Around the world by air & sea

What ITN reader would not wish to circumnavigate the globe? Problem is, few can scratch together the bread (and time!) before retirement. By then, still fewer feel up to the stress of a dozen times' packing; airport waits; long, cramped flights; lugging bags and logging into yet another unknown hotel; sightseeing, and packing... da capo, da capo, da capo.

Circumnavigating options

There is an easy way out, if readers can come up with, say $25,000 apiece. A few (and a declining number of) ocean liners still offer to take passengers through all 24 time zones.

Starting in New York or Los Angeles, they get their trunks aboard, sign up for (wildly overpriced) shore excursions and from there on let the good captain worry about their welfare. At the end of the trip they get a certificate, membership in the "Circumnavigators' Club" and a set of fine china.

But what have they really seen? About 100 waiters, 200 stewards, 400 slot machines -- and 32 ports.

For about a tenth of the price, the would-be explorer can book an around-the-world trip with a major airline, which then decides which countries can be visited.

(For the always-ready, special offers can reduce the price even further. In the spring of '93, Qantas offered the circumnavigation for an amazing $1,550, with 10 hotel nights thrown in!)

To go where and when you really want to, however, is a horse of quite a different color.

Finding assistance

It took me two months just to find a travel agent willing to put together a combination of flights and cruises that would take me to Tahiti and its archipelago plus New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Nepal, India and North Africa (which, in the end, had to be dropped for lack of time).

As an ITN reader, I canvased agency ads in several issues and finally discovered Southern Cross Tours (206 Indiana Ave., Ste. B-3, Coeur d'alene, ID 83814; phone 800/793-2999). Without Suzi Beacham's experience and dedication, all my efforts would have been in vain.

French Polynesia

The first leg of our trip (Feb. 1-14) was to Tahiti.

Because of a back ailment I decided to fly business class. I would highly recommend this, because it added less than 10% to the trip's cost and turned those long flights from torture to delight -- well, almost.

Starting at JFK, the first leg took us to LAX for a pleasant night at La Hacienda in El Segundo, a fine and modestly priced pilots' hangout. Had I known that Air New Zealand provides first-class service at business-class rates, I would have skipped the hotel night.

Like most flights, ANZ flight 17 got to Tahiti at the wee hours -- 3:15 a.m., to be exact. Our delay of an hour or more made little difference since we flew on to another island; local flights don't get underway until 5:30 (if you're lucky).

Still, if you fly to another island, proceed immediately to the Air Tahiti gate, even if it's still closed, or you'll find your flight preempted.

Study of David Stanley's "South Pacific Handbook" (Moon Publications) and Suzi's inputs led us to forgo Tahiti as the first stop, continuing on to Moorea instead.

On this nicest of French Polynesia's islands we stayed at the Moorea Village, a lovely cluster of thatch-roof cabins at about $500 per week for two.

A 10-minute stroll gets you to a shopping center called le petit village from where you can get a bus (called le truck) to take you around the island. The buses are timed to meet the ferries to Tahiti.

For 700 francs (about $7 to $8), the Tamarii ferry will take you to Papeete in one hour; for an extra buck, the Aremiti does it in half the time.

Departure times differ depending on the day of the week; you can get a schedule at le village's information booth. A French phrasebook is a necessity if you want to explore the island on your own -- even cabbies rarely understand English.

To explore most of French Polynesia at leisure after the Moorea sojourn, we took the ferry to board the Wind Song.

This cruise ship starts its 7-day round trip every Saturday and takes you to five islands. Although only a part-time windjammer, she rigs her four masts(automatically under computer control) often enough to give you the feel of the real thing.

Service and cabins are luxurious, and the price may scare you off. Chances are, however, that a deft (and unselfish) travel agent can get you a substantial discount, to about $200 a day.

All told, our cruise was a marvelous experience, and the ship's intimacy (only 118 passengers) proved conducive to striking up new friendships.

New Zealand (Feb. 14-21)

For Americans sick of congestion, New Zealand is paradise. The people (a mere 3.5 million) reminded me of those of the American Midwest of 50 years ago, and the scenery of the Canadian Rockies.

At the airport we could buy a telephone card with U.S. money ($5!); it proved invaluable from the start. Having lost a day crossing the date line, we could call our car-rental agency at Christchurch (a Down Under Oxford) and make sure they would wait for us on a Sunday.

We had bought vouchers for the Flag motel chain, category "yellow" (most rooms have a hotplate and fridge). The total cost for the unforgettable week ran about $650 plus meals. (Car renters also must post a refundable "bond" -- $500, in our case).

The motels were friendly and clean, but NZ beds are quite soft, even at the luxury Hermitage Lodge at must-see Mt. Cook ($120 for two).

Beware of certain roads, where car insurance is invalid. Compared with Rte. 89 from Wanaka to Queenstown, any dirt road I drove in the Alps or the Rockies was child's play. The only warning you get is "No Caravans"!

Picturesque Queenstown is the starting point for trips to magnificent Milford Sound. Since it's a 5-hour drive one way, we joined a tour.

We bought tour tickets ($50 each) from hostel-oriented Kiwi Discovery the night before the trip. Although the cheapest tour we found, it offered two hours on the Sound aboard the charming Tutoko vs. one hour on more luxurious vessels.

The third wonder of NZ is Franz-Joseph Glacier, a solid day of driving from Queenstown (including a one-hour landslide delay).

We could spend only one evening at Franz-Joseph because we still wanted to see the North Island. That was a major mistake, because its geothermal attractions pale against Yellowstone's.

The capital, Wellington, is alluring and the drive to Auckland quite scenic. But, trying to catch the last ferry, we lacked the time to enjoy either.

The QE2 (Feb. 27-March 15)

I timed the trip to catch up with the QE2 at Sydney -- a very interesting city.

Of course, we first admired the Great Barrier Reef, taking a snorkeling trip from Cairns.

Australia is a bit costly (the cheapest tickets at Sydney's notable opera go for $35), but leaving Sydney on the QE2 was unforgettable. Hundreds of vessels from kayak to schooner accompanied us to the open ocean, with bands playing and TV choppers buzzing us at crows-nest levels.

Lots of Aussies stood ready to explain the sights, because Cunard had filled the ship with a Sydney-Darwin deal. Our 20-day segment, however, covered five countries.

At Brisbane we took an interesting but pricey trip inland (featuring three real kangaroos). After the rather dull Darwin stop we headed for Bali.

There, the absolutely essential trip to the temple city Besakih was somewhat marred by unshakable "guides" as well as peddlers fake perfumes and cheap bracelets.

What a relief to 90 ashore at Singapore the next day, which a strict government keeps squeaky clean. Indeed, the city looks so sanitized as to be nearly faceless.

Absolutely imperative is a trip to the Jurong Bird Park. The stunts the trainers have persuaded free-flying birds to do boggles the mind. It's easy (and much cheaper!) to go there by city bus.

Lovely Sentosa Island offers safe beaches and an old fort.

Our next stop was Pattaya in Thailand. This nondescript resort town, unfortunately, is the closest a big ship can get to Bangkok.

Traffic is so heavy and chaotic into Bangkok that it took three hours to reach one of the world's greatest spectacles, the Grand Palace.

Even though I had seen pictures and travelogs of this collection of temples, pavilions and palaces, once I passed the inner gate I was awed, stunned and stupefied. Lamentably, we did not book the overnight tour and thus had to rush through this wealth of breathtaking sights.

Be sure to wear proper clothing -- shoulders and legs must be covered -- otherwise, you must rent, robbing your whole group of precious time.

We disembarked at Hong Kong, the shopping metropolis of the Orient -- no, the whole world. But even if you haggle for hours, you'll find that prices in New York's and San Francisco's Chinatowns are lower.

However, the harbor entrance ranks among the world's greatest; I'd place it just behind Rio's, even in the fog. "Must sees" include the boat city of Aberdeen and the tram to Victoria Peak, especially at night.

China (March 19-24)

While the QE2 sailed on to Japan, we took a (rather shaky) flight to Guilin, hub of the breathtaking Li Valley.

Though barely outside the tropics, fog and drizzle dominate the region's weather. Despite layers of wool under a London Fog coat, I caught a bad cold because I was too enthralled to leave the deck.

For hours the fantastic sugarloaf mountains drifted by and new fairytale vistas opened at every turn. On the third day of sightseeing, bliss suddenly turned to trauma when my passport was stolen in the Guilin post office. Never again will I carry a passport in the same place as money!

The itinerary called for us to change from plane to train in Canton (now Guangzhou). Instead, we spent an agonizing 24 hours trying to get back to Hong Kong. Had it not been for my passport photocopies and our fiercely loyal CITS guide Xia, we might have been stuck for a week!

Transport to Hong Kong was sold out days ahead, and only Xia's knowledge and dedication (she even sacrificed her one weekly day off!) turned up an escape route via ferry.

Nepal (March 25-April 3)

Without seeing this lofty kingdom, no circumnavigation could be called even halfway comprehensive. The road there leads through India; fortunately, we were booked on Royal Nepal Airlines for the Delhi-Kathmandu segment.

We had read about frequent weather delays and indeed had to spend 14 rotten hours at Delhi International.

Wisely, we had reserved a room at the aptly named Hotel Shangri-la (phone 977/1-412-999), from where we were driven to Pokhara at the foot of the Anapurna range. Although the 4-wheel-drive trip was at times rough and took all day, the experience was well worth the discomfort.

Rural Nepal is even poorer than you'd expect after Kathmandu, but in the scenic countryside they bore their burden with a smile -- and mainly on their heads (mostly women's).

Alerted by a photo, I had reserved room 17 at the Fishtail Lodge; it lies across a small lake and hence is out of reach of beggars and hustlers.

The moderately priced hotel (around $60 double) consists of several room clusters, but only No. 17 (where royalty and celebrities have slept!) has a direct view of the Fishtail. At "only" 23,500 feet (7,060 m), it's still one of the world's most spectacular mountains -- and that includes Mt. Everest, which is too far away, even from the "flightseeing" plane.

If the night sky is clear, you must get up an hour before sunrise and hire a 4-wheel-drive to take you up into the foothills. The sight of the majestic peaks turning pink, yellow and finally a radiant white will stay in your memory for the rest of your life.

The second and third (etc.) days you can watch the spectacle from your' shore of the lake, cameras at the ready. November to March are the best months for getting the Himalayas on film.

After Pokhara we were to join a tour in Kathmandu, exploring the valley and continuing on to Tiger Tops and India. Two days before our departure, Travcoa (one of the country's most prestigious travel agencies) canceled the tour and we had to rely on Southern Cross Tours' Suzi Beacham to arrange for an alternative.

We substituted Dhulikhel in the upper Kathmandu valley for Tiger Tops but otherwise stayed with the Travcoa itinerary. The new documents reached us in Australia, together with a (substantial!) refund.

It all came off without a hitch, but we did learn a crucial lesson: never tour Nepal or India as a lone couple! All the beggars and peddlers have you, rather than a whole busload, for targets. This became evident in Dhulikhel, where we had hoped to get in some hiking.

At the first sortie a pack of kids latched onto us from the start, teaching us lesson 2: don't try to distribute little gifts; the boys will fight viciously, attracting even more youngsters.

India (April 4-10)

Unless you are absolutely dying to see the Taj Mahal, I'd say skip India.

Varanasi, the holy city on the Ganges, is buried ankle-deep in cow dung.

After that, Agra (partly erected by the British for their upper crust) is quite a relief We stayed (throughout India) in pleasant Clarks hotels, built as luxury resorts by and for Brits, and some of it still shows.

Our room looked at the Taj Mahal, but even that wasn't worth the hassle of flying Air-India.

For a 3-month trip you need more than their luggage limit of 25 kg (55.5 lb.). Although enforcement is spotty, people still stuff their heaviest things in their hand luggage. This is then taken apart again by the near-paranoid (and often unpleasant) security forces, bent on removing every battery and penknife!

After all that, you discover that your carryon will not fit anywhere, even though it complies with prescribed dimensions.

The full-day trip to Jaipur (in an air-conditioned car, thank heaven) was, to me at least, the most rewarding part of the India segment, because it provided wonderful impressions of rural India. Neither the Maharajas' opulent castles in Jaipur nor the frantic bazaars of Delhi could match it.

There, leather and brass items are worth a look, but curb all desires to buy any food. Even at an Indian friend's middle-class home, we picked up a bug that lingered nearly a week despite treatment with Lomotil and Cipro. (Don't leave home without them!)

Some particulars

Our around-the-world flights were booked on United from JFK to Los Angeles; Air New Zealand, L.A. to Sydney, and British Airways from Hong Kong to Newark. Business class cost $5,579 and coach about $3,300.

Side trips on Australian and Air-India cost about $500 per person.

COPYRIGHT 1994 Martin Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group