Janet and Stuart Wilson have traveled the globe together for more than 40 years. Collecting images, stories and memorable experiences on six continents, they have explored northern Italy in an RV, camped with lions and elephants on safari on Botswana, cruised the Burgundy Canal in a self-drive boat, and recently walked across England. They’ve cruised in the Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean and Mediterranean. Beginning their second careers as professional freelance travel journalists in 1997, their work has featured RV travel, historic travel, food & wine, family history travel, and travel off-the-beaten-path in their column titled, The Road Less Traveled. Both were born and still reside in Northern California, when not pursuing their dream to “see the world.”
Day 16: Cochin (Kochi), India ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA — We docked early this morning in Cochin, a historic trading port in Kerala state, on India’s southwest coast. Indian immigration officials boarded the ship so they could check passengers’ papers. This is the first time officials have come aboard ship, although in Singapore they were set up in the terminal ashore. Here there are no shore facilities — it’s just an industrial port. In other countries we’ve visited, …
Day 14: Male, Republic of Maldives ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA — Our first and enduring impression of the Maldives Islands? The water. The Indian Ocean here is crystal clear affording great visibility and yielding almost surreal shades of sapphire and turquoise. Of course, this water means great snorkeling and diving, for which the Maldives are renowned worldwide. The travel posters don’t lie, but seeing it in person is even more compelling. Our day here began with an excursion …
Day 13: Indian Ocean ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA — Pirates? Yesterday, we held our first, and hopefully our last, piracy drill. Passing to the west of India’s southern tip, we have entered the high-risk area for piracy. Capt. Bencina takes the matter seriously — and perhaps personally. He was Nautica’s skipper back in November 2008 when the vessel was attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. A couple of days before the drill, the Captain lectured …
Day 12: Sri Lanka (Beautiful Island) ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA — Our guide, who said to call him “Wilhem,” explained that Sri Lanka translates as “Beautiful Island” in Sinhalese, the native tongue of about three-quarters of the inhabitants. We got glimpses of that beauty, including some fetching beaches, and the Mahdu River, a vast, mangrove-lined lagoon. But our tour — arranged independently through a California company, Ceylon Express International — also gave us a look at a “slice …
Day 10 & 11: Sailing the Indian Ocean We had to think about whether the second wine tasting would be worth the $25 fee — a bump of $10 from the first tasting. We decided yes, but wondered if we’d regret the decision. We didn’t. Nautica’s Cellar Master, Preslava Ilieva, a tall, string bean of a woman from Bulgaria who doesn‘t look to have reached age 30, had her audience spellbound within five minutes. Very knowledgeable about …
Days 8 & 9: Straits of Malacca, Andaman Sea and Phuket ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA — Departing Port Klang, Malaysia, at 6 p.m. we anticipated 74 hours at sea before our next port: Phuket, Thailand. We looked forward to one last day in Thailand and to seeing the famous resort island; plus, there’d be an opportunity to part with the Thai baht still in our wallets. One of the true pleasures of this cruise has been getting to …
Day 7: Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA — We were taught in school that Asia is part of the “Old World.” But Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, is younger by a few years than our hometown of Sacramento. And like Sacramento, “KL” (Kuala Lumpur’s nickname) got its start as a mining town, although for tin rather than gold. But as one would expect, the contrasts are more noteworthy than the parallels. With a population of around …
Days 5 and 6: Singapore ABOARD OCEANIA’S NAUTICA –– The name Singapore derives from the Sanskrit for Lion City. According to legend, a local prince was hunting on this jungle-covered island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula when one of his retainers spotted what he swore was a lion. Of course, lions never inhabited this area although tigers once roamed here. Nevertheless, the name stuck, and this cosmopolitan, one-of-a-kind place, is still called Singapore. The island’s …
Day 4: South China Sea ABOARD OCEANIA’s NAUTICA — With no place to go, this morning should have been a chance to sleep in, but somehow we managed to inadvertently set the alarm as we were resetting the clock for a time change. Oh, well. We took the opportunity before breakfast to try out the fitness center—we’ve been neglecting our exercise on this trip until now. Equipped with treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, free weights and a limited …
Day 3: Kho Samui, Thailand ABOARD OCEANIA’s NAUTICA — Tom Kha Kai, Pad Thai, and Deep Fried Stuffed Crabmeat in Crab Shell; this was our lunch today at Nora Beach Resort & Spa on Kho Samui. All three dishes were delicious, and we cooked them ourselves! We joined Nautica’s “Thai Cooking Class” excursion and believe we may have had the best lunch of anyone on the cruise today, save our classmates. We tendered ashore about 10 a.m. …
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