Nha Trang

Saturday, April 21th

Today, we are off on a full day tour of Nha Trang arranged by Meredith LaRatta (Cruisebabe1). The tour was arranged thru www.nhatrangrivertour.com.

Our first stop was at an Embroidery Factory. At first, I thought this would be a waste but it was amazing to watch these girls working. They produced some very beautiful works...in fact, we even bought one.








Next, we stopped at a Pagoda orphanage. A lot of us brought gifts, mostly toys or candy, to give to the children. It was so sad to see these children that have been abandoned but they seem happy and well cared for. We all need to be so thankful for what we have....















Scenes from the countryside........







"White" Buddha



Cemetery








Making rice noodles







Had to get one of these stupid hats...that's me with Vikki Harvey our next door cabin mate.

Joe with his new BFFs!!!!!

We hopped on boats for a cruise down the river to our lunch stop. Passed on most of the lunch...not ready to try octopus and squid...









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Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Friday, April 20th

This morning, we are joining a private tour to Saigon arranged by Cliff Cunningham (c-to-sea). The day started with a 2 hour drive from the port of Phu My to Saigon.

The tour includes the Jade Emperor Pagoda, the Independence Palace, a water puppet show, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, driving by the central city where the Rex Hotel, city hall and the Opera House are located. Lunch will be at Pho 2000 ( Bill Clinton's favorite ). Then time for shopping at the Ben Thanh market and then the drive back to Phu My to return to the ship.

The day started with a VERY LONG drive in to Ho Chi Minh City. it ws amazing to see all the people riding scooters. Our guide said that there are 10 million people in Ho Chi Minh City and 5 million scooters!!! I believe it!!!!


Our first stop was at the Jade Emperor Pagoda. I'm not exactly sure of the significance of the Pagoda as our guide wasn't too informative and was difficult to understand.








Next stop was the Independence Palace. This was the home and command center of General Nguyen Van Thieu, the head of a military junta who came to power after the first President of South Vietnam was assassinated in 1963. This was the site of the dramatic finish to the Vietnam War as tanks crashed through the main gate on the morning of April 30, 1975. In 1975, the palace was renamed the "Reunification Palace"





Russian tanks that crashed through the gates on April 30, 1975


Operation "Frequent Wind"....USUH-1 helicopter on the top of the 4th floor. Was used as a helipad for evacuating staff just before the palace was overrun.

Next stop was the Water Puppet show....this was probably the highlight of the day! These puppets are controlled on sticks from behind the curtain.









The puppeteers...still wish we could have seen how it was done.


Notre Dame Cathedral


We stopped for lunch at Pho 2000..a noodle shop that was made famous because Bill Clinton had lunch there in 2000. Food was good but place was packed. After that, we had a few minutes to shop at the local market.......think flea market on steroids!!!!!!

Long drive back to the ship...good but not great. Think I was spoiled after our wonderful day in Bangkok.

Bangkok Thailand

Wednesday, April 18th

Today we have a full day tour arranged thru Thai Tour Guide. Chob will be our guide. We will start at the port in Laem Chabang and drive in to Bangkok. Our tour will include the Royal Grand Palace and Royal Temple(Wat Phra Kaew, The Temple of the Emerald Budda)....Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Budda)....Canal Tour...and the Pak Klong Talad (Flower and Vegetable Market).

The day started with a long ride in to Bangkok. Chob, our guide, was wonderful. He was very informative and made his country come alive to us.

Our first stop was the compound has houses the Royal Temple and the Royal Palace. The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782 and it consists of not only the royal residence and throne halls but also the renowned Temple of the Emerald Budda.



Chob.....he made the day for us!!!!








The Emerald Budda....all Thais feel they must come at least once in a lifetime to see and meditate at the Emerald Budda.






Our next stop was at Wat Pho...the Temple of the Reclining Budda. It is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok and still an important center for Traditional Thai Medicine and traditional Thai Massages school.











Next on our tour was a canal tour in a Long-Tail Boat along the Chao Phraya River and the quiet Klongs (canals). This was a real experience!!!!!! Getting in to the boat was, at best, a laugh...I felt like I was thrown down in..had to jump/slide down about 3 feets. After getting in the boat, the rest was a piece of cake and a lot of fun.









Last stop of the day was at Pak Klong Talad. This is the most important flowers and vegetables market in town.









Then it was back in the van ....tired and hot....for the long drive back to the ship but I will remember this day for a long time. It will rank right up there as one of our best excursions ever!!!

Singapore

Thursday, April 12th

Hotel check in went smoothly. After taking a short nap, we headed down to the lounge for drinks and snacks. Since we felt pretty good, we decided to walk down to the Singapore Flyer...at 165m, it is taller than the London Eye.



The ride on the Flyer was different. It revolves so slowly that you really don't have any sense of movement.


View of the skyline from the Flyer......amazing.

Friday, April 13th

Today was very busy. We took the DuckTour......rode all the HOHO bus routes....and the HIPPO River Cruise. All of this in 95 degree, 75% humidity!!!


MerLion...mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, used as a mascot and national personification of Singapore.


Marina Bay Sands....opened in 2009. 194m tall...Developed by Las Vegas Sands.


Clarke Quay.....found good Brewery!!!! Enjoyed the HIPPO River cruise.



In the evening we went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. We had heard such wonderful things about it...it was OK but I could have skipped it.




Saturday, April 14th

Our last day in Singapore. Our plan was to ride the HOHO and stop in Little India, Chinatown and end up at the Marina Bay Sands and go to the top for a drink. We accomplished 2 out of 3.....it was so hot that after little India, we skipped Chinatown and headed straight for the Marina Bay Sands.






Kuan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple





Our $18.00 beer......but the view was worth it!!!!



Last stop of the day was at the famous Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel. This is where the Singapore Sling originated.....Can't come to Singapore and not have a Singapore Sling!!!!!






We returned to our hotel to find that our toilet was plugged and could not easily be fixed......the good and the bad...we had to change rooms but they moved us in to a suite...

Tonight we registered for the cruise....bus to the ship at 11:30AM in the morning. We've had a good time in Singapore but we will be glad to get on the ship and have a few days to rest before our first port of Bangkok.

Final flights to Singapore

Wednesday/Thursday, April 11/12

We left SFO at 11AM. Good business seats. Convert to bed. Took Ambien...woke up after 7 hours. Decided to take another one..BIG MISTAKE...lost my balance twice and I have got the scrapes and bruises to show for it!



-pictures taken with the iPad...upper deck of 747 .

We are on our way

Something must be wrong....so far, everything has gone pretty smoothly. Mike and Jane brought us to the airport. Check In was easy. Not much in the way of crowds.

Our flight out of Chicago is delayed so we are sitting in the Admiral's club.



Don't mind the delay. We have a Very long lay over in San Francisco so sitting here in Chicago drinking wine is not all bad!!!

Now in San Francisco...wait of about 6 hours before our next flight. Can't wait for this trip to be over....Can't believe we are going to do it again this fall!!!!