Terra Firma - Singapore

2 days cruising the Gulf of Thailand with little to see and not much to do other than eat and laze around ( no complaints there!) and we were ready for Singapore. We did take advantage of some lectures, watched a very funny cooking competition between chefs and cruise staff, and played some deck games including ping pong for the 1st time in years.

Everyone had told us that Singapore was a beautiful, clean and very green city and we were not disappointed.  After the chaotic traffic and appalling trash of Ho Ch Minh City and Bangkok, Singapore was an oasis of relative calm. It is also a very safe city where single women can walk around without problem day or night.

There are trees like these Rain Trees along most of the city streets and they provide welcome shade from the high heat and humidity. Singapore is only 85 miles north of the Equator so the temperatures vary little throughout the year.

Our 1st stop was at the magnificent Gardens by the Bay. The Gardens are a result of a master plan design competition which drew over 70 entries from 24 countries. The 11 member jury finally selected 2 firms from England (of course!)

Underlying the concept of the Gardens are the principles of environmental sustainability evident throughout but in spectacular fashion in the Supertrees some of which have embedded photovoltaic cells in their canopies to harvest solar energy while others are integrated with the 2 conservatories and serve as air exhaust receptacles. 

Close by the Gardens is the huge Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, not necessarily where you'd want to stay but definitely worth a visit. We had dinner at C'est La Vie, an outdoor restaurant located on the 57th floor at the pointed left end of the hotel below. 

View from the restaurant showing some of the Supertrees.

The 2nd day we were dropped off at the Raffles Hotel and walked what seemed like miles. 

The city is an amazing mix of old, colonial style buildings and huge new skyscrapers but somehow it doesn't seem to grate on the senses. 

The immaculate city fire house

We got our dose of culture at the wonderfully cool Asia Civilization Museum at Raffles Square.

Early 4 a.m start this morning. I'm writing this as we wait for our connecting flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles. It's been an amazing couple of weeks but we'll both be happy to be home.

Bangkok, Thailand

We took a 2 hour drive into Bangkok, a bustling city of over 8 million whose major industry is auto manufacturing, although ironically they impose a 200% sales tax on Thais purchasing vehicles.

Our 1st stop was at The Grand Palace. We had been warned in advance about the chaotic traffic and likely crowds. The good news was the congestion wasn't too bad as many businesses for closed for 2 weeks for the Chinese New Year. The bad news was all those on vacation seemed to be at the Grand Palace. Getting though the narrow entrance was not for the faint hearted and Brett experienced an east vs. west encounter with an elderly, 4' tall Chinese lady, who barged her way thru the queue. When she reached Brett, who had nowhere to go, she shouldered him aggressively although he couldn't move. After shouldering him aggressively a 2nd time Brett looked down to try explain the situation whereupon she stabbed him with her elbow at which pint Brett hip-checked her into the wall. She left him alone after that.

Once inside the grounds it opened up and although it was still busy the crowds were less of a factor.

The Grand Palace was founded in 1782 and numerous buildings have been added over the years, with the final royal residence built in 1903. 

Monuments, spires, pinnacles, all compete for space and all feature incredibly intricate work and detail, much of it in gold and all very ornate.

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is one of the most venerable sites in Thailand. The Buddha was rediscovered in 1434 covered in plaster and is in fact made of jade. It is considered so sacred that the king himself brings  ritual offerings and changes his seasonal dress 3 times a year: gold and sapphire in the rainy season, a diamond robe in summer and a woven saffron robe in winter .

There was so much to see and my photographs cannot possibly do justice to what we experienced.

The Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall, built, and still used, for the lying -in-state of members of the royal family.

After a delicious Thai buffet at the Mandarin Oriental we boarded a boat from their pier and cruised north up the Chao Phraya River which was a refreshing way to see many more temples and sights. Did I mention it was hot? Branching off the river are various khlongs, man-made canals where many people still live in stilted shacks.

On the way back down River we stopped at the beautiful Wat  Arun Temple (Temple of Dawn) which is currently undergoing renovation. It was built in the early 1800s and has a 225' central spire surrounded by 4 smaller identical spires.  Every square inch is covered is inlaid with Chinese porcelain. 

Our boat finally dropped us off at a nearby pier where we once again boarded the bus back to ship, just 10 minutes before it was due to depart.

Ko Kood, Thailand

Yesterday was all about the beach. We anchored off a private island called Ko Kood, which bore a distinct resemblance to many of the tropical islands featured in the reality TV show "Survivor".

We were treated to an exceptional beach BBQ, supposedly featuring "Caviar in the Surf", but by the time we got there there was no caviar in evidence but plenty else to satisfy. The crew had also set up an area for water sports and at the last minute I signed up for a banana boat ride. A banana boat for the uninitiated is a long and narrow inflatable boat where six of you sit straddled holding onto handles. A motor boat then tows you out and the trick is not to fall off when it turns. We did really well for a while but as the motor boat gathered speed it turned and we were flung into the ocean. Once someone goes you all go. Trying to remount the thing is near impossible and certainly not done with any grace or dignity. We finally managed it only to be unceremoniously dumped again. But it was fun tho think I'm checking it off my bucket list.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

I confess to knowing very little about Cambodia but in a few short hours I learned a lot. The country is officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia and it is a constitutional monarchy. Phnom Pnen is both the capital and the industrial and cultural center but as it was a 4 1/12 hour drive from where we docked we opted for a local tour in the Ream National Park which included a cruise on the Prek Tuk Sap River and a hike through fields and local farms ending up on a beautiful white sandy beach.

Cambodia has a very different mentality and work ethic than its neighbor Vietnam. Here there is a sit back and wait to let others take care of things. While jobs are very hard to come by the people are largely interested in just earning enough to buy food and beer and not interested in getting ahead. It is a largely agricultural country with rice as the main crop. You often see wooden poles with white plastic bags in the rice paddies which are there to attract grasshoppers which fly onto the sticks and then fall into the bags where the villagers collect them and eat them for breakfast. Yum!

There is a large Chinese and Russian presence and they have bought up most of the property making it both difficult and expensive for Cambodians to buy housing. It is a very dirty country with trash everywhere. Apparently there has been a concerted effort to try and get people to dispose of their trash responsibly and bins have been provided but the people use them to store water or other purposes. It is particularly a problem with older people who have never been taught to use containers to dispose of trash.

We docked early in Sihanoukville and boarded a bus for a short ride to Ream National Park where we boarded boats and sailed up the wide Prek Tuk Sap River, bordered on both sides by thick mangrove forests. We passed many fisherman along the way to our destination a few miles down River.

 At the dock we saw shrimp laid out in the sun in a 2 week process of drying them out. The resulting dried shrimp are sold for $10 per pound at local markets - a very expensive luxury.

From here we hiked into farm country, stopping at a local farm village where we were treated to local fruits and waffle like goodies. The houses were incredibly primitive but the people welcoming and friendly.

School children, almost all girls, came out to see us as their teacher, who mixes teaching and fishing and was apparently fishing today, were engrossed with a cell phone.

Leaving the village we hiked up over a hill to a local beach for a seafood BBQ and dip in the ocean

Our final stop for the day was a visit to Meditation Mountain considered a holy place for many locals.

Many young boys choose to study Buddhism as a way to get an education. Few remain monks but it is a way for them to escape poverty and gain a quality education otherwise not available to them.

Back at the ship we were treated to a performance of Cambodian folk dances by the Phnom Penh Fine Arts dancers in spectacular costumes.

Ho Chi Minh/Saigon Day 2

Brett and I went our separate ways today with me heading off on a short tour of an artists' village where we learned about the process of lacquer painting and then wandered among the scenic village on the banks of the Saigon river.

On the way back we passed several very strange looking houses which we learned had been recently built by wealthy citizens. Since taxes are paid by the frontage of the house they are all very narrow but several stories high and protected by high walls. Not very inviting.

Brett meanwhile walked down to Cholon (Chinatown) to visit some of the Chinese temples. The chaos of the evening before was replicated in Cholon and he said it was even difficult to walk because of the sheer numbers of pedestrians and scooters. It wasn't clear where they were headed.

I headed back into The center of Saigon and saw the beautiful Notre Dame and tour a brief tour of Reunification Hall, which served as the presidential palace until 1975 when the capital was relocated to Hanoi. It was much quieter today as most of the residents were headed out of town to spend New Year's with their families.

Notre Dame

Reunification Hall.

Now it's another day of sailing the South China Sea on the way to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. 

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh

After cruising the South China Sea for a day under continuing grey skies but increasingly warmer temperatures, we turned inland and sailed up the Saigon river for close to 50 miles before arriving at Ho Chi Minh City, or as the locals still prefer to call it, Saigon.

We sailed through miles of mangrove swamps and I was amazed that the river was deep enough for our ship. The mangrove swamps slowly gave way to a typical industrial landscaper as we approached the city of over 7 million.

We docked within walking distance of the city and eagerly set out to explore, only to find we'd forgotten our map and as soon as we stopped were approached by numerous scooter riders hoping to persuade to ride with the. Vietnam has over 40 million scooters and I swear they're all in Saigon. We finally made our way over a footbridge and our next challenge was to cross the street with no clearly defined crossings and scooters approaching every which way. We had been warned about this and advised to just step into the street and walk decisively across the road, which actually seemed to work with no violent squealing of brakes or shouting. This is just the way they do things here. 

We found ourselves on a wide pedestrian only avenue literally covered in floral displays, mostly featuring monkeys of some kind, in celebration of the upcoming New Year (Tet in Vietnamese) on February 8th. 

Everyone was out taking photographs and generally in a very festive mood and it was contagious. We meandered all over before heading to Ben Thanh Market which is a huge indoor market with literally thousands of stalls selling everything from souvenirs, cheap designer knock-offs, fresh meats and products, most of which were I recognizable. We weren't there to shop but we inevitably ended up with a few things in spite of ourselves - they expect you to bargain and we did and ended up paying ridiculously low prices for some quite reasonable items.

She's eating her lunch while on her cell phone sitting in front of quite disgusting looking pig parts!

That evening we went back into town for a great Vietnamese dinner. Not everything we ate was identifiable but it was all good. The crowds were crazy with most of the population out and about with their families on their scooters. It was total mayhem but really fun!

Hoi An by Bike

Yesterday was spent cruising the Gulf of Tonkin enroute to Da Nang. It was another grey day but gave us a chance to meet some interesting fellow passengers, eat more than we should, and finally enjoy an amazing classical concert performed by award winning pianist Tomono Kawamura. A child prodigy from Japan, at the age of 12 she performed for Itzac Rabin on the day before he was assassinated. Seated in front of us, an elderly couple seemed to have choreographed the performance perfectly.  A few bars into each piece they would start to nod off in time to the music until they were clearly asleep. They always awoke in time to join the applause.

There was no improvement in the weather this morning although in cruising south it was significantly warmer. I had opted for a bike ride to Hoi An. It was a short bus ride to pick up the bikes where about 30 of us were fitted with bikes of questionable vintage. Safety is clearly not a priority as we weren't issued helmets (won't happen again Mum!) and shared the road with thousands of scooters, cars, trucks etc , everyone cutting inside of everyone else. But we all survived.

We started biking along Marble Miuntain Beach (formerly known as China Beach during the Vietnam war) on one side and a lot of new construction on the other. It shortly became more rural and we biked through rice paddies before arriving in the charming town of Hoi An.

Hoi An is a charming and exceptionally well-preserved Asian trading port. Old town Hoi An has remained virtually unchanged for centuries and boasts several temples and community houses. As the Chinese New Year is on February 7th there are flowers and colorful decorations everywhere.

There is a beautiful old bridge called the Japanese Bridge

And also a vibrant market which features all kinds of mysterious fruits, vegetables, noodles, and other I recognizable 

After wandering around the charming streets we all met up for a bus ride back to the ship. Enroute we learned interestin facts about Vietnam. The country has grown from 44 million to 92 million since the 70's. There is still no love lost between the north and south with the northerners strongly identifying with the Chinese and Russians, while the southerners identify with the US and Europeans. Corruption is rampant and the government employs 4.7 million almost all from the north. Only Government employees enjoy benefits and pensions. The average annual income in Vietnam is around $2,500. 

I also learned that I was born in the year of the Cat and Brettt was born in the year of the rooster. Next year is the year of the monkey so monkeys feature prominently in decorations.

Been a good day and it's not over yet!

Halong Bay, Vietnam

After a restful day at sea when it was grey, cool and dreary, with disappointingly nothing to see, we docked this morning in Halong Bay in northern Vietnam. Halong Bay has been named on the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and comprises 3,000 limestone islets jutting out of the sea. Whole communities of families live there, mostly on sampans. 

We opted for a kayak excursion amongst the islands. We took a junk that took us deep into the bay where we boarded 2 man kayaks and then paddled even deeper into the bay passing through natural arches taking us into deep lagoons.

I had checked the weather before leaving and the forecast called for cool,showery weather in the north

With temperatures warming up considerably as we headed south. Unfortunately my brain focused on the southern part while packing and my wardrobe was sadly lacking in warmer, weatherproof clothes. But thankfully it remained dry and kayaking certainly warmed us up.  We returned to the junk for a typical Vietnamese meal of locally caught fish and fresh vegetables which they cooked right there.

After lunch we sailed another 20 minutes to a huge cavern, well hidden from the outside. It was accessed by climbing 200 winding steps up one of these islets. Inside there were 3 huge, spectacular chambers featuring huge stalagmites and stalactites.

Then it was back to the ship and a hot shower. 

We Made It

Here we are in Hong Kong safely ensconced in our beautiful cabin. Our body clocks are completely turned around. It seems ages since we left the US and we did, effectively, lose a day somewhere in crossing the International Date Line. We left Tucson on 29th and arrived here at 2pm on the 31st. The flights were fine although I confess to not being a fan of Japanese food, even tho it looks beautiful.

The menu included Japanese Pond Smelt rolled with Kombu Kelp, stir fried pickled Takana Greens , spicy Cod Roe with Boiled Baby Sardines, and malt pickled Yellowtail and turnip sushi, and Soft Rice Cake with Sweetfish-shaped Castella. Can you identify which is which above because we couldn't.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see much as we landed in Tokyo at 5am and then the visibility on arrival into Hong Kong was very poor.

We've unpacked, attended the mandatory emergency drill, showered and are now off to dinner, hoping for a better menu than the one above!

Starting Out

Well, we're finally on our way. After walking the dogs 1st thing, and last minute packing, watched by one very disconsolate dog (Murphy) and one totally oblivious one (Jumbo) who was more interested in unpacking my suitcase and I matching pairs of socks, we made it out the door trying to ignore the accusing look on Murphys face.

We made it 3 miles down the road when I took inventory and realized I'd left my wallet behind! Promising start, but at least I discovered it before getting all the way to the airport.

Easy drive and flight but no bags appeared in LOs Angeles. Thankfully it was because they had posted the wrong carousel and the bags were sent to another carousel and then off-loaded and put in storage. All this brought back memories of a bag that went astray for 4 days in Italy before finally catching up with us the day we left. But with bags in tow we now had 11 hours to kill until our flight to Hong Kong.

We did have plans to have dinner with Brett's former racing manager and good friend, rod Campbell and his wife, Sandra, so we spent a happy few hours catching up with them over a good dinner at The Charthouse in Marina Del Rey.

Then it was back to the airport to check in and stand in the very long line at Security. I'd never realized how many flights left late at night for parts west - China, Australia, Fiji, Japan, etc. but we made it through and now await our flight scheduled to leave in just over an hour. Then it's 20 hours of flying to Hong Kong, including a 3 hour layover in Tokyo. Sounds like fun!

Getting Ready

Getting ready for this trip started well over a year ago when I ran the idea of a cruise in Asia by Brett and he, surprisingly, agreed to it. Having traveled on the Seabourn cruise line twice previously and loving it, I started by looking at their choices and quickly narrowed it down to a couple which I ran by Brett. We settled on a 2 week cruise departing out of Hong Kong sailing south to Singapore by way of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, leaving on January 31st. I contacted Seabourn in October of 2014 and booked a cabin, making sure to be on the starboard so that we would be in sight of land all the way. After paying a small deposit we had nothing to do but wait - for over a year!

Since we were going to be leaving from Tucson I spent several hours researching flights and trying to decide whether to fly westward or eastward. I had hoped to fly east and combine a visit to England to visit my family, and perhaps a layover in Dubai, where I (tho not Brett) had always had a hankering to visit. However, the flight logistics, not to mention the prohibitive cost, put an end to that idea.
I threw in the towel and contacted the cruise line who immediately booked us flights out of Los Angeles on All Nippon Airlines (I never even knew they existed). The cost to fly business class was even fairly reasonable, especially compared to the prices I had been looking at.
Suddenly what has seemed like a trip in the far future is now imminent and last minute panics are starting to set in. Passports in order? Check. Visas needed? Yes, but can be issued onboard tho need extra photos.Trip insurance? Yes. Shore excursions booked? Yes, but not soon enough to get the one we really wanted, which is a side trip to Angkor Wat, but was able to make some other interesting reservations, including a kayak adventure in Halong Bay on our first day. And, most important of all, arrangements for Mumbo care!

Luckily with Seabourn making the flight reservations for us out of Los Angeles, the only leg we need to concern ourselves with is getting to and from LA. Given the unreliability of airlines, I hope I have given us plenty of leeway by booking a flight out of Tucson arriving in LA at noon. Our flight from LA doesn't leave until midnight so with any luck we'll be bored in LA during our layover instead of frantic that we might miss our flight to Hong Kong.
Now its on to packing!