Roundup: Deadly stampede in India; Israel travel deal for Rosh Hashana; Leading Hotels of the World sale reminder

Rosh Hashana | Happy Rosh Hashana for those who are celebrating the Jewish New Year. Note that the Skirball Museum is closed in observance of the holiday. Friends tell me that some temples talk about group trips to Israel this time of year. Please let us know if you hear of any good ones or can recommend trusted tour groups to our readers. I did find an interesting deal on Hotwire’s Travel-Ticker: Journey to the Holy Land during Israel’s 60th anniversary. There are nine- and 11-day trips departing Nov. 13 or 15 that include round-trip flights, 4-star accommodations, daily breakfast and one dinner. I tested a package for one person out of LAX departing Nov. 13 and the price came to $2,878, including all taxes and fees.

India | False rumors of a bomb sent thousands of pilgrims at a Hindu temple in western India into a stampede Tuesday, killing at least 168 people. Tuesday was the first day of Navratra, a nine-day Hindu festival to honor the Mother Goddess. Read: At least 168 fatally crushed in stampede at India temple

Travel Deal | In case you missed it on the blog or in the Sunday paper, the Leading Hotels of the World is having their big sale very early Wednesday morning (Oct. 1).  Select hotels are on sale for only $19.28. But you’ll have to get up early –- the sale starts at 5 a.m. California time (PDT) and lasts for only 80 minutes. We’ve had some readers reporting that they hadn’t been able to get through to the site or find the deal. As you can imagine, their server is probably seeing a lot of traffic. Use this direct link and keep trying. Let us know if you were able to book a reservation at this low rate Wednesday.

– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Video: Associated Press via YouTube]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 8:55 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Africa & Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.