecting change and bringing about social justice and equality.

The people, who harbor hopes for better times to come, are very different from images of Palestinians we see on our news programs, which tend to report on the violent and the negative. After a decade of military occupation by the Israeli army, the construction high walls all over the landscape to contain Palestinians and the imposition of Jewish settlements in their midst, it is remarkable that anyone can remain positive and try to help their people. But some -- many, in fact -- do.

The exterior of the Church of the Nativity is not beauitful, so don't expect something like the grand cathedrals of Europe. The hulking, undorned Byzantine structure has suffered from centuries that included assasult, netglecs and renovations that were often undertaken for defensive reasons. A large doorway was made narrowerand lower, so that a horse and rider could not enter and also so that men had to bend down to get through and there heads lobbed off if they were unwelcome.

Inside, the atmosphere is less reverential than I remember from a visit during the Society of American Travel Writers convention in Israel some 25 years ago. But that was before digital cameras, which cause people to travel around looking at the world through the image display. I am as guilty as anyone and do it too. People dress more casually now, talk more and more loudly, and are in a greater hurry than they were then. I'm not religious, but then, I lit a candle to honor my Aunt Margaret, the only church-goer in my fanily.This time, the group zipped through the side room when the candles are now sold. I saw a few robed monks and priests and a couple of nuns -- far fewer propotionally now than then. A quarter of a century ago, the church seemed like a place of pilgrimage for the faithful. This time, I'm afraid that it felt more like something most tourists cross off their bucket list. The main church is cavernous, largely devoid of ancient ornamention but with the abundant lights and lanterns that characterize Eastern rite churches.

The main church is cavernous, largely devoid of ancient ornamention but with icons, lots of silver and abundant lights and lanterns that characterize Eastern rite churches.

Under the Byzantine-style Orthodox portion of the double church is a grotto where Mary is believed to have given birth to the Baby Jesus. The spot, a silk/satin-draped niche (below), is marked with a plaque on the floor. Many people get down on hands and knees to touch or kiss the plaque, resulting in many photos of many backsides. Again, small rooms accommodate groups of pilgrims who sit on plastic chairs, praying or singing. A quarter of a century ago, I seem to remember a lot of lit candles and quieter contemplation. Not now.

St. Catherine's Church, the immediaely adjacent Catholic church built in the 19th century, is somewhat Gothic in inspiration. It has a vaulted ceiling, high clerestory windows and wooden pews, more closely resembling many a Catholic church around the world. Someone is refinishing wood right now, so people were walking through, photographing and even praying to the sound of an electric sander and the smell of varnish. Most people passed though it on their way underground to older grottos, caves and chapels. The upper church and Manger Square are the places from which Christmas Eve Mass is telecast around the world

Underneath is the grotto where St. Hieronymus (St. Jerome) lived and was entombed until the Crusaders stole his bones and moved them elsewhere. He is credited with translating the Bible into Latin. He was said to have been hermit, but he had a housekeeper and her son in the gotto, so he was a hermit wtih at least minimal companionship.

To be continued when I have time.

West Bank/Palestine Travels, Day 1

2010-06-20T15:51:00.009-06:00

Holy Land media visit starts with a long travel day

At Denver International Airport, I saw the controversial statue of Horus (below), a complicated ancient Egyptian god whose statue has been placed right outside the main terminal in honor of the upcoming King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Muesum. I'm missing the media preview this week.

Easy flight to Newark, long layover and then comfy transatlantic flight. I used miles and money to upgrade to Continental's Business/First for the long overnight flight to Tel Aviv.

Arrived in Tel Aviv, met group at airport and boarded bus driven by "Captain" Samr and listened to intro to the Palestinian Territories by Samir Bahbah (below) of the Arab Tour Guides Association. His story exemplifies the complexities of this area. He is a Catholic by religion, Palestinian by nationality and Arab by ethnicity. He grew up and lives in East Jerusalem, so he has a Jordanian passport yet is an Israeli citizen who cannot vote and does not have to serve in the Army.

Our bus traveled through the outskirts of Jeruslem and the first of many security checkpoints we would encounrter and directly into Bethlehem and checked into the Jacir Palace Intercontinental Hotel (below, top image), a luxury hotel affixed to an opulent villa on the oturskirts of the city. My room (below, bottom) is comfortable but not lavish, yet the public spaces in the old mansion are exceptionally atmospheric. When I went to open my bag, the TSA-compliant lock was gone and the loop on the zipper pull where the lock fit through was broken. Too much time in Newark -- or or likely something at the airport here, where enthsiastic Israeli security agents don't bother with the device that opens TSA-complient locks? I'll never know, but now, I guess that I'll have to carry my netbook with me everywhere.

Light buffet dinner during this very low season.. A few of us went for a short walk, and then back to the hotel. Room is fine. Bedside table holds a New Testament in three languages (German, English, French) and a Koran in Arabic (below). It's been a long time since I've been in a hotel room with an ashtray! A liter of water was a nice consideration, because the tap water is not potable. Oh, how I wish they'd put a second bottle of water in my room.

And now, a good night.

Wyoming Town Honors Rodeo Star

2010-06-18T13:33:00.003-06:00

Tiny Kaycee dedicates Chris LeDoux Memorial Park this weekend to big local star

Chris LeDoux was a rodeo star on horseback and on stage. He won the Professional Rodeo world championship in bareback riding in 1976, and he played to capacity crowd concerts at Cheyenne Frontier Days beginning in the mid-1990s. He was inducted into both the Cheyenne Frontier Days and Pro Rodeo Halls of Fame. A highlight of his music career was a top ten hit sung with Garth Brooks, "What You Gonna Do With a Cowboy," and his records sold more than six million worldwide. He died in 2005 at age 56 of a rare form of liver cancer.

This weekend, Kaycee, Wyoming (70 miles north of Casper, population 300) is dedicating the new Chris LeDoux Memorial Park in downtown on land that LeDoux and his wife, Peggy, purchased many years ago. They raised five children on a ranch outside of Kaycee. It dedication includes the unveiling of a monumental life-and-a-half size bronze called “Good Ride Cowboy” by sculptor D. Michael Thomas of Buffalo, Wyoming (45 miles north of Kaycee). He began the project shortly after LeDoux’s death. “Chris’s passing hit me like a ton of bricks right in the gut. I always had an idea there needed to be a monument of this fellow. He was Mr. Wyoming,” said Thomas.

Thomas’s 2,300-pound bronze depicts LeDoux spurring for a coveted world champion’s buckle. The base depicts LeDoux’s guitar. Kaycee locals and legions of LeDoux fans raised the funds required for the sculpture. A Cody mold maker, the Caleco Bronze Foundry in Cody and finisher Clay Ward of Deaver, Wyoming, were involved in taking the project for concept to completion. The dedication takes place tomorrow, June 19, and while it's way late for most people to head for Kaycee, the festivities give an iea of how a small town can celebrate a significant local person. The celebration starts at 10:00 a.m. and includes free food and beer prior to the unveiling of the bronze at 3:00 p.m. Afterward, LeDoux’s band, the Western Underground, will play a free concert following the ceremony.

Book Blog for Armchair Travelers and Otherwise

2010-06-17T09:36:00.002-06:00

A Traveler's Library finds and reviews travel books, films and more

A lifetime ago, I read Helen MacInnes's The Salzburg Connection while in Salzburg and the lake region called the Salzkammergut. I re-read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises in Spain and A Farewell to Arms after returning from Slovenia. Peter Matthiesen's The Tree Where Man Was Born came to Tanzania with me, and Peter Hessler's River Town and Simon Winchester's The River at the Center of the World provided insights to life on the Yangtze in particular and China in general. And I've happily slogged through many a James Michener tome when traveling in places he wrote about. After returning from Easter Island, I rented "Rapa Nui." Loved the island. Hated the movie. And so my reading and my reading, and occasionally film watching, run in parallel chairs, often intertwining like a braided river, with the experience and the book merging and diverging.

In truth, because I work with words all day, I don't read nearly as much as I once did -- except when I am traveling. So when my friend Rosemary recommended her friend Vera's blog, A Traveler's Library, I found a kindred spirit. I enjoyed roaming through it, and I hope you will too. And while you're at it, check out Feast, Rosemary's eZine, which celebrates travel and also food, films, literature and art.

American Airlines' Latest Fee

2010-06-16T07:03:00.001-06:00

Pay ahead for a few benefits that you might not use

In this age of unbundling that requires passengers to pay separately for such services that until recently were included in air fares (checked baggage, food, standby for earlier flights, a better seat, etc.), American Airlines is "rebundling" some fees. They're calling it the "Your Choice," and here's what the airline boasts that it now offers to passengers for yet another upfront fee:

•places you in Group 1 of General Boarding, which allows you to be one of the first groups to board the plane for your flight. (Group 1 boards immediately following PriorityAAccess customers);
•provides a $75 Flight Change Discount, which means that if you need to change your itinerary, you'll save $75 off the regular service charge when applicable;
•allows you to standby for an earlier flight on your day of departure at no charge;
•applies to all travelers in your reservation per-person charge;
•offered for an introductory price of as little as $9 each way. Prices vary based by market and routing;

Note that it doesn't allow you to check a bag without yet another fee -- and of all the add-on fees, this one drives most passengers bonkers -- and is driving them to Southwest. It does allows you to stand by for an earlier same-day flight at no charge, but if there are no seats on that earlier flight, you lose that crap shoot. And significantly, Your choice doesn't totally waive the flight change fee; it just cuts the excessive charge by $75. American doesn't say how long the Your Choice "introductory" price (currently $9-$18 each way) will be valid. It could be a week, a month, a year. I'm guessing that if people pony up for this new fee, American will jack it up fast.

The airline adds, "Later this summer American will offer Group 1 of General Boarding as a stand-alone option for customers, upon arrival at the airport. The introductory price for the Group 1 of General Boarding option is $10 each way, regardless of flight length, markets or routing. Services must be purchased for the entire itinerary. This option will be available for purchase up to one hour prior to scheduled flight departure, via the self-service check-in machines at most U.S. – and many worldwide – airports." Would you call this re-unbundling?

Riviera Maya Puts Tourist Promotion into Overdrive

2010-06-14T15:08:00.004-06:00

Fancy new hotels, upgraded old towns, eco-experiences, new attractions and Tulum lure visitors

A few weeks ago, representatives of tourism industry came to Colorado with updates about the Riviera Maya, the Yucatan Peninsula's sun-kissed coastline Caribbean coastline. South of Cancun and all of its high-rise razzmatazz stretched along a 14-mile-long Tourist Zone, visitors to the Riviera Maya nevertheless benefit from the proximity (11 miles to the north end of the Riviera Maya) to a good-size international airport. It is anticipating building its own airport within a few years, but from my standpoint, why cut down ancient jungle and foul up the place with airplane noise, fumes and traffic when a perfectly good airport is not all that far -- except that Cancun and the Riviera Maya are in different states, and politics is doubtless involved.

The infrastructure of the 81-mile Riviera Maya has been greatly upgraded since I was last there nearly 20 years ago. My husband and I had been scuba diving on Cozumel, just offshore. Since we weren't able to dive within 24 hours before flying home, we boarded a hydrofoil to a dusty town called Playa del Carmen, wandered up the main street and hopped on the first Tulum-bound bus. A rattly old school bus drove the two-lane road with a lot of jungle views and dropped us off along the highway, perhaps a quarter of a mile from the entrance to these magnificent ocean-view ruins. The bus fare was about $1.35. We explored the ruins at our own pace, consulting our guidebook and occasionally eavesdropping on an English-speaking guide. Then, we wandered back to the main road, boarded the next Playa del Carmen-bound bus (another $1.35 fare), just missed one hydrofoil and had a couple of drinks and a some dockside nibbles before returnbing to Cozumel on the next one.

Tulum photo by Bruno Girin from Creative Commons

That was then and this is now: 362 hotels with a total of 37,300 hotel rooms available in different categories from small and charming hotels along the shore to modern "integrated tourism complexes made up of luxurious five star hotels, marinas and golf courses," in the tourist-speak now practiced in this enchanted, enchanting part of Mexico. I think there's even a four-lane highway. Now, luxury hotels, including all-inclusive properties, have sprung up on the Riviera Maya -- mercifully lower-rise and with less density than other coastal resorts. If you want swimming pools, palapas, fine dining and a family-friendly resort environment, the Riviera Maya has those in abundance.

There are also tourist developments that appear to be enlightened and enlightening. Xel-Ha is described as "open-sea aquarium offer[ing] a myriad of land and water activities, ecological attractions, world-class restaurants and countless more unimaginable experiences." I'm intrigued by the concept of a responsible attraction that protects wildlife, marinelife, birdlife and habitat while offering the kinds of safe experiences that many travelers, especially families, seek today. Another attraction that appears to combine gentle adventure, visitor education and resource protection is Xplor, which provides an opportunity to swim through a stalctatie river, hand-paddle an undrground raft and ride a zipline above the trees and water, all of which seem designed to protect the natural resources. The two-seat amphibious vehicles that "conquer all terrains between jungle, water, rocks and grottos" -- maybe not so much.

If you prefer a vibrant town with a lots of amenities aimed at visitors, Plaza del Carmen is such a place. No longer a laid-back Mexican town, it has been developed a good culinary presence and an interesting art and music scene. It also has an abundance of tourist shops, tourist-trap bars, gringo-ized restaurants and even a WalMart. I wouldn't go back for those, but I would for the arts, the festivals and the chance for some of the nearby eco-opportunities, including cenote snorkeling or diving -- and of course, to revisit the ruins at Tulum.

Clearly, presentations, like that given by the Riviera Maya representatives make everything look great, even facilities not normally of interest. What impressed me about this one was the range of accommodations now available, from backpacker-friendly to five-star luxury, presenting something for every type of Mexico-bound traveler. And from what I'm hearing, prices for the rest of 2010 (until Christmas) are rockbottom low, even at top properties. Summer is a season of high heat and low prices, but consider a deal at a complete resort with a great beach, a large pool and air conditioning, where the heat won't bother you.

Head to Playa del Carmen on Thursday evening, when it's cooler, for a weekly cultural and street festival starting at 8:00. 5ta. Avenida in Playa del Carmen, the main street, features painting , sculpture, dance, poetry, theatre, photography, performance art and video. Come fall, festival season kicks up again.

Colorado Streamflow Easing

2010-06-11T12:57:00.000-06:00

Raft outfitter association sends out reassuring bulletin

Fast snowmelt resulted in some wild rides, several capsizings and a some loss of life on the rivers of Colorado, and probably other Western states too, this spring. Boulder Creek was closed to tubing but open to kaying; there is no commercial rafting on the narrow stream. A bridge in Boulder Canyon washed out a couple of days ago, and the recreation path alongside the creek was closed for several hours for fear of surging water overlflowing the banks. But things appear to be easing to safer levels for recreational raft trips, not just for whitewater junkies.

The Colorado River Outfitters' Association just released the following, which I present without comment:

"The robust spring runoff that has garnered much media attention in recent days has begun to level off, signifying a transition from early season conditions to the heart of the annual operating period for Colorado’s rafting industry.

“'Water levels on rivers from Clear Creek to the Arkansas and the Colorado are down as much as 20% from yesterday,' noted Johnny Cantamesssa, president of Dillon-based Highside Adventure Tours and a member of the board of directors for the Colorado River Outfitters Association.

"As happens in most good water years, the early season runoff brought out the adrenaline junkies but also led to some hesitation among inexperienced rafters, those with children and those who simply like a mellower time on the water. Now, says Cantamessa, there’s no reason the entire spectrum of river enthusiasts shouldn’t be eager to sign up with one of Colorado’s many licensed commercial outfitters.

“'Conditions are great for rafting – there’s still exciting whitewater for those who enjoy the big rapids, but opportunities abound for those looking for a more gentle river experience as well,' said Cantamessa.

"In 2009, Colorado’s professional river outfitters hosted around a half million visitors and contributed more than $140 million in economic impact. A recovering economy, good water and a recognition of the significant recreation value represented by rafting – trips can range from $40-$50 per day to several hundred dollars for overnight, multi-day experiences – are expected to generate good business for CROA members and the state again this season."

Get Connected at Puerto Vallarta Resort

2010-06-08T11:45:00.001-06:00

Luxury boutique hotel helps guests connect the 21st-century way

A lot of people are intending to get savvy or savvier about social media -- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. -- but never get around to it. Casa Velas near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico now helps guests get a handle on 21st-century communications at with three free social media workshops a week. It's the newest inclusion at this all-inclusive, adults-only, AAA Four Diamond Casa Velas Hotel Boutique (not Boutique Hotel, but Hotel Boutique). The Monday, Wednesday and Friday workshops take only an hour, enough for such basics as creating a Facebook profile, adding friends, uploading photos and utilizing “Like” pages; getting on Twitter, following and Tweeting; and also creating videos and uploading them to YouTube.

Pierre Bonin, Casa Velas managing director believes his property to be Mexico's first to offer social media workshops, free at that. Of course, the property benefits when has introduced guests share their vacation experiences, photos and videos with family and friends, but Casa Velas’ social media program was also requested. Velas Resorts surveyed 300 guests in Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit and the Rivera Maya. Seventy percent of respondents, aged 18 to 64, expressed serious interest in social media. The majority wanted to share vacation photos, videos and trip experiences with friends and family on Facebook. The plan is to add such workshops to other Velas Resorts.

I've never been to Puerto Vallarta in general let alone to the Casa Velas in particular, but the resort looks appealing. It is a member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World and appears to be a hideaway rather than a high-action place. It is closer to Puerto Vallarta Airport (five minutes) than to P.V's popular downtown area (15 minutes), filled with, art galleries, shops, restaurants, nightspots and seaside malecon. The hotel has 80 suites (some with private pools and Jacuzzis), large pool, richly landscaped grounds, golf privileges at a couple of nearby courses, a small spa and Emiliano, an a la carte fine-dining restaurant serving Mexican and international cuisine.

From now through December 23, rates start at $240 per person per night, based on double occupancy, including dining at Emiliano, private beach club, premium international liquor brands, 24-hour in-suite service, in-suite minibar, private roundtrip airport transportation and all taxes and gratuities. I don't know where rates that "start at" $240 PP/DO might end. I'm not pretending that $480 per day for a couple is a cheap vacation, but it certainly seems to present a good value for those who want a luxury getaway. And have you priced the hourly rate of an Internet tutor? Reservations, 866-529-8813. RCI members, RCI Members, 800-835-2778.