Saigon March 30th

Our day in Saigon began with a long two hour bus ride from the port of Phu My, a massive new industrial port located south of Saigon. Previously, ships similar in size to the Ocean Princess were allowed to sail up river and dock very close to downtown Saigon, however for some unexplained reason, we docked in Phu My. The bus ride into town was a tour in itself, with thousands upon thousands of motor bikes carrying everything from mom and pop and two to three kids, to construction materials piled high behind the driver, to flowers, cases of beer, you name it; everything travels by motor bike.

Once in Saigon, we set our on our mission to stimulate the Viet Nam economy by spending as much money as possible in the three plus hours we had before catching the bus back to Phu My. The shopping in Saigon is amazing. With the Vietnamese Dong trading at 19,000 to the US Dollar (up from 16,000 on our last visit), the dollar was accepted everywhere. The selection of silks, knock-off products and other Asian items was astounding.

Once done at the market, we toted all of our new purchases a few blocks to the Rex Hotel, where we had lunch on the roof top terrace. From the terrace it was amazing to see how much the skyline had changed in the three years since we were last there. New high rise buildings are going up everywhere. During the Viet Nam war, military leaders would have a commanding view of the city from the top of the Rex. No more. Across the street from the Rex, we stopped to snap a photo of the Ho Chi Minh statue with the City Hall in the background.

Our day ended as it started, with the two hour bus ride back to Phu My, however the ride back seemed much longer. It was great to visit Saigon again, making me more determined to come back here some day to spend some time and see much more of this beautiful country.

DaNang March 28th

The rain continues to follow us as we sail into Southeast Asia. Although we had a clear day in Hong Kong, the next day at sea was windy and rainy, as was our arrival in Chan May the port for Hue and DaNang Viet Nam. Because the port is fairly remote from either Hue or DaNang, we opted for a ship’s tour that would take us to DaNang and the historic village of Hoi An, once an important port area during the Japanese and Chinese occupation of present day Viet Nam.

On the way to Hoi An, we stopped in DaNang to visit the Cham museum. The Cham people, influenced by India and Bhuddism, occupied the Viet Nam peninsula for more than one thousand years, building large Bhuddist Temples from local sandstone. Many of the relics from the temples were on display at the museum. From DaNang, we continued south to Hoi An.
Hoi An is a picturesque town which continues in the old ways as evidenced by local fishermen in their small boats casting nets then beating the water with long poles to scare the fish toward their nets. The centerpiece of the downtown area is a large covered Japanese Bridge that was built some 300 years ago during a Japanese occupation of the area. The streets are narrow with two story buildings on either side, now occupied by restaurants, tailor shops and other businesses. We had a typical Vietnamese lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the river, then headed back to the ship, stopping at China Beach for a few minutes for pictures, and to view the many new resort facilities being constructed at the former military R&R facility. We had rain on and off during the day, but all in all, it was a very interesting and educational day for us. Now we’re looking forward to a day of combat shopping in Saigon.

Hong Kong March 26th

Sailing into Hong Kong harbor is an amazing sight. The beautiful skyline completely surrounds you, with Kowloon on one side and Hong Kong Island on the other. The balconies of the ship were lined with people as we docked at the new ocean terminal on the Kowloon side of the harbor, just yards away from the famed Star Ferry terminal. Once we were cleared to leave the ship, we walked to the Star Ferry, and rode over to the Hong Kong side, where we boarded a double decker city bus and headed for Stanley, a small community near Repulse Bay across the island from the main down town area. We sat on the top deck of the bus, directly up front, for which turned out to be a definite E Ticket ride. The road to Stanley was steep, narrow, and very curvy, sometimes with drop offs directly to the sea below. Branches of large trees overhung the roadway, and we found ourselves ducking several times. Occasionally, the bus would just brush against a limb as it passed by. The view from the mountain side of Repulse Bay was truly stunning, with small islands surrounded by the aqua waters, beautiful sand beaches. We spent about two hours in Stanley, walking through the streets, visiting the market place, and the nearby beach. We then boarded another bus for a ride to Aberdeen.

Aberdeen is the home of the famous Hong Kong floating restaurants, which the last time I was here were surrounded by fishing junks, old houseboats and sampans. When we got off the bus in Aberdeen, the floating restaurants were nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, a Chinese gentleman who was on the bus with us, came to our rescue, and gave us directions to the pier from which we would be shuttled to the restaurant. Unbelievably, the same restaurant that I had visited in 1969 was still there, although now it is surrounded by expensive sailboats, speed boats and yachts, with an occasional sampan thrown in. Lunch was dim sum, and very good.

Next, we boarded another city bus for what we thought would be a short ride back into Hong Kong Central. However it turned out to be a bus which would take us completely around the back side of the island. This actually turned out to be a pure stroke of luck, since the ride was very interesting with some fantastic views of the harbor from the side of the mountain. By the time we reached Central, we decided that the cable car to the top of Victoria Peak would have to wait until our next visit. We had a great day in Hong Kong, riding an extremely efficient public transit system, all for the sum of less than $6USD total for the two of us.

Back at the ship, we watched the famous Hong Kong nightly laser light show from our balcony before dinner. A great day in Hong Kong.

Taiwan March 24

OK, I guess we’re just total adrenaline junkies. Just two days after riding the fastest train in the world in Shanghai, we tackled the fastest elevator in the world, climbing some 400 meters in less than 37 seconds at the Taipei 101 building in Taipei. Now we’re looking for the world’s fastest escalator.

When we arrived in Keelung, the port city for Taipei, it was completely overcast, with a forecast for rain the entire day. Since we had already stowed all of our cold weather and rain gear, we dug out our umbrellas and jackets, and headed off for Taipei, some 25Km to the South. Amazingly, when we arrived in Taipei, after about a one hour bus ride, the sky was clear, and the temperature was in the 70s. We were dropped off by the bus in front of the Taipei 101 tower, which until the recent opening of the new building in Dubai, was the tallest building in the world. It’s a beautiful structure, designed to give the appearance of a stalk of bamboo. Luckily, we stumbled upon a bank of lockers on the main floor, and were able to store our foul weather gear until we headed back to the ship.

We took the elevator to the 89th floor, which is the floor on which the observation deck is located. The view from the top was spectacular, even though there was a lot of dust particles in the air, from the large dust storm that hit Beijing last week. Most of the major landmarks in the city were visible from the observation deck.

The first five floors of the 101 Tower are build around an atrium, and contain numerous designer shops and upscale restaurants. The basement floor is the location of a food court, totally unlike any food court we might see in the US, with restaurants ranging from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and even the obligatory McDonalds. With the help of our guide, we were able to order a bowl of the Taiwan beef noodle soup, which was outstanding.

During the day we learned that Taiwan is about the size of Switzerland, with about ten times the population, and, surprisingly, is more mountainous that Switzerland.

Arriving back at the ship at about 4:30, we discovered that the weather in Keelung had not changed during the day. It was still raining. A good day in Taipei.

This morning, we were invited by the Captain to visit the navigational bridge, where the Senior Watch Officer gave us a tour and explained all the instruments and controls. Very interesting, and what a great view! Meeting some friends for cocktails tonight before dinner. Hong Kong tomorrow.

Our final stop in Japan before heading toward Southeast Asia, was Okinawa, the southern most island of Japan. We arrived early in the morning, and quickly cleared immigration and were off the ship by 9 am. The pier is only a short one mile walk to the center of the city, so we opted to see the city on our own. Kokusai Street, the main commercial street in the city is lined with store after store selling souvenirs and the powerful rice brandy, made in Okinawa. The specialty is one particular brandy in which an entire native Okinawa poisonous snake is bottled.

We ducked into an alley off of Kokusai Street, which appeared to be an extension of the same type of stores on the street, but which quickly turned into the local market place, including a large fresh seafood market, a vegetable and produce area, and the local fresh meat market. This market continued in a maze of alleyways, winding around for block after block. For a while, we thought we were lost, until we ended up back on Kokusai Street. The seafood market was amazing, with large abalone, lobsters, conch, and a zillion varieties of fresh fish.

We stopped for a great Japanese lunch, then headed back to the ship for an early departure to Taiwan. Finally, the weather is warming, so when we returned to the ship, we pulled out all of our winter clothes from the closet, stuffed them into suitcases under the bed, and got out all of our summer clothes. Today was our first day sitting out by the pool, and the warm sun felt great. I’m sure by the time we reach Thailand, we’ll be wishing for cooler weather, but today was perfect. More from Taiwan.

Shanghai March 20th

Shanghai. Wow! Absolutely amazing. The skyline is beautiful, and growing by the day. 21+ million people, and it’s not even the largest city in China. Amazing! So many things to do and see, and so little time. We were off the boat by 9:00, and walked from the new cruise terminal to the main downtown pedestrian mall on Nanjing Street. It was about a two mile walk from the ship, but lots to see along the way. We had a beautiful view of the Shanghai skyline from the bridge crossing the river into the harbor. Once on Nanjing street, we found the subway station, which we intended to take to the station where we could transfer to the Mag Lev train which runs between downtown Shanghai and the Pudong Airport, about 40 miles away. We found that navigating the Shanghai subway system was much easier than we’d expected. There are numerous ticket kiosks, with touch pad screens, which can be interchanged between Chinese and English. Very user friendly. Our fare for the 10 minute ride from Nanjing to the Mag Lev station was the equivilent of about $1.20 for the two of us.

The Mag Lev was amazing. This is the fastest train in the world, and makes the 40 mile trek from Shanghai to the airport in just about 7 minutes, reaching a top speed of 431Kph, or about 265Mph. Well worth the $10/person fare for a round trip.

We returned to the Nanjing station, strolled to People’s square, and generally took in the busy Saturday atmosphere in the pedestrian mall. Along the way we stopped at a shopping mall, about 8 stories, with hundreds of mom & pop shops selling everything from “genuine” Rolex watches to electronics, silk clothing, leather goods, etc. You name it, and it was for sale in this building. Merlena bought a beautiful silk jacket which she plans to wear for tonight’s formal night.

We definitely wish we’d had more time to explore Shanghai, but I guess we’ll just have to come back. At sea today, heading for Okinawa, then to Taiwan, then to Hong Kong.

March 19th bound for Shanghai

Today was our last day at sea before arriving in Shanghai, where most of the current passengers will debark. This morning we watched the port lecture on Shanghai, and are really looking forward to spending the day ashore. This afternoon we were given our new cruise cards for the rest of the cruise, along with information as to when we can debark in the morning. Also, big news; we won the final black out Bingo game; $1,000. Very cool!! Tonight we’ll say goodbye to our table mates, whom we have enjoyed for the last 14 days. We hope to stay in touch with them.

We want you all to know that we really enjoy reading your comments on our blog, and hope that you are enjoying our posts. I think Bill C. has found a new app for his iPhone so that anything he writes is automatically translated into the language of whatever country we happen to be in at the time. Now I’ll have to find one that translates it back!

Cyn, Wes is correct about the statue in front of Merlena being that of a Korean Warrior Pig. The 12 statues in the circle are of the 12 Asian signs of the Zodiac. Merlena was born in the year of the Pig. Mine was the year of the Horse.

Bill & Shirl. We love our aft cabin, although we really haven’t had much of an opportunity to enjoy the balcony yet. The view from the fantail is very good. Also, we can turn the TV on, and see the forward view, so we can see what’s ahead. We’re also liking the small ship, especially after we got used to the fact that there’s just not as much closet space or storage as on the big ships. The staff has been outstanding, and I think we’ve had the best food of any cruise we’ve been on to date.

Please keep your comments coming!

Dalian March 18th

Once again we were struck by the enormity and hi-tech atmosphere of a Chinese city. Dalian is known to Chinese and other Asians as a summer resort city with beautiful beaches and plentiful seafood. For us the beaches were not an attraction, since the afternoon temperature never rose above 37 degrees, but it was a beautiful clear day for us to explore Dalian. The architecture of the city is very varied due to Dalain’s history, once controlled by Russia, then by Japan until finally being returned to China after WWII. Many of the old buildings retain Russian and even European characteristics, while the newer buildings are typical of the new Chinese high rise building boom, very modern glass and steel structures. The city’s population exceeds 9 million.

We explored Dalian on our own. A shuttle bus took us from the port, which is very near the downtown area, to the “Friendship Center”, which is a 8 story shopping mall with all the best western designer brands, at very high prices. From there, we took a Taxi to Dalian’s Olympic Square. In the area we noticed, at the entry to the Olympic Square underground, the door to a Wal Mart. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to see a Wal Mart in China, just to see if everything was made in the US. It was a very interesting experience; very busy, noisy, and totally unlike any Wal Mart in the US. We returned to the ship about 3:30, for sail away at 6:00. Now we have one more day at sea before arriving in Shanghai, where most of the current passengers will be debarking, and an entirely new group will be coming aboard.

The Great Wall March 17th

Wednesday morning we arrived at the port of Xingang, which is the main port city for Beijing. The port is enormous and very busy, with loading docks and cranes for as far as you can see. Chinese immigration and customs took much longer than any of us expected, so we were about one hour late debarking for our scheduled tour to the Great Wall. Fortunately, it seems the rain has left us, and the weather was clear, but still fairly cold.

Once off the ship at about 9:30, we boarded our bus for the 2.5 hour drive to the Great Wall, which lies about 215KM to the North of Xingang. We would not see anything of Beijing, since it lies to the East of Xingang. Even though we were aware that China was in the midst of a building boom, we were totally unprepared for what we saw on our drive. New high rises are going up everywhere. In Xingang, they are building a totally new city skyline near the port, complete with high rise office buildings, commercial, and huge apartment complexes, as well as a waterway and park area. Construction cranes are everywhere.

The auto traffic is unbelievable. Lanes mean nothing. It’s a total free for all, with cars and trucks squeezing three lanes into two, and four into three. Absolutely the most fearless and aggressive drivers we’ve ever seen, including Viet Nam.

We did arrive safely at the Great Wall, and the site is truely worth the long and sometimes heart stopping drive. From our vantage point we were only able to view an extremely small portion of the 3,000KM structure, but it is an amazing sight to see. Fortunately for us the weather was beautiful, making the experience all the more breathtaking. We climbed the steep stairs and ramps along the wall for about three sections, continuing to rise up the mountain side. By the time we reached the third level, we were wishing we were twenty years younger, and had more time to explore even further. Definitely a site to put on your “bucket list”. Now it’s on to Dalian.

Incheon/Seoul March 15th

Sailing into Incheon harbor is very interesting. We approached the harbor at about 6:00am, sailing under a beautiful suspension bridge. Once under the bridge, we entered a lock which separates the open sea from Incheon harbor. The sea level is about two feet lower than that of the harbor. Once inside the lock, the gate behind us closed, then water was pumped into the lock, before the front gate opened. Very similar to transiting the Panama Canal, but on a much smaller scale, and a lot less rise in water level. It was raining quite hard in Incheon, but as we had scheduled a full day tour of Seoul, we boarded our bus for the hour ride into the main downtown area of Seoul.

Seoul is a huge modern city of about 10-11 million people. Our first stop was at the old King’s Palace near the North Mountain in the City. When we arrived, the rain was still coming down, so it was a pretty soggy tour of the Palace grounds, which included the King’s house, the Queen’s house and the King’s mother’s house, and surrounding gardens. After viewing the outside sights, we spent some time at the Korean Folkloric Museum, located on the Palace grounds.

After the museum, we enjoyed a fantastic Korean BBQ lunch at a local Seoul restaurant, then spent some time at the Han Cultural Center and Park, where there are displays of a typical Korean village, circa 17th/18th century, then to the Southgate market place, where we were able to stroll through the many shops selling almost everything imaginable. By this time, the weather had cleared, and the mountains surrounding Seoul were clearly visible.

On the way back to Incheon, it was interesting to notice how small stores, selling related products, were grouped in a particular neighborhood. We noticed how one street, for several blocks, was primarily dedicated to home improvement/home construction type businesses, while on other streets we noticed stores dedicated to selling office furniture, sewing machines, appliances, etc.

As with all the citites we’ve visited so far, we left Seoul wishing we’d had much more time to explore the city and the sidestreets, however now it’s on to Beijing.

Vladivostok March 12

Today we visited Vladivostok Russia. We arrived very early in the morning, navigating through the ice clogged harbor to our pier directly across from the city railway station, which is the Eastern terminus of the Trans Siberian Railway. The walk from the pier to the main downtown area takes us only about 10 minutes over the railroad tracks and up one snow and ice covered street. There were numerous souvenier stalls set up near the pier selling most of the usual Russian type items like the stacking dolls, fur military hats, etc. I told Merlena I was going to buy one of the fur hats, and a bottle of good Russian vodka and spend the rest of the day on our balcony like a good Russian soldier on the Siberian front, but decided to wait until our return from town.

Vladivostok is actually more interesting than I’d expected. The City was an important Soviet naval port for many years, and only opened to foreigners in 1992. There are still a number of Russian naval vessels in the harbor, and the port area houses an old WWII Russian Sub, which serves as a Submarine museum. We toured the Submarine museum, and found it interesting to crawl through the hatches to the various ship compartments. The tight quarters made me glad I served on a carrier, rather than a sub.

Early in the afternoon, it begin to snow, so we made our way back to the ship, stopping to take photos of one of the Russian Orthodox onion dome churches, the statue of Lenin, which we were suprised to see still on exhibit, and the Monument to the Fighters for Soviet Power in the East. I did get my fur hat, and my bottle of Russian vodka, so now’s the time to sit on the balcony and enjoy.

At Sea March 11th, bound for Vladivostok

For the past two days we've experienced very rough seas, unseasonably cold weather and a lot of snow and rain. Today, as we head for Vladivostok, the seas have calmed a little, and the sky is clear and blue. The Captain advises that we should not expect the same for tomorrow when we arrive in Vladivostok. The weather prediction is for snow/sleet, with a high of 8 Celsius. We're enjoying our day at sea. We and our table mates were the winners at the morning trivia contest, so we're going back this afternoon to defend our championship. A few days ago, we discovered that another couple who we know from Chico, is on board, so we had lunch with them today. We are enjoying reading all your comments, and hope you're enjoying following along with us. More soon. DK

Hakata/Fukuoka March 10

The snow from Hiroshima followed us to our port call in Hakata. By this time, the winds had increased to over 60 knots, delaying our arrival in Hakata by about two hours. Most of the day in port, we experienced heavy winds and blowing snow. In 1281, Kublai Khan in an effort to conquer Japan, launched an attack on Hakata. While crossing the Sea of Japan, his ships were met by a strong storm, which sunk many ships and forced him to retreat. This was known by the Japanese as the Kamikaze (the divine wind). We felt a little of the divine wind today as we approached and departed from Hakata.

Hiroshima March 9th

Apparently the color of the Osaka ferris wheel has no influence on the weather in Hiroshima. As we entered Hiroshima Bay, we started to notice snow flakes coming down on to our balcony. By the time we docked, we were in the midst of a full fledged snow storm, mixed with rain and a very cold wind. We had not scheduled an organized tour, so we set off on our own to visit the Atomic Dome and the Peace Museum and Park. We shared a taxi into town with two of our dinner table mates, and arrived at the Peace Museum at about 10am.

We're so glad that we had the opportunity to visit the museum and the surrounding park. It truly is a powerful and somber exhibit. The museum does an excellent job of providing a balanced prospective as to the reasons that Hiroshima was identified as a target, and of the destruction and devastation caused by the bomb, both by the bomb blast itself, and the long lasting after effects. After visiting the museum, we walked through the Peace Park adjacent to the museum, where the A-Dome and several memorials are located. The Childrens' Memorial, pictured above is especially powerful.

Osaka/Kyoto March 8th

Hi everyone. We've just emerged from the internet black hole, so we'll try to catch you up on the last few days. Our first stop after leaving Tokyo was Osaka. We had scheduled an all day tour to Kyoto, so our views of Osaka were limited to those from the tour bus leaving and returning to town. Osaka is a very large modern city with two separate down town areas. Typically Japanese, there were some very interesting and tall office buildings with lots of neon lights. There's also a very large ferris wheel, which is lit at night. The color of lighting gives a forecast for the predicted weather for the next day. Green means a nice day is predicted.

After a 90 minute drive from Osaka to Kyoto, we visited three beautiful Shinto Shrines and Bhudist Temples, and were treated to a fantastic Japanese lunch at a local Kyoto restaurant. We returned to Osaka about 6:30pm, and set sail for Hiroshima.

Tokyo March 6th

Our plan for this morning was to walk to the Tokyo tower, which we could see from our hotel room. Once we looked outside, it was obvious that this would not be a good day to see anything from the tower. The clouds were very low, and it was raining. Once the rain let up a little, we walked through the Ginza area and had coffee and a roll at a traditional Japanese coffee house called Starbucks. We were thinking that this would be something that might catch on in the US. The rest of the morning we spent stocking up on necessary supplies for our stateroom (booze), then got a taxi to take us to the ship. The last words from the bellman as he loaded our suitcases into the cab was "you have many luggage!"

Once on board, we quickly realized that we did, in fact, have "many luggage". We were not prepared for the fact that there was much less closet space and other storage than we'd come to expect on the bigger ships. We managed to get most everything put away, but decided not to unpack some of our summer clothing which we won't be needing for two or three weeks. We set sail at 10pm, bound for Osaka. We've been informed that today will be the last day we will have internet service for the next three days due to Japanese Maritime law which does not allow the ship to provide internet service while in port. So, this will be my last post for a few days. Tomorrow we'll be in Osaka, where we're taking a tour to Kyoto.

Nikko

Although the weather forecast was for an 80% chance of rain, Friday turned out to be a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. We had pre-scheduled an all day trip to Nikko, about a two and one half hour drive from Tokyo.

There area actually two very different and interesting areas in Nikko. The first, the Toshogu Shrine, located in the area called Outer Nikko, was constructed in the 17th century, and is considered the most opulent Shrine in Japan. Toshogu established a military stronghold in the 1600's that went on to rule Japan for almost 200 years. The area consists of several buildings composing the Shrine, and two separate Buddhist Temples. Very impressive.

Inner Nikko is located in the mountains, just above Outer Nikko. The drive to Inner Nikko is a steep climb on a very winding road, rising to an altitude of about 4,500 feet. Inner Nikko is a very quaint mountain resort town located on the largest natural lake in Japan. Native wild monkeys populate the area, and are often seen in town and at the nearby hotspring (which we did not visit). We did visit the lakeside and the nearby waterfall, and did see some monkeys along the way. All in all, we had a great day, arriving back in Tokyo about 7:30pm.

Tokyo

We had a great flight from SFO to Tokyo. Our flight path took us almost directly over Chico, north over Astoria Oregon, just west of Seattle and almost to Anchorage before heading southwest across the Aleutians and south toward Japan. Flying over the Bering Sea was beautiful. The sky was clear, and we had a fantastic view of the polar ice cap, which seemed to go on forever. We arrived in Tokyo about 4:45pm, cleared customs, and were on the bus into town by 5:45, arriving at our hotel about 7:30.

Tokyo is amazing! Extremely modern and hi-tech, and so efficient. We're staying in the Ginza district, which is the main business and financial district of the city. However just off the main streets, the side streets are where you'll find small family businesses and restaurants, catering to those who work in the area.

The weather was nice this morning, so we decided to walk to the Imperial Palace. The landscaped grounds are amazing and so well maintained. We saw workers high up in pine trees, trimming the branches to maintain the bonzai effect of the trees. We spent most of the morning on the Palace grounds, visiting the museum, and walking through the gardens.

After leaving the Palace grounds we had lunch at a very small restaurant on a narrow side street paralleling the elevated train line. Seating was very limited, and the height of the chairs reminded me of sitting in one of the kids' classroom desks on back-to-school night. The restaurant was packed with locals, there for a quick (and I mean quick) lunch, before returning to work. This was not a place where you were expected to linger over lunch, however we were not hurried, and the food was excellent. Definitely a good choice.

Tomorrow we're scheduled for an all day tour to Nikko. We leave the hotel at 8:30 in the morning, and aren't expected to be back before about 8:00 in the evening. Nikko was the home of the real life Shogun upon whom James Clavell's novel was based. We're looking forward to another great day. All for now. DK