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A visit to Solar Pools is the perfect ending to a romantic tryst at Lake Atitlan. In San Pedro la Laguna, you can rent a cabana on the lake for 80 quetzal (about $10) per night, with a hot shower, a furnished kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms, at Punto d’Oro. The marked price is 600 quetzal, but you can negotiate. From the main road, walk through the cornfields to the right of the dock where the ferries leave for Santiago. You’ll pass through local Mayan gardens until you reach Punto d’Oro, about eight minutes later. Another choice closer to town is the Hotelito Almanacer, where a double room with hot shower costs 60 quetzal (about $8).

Dave Morgan, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
 

The most corrupt countries in the world

In Transparency International’s 1999 Corruption Perceptions Index, which relates to how business people and risk analysts perceive the degree of corruption in each country, Denmark was seen as the least corrupt, followed by Finland, New Zealand, Sweden and Canada. The five countries that were thought to be the worst were Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. www.transparency.de.
 

Rising prices in Ecuador

I’ve just returned from two weeks in Ecuador and my suspicion of rising prices has been confirmed. Now that the country is switching to the US dollar, you can no longer count on dollar appreciation to make prices drop any further. This is good news for real estate investors.

The 4-cent bus ride has risen to 8 cents; gasoline has gone up from 48 cents to 80 cents a gallon. And prices on other goods and services are inching up as well. Of course, it’s still ridiculously cheap compared to what you’d pay at home, but the trend is clear-Ecuador is starting to recover. There are, however, great deals still to be had. If you’re looking at investing in Ecuador, I’d consider buying a lot and building a custom home to your own specifications. Gus Hernandez is developing some lots in Guayllabamba, near Quito, and he says the weather there is “the best in Ecuador.” Gus Hernandez, Veintimilla 635 Apt. 201-B, Quito; tel./fax (593)2-568-676. 
 

Spanish lessons: $5 an hour

Spanish schools are abundant in Quito, and they’re inexpensive. We attended La Lengua, located on Colon at J.L. Mera. La Lengua School, Ms. Ligia Perez, 1001 Colon at J.L. Mera, 8th floor;  e-mail: Lalengua@hoy.net, website: www.Lalengua.com.

Our school was typical, using college-trained instructors with several years of experience, and one-to-one instruction with the student setting the schedule, the pace of learning, and even the particular subject matter. Teachers will go with you on errands, such as banking, buying tickets, or just to the market to buy fruit. The cost: only $5 per hour! The schools sponsor frequent trips to points of interest, such as the jungle, Indian markets, or through colonial Quito. They can also find you cheap accommodations with an Ecuadorian family, with three meals and laundry service, for about $11 per day. You’ll enjoy it, and get an authentic experience of modern Quito that the ordinary tourist will never see. Other schools can be found at Academia de Espanol, website: www.academiaquito.com.ec, and South American Language Center, website: www.southamerican.edu.ec, e-mail:  info@southamerican.edu.ec. 

Vern Henshaw, Quito, Ecuador
 

The world’s biggest, and cheapest, Internet café

 I was in London a few weeks ago, and I went to what must be the world’s biggest and cheapest Internet café. It’s a chain, actually, with five locations in London, and one in each of the following cities: Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Barcelona. It’s called Easy Everything, and is run by the same people who own Easyjet, the British budget airline. 

I went to the Tottenham Court Road branch. It has 500 terminals (with very fast connections) ... and good coffee (£1). My all-day connection (you can come and go as often as you like) cost £1. The manager said the rates vary depending on how crowded it is and the day of the week, 
but it’s never much more than £1. www.easyeverything.com .

Michael Palmer, London, England
 

The 8th wonder of the world

Just back from the jungle. What a trip. A friend of mine and I went up to Poptun in the Maya Mountains not far from the Belize border and went caving. Poptun is between Rio Dulce and Tikal. There's a great hostel up there for all budgets called the Finca Ixobel. They even have a garage where overlanders can work on their vehicles. The food is fantastic. It costs about $15 a day for lodging, food, and beer. Depending, of course, on how much you drink...or in my case, how many card games you lose. 

Then we drove cross-country on a dirt track all day through jungle and villages where the people speak Kackchikel, a Mayan language, not even any Spanish. 

They had never seen gringos before. It was quite a rush. It’s an eight-hour trip from San Luis in El Peten, southwest to Lanquin in Alta Verapaz. 10 kilometer from Lanquin is Semuc-Champey, a protected area where there are about 15 waterfalls and a raging river that disappears into the earth, all within about half a square kilometer. Unbelievable. The locals call it the 8th wonder of the world.

Tourism is picking up in the region. It’d be a great place to build a hostel such as the one described above. 

A good place to stay is the 3-room, thatch-roofed El Refugio in Lanquin. It’s clean, costs only $2.50 per night per person, and you can take a kayak or a rafting trip right from the door down the Lanquin River. The owner is extremely friendly, and though he speaks only Kackchikel and Spanish, he’s friendly enough that a smile and a few hand gestures would surely get your point across. 

Home-cooked meals upon request.

Dave Morgan, Poptun, Guatemala
 

Explorer’s art tour

During your travels, keep an eye out for showings of the Rockwell Kent collection. If you’ve ever seen the deluxe, illustrated edition of Moby Dick from 1930, you've seen Rockwell Kent’s illustrations. At age 47, he piloted a small boat to Greenland on a mission that ended in shipwreck. He survived and later went back to Greenland where he lived the rest of his life, painting and writing books about his travels. Some of his collection is leaving the Hermitage in St. Petersburg for the following locations: Norman Rockwell Museum: 24 June-29 October, 2000; Appleton Museum in Florida: 18 November-28 January, 2001; Terra Museum in Chicago: 24 February-20 May; and the Anchorage Museum in Alaska: 17 June-23 September.

John Forde, New York, NY
 

$180 umbrella

I need plenty of new photographs to illustrate my next book, so I’m off for a three-week jaunt around Europe with my husband, Michael.  One of our first stops was Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city. After four hours of wandering about taking photos on a sweltering day, we took time for a well earned break. We took refuge in a shady pavement café near the lake, a picture of swans and sailing boats, before strolling down ahnhofstrasse, Zurich’s classy shopping street. 

The first impression was that impoverished souls like us shouldn’t even be peeking in the windows! I was glad it was 82 degrees and sunny. Who in their right mind would spend 293 Swiss francs ($180) on an umbrella, no matter how posh it looked?

Of course, just about everything on Bahnhofstrasse whispers luxury. Stretching for a mile between the railway station and Lake Zurich, you could definitely do some serious damage to your credit cards here. All the famous names are here-Tiffany, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc. I saw a gorgeous Paloma Picasso bracelet for 11,700 francs ($7,207), maybe if I win the lottery… 

So, no swanky new outfit to go parading in for the evening. Not that it mattered. All the cool night-time action takes place on the opposite bank of the Limmat river. I don’t know where the bankers go, but Old Zurich is where the young and funky hang out.

Steenie Harvey, Zurich, Switzerland
 

Witches, fire-eaters, and bosomy wenches

I've just been blessed by a monk, felt the hot breath of a ten-foot tall fire-eater, and saw a ‘witch’ being dragged off to suffer a nasty fate! And my husband, Michael, is not complaining about the food for once-not after stuffing his face with sandwiches made from roast sucking pig.

One of the joys of a summer trip to Italy is when you come across a festival or a saint’s day being celebrated. The people here really do know how to put on a colorful show. More by luck than any careful planning, our visit to the Tuscan town of San Gimignano coincided with the first day of their Ferie delle Messi.

Organized by the “Cavaliers of Santa Fina,” it’s a kind of harvest festival that recreates many of San Gimignano’s medieval traditions and also honors the town’s patron saint, Fina dei Ciardi. Apparently she was a young local girl who died ‘in the name of sanctity’ in 1253.

Just as in medieval times, the cavaliers divide themselves into four historic contrade, or factions. Taking part in everything from jousts to sword-fights to archery contests, they compete for a Golden Sword, a symbol of fertility. Although not as well-known as the Palio, in neighboring Siona, Tuscany’s festivals are a lot more fun. Here there’s room enough for everybody to see all the action from the steps of the Duomo, the Cathedral on the main square. And not only can you roam about freely, the festival’s participants are only too willing to pose for photographs. I’m trying to be objective and not use up every shot in my camera on close-ups of good-looking males, but I’ve always had a thing about men in tights, especially when they’re armed with halberds, axes, and quivers full of arrows. (Believe me, there are some devilishly handsome cavaliers strutting about these streets.) Should I be annoyed that Michael is using up all his film by taking shots of bosomy wenches in low-cut gowns?

This year’s Ferie Del Messe took place on June 17th and 18th, but check with the tourist office for the date of next year’s festival. Ufficio Turistico, Piazza Duomo 1, San Gimignano; tel. (39)05-7794-0008  www.sangimignano.com.

Steenie Harvey, San Gimignano, Italy
 

In jail in Lucerne

For most travelers, Lucerne is Switzerland personified-a fairytale lakeside town backdropped by the Alps. We actually came here to photograph the mountains. But we soon found ourselves in prison. All we had to do is book into the Lowengraben Hotel.

The Lowengraben’s motto is “once you are in, you’ll never want to get out again!” A hotel with a 
difference, this was once Lucerne’s Zentralgefangnis (main prison) where local bad boys were kept until very recently. When a new prison was built in the countryside in 1998, the old jail was developed into offbeat visitor accommodation.

Unlike other Lucerne hotels, here you don’t get a room. Instead Jochen the Jailkeeper books you into a cell. Basic cells are shared between eight inmates, but facilities aren’t quite as primitive as in days gone by. For instance, you don’t have to squat over a bucket. My husband, Michael, was relieved to find out that the cells were equipped with a shower, a washbasin, and a toilet. And there’s a restaurant where you can have a proper Swiss breakfast, though gluttons for punishment can always insist on bread and water.

If you’re willing to share, you’ll pay only 20 Swiss francs ($12.5) nightly for a bunk in one of those eight-person cells. We opted to pay a bit extra for privacy. Our 2-person cell was actually a bit more comfy than some ‘real’ hotels I've stayed in. Sure, our Lucerne accommodation has bars on the windows, but we haven’t been disturbed by the rustling of hungry rats. Nor are there any roaches, fleas or bedbugs. Our cell costs 119 Swiss francs ($74), but if you want to experience how the prison governor lived, book the “director’s suite” for 199 Swiss francs ($122) nightly. Contact Hotel Lowengraben, Lowengraben 18, 6000 Lucerne; tel. (41-41)417-1212.

Steenie Harvey, Lucerne, Switzerland
 

Finding the real France

We recently loaded our family of seven into the car and drove from Poitiers to Toulouse. Toulouse is the fourth-largest city in France, but with a population of only 365,000. A flea market and a street string quartet were going full force on a Sunday morning around the Cathedral Saint-Sernin, when we arrived.

French-speaking tourists in Toulouse can take advantage of inexpensive guided tours; many to buildings not normally open to the public. Even if you cannot understand French, you may find these tours, funded by the Ministry of Culture, an excellent way to penetrate behind the walls of private mansions, and other interesting sites. For more information, write to Les Guides-Conférenciers, ATHA, BP 494, 31010 Toulouse Cedex 6;  fax (33-5)62-48-32-12.  The Tourist Office, runs during the summer, and is located in the Capitole, 31000 Toulouse; tel. (33-5)61-110-222,fax 220-363.

Elizabeth Bonner, Paris, France