Salon Wanderlust | Readers Tips and Tales

Expatriate Blues
By Karl Taro Greenfeld
You've got money, women -- so why aren't you happy?
D E P A R T M E N T S
Road Warrior
Business travel & beyond
The Surreal Gourmet
By Bob Blumer
Pepperazzi unite!
Passages
"Travels Along the Edge"
Cruising Antarctica
By David Noland
Mondo Weirdo
Sleeping with ghosts
Readers' Tips and Tales
The Amazon

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LA S T+W E E K
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1997

Veritable Venice
By John Krich
A summer resident savors the city's eternal spirit -- and contemporary contradictions
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Wayne Lewrey | The Amazon
01:46pm Sep 19, 1997 PST (#7 of 7)
travelled to Leticia, Columbia in '74 as part of a University field trip to trap bats.
Leticia is a port town/city on the Amazon in an area known as Tres Fronteras because it is located 7 kms from Brazil and across the river from Peru. At the time, you could only boat or fly in as a "corduroy" road to Bogata had not been completed. You can find it on most world maps by looking for a small appendix at the bottom of Columbia. We were housed in a very upscale, palm-thatched cabana compound on the outskirts run by a man named ".....Mike" whose claim to fame was his photo in National Geographic wrestling an alligator/cayman. He owned a DC3 and supposedly trapped animals for zoos which he flew into Florida on a regular basis. I didn't realize how profitable his venture was until late '80s when I read that "Mike" had been convicted of smuggling Cocaine into Florida in his DC3, the exotic animals being a cover from the prying eyes of Customs
Although we went slopping through some gawdawful terrain, we never encountered the much-feared Candiru (small fish with inclination to swim up urine stream in water and lodge), the Fer-de-Lance (pit viper I think), or piranha but don't take my word for it. Basically bats, dung beetles and tarantula - all quite cute. Avoid young men who approach you as street vendors of copper bracelets, that's just the intro to potent grass, suspect cocaine and whatever dangerous pleasures you might wish to pursue. Take all necessary preventative shots and bring basic first aid such as antibiotic creams and insect repellant (bugs not that bad, even deep in rain forest where we were). People very hospitable and friendly. Take lots of pictures and keep a journal at night, your memory fades greatly as time passes.

Richard Newton | Drinking and travel
06:10pm Sep 22, 1997 PST (#19 of 19)
i just got back from there a few weeks ago. I went port-tasting at about five or six wineries before I gave up. Each place gives you half a glass of ruby or tawny port, and half a glass of white port. At 20% alcohol, it adds up!
If you go, the Solar do Vinho do Porto (the Port Wine Institute) is highly recommended! The port menu must be about 14 pages, and you can generally get a glass of nice port for about $2. Beautiful surroundings, as well: the seating area overlooks a rose garden with a fountain, backed by a vista of the river as it flows to the ocean.

Ray Veldre | The Ugly American -- Why Does the World Love to Hate U.S. Tourists?
11:52pm Sep 23, 1997 PST (#59 of 59)
i offer these travellers tales as a partial explanation to the question posed by Prentice Hall. In Venice, above the cooing of the pidgeons in the Piazza San Marco I heard a lady in a pink jumpsuit screech "Bob, Bob, I need more money, give me more money " in her best Peggy Bundy voice. In Rome my family and I overheard a conversation in a restaurant which went something like; "I want the ravio-l-eye...THE R-A-V-I-O-L-E-Y-E...My God these people are so dumb" . Here in Australia I worked with an American consultant for a short time, who created a major scene in a KFC outlet because the young kid behind the counter didn't understand his request for dark meat as opposed to white meat. He actually called the manager the next day and tried to get the kid sacked! When I was in Atlanta last year, a well to do woman said to me in a very condescending tone " My, you speak English so well. And what is the official language of Australia "?
I think you get my drift.
Personally, I take people as I find them, but your arrogantly ignorant countrymen aren't doing you guys any favours.
SALON | Sept. 30, 1997

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