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Bangkok, Thailand

Sunday, Nov. 22   We're off the ship!   We toured Bangkok, Thailand today.  It has a population of 10 million and lots of Buddhist temples, because 95% of the people are Buddhist.  We took a ride on a long boat on one of the more than 1,000 canals.  Their government is a democracy, but they also have a king and queen who have no power, but it sounds like they're very popular.  Decorations were everywhere to celebrate the upcoming 82nd birthday of the king.   Our absolute favorite place we visited today was the Royal Grand Palace.  It was gorgeous!  The outsides of the buildings were some of the most ornately decorated we've every seen.   We stayed overnight at a lovely hotel that overlooked the river.  We even got upgraded to a suite!  Too bad the shuttle left at 3:30 am for the airport.  We could have used some more sleep before our long trip back.  We're counting down the hours till we get home.  If there are no delays anywhere, it should be around 36 hours!

The Great Wall

We walked a portion of the Great Wall yesterday afternoon. It was too incredible for words! The snow and ice made it a bit challenging, but we absolutely loved it!!!

Great Wall, Beijing

We toured the Summer Palace this morning.and this afternoon walked a portion of the Great Wall. It was too incredible for words! The snow and ice made it a bit challenging, but we loved it!!!

The Great Wall

We climbed a portion of the wall this afternoon. It was too incredible for words! The snow and ice made it more challenging than it should have been. We saw a lot of people fall, but thank heavens it wasn't us!

Singapore

Friday, Nov. 20th   Singapore was absolutely beautiful!  It's made up of 64 islands that total 267 square miles.  The population is almost 5 million.  It sounds like a very safe place - no earthquakes or typhoons, and a very low crime rate.  It's extremely clean!   They claim it's the busiest port in the world, but then so did Shanghai!  75% of the world's oil rigs are manufactured here and due to it's central location, they also refine 50% of all oil produced.   Our tour took us to the top of Mount Faber, which had great views of the harbor, then Orchard Road which is their large upscale shopping area.  We then toured the National Orchid Garden, which has the world's largest display of orchids.  I was in heaven!  We then had some free time in Chinatown - by far the cleanest Chinatown we've ever seen.   It's been an incredible trip, but we are so very homesick.  We can't wait to see our family, Max, and our house again!

Vietnam

Tuesday, Nov. 17th and Wednesday, Nov. 18th   Vietnam is home to 90 million people and in square miles, a little larger than the size of New Mexico.  It's quite mountainous, but also has beautiful beaches lined with palm trees.  We also saw lots of rice fields.  The cattle we saw were terribly thin.  The dogs, however, looked healthy and our tour guide explained that South Vietnamese people don't eat dogs, but North Vietnamese started that practice after the Japanese occupation during WWII and when they left, looted and burned everything so that there was no food.  The people were starving and had to start eating dogs to survive.  He said now they only eat stupid or mean dogs!   We had two stops in Vietnam, the first being Nha Trang.  All of our other ports of call were very clean and street sweepers, usually women, were everywhere.  Not here!  The Vietnamese are a littering bunch, with trash along roadsides and streets.  Vietnam is a communist country but they have free speech, unlike China.   Our next stop was Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, the name the Vietnamese government gave this city in 1975, although the locals still call it Saigon.  It's the largest city in the country, population of around 9 million, with more than 4 million motorbikes, so the traffic is terrible.  There are no freeways, so the buses, trucks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians all must share the road.  Telephone, internet, and cable wires are strung everywhere.  It was so funny we had to include a photo.   We got to see the Rex Hotel, where the CIA's headquarters were during the war and toured the Presidential Palace of the Republic of South Vietnam, now renamed the Reunification Palace.  The North Vietnamese tanks are still on the grounds since they crashed through the gates on April 30, 1975.  We also went through Chinatown, another temple, and a lacquer factory.   Vietnam is a developing country, but as our tour guide said, "Hong Kong is 50 years ahead of us."  The people are encouraged to start their own businesses.  A British man on our tour bus said, "The Americans may have lost the battle, but just look around.  The effects of capitalism are everywhere - the Americans won the war!"

Hong Kong

Saturday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 15   Wow!  Hong Kong was incredible!  Saturday morning we started off with a walking tour of old and new Hong Kong, and rode the world's longest covered outdoor escalator system that snaked through the back streets of central Hong Kong.  We shopped at several markets and in the evening, we took a night tour.  After yet another Peking Duck dinner, we went to Victoria Harbor to view the "Symphony of Light" show.  We finished the evening with a stroll through the Temple Street Night Market.   Early Sunday morning we took a tram to the top of Victoria Peak for spectular panoramic views, then boarded a sampan boat to see the fishing village of Aberdeen.  Lunch was at a huge floating restaurant with, of course, more Chinese food.  I guarantee you, we're not going to want Chinese food for a long, long time!  We had free time at Stanley Street Market, then visited a jewelry factory.   It was a great two days, but boy are we tired and looking forward to another day at sea!

Taipei, Taiwan

Thursday, Nov. 12   Taipei, Taiwan was our favorite port so far.  With a population of 2.7 million and the entire country with 23 million all packed into the size of the state of Massachusetts, you'd think traffic would be a nightmare.  It was not, however, due to the fact that there are 10 million mopeds or scooters, and they are not allowed on the freeways.  Earthquakes are plentiful - our tour guide said the country averages one every hour, but the majority are quite mild.   We toured the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, the Martyr's Shrine, the Pao-An Temple, Confucius Temple, the National Palace Museum, and had lunch at The Grand Hotel.   Taipei has not been affected by the world recession, due to being the world leader in the production of bicycles, computer chips, plastics, chemicals, and computer notebooks.  With all the manufacturing, we were surprised to find no smog.  The city is sophisticated, modern, and proud of its success, without forgetting its rich traditional past.

Okinawa, Japan

Wed., Nov. 11   Okinawa, Japan is located halfway between Tokyo and Taiwan and consists of 100 plus islands of which 50 are inhabited.  Okinawa prefecture has a population of 1.38 million.  The city in Okinawa we visited was Naha, whose population is 310,000.   We toured the Shurijo Castle which was built in the 14th century.  It served as a fortress, royal palace, political and religious center.  It has burned 4 times, the last time during the Battle of Okinawa at the end of WWII.  Okinawa was occupied by the US until 1972, so the culture is a blend now.   We were back on the ship by 1:30 pm and sailaway was at 2.  We ate a quick lunch and had a nice nap.  The wind has really picked up this afternoon, so the seas are rough!!!

Shanghai

Monday, Nov. 10   After two days at sea, we are well-rested and well-fed and very much anticipating our visit to Shanghai, the city where Aunt Helen an Uncle Ben met, fell in love, and married.  We booked the most indepth tour available so we could see as much as possible.  We got up at 6 am, called Ben to tell him we were in Shanghai, ate breakfast at 6:30, and were out the door at 7 so we could meet our group at the Princess Theatre to leave at 7:10.  Before we got there, the captain made the announcement that due to fog, the Shanghai port was closed, and the ship had to wait.  Once we were cleared, it would take at least 4 hours to dock and be cleared by the authorities.    We were finally put on a bus at 2 pm.  Our first stop was the Jade Buddha Temple.  It was built in 1882, and has roughly 100 monks that live here.  Interesting, but not what we came to Shanghai to see!  The next stop was the Yu Garden, built in the 16th century by a Ming Dynasty official for his father.  It was very beautiful, but after only 15 minutes here, the lightning and thunder started, then the downpour.  (I know John will laugh at this, but we were the only ones in our group of 40 that had an umbrella!)  After returning to the bus, the guide told us that with all the traffic and rain, we only had time for dinner and an acrobat show.  The Chinese acrobats were totally amazing, so was the lighting and special effects.   So, really this stop was very anticlimactic, but we are grateful that we did at least get to step foot in Shanghai.

Forbidden City

Fri., Nov. 6   We started off the day at Tian'anmen Square.  We've been stared at everywhere we've been in China, but we actually had people ask to have their photos taken with us here.  They said they thought Chuck's blue eyes were beautiful!   Later we toured the Forbidden City or as the Chinese call it, the Imperial Palace.  It's a beautiful collection of buildings and gardens on 200 acres dating from 1406-1420.   After lunch we traveled to the port, Xingang to board our ship.  The fog was really bad, and it took some buses more than 6 hours from Beijing.  We were lucky and got on the freeway right before they closed it, so it only took us 3 hours.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Thurs., Nov. 5   This morning was spent at the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist temple built in 648.   We flew back to Beijing this afternoon, and had a wonderful dinner along with a Chinese Opera performance.

Terra Cotta Warriors

Wed., Nov. 4   We saw the Terra Cotta Warriors today - too incredible for words!  These were built for the 1st emperor of the Qin Dynasty around 221 BC to protect him in his afterlife.  This is the same emperor that started the Great Wall.  The Terra Cotta Warriors were discovered in 1974 by 4 farmers who were drilling a water well.  One of the farmers was at the museum to autograph his book that was for sale.  Boy, has his life changed!  The government has done a great job turning this discovery into quite a tourist attraction. There is still so much to excavate, though.   This afternoon we toured the Forest of Stone Stele and walked the Xi'an City Wall.  Very impressive!   This evening's dinner was delicious, and the entertainment was very impressive with around 50 performers, dancers, vocalists, and instrumentalists.  The costumes were fantastic!

Rickshaw Tour

Tues., Nov. 3   This morning we visited the Temple of Heaven.  This was built beginning in 1420 on 600 acres for the emperors to pray for good weather for crops.   This afternoon we took a rickshaw tour of Hutong, the old part of Beijing.  We felt a little guilty making someone pull us around, but it sure was fun!   Later we flew to Xi'an.

The Great Wall

Monday, Nov. 2   We started off our first day with a tour of the Summer Palace.  It was built on 800 acres by emperors from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1910).   This afternoon we got to walk a portion of the Great Wall.  The snow and ice made it a bit dangerous, but we got by without a fall.  This was on the most awe-inspiring things we've ever seen!

Max

We miss Max so much already!

Inaugural Post

Greetings to all, and welcome to our blog! We are excited for our
trip, and we look forward to detailing it on this site for everybody
to see. If some of our posts are short or contain typos, please keep
in mind that we will be making some of these posts from our phone.
Please leave comments after our stories so we know what to write next
time!

Love,
Chuck and Melanie