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Part 01 – Over Alaska to Tokyo

Part 01 – Over Alaska to Tokyo

So, after two months of full-time planning, compiling costs, endless reading of hotel reviews, shopping for the best flights, getting visas, checking climate data and all the rest, it was time to let go of the planning, get on a plane and go do it: our world trip. To be completely candid, I woke up the morning of our departure with a definite feeling of reluctance about this trip. I just didn’t feel like I wanted to go … it felt like it was all just too much. The scale of this trip, being away for so long, and in such strange places unlike where we have ever gone before, and doing it with no formal support like we had on the 2005 China trip where we were met at every plane with a guide and driver … we would have none of that support at all on this trip. We would have to make it all work as we went. It was daunting …

In terms of vistas from the plane, there was not that much to be seen for several hours due to a solid overcast, but later the overcast cleared for a while and we got some arctic scenery, some of it quite dramatic. Flying over the Gulf of Alaska, a big snow-covered mountain range appeared in the distance to our right, with things like Augustine Island, a totally snow-covered volcano sitting out in Cook Inlet.

Part 04 – the Akashi Bridge

Part 04 – the Akashi Bridge

Part 4, the Akashi Bridge Date: 3/28/2017 Today was our lucky day for getting a great taxi driver, and the cabbie’s lucky day for landing a 3-hour fare! This was for the trip out to the Akashi Bridge from our hotel in Kobe. The Akashi Bridge was a target on this “best of” infrastructure tour: the longest single span of any bridge in the world, a.k.a. the longest suspension bridge in the world. Akashi is a smaller city – “smaller”…

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Part 05 – Beijing Architecture

Part 05 – Beijing Architecture

Part 5, Beijing Date: 3/31/2017 & 4/1/2017 2005 was not all that long ago … you’d think we’d recognize SOMETHING in Beijing. Not so. The airport terminal is brand new built for the 2008 Olympics, and there was no sign of the terminal that we arrived at when we came in 2005. Our air arrival from Osaka, Japan was at the new Beijing Capital International Airport, completed for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games at a cost of $3.5 billion, with…

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Part 02 – Some First-Time Observations about Japan

Part 02 – Some First-Time Observations about Japan

Part 2, Some First-Time Observations About Japan Date: 3/29/17 We’ve been in Japan for 4 days now. Jet lag still plagues me whereas Cheryl sleeps like a baby – where is the justice in this? Last Saturday, we had a recovery day with nothing in particular planned – just took a couple of walks around the neighborhood where our hotel is located (near the Tokyo Dome) taking it all in. By the way, we loved our hotel, the Niwa. Even…

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Part 03 – Bullet Train, Tokyo to Kobe

Part 03 – Bullet Train, Tokyo to Kobe

Part 3, the “Shinkansen” Bullet Train, Tokyo to Kobe Date: 3/27/2017 The trip from Tokyo to Kobe (Osaka +1) was on the “Shinkansen” or Bullet Train. I’m happy to say that the trip through Tokyo Station this time was much less traumatic than our arrival from the airport the previous Friday – this time the taxi driver knew exactly which entrance to drop us at, and from there it was only a short walk around a corner, and up some…

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Part 06 – The Beijing-Shanghai Bullet Train

Part 06 – The Beijing-Shanghai Bullet Train

Part 6, the Beijing-Shanghai Bullet Train Date: 4/2/2017 Before I get going on the Beijing-Shanghai rail trip, I’ll mention a little bit about the Beijing South Railway Station, which we passed through on the way out of Beijing. It was designed by the British architectural firm Farrells and replaced the old train station in 2008. The train station is very cleverly designed. It is oval-shaped and is surrounded by street access on all sides, which gives it a great capacity…

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Part 07 – Shanghai and Pudong

Part 07 – Shanghai and Pudong

Part 7, Shanghai and Pudong Date: 4/3/2017 No doubt about it: Shanghai is a big city.  In terms of population within its city limits, it is the biggest city in the world at about 24 million.  By population of metropolitan area, it is #2 in the world at 34 million, behind #1 Tokyo which has 38 million.  But it’s in Pudong across the Huangpu River where it’s really happening.  Pudong was mostly farmland until the 1960s — and in 1993…

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Part 08 – Three Gorges Dam (Yichang)

Part 08 – Three Gorges Dam (Yichang)

Part 8 – Three Gorges Dam Date: 4/4/2017 & 4/5/2017 No trip to China to see great engineering works would be complete without a visit to the Three Gorges Dam near Yichang in East Central China. It is the largest powerhouse in the world based on installed generating capacity — a part of China’s push to depend less on coal for power production. Our visit plan was fine, but the weather turned this piece of the trip into a disaster….

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Part 09 – Kuala Lumpur: the Petronas Towers

Part 09 – Kuala Lumpur: the Petronas Towers

Part 9, Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas Towers Date: 4/6/2017 to 4/8/2017.  Highs in the low 90s, lows in the mid 70s. Photo 3062, approaching Kuala Lumpur by air at night We found Kuala Lumpur (“KL”) to be a perfectly lovely place where there was a very diverse mix of cultures rubbing shoulders in harmony, from eyes-only burkahs to let-it-all-hang-out Western dress. It was a British colony at one time, so they drive on the left, and almost everyone speaks…

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Part 10 – Arrival in India: New Delhi

Part 10 – Arrival in India: New Delhi

Part 10, Arrival in India: New Delhi Sunday, 4/9/2017   Sunny.  73F/93F All along I had been viewing our upcoming visit to India with a vague sense of apprehension. This was due in large part to reading about the currency crisis of late 2016, at which time there was a total change-out of the currency which made it difficult for ANYONE to get cash. This led to lots of horror stories about long lines in the streets at ATMs, limits on…

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