Letter of the week
As I am an avid Jimi Hendrix fan, I want to visit the museum that was being set up in his honour in Seattle, but I can find no reference to it on the seattle.com website. Does it exist and if so where?
Chris Scattergood, by email
Seattle's Experience Music Project was originally conceived as a display of the world's largest collection of Hendrix memorabilia, but was soon expanded into an interactive exhibition themed around popular music. Hendrix fans won't be disappointed, as there's a large display dedicated to the great guitarist, containing shards of broken guitars, recording equipment and a vast digital archive and a Sky Church, a realisation of Hendrix's vision of a place where anyone and everyone could gather to appreciate music. Full details at www.emplive.com. EMP is located at 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, (001 206 367 5483) at the Seattle Center, a bus or monorail ride from downtown Seattle, near the Space Needle. Also, don't miss the statue of Jimi on Broadway, outside the AEI Music Networks offices.
Travelling with diabetes
My husband is an insulin-dependent diabetic, injecting four times a day, and is fearful of travelling beyond Europe and the US. Can you suggest ways of visiting Third World countries where medical problems such as his would receive good treatment?
Vicky Heard, Penryn, Cornwall.
Many thousands of people with diabetes travel extensively every year and the condition is no barrier to visiting almost anywhere. The important thing is to be prepared for the changes to routines caused by travelling. Make sure you consult your diabetes doctor or nurse as part of your planning.
Diabetes UK (020 7323 1531; www.diabetes.org.uk) produces a leaflet entitled Travel and diabetes which contains crucial advice about what to take, insurance, time zones, useful organisations and other invaluable tips. It also publishes a series of guides (£1.30 each) on 75 destinations from Albania to Zambia, compiled by the diabetic association in that country. The message repeated again and again is that with careful preparation, you can go pretty much anywhere. Lonely Planet's Healthy Travel series contains lots of practical advice for travellers with diabetes.
Football in Tehran
Can you give me information about Tehran: ie visas, cheap hotels, things to see and do and, most important, are we allowed to drink? We're planning to go from 10-14 October to see the Iran v Iraq football match. Also, do you have information on the stadium and tickets?
Kevin O'Donovan, Cambridge
If you can get in and get there, the ultimate local derby should be a real treat. Visas are tricky for independent travellers to obtain - contact the Iranian Embassy (020 7225 3000; www.iran-embassy.org.uk) for full details.
Several companies offer visa support and tailormade itineraries, which could be very useful at this late stage. Try Magic Carpet Travel (01344 622 832; www. magiccarpettravel.co.uk) and Bales Worldwide (0870 241 3212; www.balesworldwide.com). Lonely Planet's Iran guide has extensive details of places to stay. Alcohol is strictly banned.
Tehran, despite being the capital, isn't one of the cultural highlights of a visit to Iran - most travellers stop here by necessity - but there are plenty of attractions to make your stay interesting. The National Museum of Iran and the Carpet Museum are two of several fine museums. The bazaar is a chaotic but fun experience, and Golestan Palace is a fascinating place to explore. The match itself will take place at the Azadi stadium in Tehran's western suburbs, which holds 125,000 fans who will be in a state of extreme excitement. Advance information about games is hard to come by, so make inquiries when you arrive; chances are, just mentioning you're interested in the game will be a great conversation starter. The most likely way to get in will be to go down early and queue up with everyone else. The website www.irankicks.com is a great source of information about the country's great sporting passion.
• We welcome letters. Tom Hall and Rachel Suddart from Lonely Planet answer as many as possible here. They cannot answer others. Include a daytime telephone number and postal address.Email travel.tips@observer.co.uk or write to Escape, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER. We send the writer of the star letter a LP guidebook of their choice. To order discounted LP travel books, call 0870 066 7989
