World Tour--2012

Kathy and Charlie Liggett

Our trip started in Los Angeles the 19th of January with a gala bon voyage reception and party. We crossed the equator January 25 and, of course, had all the traditional celebratory activities like kissing a dead fish. I faked a camera malfunction in order to record Kathy kissing the fish four times. She’s a great sport and did not even threaten to throw me overboard.

Our first couple stops were in Nuku Hiva and Atuona, Hiva Oa, in the Marqueses Islands. Atuona, Hiva Oa, is the final resting place of Paul Gauguin. Most of his art is in European museums, so we only saw copies in a local museum. Our next ports of call were Rangiroa, Moorea, Papeete, Tahiti, Raiatea, and Bora Bora, all in French Polynesia. Moorea was James Michener’s mythological Bali Ha’i. It and the other islands were fascinating to both look at from the ship and to experience the warm French Polynesian culture while ashore. One of the highlights for Kathy was snorkeling with a school of black tip sharks.

>Rarotonga in the Cook Islands was a stop prior to crossing the international dateline and cruising into the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. We had several New Zealand passengers boarding in Auckland who would stay aboard through the New Zealand and Australian ports-of-call. These ports were Wellington, Christchurch, Port Chalmers (Dunedin), Milford Sound and Doubtful Fiord; in Australia, Hobart, Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide, Geelong, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Thursday Island and Darwin. Unfortunately, there had been a couple typhoons before our arrival that kept us from snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. Kathy and I had been in Australia before but once again enjoyed the kangaroos, koalas and large fruit bats.

If you have traveled to New Zealand and Australia you know how delightful the people are. We had a great time and met many interesting characters. We were in Christchurch one week before their tragic earthquake and recall having been in several of the buildings that are now rubble. In addition to the loss of life the magnificent cathedral was also an especially sad loss.

Next was Bali, Indonesia, with their great batik and wood carvings and beautiful terraced rice fields. In Sandakan, Malaysia, we visited an orangutan sanctuary and were able to see a few of these magnificent creatures with small babies hanging onto their mothers.

Next was Manila, Philippines, where a few of us visited Corregidor. It was quite interesting to see that bit of WWII history. Then on to Hong Kong; since Kathy and I had spent several days there on another trip; we opted for dinner in the Peninsula Hotel and a Star ferry ride and short walk about of the city.

After Hong Kong we cruised into Haiphong (Hanoi), Vietnam, a place I never thought I would see. In Hanoi we visited Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and the Perfume Pagoda. We saw the lake where John McCain landed after bailing out of his plane; a small marker is on the shore where he was pulled from the water. The Hanoi Hilton had many displays of the war in Vietnam, including a photo of McCain and others lining up to board a C-141 to return to the States. Coincidentally it was piloted by a friend of mine who lives in Washington State. Displays of the atrocities committed on the Vietnamese by the French were also prominently placed within the building.

In the southern part of the country we visited Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and had a delightful cruise in the Mekong Delta and even a drink at the Rex Hotel. The Rex was not what I remembered from my days in South Vietnam. After a day at sea, we arrived in Bangkok where we stayed for two days and one night in the Shangri-La Hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. We visited more temples and buddhas than you can count on all your fingers and toes. I was especially happy that Kathy was able to experience the culture and sights of Thailand since I had spent a good part of four years in the country.

Then it was on to Singapore, a melting pot of cultural diversity - Chinatown, Little India and the French colonial district were just a few of the highlights. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we saw many mosques that highlight Islamic architecture. The Moorish-style railway station was particularly interesting.

In Penang, Malaysia, we met one of my brothers who lives on a sailboat (45 years) with his wife. They are presently home ported in Langkawi, Malaysia, and were on their way to Ohio where they live half of the year in the small town in southern Ohio, (Ripley), where we were born. They spent the day with us and showed us around the many interesting Chinese Temples.

Phuket, Thailand, was supposed to be our next stop, but bad weather kept us from docking. In Colombo, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), we visited a magnificent temple that holds a sacred tooth relic of Gautama Buddha.

Our ports in India were Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay). We had never been to India, so we really enjoyed the short visit that included several hours in their bazaars where you could not resist the temptation to buy their wares because of the very low prices. In Cochin we took a boat trip along some of their rivers and were able to observe the normal daily pursuits of the people living there.

In Khasab, Oman, we had a delightful cruise in a native dhow among a series of fjords in the heart of the Middle East. The cost of gasoline, according to our guide, was 25 cents a gallon.

The next port, Dubai, UAE, was on everyone’s list of great expectations because of the extremes in architecture that are helping to shape this desert country. We were not disappointed. New construction was everywhere. We had lunch in the Burj Al Arab Hotel and enjoyed the view from the top floor but did not have time to go to the world’s tallest building. We even enjoyed a jeep safari into the desert, and then an elaborate dinner under the stars and a full moon. Kathy and I even had a short camel ride. We backtracked a little to visit Muscat, Oman, where the gold souks were something to behold – gold, gold, gold.

We stopped in Safaga (Luxor), Egypt, for two days and took a trip to the Valley of the Kings and explored several of the tombs and also the 3000 year old temples of Luxor and Karnak.

Next was Aqaba, Jordan, where we explored the red city of Petra, carved into the sandstone cliffs over 2000 years ago. It was a long walk from the tour bus area to the historic site, so we rode beautiful Arabian horses on the return trip to the buses.

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, has some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in the Red Sea. I enjoyed the undersea world from a semi-submersible submarine, while Kathy went to St. Catherine's Monastery, renowned for its priceless works of art and the Burning Bush associated with Moses.

There was some concern about transiting the Suez Canal on our way to Egypt, but things had calmed down a bit and the transit to Alexandria was uneventful. We next crossed the Mediterranean on our way to Athens, Greece, with its ancient temples and statues.

Sicily is one of our favorite places so we enjoyed walking the streets of Taormina with its imposing view of Mount Etna in the background. Sorrento, Italy, along the world famous Amalfi Coast and Gulf of Naples was a fascinating city. We visited the remains of Pompeii and heard the explanations of how the city was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Rome is also one of our favorite cities and this time we were able to visit the Sistine Chapel and view the amazing art work of Michelangelo.

On to Monte Carlo, Monaco, where they were preparing for the Grand Prix, I walked around Monaco and visited the Royal Palace while Kathy took a side trip to the beautiful walled city of Saint-Paul de Vence, close to Nice. One of the places she visited was the Fondation Maeght Modern Art Museum one of Europe’s finest art museums.

Barcelona, Spain, has some of the most interesting architecture in the entire world. One of the principal architects is Gaudi and you have to see his creations to believe them. His magnificent Sagrada Familia is a work that will live as one of the most creative structures in the world. We had a special opening complete with guides of a Picasso museum for our group that was quite interesting.

In Malaga, Spain, the last capital of Moorish Spain, we visited the Museo Picasso and the Malaga Fine Arts Museum. It’s amazing how prolific Picasso was, thousands of paintings and ceramics during his lifetime.

Cruising into the port at Lisbon, Portugal, we viewed Saint George Castle high on the hillside, and later walked all the way to the top for a magnificent view of the city and one of the bull fight arenas.

We had a special reception in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, that was a highlight for some but I’ll have to admit I’m not into their modern art. The building itself was very different and I suppose to some eyes a work of beauty.

In Saint Peter Port, Channel Islands, UK, we took a ferry to Herm for a walk about of the beautiful small island that has a population of less than 100. An interesting side note is that the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth to be occupied by the German Army during WWII.

Our final port was Southampton, UK, where we disembarked and took a limo to Heathrow airport for our British Air B747 nonstop flight back to San Francisco.

Many people ask what place we liked the most. I guess I would have to say that each port or city was unique and interesting but also the people we met was what made the trip so enjoyable. It was the many passengers and crew we came to know and the guides and others in the cities we visited.