Initial Plan
While attending the 2008 World’s Fair in Shanghai, I learned that Dubai in the UAE was planning to host the 2020 World’s Fair. Dubai will be my 6th World’s Fair. I love World’s Fairs! The next ones are EXPO 2023 in Buenos Aires and EXPO 2025 in Osaka.
I had 12 years to plan but started immediately. Expo 2020 was scheduled to run from October 2020 to March 2021. I made plans to visit in January 2021, since Dubai is typically over 100 degrees in October.
I’ve only been to the Near East twice (Turkey and Egypt). Two places I’d like to visit are:
- Petra in Jordan was part of the Nabatean Kingdom, as early as 7,000 BC. There are several famous archelogical sites, such as The Library.
- Jericho in the West Bank is one of the earliest continuous settlements in the world, dating perhaps from about 9,000 BC. It figures prominently in the Old Testament.
I love visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On previous trips, I’ve visited 63 UNESCO sites in 30 different countries. (I hadn’t realized how many until I counted them for this post!)
Take Two
As everyone in the entire world now knows, 2020 didn’t turn out as expected. Dubai decided to delay their Fair by one year due to the pandemic. It was now scheduled to run from October 2021 to March 2022.
Many countries locked down their borders. It was unclear when International travel would resume. A complicated trip including stops in Petra and Jericho might not be safe. It might not even be possible.
I changed my focus to Mauritius (in the Indian Sea near Madagascar). They had taken an early aggressive stance on COVID-19. The entire island was completely free of the virus.
So my new plan was to visit the World’s Fair then spend a few lazy weeks at a resort on the beach in Mauritius.
Take Three
Then the Delta variant appeared!
Mauritius was hit hard despite their best efforts. They once again closed their borders.
I refocused my plans on visiting Expo 2020. (They never changed the name, presumably because the name Expo 2020 was emblazoned everywhere including being painted on Emirates planes.)
Being on a 14-hour nonstop flight surrounded by hundreds of international strangers didn’t sound like a good idea during a pandemic. Neither did making multiple stops and hanging out in airports. But, I didn’t want to give up on visiting the World’s Fair.
I decided to fly business class. Only a few people would be within 6 feet of me. Exclusive lounges in airports. I selected a flight to Dubai on Lufthansa via Germany.
It didn’t make sense to fly that far and spend that much money for just one week. I looked at where else I might travel on this trip and decided on India.
I booked a flight to Mumbai returning from Kochi. This would allow me to travel down the coast of India where there are many trains. Lots of options.
Take Four
Then the Omicron variant hit!
India was hit hard by Omicron, particularly Mumbai which has over 20 million residents. That’s twice the population of NYC and nearly five times the population of Boston. They pack the trains so tight that the passengers can barely move. Not a great place to be during a surge in the pandemic.
After some searching, I discovered Hampi. It’s a tiny village with only 3,000 residents. Yet it’s a UNESCO site with dozens of archeology sites, including the remains of a 7th-century temple.
The new plan was to visit EXPO 2020 then fly to Chennai in India to visit Hampi. And, everything is outdoors!
Now I just have to hope that the Omicron surge subsides by the time I fly there and no other nasty variants pop up.
