Muroran Japan

Tuesday, May 8th

Today, we have a full day tour to Muroran arranged by Chris Balch. The tour will include Ainu Museum, Hell Valley, buffet lunch at Noboribetsu Manseikaku and the Mt. Use Ropeway.

Japan does not make it easy to enter their country....a few days ago, we had to go through their immigration and we were all fingerprinted. This morning, before we leave the ship, we have to go through a thermo-scanning inspection. Also, due to Japanese Radio Communication Regulations, there will be NO internet available while we are in Japanese territorial waters.

I really didn't think this day would be very exciting but we ended up having a very nice day.

We were greeted by locals as we left the ship.......





Our first stop of the day was the Ainu Museum which is actually an Ainu settlement which was moved and restored in 1965 to form this outdoor museum to preserve and exhibit the Ainu cultural assets. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido with their own culture and language, had lived in Hokkaido before these areas were developed by Japanese and Russian settlers.





Traditional Ainu folk dance performance


Now I have seen everything!!!!!! A HEATED toilet seat!!!!!!


Our next stop was at Jigokudani...AKA Hell's Valley. Yellow grey volcanic gas seeps from the surface of the rocks....makes the whole place smell strongly of sulfur and gives it an image like that of "Hell". The valley is a 450 meter diameter mouth of a volcano that produces 3,000 liters of hot water/minute to the Noboribetsu Hot Springs.








After a nice lunch, we were off to our last stop of the day...the Mount Usu Ropeway. Mount Usu is an active stratovolcano in the Shikolsu-Toya National Park that has erupted 4 times in the last 100 years....the last eruption was in 2001.


The cable car takes you to just below the mouth of the volcano.


The view was spectacular!!!!!!


The view of Lake Toya that was created as a result of flowing lava.


On return to the ship, we viewed a ceremony honoring the relationship between the Dianmond Princess and the city of Muroran.


Captain Dino Sagani and the Mayor of Muroran.


Me and the Captain.......


The children of Muroran put on a nice dance performance to bid us goodbye.....




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Vladivostok

Sunday, May 6th

This is a stop that we have nothing planned...and from what I have read....not much to do!!!!!

Not really the best day but can't complain. We have really had great weather for the entire cruise so far. We walked in to town. The town was actually a little nicer than I thought it would be.


Train station...end of the Siberian Railway. Below, ceiling in the train station.




Statue of Lenin across from the train station.









Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Mother






Submarine Museum


Motorcycle rally in the Central Square...officially known as the "Square of the Fighters for Soviet Power in the Far East"


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Busan

Friday, May 4th

Today, we will stop at Busan, South Korea. There was a stop at this port on the first cruise, but we were off the ship fir iyr excursion to Xi'an and Beijing. We have nothing scheduled for this port. Hopefully we will be able to get some ideas of what to do from our fellow cruisers that stopped here last week.

.......Talked to people that stopped here last week..really isn't much to see. We took the shuttle in to town and walked around a little.....then it was back to the ship. This is a port that should have been a "stay on board"day.....












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Dalian

Wednesday, May 2nd

Yesterday were rejoined the ship in Tianjin Xingang to continue our cruise to Vancouver. We had a wonderful time on our land tour. I'm so glad we did it. We saw so much that I will never forget....NOW..let the second part of the cruise begin.....

Today we have a full day tour arranged by Joyce Caballero. We will be visiting Zhongshan Square, the Beida Bridge, Xinghai Square, the Laohutan Scenic Park, the Russian Culture Street and the Dalian Local Market.

We had a nice day. The city was very modern and clean. A pretty city but did not see much I would consider as important. Like we have seen all over China, construction is everywhere!!!! There is apparent prosperity is this part of the world.

Joe....being JOE!!!!!!!

Guess there is no overhead for this barber shop!!!!







A church turned in to a KFC!!!!! It seems like there is a KFC on every corner in China.



Russian Cultural Street.....



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Beijing Day #3

Monday, April 30th

Today we will visit the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu and the Ming Tombs.

First stop of the day was at the Ming Tombs. Really not much to see but the relics displayed were very beautiful...











Then it was on to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. The crowds were unbelievable!!! We took the chair lift up to the base of the wall.





Enjoying a local beer as we climb the Wall






AMAZING......AWESOME.....I can't believe we are really here!!!






Charlie with Angela..our guide for Beijing


This is an example of the traffic we experienced leaving the Wall.....our driver was following another car down the oncoming lane of a two lane road!!!!!! Bus was bigger than us.....


We added the KungFu Show on our last night in Beijing. The show was recommended by an Australian man we met in Xi'an...it was OK but nowheres as good as the Acrobatic Show.


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