Food for Thought and Stomachs in Indonesia

Whet your appetite for Balinese cuisine on a two-week tour to Bali from March 26 to April 8.

The savory foods reflect the cultural mix of China, Spain, India and Holland. The journey will begin with a stay in a mountain village among coffee and clove plantations. The itinerary includes walks through plantations and treks to lakes and waterfalls. There will also be tours of coffee and clove oil factories, aboriginal villages, a palm-wine maker, several local markets, eel and turtle breeding farms and family compounds.

Frequent cooking classes and demonstrations include making satay (grilled skewered meat), sampling traditional cakes, making fermented rice and rice wine, bean sprout growing and betel nut tasting. Also included are visits to temples and artists’ workshops. During the second week, travelers will explore Bali’s cultural center of Ubud and spend two nights in the beach town of Sanur.

Balinese guide and food writer Made Surya, chef Joseph Schultz and cookbook author Patricia Rain will accompany the tour.

Cost: $2,950 includes round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, sightseeing, classes, transfers and two meals a day.

Contact: Danu Enterprises, P.O. Box 156, Capitola, CA 95010; telephone (888) 476-0543.

Spain: Springtime

Discover Mediterranean Spain with a springtime tour of Catalonia and Majorca from May 21 to June 2. The tour will begin in Barcelona with its mix of medieval and modern architecture. Participants will visit private and public gardens (both historic and contemporary), art collections and cathedrals. They will also meet Spanish families in their homes and enjoy regional cuisine in private homes and restaurants. An optional extension includes a day at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

After a stay in an 18th century manor house on the Costa Brava, guests will fly to the island of Majorca.

Garden designer Katherine Greenberg will escort the tour.

Cost: $4,650 per person, double occupancy, including first-class accommodations, motor coach transport, one flight within Spain, breakfast daily and some meals, all sightseeing and tour fees. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Landmark Travel; tel. (925) 253-2600.

Hawaii: Cruise

Historic Tours of America is offering a Hawaiian cruise with a Mark Twain theme from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2. Actor Lewis Hankins will portray Twain and read from his writings. The ship, the Independence, calls on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.

Cost: from $1,651 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all meals and entertainment on board and taxes. Shore tours are extra. A two-night Waikiki hotel package can be added for $170 per person. Discounts are available if bookings are made before Feb. 28.

Contact: Historic Tours of America, 20325 Seabright Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92646; tel. (714) 536-3434.

Italy: Etruscans

Trace the routes of the ancient Etruscans on a tour hosted by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center from June 5 to 15. Led by archeologist Richard DePuma, “The Ancient Etruscans of Central Italy” will focus on the legacy of the Etruscans.

In the 6th to 7th century BC, the Etruscans were traders, navigators and competitors with the Greeks and Phoenicians. Etruscan civilization flourished into Roman times.

Tour participants will view collections of Etruscan sculpture, jewelry, painting, pottery and artifacts, and will explore ancient Etruscan sites and Italian villages perched on the hillsides of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio.

Cost: $5,795 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals, sightseeing, ground transportation and airport transfers. Air fare to Italy is extra.

Contact: Crow Canyon Archaeological Center; tel. (800) 422-8975, Internet https://www.crowcanyon .org.

France: Tennis

Enjoy world-class tennis and the Loire Valley and Normandy on 11-night tours departing May 28 and June 13. Depending on the departure date, guests will get either three or four days of tennis viewing at the French Open.

Six nights in Paris include cruising on the Seine, playing tennis on red clay courts at a private club and dining at a Left Bank bistro.

The Loire Valley and Normandy packages will include wine tasting and visits to the cha^teaux of Amboise, Azay-Le-Rideau, Villandry, Chenonceau and Chambord. In Normandy, guests will stay in a cha^teau and will visit World War II landing beaches and the Memorial Museum.

Cost: from $3,690 per person, double occupancy, including hotel accommodations for 11 nights, reserved center-court seats at the French Open, daily breakfast, two dinners, Seine River cruise, Paris city tour, entrance fees, ground transportation and guides. Air fare is additional. The tours are limited to 16 people.

Contact: Advantage Tennis Tours; tel. (800) 341-8687, Internet https://www.advantagetennistours .com.

China: Buddhism

The Ulan Bator Foundation is sponsoring a Buddhist art and spirituality tour along the Silk Road in China from July 25 to Aug. 15. It will be led by Wei Yang, who is a research fellow at Dunhuang Academy, a graduate of Smith College and a doctoral student in Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist art at Northwestern University.

The tour will focus on Buddhist shrines, lamaseries and spiritual places along the Silk Road between Dunhuang and Datong. Sites include Dunhuang (Mogao), Yulin, Maijishan, Longmen and Yungang grottoes; Labrang, Pingyao and Shuanglin lamaseries; Xian and Mt. Wutaishan.

Cost: $2,625 per person, double, including air, bus and rail travel within China; three-star accommodations; visa; most meals; and tips. International air fare to Beijing is not included, but the foundation can arrange a discounted fare on All Nippon Airways.

Contact: Ulan Bator Foundation, P.O. Box 3059, Venice, CA 90294; tel. (310) 821-3459, Internet https://www.venice-ca.com/ulanbator.

Mexico: Whales

Learn to paddle a sea kayak and get close to a gray whale in remote Pacific lagoons. Offered by Sea Kayak Adventures, a series of five-day camping and sea kayaking trips departs weekly Jan. 30 through Feb. 27. Guides will point out wildlife on a wilderness kayaking adventure on Magdalena Bay, where participants can follow California gray whales in their winter gathering place.

Guests will camp on secluded island beaches, where they can watch whales from their dome tents. Additional activities will include desert hikes, beach exploration and a visit to a sea lion rookery, as well as opportunities for fishing from a kayak. The area is also home to several species of dolphins, coyotes and hundreds of shorebirds.

Tours depart from and return to Loreto. No previous kayaking or camping experience is necessary. Stable two-person kayaks, paddling gear and camping supplies are provided.

Cost: $940 per person, including two nights’ lodging, meals, guides and transportation from Loreto to the launch site. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Sea Kayak Adventures, 1315 Indiana Ave., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83814; tel. (800) 616-1943, Internet https://www.seakayakadventures.com.

Antarctica: Biology

Dennis Kelly, marine biology professor at Orange Coast College, is leading a 14-day trip to explore the wildlife and wilderness of Antarctica from Jan. 3 to 14. Participants can earn four units of college credit while learning about the history of the discovery of the ozone hole and the environment of the continent. The group will cruise from Argentina on the Marco Polo and take a landing craft to see penguins, swim in a volcanic caldera at Deception Island and explore Le Maire Channel’s archipelago.

Cost: from $4,700 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, overnight accommodations in Miami, sightseeing, most meals and transfers. Not included: $450 college course fee and $308 in port charges and taxes.

Contact: Penny Miller at Discovery Unlimited Tours; tel. (800) 448-4433 or (714) 373-1811, Internet https://www.occ.cccd.edu/depts/dolphin/CDSP.html.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.