MESSAGE CENTER

Thanks for the kind words about our panoramic photography project on Turkey. All of the photos were taken with a Nikon D70 with a 12mm-28mm lens. But the unique part of the setup is really the Kaidan tripod head, which allows me to rotate the camera 360 degrees and take 12 photos one after the other. I then stitch together the 12 photos with a software program called Panorama Maker and, of course, tone the complete 360-degree composite with Photoshop.

Tunisia Fans

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THANK YOU for your item about Tunisia [Trav Mags, Jan. 14]. We second Susan Hack's enthusiastic comments about Tunisia as a tourist destination. It's a beautiful country and completely fascinating, culturally, historically and archaeologically.

Most of all, women travelers are well-treated there. As two women traveling together, we were courteously treated wherever we went: in villages as well as Tunis, in outdoor eateries, in the markets, on the streets. This was in stark contrast to our unpleasant experience in Morocco a year before, where we felt uncomfortable at outdoor cafes and men in the streets made snake noises at us.

Result? We are eager to go back to Tunisia and wholeheartedly recommend it to others, while we would never set foot in Morocco again and warn others away.

Jane Blackburn

and Lyn McCoy

Arlington

Rental Cars, Cont'd

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I SHARE Gary Goldberg's concern [Message Center, Dec. 31] about never having a manual available in rental cars. Recently, I could not figure out how to change the radio from FM to AM, nor how to reset the clock, and there was no manual to consult. I have long since learned that there are a number of basic things one must do before driving off the lot with a rental car:

? Check for damage to the body, so I won't be accused of having created dings that were already there.

? Be sure that none of the tires look like they need air, and that the gas gauge shows full.

? See that the windows and lights are clean.

? Check to see how the lights and wipers work.