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Rundown for the Week of January 9, 2004

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Destination of the Week: Hidden Hawaii It's the dead of winter now, so it's the perfect time to fantasize about a sunny paradise right here on American soil. While many of us have been über-tourists when in Hawaii, it takes a bit of work to be a non-tourist there. So, our contributors show us Hawaii, off the beaten path. Open Road: part I by Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan Listen in Real Audio Long-time public radio contributors Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan leave the frozen tundra of Utah to teach us how to live as the natives do. They start in Kona, on the Big Island, and head toward North Kohala in search of old friends and Hawaiian customs. Web resources: More info. about the places visited by Hal and Teresa Open Road: part II by Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan Listen in Real Audio Hal Cannon and Teresa continue their visit with friends who live on the North Shore of the Big Island and do what the locals do, day after day. They explore Hawaii's vast traditional arts, learning the complex "language" of hula as well as the Hawaiian songs, dances and prayers of the ancestors. Web resources: More info. about the places visited by Hal and Teresa The real Hawaii, an interview with Don George Lonely Planet's Global Travel Editor Listen in Real Audio Host Diana Nyad talks with Don George, Lonely Planet's global travel editor, about places to go off the beaten path in Hawaii, away from the regular tourist hangouts. Don talks about visiting "real Hawaii" on a bus in Oahu and via an ancient temple on the northern tip of the Big Island. Web resources: More info. on places talked about by Don George

Info. on places visted by Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan www.KonaWeb.com www.HawaiianHotels.com: The Royal Kona Resort, where Hal and Teresa stayed www.hawaii.cc: North Kohala info. www.rcarchive.com: Palolo Valley Hiking Hawaii.guide-to-travel.com: Palolo Valley guide Places mentioned by Don George www.TheBus.org www.LonelyPlanet.com/columns: article - "Traveler at Large" http://www.letsgo.com/HAW/: article - "Pu'Ukohola Heiau National Historic Site" Other Savvy stories about Hawaii "Learning to Hang Ten on the North Shore" by Scott Carrier "Mysterious Hawaii" by Shirley Streshensky "The Open Road" by Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan "Hawaiian Trade Winds" by Robert Rand "Honoring Hula" "Sound Travels: Lava Flow, Hawaii's Big Island"

Interview with Ariel Glucklich author of "Climbing Chamundi Hill" Listen in Real Audio Travel is a big theme in literature -- and the journey is often one of self-enlightenment. Ariel Glucklich, a professor of Hinduism at Georgetown University, has a new book called "Climbing Chamundi Hill," the fictitious story of a young American traveler who gains spiritual enlightenment as he climbs the 1,001 steps up Chamundi Hill in southern India. Host Diana Nyad talks with Ariel about the book's journey.

Web resources: Glucklich's book "Climbing Chamundi Hill" is available at Amazon.com. Your purchase helps support The Savvy Traveler.

photo: D. O'Brien Enlarge

"Airline" an interview with Series Producer Chris Carey Listen in Real Audio "Airline" is a reality show that follows the day-to-day drama of the passengers, staff and crew of Southwest Airlines as thousands of people take to the sky or remain stranded on the ground at the LAX and Midway airports. Host Diana Nyad talks with Chris Carey, the series producer, who produced the hit UK series by the same name that focused on easyJet.

Web resource: www.aetv.com, program Web site.

Bad Taste Tour with Cash Peters destination: The Winchester Mystery House Listen in RealAudio Ever been to a house that has staircases leading nowhere, a window built into the floor, and doors that open to blank walls? Then, you haven't experienced the rather surreal architectural qualities of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif. Apparently, the eccentric heir to the Winchester fortune had construction continue at the house for 38 years to appease "evil spirits." That seemed like reason enough to send Cash Peters there for a tour.

Web resources: www.WinchesterMysteryHouse.com: Winchester Mystery House Web site www.cashpeters.com: Cash's Web site Cash's book, "Gullible's Travels: The Adventures of a Bad Taste Tourist", is available for purchase at Amazon.com. Your purchase helps support The Savvy Traveler. Browse more Cash Peters stories

Sound Travels Working Women, Timbuktu, Africa Listen in Real Audio "Sound Travels" is the part of our show when we travel with just our ears as our guide. One way to really get into the local culture when you travel is to go where people work: Go see a factory, a farm, hang out with a real estate agent. Anastasia Tsioulcas was in Timbuktu when she met some women working grinding millet and rice. She found work takes on a definite rhythm in Africa.

Savvy resource: More "Sound Travels" segments

Travelers Aid Holiday Wrap-up Solutions Listen in Real Audio The holiday travel season has come and gone, and depending on whom you talk to, it was either a joy or a nightmare: Some people had no problems; others reported security delays and missed connections. So, what's working and not working? To give us a read on the state of air travel in 2004, our Travel Troubleshooter, Chris Elliott, joins us. Chris gives us his take on how the TSA is doing with airport security, what airlines need to improve on, and what he thinks the flying experience will be like five years from now.

Deal of the Week Lock In a Great Price on a Europe Package Listen in Real Audio When it costs more than $1.25 to buy a single euro, as it does right now, it's more important than ever to find a deal. That's why this offer from Trafalgar Tours is good news. It's all about cutting the cost of visiting Europe this coming summer. DEAL: If you pay for a package tour to Europe by mid-February and travel between April 1 and October 31, your companion receives 50 percent off the round-trip airline ticket. So, what kind of prices does that mean for a European jaunt? Well, for an 11-day, 10-night tour of Italy -- which includes airfare, airport transfers, hotels, daily breakfast, five dinners, local guides and, of course, ground transportation -- the price for the first person is about $2,500 if you fly out of New York; the second traveler pays about $2,000, for a $500 savings. Fly out of LA and save $612. That's not bad for 11 days in Italy, plus the extras -- and all Trafalgar European destinations are included in this deal.

Web resource: For more info., visit www.Trafalgar.com.