April 13-15 is the official celebration of Songkran, or Thai New Year. The holiday is an opportunity for families to get together to honor their elders. But it is most famous for the water fights that drench crowds, cars, animals and anything else that happens to get in the way. You can see a video of both the solemn rituals and the more rowdy fun here.�

Under new guidelines set out by President Obama, Cuban Americans can visit their relatives in Cuba as often as they like, and the definitition of family extends to second cousins. (The Bush administration had restricted travel to two weeks every three years for immediate family members only.) But be clear, tourism travel is still off limits and punishable by law. Outside of a Cuban’s extended family, only journalists, academics doing research and a few other types of American travelers are given a go-ahead. That hasn’t stopped speculation that the administration will further ease travel to Cuba –and that Americans will flock there. Should we? A story travel reporter Chris Welsch wrote two years ago will make you want to go, and quick, before the tourists trade gets going strong. At least some people believe many will travel by cruise ship because hotels and resorts will take years to develop. In fact, shares of the two top cruise lines, Royal Caribbean and Carnival, rose on the news of eased travel restrictions.

Would you go if you could?

Although you’d never know it from the officials in the State Department, the big news this week in the travel world  is that a bipartisan group of senators has predicted that Congress is ready to pass legislation to allow Americans to travel to Cuba. That hasn’t been legal since 1959, when the United States imposed a trade embargo after Fidel Castro took power of the Caribbean Island. Should the sanctions be lifted, D.C.-based economic consultants The Brattle Group estimates that almost 3 million Americans will visit Cuba a year.

Q: I plan to be in Seoul, South Korea in September. This will be a brief stay, from 6:00 PM one evening to 6:00 PM the following evening. How can I best use my time there? I would be interested in a guided walking tour, or something else that involves exercise, since I will be between flights. Another factor is that I will be there on Monday, when I understand that most of the museums are closed.
What would you suggest?

A: After your long flight, you might want to work off your jet lag at a jjimjilbang, or traditional Korean sauna.  Seoulstyle.com has a fun description of the experience, and recommends several spots. The website also has photo tours of Seoul’s most interesting neighborhoods. My contacts agree that the artsy neighborhood of Insadong is a great place for an interesting walk. The Insadong Tourist Information Center has maps and brochures and the staff all speak English. You can get more information about Insadong, Seoul and Korea at Korea Sparkling, the offical website of Korea Tourism.

Much has been made in the past day about a New York Times story chronicling Swiss hikers taking to the trails in the nude. “There’s not much to discuss,” one hiker told the Times. “It’s freedom. First, freedom in your head; then, freedom of the body.”

The hikers were interviewed on the trails of the Appenzell region, an idyllic slice of the Alps near the Austrian border. I’ve written about the area in this story for the Star Tribune. There were lots of laughs and peculiar sights along the way, but, alas, no nakedness. What I experienced was more akin to this video of senior citizens lapping the youngsters who clogged the trails.

A reader contacted us with concerns about her 15-year-old daughter’s upcoming school trip to Amsterdam, Austria and the Czech Republic. She wanted to know if it is safe to drink the tap water and to eat foods such as fruit and salads.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, it’s generally safe to drink the water and eat raw foods in Northern and Western Europe, which includes Amsterdam and Austria. They do recommend, however, sticking to bottled or boiled water in the Czech Republic and to avoid food from street vendors in that country. (As someone who has lived in Austria, I would implore people to not skip the street food in that fastidiously sanitary part of the world; the Kaesekrainer — or cheese dog — kicks the skin off anything Oscar Mayer could muster.)

That said, it’s not uncommon for travelers, particularly children and teens, to have some tummy troubles when they are introduced to new foods. Travelers should bring diarrhea medicine (Pepto-Bismol, Imodium AD) to treat themselves for mild cases.

If you have a travel question, post it here or e-mail it to travel@startribune.com.