I was privileged to travel the world at a young age and when the dollar was king.
Travels with George: 1968 to 1972
By: George Noga – July 24, 2022
As suggested by some long-time readers, I am lightening up with personal anecdotes during the dog days of summer. Everyone my age has some gripping experiences and I certainly have my share. The headline above is a knockoff of Travels with Charley, about Steinbeck’s travels across America in the 1960s – a good read. Enjoy!
Upon completion of my MBA and military duty, I was hired by Trans World Airlines in 1968 as a financial analyst at its headquarters in midtown Manhattan; I remained at TWA until 1972. As management, I had a pass enabling me to fly anywhere on TWA. In 1969 I was promoted to middle management and received a pass permitting me to fly free first class on any airline anywhere in the world. Following are highlights.
Israel: I walked alone throughout the old city of Jerusalem, along the Via Dolorosa and to the Wailing Wall – all in territory recently liberated by Israel and long before tourists arrived; it was too dangerous. I then went to Bethlehem where I was the only non-Muslim in the town and the only person in Manger Square. I visited a kibbutz and went, along with a heavily armed patrol, to a nearby swimming hole. Everyone took turns swimming while the others stood guard with automatic weapons at the ready.
I rode the Marrakesh Express – literally and figuratively.
Athens: I arrived discombobulated after a long flight and awoke well before dawn. I took a cab to the Acropolis just as the sun crept over the horizon. I had the Acropolis entirely to myself for an hour; I was free to roam anywhere. The last time I was at the Acropolis, there were at least 5,000 tourists and much of it was closed off to visitors.
Marrakesh: After flying into Casablanca, I rode the Marrakesh Express to Marrakesh, both literally and figuratively – if you follow my drift. I stayed in the ultra-luxe La Mamounia Hotel, where Winston Churchill was a habitue. I paid $16 per night; today it would cost $1,000. My father was stationed in Marrakesh during WWII and his letters from there (which we still have) are very descriptive, adding cogency to my visit.
Hong Kong: I arrived in Hong Kong just as Chinese New Year was in full swing. The scene was pulsating, like nothing I had seen or even imagined. I intrepidly ventured into the street and mingled with the frenetic crowd as it paraded through the streets.
My bathroom consisted of a hole in the ground and a shovel.
Macau: I took the hydrofoil to Macau to test my luck; there were only two casinos back then. As I was boarding the last hydrofoil back to Hong Kong, a Chinese gentleman recognized me from the casino and, using sign language, beckoned me to follow. He led me to the penthouse suite where there was to be a private blackjack game with 10 people, not one of whom spoke English. I panicked when my turn came to deal because I knew if I lost the first few hands, I would be out of money. Fortunately, they were bad players, and I thankfully won the first several hands.
Djakarta: I was enroute to Singapore from Australia and foolishly stopped in Djakarta without hotel reservations. There was but one first-world hotel back then and it was full – people were even sleeping in hallways. I ended up at a hotel where the bathroom consisted of a hole in the ground and a shovel. It required several fingers of duty-free scotch to get to sleep. I awoke with lice and cajoled my way into the Intercontinental Hotel swimming pool where the chlorine was strong enough to kill the lice.
To cap it off, I was detained at the airport when leaving Indonesia and questioned in an intimidating soundproof room. The gendarmes thought I was a foreign intelligence agent and couldn’t understand why anyone my age would visit Djakarta without family or business. At length, I was able to convince them I was an airline employee. I barely made my thrice weekly flight to Singapore, which was heaven compared to Djakarta.
Next week, Travels with George continues with more misadventures in Africa (Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya), Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Hungary and India.
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