[eps]

Excellent deduction, but somewhat rushed at the end. Almost sloppy. If Mendez is flying to meet up with a friend at a hotel, it's clearly necassary to check if there are any hotels on that island to begin with.

We can, of course, assume that if there's an airport, there's a hotel, but being a Russian territory even the most benign assumption may prove false, so it's still prudent to check.

The good news is that there is not one, but two hotels on Iturup, both with impressive ratings (even if across a dozen reviews each). With this in place, I trust, we can put the final dot to the story of finding Shawn Mendez and his views on the annexation of the Kurils.

[benatkin]

I think patio11 would do this part well. https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/two-americas-one-bank...

[rts_cts]

If Where in the World is Carman Sandiego on the Apple ][ taught me anything, it's that there is always a hotel and it is the best place to check on arrival.