So Joyce and I settled into the compartment of the Third Class train in Geona, Italy. Hard seats, no less! We were a little relieved to find two of the young men who had been our fellow passengers on S. S. Asia with us. Someone we knew at least, if not too well. One named Arthur, I think. And I could not remember the other one's name.
The compartment had two built-in bench seats for three each, facing each other. A young Italian woman and a young Italian man were seating there already before we boarded. We made conversation with the young lady (I wish I could remember her name. I don't have any of the letters that she wrote me.) The young man did not speak English, but the young lady did. She noticed that we were such unseasoned and ignorant travelers and took pity on us. We probably appeared to her somewhat lost, bewildered, and heaven knows what.
The train pulled out of the station. We were on our way.
The country side was beautiful, but we were full of misgivings.
At dinner time, the generous young Italian lady and her young men shared some of their bread and cheese with the four of us Greenhorns. The bread tasted good!
Bless her! What would we have done without her?
Had we known that we would need food on the train, we would have swiped some bread and other foods from the ship.
She found out we were students heading for the British Isles for graduate studies - which, of course, made a big impression on her. She also found out that this was the first train ride for us in Europe and so on - with little knowledge of overseas travels.
She and I became friends. I found out that she was on her way to Turin, going home, and to get married (to that young man sitting next to her, no doubt). She wanted to learn to speaking English better and so on. We expressed our gratitude to her for saving our day.
She and I exchanged addresses. Later, we wrote to each other for a while when I was in Edinburgh, and also after I returned to HK. When I got married years later, she sent me two wedding dolls in traditional Italian costumes. Yes, I have the dolls! Right here! Now!. They are handmade of felt, with intricate embroidery and all, very colorful and exquisite.
the wedding dolls
We bid her and her young man farewell when the train stopped in Turin.
Night had fallen. We were all very tired. We fell asleep sitting upright on those unforgiven wooden seats - probably flopping on each others' shoulders.
Sometime in the middle of the night, the train stopped. We were entering France. Some French border officers came on board, checking our Papers!
Remember, I was a Citizen of the World, belonging to no country in particular? I had Permanent Residency status in Hong Kong and I was traveling with my Permanent Residency Papers. Since I was not visiting France, merely passing through, in transit only, no one thought I needed any particular papers (maybe I could sue our Hong Kong travel agent?). Joyce and the others had passports.
So here I was, in the middle of the night, being escorted off the train by two Frenchmen with guns, to a tiny little wooden structure functioning as a border office building, in the middle of nowhere. Now what!
Did I mention French Officers?
Did I mention guns?
Did I mention in the middle of the night?
Did I mention in the middle of nowhere?
Well, you can imagine how I felt - fearful, lost, helpless, with a hundred different thoughts conjuring up . . . the worst scenario, of course. I told myself to be calm and collected. Be brave. Don't let them see me tremble . . . Act normal!
Now, my brief French lessons I had in Shanghai did not prepare me to have a conversation in French to anyone, let alone a Frenchman. So I played dumb. Je ne comprends pa. With a smile and a shrug!
One of the officers went off to telephone his superior, I guess.
The other one stayed with me in that tiny office. He looked at my Papers with my picture on it, pointing at my picture and said several times, Tres Jolle. I did know what that meant! Oh no, let him find me grotesque! So I simply smiled and shrugged again.
Finally the other one came back, and he indicated to me that I had to pay some money for a Visa. Whew! They wanted money, that's all!
I paid the Fee, and they escorted me back to my compartment. It had been about half an hour or so that had gone by, and I had held up the Whole train! My apologies to my fellow travelers!
I was never so glad to see Joyce and the others. They were happy to see me, too. Unharmed!
The train pulled out. We went through France in the dark.
We finally went to sleep again.
Until this day, I do not remember seeing any of the French countryside on the rest of that train trip. I was too exhausted, and maybe I was too frightened to store what happened the rest of that trip in my brain. I only know -
We arrived in Calais.
We crossed the English Channel.
We landed on English soil.
Much of that was a blur - I only remembered how glad I was that our journey was almost over. Maybe life would be a bit less dramatic now.
Or, maybe Not?
We were on our last leg of the voyage.
There was going to be a Masquerade that evening, The Winners would be awarded prizes!
Neither Joyce nor I was prepared for it. We had no costumes! HELP!
So, we put our heads together, trying to borrow, buy, or maybe even steal something. Joyce found a Coolie hat she could wear and a Chinese jacket. I borrowed a Japanese kimono which our WAC had bought to use as a dressing gown, (though I was not keen on pretending to be a Japanese - Oh, what the heck), and a pair of Japanese shoes. We had ladies in saris and men in turbans. Someone dressed as a Chef, another a Spanish senora. We had Burmese man in sarong. We had Ceylon hawkers. Our WAC dressed as a Native American, (I am trying to be politically correct now - at the time, we would have said that she dressed as an American Indian. She had a feather on her head with a headband.)
A superb dinner, with dancing afterwards.
Anyway, everyone on board was 'game' and we had a great time.
Wait, where were the Priests? They were not at the party.
And, I won a prize - a bracelet with all the flags the S S Asia had flown on board! I still have the little bracelet. Guess I am a hoarder.
dressed up for the masquerade
We have made friends, and we were kind of sad that the time had come to say good-bye.
Addresses were exchanged. Promises were made to be in touch.
A day later, we sailed into Genoa harbor.
We disembarked.
We did not see much of Genoa, because Joyce and I and some other students from HK had a train to catch.
Most of us were a bit apprehensive for leaving the safety of the ship where we had been pampered and into the chaotic land transportation.
We had our suitcases. Our trunks were to be forwarded to our destination. In my case, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Now, we had traveled first Class on the ship, and expected to have first class train tickets. Right?
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
For whatever reason, all of us had third class tickets on an Overnight Train from Genoa to Calais, France - NOT a sleeper, mind you. We fought the crowd and manged to secure seats for us. Seats were not assigned.
Have you ever traveled in Europe by train, Third Class? There was no Dinning Car either!
May be you should try it sometime.
We docked in Napoli - Naples. The air was clear. The sky was blue. There was music in the air, I swear. Seemed like most Italians could sing and sing well. Some would bellow out some arias at the drop of the hat. They grew up with all these operas!
My first time in this beautiful land!
Naples is not like the more touristy cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, or the others. However, it is one of the largest municipality in Italy after Rome and Milan. It has its own charm.
Would you believe the famous tourist attraction was the Cemetery? Yes, it is true! After 18th century, the churches were too full for burials, so notable families built chapels and crypts in more secular locations than in the churches. The famous cemetery of Poggiorcale is laid out like a garden, like an estate. There were some of the most breathtakingly beautiful marble statues all over the place. (I think in some way it rivals the Rodin Garden in Paris.) Some of the statutes had more of the Grecian grace than the Roman masculinity. And the many magnificent towering cypresses! The manicured lawns and hand-clipped (I should say hand-crafted) hedges! The profusion of blooming flowers! The sculpted shrubs in various animal or organic shapes! Only Italians had the imagination to make a cemetery such a serene and artistic place for the dead!
Like any touristy cities, there were vendors trying to sell you souvenirs. They flocked towards you as soon as you got off the ship. I encountered young boys with trays of cameos for sell. Some of the cameos were quite nice. I did not buy any though.
We must have stayed in Naples for more than one day. Because, we had time to go to Pompeii. Window on Ancient Rome!
Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of the still active volcano Mount Vesuvius in A.D.79. The excavation and restoration is still going on today I believe.
I had seen pictures of the fossilized man and dog in my history books. And here I was staring at the real thing! The twisted body. The expression of utter fear on the man's face. It was unbelievable!
At that time, a fair part of the streets were restored and a number of the partial dwellings were preserved. By looking at the artifacts, we could imagine how people lived during that time. There were Roman baths, there were aqua-ducts - the Romans had running water. There were murals depicting daily lives of the people who lived there.
Now then, when we got to one part of an intersection of the streets, we women and girls were told that we could not go further with the group - Men only!
I was not very happy and wanted to know WHY. Later, we learned that the murals that were shown to the men were considered a bit too "risque" for us women. Bah! I think now they have changed the rules. Those murals probably would not shock even the teens today.
Well, I did not get to see the paintings of the orgies.
The ruins on the whole was very impressive and interesting.
But I still want to know what the men saw though.
We left Pompeii and Naples way too soon.
We were leaving Asia and Africa, and heading towards Europe.
We were in The Mediterranean Sea, also known as The Big Sea, heading towards Italy.
Italy, one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. Italy, the birth place of Renaissance. Italy, Bel Paese - beautiful country!
I had read about the Colosseum, I had tasted the pastas, I had heard Puccini, I had seen reproductions of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, I had seen copies of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" . . .
Even its shape is sexy - the high-heeled boot, kicking Sicily.
I was excited, even though I knew that I was only going to be in a few of its cities for a very short time.
The Mediterranean!
How many words are there to describe Blue -
Azure
Lapis lazuli
Aquamarine
Cobalt blue
Prussian blue
Thalo blue
Midnight blue
Sky blue
Cerulean blue
Turquoise blue
Greenish blue
Purplish blue
Violet blue . . .
And, of course, Mediterranean Blue!
The many colors of blue. Saturated! Intense! Electrifying!
You could find all of them in the Mediterranean!
And the brilliant and beautiful sunlight!
One time, not long ago, someone asked me if I could live anywhere where would I like to live?
I said, "Italy."
I have always been partial to Italy. Yes, I like France. But I feel more at home in Italy. I don't know why - I don't even speak the language. But that's how I feel. I had the good fortune of being in the region of Umbria, North of Rome, for two great weeks, painting - staying in Terni, I visited San Gemini, Carsulae, Assisi, Todi, Labro. Perugio, Spoleto, Narni, Orvieto, Stonecone, and other little towns (one everyday). A lifetime of memories. I loved the food, the people, the places, the sounds, and the sights. Yes, even the wine!
(In later years, I visited the Sistine Chapel and marveled at Michelangelo's work. I also, had the good fortune of seeing Leonardo's Mona Lisa in Paris, not once, but twice.)
Our waiters and stewards seemed to be happier. May be it was because we were nearing their homeland. They were going home.
The sea was calm. The weather was balmy.
I could almost hear them singing.
Let me cruise on the Mediterranean forever.
So much was happening at once, it seemed.
I was having a difficult time trying to take all of it in.
I do remember sipping some cold drink in a crystal goblet at an open air restaurant in Cairo, watching one of the most beautiful sunsets in the desert. The enchanting Nile was near by. The Nile, the longest river in the world!
Cleopatra going up the River Cydnus in a magnificent barge - to meet Marc (Mark) Antony. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, the richest woman in Egypt, and Marc Antony, the handsome Roman triumvir - the most famous Doomed-lovers in history. Or, may be you only remember Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. (Hollywood's new version of Cleopatra and Marc Antony on screen and off.) No matter - famous lovers no less.
Queen Nefertiti of 14th century B.C.! I still have a small carved-bone image of her, I bought it in Cairo or Port Said? It was a wonder that I have kept her all these years through the many moves I have made around the world. And, I also have a miniature camel caravan of carved wood, each camel is about two inches or so in size - three camels with green packs on their backs, led by a man on a donkey. The thread is still intact! Yes, I do treasure them. May be my grandchildren will, too, after they have read My Story.
the caravan
We must have spent a night in Cairo, because we had time to visit the Museum in Cairo. There I saw a lot of the treasures of the Pharaohs, King Tut's (ooops . . . sorry, teachie) included; the solid gold death mask, the jewel encrusted sarcophagus, the mummy cases, the mummies . . .
A bit eerie, but Most impressive!
Years later, in London, I went to the British Museum and saw the many items the British took from Egypt - the enormous bas-relief parts and fragments of architecture from temples and other ancient buildings, and the many, many artifacts, I wondered . . .
There was much suffering for people in this world, years ago and now. May be forever.
There were also many very interesting buildings in the City of Cairo. An architect's delight, I imagine.
Alas, I had to leave this intriguing ancient city, so full of history and culture!
After a short stop in Port Said, I returned to S. S. Asia. We set sail, heading towards the Mediterranean. To Italy!
I was following the16th Century Afonso de Albuquerque's footsteps, the first European to have sailed in these waters.
The Red Sea, The Erythraean Sea, is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia.
It has the warmest and the saltest water.
The Red Sea was formed by Arabian being split from Africa by movement of the Red Sea Rift. It is still widening. It is believed that it will become an ocean in time - not in our lifetime though.
The highly salinity of the water is not hospitable to living organisms.
The Red sea, however, is rich and diverse in ecosystem. Lots of coral!
It is where the Exodus took place - the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt. (The story of the Israelites crossing a body of water - the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt.)
The Suez Canal was built and opened in 1869. One of the marvels of the world. The ship was to go through the Canal. The passengers were given the option of staying on board or getting off the ship for an excursion to Cairo, to the Pyramids, one of the Seven Wonders of The Ancient World. I opted to take the excursion. Years later, I had the chance to cruise down the Panama Canal - and I was glad that I went to the pyramids instead of going through the Suez Canal when I was in Cairo. Sure the Canal was a marvel of engineering, but the opening and closing the locks, slowly and repeatedly, were tedious and monotonous. Suez Canal may be bigger (?) than Panama Canal, but the process was the same. I would have missed King Tut if I had stayed on board.
So, I went into the desert!
I know now why all the people covered themselves from head to toe in this Heat - the sand was everywhere! And the sun was unkind to exposed skin.
A number of us passengers disembarked at the entrance of the Canal and boarded several buses to the desert. We rode for a long while. Then we saw the little triangular structures in the distance. In the vast desert, the structures looked small. But wait until you get closer! Wow! The monumental Sphinx of Queen Hatshepsut, with the body of a lion and the head of a man, dwarfed us. And the enormous Pyramids!!! We realized how small we were in this Big world. How insignificant we human beings were! Ants on a giant surface!
Guess what? I had the wonderful opportunity to go inside one of the pyramids, through the narrow tunnels, into one of the death chambers. It was a bit eerie.
At that time, almost all the treasures were taken out of the tomb - by thieves, by robbers, or by archaeologists. There were merely a few pieces of artifacts placed there to satisfy the tourists (most likely by the Department of Tourism in Egypt).
Luckily, a lot of the treasures found by archaeologists were preserved in the Museum in Cairo, and I did get to see them when we got back to Cairo - at the time, my interest in history was such that I did not realize how lucky I was, for much of what I saw was what later exhibited in a museum in TX, the Treasures of King Tut. Of course, if I had called the Pharaoh Tutankhamen, King Tut, my history teacher would have not only "tut-tuted" me, but probably slapped me on the face. How dare You! She would say.
I also got to ride the camel. Believe me, you needed a sea-sick pill before getting on one of these creatures. They were decorated with beautiful carpets, colored shawls, bells and whistles, and other do-das for the tourists, and they were adorable (if you hold your nose somewhat). It, nevertheless, was fun. An event to remember!
We, then, were bused back into the City of Cairo.
I may have been dreaming of King Shakryar and his bride last night. May be Sinbad the Sailor?
One Thousand and One Arabian Nights! I remember the stories I read when I was young. King Shakryar killed his wife the day after his wedding night to prevent her from loving someone-else. He married a thousand times and killed a thousand wives, until he married the Magician's daughter. She started telling him a story each night, with a Cliff-hanger ending? - so that he would want to hear more of the stories, and delay killing her. Such romance!
In 1954, I was in the Arabian Sea, approaching Port Aden.
In Aden, Joyce and I hired an imposing- looking Guide to go sightseeing. I named him our Ali-BaBa. Ali-BaBa was well over six feet tall, truly "dark and handsome" in his flowing robe and turban. He had the most amazing and mesmerizing dark eyes I had ever saw, as if he could hypnotize you anytime he wanted to. I guess he could have picked me up with three fingers literally.
He took us around and then to the Bazaar. What a sight! I loved it! However, there was a hint of Fear in me. I felt that any minute, someone would draw a knife from his sleeves and slash my throat or something. Call me over sensitive.
Did I say that I loved the Bazaar? I really did. I love Shopping! I loved the many exotic wares. The myriad objects with wonderful, intricate forms and colors, a tourist's dream, The textiles! The brass-wares! The carvings! The musical instruments! Those pointed-toed shoes!
I was a kid in the candy store.
I can imagine how Marco Polo felt when he first landed in China. All the sights and sounds must have had the same effects on him as the Aden bazaar had on me.
Alas, we could only get a small souvenir a piece each.
Soon we were in the Red Sea.
In a way , I wished that we had more time in Bombay. Bombay had such interesting history.
Did I say History???
Well. Would you believe that I now really wish that I had a History teacher who would tell me that History IS made of Stories. Stories of people. Stories of events. Why did I not see History in such lights? I would have loved History if I had a different teacher in my beginning year at HKU. My Third Year and Fourth Year History teacher, Prof. E., from England of course, was not too bad, but he was so biased. I had such arguments with him concerning Opium Wars - I saw them from my Chinese point-of-view, and he saw them from the Englishman's point-of-view. East and West, the twins shall never meet! I said that History books were written by People, and people were basically biased. It depended on which side of the fence you are on. Right? He disagreed, of course. So, what do you think?
I do love to hear stories, stories of mankind.
My father used to say, You have to know the past (history) in order to understand the present - who we were and where we are and so on. He was a smart man.
It was not too far a distance from Bombay to Karachi - over night, I believe. May be a couple of nights?
So here we were in the Arabian Sea.
Tales of the Arabian Nights came to my mind. What do we expect in Karachi? AliBaBa, the magic lamp, genie?
Maybe not, we were not quite in Arabian country yet.
The largest city in Pakistan, Karachi, had lots of similarities as Bombay as far as the crowds, sights, and sounds go. There were differences, of course.
At the time when I visited Karachi, the population was not at all like what it is today - today it has over 23 million people - some 6,000 people per square mile. I cannot even imagine the denseness! Anyway, if my memory serves me right, I saw lots of people in Karachi even then.
I remember the many bathers in the sea, with their caps and clothes on no less.
I remember seeing the many women doing laundry in the river.
I remember seeing a burial in the sea - with a procession. They were carrying the dead body wrapped in white clothes, covered with flowers . . .
I remember the floating flowers in the water - some sort of ceremony for the dead?
Then, there were the many oxen. Men and beasts in the river.
There were a lot of people.
What a sight!
We did not tarry too long in the area, we definitely did not want to be lost there.
I would like to find Aladdin's lamp.
Singapore, an island around 276 square miles, at the southern tip of Malaya Peninsula, in 1954, was a British Crown Colony. At that time, it had less than a million people. It was and still is a multiracial society. There were Chinese, Malayan, East Indians, a number of Europeans, some Americans, and a number of people from other nations. Now independent, it is called the Republic of Singapore, with millions of people living there. It is now one of the world's largest financial centers.
The first thing that I noticed was there was not a bit of rubbish in the streets. It was by far the cleanest place I had ever been. The law was such that people were fined or even jailed if you throw trash in the streets. Laws were enforced. However, being so clinically clean, it was a bit sterile, to me.
We were there just for the day, so Joyce and I made the best of it.
The weather was great. We took in as much sights as we possibly could. We visited the various Points of Interest, the gardens, the statutes, and so on. Every thing was so streamlined and proper. We did sample some of the Street Foods which Singapore was famous for. It certainly was a change from our Formal Dinners on the ship. Then, the time came and we returned to the ship. We set sail in the evening, heading West, Northwest.
Now, that we were more familiar with the routine of the ship at sea, we learned to allocate our time and made friends on board. So, time passed quickly for us for the few days at sea before we called on Colombo, capital of Ceylon. Ceylon, now known as SriLanka, is an island that lies in the Indian Ocean near India's southern tip. It was an English colony from 1802 till 1948. Now it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
What a contrast Colombo was to Singapore!. The deafening noise on the streets; the many interesting architecture; the ox driven carts fighting for a space among weaving buses and automobiles. The many vivid and not so vivid yet beautifully colored attires of the beetle-nut chewing people, their teeth stained red, with their heads wrapped in dirty white clothes; and the elephants! Working elephants!
They were offering elephant rides for tourists, too. Of course, I had to try it. The elephant hide was really rough and hairy, even with a kind of Cushion/Chair for me to sit on, it was hard. It, nevertheless, was fun! In spite of the chaos and disorder, or may be because of the imperfection, Ceylon, to me was much more interesting.
Then back to the S. S. Asia to our mini cabin, and dinner was good.
We were heading towards Arabian Sea. We were going along the West coast of India. Of course, we couldn't see the land, but it seemed like the sea was much calmer; or was it because I was more accustomed to the constant motion of the ship and the humming of the engines?
Joyce and I were enjoying our life on board.
We were making friends with some of the HK travelers, we met two Catholic priests who were very interesting to talk to, and we were also getting to know our cabin-mate a little bit better. At that time, we did not know too many Americans. So it was a novelty for us.
So the day came when we were approaching Bombay.
Bombay, now known as Mumbai.
We docked.
Almost immediately, before we were off the ship, all our senses were assaulted from all directions by the great number of different noises, the many bright colorful sights, and pungent smells. Spices? Curry? Saffron? And there were so many People!
Teeming! Seething! Electrifying!
This most populous City in India, known as one of the most populous metropolis in the world.
Cars, carts, buses, bicycles, pedicabs, men, women, children, dogs, cats, oxen . . .
Joyce and I told each other that if and when we got off the ship we were to stick together.
We held on to each other. We did not want to get lost in this sea of people and whatever!
I cannot remember exactly what we did. I guess we did a bit of sightseeing. We were glad to get back to the safety of S. S. Asia and our wonderful jolly waiters in the Dining Room.
I think I did purchase a yellow-colored melon, simply because it looked delicious. I did wash it carefully before eating it.
Mumbai is now the home of the razzle-dazzle world of Bollywood - India's answer to Hollywood. Too bad we did not know someone who could take us around then.
