Q and A
LEAD:  New Hampshire
New Hampshire
Question: Is it true that New England has a prehistoric site similar to Stonehenge in England? If so, please supply details. - R. M., Morristown, N.J.
Answer: America's Stonehenge is the name given to what is believed to be a megalithic calendar site at Salem, about 20 miles southeast of Manchester, N.H. In the center of the main site, on a hilltop, are 22 structures - walls and chambers - and in the area around it are large standing granite slabs set among more walls. These slabs are astronomically aligned, supporting the theory that the area was laid out 4,000 years ago by an advanced civilization that studied the movement of the sun, moon and stars. Some of the monoliths are aligned wth sunrise and sunset on the solstices and equinoxes on March 22, June 21, Sept. 22 and Dec. 21.
Casts of inscriptions found on the site are among exhibits in the museum at the entrance lodge on State Route 111 in Salem. From there it is about a five-minute walk to the hilltop. The privately owned site is open daily through October from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. and in November on weekends only. Admission is $5; $4 for the elderly, 65 and over, and $1.50 for children 6 to 12. Telephone: 603-893-8300.  Lugano Gallery
Question:What are the visiting days and hours of the Baron Thyssen Collection at the Villa Favorita in Switzerland? We plan to be in the area Aug. 29 to 31. - T. J. W., South Nyack, N.Y.
Answer:The private picture gallery of the 17th-century Villa Favorita at Castagnola, Lugano, is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., until Oct. 16. (In spring it open only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.) Admission is about $8. People who go to see this extensive collection from Aug. 9 will also be able to attend a special exhibition described as 40 of the most significant Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in museums in the Soviet Union. They are being exchanged by L'Hermitage Museum in Leningrad and the Pushkin Museum in Moscow for 40 works from the Thyssen Collection. The Russian exhibition will remain open until Nov. 15. The villa's gallery exhibits works of all European schools from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.  Vietnam
Question: I am a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in the Philippines and want to know if Vietnam is open to American tourists. Where would I get a visa? - T. A. B., Manila
Answer: Manila and Bangkok, Thailand, are cities where Americans planning a visit to Vietnam may apply for a Vietnamese visa. Philippine Airlines operates weekly service to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), and there is service from Bangkok on Thai Airways International and Air France.
However, the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and for this reason the Treasury Department forbids travel companies in this country to arrange or promote tours there. Philippine Airlines in New York, for example, no longer offers package tours, which it did for a time last year. The airline had an arrangement with a tour company in Manila, Philippine Impex International, and promoted 10-day packages to Vietnam from American cities, via Manila, for about $2,100.
Visitors to Manila can still arrange on their own to join a trip to Vietnam. Philippine Airlines' round trip from Manila to Ho Chi Minh City, departing and returning on Wednesdays, costs about $1,300. The airline's office in Toronto still offers a Vietnam tour.
Morris Schuster, president of Orient Flexi-Pax Tours, recently visited Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and other cities. He secured his visa in Bangkok where, he says, an American must stay three days while the visa application is approved by the Vietnamese Consulate. The application has to be submitted at least three weeks in advance. Mr. Schuster said he hopes to be able to offer group tours sometime in the future when the diplomatic situation improves. Meanwhile, a few Americans have visited Vietnam on the group tours available weekly from Bangkok. From there, they cost about $1,200 for a six-night visit to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and $1,660 for an eight-night stay that includes more cities.
Mr. Schuster said the Vietnamese are interested in developing tourism. The furnishings and facilities in the hotels he visited, he said, were akin to those found in a modest American motel - 'or in China 10 years ago.' (Orient Flexi-Pax Tours is at 630 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017; 212-692-9550 or, out of state, 800-545-5540.) Travel to Vietnam by Americans is not forbidden and their passports are valid there, but the State Department discourages visits by Americans because it cannot provide consular protective services. No third country represents the interests of the United States in Vietnam.
Individuals contemplating a visit are advised to seek advice on financial regulations from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. 20220.  Guatemala
Question: Can you put me in touch with companies that are accustomed to arranging tours in Guatemala? -J. M. L., Chicago
Answer: An escorted five-day, four-night tour in Guatemala for $235 a person, double occupancy, is offered by Sanborn Tours (Post Office Box 761, Bastrop, Tex. 78602; 512-321-1131 or 800-531-5440).
Two nights are spent at the Pan American Hotel in Guatemala City and two at the Mayan Inn in Chichicastenango. Air fare is additional, and no meals are included. Sanborn also has a three-night stay in Guatemala City for $110 a person and a day excursion by air from the city to Tikal for $199.
Among several other tour operators that go to Guatemala is Venture Tours (870 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94102; 415-433-3600 or 800-289-7070).
It has a seven-night fly-drive tour that, depending on hotels used, costs about $900, including air fare from New York. Flights can also be arranged from Miami. Travelers also get a subcompact rental car for the itinerary, which includes Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenango.