Around the world in 2019 – following in Phileas Fogg’s footsteps
- Jules Verne’s intrepid Victorian traveller accepted a bet to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days or less
- While some of the route would be impassable today, modern travel has made a span of the planet possible in a mere 53 hours
On November 6, 1872, Phileas Fogg arrived in Hong Kong aboard the steamship Rangoon. The English gentleman’s stay was a brief one, however, as he was hurrying to Yokohama, San Francisco, New York and, finally, London.
Jules Verne’s Victorian page turner, Around the World in 80 Days, begins in London’s Reform Club, where Fogg accepts a bet to circumnavigate the globe in “80 days or less”. Although Fogg was fictional, there had never been a better time to take on such a challenge.
Had Verne attempted to tell the story a century earlier, the expedition would have taken more than two years, but technological advances and improved transport infrastructure were slashing journey times. The Suez Canal had recently opened, new railways spanned the Indian subcontinent and a transcontinental railroad linking the east and west coasts of America was operational by 1869. Belt and Road 1.0, let’s call it.
Fogg was an ecotourist without realising it. Today it’s possible to fly around the world on scheduled flights in a carbon- squandering 53 hours, but civil wars, modern-day piracy and the demise of shipping as a form of transport make it impossible to faithfully follow Fogg’s low-emissions route – even for Greta Thunberg.
London to Suez
Fogg sets off on his adventure on Wednesday October 2, 1872, accompanied by his French manservant, Passepartout. There’s no time to pause in Paris, which disappoints the valet, who had hoped to visit the Père Lachaise Cemetery. At the Italian port of Brindisi, they board a steamer bound for Suez.
Today, Père Lachaise is the world’s most visited cemetery, receiving more than 3.5 million tourists a year, seeking out the graves of Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin and Jim Morrison, among others.
Suez to Bombay (now Mumbai)
Fogg offers a large reward to the chief engineer of the propeller-driven steamer Mongolia if he reaches Bombay ahead of schedule. During the voyage, our clock-watching globetrotter shows no interest in sightseeing. We learn little about the Red Sea region, although there is mention of Bab-el-Mandeb, the Gate of Tears.
It would be unwise to retrace this section of Fogg’s journey today. Somali pirates operate in the Gulf of Aden and the civil war in Yemen has led to missile attacks on oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb strait. If AK-47-toting bandits don’t get you, Iran-backed Houthi rebels probably will.
Bombay to Calcutta (now Kolkata)
This leg takes Fogg three days but only because he ends up riding an elephant after discovering the final 50 miles of railway line to Allahabad hasn’t been built. (Today, express trains cover the distance between Mumbai and Kolkata in about 27 hours.) Verne never visited India but his descriptions are vivid: jungles teem with tigers and Benares (now Varanasi) has a “desolate appearance, devoid of all local colour”.
Few places have as much local colour as Varanasi does now. The sacred city on the banks of the Ganges is an overwhelming collision of sights, sounds and smells. Bodies are burned in cremation ceremonies beside the holy river, the ashes scattered into the same polluted water pilgrims bathe and drink from.
Calcutta to Hong Kong
On this 13-day leg, which includes a refuelling stop in Singapore, we learn that the mountains of Malacca are home to the finest tigers in the world. Verne is less than complimentary about the Lion City, however: “Singapore is not particularly large or impressive,” he says, although he does concede that “there is a certain charm to its compactness”.
According to the WWF, there are between 250 and 340 tigers left in the wilds of Malaysia but there’s no evidence of any remaining in Malacca, except in the state zoo. The picturesque former Dutch colonial port is a popular destination with travellers who lap up the history, culture and bowls of devil’s curry, Malacca’s spicy signature dish.
Hong Kong to Shanghai
Fogg disembarks in a tear-gas-free Hong Kong and we’re treated to a brief description of the Gothic cathedral, Government House and Victoria Harbour, with its heaving mass of ships. On visiting a waterfront opium den, a shocked Passepartout assumes the role of social commentator. “What a terrible source of wealth, one derived from exploiting one of the most deadly of human vices!”
Fogg misses his steamship connection to Yokohama and settles for an overpriced schooner ride to Shanghai. He survives a typhoon off Formosa (Taiwan) packing winds “four times the speed of a locomotive going at full steam”.
Shanghai to Yokohama
Yokohama stands out as a rare port of call that isn’t a British possession, concession or former colony. Nevertheless, Passepartout stumbles upon a “truly European style city”. These days, Japan’s second-largest metropolis is overlooked by most visitors – rugby fans excepted. The 2019 World Cup final is scheduled to be played at the Yokohama International Stadium on November 2.
Yokohama to San Francisco
Emulating this 22-day leg is all but impossible nowadays due to the curtailment of passenger shipping. Arriving in America, Passepartout is surprised to discover San Francisco is no longer a gold rush town of bandits, arsonists and murderers. Instead he encounters a modern city with wide streets and neat rows of houses.
Today, those houses are among the most expensive in the world. Ironically, it was soaring San Fran rents that led to the founding of Airbnb, a handy lodging alternative to the city’s high-priced hotel rates.
San Francisco to New York
Fogg’s seven-day train ride across America features a fleeting stop in Salt Lake City and an attack by Sioux warriors. New York is mentioned in passing but the narrative centres on the race to reach London in time to win the wager.
Nowadays, there’s plenty to keep the visitor busy in and around the Mormon capital, including world-class ski resorts. December is a great time to see the Big Apple. Christmas decorations dazzle, festive flea markets draw gift hunters and, with its Manhattan skyline backdrop, there’s no better place to go ice skating than in Central Park.
New York to London
After missing the Royal Mail steamer to Liverpool, Fogg negotiates a passage with the captain of a private vessel, which takes him to Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland.
From there, an express train whisks him to Dublin, from where he catches a boat to Liverpool. Agonisingly, he arrives back in London five minutes late, but despondency turns to elation when Passepartout realises they gained a day after crossing the International Dateline.
Cobh, which was the Titanic’s last port of call on its 1912 voyage to New York, was named one of Europe’s 25 most beautiful small towns earlier this year.
