Asia

Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka in Japan; Hong Kong; Bangkok; Calcutta, Agra, and Delhi in India; Karachi in Pakistan; Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Athens on the way back. A monsoon in Hong Kong robbed us of two days in Bangkok, and a Lufthansa engine-problem forced us back to Karachi, after which 22 of the 23 of us were sure we were going to die during one dreadful day in bed in Cairo, thanks to a Karachi Yakini Chicken dinner.

Los Angeles, Hawaii (Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii for 11 days), Kyoto for a week, Taipei 5 days, Hong Kong 2 days, Macau, Borneo (as it was then) 5 days, Singapore 1 day, Java 5 days, Bali 6 days, Djakarta 1 day, Thailand from Bangkok to Chiang Mai 9 days, Burma (then Rangoon and Pagan) 5 days, Nepal 14 days including a trip to the Tibet border and a glimpse of Everest, then India: (Bubaneswar, Konarak, Puri, Calcutta, Benares, Khajuraho, Agra, Delhi, Srinigar, Pathankot, Kulu, Manali, Naggar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bombay, Hyderabad, Madras, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Kerala, Thekkady, Madurai, Tiruchirapali) 42 days, Ceylon (Hikkeduwa, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Pollonaruwa, Sigiriya) 7 days, Athens 1 day, Lisbon 6 days. Exhausting, stimulating, and I really want to see even more of India.

Fly NYC to London; train to Edinburgh 2 days, Glasgow 2 days, Oban, Iona, Glasgow 2 days, London 2 days, ferry to Calais, train to Paris 2 days, Berlin 3 days, Warsaw 2 days, change bogies for Trans-Siberian Express in Brest, Russia: to Moscow 4 days, Europe-Asia obelisk, stops in Novosibersk and Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk 2 days, stop in Ulan-Ude; into Mongolia to Ulan Bator 4 days; change bogies for China: Datong for Yungang Caves, Peking 4 days, Xian 2 days, Loyang for Longmen Caves, Nanking for 3 days in hospital, Shanghai 3 days, Canton 3 days, to Hong Kong to fly alone to Manila 2 days, Guam 2 days, Saipan 1 day, Koror 2 days, Yap 2 days, Ponape 3 days, Oahu 2 days, San Diego 3 days. Group went WEST back to the states from Hong Kong; I decided it was closer (and more adventurous) to fly EAST from Hong Kong.

Fly NYC-LA-Beijing, then to Chengdu for 2 days, Lhasa (including Norbulinka, Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Samye Monastery, and Tse Dang) 6 days, Beijing 3 days, Xian 1 day, fly to Dunhuang, train to Turfan (has anyone even HEARD of the Gaochang ruins or Astana tombs or the Thousand-Buddha Caves of Bezikalak or the Jiao-He ruins?). bus to Urunqi 2 days, fly to Kashgar 2 days, fly to Xian 3 days, fly to Hong Kong 4 days.

Leave JFK on Friday, Narita on Saturday, and land in Bangkok on Sunday. Fly to Siem Reap for Angkor 3 days, Bangkok 3 days, bus to Kanchanaburi and barge on the River Kwai, Bridge on River Kwai, Suphanburi Bird Sanctuary, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukothai, Chiang Mai, Tachilek in Burma, Mae Ping Elephant Camp, Chiang Rai, Bangkok 3 days, Hanoi 3 days, Halong Bay, long return from Bangkok.

Istanbul 3 days, fly to Ankara, bus to Kapadokya, Gorem, Uchisar, Kymakli, Konya, Antalya, Phasalis, Myra, Gocek, Bodrum, Halicarnassus Mausoleum, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Pergamon, Troy, Gallipoli, Istanbul 2 days.

5.5 hour flight to San Francisco, 12 hour flight to Shanghai. Bus to Suzhou. Train to Hangzhou 2 days. Beijing 4 days. Xian 1 day. Chungching 1 day. Board Princess Elaine on Yangtze River to Fengdu, Wushan, Three Gorges, Gezhouba Dam. Off ship at Wuhan, fly (in lightning storm!) to Guangzhou, train to Hong Kong 2 days. Shenzhen tour on my own. Fly to Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam 4 days, Fly to Hong Kong, San Francisco, NYC.

Very expensive Yale-sponsored boat with good food and accommodations. Day in South Korea interesting.