World Countries I Have Visited

Countries Visited:

I have been very fortunate to have visited many countries in the world including my original home country Great Britain including England, Wales and Scotland. My World Countries I have Visited, first started with my Norwich Technical College Trip to Belgium and France in 1955 when I was 14 years old. I have put the Countries in Alphabetical order.

Australia

I have traveled from Singapore to Perth twice, many years ago, taking a 4 hour flight, with my Singapore Chinese friends to see my Australian friends and attended the Australian Rules Football game at its stadium. Also went to Freemantle just south of Perth centre which is an oldy worldy sea side type of town with terrific fish and chips and steaks which you cook yourself, plus the beer of course.

Austria

My experience of Austria during the mid 1970’s was mainly the driving from Germany to Venice for summer holidays stopping at places in Austria on the way. There were two routes. The first Munich to Salzburg and then through the Alps on very winding and mostly relatively narrow two way roads to Villach, Udine and Venice. This was towing a caravan which was more dangerous but the scenery was beautiful especially when seeing the mountain lakes with the green/blue water. The second was from Munich to Innsbruck then to Verona which was the latest dual carriageway to Verona and Venice which was much safer but longer. I went both ways on my two holidays in Venice. I notice now the Salzburg to Villach road appears to be dual carriageway.

Belgium

Belgium was the first world country I visited with my Norwich Technical College Trip to Belgium and France in 1955 when I was 14 years old. The first place we went to was Blankenberg a sea side town near Knokke-Hiest which my first impression was the smell and taste of Belgium’s black coffee. We then visited Ghent and the Belfry which I still remember climbing the spiral staircase and being defend by the clock bell.

Many years later I visited Belgium many times visiting Antwerp, Liege, and Bruges and driving through Belgium on the E40 from England via the Ostend Ferry Port whilst serving in the Royal Air Force in Germany.

Canada

The visit to Goose Bay Royal Canadian Air Force Base in Canada was for about 6 hours only whilst we refueled our RAF VC 10 Aircraft on route to the Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas Nevada USA. It was heavy snow when we landed and we had to wait until the snow storm stopped before we could take-off for Las Vegas. On the return journey from Las Vegas USA to the UK we stopped again at Goose Bay for a few hours but we had severe turbulence over the USA prior to landing at Goose Bay so it was good to get off the Aircraft although it was still very cold with snow.

Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

In 1966 whilst traveling from England to Singapore to start my Royal Air Force tour of duty, the RAF Britannia Aircraft had to stop in Columbo the capital city in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for fuel. On leaving for Singapore our Aircraft had a bird strike on one of the engines on take-off which forced us to land again. As it was a serious problem which required need spare parts, so we were housed in a high class Heritage style Hotel on the sea front in the south of Ceylon for 5 days. After a frightening time during take-off it was like having a luxurious holiday.

Denmark

During my time in Royal Air Force Germany we operated some of our Harrier Aircraft from a Denmark Air Force base north of Esbjerg for a period of time. We drove there and back as a convoy from Germany to Denmark taking all of our support equipment. This was in early spring so it was quite cold but the Denmark Air Force personnel were very friendly.

France

The first time I visited France was on my Norwich Technical College Trip to Belgium and France in 1955 when I was 14 years old and visited Lille not far from Ghent in Belgium. I flew to United Airlines HQ in San Fransisco using Air France from Paris in 1989 two weeks after the San Fransisco earthquake. I remember the Air France male flight attendants were not very helpful at all during the flight and refused to speak English. In the early 1990’s I visited Paris and Disney Paris with some friends for a few days seeing the Eiffel Tower and River Seine. Also in the mid 1990’s I drove my BMW 750i from Calais to Swissair, Basel in Switzerland via Reims and Belfort through many Tunnels with my staff for a Training Presentation to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and world Airline Executives for a few days which took 11 hours there and 11 hours back at one time reaching 130mph only stopping for food and fuel. Although a long drive it was very enjoyable seeing all the different scenery.

Gan (Maldives)

In 1966 Gan in the Indian Ocean was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Airfield and Base. Its Aircraft Runway stretches almost the whole length of the Island. I was allocated to a VC10 Hospital Flight on my way back from RAF Singapore to England which had to stop for 5 days for the patients on board who were moved to the Gan RAF Hospital for treatment. This gave me and my colleagues chance to enjoy diving off the Pier and swimming in the beautiful clear waters with all the colourful fish just like a holiday. The VC10 just managed to take off at the end of the Runway very close to the sea. Today Gan is part of the civilian Maldives holiday complex.

Germany (West)

I was posted to Royal Air Force (RAF) Harrier Aircraft 20 Sqd Wildenwrath in 1976 and then to RAF Harrier Aircraft 4 Sqn Gutersloh which was nearer the East German border in 1977 until 1979. This was a very tense period with the Cold War between NATO (West Germany) and the Soviet Union controlling (East Germany). In early1985 I was posted to RAF Tornado Aircraft 20 Sqn Laarbruch until my RAF retirement late in 1986. I visited, driving on the German Autobahns that has no speed limit, to many places in West Germany from Hamburg in the North to Munich in the South such as Cologne and its beautiful Cathedral. The other significant part of Germany is the mighty River Rhine which is used for Commercial Barges and Tourist Boats which I have been on. It originates in Switzerland flowing through the whole of Germany and ends in the Netherlands. I also visited the Mohne Dam which was breached during WW2 by the RAF famously known as the ‘Dambusters’ using the ‘Barnes Wallis Bouncing Bomb’. However it was back to original glory when I visited it.

Hong Kong

Most of my visits to Hong Kong have been before China took it over. I visited on business talking to the Hong Kong and world movie companies and the other times on holiday. I also visited Macau only a short boat ride from Hong Kong. I have always enjoyed being in Hong Kong with its Ferries, Trams and bustling population.

Indonesia

Indonesia a country of extremes and is a huge area made up of many islands many of which are not shown in the map. The areas that I have been to are shown in the circles. Jakarta the capital and Bandung were two places I visited for business trips for a Training Contract which I eventually terminated with an Indonesian Aircraft Manufacturer based in Bandung in the 1990’s developing the N250 Aircraft. Bandung City is a place of two halves, the very rich who live in very expensive large houses away from the city centre and the very poor who live in a shanty town environment. I used to fly from Singapore to Bandung in a Merpati Airlines old Fokker 90 Aircraft which I did not like as they were very old.

Bintan is a small Indonesian island just off Singapore that the Nirwana Resort Hotel shown in the image below has a very special place in my heart for personal reasons some 24 years ago and is a super holiday place. Bali which I have been several times long ago is also a very good holiday place having beautiful beaches with Balinese Dancers in their traditional dress that perform typical dances of Bali. I enjoyed being on the Jet Skies as the water can be quite wavy and going on a large Catamaran Boat to another Island to see the Coral and Snorkeling.

Italy

I had two distinct reasons for going to Italy. The First was with the Royal Air Force (RAF) where we went to the Island of Sardinia (Sardegne) near Cagliari for exercises. At weekends I (arrow) would take my team to the north of the Island where we relaxed in our camp site near the beautiful beaches. The second was on two holidays trips to Venice driving from Germany through the Alps and Austria via Salzburg and Innsbruck and parking my caravan near the Venice beach and then visiting Venice itself. Venice is a very unique place where the ‘streets’ between the buildings are in fact small waterways where the ‘Gondolas’ small boats, shown in the image below, taking people and tourists from one place to another. I also took the opportunity to visit the beautiful port city of Trieste not far from Venice.

Kuwait

On my way to Singapore on the same Royal Air Force (RAF) Britannia Aircraft shown in the Ceylon part, we had to stop for refueling at Kuwait. This was a very unpleasant experience as we had to get off the Aircraft and were all, about 100 of us, put in a small room ,no air conditioning, no refreshments for about 6 hours. We were not allowed to leave the room as there were armed guards outside. I was very pleased when we left for Ceylon.

Laos

I visited Laos for a few hours whilst at the Golden Triangle at Chiang Rai in Thailand. This is where Laos, Myanmar ( Burma) and Thailand all meet in the middle of the Mekong River. I went across the mighty Mekong River in a small boat to the Tourist Market in Laos. It was important not to stray into the Myanmar part of the river as it was banned. I also went to the Golden Triangle Arch which is in Thailand but you can see Laos on the other side of the river.

Luxembourg

I visited Luxembourg whilst I was stationed at RAF Wildenwrath in Germany for a couple of days. It is surrounded by Belgium, France and Germany and is a very beautiful small country with many old buildings.

Malaysia

Malaysia has been my home for the past 18 years, however I was first in Malaysia in Feb 1966 with the Royal Air Force at RAF Butterworth in North Malaysia. Malaysia consists of three countries, Sabah, Sarawak and the Malay Peninsular States with the capital Kuala Lumpur. I have visited many places in the Peninsular, like Penang, Malacca, Johor and surrounding Islands such as Redang Island which have beautiful beaches. My home is in the state of Selangor which is near to Kuala Lumpur and is generally a very nice country with a multicultural people who are generally also very nice, as long as you don’t get involved with politics and religion. Malaysia is famous for it Petronas Twin Towers, its production of Palm Oil and Holiday destinations throughout Malaysia and its surrounding Islands.

Netherlands

The Netherlands also known as Holland is one of the World Countries I have visited the most living outside of the country. There are two main reasons. The first is that whilst in the Royal Air Force (RAF) stationed at RAF Wildenwrath and RAF Laarbruch I used to go shopping very often to Venlo and Roermond as it was cheaper than Germany and it was nice to have a day out. Also, I used to go out for day trips to places like Eindhoven, Maastricht, Aachen, Nijmegan and Arnhem. The second was having holidays and business trips to Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam where the Ferry from Hull in England used to dock. Also I used to fly from Singapore to England via Amsterdam Schipol Airport where I changed Aircraft. The Dutch (Netherlands) people are very friendly and most speak English. Holland is very famous for their Tulip flower Fields, Windmills and their Wooden Clogs (Shoes). Overall its one of the best places I have visited.

Singapore

Singapore has been a significant place for me for many reasons. In February 1966 I arrived at RAF Changi and the moved to RAF Seletar to rebuild 4 Jet Provost Aircraft to help with the Malaysian/Indonesian confrontation which ended on the 12 August 1966. Singapore gained its Independence on the 9 August 1966. In December 1966 I was posted to RAF Seletar Electrical / Instrument unit for 3 years. I lived in Seletar Hills near RAF Seletar. In those days Singapore was a very different oldy worldly place, such as Jalan Kayu the nearest village to the RAF Seletar Base and Seletar Hills.

I returned to Singapore in 1990 and the in 1992 for the Asian Aerospace Exhibitions as Managing Director of my own company CTS. In addition in 1992 I was invited to give a demonstration of our Training software to the Chief of the Singapore Navy, on board the Aircraft carrier HMS Invincible which was docked in Singapore as part of Orient 92. I would meet him several more times as a Singapore Minister of Defence and Education when I opened my my Singapore company in 1993. This generated new business with Singapore Airlines, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Ministry Of Defence that meant I needed to visit Singapore almost every two weeks from the UK. For personal reasons I then decided to live in Singapore in the mid 1990’s until 2003.

I was at Orchard Road for the 2000 New Celebrations with another 500 thousand of people. In March 2003 the virus SARS broke out in Singapore forcing me to close my Singapore company and move back to the UK for a short while. Singapore was very different to the 1960’s with modern buildings everywhere you looked but also preserved heritage sites. Today RAF Changi and RAF Seletar are civilian Airports with Changi being one the biggest and one of the best Airports in the world.

Sweden

I visited Sweden in the winter of 1989 to acquire work from SAAB the Car and Aircraft company based in Linkoping and Stockholm. I decided to drive using my brand new BMW 518i by using North Sea Ferries from Hull in the UK to Gothenburg in Sweden. When I arrived in Gothenburg at 1am after a very long and rough sea journey, it was freezing and I was lucky to see some Taxis one of which helped me find my hotel.

The next day I drove to Linkoping although it had been snowing and the temperature was well below freezing. However, the scenery on the way was very beautiful and I stopped at some small Cafe’s on the way. The Swedish people were very friendly and spoke English very well as its their second language. I eventually reached Linkoping and the next day visited the SAAB factory for my meeting.

The next day I left Linkoping and drove to Stockholm the capital of Sweden for another meeting with SAAB. Again the weather was very cold with snow flurries on the way but reaching Stockholm it was very busy. My meeting was the following day so I had chance to see a small part of Stockholm. Although SAAB showed a lot of interest in CTS and our Training Systems and Software, it was so new that they were hesitant to accept this completely new approach to training. After the meetings I then drove back to Gothenburg from Stockholm that took me about 8 hours through this beautiful country which I enjoyed very much for the few days I was there.

Switzerland

I visited Basel in Switzerland for a Presentation to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and about 300 World Airline Executives regarding the Computerisation of Training for the EASA Part 66 Aircraft Maintenance Engineers for world wide use, hosted by Swissair. As I have said it took me about 11 hours from my office in Scunthorpe via the Channel Tunnel and France to Basel by my BMW 750iL car shown below with my own number plate. ‘Hogg for CTS’ which was my company.

My team and I stayed for a few days in Basel during the Summer before and after the Presentation discussing the EASA Part 66 Computerised Training aspects, costs and development time. It was clear that after the Presentation the Airline Executives were concerned regarding these aspects but were pleased that these were highlighted by me as they thought this would be a very easy and quick thing to do. It was decide much later that the Airlines would make their own arrangements for EASA Training. Basel was a very nice place with many shops and places outside Cafes and Bars and very friendly people. It also has a very comprehensive Tram System to allow people to get around without having to have a car as they were banned from parts of the city centre.

Thailand

Thailand is one of places I have visited the most due to proximity to Malaysia and ease of access. Visits have been for holidays only on the beautiful beaches and surrounding Islands and for shopping and sight seeing. One of my favourite places in Thailand is Krabi in southern Thailand. I remember some years ago we stayed at the Railay Beach Resort and Spa for Christmas which is a collection of individual cottages and has entrances from Railay Beach and Pool and from the rear Pool and Beach. The sun set is stunning and the beach and sea are idyllic.

We have also visited Pattaya City south of Bangkok which also has a very beautiful Beach and other attractions as most sea side towns have.

One of the best Thailand Islands (Koh) I have been to is Koh Lipe a small Island in the South Andaman Sea. To get there we took a flight to Langkawi Island part Malaysia and through customs to the Thailand part. Then a ferry from the Thailand part to Koh Lipe by a large Ferry which takes about 2 hours. We stayed on Koh Lipe for a few days going out to even smaller islands by Speed Boat. There are also smaller boats called ‘Long Tailed Boats’. The reason is that the engine drives a propeller through a ‘long’ shaft. The waters around Koh Lipe and the other Islands are so clear and green / blue with white sand its just so beautiful and well worth the journey to get there.

Bangkok the capital of Thailand is a bustling city with many places to see but many people go for the large shopping centres where you can spend a whole day buying almost anything you want especially clothing. Chiang Mai is a much smaller city with many types of Temples and is an oldy worldy place with a character of its own. The night markets are a special attraction for locals and tourists.

United States of America

I have visited the United States of America (USA) twice. The first time was in 1985 with the Royal Air Force when we were attached to the Tactical Air Command at the Nellis US Air Force Base Nevada only a short distance from Las Vegas. We arrived from Canada in our RAF VC 10 Aircraft. I was in charge of my team and responsible for final ‘pre-take-off’ clearance of our Tornado Aircraft. As such I had access to a car and Oldsmobile the same style and colour as the image below which allowed me and my senior team members to travel around during our long weekend off duty.

During our off duty time we visited the Hoover Dam in Nevada and then drove through the Nevada Dessert to Disneyland and Universal Studios in Los Angeles which was extremely busy and then to Sea World in San Diego. From San Diego we traveled back to Las Vegas to the casino Hotel we were living in. Were were in Las Vegas for 5 weeks which became quite boring. We then flew back to the UK via Canada in our RAF VC 10 Aircraft.

The second time was in November 1989 only 2 weeks after the Loma Prieta 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake in California including San Francisco. Many of the Highways had collapsed on top of each other. I had already arranged a meeting as Managing Director of my own company Computerised Training Systems Ltd (CTS) with United Airlines in San Francisco. This was to discuss the possibility of creating their Maintenance Training software. After the meetings I had some spare time and some of the United Airlines guys showed me around San Francisco and the famous Golden Gate Bridge. They also took me to a restaurant / bar way up a very high hill overlooking San Francisco Bay area. Overall at that time it was very enjoyable and a unique experience on both my visits to the USA.

United Arab Emirates

I have visited the United Arab Emirates several times for business and pleasure. In 1993 I had a contract with GEC Marconi to develop Computerised Training for their In Flight Entertainment System installed on Emirates Airlines (EA) Aircraft which is based in Dubai. Therefore I worked with the EA Cabin Crew which involved me going to Dubai on a regular basis. I stayed at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel which is shaped like a wave (right). The beach and facilities were fantastic. Whilst there in 1993 I saw the Burj-al-Arab (left) being built. Dubai City was a bustling place with very beautiful high rise buildings near the major river.

Still on the business part I exhibited my company CTS at the Dubai Air Show in 1995 as CTS was now known in this area. I had this CTS Stand especially built in the UK which was modular for transportation, that was used in Dubai and other exhibitions around the world. In addition I had meetings in Abu Dhabi another beautiful City in the UAE.

On a private visit I stayed at a Small Beach Resort which is no longer there but was very relaxing away from the glitz of Dubai City and High End Hotels that I have stayed. Overall Dubai at that time was affordable and less commercialised, however today it has expanded into a rich mans destination as it is a stunning place.

Vietnam

I visited Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam once with my Chinese friends. It is a bustling city with an enormous amount of Motorcycles. This is the preferred for of road transport but the shear number and the way there seems to be no rules for movement is amazing. The problem is walking across the road, you simply have to walk into the traffic and the traffic will go around you but its frightening the first time you do it.

This impressive building is the City Hall which overlooks a huge Square in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City that attracts a lot of tourists. The famous ‘banh mi thit nuong’ is a crusty bread roll withe items inside which is also known as a Portuguese Bread Roll. The Bread is fantastic!!

Conclusion

Thank you for looking at this long post and I hope you found it interesting. There are so many places in some countries I have visited which have not included as I have been so lucky to have traveled the world in my life experiences.