In Japan, Folk Arts and Farming Villages

Absolute Asia is offering tourists the chance to visit the home of one of Japan’s folk artists and to wander through traditional farming villages in the Japanese alps. “Highlights of Folk Japan,” a 12-night tour on various dates throughout the year, emphasizes the country’s finest artists, museums, architecture and natural scenery with a combination of group touring and time to explore independently.

Guests will visit Tokyo, Hakone, Mt. Fuji, Takayama and Kyoto. Accommodations include the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who was inspired by Japanese folk artists) and the historic Fujiya Hotel near Mt. Fuji. There will also be a two-night stay at an elegant ryokan (traditional inn) in the Japanese alps with daily kaiseki (multi-course seasonal cuisine) dinners.

Cost: $7,200 per person, double occupancy, including daily breakfast, all transfers, travel by bullet train, deluxe accommodations and admission fees. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Absolute Asia, 180 Varick St., 16th Floor, New York, NY 10014; telephone (800) 736-8187, Internet https://www.absoluteasia.com.

South: Steamboating

The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. will kick off its first cruise of the millennium with a Dixieland jazz cruise on the American Queen. The seven-night cruise begins Jan. 29 and stops in St. Francisville and Baton Rouge, La., and Natchez and Vicksburg, Miss. Pre- or post-tour packages to New Orleans are also available.

Cost: from $1,459 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare if booked before July 28; all meals on board; and airport transfers.

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

Montana: Ranching

Join a 65-mile, 1,000-head cattle drive from Wibaux to Baker, Mont. Laredo Enterprises promises “the comfortable squeak of a leather saddle” and “a horse of your own to ride and care for.” Wranglers on the trek Sept. 5 to 12 will help participants with riding technique, cook all meals, set up tents and provide campfire entertainment.

Cost: $1,429 per person, including lodging, meals and transfers from the Billings, Mont., airport. Air fare to Montana is extra.

Contact: Laredo Enterprises; tel. (800) 535-3802.

London: Theater

The 16th annual “British Theatre Backstage” leaves Los Angeles for London on Dec. 27 to celebrate the millennium. The 10-day tour offers seven London performances plus backstage visits and meetings with leading British theater artists and critics. This year’s tour includes a full-day excursion to Greenwich, site of the much-anticipated Millennium Dome, as well as visits to special millennium exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum and Royal Academy of Art. Other highlights include a visit to the new home of the British Library, a Sunday concert at Wigmore Hall and a special New Year’s Eve celebration. Arts writer and lecturer Barbara Isenberg will accompany the tour and host meetings with a prominent playwright, actor and theater critic.

Cost: $5,136 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, room at the Washington Hotel in Mayfair, full English breakfast daily, all performances and museum entrance fees, celebrity supper, millennium celebration, all excursions and group transfers.

Contact: Susan Holden, Gilner International Travels, 437 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211; tel. (310) 273-6161.

Mongolia: Biking

Boojum Expeditions is offering a mountain bike ride in Mongolia, visiting Khovsgol National Park, Lake Khovsgol, the Saridag Mountains and the Darhat Valley. The trip runs from Sept. 11 to 25, when the rainy season has passed and the days are cool.

All the ingredients of safari-style catered camping (including camp cook and masseuse) are carried in four-wheel-drive vehicles that provide support for the cyclists. Local and American guides accompany the group.

The trip begins in Ulan Bator with a day of sightseeing in the city. The group then departs on a local flight to the town of Muron, where the ride to the national park begins. The route follows the shore of Lake Khovsgol, crosses the Saridag Mountains, drops into the spectacular Darhat Valley and returns to Muron, a distance of approximately 220 miles in 11 days of riding. From Muron, a return flight carries the group back to Ulan Bator for departure.

Cost: $2,400 per person, including all hotels, meals, internal flights, specialized camping gear and excess baggage charges for bikes. Air fare to Mongolia is extra.

Contact: Boojum Expeditions, 14543 Kelly Canyon Road, Bozeman, MT 59715; tel. (800) 287-0125 or (406) 587-0125, Internet https://www.boojum.com.

New Mexico: Photos

Join landscape photographer Eddie Soloway July 13 to 18 on a llama pack trip into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to learn about wilderness photography. Under the care of a wilderness guide, sure-footed and gentle llamas carry gear to a base camp above 11,000 feet in the heart of the wilderness. Daily hikes, photography lessons and evening campfire chats are included.

Cost: $1,045 per person, including meals and camping accommodations. Transportation to New Mexico is extra.

Contact: Santa Fe Workshops; tel. (505) 983-1400.

China: Beijing Marathon

Visit China and race in the Beijing International Marathon, with two days of sightseeing at the Forbidden City’s Imperial Palace, Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. The tour begins Oct. 2 for eight nights. The races are 5K, 10K, half-marathon and full marathon.

The race starts at Tiananmen Square, runs along Chang’an Boulevard and passes the Diaoyutai State Guest House before finishing at the National Olympic Stadium.

Cost: $1,133 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, transportation to and from the marathon and two practice runs, hotel accommodations at a first-class hotel, round-trip transfers between the airport and hotel, hotel taxes and service charges, breakfast daily and two lunches. Marathon registration is $150 per person.

Contact: Elizabeth Shepherd, Elite Travel Adventures; tel. (800) 563-9252.

Romania and Bulgaria

Folklore traditions will be explored from the mountain villages of Romania to the hill towns of southern Bulgaria on a trip that runs Aug. 1 to 17. Included is a major dance festival, the castle of Dracula, meetings with local groups and the “Painted Monasteries.”

After crossing the Danube into Bulgaria, the group, hosted by the director of the astronomy department at Sofia University, will observe the total solar eclipse. Also on the itinerary are dinner and wine-tasting at a local monastery, the ethnographic museum at Plovdiv and a celebration of Mary’s Day, with locals providing a barbecue and dance party.

Cost: $2,049 per person, including hotels, two meals daily, ground transportation and sightseeing. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Opa! Folklore Studies, 7560-5 Eads Ave., La Jolla, CA 92037; tel. and fax (619) 456-2264.

Mexico: Copper Canyon

The Southwest Museum is offering a 10-day travel-study tour to Mexico’s Copper Canyon, featuring visits to the ancient ruins of Casas Grandes and the pottery villages of Mata Ortiz. The tour runs Sept. 24 to Oct. 3.

Highlights include the “Train Ride in the Sky,” overnight stays at remote villages along the train route, hikes to abandoned cave dwellings, a visit to Casas Grandes and tour of adobe ruins dating to the 13th to 14th centuries.

Cost: $2,498 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, some meals and sightseeing.

Contact: Vanessa Acosta at the Southwest Museum; tel. (323) 221- 2164, Ext. 236.

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