Reality Tours to the "Emerging World"

Big-game safaris have become too darned big-ticket; even a cheap one to Africa typically hits you for $2,200 a week. So how can a frugal addict of Survivor or National Geographic live like Marlin Perkins for pennies? The backpackers know. They're not thronging Africa, paying luxury rates and dodging rebellions. They're in exotic Australia, where you slice prices in half to get the rough cost in U.S. dollars. Australia's secluded, tropical Top End is the cut-rate home of your wildest Discovery Channel dreams. Unlike ecosystems in the rest of Oz - ravaged by feral cats, rabbits, and pigs - here there have been few extinctions since Europeans arrived. Better yet, a sensational exchange rate comes with nearly free access to thousands of square miles of pristine wilderness, English-speaking locals (well, sort of), and the best-preserved pockets of Aboriginal life anywhere in the world. Leave your tent at home, because there's a safe place to sleep. Like the best seaside hangouts, quirky Darwin (the only settlement you could call a city up here) lures folks who drop by and never want to leave. Mitchell Street, the sluggish heartbeat of budget Darwin, hosts an eternal pub crawl where clean hostel beds are $10 and every other bar offers a trough of free meals (stir-fry, lamb, rice) to anyone who buys a $1.25 beer (prices cited in U.S. dollars). Though it's tempting to spend listless weeks swilling beer from a "stubby" on the shore, the real draws to the Top End are two of Australia's least-tamed national parks, Kakadu and Litchfield. Kakadu, larger than Connecticut at 7,336 square miles, is a World Heritage-protected site, and with good reason. A virgin wilderness in a country renowned for funky flora and fauna, Kakadu is home to a third of all Australia's bird species, many breathtakingly big. Not to mention termites that build 20-foot towers, a welter of wallabies, and 1,000 species of flies - most of which, sooner or later, will attempt to explore your nostrils. Many animals, including the endearingly named black wallaroo and chestnut-backed button-quail, are found only here. Others, such as the menacing saltwater crocodile, lurk in their thickest populations on Earth. On the nearby Mary River, our pontoon recently pulled nose-to-nose with dozens of dozing crocs, which set our teeth chattering nearly as loudly as our camera shutters. The Crocodile Hunter would have tinkled his khakis. Down under on the down low Yes, there's that pesky matter of getting to Oz, but light expenses on the ground will balance your initial transportation outlay. Happily, the Top End is best seen during its warm and dry winter, from June through August, when round-trip airfare prices from Los Angeles to Sydney (13 hours) ebb as low as $800. In fact, don't bother with the Top End during the sultry Aussie summer, because roads turn to pudding, animals disperse, and the sweat flows freer than Victoria Bitter. If you arrive via Sydney, you can fly to Darwin one-way (five hours, or about the same distance as Washington, D.C., to Phoenix) for $190 using Qantas's Boomerang Pass (800/227-4500), purchasable only in the United States, which gets you discount fares within Australia and New Zealand based on how far you fly. It's definitely the way to go if you want to hop around Oz. Then again, because Darwin is close to Southeast Asia, you might choose to tour Asia by flying Malaysia Airlines from Los Angeles (via Taipei and Kuala Lumpur) to Darwin (around $1,500 round-trip). If you have time, go by road. Greyhound (011-61-7/5690-9888, greyhound.com.au) charges $386 for a six-month pass including unlimited stops along the East Coast from Sydney to Darwin. For $448, Oz Experience's "Fish Hook" route does Sydney-to-Darwin via the Red Center, stopping all you want for a year (011-61-2/8356-1766, ozexperience.com). I recently took an unforgettable drive south from Darwin, out of the tropical rain belt and through the eerie Gold Rush ghost towns along the dusty Stuart Highway (there's plenty of food and fuel), ending four days later at legendary Uluru (better known to some by its European name, Ayers Rock). Australians, who cherish the family road trip in a way Americans have forgotten, also pride themselves on saving money, so most hostels provide plenty of private rooms, with communal bathrooms and kitchens, for couples and kin. In Darwin, the YHA (69 Mitchell St., 8981-2560, yha.com.au) and the more rambunctious Globetrotters Lodge (97 Mitchell St., 8981-5385, globetrotters.com.au) both charge $10 for a spot in a four-bed room, and double rooms go for just $23. If you don't like those, Mitchell Street in Darwin offers many others. Motels are plentiful, too. Value Inn (50 Mitchell St., 8981-4733, valueinn.com.au), smack in town, and The Capricornia (3 Kellaway St., 8981-4055), near Mindl Beach, lead the pack at $39 for a standard (but spotless) room, with A/C and TV, sleeping up to three. For its Tales of the City vibe, I favor the Mississippi Queen (4 Gardiner St., 8981-3358), inhabited by colorful misfits, where very basic beds ($17) are aboard retired campers, and the beer is served aboard an aging railway car. Thanks to the exchange rate, nearly no meal in Darwin is out of range. Locals sniff at munching 'roos and crocs, but tourists tuck into them at Barra Bar (15 Knuckey St., 8941-0513), a greasy spoon where Australia's indigenous critters, including barramundi fish, cost just $3 a burger - which is ironic, considering the pains travelers take to see the same animals in their natural glory. Darwin's sea bounty and a booming Asian population prop up more authentic cuisine. Go Sushi (28 Mitchell St., Shop 5, 8941-1008) serves a la carte $1.50-$3 plates on a traditional rotary-belt bar (though the owner laments workmen installed it incorrectly, making it the only one in Australia to commit the Buddhist heresy of running counter-clockwise), and six helpings of high-quality sushi will set you back an unheard-of $8 to $10. Even five-star dining, such as braised rabbit or Sri Lankan lamb curry served in the garden of Twilight on Lindsay (2 Lindsay St., 8981-8631), runs just $20 for three gourmet courses with a glass of fine Australian wine from the Hunter Valley. Darwin itself has a savage past. Early explorers died by the dozen trying to reach it, the Japanese blitzed it during World War II (killing 243 servicemen - battleships still litter the harbor floor), and Cyclone Tracy obliterated it on Christmas Day, 1974. To survive, the Northern Territory folk became ornery, and they know the values of beer, beach, and strangely unruly ZZ Top beards - blokes look like wallaroos got stuck on their chins. Befitting the eccentric populace, pleasures in town are one-of-a-kind. The owners of Aquascene (Doctors Gully, 8981-7837, aquascene.com.au; adults $3) trained lumbering oceangoing creatures like milkfish and shovel-nosed rays to eat from tourists' hands during high tide. Over at Indo-Pacific (Darwin Wharf, 8981-1294, indopacific.com.au; $8), they've spent 30 slow years cultivating vats of fluorescent coral, sea cucumbers, and tropical fish-dazzling life unique to the local Arafura Sea. And at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Bullocky Point, 8999-8201; free), expect a snazzy facility with bizarre displays like jarred jellyfish, dry-docked Indonesian sloops, and the worldly possessions of an elderly widow who died in 1995. Of course, Darwin also supports an array of touristy farms (about $10) where "jumping crocodiles" leap for raw chicken meat. Most visitors don't miss the ghoulish spectacle of a "croc feed." If you can, time your visit for late July to catch the annual Beer Can Regatta at Mindil Beach, when ale-sodden Darwinites race flimsy boats made of empty cans. If you yearn for a dip, though, heed the posted warnings. Darwin is a nice town but it's still wild - depending on the season, waters teem with sharks, deadly box jellyfish, or snapjawed crocs. Darwin's animal kingdom When they're ready to fan out from town, folks flock to Kakadu, three hours southeast of Darwin, on a guided tour that includes food, 4WD vehicles, and camping. Of the many contenders jostling for business on Mitchell Street, Adventure Tours Australia (8936-1311, adventuretours.com.au) is the 800-pound kangaroo, including private billabong (water hole) boat rides and camping in tents. It has six itineraries with meals, including a three-day Kakadu romp for $288. Young travelers tend toward simpler (and cheaper) options such as the $200 three-day tours from Kakadu Dreams (8981-3266, kakadudreams.com.au), but in cramped vehicles. For Litchfield National Park, beloved in Oz for its waterfalls, swimming holes, and magnetically aligned termite mounds-flat as giant playing cards-Coo-ee Tours (8947-4066, coo-eetours.com) offers a full-day tour, complete with food and a croc safari at a private billabong, for $48. You can tour the parks for even less on your own. It costs only $8 to enter Kakadu for two weeks, and space at bathroom-equipped campgrounds rents for just $2.70 per night. Bushwalks cost nothing (stay on dry land unless you want to become dinner), and timetables for free ranger-led walks and talks, as well as Aboriginal culture cruises ($15) and croc cruises ($17), are available at the Bowali Visitor Centre at Jabiru. Mechanically inclined backpackers buy and resell third-hand clunkers from the local car market (Mitchell and Peel Streets; $300 and up) for extended outback odysseys, but short-termers rent for around $21 per day from Territory Thrifty (8924-0000) or $29 per day for a 2WD camper from KEA (011-61-2/8707-5500, keacampers.com). Four-wheel-drive vehicles, required for the most spectacular spots such as Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu, cost about $86 per day before fuel (about $2 per gallon). Litchfield National Park is free to enter, and campsites cost $1 to $2.50 per night; it's two hours south of Darwin. Besides crocs and walks (and nights so clear the Milky Way streaks the sky like the stripe on a billiard ball), tourists come to Darwin in search of Aborigines, Australia's oldest natives, who have dwelt in the region for some 40,000 years. The Top End is certainly the best place to learn about them, since Kakadu borders the vast Aboriginal territory called Arnhem Land. Tours there are too pricey and require permission, but Australians are mindful of their heritage, so nearly every organized tour to Kakadu includes a lesson in "bush tucker" (food found in the wilderness), Aboriginal traditions, or a visit to sacred sites such as Ubirr and Nourlangie, where you find rock art of untold antiquity. This paradise won't last forever. In 2004, a proposed rail link between sleepy Darwin and the rest of Oz is poised to generate a deluge of industry and big money. Worse, in March 2001 the unstoppable cane toad, an alien species that poisons its predators, arrived in Kakadu. With Australian currency at a historic low and the ancient ecosystem of the Top End teetering on upheaval, there will probably never be a better time to go to this inexpensive wonderland. And if you're like many travelers, you'll certainly find no good time to leave it. Keeping up with the Indiana Joneses For Northern Territory tourist information (including Uluru/Ayers Rock to the far south of Darwin), visit northernterritory.com or ntholidays.com. Unless otherwise indicated, when calling from the U.S. precede all telephone numbers in this article with 011-61-8.

One of the enduring mysteries of travel is why Americans think only rich people can go to Africa. I blame Hemingway. He's the one who blighted an entire continent with the whiff of elitism, as a place to trek for days into the bush and if a man doesn't come back with the head of a lion, he's a sissy. It's all hogwash. Africa is many things, but elitist it's not. Some of my least expensive and most memorable vacation experiences have happened here, and I've even spotted wild lions and elephants from the comfort of a $20 rental car from Avis. It's sad to think that many Americans think they they can't afford a trip to this most impressive of places, and downright depressing to see how some travel agents do nothing to change that. For those who fly into Cape Town, which has to be the most European of African cities and the ideal place for an American to get a foothold here, a do-it-yourself vacation can be assembled for much less than you think. Cape Town, which recently made the BBC's list of the top five places everyone should visit before dying (few sights but the Grand Canyon placed higher), is enormously popular with Dutch and German tourists. Like us, Europeans have been enjoying some sensational exchange rates. Two years ago, the rand was trading at about 5 to the dollar. Now, it's almost 7. When Cokes cost R2.30 and bottles of South Africa's famously elegant wines cost R25, it doesn't take a math whiz to see how far a vacation dollar now goes here. It may seem odd, but this depressed economy has led to even more expensive hotels. When tourists come to South Africa, they talk themselves into all sorts of overexpenditures. A fancy dinner may cost 70 rand a plate, but when that translates to a about $10, it's easy to live so lavishly and buy with such abandon that a person can still overshoot a modest budget. In fact, a certain luxury travel magazine rated the Cape Grace Hotel, on the water, as the best hotel in the world. The same hotel will serve you a tot of fine brandy for $1,000 -- a despicable extravagance considering millions of human beings live in abject privation here. Avoid those splashy expenses (why try so hard to pretend you're rich, anyway?) and you'll pay far less for incredible, homespun meals -- about $4 a meal is now normal. And at night, even the flashiest clubs charge $1.50 for a gin and tonic. The big development in Cape Town is that the weak rand, combined with the popularity of the whole Western Cape province, has created a boom at major chain hotels, which can charge more and more to tourists who think they're getting a good buy when they pay $90 a night. Meanwhile, it's the guesthouses, of which there are hundreds in the area, that still offer the best value: usually under $25 for a clean, arty bedroom in a safe place, with a full-course homemade breakfast. As more tourists book at big hotels, the guesthouses have begun to suffer, and the prices are better than ever. Me, because I take advantage of Cape Town's wickedly ebullient night life and retire at odd hours, I stay at a hotel when I'm in town. For five years, since its opening, I've chosen Victoria Junction (021/418 1234 , protea.co.za), a member of the important Protea chain of African hotels, named for the region's world-famous starbust flowers. It's directly across the street from the old tenderloin region De Waterkant, on the slopes of Signal Hill, now the seat of Cape Town's party and youth cultures. The Victoria Junction is known in town for its incredible fifth-floor rooms, which are in fact two-story lofts, with two bathrooms, a kitchen, and 15-foot-tall windows overlooking the city's lifeblood, Table Bay, or the city's icon, Table Mountain. Self-contained apartments with views like these would cost $800 or more a night in the U.S.; in Cape Town, they're under $100. About a year and a half ago, South African Airways upgraded its jets to give Economy Class the dignity of individual seatback TV sets -- something that most national airlines haven't bothered to do -- and its direct routes (to South Africa from New York or Atlanta, without stopping in Europe first) make it pretty much the only airline worth flying here from the U.S. (unless you're really dying to take the long way through Europe on British Airways or Virgin). Iberia Airlines (iberia.com) has been posting fare specials which can drop the rate for travel between the US and South Africa to under $500 (plus tax), so be sure to search there as well for a ticket. Of the places that bring Americans cheaply to South Africa, my pick is a company called 2Afrika (2afrika.com), which usually is able to secure the best rates. During shoulder season (coming again in the spring), it sells air-hotel trips here for excellent rates. If you stay more than a week, which 2Afrika lets you do, you'll get even more from your vacation dollar, since airfare can be costly. I suggest using up the prepaid hotel nights and then driving out of town on your own to discover a new area. (In a few days, I will head into the Karoo desert to the artist's hamlet of Prince Albert, at the other end of the Western Cape Province. Check back at this Web site for my report on that place.) Also be sure to reserve your rental car before you arrive here; if you reserve locally, you will probably have to pay a fee for each kilometer you drive over 200 km, and that adds up very quickly in this large country. I reserved from home with Avis and got a new VW for two full weeks, with unlimited kilometers, for just over $300; the cheapest option was $50 less, but lacked a tape deck. You can also go with Budget, which has begun offering local rentals in queer bubble-shaped vehicles, like enclosed golf carts, with superb fuel economy. Since the weather is absolutely flawless -- 85 degrees, a gentle breeze, and barely a cloud -- I've scrapped my touristic plans for tomorrow for one singular activity: climbing Table Mountain. From up there, a kilometer high, you can see the entire region, the Cape of Hood Hope, and two oceans (the Atlantic and the Indian). It's free to climb, or you can take the cable car for about $8.50 round-trip. Personally, I'm a climber-there are freshwater streams high on its ledges-and the views of downtown are so special, they beg to be seen among the fynbos (indigenous shrubs) and dassies (peculiar groundhog-like rock dwellers). A side trip from Cape Town: Prince Albert My travels have brought me to the idyllic town of Prince Albert, which for the past few years has steadily been gaining favor as a getaway from the Big Smoke of Cape Town. It's about four hours east (longer for any driver with a sense of leisure), and you can get there in one of three major routes, any of which is more gorgeous than almost any road you're likely to have been on before. Tourists by the thousands swarm the overrated strip of coastal greenery known as the Garden Route, two hours south of here. It's a real waste of vacation time that they choose that overcrowded highway, jammed with motels and rip-off joints, instead of exploring the breathtaking canyons that wind down the Groot Swartberge range to Prince Albert. The Swartberg Pass (off the N2 from George and Oodtshorn or off the R62) is the most astonishing way in, with its dirt-bed switchbacks and phenomenal views of farmlands to the south and mighty burnt-red canyons to the north. The best way to reach Prince Albert is to descend through those blazing canyons (most tourists prefer this method since you'll be on the left, or safely on the mountain side, almost the whole way); although the trip is only about 13 miles, it will take over an hour. On the way out, many opt for the more subdued Meiringspoort pass on a route that traces scalloped land through new winelands and old-style Afrikaner towns like De Rust. This is ostrich country, and on the way in and out you'll pass dozens of open-pen farms where these big birds galoomph around in the sun. Feel free to stop your car to take a few pictures and to tell them how delicious they are, but don't make the mistake I did and stick your hand too closely to their necks, swaying like sunflowers in the breeze; these reptilian-brained goliaths can't tell food from friends, and you'll get a shocking (but harmless) peck. It's also baboon country. Strange as it seems to North Americans, in between South Africa's adorable farm towns (which but for a few details might fit into the Great Plains or Texas) are swaths of land dominated by true African wildlife. The baboons you'll meet around Prince Albert, like the ones I spotted loafing beside a brook in the cavernous Meiringspoort pass, are still afraid of humans, and unlike the ones around Cape Town, are not predisposed to leaping into your car to tear up your upholstery. Yet. By night, in the unfathomably wide velt (wild flatland) that stretches to distant mountains, visitors can lay down to see millions of stars gather around the famous Southern Cross (mostly invisible to North Americans, so see it best here or in Outback Australia), and occasionally hear the whooping scream of leopards in the far distance. I haven't personally heard one, but a friend who lives in Prince Albert took me to a place where he frequently sees their tracks. Prince Albert was settled in the mid-1800's by a handful of farmers who were lured into the desert by the spring that flows from the mountains through the town year-round. To this day, the spring (which is so pure you can drink right from it) crisscrosses through the town's few streets in miniature system of canals and sluices. The water, in turn, nourishes this mineral-rich land and produces stunning horticulture -- Prince Albert may be a desert hamlet, but its dazzling array of floral life, plus its assortment of astonishingly well-preserved Dutch farmhouses, make it a true oasis. Today Prince Albert attracts a mixed bag of artists, free spirits, and harmless loonies. As someone who partially grew up in Key West in the '70s, I was intrigued by the tales I'd heard about the friendly vibe (and gentle gentrification) Prince Albert had acquired in recent years. A decade ago, so I'm told, it was hard to find anyone in Prince Albert who even spoke English instead of Afrikaans, so old-fashioned South Africa it was. Today, English is everywhere. It is indeed an eccentric but exceedingly comforting place, much like Key West, Lahaina, or Santa Fe were in their heyday, I can't think of anywhere in the United States that still has its equal in a place like Prince Albert, where the main Kerk (Church) street is filled with art galleries and other signs of upward mobility, yet perfectly preserved farmhouses, complete with working windmills, still sell for as little as $7,000. Naturally, it doesn't cost much to sleep here, either. Options for self-catering (i.e. no-meal) accommodation are laid out at the main Tourist Office on Kerk Street, and most come to less than $15 for an entire house and yard, all to yourself. (Onse Rus Guest House, 47 Church Street, 023/541-1380). I chose to go with the full-board option, and landed a darling three-bedroom house (stocked with books, furniture, a full kitchen, a huge garden with four silly ducks, and all three meals prepared to my specifications with dairy-fresh ingredients)-all for $27 a night. It doubles as a wellness center, and I did have a reiki session for $16 (far less than what they cost back home). I have the entire house to myself (the proprietor lives a block away in a much more modest abode), and spend hours lounging beneath blooming bougainvillea branches, reading novels as the ducks nibble around my tanned feet. After a lifetime of hotels, I can't imagine anywhere more serene and alluring than the Bijlia Cana (De Beer St., 023/541-1872, ). I went half-way around the world to find this kind of peace and feeling of security. I originally planned to stay here one night. Now I'm staying four, and the cost of everything-meals, accommodation-will be a little over $100. That's right; I could stay nearly two weeks for $300. For dinner, locals are unanimous in recommending Karoo Kombuis (Karoo Kitchen, 18 Deurdrif St, 023/5411-110.), run by a trio of those aforementioned free spirits, with a menu that changes daily. For one night yesterday, I went off my Bijlia Cana meal plan and had the bobotie (a traditional South African crumbled lamb bake) with vegetables and a lemon bake, that set me back all of $5. As with all establishments in sleepy Prince Albert, where you never know where the next customer's coming from, you need to call ahead for reservations. Ask for a table on the stoep (porch), since it overlooks Prince Albert's most haunted street. (If you spot a white dog trotting past, summon a priest.) Another popular place, this one upscale, is The Blue Fig (61 Church St, 023/541-1900), which does traditional South African food like lamb, ostrich, yogurt, and so on in a semi-nouvelle style. Dinner will cost about $10 here (which is shocking to some locals) and there's a pleasant forecourt. After dinner, most of Prince Albert's cast of characters pass through the Swartberg Arms pub, on the main street, and they're very friendly to outsiders since many of them were introduced to the town that way. On one end of town is an olive farm and a weavery that both encourage visitors. On the other end, Gay's Dairy sells full-cream milk that was inside a cow yesterday, and beyond it, the Swartberg Nature Reserve (and a rugged valley known darkly as "The Hell") beckons with miles of empty hiking trails. The main street features a handful of funky shops, such as a vendor of brilliantly colored mohair blankets (they start at $25, a steal), and an abundant co-op gallery (next to the tourist office), where local artists offer their desert-inspired works. I was tempted by a chair that was cleverly covered with bits of broken ostrich shells. It was by a quirky young artist named Gideon, who inside the gallery, also offered for sale a toilet emblazoned with "Elvis is Alive," again in ostrich shell. And beyond this blip of a town, swaddled in the serenity of the Karoo desert, are miles of quiet, windblown hillocks. Pick one around sunset, which is always the lurid fluorescent red that only desert sunsets can be, and watch the show. You may find underfoot, as I did, a leftover shard of rock, hewn by ancient hands, that once served as a spearhead for a forgotten African warrior. Everything can be arranged, for free, at the Tourist Office (023/541-1366, patourism.co.za). Make sure you visit the one marked by the figure of a man inside the South African flag; the other "tourist info" office is not official and has been known to turn people away when its "partner" inns are full. Chalk it up to another one of those town eccentrics. Wine, wine and more wine My tenth day in South Africa brought me to Cape Town's famous wine region. Instead of venturing to the very well-trod vineyards of Stellenbosch or Franschhoek, which have become so popular that their prices are no longer completely fair, I drove an extra half-hour (making a total of about two hours) to the glorious town of Tulbagh. Tulbagh (pronounced TOOL-bach, with a hard "h" as in the Scottish "loch"), snuggled in a cul-de-sac of mountains in the Breede River Valley, has one of South Africa's best-preserved streets of Cape Dutch architecture. Like the Art Deco mecca of Napier, New Zealand, the city's textbook-worthy architecture was actually saved by a cataclysmic earthquake. In 1969, Tulbagh was wrecked by a quake that flicked the facades off many of the the 200-year-old farm buildings; in rebuilding, town planners wisely went back to the original plans of all the houses and faithfully re-created the town as it appeared in the 1800s. There are probably no finer or more faithfully maintained examples of a Cape Dutch streetscapes than Church Street in Tulbagh. The B&B I have chosen is Tulbagh Country House, built at the dawn of the 19th century and one of the town's most historic buildings. Ginny Clarke, the exuberant proprietress, doubles her B&B with an art gallery crammed with quality works by local artists. When I stepped in the door, I set eyes on a watercolor by a painter from nearby Worcester that I simply had to own. The price: about $25, with a handmade frame, for a portrait of such quality that I would easily pay $200 for its equal back home. (Tulbagh Country House: 24 Church Street, 011-27-23-230-1171.) After telling me all about the history of the house and warning me about a friendly female ghost that sometimes appears in the dining room after hours, Ginny gave me one of the softest beds I've ever slept in, big as a swimming pool, in a cavernous farmhouse room with beam ceilings, the original groaning wood floors, and my own private courtyard. The price? About $17, with a full cooked breakfast served on Spode bone china. (Shocking, isn't it?) Ginny also rents a few detached cottages, also on Church Street. The surrounding area presents just as much graciousness for such little money, and unlike the high-traffic sprawl around Stellenbosch, most local wineries are within five minutes' drive from the main street, which makes it much easier for foreigners to tour. Feeling decadent, I went a few kilometers out of town to Twee Jonge Gezellen ("Two Young Bachelors"), renowned for its excellent sparkling wine (known, of course, as "champagne" in France). There, in the growing heat, I sat next to burbling fountains, in the shade of grapevines, and sipped from $3 bottles of fine sparkling wine. Other popular wineries are nearby, including Drostdy Wine Cellar (drostdywines.co.za, known for making South Africa's surprisingly good boxed wine, or "Happy Boxes," as they're insightfully called by locals) and Theuniskraal (theuniskraal.co.za). For incredibly cheap wine blends, try the co-operative cellar at Tulbagh Winery. Ginny's son, Jayson, turned me on to another local Tulbagh secret: its anonymous-looking slaghuis, or butchery, makes some of the best biltong in the area. Biltong, for South Africans, is a more popular snack than potato chips or even french fries for North Americans. It amounts to a delicious type of jerky, and it's available in many flavors that foreigners find enthralling, including ostrich, springbok and kudu (both African antelopes), or the most popular, beef. South Africa's beef is generally grass-fed, as nature intended, and not pumped with the grains and antibiotics that give American beef its unnaturally pillowy texture. That said, Tulbagh's slaghuis sells some of the softest, rarest biltong I've ever seen; point at the slab of dried meat you want (most cost a little over $1) and the ladies behind the counter will shred it for you. You don't have to dice it up, though; many South Africans, including Jayson, seem to love knawing away on massive hunks of meat. The refined pleasure of Tulbagh seems a world away from the oddball appeal of Prince Albert. Tulbagh is also much closer to Cape Town. From Cape Town, take the N7 north to Malmesbury, then take the R46 to Hermon, where you turn onto the R44. Everything's marked and easy to drive, and there's even a lovely mountain pass on the way that's not too terrifying for drivers used to right-lane travel. You can also detour through Ceres ("SEER-eez"), not far away, to tour the region that produces the famous brand of fruit juices that often pops up on American shelves. (Tulbagh tourism: 14 Church Street, 011-27-23-230-1348, tulbagh.com.) Back to Cape Town to tally up the final costs My remaining time in Cape Town will be spent volunteering. South Africa leads the world in AIDS infections, and its poverty has long been a global concern, so I plan to visit a local shelter for street children and see what service I can be for them. Then, deeply regretful, I will clamber aboard South African Airways (which, as a specialist in long-distance flights, has always succeeded in making me comfortable) for my trip home. Although I haven't been able to sit down and hash it out yet, I have a rough idea of how much it would cost someone to take a trip like the one I just took. First of all, don't go with a guided tour company. South Africa is English-speaking, and infrastructure is generally first-rate, so guides and hand-holding is not necessary. That saves a great deal on cost, and people who book independent self-tours will find that the high prices of African vacations are pretty much inflated. Flying on South African Airways during shoulder-season months, as I have done, the price of flying all the way down to Cape Town from the East Coast of America was $995 plus taxes, and that includes five nights' hotel. From there, you can just extend your return flight as long as you need, get a rental car (I paid $350 for two weeks, plus $20 for each tank of gas), and book your own accommodation as you go along-bank on $25 a night and that's more than enough for the sensible consumer to buy food as well. So for two weeks in Africa, doing the same things I've been doing, you'd pay around $1,500, including airfare, or around $100/day. Take a cruise, go to Disney, fly to London -- no matter what you choose I guarantee you'd spend much more in half the time. Contrary to myth, Africa is not an expensive destination. You can safely add it to your life's experiences, and for much less than you think.

On a broad lawn leading to a steep cliff, above the rocky surf and sea lions of the Pacific Ocean, couples hugged or stroked each other's arms. Occasionally they reached out to pat the cheek of a passing stranger. Others raged in response to a trivial slight. Some of them arm-wrestled, grimly, to settle a dispute. In scenes such as these, flung across the covers of Life and Look, the Esalen Institute of Big Sur, California, introduced America in the 1960s to "encounter therapy" and related offshoots of the "human potential movement." Drunk with the vision that they could lead humankind into a new era of heightened insight, sensitivity, and understanding, the personalities associated with Esalen--Michael Murphy, Fritz Perls, Ida Rolf, Abraham Maslow, Will Shutz, Virginia Satir, Rollo May, Gregory Bateson--converted that isolated stretch of seafront heights into a place of unfettered experimentation in psychology, and fired the thought of millions, while offending or frightening legions of others. Esalen now What has happened to Esalen in the ensuing years? Though no longer in the news, it perseveres, even thrives, but at a more measured pace, thoughtful and cautious. And it has spawned over a dozen imitators: residential retreats where hundreds of Americans devote their vacations to exploring a range of psychological subjects so broad as to require college-like catalogs to list them all. Encounter therapy--that almost-instant process of shedding inhibitions and responding to every repressed emotion--is now only one of numerous treatments under study at America's personal growth centers. For one thing, the early leader of the encounter movement--Michael Murphy, co-founder of Esalen--is no longer certain of the long-term benefits of the art. It is, he believes, only a start--this stripping away of defenses through encounter techniques--which must be succeeded by longer-lasting and less dramatic work. Others have concluded that encounter therapy can be positively dangerous, exposing serious underlying pathologies without providing a trained therapist to deal with what's exposed. And so the core curriculum of the centers is currently devoted to such multiple emerging sciences as gestalt practice, bio-feedback, shamanic healing, Feldenkrais, trans-personal processes and intuitive development. From these basic inquiries emerge, at some centers, more popular discussions: ""Finding True Love", "Awakening the mind: Mastering the Power of Your Brainwaves", "Evolutionary Psychology", "Holistic Sexuality", "The Vision and Practice of Human Transformation", "Reinhabiting Your Body"." All are aimed at expanding human potential, tapping into energies and abilities as yet unknown. At Esalen, instruction is through seminars or workshops extending over a weekend ($595, including room and board) or five days midweek ($1060); a handful of bunk beds, and space for sleeping bags, offer lower-rate possibilities. Many first-timers select the orientation workshop simply known as "Experiencing Esalen" (sensory awareness, group process, guided fantasy, meditation, massage), or the somewhat similar "Gestalt Awareness Practice"; others choose from more than 100 other widely varied subjects taught throughout the year. Studies are combined with exquisite relaxation, in a lush oasis of gardens, birds, and natural hot springs; the springs bring 118 degrees of sulfurous water into bathhouses where residents can soak for hours while watching the sun or moon set into the ocean below. Rooms are comfortable and pleasantly decorated, but must be shared with others (usually), and lack telephones, computers, faxes, TV sets, or radios; a retreat atmosphere is maintained. Meals are served in a dining hall where dress and decor are casual but the cuisine is gourmet. The Esalen gardens and nearby farms supply the majority of the many options in the daily salad and vegetables bar. When the 110 guest beds are not fully booked (which is common during the winter season and sometimes happens during midweek in summer), it is possible simply to stay at Esalen without enrolling in a seminar. The cost of this varies, but falls into the $85 to $145 (after April 1st) range for a night and a day, including dinner, breakfast, and lunch, or for even less than that if you bring a sleeping bag or occupy one of the few bunk beds. Often people come to Esalen simply for a bout of quiet writing, or during a time of life transition. As workshops and bed spaces fill up early (especially in summer), it is important to plan a trip to Esalen well in advance. Visit its Web site (esalen.org/) to view the complete catalog or print out the registration form. You may register over the phone (831/667-3005), or by mail (c/o Reservations, Esalen Institute, 55000 Hwy. 1, Big Sur CA 93920), and online registration is coming soon. For general information or to request a hard copy of the catalog, call 831/667-3000 ext. 7100. The location is 300 miles north of Los Angeles, 175 miles south of San Francisco, between the spectacular coastal highway and the 100-foot cliffs overlooking crashing waves below. And how do people respond to that setting? I can best report the reaction of a middle-aged couple from Santa Barbara who come here for a semi-annual "fix," to "feel alive and revitalized." Apart from their interest in Aikido movement/meditation (subject of their workshop), they feel that Esalen "has the nicest piece of real estate in the world--beach, rocks, surf, sea, air, mountains, hot tubs, good food, and loving people--who could ask for anything more?" And farther afield Though Esalen was the first, it is now but one of a dozen such "personal growth" retreats on both coasts of the United States and in between. Their goal? It is again to fulfill the "human potential," to expand consciousness and improve personal relationships, to tap into the same mysterious sources of energy and spirit that enable mystics in other lands and on other levels to enjoy trances and visions, to walk on nails or fast for days. Their method? Workshops of a week's or a weekend's duration, attended by vacationing members of the public, who offer up their own psyches to these new therapies or to classroom training. Unlisted in any directory of which I am aware, and marketed through severely limited mailings or classified ads in magazines of small circulation, they are nonetheless open to all and worthy of far broader dissemination. New York Omega Institute, 150 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 (phone 845/266-4444 or 800/944-1001; Web site at omega.org/) is--apart from Esalen--the lodestone; it attracts up to 600 people a week during its summer operating period from mid-June to mid-October. On a broad lake flanked by extensive, hilly grounds of forest and clearings, in a joyful atmosphere of kindness and smiles, it presents weekend and weeklong workshops ranging from the clearly lighthearted ("The Joy of Swing," "Secrets of Omega Cooking") to the softly therapeutic ("Healing Dreams," "Empowerment Workshop," "The Art of Relationship") to the arcane and abstruse ("The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep," "Teilhard de Chardin's Christianity"," "Sufi Meditation"); many of the most famous figures in the human potential movement--Ram Dass and Ashley Montagu, Ilana Rubenfeld and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan--make an appearance, and a great many of the seminars are identical to those presented at Esalen, suggesting a personal growth "circuit" for lecturers. Tuition averages $100 a day; housing and meals (vegetarian) add $120 to $343 in campsites, $165 to $476 in dorms, up to $1274 for private cabins. The Abode of the Message, 5 Abode Road, New Lebanon, NY 12125 (phone 518/794-8095, Web site: theabode.net/, email: programs@theabode.net. On three-day weekends, as well as the occasional day-long or lengthier,year-round, outsiders come to study on this mountain in the Berkshires with a permanent community of "Sufis"--the gentlest of people who have made an eclectic choice from the prophetic messages of all religions, both Western and Eastern. Faculty includes learned Sufis, a Christian mystic and a Muslim chaplain. Sample workshops: "Opening the Heart" and "Essence of Mysticism in Everyday Life"; there is much meditation. To weekend tuition costs averaging $180, add room and board charges of about $40 to $55 a day in a dorm or cabin, $25 to $30 a day in a campsite. Wainwright House, 260 Stuyvesant Ave., Rye, NY 10580 (phone 914/967-6080 or Web site: wainwright.org/): A stately mansion on elegant grounds, just north of New York City, it offers year-round daily workshops--some for only a day in duration--the Arts and Music, Aromatherapy, spiritual disciplines, "health and wholeness," and other topics of psychology. Themes are far-ranging "The Art of Being", "Creating Health Through Imagery", "Mindful Meditation", "A Course in Miracles", "General Stress Release and Deep Relaxation"--and speakers more eclectic still: they include Ram Dass, Dr. Andrew Weill, James Twyman, Dr. Gerald Epstein, Rabbi Chaim Stern, Cynthia Worby. One-day tuition averages $120 a night. Other meals are offered in the dining room at additional cost. And a catalog of courses is free for the asking. Elat Chayyim, 99 Mill Hook Road, Accord, NY 12404 (phone 800/398-2630 or 845/626-0157. Web site: elatchayyim.org/) The only Jewish retreat center on our list, Elat Chayyim accepts guests of all faiths, although most of its programs are concerned with matters of Jewish spirituality with a dash of Asian mysticism thrown in for good measure. Hence the "Torah-Yoga" institute, a melding of the yoga practice with study of the sacred books. There are also classes introducing Jewish meditation, and singles retreats for people looking to find their "beshert" (other half). Most programs start at about $85 a day, including classes and three meals a day. Room costs range from $0 a night in a tent to $485 for a single with a hall bath. California Mt. Madonna Center, 445 Summit Road, Watsonville, CA 95076 (phone 408/847-0406,   or Web site: mountmadonna.org/); in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, overlooking Monterey Bay--you can't imagine a more enthralling location--it is another leading retreat facility for the discussion of every psychological issue, every spiritual conundrum, including the latest and hottest topics. Thousands head there each year for long weekends or week-long vacations that combine hiking in the redwood forests and cavorting in the open air, with attendance at the weightiest of talks and discussions: "Living From the Heart," "The Mandala-Expressing Radiant Truth and Beauty," "Ayurveda: Ancient Science of India", "Passionate Journey: A Couples Retreat"; call in advance to learn the content of the seminars and classes presented during the time of your own desired stay. Though the staff of the Center is yoga-trained and yoga-oriented, seminars deal with broader psychological issues. Room and two vegetarian meals daily, supplemented by snacks, ranges from $46 per person (in a tent supplied with mattress), $32 if you bring your own tent, $54 (in dorms housing four to seven), $61 (in a triple room), to $69 per person (in a double), $92 in a single, per day, to which you add an average of $190 per weekend for tuition relating to the courses or seminars you've chosen. All this is but an hour from San Jose Airport, an hour and a half from San Francisco Airport. Ojai Foundation, 9739 Ojai-Santa Paula Road, Ojai, CA 93023 (phone 805/646-8343, Web site: ojaifoundation.org/), is on a 40-acre ridge of semi-wilderness, two hours north of Los Angeles. Mainly, it offers weekend seminars and workshops in personal growth subjects. Accommodations aretents in the form of canvas domes, yurts or teepees on wooden platforms, and participants receive vegetarian meals. Recent topics have included "Introduction to Council," "Discovering Your Personal Mythology," "The Heroine's Journey: Women's Spiritual Quest," "Preparing for Relationship: A Flesh and Spirit Intensive," all characterized by the organization as seeking "to honor the inseparability of learning and living, to heal the split between work in the world and spiritual practice, and to honor traditional wisdom by incorporating it in our present way of being." Most programs begin with dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and end Sunday at 5 p.m. More standard living arrangements are available for persons seeking to have a (secular) retreat there for longer periods of time. California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103 (415/575-6100, Web site: ciis.edu/) was founded in 1968 by Indian philosopher and educator Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri. "Integral" in this sense refers to the school's all-encompassing credo: "Higher education for the mind, body, spirit." Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, CIIS gives students the chance to earn a B.A., M.A., Ph.D., or Psy.D. degree from a university "exclusively devoted to integrating the intellectual and spiritual insights of Eastern and Western traditions in study and practice." For lifelong learners looking to sample the CIIS experience, the Institute provides a number of open workshops and presentations. Director of Public Programs and Continuing Education Joshua Lachs characterizes CIIS' public offerings as "an academic Omega." Topics from the summer of 2005 include  "Ayurveda: The Science of Life," "The Way of Tea as Zen Practice" and "The Earth Path: Giving Spiritual Roots." High profile presenters, like Alice Walker, Marianne Williamson and Shamanism expert Michael Harner attract some 3,000 people to CIIS public programs each year. These workshops last two or three days at a cost of about $225 per day. Accommodations and food are not provided, but CIIS will help visitors find lodgings if they are staying for an extended period of time. Oregona, British Columbia, New Mexico and Colorado Breitenbush Retreat Center, Breitenbush Hot Springs, P.O. Box 578, Detroit, OR 97342 (phone 503/854-3321, Web site: breitenbush.com/). Hot springs and saunas are available 24 hours a day at this Oregon resort. Run by the members of an "intentional community" (see "On the Road to Utopia"), Breitenbush offers its visitors a number of free daily seminars on topics like yoga, sacred arts, and healing music. These therapies, lodging, and full board cost between $55 and $90 per person per day. Esalen-style Healing Arts workshops are available for an additional fee of about $75 per day. Each center issues catalogs or other descriptive literature, to be carefully perused before enrolling. From personal experience, I can assure you that a stay will cause you to discover, at the very least, important new aspects of your inner life and relations with others. Ghost Ranch, HC77, Box 11, Abiquiu, NM 87510, and 401 Old Taos Highway, Santa Fe, NM 87501 (phone for Abiquiu site 877/804-4678, phone for Santa Fe site 800/821-5145; Web site: ghostranch.org/); provides personal growth, but from a largely religious, though non-denominational, viewpoint; the ranch is owned by the Presbyterian Church. Though much of the subject matter consists of religious education ("The Healing of Jesus in the 21st Century" Spirituality and Social Justice"), many of the programs focus on arts and crafts, outdoor exploration, and other eclectic topics ("Dinosaurs", " Old Time and Blue Grass Music", "Muslim-Christian Relations: A Dialogue" were several recent seminars). For a weeklong stay, you'll pay $300 to $420 weekly for room and full board, an average of $185 for tuition. Naropa University, 2130 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, CO 80302 (phone 303/444-0202, or visit its Web site at naropa.edu/): In a partly urban setting, yet on the slopes of the Rockies, it is serious and intellectual, but with a heavy emphasis on innovative, psychological approaches to music, theater, dance, and creative writing. Nevertheless, workshops also include "Introduction to Buddhist Meditation," "Contemplative Christianity," "The Art and Ritual of Chinese Tea," and "Discovering the Natural Freedom of the Mind." Guests find their own housing from a plethora of hotels and motels nearby (rates like those of any other large city), to which average tuition fees of about $100 per day should be added. Hollyhock, P.O. Box 127, Manson's Landing, Cortes Island, BC, VOP IKO, Canada (phone 250/935-6576 (outside North America) or 800/933-6339; Web site: hollyhock.bc.ca/). One hundred miles north of Vancouver, in the Georgia Strait, this is a warm-weather-only (March through October) facility on an expanse of beach and 48 acres of gardens, orchards, and forest. Workshops are generally three to five days in duration, start at $300 CDN, and explore such subjects as "Karma Yoga", "Writing Memoirs" "The Power of the Mind and Spirit to Heal", "Tantra and the Secrets of Love and Sexuality", "The Art of Leadership," "Herbal Medicine Making," and "T'ai Chi Ch'uan as a Way of Life." Simple retreats without the workshops, but including morning yoga and meditation, in addition to lodgings and three meals a day, range from $70 CDN in a tent, to $243 a night in a single with private bath. As an added attraction, Hollyhock has on staff a full-time, resident naturalist to teach free courses on the ecology, and to lead nature hikes and star-gazing sessions.

Imagine yourself in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, one of a dozen resplendent buildings within the sacred confines of Bangkok's Grand Palace. Saffron-robed monks tiptoe silently across the marble floors in the midst of their devotions, as normal Thais -- men, women, and children -- silently pray to the memory of Buddha, the timeless philosopher, to ease their way to heaven. Stroll through the cluttered streets of Banglampu, a lively district only blocks away, its streets pungent with the aromas of Thai, Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian cuisine, its sidewalk cafes noisy with the chatter of visitors conversing in a dozen European and Asian languages. August through October, a short afternoon monsoon downpour may drive people inside for an hour, but soon the sun breaks through and the cafe tables fill right up again as though nothing happened. After touching down at Bangkok's modern Don Muang International Airport, take an airport bus ($3) to the city center and ask for the Manohra Hotel, only a few blocks inland from the renowned riverfront Oriental and Shangri-La hotels. (To reach other downtown hotels from the bus station, hail a "Taxi-Meter" cab for about $7-8.) Its forecourt crowded with the latest-model BMW and Mercedes sedans, the Manohra offers most of the comforts of its famed neighbors but at a fraction of their prices. A "deluxe" double room which last year rented for $125 now goes for only $78, a "superior" room for even less ($66), breakfast, tax and service included. Thai this one on for size Or consider the Royal Hotel in the Banglampu district, just blocks from the Grand Palace. Stroll through its spacious lobby lit by cascades of chandeliers, and ask the price of a completely comfortable and modern air-conditioned double room with private bath, cable TV, and direct-dial phone. The uniformed clerk will say "thirty-five dollars" -- and that's for a "deluxe" room, breakfast included; a "superior" room costs even less. Take a table among local and foreign diners at the comfortable lobby cafe-bar or in the spacious Raja dining room, order a meal of Western or Asian cuisine, and your check will probably come to no more than $8 or $9 per person, drinks and tip included. If the Royal's full, call the Bangkok YMCA's Collins International House, a big, modern hotel in an embassy and banking district with plush-carpeted hallways, powerful air conditioning, a large swimming pool, and big-city comforts for $40 double in a superior room, breakfast included; standard rooms cost even less. These are only a few of literally dozens of comfortable, modern Bangkok hotels at eye-popping prices. The modern Viengtai Hotel in Banglampu has guest rooms which in cleanliness and comfort could pass muster with J. W. Marriott or even Conrad Hilton, but they cost a mere $45. There's even a swimming pool. Too much? Virtually next door to the Viengtai is Orchid House, a tidy pension boasting a spotless sidewalk cafe/bar/restaurant and air-conditioned double rooms with private baths for a mere $10 double. The rooms are small and simple but quite clean and safe. The Atlanta Hotel is a living piece of history, carefully retaining its faded Art Deco decor. Its hallways may be in need of paint and its severely simple rooms show the use of many decades, but the adventurous, romantically inclined traveler will find them clean and serviceable, and they cost less than $15 double, private bath and air conditioning included; a large, air-conditioned suite capable of sleeping four is only $30. The hotel's delightful swimming pool is set in a lush tropical garden just off the lobby. Cuisine for a pittance But the Atlanta is even more famous for its cafe-restaurant. Also pure Art Deco, it serves Western, Thai, and Indian dishes priced at $1 to $2 per plate and boasts the largest selection of Thai vegetarian dishes in the world. Its menu (in English) is a beginner's course in the beauties and philosophy of Thai cuisine. Luncheon is served to the graceful tones of Thai music written (they will tell you proudly) by His Majesty, the King of Thailand, who is an accomplished composer. More upscale? The centrally located Silom Village Trade Center has several sparkling-clean restaurants. Ruen Thep is reached by a small bridge across a pool filled with fat carp. Order a beautifully presented plate of fresh red snapper with sweet-and-sour sauce for $5, or chicken with cashews, for $3. Nearby, the Central Department Store has a top-floor restaurant called "The Terrace," serving tasty plates of fried rice with beef, chicken, or pork for $3, and elaborate noodle dishes for only a few cents more and this is in a bright, modern, air-conditioned dining room. The cheaper Chiang Mai Get out of cosmopolitan Bangkok and prices are even lower -- sometimes astoundingly low. Chiang Mai, 440 miles northwest of Bangkok, is regarded by many as Thailand's most livable city. It has over 300 temples -- almost as many as Bangkok -- and is the country's handicrafts center. You can fly there for $50, but why not go by overnight sleeper train and save a night's hotel cost? The train fare, first-class bed included, is a mere $30; an adequate second-class bed is half that. Beside the devaluation, Chiang Mai presently has a hotel room glut, so prices are unbelievably low. A room at the posh, five-star, 526-room Sheraton Chiangmai might be worth $250 in New York City, but can be yours for an astounding $75 here. But why pay even that much? The 444-room Chiang Mai Plaza has most of the same amenities yet charges only $45. But these are luxury hotels. The completely comfortable middle-range hotels have even more Thai character and yet charge much less. The Galare Guest House, as much a modern hotel as a guest house, has fully air-conditioned rooms for $24. The Riverfront Guesthouse is a large, traditional teak house featuring a good Thai restaurant and air-conditioned rooms with private bath for a mere $15. Want a modern hotel with swimming pool, TV, and telephone as well as air-conditioning? Try the Anodard Hotel, at $10 a night. Remember, these are the better hotels, not rock-bottom budget places, and there are many more like them. A visit to the hill tribes virtually for free From Chiang Mai, it's easy to arrange a trek to visit the country of the hill tribes of northern Thailand. This once-in-a-lifetime experience -- like everything else in Thailand -- is now astonishingly cheap. A four-day, three-night trek can cost as little as $35; a deluxe seven-day, six-night trek including river rafting and elephant riding is only $60 -- and that's not the price per day, that's for the entire weeklong experience, simple lodging and meals included. Check with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office (tel. 66/53/248604, fax 248605) on the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Road near Nawarat Bridge for recommended trekking companies. Go now! Thailand is among the world's friendliest, most interesting, and most beautiful countries. Right now you have the opportunity of the century to see it. Thailand MiniGuide Information Tourism Authority of Thailand, 61 Broadway, Suite 2810, New York, NY 10006 (tel. 212/432-0433, fax 212/269-2588); Airfare Normal round-trip excursion fare: New York to Bangkok, $643 to $882; Los Angeles to Bangkok, $555 to $754. Bangkok Manohra Hotel, 412 Surawong Rd., Bangkok 10500; tel. 66/2/234-5070; fax 237-7662 Royal Hotel, 2 Rajdamnern Ave., Bangkok 10200; tel. 66/2/222-9111; fax 224-2083 Bangkok YMCA Collins International House, 27 South Sathorn Rd., Bangkok 10120; tel. 66/2/287-1900, 287-2727; fax 287-1996 Viengtai Hotel, 42 Tanee Rd., Banglampu, Bangkok 10200; tel. 66/2/280-5434, 280-5392; fax 281-8153 Orchid House, 323/2-3 Rambuttri Rd., Banglampu, Bangkok 10200; tel. 66/2/280-2691, 280-2692 Atlanta Hotel, 78 Sukumvit Rd. Soi 2, Bangkok 10110; tel. 66/2/252-6069; fax 656-8123 Atlanta Hotel Cafe-Restaurant (see hotels above) Ruen Thep, Silom Village Trade Center, 286 Silom Rd., Bangkok; tel. 66/2/234-4448, 235-8760 The Terrace, Central Department Store, Silom Rd., Bangkok Chiang Mai Sheraton Chiangmai, 318/1 Chiang Mai-Lamphun Rd., Chiang Mai; tel. 66/53/275300; fax 275299 Chiang Mai Plaza, 92 Sridonchai Rd., Chiang Mai; tel. 66/53/270040; fax 272230 Galare Guest House, 7 Charone Prathet Rd., Chiang Mai; tel. 66/53/821011; fax 279088 Riverfront Guesthouse, 43/3 Chang Khlan Rd., Chiang Mai; tel. and fax 66/53/273885