Traveller letters: The fastest wi-fi connection ever

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This was published 9 years ago

Traveller letters: The fastest wi-fi connection ever

FREE AT LAST

Last month I spent four weeks in Sri Lanka and Malaysia and stayed at 11 hotels ranging from three to five-star. In every one of them, when registering, Wi-Fi was offered immediately and free of charge, with the hotel in Colombo having the fastest connection I have experienced. The hotels were in both urban and rural areas, with some being fairly isolated. I become extremely annoyed when we have to pay for Wi-Fi at most of our hotels in Australia with exorbitant rates ($25 a day or more) usually being charged.

Why is it that developing countries appear to have adopted the view that Wi-Fi is a right rather than a privilege and we cannot offer our visitors and locals free Wi-Fi? Perhaps we should ensure that when booking accommodation in Australia that we have access to free Wi-Fi or we do not book the venue.

- Mark Longstaff

MUM'S THE WORD

Oh no, not another toddler/bad mother daring to board an aeroplane (Rants & raves, September 6-7)! This time it was only a one-hour nightmare for the poor passenger. As a mum who has flown solo with my young children many times back to my native UK, I have encountered my fair share of loud tutting and death stares. Take a moment of compassion to put yourself in the parent's position. If you have children or not, you were once a crying baby and whiny toddler.

- Lorna Milligan

THE PAIN IN SPAIN I

Like Ross Hartmann and his wife (Traveller, September 6-7), my wife and I were (nearly) victims of the same bird-droppings scam.

When I felt something brown and sticky land on my back (and my hair) I turned to see a man beckoning from a doorway. We approached, and in broken English he invited us into the building's vestibule, where he produced tissues and a bottle of water. He wiped me down. My wife kept her handbag strap across her body with the flap facing in.

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Did he get my wallet? No, it had been stolen in the underground that morning.

- Kim Lockwood

THE PAIN IN SPAIN II

In Barcelona recently my purse containing credit cards and cash was stolen at a bus stop. In Madrid, I was amazed at the dedicated service for tourists reporting petty crime with all the contact numbers to report stolen cards, and a phone service provided to make an English statement.

But, with Spain experiencing 25 per cent unemployment, there was no interest in describing the culprits, just a warning to "be very careful in Madrid". I hope I helped some of Spain's unemployed.

- Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Lee Tulloch (Traveller, September 6-7), spot on. Our family group of 20 - ages from four to 73 - have just returned from the trip of a lifetime in South Africa. The very thought of "bagging" one of the innumerable beautiful animals we were privileged to see would have been unthinkable. As Lee so rightly wrote, "it doesn't take a brave man to bag a big cat". Quite the reverse, in fact.

- Liz Riordan

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