Julia
and Konrad
Around the World in
70 Days
Phileas
Fogg took 80 days, but our [first] trip around the world was almost as exciting
-- including visits to thirteen countries, traveling by every conceivable mode
of transportation, and being attacked by pirates!
Most news worthy was the attack on November 5 of our cruise ship, the Seabourn
Spirit, 75 miles off the coast of Somalia at 5:35 a.m. by armed pirates in two
small boats. The ship was hit several times by the rocket launchers and
and over a hundred times by the machine guns. None of the 151 passengers was
injured, though rockets entered three suites and public area windows on the top
deck.
The Spirit was in extreme danger and a few of the ship's crew tried to wash the
attackers into the sea with fire hoses. But it was a new high-tech acoustic
canon (LRAD) that allowed Savvy Captain Pedersen to escape the floating villains
with only minimal damage to his vessel. A hero in addition to the Captain was a
fearless former Gurkha -- the elite soldiers from Nepal in the British army. It
was he on the open deck who used the futuristic sonic cannon developed by the
Pentagon to send the pirates packing--and the only person who sustained any
injuries.
Instead of
calling at Mombassa, we outran the pirates to spend a couple of extra days in
the beautiful Seychelles. If you want the whole story, we’ll be glad to email
it to you.
[This was the first pirate attack on a cruise ship. Unfortunately pirate attacks
on cargo ships are on the increase. Somalia is particularly dangerous because
they have had NO government since 1991]
In any case, it was part of our 70-day trip, the heart of which was a 46-day
cruise from Alexandria to Vietnam. We started our journey around the world in
Munich -- relishing the good beer and Bavarian food --in the midst of weather
turning into a coolish fall.
After a quick side trip to the South of France to visit friends, we flew to
Cairo for a few days. Highlights of Cairo for us were probably the
celebrations of Ramadan and the Giza sound and light show.
A private car took us to join the Seabourn Spirit in Alexandria, avoiding the
election riots by one day. We sailed through the Suez Canal in a caravan
of ships and into the Red Sea. We spent a day in Sharm el Sheikh on
the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. This is a resort area started by the
Israelis, but now being developed by Egypt. It brings 25% of all of
Egypt’s tourist dollars -- great beaches and snorkeling.
We went for a 45 minute camel ride into the desert (and have the black and
blue marks to prove it) and then had tea in a Bedouin tent followed by local
dancers -- including a couple of whirling dervishes.
Next day
we were at Aqaba, Jordan’s only seaport for a trip to Petra, the astounding
Rose City carved out of solid rose sandstone over 2,000 years ago and lost
for centuries. This was the impetus for our trip. You may remember that it
was featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Memorable indeed.
Next day we arrived in Safaga, the gateway to Luxor, and a main port for
pilgrims going to Mecca. Lots of pilgrims camping and awaiting their ride across
in overstuffed ferries. We boarded our buses bound for Luxor
and were escorted on the three hour drive by local, federal and private security
cars in front and behind us.
Luxor is the ancient city of Thebes, capital city of the “New Kingdom”. Over
a period of 13 centuries, the Pharaohs of the 18th and 19th dynasties created
monuments rivaling any before or since. It hasn’t rained here for seven
years -- and not enough in the last several thousand years to wash away a mud
ramp used to build a wall.
Over two days we learned a lot from our guide, a Ph.D. in Egyptology,
specializing in the New Kingdom and translation of hieroglyphics. We
toured the Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor on the first
day. The next day on the West Nile, we saw the Valley of the Kings, the Valley
of Queens and the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. We were then escorted
back to Safaga.
We had
been peacefully cruising the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean on
the way to Mombassa when we were attacked. With great glee, we skipped Mombassa
and headed for the idyllic Seychelles Islands. We spent four days there in
Victoria, Praslin and Le Digue.
Cruising the Indian Ocean we made stops at Male and Kuda Bandos, in the Maldives
[a collection of 1200 islands, 84 of which have resorts on them]. The Ancient
trading port of Cochin, India, was next -- we were the first cruise ship to call
since the Tsunami last year. Penang, Malaysia, with its own version of
Raffles Hotel [our first day of rain all viewed from a pedicab], preceded our
entry into the straits of Malacca on our way to Singapore.
Cruising the South China Sea, we entered the Gulf of Thailand to Bangkok, ever
more modern and good shopping; and later Ko Kood Island for a day on the beach
and caviar in the surf!
Further into the South China Sea we spent a day in Nah Trang, Viet Nam,
and two in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Viet Nam is on the move -- and
opening up proudly, but not bowing to globalized markets. Some beautiful
handwork and art here. Guides in both places stated flatly that the CIA killed
Catholic President of Viet Nam and JFK in November 1963. All the super slim
Vietnamese called Konrad “Happy Buddha!” and provided a good laugh for us.
Our last
ports were Kuantan, Malaysia, in the South China Sea and Port Kelang (Kuala
Lumpur) on the Strait of Malacca, before arriving back at Singapore, where the
ship was put into a scheduled dry dock for two weeks. We celebrated our 20th
Anniversary! on board a few days before we disembarked in Singapore.
We spent four days unwinding in Hong Kong [now walls and walls of 60 to 80-story
ultra modern apartment and office buildings] before flying directly back to San
Francisco. Spectacular was the light show of laser and electronic lights each
evening on Hong Kong buildings as seen from Kowloon-- made even better because
of Christmas decorations.
The whole experience was a total bombardment of the senses and probably too soon
to make good judgments, since we just got back yesterday. We have met -- as
usual -- some wonderful people from many places in the world- And become
inadvertent experts in disaster avoidance.
Earlier in the year, we spent a couple of weeks in Puerto Vallarta and a couple
on Maui. Tentatively we will go to China next April. Biggest plan for 2006
is celebrating Konrad’s 80th!
All best wishes,
Julia and Konrad Wedekind