By Ashley Mcknight-Taylor
A trip around the world.
It has inspired books and movies. It's something people dream about.
Precious few people truly get to see the world in one fell swoop, but two Suffolk couples can count themselves among such travelers.
David and Julie Holland, accompanied by George and Sue Birdsong, in February took a private jet to some of the world's most legendary and exotic locations.
It started with wishful thinking.
David Holland is a Washington & Lee University alumni, and he received brochures from his alma mater each year advertising tantalizing trips abroad to places such as the Serengeti and Tibet. David and his wife salivated over pictures of the Taj Mahal and pyramids of Egypt.
"It just sounded so absolutely fabulous," Julie said.
Their friends, the Birdsongs, were familiar with the brochures. George also graduated from Washington & Lee, but when the Hollands mentioned the idea to them, Sue said the pamphlets were tantalizing, but typically went straight to the trash. She and her husband, like most people, thought it would be impossible to leave work and other commitments for the length of time such a trip required - in this case, 24 days.
But David and Julie couldn't resist. And after the idea stewed with the Birdsongs for a while, they, too, realized it was an opportunity they could not pass up. The couples spent more than a year making reservations and filling out the necessary paperwork. On Feb. 14 they headed to Washington, D.C. for the first of many flights that would carry them around the world.
But they got snowed in.
With a jam-packed schedule of flights, train rides, sightseeing and more, the delay threw a real wrench in the plan. They made it out of the city the next day, and zipped off to their first destination: Lima, Peru. There they took a quick tour of a museum - their leisure time eaten up by the snow back in the States.
A train, outfitted with a glass ceiling, carried them through the mountains to Cusco and Machu Picchu, where they explored the spectacular ruins of the Inca Empire. The ruins are tucked away on a hilltop between two Andean peaks at 7,000 feet above sea level. The location kept them hidden even from the Spanish. They were discovered by Yale professor Hiram Bingham buried beneath dense undergrowth in 1911.
Julie said each person had a headset so they could continue listening to stories and explanations from the guides while still wandering around the site on their own.
From there, the travelers jetted across the South Pacific to the isolated Easter Island, home to giant stone monoliths, known as Moai, that dot the coastline. The tour group of about 100 people traveled by a specially outfitted Boeing 757 that was outfitted with a personal chef, physician and six professors who could speak expertly on a number of topics related to their travels. Lectures on the population, geography and more gave them a clearer picture of the places they would see, Julie said.
"The guides were very knowledgeable."
They continued on to Samoa, an island of natural beauty and friendly people. Then it was onward to Australia where they had the opportunity to snorkel over the Great Barrier Reef or to ride in a glass submarine. David and George braved the jellyfish and went snorkeling, while the ladies chose the more comfortable underwater journey.
The next stop: Angkor Wat, a temple in Angkor, Cambodia, built for a king in the 12th Century and known as the largest religious monument in the world. It is a huge pyramid temple surrounding by a moat 570 feet wide and about four miles long, along with a number of other temples.
Julie said she found this site most fascinating because archaeologists still were working to uncover the temples, which had been swallowed by jungle. While in Cambodia they also were able to take an elephant ride as a couple.
After leaving Cambodia, they spent one night in China where Julie, though tired, took time to visit the panda compound.
"I was exhausted, but I just could not pass up the pandas," she said.
They also were treated with a delightful surprise: their group became the first tourists to arrive in the country during the Chinese New Year, so journalists there wrote about them and provided translated copies for each person.
They had just a brief rest before the group moved on to Lhasa, the traditional capital of Tibet where the altitude, despite the fact that they took medication beforehand, still made many in the group ill. But the snow on the Himalayas was an amazing sight. They visited an orphanage, where children danced for them, and they saw where the Dali Lama lived.
Next on the list, one of the world's most famous structures: the Taj Mahal in India. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned this mausoleum, located in Agra, for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1632 and was completed about 20 years later.
Julie said the white marble and inlaid tile of the building were beautiful, as was the extravagant hotel where they stayed while in India. But once they left the gates of the Taj, streets were lined with improvershed people living in slums.
"You go in the gate and it's a whole other world," she said.
From the Taj they traveled to a place of equal, though different, granduer: the Serengeti Plain in Africa. They camped in a mobile tent on a mountain, from which they could watch rhinocerouses and other amazing creatures.
"You could hear animals all night long," Julie said.
The plains of Africa were followed by one of the Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Egypt and the Sphinx. Their last stop was Marrakech, a medieval city in Morroco. From there they flew back to Washington, D.C., arriving exhausted, but satisfied.
"It was a good tired though because it was a trip we'll never forget."
ashley.taylor@suffolknewsherald.com .
It has inspired books and movies. It's something people dream about.
Precious few people truly get to see the world in one fell swoop, but two Suffolk couples can count themselves among such travelers.
David and Julie Holland, accompanied by George and Sue Birdsong, in February took a private jet to some of the world's most legendary and exotic locations.
It started with wishful thinking.
David Holland is a Washington & Lee University alumni, and he received brochures from his alma mater each year advertising tantalizing trips abroad to places such as the Serengeti and Tibet. David and his wife salivated over pictures of the Taj Mahal and pyramids of Egypt.
"It just sounded so absolutely fabulous," Julie said.
Their friends, the Birdsongs, were familiar with the brochures. George also graduated from Washington & Lee, but when the Hollands mentioned the idea to them, Sue said the pamphlets were tantalizing, but typically went straight to the trash. She and her husband, like most people, thought it would be impossible to leave work and other commitments for the length of time such a trip required - in this case, 24 days.
But David and Julie couldn't resist. And after the idea stewed with the Birdsongs for a while, they, too, realized it was an opportunity they could not pass up. The couples spent more than a year making reservations and filling out the necessary paperwork. On Feb. 14 they headed to Washington, D.C. for the first of many flights that would carry them around the world.
But they got snowed in.
With a jam-packed schedule of flights, train rides, sightseeing and more, the delay threw a real wrench in the plan. They made it out of the city the next day, and zipped off to their first destination: Lima, Peru. There they took a quick tour of a museum - their leisure time eaten up by the snow back in the States.
A train, outfitted with a glass ceiling, carried them through the mountains to Cusco and Machu Picchu, where they explored the spectacular ruins of the Inca Empire. The ruins are tucked away on a hilltop between two Andean peaks at 7,000 feet above sea level. The location kept them hidden even from the Spanish. They were discovered by Yale professor Hiram Bingham buried beneath dense undergrowth in 1911.
Julie said each person had a headset so they could continue listening to stories and explanations from the guides while still wandering around the site on their own.
From there, the travelers jetted across the South Pacific to the isolated Easter Island, home to giant stone monoliths, known as Moai, that dot the coastline. The tour group of about 100 people traveled by a specially outfitted Boeing 757 that was outfitted with a personal chef, physician and six professors who could speak expertly on a number of topics related to their travels. Lectures on the population, geography and more gave them a clearer picture of the places they would see, Julie said.
"The guides were very knowledgeable."
They continued on to Samoa, an island of natural beauty and friendly people. Then it was onward to Australia where they had the opportunity to snorkel over the Great Barrier Reef or to ride in a glass submarine. David and George braved the jellyfish and went snorkeling, while the ladies chose the more comfortable underwater journey.
The next stop: Angkor Wat, a temple in Angkor, Cambodia, built for a king in the 12th Century and known as the largest religious monument in the world. It is a huge pyramid temple surrounding by a moat 570 feet wide and about four miles long, along with a number of other temples.
Julie said she found this site most fascinating because archaeologists still were working to uncover the temples, which had been swallowed by jungle. While in Cambodia they also were able to take an elephant ride as a couple.
After leaving Cambodia, they spent one night in China where Julie, though tired, took time to visit the panda compound.
"I was exhausted, but I just could not pass up the pandas," she said.
They also were treated with a delightful surprise: their group became the first tourists to arrive in the country during the Chinese New Year, so journalists there wrote about them and provided translated copies for each person.
They had just a brief rest before the group moved on to Lhasa, the traditional capital of Tibet where the altitude, despite the fact that they took medication beforehand, still made many in the group ill. But the snow on the Himalayas was an amazing sight. They visited an orphanage, where children danced for them, and they saw where the Dali Lama lived.
Next on the list, one of the world's most famous structures: the Taj Mahal in India. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned this mausoleum, located in Agra, for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1632 and was completed about 20 years later.
Julie said the white marble and inlaid tile of the building were beautiful, as was the extravagant hotel where they stayed while in India. But once they left the gates of the Taj, streets were lined with improvershed people living in slums.
"You go in the gate and it's a whole other world," she said.
From the Taj they traveled to a place of equal, though different, granduer: the Serengeti Plain in Africa. They camped in a mobile tent on a mountain, from which they could watch rhinocerouses and other amazing creatures.
"You could hear animals all night long," Julie said.
The plains of Africa were followed by one of the Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Egypt and the Sphinx. Their last stop was Marrakech, a medieval city in Morroco. From there they flew back to Washington, D.C., arriving exhausted, but satisfied.
"It was a good tired though because it was a trip we'll never forget."
ashley.taylor@suffolknewsherald.com .
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