Travel Company Ranks World’s 10 Best Walks

What goes into making one walk better than another? The scenery? The strenuousness, or lack thereof? The company? The location?

It’s a highly subjective matter, to be sure, but for those who like to debate the merits of other people’s choices, Weissmann Travel Reports has come up with a top 10 list of its own.

The Houston-based travel information company ranks the weeklong hike through the Himalayas from Pokhara to Jomson, in Nepal, as the finest walking experience on earth because of what it calls “mountain panoramas that are simply without parallel.”

Some will disagree and might argue on behalf of, say, the Inca Trail in Peru, or perhaps another hike not even mentioned. No matter. WTR’s choices get the debate off on the right, uh, foot. The company’s top 10:

1. Pokhara to Jomson, Nepal.

2. Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem, Israel.

3. Hoh Rain Forest Trail, Olympic National Park, Wash.

4. Huangpu Park, Shanghai, China, where thousands of residents in unison perform the meditation/dance, tai chi chuan , at sunrise each day.

5. Borrowdale, England, for natural beauty along a three-mile trail.

6. Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco.

7. Inca Trail, Peru, linking the ruins of several ancient cities.

8. Hill Tribe Treks, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

9. Appalachian National Scenic Trail, from Mount Katahdin, Me., to Springer, Ga.

10. The One-Sixth Chair Room at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Ala., where a simulator allows participants suspended in a harness and wearing a helmet to leap about as if gravity were only one-sixth of what it is on earth.

Four other walks given honorable mention by WTR: Katherine Gorge National Park, Australia; the Freedom Trail, Boston; Ituri Rain Forest, Epulu, Zaire, and the Great Wall of China, Badaling, China.

Travel Quiz: When the Channel Tunnel opens, France will be joined to nine countries, one by rail through the tunnel and eight by common border. What are the countries?

A New Way to Australia: The U.S. Department of Transportation has given tentative approval to Northwest Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines’ routes between the United States and Sydney, Australia, and between Guam/Saipan and Nagoya/Fukuoka, Japan. Final approval is expected later this month.

If it is obtained, Northwest plans to serve Australia with four weekly round trips, the maximum allowed under bilateral agreements. Guam/Saipan and Nagoya/Fukuoka will receive at least daily service.

Quick Fact: Amtrak carried a record 22.2 million passengers on intercity rail service in 1990, plus another 18 million on commuter routes.

China Underground: China plans to build or expand subway systems in 11 cities at a cost of up to $3.8 billion, according to the Hong Kong China News Service, a semi-official Chinese news agency.

In Beijing and Tianjin, which already have subway systems, lines would be expanded and repaired. At the same time, new systems would be constructed in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Chongqing, Changchun and Harbin.

Colombia Visa Ruling: United States citizens traveling to Colombia no longer are required to obtain a visa or tourist card, according to the Colombian Government Tourist Office. A valid passport and ticket for entry and departure are all that is needed, and visits can be for a maximum of 90 days in any calendar year.

Fast Move in Sweden: The rail journey between Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden now takes an hour less than it did before because Swedish State Railways has put new high-speed trains on the run. Intended primarily for business travelers, the 125-m.p.h. trains are expected to cut the journey’s time to just three hours by next year, once track improvements are made.

Quick Fact: Amtrak trains were on time 76% of the time in 1990, a four-year high.

Northern Lights: According to scientists at the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute, this is the best year in centuries to see the famed aurora borealis, or northern lights, which result from solar storms. Alaskans say the best spot from which to view the natural phenomenon is Fairbanks.

Back to the Drawing Board: If tourism officials in Britain’s Channel Islands seem to be a little more red-faced than usual these days, it has nothing to do with the sun or the English beer.

Seems one of their promotional gambits went awry. The holiday advertisement in question pictured a beach, a beautiful girl and a sparkling blue sea. “It’s Jersey,” proclaimed the accompanying caption.

No it wasn’t.

Residents of a seaside hamlet in the county of Dorset recognized the scene and protested furiously. It’s Mudeford, they proclaimed.

And so it was. When confronted, the tourism officials admitted that the ad had been shot nowhere near Jersey, but on the mainland.

Quiz Answer: England, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland and the one that is usually forgotten--Andorra.