Traveller letters: beware bird poo scam

IN A FLAP

In Barcelona recently my wife and I were strolling on a tree-lined footpath, not far from our apartment, when brown splats of bird droppings fell on to her. A good Samaritan saw this and helped clean her with water and paper. I had my hand in my pocket holding my wallet all the time but, when he said "It's on you, as well, sir - I'll clean you, you clean your wife", out came my hand. He attempted to clean me while I did the same to my wife. We thanked him and returned to our apartment only to discover my wallet was missing. We concluded the splats would have been sprayed by an accomplice from some first floor apartments as we past. On reporting it to the police they said, "Oh, the bird poop method - that's quite common".

Ross Hartmann

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Five days into a 15-days Intrepid Travel tour of Morocco, I slipped and fell, fracturing my left tibia. I needed surgery and spent two days in a hospital, where I did not speak the language. Our tour leader Abdu stayed with me and acted as interpreter and, over the next few days, both he and Intrepid's Marrakesh staff communicated with the hospital and kept me in touch by phone. After I was discharged in a wheelchair, I rejoined the tour group and remained until the end. It would have been very reasonable and far easier for Intrepid to have left me at the hospital while my insurance company followed up my return to Australia. I will always be grateful to Abdu, lntrepid Travel, the great people in the group and the Moroccan people.

Margaret Ridgway

MORAL FIBRE

My husband has some undies made from bamboo fibre (Traveller, August 23) and agrees they are very comfortable to wear. However, the downside is they take ages to dry, especially when being rinsed out and left to dry overnight in a hotel bathroom. Even at home, pegged outside , they are the last to be dried. The obvious solution, I suppose, is to take plenty when travelling.

Jona Goldman

POLES APART