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Cheap overseas calls…three weeks in the Israeli army…how to beat the Mexican bureaucrats

The cheapest way to make overseas calls. 
I make frequent phone calls to Taiwan and have used several services, but now pay only nine cents per minute. A 20-dollar phone card from Walton Communications, 2433 Durant Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704; tel. 510-647-1289, website: www.walton2000.com, makes this possible. 

They sell phone cards from at least 16 companies—you select the one with the best rate. If you intend to make many short calls, choose one with no connection fee. If you don’t want the hassle of a phone card, use Startec, tel. 10-10-719, website: www.startec.com for your call. Their Taiwan rate is 17.9 cents per minute with a 30-cent-per-call connection fee.

Three weeks in the Israeli army
I spent three weeks on an army base in Israel working alongside Israeli soldiers, while learning a little about the history of their country. I served in the unit as a group leader, where I met my husband, an officer in the IAF. The whole trip cost $600 (from New York).

The international Volunteers for Israel program, Sar-El, places volunteers in army, air force, and naval bases all over the country. Volunteers pay for a partially subsidized plane ticket. Meals and accommodations are included in the price. Upon completion of the program, you can extend your stay in Israel for up to three months.

Groups are led by enlisted women who coordinate work spaces within the base and handle any administrative needs. They provide evening programs coveringeverything from the structure of the IDF to life in modern Israel, and even a lesson called, “The Purity of the Weapon,” a direct translation of the course taught to Israeli soldiers in basic training.

Like “real” soldiers, you have your weekends off and are free to travel. Sar-El operates a free guesthouse in the old city of Jaffa, on the border of Tel Aviv, if you want cheap accommodation. Or you can get “home hospitality,” in which Sar-El places you with host families for the weekend. You can take day trips to the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, the Western Wall, and the Mount Herzl cemetery where Yitzhak Rabin is buried, as well as half-day trips to the less-frequented attractions near many bases. 

I visited the monastery just outside Jerusalem where the monk who guides the tour has his stand-up comedy routine polished to perfection, while a friend visited the wineries of the Golan Heights.

If you’re looking for a quieter experience — and milder weather — sign up for a group in September - October or April - May. Contact Sar-El, (New York) tel. (212)643-4848;(London) (44-1818)66-67-70; (South Africa) 27-11-485-1020, e-mail: sar_el@netvision.net.il or vol4israel@aol.com
 -Abbi Perets, Reading, Pennsylvania

Ireland to Britain round-trip: IR£4. 
Sounds incredible, but that’s the price I paid for a journey with Ireland’s budget airline, Ryanair. Taxes are additional, but even so the total cost for my round-trip flight was just IR£31.98. 

With a new book to research, I’ve got lots of European traveling to do. As it’s going to be like an exercise in military logistics, I started making arrangements in early February. I considered crossing London and taking a cheap Ryanair flight to mainland Europe from Stansted airport, but the British airline Easyjet was offering some incredible deals from Luton. For a one-way June flight to Zurich, I paid £49. Following a mammoth train trek through Germany, Austria, and Italy, I’ll be flying back to Luton from Nice, in southern France. A one-way ticket with Easyjet cost FFr494, taxes included.

Ignore the major airlines if you’re looking for bargain European flights from Ireland or Britain. Ryanair and Easyjet have pioneered the concept of ticketless airlines and no-frills flying. ‘’No-frills’’ means exactly what it says: no complimentary drinks, no airline meals. I certainly don’t miss those trays of tepid ravioli and wilted salad. 

Half of Ryanair’s and Easyjet’s sales are now made through secure on-line sites. After choosing a flight, you type in credit card details and immediately receive a confirmation number. When arriving at the airport, just give the number to the check-in desk to get your boarding card. It couldn’t be simpler. For the best deals, book over the Internet, choose midweek flights, and do it well in advance. The nearer to departure date, the more prices go up on more popular routes. 

My husband’s colleague was too late for Ryanair’s IR£4 Dublin to Luton deals. She paid IR£17 plus taxes. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) probably has the price edge on round-trip flights, but Paris and Brussels are their only mainland European destinations from Ireland. For the widest choice of Ryanair destinations, fly from London Stansted. However, Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) has more competitive prices for one-way journeys from Luton to the Continent. One minor irritation is the ‘’come-on’’ of £5 and £10 flights on the websites. Taxes aren’t clearly shown until you get into the booking process. Still, it’s hard to beat.
 -Steenie Harvey, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

Getting at the real India
If you’re interested in a glimpse of the spiritual soul of India, you can, like me, take a 5-hour train (the Shatabdi express) from Delhi, north to the town of Hardware. From there, take a bus (12 rupee, or 25 cents) to Rishikesh, home of the river Ganges and numerous ashrams, at the foot of the impressive Himalayans. 

Here you can arrange classes on meditation or yoga from any of the numerous tourist offices in the area, as well as short treks into the mountains. You can also visit a few of the famous temples in Hardware. Stop to talk with any one of the orange-robed swamis (holy men), who have renounced family and all worldly possessions in the pursuit of truth and knowledge. Most speak English.

Expect the usual sewage, garbage piles, grazing pigs and cows in the streets. Hotel accommodations are semi-clean at best. Request a European toilet if you aren’t comfortable with the typical hole-in-the floor style. Below are hotels priced at $4 to $6, close or on the river Ganges, just outside of Rishikesh (call ahead).

• Nigha Tourist Resort, Laxman Jhoola, near Shanti Maye Ashram; tel. (91)135-434801.
• Hotel Ishan, Laxman Jhoola, near Shanti Maye Ashram;.  (91)135-433271.
• Hotel Shikar, Laxman Jhula Road, Tapovan; tel. (91)135-433817.
 -Krista Malott, Hardware, India

Beat the Mexican bureaucrats
My wife and I have been traveling to various parts of Mexico for many years. We love the people, the history, and the charm, but we, like most people who go there, have also experienced our share of “petty bureaucrats.” You know the kind, the ones who have a little bit of power, and let all of it go straight to their head. I’ve figured out how to beat them at their own game. Here’s how: On our last border crossing from Laredo, Texas to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, in the summer of 1999, we had inadvertently allowed our FM 3, Mexican residence documents, to expire by a few weeks. 

I only became aware of this just before our annual summer excursion to become “Mexican Residents” for a few of the hottest summer months here in Texas. I tried to renew the FM 3 visas at the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, only to be told that I would have to reapply. There was not enough time.

I asked if a tourist card obtained at the border would be sufficient, knowing that I should be able to do this, as long as I had two documents to prove U.S. citizenship in hand. The tourist card is good up to 90 days. The person on duty said that “Yes, that would be the easiest solution.”

A $400 toll 
Arriving at the border several days later, we made sure not to use our FM 3 residency passport-like booklets as one of the forms proving U.S. citizenship. Instead, we used our U.S. passports and voter registration certificates. Handing our documents to the appropriate immigration official, all seemed to be going well, until she happened to notice the Mexican residency visas pasted onto the back pages of our passports. “Why are you using tourist cards when you have a residency permit?” she asked. I explained, unsuccessfully.

I had to go see a “higher-up” official at a different location. I soon learned that not having renewed my FM 3 residency permit was a “very serious matter.” After several minutes on the calculator, the official determined that it would take over $400, payable in cash in pesos, to remedy the matter. I said it was too expensive and would just have to home.

Back at our hotel, we knew that since the border is open 24 hours a day, a new shift of officials would soon be on duty, so we decided to try our plan on the next set. 

At around 10:45 p.m., with new officials in place, we filled out the forms for tourist cards, but this time using certified copies of our birth certificates and our voter registration cards as proof of U.S. citizenship. We sailed right through this set of officials without any problems. 

The lesson here is this: Talking to Mexican immigration officials is like talking to IRS officials in the States. You can get a different answer to your question from every one you ask. If you’re not happy with what one official tells you, simply go back in a few hours and try again.
 -Sid Grosvenor, Texas, USA

Teaching English overseas
From April of last year to April of this year, I taught English at the Masan Foreign Language Institute in Masan, South Korea. 

If you’re interested in teaching English overseas, the places with the greatest demand for English teachers are Korea, Japan,Taiwan, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and parts of Western Europe. 

To qualify for a position you must be a native Englishspeaker and have a bachelor’s degree in any field. Some employers also require you to have a Certificatein English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) or a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Both courses are offered in dozens of locations around the world and take only a month to complete. 

The best way to find a teaching position and virtually everything else you need to know about ESL/EFL work,is to use the following three web-sites: www.eslcafe.com, www.tefl.com, and www.tefl.net.
 -Matthew Scott, Sydney, Australia

A restaurant out of the Arabian Nights
Walking through Tunis’s Medina (old city), venture in the narrow laneways, and push open some of the always-closed doors. I did so recently and stepped in the Essaraya Restaurant, a world of culinary pleasure in the midst of a totally renovated ancient Moorish-style. It’s a former palace, adorned with filigree and vividly colored tiles. It seems like something out of the Arabian Nights. 

Here, at one of the best restaurants in Tunis, we dined in true royal fashion. We feasted on Tunisian delicacies as haunting oriental music of the Malouf—brought to Tunisia by the expelled Andalusian Muslims—relaxed us. The service was excellent. The cost of a full-course dinner with wine came to $25. Essaraya Restaurant, 6 Rue Ben Mahmoud, Tunis, Tunisia; tel. (216-1)560-310, fax 560-703; e-mail:essaraya@planet.tn; 
-Habeeb Salloum, Ontario, Canada

Cheap french farms
I read an article in Figaro recently that said farming in France has become so bureaucratic that it is almost impossible to enter the profession. As I have discovered, you can’t do anything in this country without asking permission from some regulatory group. Some farmers are fed up, they’re leaving for the United States and Canada. 

Land in France is cheap, perhaps as a result. An acre of farmland sells for about $1,200 on average. In Britain, farmland costs twice as much. In Holland, it’s $7,000 an acre.
 -Bill Bonner, Paris, France

The best place to buy red lingerie
Every December, Romans buy new red lingerie to wear when they usher in the New Year. As a result, the city is home to many shops that specialize in red underwear. For the finest lingerie in Rome (red and otherwise), visit the via Frattina area. Try Vanita, via Frattina 70, which has beautiful lace slips, hand-embroidered silk items, and a good selection of beachwear. More lacy, tantalizing creations can be found at Tuddeda, via Frattina 25. 
 -William Chamberlayne, Rome, Italy

Editor’s note
For a free report detailing more of William Chamberlayne’s best travel secrets, including where to find the world’s most romantic hotel...the best music festivals,...and the world’s oldest pub, go to www.internationalliving.com. Click on the “FREE REPORT” button, then check the “Travel Secrets” box, and enter you e-mail address. It’s free.

World’s most-dramatic golf course
A few weeks ago I played what has to be one of the world’s most dramatic golf courses, the Links of Old Head. About 45 minutes south of Cork, these links are built on a small finger of a peninsula that extends out into the Atlantic Ocean. Roughly half the holes teeter along the 400-foot cliffs. On the front nine, the wind was calm, but it really picked up on the back. Several times I had to hit the ball out over the Atlantic to allow the wind to push it back into play. 

The course caters to Americans and Europeans but not the Irish. It’s expensive, IR£120, but worth it. My advice: hire a caddy who will tell you proper distances and directions, which are hard to figure out on your own. Save time for drink in the clubhouse that overlooks the (disappointing) 18th hole, the ocean, and the cliffs. You can book a time over the Internet by going to www.oldheadgolflinks.com. You can also call (353-21)778-444 or e-mail: info@oldheadgolf.ie.
 -Michael Palmer, Waterford, Ireland