Visa Rules Changing for Independent States

Visa requirements for the Commonwealth of Independent States are changing as history and politics unfold. If you want to visit countries of the former Soviet Union, the easiest way, as of this writing, is to apply to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The current price for vacation travelers is $30 per visa. But all of this is changing almost daily as new embassies open, and confusion about travel document requirements to the Commonwealth has been increasing as rules and boundaries are altered. Tour operators say that, until new procedures are set, Russian visas are being honored by the Commonwealth of Independent States. But travelers should check with their travel agents or the Russian Embassy as their departure date nears.

Seeing Sleaze: Tourists heading for the sun were warned last week, in a guide to the world’s worst vacation resorts, to beware of sleazy sex beaches and open sewers. The Consumer Assn., an influential British group that evaluates products and services, published a list of nine resorts in that category from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia.

Among the places to avoid, according to the association, are Pattaya in Thailand, described as a close second to Bangkok as the “world capital of sleaze,” and Nabeul in Tunisia, where the beach was “filthy, strewn with litter and bordered by stinking open sewers.” Sunny Beach in Bulgaria got a mention as a “barrack-like” resort invaded by prostitutes, drug-dealers and gangs of marauding youths who prey on vacationers. The vacation guide, based on letters from readers of the association’s “Which?” consumer advice magazine, also advised avoiding El Arenal on the Spanish island of Majorca for overcrowding, Turkey’s Gumbet for its “scruffy” appearance and Kanoni in Corfu, said to be too close to a noisy airport runway.

Other prize winners were France’s La Grande-Motte, a bleak 1960s holiday development near Montpellier, “ugly” Quarteira in the Portuguese Algarve and Gzira, described as the “worst slum in Malta.”

Travel Quiz: What is the largest body of fresh water in the world and what two countries does it straddle?

Quick Fact: How do business travelers rate airline food? Fify-one percent of those polled called it “edible.” (Source: 1991 Great American Frequent Flyer Poll)

California Camp: Fees are rising at State Vehicular Recreation Areas, otherwise known as SVRAs: specialized parks that provide off-road trails for dirt bikes, all terrain vehicles, four-wheel drive vehicles and dune buggies. The new rates, now in effect, are $4 per day for a single vehicle; $40 for an annual pass and $6 for a family campsite. The good news is that there is no longer a charge for dogs. Rate hikes are in effect for Prairie City, Carnegie, Hollister Hills, Pismo Dunes and Hungry Valley.

Minsk Link: When Aer Lingus, the airline of Ireland, tomorrow begins regular weekly service between New York and Boston and Minsk, it will be the first scheduled link between the U.S. and the Byelorus capital. By linking with a new carrier, Byelorussian Airlines, in Shannon, Ireland, Aer Lingus will trim the flying time between the U.S. and the new republic. Although it is possible to fly from New York to Moscow on Aeroflot and then backtrack to Minsk, the Byelorrusian flights take a much shorter, direct route between Shannon and Minsk, thus trimming at least 500 miles.

Making Book on Dublin: The city of Dublin claims an impressive number of literary all-stars--Swift, Goldsmith, Wilde, Behan, Joyce, Yeats, Shaw and Beckett, to name a few. Now it’s possible to celebrate the city’s writers, and Irish literature in general, in the Dublin Writers Museum, newly opened at 18-19 Parnell Square North. On exhibit are a library of rare books, old literary journals, death masks, portraits, busts and assorted memorabilia such as Brendan Behan’s typewriter and James Joyce’s piano. Performances of music and drama and poetry readings are also presented. Admission to the museum is about $3.75 for adults, about $2 for students and seniors, and about $1 for children under 12.

Comparatively Speaking: Cost of a carton of cigarettes in Stockholm: $29.31. In Vancouver: $28.45. In Paris: $17.19. In Quito, Ecuador: $9.70. (Source: Runzheimer International)

Treasure in the Treasury: Because of its historic interest and original High Renaissance revival period design, Andrew Johnson’s one time office in the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., has been restored at a cost of $500,000 in donated funds--and the restored rooms are now open to the public for an hour-long tour every other Saturday.

This is the office in which Johnson held Cabinet meetings to plan Abraham Lincoln’s funeral, signed a proclamation granting amnesty to the Confederate military and offered a $100,000 reward for Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s capture. All of the furniture in the reception room and adjoining office is now of the period and some pieces were actually used by Johnson--a sofa, three chairs and two paintings were identified from newspaper engravings of the time and chromolithographs of Abraham Lincoln and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

Reservations must be made a week in advance by calling (202) 343-9136. A photo identification is necessary for admittance.

Fair Warning: Contemporary and traditional painting, jewelry and wearing apparel will be on sale at the sixth annual Southwest Arts Festival at the Desert Expo Center in Indio, 10-4 p.m., Feb. 1-2. More than 100 artists from the West and Southwest will display their work in the juried show. There also will be food and entertainment. Admission is $4 for adults, children admitted free. For further information call (619) 347-0676.

Quiz Answer: Lake Superior, one of the Great Lakes, which covers 31,800 square miles and is divided between the United States and Canada.