Letter of the week:Buried treasures

Your columnist,Lee Tulloch is right about the fascination of cemeteries (Traveller,September 2). I recently laid a stone on General Sir John Monash’s simple grave in Brighton Cemetery (which strangely enough is located in Caulfield South here in Melbourne). In Paris,like Lee,I was fascinated by the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery which is a small graveyard containing an extraordinary variety of graves of the famous,such as Bizet,Chopin,Piaf and Colette,to name but a few. In London we should all see Karl Marx’s grave in the Highgate cemetery and stand and wonder.
Megan Peniston-Bird,Kew,Vic

Turning Japanese

I loved reading Catherine Keenan’s tale of travelling with teenagers in Japan (Traveller,August 19),I too recently had the most marvellous time with my 15-year-old daughter,eating our way around Tokyo and enjoying its beautiful people,culture and customs. It felt like absolutely everything was interesting,even a trip to the bathroom (the multi-functional toilet seats have to be experienced). There’s another destination I can highly recommend and that is Seoul,Korea. It’s super safe and clean with fabulous people,hikes,history,festivals,cuteness everywhere,K-pop,street performances and yes,a lot of amazing food.
Jessica Chester,Como,NSW

Wild about Zim

Your special edition on the next big things in travel (Traveller,September 2) mentions Zimbabwe. I second its inclusion. Admittedly,it is four years since our visit,but it remains a lifetime highlight. Staying on the edge of Hwange National Park,we felt we were the only people on the planet. No lines of tourist vehicles all vying for best photo op,just us,maybe four other companions,our guide and the animals – animals that held a wariness of humans but still gave us the encounters of a lifetime. To see an elephant within feet of you is life changing. And let’s not forget the people who are warm and welcoming. So yes,by all means,put Zimbabwe on your list of African countries. It’s true,once you have experienced Africa,it is with you forever.
Maree Harrison,Nerrina,Vic

Cross purposes

I agree with Amy Hiller (Traveller Letters,August 26) that there are many great walks to enjoy in Australia. However,in respect to the Camino,with its destination Santiago de Compostela in Spain,is not just a great walk,for most it is a Christian pilgrimage.
Barbara Ryan,Caringbah South,NSW

Clocking on

Herman Beyersdorf,(Traveller Letters,September 2),I believe that GMT applies to Portugal as well,not just Britain and Ireland,as it has the same time as the United Kingdom.
Daryll Gigg,Chiswick,NSW

Ticked off

Your correspondent (Traveller Letters,September 2) doubts the veracity of my Spanish guide’s explanation of the timezone difference in Spain. All internet sources,includingThe Washington Post,appear to support Franco changing the time to align with Hitler’s Germany.
Sally Spurr,Lane Cove,NSW

Size matters

Peter Miniutti’s opinion on whether a balcony is essential on a river cruise (Traveller Letters,September 2) obviously relates to the size of the boat. The two cruises that I have been on,namely the Mekong and French rivers,featured narrow ships with all of the rooms featuring a balcony. Having experienced the serenity of watching towns and buildings slide by from the comfort of my own room was something to dream of and something I would recommend to everyone.
Peter Ross,West Ryde,NSW

Pyjama games

Contrary to Peter Miniutti,for me one of the delights of river or ocean cruising is having my own balcony. As an early riser,I make a cup of tea and sit on the balcony in my PJs watching the world come to life as the sun rises. Later in the day I can enjoy quiet time on my balcony between activities. Each to their own,as always.
Gara Baldwin,Maroubra,NSW

Hit and miss

I’ve found the old international driver’s licence (IDL),which has been discussed inTraveller Letters recently to be hit-and-miss. I was at Heathrow a few years ago collecting our hire car from one of the major operators,Europcar,and on the next rental counter a fellow Aussie was handing over his IDL. They weren’t interested and would only accept a valid driver’s licence issued by a government agency.
Ross MacPherson,Seaforth,NSW

Tip of the week:Cuban crisis

We recently found ourselves stranded for a week in Havana,Cuba with four inoperable ANZ credit and debit cards,all of which worked perfectly in Chile,Peru and Colombia. It turns out that shops and even hotels only accept credit cards these days. Everything at our hotel in Old Havana,such as meals,drinks,coffee and laundry,needed to be paid with a credit card as cash was not accepted (we had Cuban pesos,US dollars and euros.) We unsuccessfully tried to email and phone ANZ from Cuba with our emails receiving a “this request was blocked by our security service” notice with the same response when given when we tried to access our accounts. It was not until our return that we learned ANZ does not honour financial transactions with certain countries,Cuba being one of them.
Stephanie Borland,South Melbourne,Vic

Up where you belong

Travellers toLisbon love everything about the Portuguese capital except perhaps the queues. Instead of lining up to wait an hour or more to travel up several floors in the historic Santa Justa Elevator to catch a great view of the city,my tip is to take the lift from the lobby of the Altis Avenida Hotel,which is almost opposite,and alight on the top floor. Put the €5.30 ($8.85) you saved on the elevator towards a signature cocktail in the little known garden roof bar where the hospitality,snacks and views will delight you (but let’s keep this our little secret).
Geoff Grist,Palm Beach,NSW

Driven spare

On a recent six-week trip to the UK,it was a constant battle to navigate the notoriously narrow roads,made worse in most smaller towns by the fact that people park on the road outside their properties. This often means you’re either stopping completely or slowing down to a crawl to let an oncoming vehicle through. The inevitable happened and we tore the sidewall of a tyre pulling in to let someone pass. Alas,there was no spare tyre in the car and,with it being Saturday at 4 pm,there was also no one available to fix it until Monday. My advice is to check for a spare before you leave the hire car depot and don’t leave before you have one.
John Martin,Magenta NSW

Train strain

Your happy traveller on the Sydney-Melbourne-Sydney train (Traveller Letters,August 26) was lucky. We’ve done it three times in two years,most recently last week. It’s been seriously late each time,including last week when we halted near Euroa in Victoria for an hour and 40 minutes. What made this particularly grim was that tickets had been reissued the night before to cram first-class passengers from two carriages into one. The other carriage sat empty in front of us,and closed. And of course for what turned out to be 13 hours,without windows that would open,someone coughed away without a mask. Never again.
Anna Gabrielle,Stanmore,NSW

Appy days

Travelling the Cote d’Azur last month and trying to cram in as many beautiful beaches along the coast (without a car) was made simple by downloading the Trainline app. Through it,you can access timetables and price options in your preferred currency,and pay for and download your ticket straight away (we often did this while standing on the platform). My daughter and I traversed the Riviera from Cannes to Monaco and back again many times with ease with this simple app.
Catherine Rush,Point Lonsdale,Vic

Chopped sticks

Following on from Joseph Ting’s observations (Traveller Letters,August 26) concerning the rampant use of disposable chopsticks,when I was living in Japan from 1987 to 1989,I tried to start a campaign to get people to switch to reusable ones. It got nowhere. Fellow diners would look at me with bemusement when I opened my stylish carry box to eat with my designer sticks. I put it down to fastidious Japanese attitudes towards cleanliness. Sorry to hear it’s still going on 30 years later however I still use the sets I brought home with me.
Richard Barlow,Torquay,Vic

The Letter of the Week writer wins three Hardie Grant travel books. Seehardiegrant.com

The Tip of the Week writer wins a set of three Lonely Planet travel books. Seeshop.lonelyplanet.com